Category Archives: Medical News

They Say Vegetables Don’t Stop Cancer. I Don’t Believe It.

This week the media told us all that a new study shows that eating lots of vegetables does not “significantly” lower cancer risk. (The study indicates that vegetables might provide a very small reduction in cancer risk, but that statistic may have resulted from reporting error and bias — see Eating Vegetables Doesn’t Stop Cancer: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/eating-vegetables-doesnt-stop-cancer/.)

The cancer researchers had 142,605 men and 335,873 women report on their eating habits and lifestyles during 1992 to 2000. They then assessed the association between cancer risk and diets high in fruits and vegetables. read more

H1N1 Swine Flu News

If your local news stations announce that H1N1 vaccinations are available at special clinics in your area, make sure you double check the facts.

This last weekend in the Phoenix, Arizona, area one news station stated that H1N1 vaccinations were available for children and pregnant women at about 15 clinics. Another evening news program provided the same information and added that individuals with underlying health conditions were also eligible.

Long line-ups at the flu clinics ensued.

But if you were able to talk to the H1N1 clinics before you took half a day to stand in line, you discovered that only children and pregnant women were eligible to receive H1N1 vaccinations. The clinics were not dispensing vaccinations to individuals with underlying health conditions (unless, of course, they were children or pregnant women). read more

Spinach, Greens, and Eye Health

My optometrist always tells me to eat lots of spinach, that studies conducted in the American Southeast indicate that individuals who eat the most greens are less likely to suffer from macular degeneration later in life. Now The State newspaper has come out with an article called “For eye health, eat spinach like Popeye,” in which they say that a half cup of spinach or three quarters of a cup of collard or turnip greens provides the 10mg of lutein that experts recommend as the daily dose necessary for eye health. read more

Increased My Vitamin D to 2000 IU Per Day

I recently read a reputable article that said that we should be taking 1500 to 2300 IU of Vitamin D each day. I think I read the article on a life extension web site: http://www.lef.org/news/.

Mayo Clinic says that the upper limit for vitamin D is 2000 IU per day. See http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vitamin-d/AN01864. In Canada, doctors often recommend 1000 IU per day as a potential cancer preventative.

Previously, I was taking 1000 to 1300 IU each day, every day, rain, snow, or shine, 365 days per year. read more