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Scientists have developed the first "personalised" drug shown to be effective against advanced melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer which is on the rise in Britain. Warnings about the risks of melanoma were heightened this weekend as the fine weather drew thousands to sunbathe outdoors, putting them at increased risk. "Binge tanning", where sunbathers allow their skin to burn in their eagerness to get a tan, is a key cause of the cancer. Melanoma, which starts as a blemish or change to a mole on the skin, is treatable in its early stages but once it has spread to other organs such as the lungs and liver there are no treatment options. Patients with melanoma that has spread usually die within months

Blind Girl Can See Thanks to Umbilical Cord-Based Adult Stem Cell Treatment London, England (LifeNews.com) -- Born two years ago with severe eye problems, Dakota Clarke could not even see well enough to recognize her own mother and father. But now the parents of the little girl, who is registered blind, say she can make out their faces for the first time after pioneering stem cell treatment. The couple gave up work to raise well over $40,000 to fly their daughter to China for the treatment, which remains at the experimental level in Britain -- because the nation has been too preoccupied with embryonic stem cells and human cloning. They returned home this week convinced that Dakota can now see colors, lights and objects around her as a result. They hope further therapy will give her a lifetime of sight. "It's nothing short of a miracle for us," said Mr Clarke, a former engineer. "She can see the world for the first time." In Dakota's case, cells were administered intravenously through her hairline and reportedly traveled towards her optic nerve, repairing the damaged area. The stem cells came from umbilical cords donated by Chinese mothers. Despite the obvious success, some doctors are talking down the results simply because the treatments aren't approved in England. Pro-life advocates say the results are yet another showing of how adult stem cells outpace their embryonic cousins both ethically and when used in treatments.

White button mushrooms appear to boost immune function It appears that a little fungus may be good for what ails you. That's the conclusion of a new study that found that eating white button mushrooms may boost the immune system and protect against infection. If the research, done on animals, translates to people, it could raise the health-benefit profile of the fungus, which also contains high concentrations of the super-antioxidant ergothioneine, which protects cells from damaging free radicals. "This is the first published study showing the effect of white button mushrooms on immune function," Dayong Wu, a scientist in the Immunology Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts and lead author of the study, published in the June issue of the Journal of Nutrition, told NutraIngredients.com. The research also suggests that the mushroom may boost both innate and acquired immune system health. The innate immune system, the one you're born with, is the body's first line of defense. The acquired immune system revs up if a pathogen makes its way past the innate system and customizes the immune response to target the invader.

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Critics of the chemical bisphenol A or BPA have received powerful new ammunition in the form of a study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) which confirmed that the substance can leach from polycarbonate drinking bottles into humans. The study revealed that participants who drank for a week from polycarbonate bottles and baby bottles showed a two-thirds increase of BPA in their urine. According to HSPH: "The study is the first to show that drinking from polycarbonate bottles increased the level of urinary BPA, and thus suggests that drinking containers made with BPA release the chemical into the liquid that people drink in sufficient amounts to increase the level of BPA excreted in human urine."

A Track Your Plaque member brough the following webcast to our attention: Prospects for Vitamin D Nutrition\nwhich can be found at http://tinyurl.com/f93vl (The above link no longer seems to work, use http://wildhorse.insinc.com/directms13oct2005/ instead) Despite the painfully dull title, the webcast is the best summary of data on the health benefits on vitamin D that I've seen. The presenter is Dr. Reinhold Vieth, who is among the handful of worldwide authorities on vitamin D. In 1999, Dr. Vieth authored the first review to concisely and persuasively argue that vitamin D nutrition was woefully neglected and that its potential for health was enormous.

Making a habit of practicing good oral hygiene care can really pay off but in more ways than you might first think. You can prevent most common diseases

Low levels of vitamin D may raise a person's risk of premature death, a study by Johns Hopkins researchers shows. The research followed other recent studies showing low levels of vitamin D are linked to certain cancers, diabetes, and bone and immune system problems, but this is the first research to connect vitamin D deficiency to a higher risk of death

If wheat is so bad, what about all the other grains? First of all, I demonize wheat because of its top-of-the-list role in triggering: --Appetite--Wheat increases hunger dramatically --Insulin --Blood sugar--Wheat is worse than table sugar in triggering a rapid, large rise in blood sugar --Triglycerides --Small LDL particles--the number one cause for heart disease in the U.S. --Reduced HDL --Diabetes --Autoimmune diseases--Most notably celiac disease and thyroiditis. Most other "healthy, whole grains" aren't quite as bad. It's a matter of degree.

new discovery of alzheimer study.

We have compiled an Herb and Supplement Encyclopedia that you can search through to learn more about natural remedies. This herbal and supplement encyclopedia was written in an effort to provide accurate and up to date information on herbs that are commonly used in herbal preparations within Canada and the United States. Covering both their traditional usage and the latest scientific findings, each herbal monograph lists the 'traditional' usages in point form and also outlines the most well founded indications and relevant research in a short overview paragraph. The information on indications and suggested amount for each herb is largely based on the German Pharmacopoeia and other authoritative sources. We have also listed the traditional use of these herbs by First Nations healers wherever possible, out of respect and great appreciation for their healing wisdom and insight, often born out by science.

ScienceDaily (May 12, 2009) - Taking folic acid supplements for at least a year before conception is associated with reduction in the risk of premature birth, according to a study by Radek Bukowski (from the University of Texas Medical Branch, United States of America) and colleagues. Although most pregnancies last about 40 weeks, many babies (for example around 12% in the United States) are born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. Babies born prematurely are less likely to survive than full-term babies and are more likely to have breathing difficulties and learning or developmental disabilities. Currently, there are no effective methods of prevention or treatment of premature (preterm) birth, but previous studies have suggested that lower concentrations of folate (folic acid) are associated with shorter duration of pregnancy. Bukowski and colleagues therefore tested this idea, by analyzing data collected from a cohort of nearly 35,000 pregnant women. The results of this study showed that taking folate supplements for at least one year before conception was associated with a 70% reduction in spontaneous premature birth between 20 and 28 weeks (a reduction from 0.27% to 0.04%), and a 50% reduction between 28 and 32 weeks (reduction from 0.38% to 0.18%), as compared to the rate of preterm birth when mothers did not take additional folate supplementation. Folate supplementation for less than a year before conception was not linked to a reduction in the risk of premature birth in this study, and folate supplementation was not associated with any other complications of pregnancy. In a related commentary also published in this week's PLoS Medicine, Nicholas Fisk from the University of Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues (who were not involved in the original study) say "Methodologically, the study has several strengths... It is based on a huge dataset, with prospective recording of dietary supplements and potential confounders, and gestational age determined accu

One of the first things a seasoned dieter might notice about the Zone Diet is that it's not a diet that tries to be restrictive.

New research reveals that drinking just one cup of regular, black tea per day may help to protect against cardiovascular disease. The research, conducted at the University of L'Aquila in Italy and supported by the Lipton Institute of Tea, is the first study to show that black tea consumption does - depending on dose - improve blood vessel reactivity, reduce both blood pressure and arterial stiffness, indicating a notably better cardiovascular health profile

The panel selected to analyze the health claims is being criticized for not including the medical researchers whose work prompted intense scientific interest in the nutrient in the first place. "If you were publicly in favour of vitamin D, you were not included, and I find that outrageous," said Reinhold Vieth, a professor in the department of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, and one of Canada's leading experts on the nutrient.

new (March 24th) report in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, shows that Omega-3 fatty acids appear protective against advanced prostate cancer. Dr. John S. Witte, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco, says that previous research has shown protection against prostate cancer, but that this is one of the first studies to show protection against advanced prostate cancer.

Floyd Chilton and colleagues wanted to examine whether theses fatty acids might have other effects, and developed a dietary intervention strategy in which 27 healthy humans were fed a controlled diet mimicking the w6/w3 ratios of early humans over 5 weeks. They then looked at the gene levels of immune signals and cytokines (protein immune messengers), that impact autoimmunity and allergy in blood cells and found that many key signaling genes that promote inflammation were markedly reduced compared to a normal diet, including a signaling gene for a protein called PI3K, a critical early step in autoimmune and allergic inflammation responses. This study demonstrates, for the first time in humans, that large changes in gene expression are likely an important mechanism by which these omega fatty acids exert their potent clinical effects

The April issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research published the results of a trial conducted by scientists at Tokyo University of Science, the University of Tsukuba in Japan, and Johns Hopkins University which determined that the isothiocyanate sulforaphane, a compound that occurs in high amounts in broccoli and its sprouts, helps suppress infection by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), the bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers and many cases of stomach cancer. The trial is the first to demonstrate an effect for broccoli against H. pylori in humans.