PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  ABDOMINAL FAT REDUCTION         Do you wish you could decrease your waistline? Reducing abdominal obesity can lower health risks -- but despite claims you may have seen on the Internet, no trending diet can help you specifically eliminate belly fat, according to an article in  ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal® . "There is still no miracle diet, food, nutrient, or bioactive component that will target abdominal fat," writes Kari D. Pilolla, PhD, RDN, of the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. But a heart-healthy diet high in fiber and low in saturated fats is a great way to prevent and reduce abdominal obesity, according to the article, part of a special theme issue of  ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal , focusing on Nutrition. What's New in Nutrition? New Updates for Health and Fitness Professionals Amid the ongoing obesity epidemic, there is increasing attention to the health risks associated with abdominal obesity -- exc...

  A MORE EFFECTIVE FLU VACCINE MAY BE ON THE WAY   Stanford Medicine scientists have designed a way to make seasonal influenza vaccinations more broadly effective and protect against new flu variants with pandemic potential. A study to be published on Dec. 20 in  Science  showed  that the method works in cultured human tonsil tissue . Flu season is upon us, and flu is no joke. Every year, the influenza virus kills hundreds of thousands of people and sends millions to the hospital. The seasonal flu vaccine many of us get is intended to keep that from happening by giving our immune system a heads-up that speeds its readiness for combat with the virus. A key component of that response is the development of antibodies: specialized proteins that can bind selectively to a targeted virus like a piece of a puzzle to its next-door neighbor and, when the fit is tight enough and in the right place, prevent that virus from getting into our cells and replicating inside of th...

  Moderate-to-vigorous exercise Lowers Preterm Birth Risk With Gestational Diabetes. By Lori Solomon, HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Dec. 23, 2024 -- Moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) during pregnancy is inversely associated with preterm birth in women with gestational diabetes (GD), according to a study published online Dec. 19 in  JAMA Network Open . Wanglong Gou, Ph.D., from Westlake Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine in China, and colleagues examined the association of accelerometer-derived physical activity metrics and patterns with preterm birth among women with GD. The analysis included 1,427 women with GD with wearable accelerometer-derived physical activity data. The researchers found an inverse relationship between an increase in MVPA and the fraction of physical activity energy expenditure derived from MVPA and preterm birth (odds ratio per 30 minutes, 0.64 and 0.69, respectively). The odds of preterm birth decreased progressively with in...

  ACETAMINOPHEN: RISKS FOR OVERUSE Recent research from Britain highlights the risks of overusing paracetamol, known as acetaminophen or Tylenol in the United States, particularly among those over 65. The study, published in Arthritis Care & Research, found that repeated doses of acetaminophen significantly increased the likelihood of complications involving the digestive system, heart, and kidneys in older adults who often take the drug for conditions like osteoarthritis, as Acetaminophen is a common pain and fever reliever, found both in cold and flu remedies and as a standalone medication. It works by interfering with signals in the brain that register pain and by affecting chemicals that control body temperature. It also appears to reduce the body’s production of prostaglandins, substances involved in the body's response to illness or injury. Dr. Weiya Zhang, of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Nottingham, led the research. Zhang noted that acetamino...

  IS IT POSSIBLE TO CHANGE CANCER CELLS TO NORMAL CELLS?       Despite the development of numerous cancer treatment technologies, the common goal of current cancer therapies is to eliminate cancer cells. This approach, however, faces fundamental limitations, including cancer cells developing resistance and returning, as well as severe side effects from the destruction of healthy cells. KAIST (represented by President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on December 20th that a research team led by Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho from the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering has developed groundbreaking technology for treating colon cancer. This technology converts cancer cells into a state resembling normal colon cells without killing them, thus avoiding side effects. The research team focused on the observation that normal cells regress along their differentiation trajectory during the oncogenesis process. Building on this insight, they developed a technology to create a digital ...

  Tea and coffee may help protect you from some cancers. By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Dec. 26, 2024 -- That morning cup of coffee or afternoon spot of tea might be protecting you from Cancer. A new evidence review says that coffee and tea consumption is linked to a lower risk of mouth, throat, head, and neck cancers, per the results published in  Cancer . “Even decaffeinated coffee had some positive impact,” senior researcher  Yuan-Chin Amy Lee , an epidemiologist with the University of Utah School of Medicine, said in a news release from the journal’s publisher. Head and neck cancer is the seventh most common Cancer worldwide, with approximately 745,000 new cases and 364,000 deaths in 2020 alone, researchers said in background notes. For the study, researchers pooled data from 14 prior studies involving more than 9,500 people with head and neck cancer and nearly 16,000 healthy individuals. They found that people who drank more than four cups of coffee...

  Fish Oil Supplementation Cuts Measure of Prostate Cancer Progression By Lori Solomon, HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Dec. 23, 2024 -- A high  omega-3 , low omega-6 diet with fish oil supplementation for one year results in a significant reduction of a marker of prostate cancer progression among men enrolled in active surveillance (AS), according to a study published online on Dec. 13 in the  Journal of Clinical Oncology . William J. Aronson, M.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues examined whether a high omega-3, low omega-6 fatty acid diet with fish oil capsules (D + FO) decreases proliferation (Ki-67) in prostate biopsies in men with prostate cancer over one year of AS. The analysis included 100 men with grade 1 or 2 prostate cancer who elected AS. The researchers found that the Ki-67 index decreased in the D + FO group by approximately 15 percent from baseline to one year (1.34 to 1.14 percent at one year) and increased in...