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Scientists say they have found a mechanism which may explain why a poor diet during pregnancy can increase the risk of offspring developing diabetes in later life.
They say rat studies indicate an imbalanced diet in the mother can lead to the “silencing” of a gene linked to insulin production in the child.
The Cambridge study is in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Experts said it showed a healthy diet was important during pregnancy. [Read more...]
Lung cancer rates among older women have doubled in the past 30 years, figures show.
Experts say the disease is occurring amongst those who started smoking in the 1970s and 1980s, many of whom never kicked the habit.
Rates for British women aged 60 and over rose from 88 per 100,000 in 1975 to 190 per 100,000 in 2008, the latest figures available.
Those over 80 had the highest rates of all with 273 cases per 100,000 in 2008, three times as many as 1975 when there were only 84 per 100,000. [Read more...]
According to insurance giant State Farm, about one in five drivers said in an informal online survey that they surf the Internet while behind the wheel.
State Farm says it will conduct a more detailed scientific study this year.
In the November survey of 912 licensed drivers, over 19 percent admitted to accessing the Internet on a cellphone at least once a week while driving.
That compared with 74 percent who reported making or receiving calls at least once weekly while driving and 35 percent who reported sending or receiving text messages at least that frequently. [Read more...]
People who get plenty of potassium-rich foods in their diet may be less likely to suffer a stroke, a new research review finds.
The review, of 11 studies following more than 247,000 adults, found that as potassium intake went up, participants’ risk of suffering a stroke went down.
That does not prove that potassium, itself, deserves the credit. But the foods highest in the mineral—including many fruits and vegetables—are considered generally healthy choices. [Read more...]
Numerous studies have shown that coffee protects against type 2 diabetes. Yet no one has really understood why.
Now, researchers at UCLA have discovered a possible molecular mechanism behind coffee’s protective effect.
A protein called sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) regulates the biological activity of the body’s sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen, which have long been thought to play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes. And coffee consumption, it turns out, increases plasma levels of SHBG. [Read more...]
People who lead an active lifestyle are up to three times less likely to develop polyps which can develop into bowel cancer, according to a study.
The report pulls together 20 previous studies looking at the link between exercise and the development of large polyps.
Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK.
More than 38,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year. [Read more...]
People with high blood pressure may have to start watching their sugar as well as their salt, new research suggests.
In a new study, those who consumed the most sugar-sweetened beverages like soda and fruit juices had higher blood pressure readings, Dr. Ian J. Brown of Imperial College London, and colleagues reported in the journal Hypertension. [Read more...]