B5
· The Epoch Times·
Breast-Feeding May Reduce
Mothers’ Diabetes Risk ...
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—
Women who breastfeed longer have
a lower risk of developing type 2
diabetes, new research shows.
“Various studies suggest that
breast-feeding affects women’s
metabolism, and that prompted us
to look at whether lactation does
something in terms of diabetes risk,”
Dr. Alison M. Stuebe of Brigham
and Women’s Hospital and Harvard
Medical School in Boston told
Reuters Health. “Those studies
show that metabolism, lactation and
reproduction are all tied together in a
potentially interesting way.”
To look for associations
between lactation duration and the
development of type 2 diabetes,
Stuebe and her colleagues analyzed
data from two large groups of women
who had given birth. The ﬁrst group
included 83,585 women who were
part of the Nurses’ Health Study, and
the second group included 73,418
women who were part of the Nurses’
Health Study II. “The second group is
a younger group,” said Stuebe.
The researchers found that in the
ﬁrst 15 years after a woman’s last
delivery, each year of breastfeeding
was associated with a 15-percent
reduction in her risk of diabetes. “In
that analysis, we took into account
diet, exercise, smoking status,
whether or not the women took
multivitamins—which is a marker
of whether they are health-conscious
or not—and we still found that 15percent beneﬁt,” remarked Stuebe.
“Beyond 15 years after the last
birth there wasn’t so much of a
beneﬁt, but for at least the ﬁrst 15
years there seems to be some longterm association that protects women
from diabetes,” she added.
“In some way, pregnancy is a
pro-diabetic state; you have more
resistance to insulin, and that’s part of
the way the body makes sure that the
fetus gets enough sugar,” explained
Stuebe. “Then comes lactation which,
in a sense, is an anti-diabetic state.”
The researchers’ hypothesis is
that lactation resets the body after
pregnancy. If a woman does not
breastfeed for a prolonged period
of time, the risk of diabetes might
increase.
For Stuebe, one of the nicest things
about these ﬁndings is that there is no
downside to breastfeeding. “It gives
us more reasons to encourage women
to breastfeed: it’s good for babies and
it’s good for mothers,” she concluded.
SOURCE: The Journal of the
American Medical Association,
November 23/30, 2005
...and Protect Against
Celiac Disease
LONDON (Reuters)—Mothers
who breast-feed their children may
help to protect them from developing
celiac disease, an intolerance to
a protein found in wheat, rye and
barley, scientists said last Tuesday.
In a review of 15 studies, they found
that the longer children are breast-fed
the less likely they are to suffer from
the illness.“Breast-feeding may offer
protection against the development
of celiac disease,” said Dr. Tony
Akobeng of the Central Manchester
Children’s University Hospital in
England.But he and his team said in
a report published in the Archives of
Disease in Childhood they are not
sure whether breast-feeding delays
the onset of symptoms of the illness
or provides permanent protection
against it.
Celiac disease is a genetic disease
in which the immune system damages
the small intestine when gluten is
eaten.
The review, which involved more
than 4,000 children, showed that if
babies were breast-fed when they
were introduced to solid foods
containing gluten, it cut their risk
of suffering from the illness by 52
percent compared to other youngsters.
The researchers said they are not
sure how breast-feeding protects a
child from the illness. They suspect it
could reduce their exposure to gluten
or curb the immune system’s response
to the protein.
Celiac disease can produce a
variety of symptoms including
weight loss, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle
cramps, abdominal pain and bloating.
The only treatment is to eat a glutenfree diet.
Health
Nov. 28 - Dec. 4, 2005
How to Deal with Grief
By MAIA PAGAN
Epoch Times Seattle Staff
Getty Images
EARLY ARRIVAL: Born at 28 weeks, he may be at risk for hypertension.
Premature Birth Raises
Blood Pressure Risk
STOCKHOLM (Reuters)—Premature birth may create a risk for high
blood pressure, a study by scientists
based on tests of Swedish men showed
on Monday.
The study, presented in the Journal
of the American Heart Association,
involved 329,495 Swedish men born
between 1973 and 1981 and drafted
for military service between 1993 and
2001, who had blood pressure tests.
It found that men born extremely
pre-term, at less than 29 weeks, had almost twice the risk of high blood pressure, which raises the chances of heart
attacks, strokes and other illnesses.
Men born very pre-term, at 29-32
weeks, had a 45 percent increased risk,
while those born moderately pre-term,
at 33 to 36 weeks, had a 24 percent increased risk.
“In this study, pre-term birth was
identiﬁed as a new and very early risk
factor for high blood pressure,” said
Stefan Johansson, lead author of the
study and a neonatologist at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.
“The risk was particularly high
among young men who were born at
least eight weeks early,” he added in a
statement.
The association between pre-term
birth and high blood pressure was unlikely to be explained by family history or genetic factors, he said. Rather
it was likely to be due to challenges
faced by the premature baby.
Old Wives’ Tales?
My friend Nancy suddenly lost
her husband of 52 years last week.
How sorrowful, to lose a loved one!
Initially, I was at a loss for words.
I put myself in her shoes, thinking
how I would react if my husband or
one of my children would suddenly
take ill and die. I experienced a bit
of that feeling a couple of years ago
when one of our daughters, up to that
point a healthy young married mother
with a ten-year-old son, was told she
had cancer and it had metastasized.
Our family rallied around her. At one
point during chemotherapy and radiation she wanted to give up and simply
slip away. We would not let her.
Rallying around a severely ill person or one who experiences a sudden
loss of a loved one is hard work! It
takes courage, tact, honesty, mental
stamina, perseverance, physical energy, patience, a belief in a higher
power and at times a good dose of humor. Grieving is hard work. Once the
initial shock from a death ebbs a bit,
the realization sets in that death cannot be undone, no matter how much
we wish for it. Then, the true impact
of where we are sets in and the real
work begins.
All people among my acquaintances who have lost a family member
or a good friend share one common
trait—a belief in themselves and in
their ability to cope creatively. When
I spoke with Nancy on the telephone
she told me the thing she appreciated
most was her friends’ respect for her
unique way of grieving, and a simple
hug from them and the words, “my
good thoughts are with you,” nothing
more. And then she laughed and said,
“You know, I have always wished my
husband had a sense of humor.”
Gentle humor can indeed help us
over many a tough spot in life. Some
psychologists have even gone so far
as to tell us humor can shorten an
illness and in some cases even hasten a cure. It is normal and entirely
human to resent the unexpected turn
of events that leaves us without the
one we loved and cherished, and it
is totally realistic to feel shock and
disbelief that the loved one is gone.
But we can do something about a
loss, not merely the loss of a person,
but the loss of our abilities we had
taken for granted, the loss of our
health, perhaps. One ancient book
tells us, “A merry heart acts like
good medicine.”
Humor has even been shown to
enhance the immune system. Norman
Cousins, former well-known editor
for The Saturday Evening Review
took ill in the 1960s after his return
from a trip behind the Iron Curtain.
He was diagnosed with ankylosing
spondilitis, an excruciatingly painful
illness. After a thorough consultation with his physicians, he and the
doctors decided on a unique regimen, a way of recovery that proved
successful. Mr. Cousins checked
in-to a comfortable hotel instead of a
hospital, ordered room service for all
his meals and watched funny movies
for several hours a day. The laugher
and humor provided him with a few
hours of pain-free sleep. Humor in
combination with his positive outlook
on life actually made him well. He
chronicled his experience in a book
entitled “Anatomy of an Illness.”
This approach may not work for everyone. And neither had anyone told
Mr. Cousins how long it would take
him to get over grieving for the loss
of his health. We cannot simply tell
someone, “Snap out of it; life must
go on!” Different individuals handle
a loss in various ways and may
need more time than others to work
through grief. Some people need to
be surrounded by lots of others, “to
deaden the pain,” while certain ones
need solitude or the mere assurance
that a friend is always willing to listen
and on occasion willing to become
privy to an angry outburst when the
bereaved person is still in denial
(“How could this happen to me”).
Our words and thoughts are so
powerful! When we are privileged
to attempt consolation, what must
come to the fore are our compassion,
our patience, our creative silence and
gentle encouragement for the other
person. I rediscovered this realization
with Nancy, and am still amazed that
it worked with our daughter, who has
been cancer-free for two years now. A
kind word is never out of place!
Need
Professional
Help?
Stefan Byﬁeld/The Epoch Times
WARNING: “Don’t smell the dandelions or you’ll wet the bed.”
By KEVIN MCGOWAN
Epoch Times U.K. Staff
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—
Using antibiotics more than 10 times
in childhood increases the likelihood
of developing non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma (NHL), a cancer that
affects the body’s lymphatic system,
new research suggests.
Dr. Ellen T. Chang of the Northern
California Cancer Centre in Fremont
and her colleagues also found a
marginally increased NHL risk among
heavy users of non-steroidal antiinﬂammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such
as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil),
To investigate, the researchers
looked at data from the Scandinavian
Lymphoma Etiology study, which
included 3,055 patients with NHL who
were compared with 3187 healthy
subjects drawn from Danish and
Swedish population registers.
The “striking” association between
antibiotic use and NHL was seen
for all subtypes of the disease. High
NSAID use increased overall risk of
NHL and of diffuse large B-cell NHL,
SOURCE: American Journal of
Epidemiology, November 15, 2005
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MANY MORE BENEFITS: In addition to strengthening the immune
system, protecting against heart attacks later in life, protection from breast
cancer and mother-baby bonding, breast-feeding has now been shown to
protect children against celiac disease, and reduce mother’s diabetes risk.
omega-3 fatty acids, which is important for brain development. Research
also shows that ﬁsh eaters have less
For as long as we can remember, plaque in their arteries. Recent studour parents and grandparents gave ies have shown that it helps with
us countless pieces of advice, which mental function. Fish also contains
are known as old wives’ tales. Passed vitamin B, which helps with cognidown throughout the generations, old tive ability and memory.
wives’ tales are probably as old as
There is one fascinating aspect of
language itself. How many of them old wives’ tales, which is revealing
are true and how many are just plain and some might even say mystical.
rubbish?
Many of them have good scientiﬁc
The earliest parental advice I can evidence supporting them, yet they
recall is my mother’s little nugget originated hundreds of years ago,
of wisdom: “Don’t smell the dan- way before the invention of today’s
delions or you’ll wet the bed.” This scientiﬁc tools, which has allowed
saying may have its roots in the fact us to validate them. If we think in
that dandelion root is a diuretic. “Eat terms of Darwin’s theory of evoluplenty of carrots—they’re good for tion, then our ancestors should have
your eyes,” or you may have heard: been leagues behind us in terms of
“Eat plenty of carrots, and you can understanding the human body. Yet
see better in the dark.” Carrots do we only have to look at ancient
contain vitamin A, which can help Chinese medicine to know that our
the vision. Vitamin A deﬁciency is a ancestors were very advanced in
cause of night blindness. Carrots also this ﬁeld. An example is the use of
contain the nutrient lutein in small acupuncture. Thousands of years
amounts, which has been shown to before the invention of x-rays, CT
reduce the severity of the age-related scans and MRIs, Chinese doctors
eye disease macular degeneration, were able to map out the body’s
one of the top causes of vision loss.
acupuncture points with startling
Another thing we often hear par- precision. How did they do it?
ents tell their kids is, “Don’t leave the
This is not to say that all old wives’
crust of your bread—that’s the best tales are words of wisdom. My mothpart!” They certainly aren’t wrong. A er used to tell me, “Stop crossing
study in the journal Agriculture and your eyes or they’ll stay that way!”
Food Chemistry found that the crust Needless to say, people whose eyes
of bread has eight times the cancer- are permanently crossed are not beﬁghting antioxidants than a similar ing punished for making silly faces
quantity of the rest of the bread.
when they were kids! Having one’s
We’ve also heard the saying, “An eyes crossed is caused by a muscle
apple a day keeps the doctor away.” imbalance, and people are usually
Besides being very tasty and sweet, born that way.
fresh fruit is a great source of antiI hope we can keep this tradition
oxidants, which can reduce the risk alive. Some old wives’ tales are true,
of strokes, cancer and heart disease. some contain elements of truth and
Eating an apple everyday can give some are just absurd. For parents,
your body some of the nutrients it though, the odd old wives’ tale here
needs to stay healthy.
and there is a useful parenting tool;
You may have heard “ﬁsh is brain I certainly never crossed my eyes or
food.” Fish is an excellent source of stuck my nose in a dandelion again!
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