PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  Ultra-processed Foods May Raise Colon Cancer Risk By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Dec 10, 2024 -- Fatty, salty, and sugary ultra-processed foods could be increasing people's risk of  colon cancer  by spurring chronic inflammation in the gut. In a new study,  colon tumors  taken from people with poor diets had higher levels of pro-inflammatory biochemicals and lower levels of substances that reduce inflammation and promote healing, researchers reported Dec 10 in the journal  Gut . "It is well known that patients with unhealthy diets have increased inflammation in their bodies," said researcher  Dr. Timothy Yeatman , a professor of surgery at the University of South Florida's College of Medicine. "We now see this inflammation in the colon tumors themselves, and cancer is like a chronic wound that won't heal," Yeatman added in a university release. "If your body is living off of daily ultra-processed foods, its ability to heal that...

  More Women Are Being Diagnosed With Breast Cancer at Later Stages By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Dec. 10, 2024 -- More  breast cancers  are being detected later in women, giving the tumors a chance to spread and become life-threatening, a new study finds. This increase in late-stage  breast cancer   affects women of all ages and ethnicities, according to results published Dec. 10 in the journal  Radiology . “Women with this diagnosis have a much lower survival rate and are much harder to treat,” said researcher Dr. Debra Monticciolo, a past president of the American College of Radiology. Analysis of cancer registry data in the United States revealed that stage 4 breast cancer rates had increased: 2.9% annually for women ages 20 to 39 between 2004 and 2021 2.1% annually for women ages 40 to 74 between 2004 and 2012 and 2.7% between 2018 and 2021 1.4% annually for women aged 75 and older between 2004 and 2021 The five-year survival rat...

  Task Force Supports Women Over 30 Collecting  AT Home Samples for Cervical Cancer Screening By Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Dec. 10, 2024 -- In guidelines that may encourage more women to get screened for cervical cancer, a leading health task force has backed giving women over 30 the option to collect their own vaginal samples for testing. Instead of needing to have a complete pelvic exam, these women can now go to a doctor's office and collect their own tissue to be tested for human papillomavirus (HPV), the infection that causes almost all cases of cervical cancer, say new guidelines issued on Tuesday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The task force said women can now use a swab to collect their own HPV samples. Studies have shown that self-collection is as accurate as collecting the tissue sample from a clinician and has been proven to increase screening. "Women who would be more comfortable collecting their HPV test sample themselv...

  GET A COGNITIVE BOOST FROM EXERCISE     A new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers suggests that the short-term boost our brains get after exercise persists throughout the following day. Previous research in a laboratory setting has shown that people's cognitive performance improves in the hours after exercise, but how long this benefit lasts is unknown. The new study, published in the  International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity , found that, on average, people aged 50 to 83 who did more moderate to vigorous physical activity than usual on a given day did better in memory tests the day after. Less time spent sitting and six hours or more of sleep were also linked to better memory test scores the next day. More deep (slow-wave*) sleep also contributed to memory function, and the research team found this accounted for a small portion of the link between exercise and better next-day memory. The research team analyzed data f...

   HOW AGGRESSION IS INDUCED WITH ALCOHOL USE Study finds link to increase in pain threshold         Alcohol's ability to increase people's pain threshold is one reason that drinking also leads to more aggressive behavior, a new study suggests. Researchers found that the less pain that study participants felt after drinking an alcoholic beverage, the more pain they were willing to inflict on someone else. "We've all heard the idiom 'I feel your pain,'" said study co-author Brad Bushman, professor of communication at The Ohio State University. "But if intoxicated people can't feel their own pain, they might be less likely to feel empathy when others feel pain, and that could lead them to be more aggressive." The study was published recently in the  Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs . This study used an experimental design, which has been used in research studies since 1967 and was approved for use in humans and others. This new research ...

  DARK CHOCOLATE MAY REDUCE DIABETES RISKS   Consuming dark chocolate but not milk may be associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "Our findings suggest that not all chocolate is created equal," said lead author Binkai Liu, a doctoral student in the Department of Nutrition. "For anyone who loves chocolate, this is a reminder that making small choices, like dark chocolate over milk chocolate, can make a positive difference to their health." The study will be published online in The BMJ. There is a body of research on the relationship between chocolate and T2D. Still, findings need to be more consistent, and few studies have differentiated between chocolate subtypes (dark versus milk). The researchers sought to fill this gap using the Nurses' Health Studies I and II data and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Over 30+ years, 192,000 adult participants who were ...

  AUTISM SCREENING AT PEDIATRIC WELL-CHILD VISITS IDENTIFIES AUTISM EARLIER         New research from Drexel University's A.J. Drexel Autism Institute found that standardized autism screening during pediatric well-child visits identifies more children with high autism likelihood at a younger age, including those presenting with more subtle symptoms. This is the first large-scale, randomized trial to test the impact of standardized autism screening on early detection of autism in pediatric primary care. Recently published in the  Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychology , the multi-site study tested whether using standardized autism toddler screening -- the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised, with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F) -- during pediatric well-child visits would result in a higher number of children receiving an autism diagnosis at a younger age compared to usual care. Usual care is generally a combination of non-...