June09

Testing Testing
Good News for People and Animals
healthbriefs
The Environmental Protection Agency has
announced that it is reducing its reliance
on animal testing to assess human risk of
nature’s viagra
chemical toxicity. Instead, the EPA will fo-
cus more heavily on new tools available
W
atermelon, America’s all-time sum-
mer favorite, delivers more than
through advances in molecular biology,
just a juicy cool-down. Accord-
genomics and computational modeling.
ing to a Texas A&M University
It’s part of the agency’s move to
study, the summer fruit may en-
use better, cheaper and faster ways
hance libido in much the same
to screen thousands of chemicals for
way that Viagra does.
human risk, including the impact of
“The more we study water-
long-term exposure. Former testing costs
melons, the more we realize just
that could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars will
how amazing a fruit it is, in providing
now drop to about $20,000. This will facilitate, for example,
natural enhancers to the human body,” says Bhimu Patil, Ph.D.,
screening individual food-use pesticides for endocrine
director of Texas A&M’s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Cen-
disruption, as may be required by the end of this year. Also,
ter, in College Station. Bhimu and his fellow researchers have
“For people who are developing green chemistry, this may
discovered that a special nutrient in watermelon, called citrul-
allow them to look for an alternative chemical and profile
line, has the ability to relax blood vessels, similar to the action
that chemical,” at a doable cost, advises Robert Kavlock,
of common male sexual enhancement drugs.
director of the EPA’s computational toxicology program.
How does it work? When consumed, the body converts
Kavlock believes that useful applications will be ac-
the citrulline to arginine, an amino acid that works wonders on
tive within two years. He notes that animal testing will still
the heart and the circulation system by boosting nitric oxide,
be used for some things for the foreseeable future, but in
which in turn relaxes blood vessels, conferring basically the
smarter ways.
same effects Viagra does in the treatment of erectile dysfunc-
tion. Although watermelon may not be as organ-specific as
Source: GreenBiz.com
Viagra, it is still a great way to relax blood vessels. Even better,
watermelon has none of the drug’s side effects.
the “it” nutrient
V
itamin D is quickly becoming the “It”
nutrient of our time, promising health
benefits for chronic diseases such as os-
teoporosis, heart disease, cancer and now,
diabetes. Researchers from Loyola University
Chicago’s Marcella Niehoff School of Nurs-
ing recently reported that vitamin D may
prevent or delay the onset of diabetes and
reduce complications for those diagnosed
with the disease. In those suffering from dia-
betes, vitamin D is crucial in preventing and managing glucose
intolerance, because it plays an integral role in insulin sensitivity
and secretion. Many of the 23 million Americans with diabetes
have low vitamin D levels, which results in part from poor nutri-
tion, one of their biggest challenges. Another culprit is reduced
exposure to sunlight.
To control blood sugar and prevent complications from
diabetes, vitamin D may be a simple and cost-effective treat-
ment, say the researchers. They suggest a combination of dietary
sources of the vitamin, reasonable exposure to sunlight and per-
haps vitamin D supplements, based on the advice of an integra-
tive physician.
Source: Loyola University Health System, 2009

Westchester/Putnam Counties
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