An apple a day will keep the doctor away, according to new research from a U.S. national health and nutrition survey. The study found that people who eat one large apple a day are at lower risk of metabolic syndrome, which could increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. Apple juice and apple sauce were likewise found to be beneficial. Apple-eaters also had smaller waists, lower blood pressure, and lower levels of a protein related to inflammation.

The  study was presented at the Experimental Biology 2008 meeting, and was sponsored by the American Apple Industry.

Colo-rectal cancer, of the colon or the rectum, is equally common in both men and women. An estimated 153,760 people were diagnosed in 2007, and more than 52,000 died from the disease. However, this is one of the most easily prevented cancers because it often develops from polyps that can be removed before they become cancerous.

Seventy-five percent of all colon cancer occurs in people with no known medical risk factors. This emphasizes the importance of routine colon cancer screenings. March is National Colorectal Cancer Screening Awareness Month.

According to The Cancer Reasearch Foundation of America, when detected and treated early, the five-year survival rate for colo-rectal cancer is 91%. Screenings are not painful, and are often covered by Medicare and by many insurers.

The low-carb Atkins diet, which promotes eating more protein and fewer carbohydrates in order to burn stored fat, might help people drop pounds but may also hurt the heart according to researchers at the University of Maryland (UM) Medical Center.

According to the diet plan, fifty percent of calories come from fat, resulting in increased levels of bad cholesterol and a negative impact on blood vessel dilation, which can cause increased blood pressure.

On its website, the Atkins Company cited is own studies that show dieters lost weight, increased their good cholesterol, and lowered their triglycerides, a risk factor for heart disease. But the UM study compared three popular diets: Atkins; the low-carb, low-fat South Beach Diet, and the vegetarian Ornish diet. Researchers concluded that the Atkins diet puts people at a higher risk of heart disease after only one month.

Children of mothers who eat plenty of apples or fish during pregnancy are less likely to develop asthma, or eczema research suggests.

The University of Aberdeen project quizzed 2,000 mothers-to-be on their eating habits, then looked at their child’s health over five years.

They found that those who ate four or more apples a week were half as likely to have an asthmatic child compared with those who ate one or fewer.

The study was presented at the American Thoracic Society conference.

This study suggests a simple modification that can be made to a pregnant mother’s diet which may help protect her child from developing asthma Dr Victoria King, Asthma UK

The researchers also found a link between eating more fish in pregnancy, and a lower chance of their child developing the allergic skin condition eczema.

Women who ate one or more portions of any type of fish during pregnancy weekly had almost half the chance of having a child diagnosed with eczema within the first five years.

There are no firm clues as to why apples and fish might be able to produce this benefit - no other foodstuffs were linked to decreases in asthma or eczema.

However, apples are already linked to better lung health when taken by adults, perhaps due to their antioxidant properties, and oily fish in particular contain Omega-3 oils, which, it has been suggested, offer health benefits.
It is, however, notoriously difficult to uncover links between maternal diet and child health, given the numerous other factors which may be involved in the development of diseases such as asthma and eczema.

The Aberdeen team has a group of 2,000 women, who, more than five years ago, monitored their food intake during pregnancy, and then allowed researchers to see what happened to their children.

-BBC

Long known to help prevent birth defects, folic acid may also help prevent premature births, new research suggests.

In a large study that included almost 40,000 women, a team of U.S. and Irish researchers found that women who took folic acid supplements for a year or longer before conception had a 70 percent decreased risk of preterm birth between 20 and 28 weeks of gestation.

Dr. Katherine Wenstrom said it’s likely that folic acid is regulating certain genes that malfunction to cause early labor. “Now that we know that folic acid makes a huge difference, researchers can look at the different reactions that folic acid causes and see which might be related to preterm labor,” she said.

A premature birth is one that occurs before 37 weeks’ gestation, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Improved medical knowledge and technology have made survival for these small infants more likely — of babies born at 28 weeks or after, 90 percent are expected to survive, according to the NIH.

But the earlier a baby is delivered, the greater the risk of serious complications, including bleeding in the brain, infection, delayed growth and intestinal problems, according to the NIH.

The new study included 38,033 women pregnant with one baby. Women who had known pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia or high blood pressure, and women pregnant with babies with known chromosomal or other birth defects weren’t included in the study.

The researchers found that women who took a folic acid supplement for at least a year prior to becoming pregnant reduced their risk of preterm delivery between 20 and 28 weeks of gestation by 70 percent. A year of folic acid supplementation dropped the risk of delivering during weeks 28 through 32 by 50 percent, according to the study.

“This study saw a huge decrease in spontaneous preterm delivery for women who took folic acid for one year prior to conception. Now we can add prevention of prematurity to the mix of reasons for all women to take an additional folic acid supplement,” said Dr. Alan Fleischman, senior vice president and medical director of the March of Dimes.

In the meantime, Wenstrom said she believes that everyone — both male and female — should take a daily folic acid supplement in addition to a multivitamin containing folic acid.

“Cereal and grain products are fortified with folic acid, but the level of fortification isn’t optimal. Folic acid influences so many things. It reduces the risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease, and it prevents birth defects,” she said. “It’s a simple preventive measure for a variety of severe problems.”

The March of Dimes recommends that women take 400 micrograms daily of folic acid before becoming pregnant, and continuing to take folic acid throughout the pregnancy.

By Serena Gordon