Resveratrol, a popular plant extract shown to prolong life in yeast and lower animals due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, appears also to suppress inflammation in humans, based on results from the first prospective human trial of the extract conducted by University at Buffalo endocrinologists...

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with arterial stiffness, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, in black teens according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Black teens taking vitamin D supplementation of 2,000 international units (IU) per day had a decrease in central arterial stiffness...

Millions of people are taking herbs and other plant-based dietary supplements to improve their health, but they have precious little information on the actual effectiveness or potential ill effects of these products. That's the topic of an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly news magazine...

As doctors increasingly prescribe meditation to patients for stress-related disorders, scientists are gaining a better understanding of how different techniques from Buddhist, Chinese, and Vedic traditions produce different results...

"Eat your veggies," "Don't run with scissors" and now "Take your calcium and vitamin D." A clinical study conducted at the School of Exercise Science at Australian Catholic University has shown that taking high quality calcium supplements like USANA's Active Calcium could help preadolescent girls set the stage for a lifetime of strong, mineral-rich bones...

In high-income countries, diseases related to vitamin deficiencies are not as frequent as in poorer settings but are nonetheless regular occurrences. In a Clinical Picture published Online First and in next week's Lancet, the case of a 24-year-old pregnant woman suffering vitamin A deficiency is reported...

Biliopancreatic diversion surgery for morbid obesity is known to cause multiple vitamin deficiencies that may worsen during pregnancy...

It's nearly impossible to pay attention to one thing for a long time. A new study looks at whether Buddhist meditation can improve a person's ability to be attentive and finds that meditation training helps people do better at focusing for a long time on a task that requires them to distinguish small differences between things they see...

Patients who had experienced a heart attack and lowered their blood homocysteine levels with folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation did not have an associated lower risk of heart attack, coronary death or stroke, according to a study in the June 23/30 issue of JAMA. However, the researchers did find that folic acid supplementation did not increase the risk of cancer, which has been speculated...

Evidence from three long-term, large-scale studies supports the association of physical activity and certain dietary elements (tea, vitamin D) with possibly maintaining cognitive ability and reducing dementia risk in older adults, according to new research presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2010 (AAICAD 2010) in Honolulu, HI...

Scientists researching a toxin extracted from the venom of the honey bee have used this to inform the design of new treatments to alleviate the symptoms of conditions such as muscular dystrophy, depression and dementia...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that Que She, marketed as an herbal weight loss supplement, contains active pharmaceutical ingredients not listed on the product label that could harm consumers, especially those with cardiovascular conditions. People who have purchased Que She should stop taking the product immediately and consult a health care professional...

Researchers at the University of Granada -in collaboration with the Clinical Hospital San Cecilio and the University Rey Juan Carlos- have proven that the psychological and physiological state of patients with tension headache improves within 24 hours after receiving a 30-minute massage. As researchers explained, tension headaches have an increasing incidence in the population...

A controlled trial in Norway found that the popular dietary supplement glucosamine was no better than placebo at reducing pain-related disability in people with lower back pain with degenerative lumbar osteoarthritis (OA)...

A recent report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, adds to the growing evidence that fish oil supplements may play a role in preventing chronic disease. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., led by Emily White, Ph.D...

High levels of vitamin E in the blood could be linked with a decreased risk for Alzheimer's disease in older age a new study has suggested. The research published in the Journal of Alzheimer's disease claims people with high levels of several Vitamin E compounds have a 45-54 per cent lower risk of developing dementia...

Half of all patients worldwide, and especially those with chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, use nutraceuticals and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. However, these patients often do not discuss the use of these agents with their clinicians. Researchers evaluated cardiologits' attitudes towards and accuracy in identifying their patients' nutraceutical and OTC drug use...

A recent study, "Perceived Benefit of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Back Pain" (Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, May - June 2010, Vol. 23 No.3), found the majority of respondents receiving CAM for back pain reported great benefit from the various treatments...

Acupuncture can improve exercise tolerance in patients suffering from chronic heart failure. This was determined in a clinical pilot study by the team headed by Dr. Johannes Backs, physician and study director at the Department of Internal Medicine III (Cardiology, Angiology, and Pneumology - Medical Director: Professor Dr. Hugo Katus) of Heidelberg University Hospital...

A South Dakota State University scientist's research shows an extract made from a food plant in the Brassica family was effective in alleviating signs of ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel condition, in mice...