Bitter melon has potent anti-diabetes effects
Substances isolated from bitter melon, a plant eaten and used medicinally in much of Asia, could provide the basis of new drugs for treating diabetes and obesity, an international team of researchers reports.
Also known as balsam pear, the vegetable has been shown to reduce blood sugar in animal and human studies, Dr. Mon-Jia Tan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai and colleagues note in the journal Chemistry & Biology.
Alternatives are needed to existing drugs for diabetes, they add, due to their side effects and limited action.
Soy compound linked to lower breast cancer risk
Women with high blood levels of an estrogen-like compound found in soy seem to have a lower risk of developing breast cancer, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that among more than 24,000 middle-aged and older Japanese women, those with the highest levels of the compound, called genistein, were only one-third as likely as other women to develop breast cancer over 10 years.
Genistein is one of the major isoflavones, plant compounds found in soybeans, chick peas and other legumes that are structurally similar to the hormone estrogen, and are believed to bind to estrogen receptors on body cells.
Traditional acupuncture may ease migraines
Acupuncture, as practiced in traditional Chinese medicine, may offer some relief from migraine pain, a new study suggests.
Italian researchers found that regular treatments with “true” acupuncture helped improve symptoms in 32 patients whose migraines had been resistant to standard preventive medication.
Moreover, the therapy worked better than two forms of “sham” acupuncture used for comparison, the researchers report in the medical journal Headache.
Heart ills not to blame for women’s poor sex life
A woman’s satisfaction with her sex life appears to have very little to do with the health of her heart and circulation, according to a new analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative.
“In women this particular aspect of sexual function, which is decreased sexual satisfaction, did not predict cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Jennifer S. McCall-Hosenfeld, the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health.
In men, erectile dysfunction is a red flag for undiagnosed heart disease, McCall-Hosenfeld of Boston University Medical Center and her colleagues note in the American Journal of Medicine. Given that the same mechanism regulates pelvic blood flow in both men and women, they write, it is conceivable that sexual problems in women could also be a marker for poor heart health.
Yoga helps older women balance, stand taller
Elderly women showed measurable improvements in their walking speed and balance after a nine-week yoga program—and they gained a centimeter in height, on average, Philadelphia researchers report.
“The only explanation may be that they are standing more upright, not so much crouching,” study chief Dr. Jinsup Song of Temple University told Reuters Health. Song presented the findings April 4 at the Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society’s Annual Meeting.
While past studies have investigated yoga for helping improve balance in elderly women, Song noted, they have typically used a relatively demanding form of the practice. In the current study, he and his colleague Marian Garfinkel, a certified yoga instructor, worked with B.K.S. Iyengar, the originator of Iyengar Yoga, to develop a program specifically designed for older people. “The poses were very basic—how to stand upward, how to bend forward, sideways,” said Song, who admitted he found some of the poses challenging himself.
