healthbriefs
Eating Greens Can Change Genes A
n interna- tional team of scientists led by researchers at McMaster and McGill universities, in Canada, were surprised to find that consum- ing generous
amounts of fruit and raw vegetables modified a gene desig- nated 9p21, the strongest marker for heart disease. In one of the largest gene-diet interaction studies ever conducted related to cardiovascular disease, the researchers analyzed more than 27,000 individuals from five ethnicities—Latin American, European, Chinese, South Asian and Arab—and the effect their diets had on the target gene. They discovered that men and women with the high-risk genotype that con- sumed a healthy diet with plenty of raw vegetables and fruits had a risk of heart attack similar to individuals carrying the low-risk genotype.
“We know that 9p21 genetic variants increase the risk of heart disease for those that carry it,” says Genetic Epi- demiologist Jamie Engert, joint principal investigator of the study, “but it was a surprise to find that a healthy diet could significantly weaken its effect.”
Source: PLoS Medicine
Acupuncture Cools Hot Flashes A
small, yet intriguing study published in Acupuncture in
Medicine found that traditional Chinese acupuncture curbed the severity of hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. Fifty- three middle-aged, postmeno- pausal women were divided into two groups; one received such treatments twice weekly for 10 weeks, while the other experienced “sham” acupunc- ture with blunt needles that did not penetrate the skin. In both groups, levels of estrogen and
other hormones were measured before the study began and before and after the last session. Menopausal symptoms—hot flashes, vaginal dryness, urinary tract infections and mood swings—were also measured before and after the treatments, using a five-point menopause rating scale (MRS) in order to assess their severity.
At the end of the study, the women receiving Chi- nese acupuncture scored significantly lower on the MRS scale, with hot flashes seeing the sharpest decrease. The researchers explain that acupuncture boosts production of endorphins, which may stabilize the temperature con- trol system of the body. They say that more investigation is needed because the study was small, but note that its results seem promising, suggesting that traditional Chinese acupuncture could be an alternative for women unable or unwilling to use hormone replacement therapy to relieve menopausal symptoms.
natural awakenings May 2012
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