Ra 4 Food - Health and Nutritional Tips

Lindy Waldron was shocked t discover she had ovarian cancer after previously being wrongly diagnosed with irratbale bowel syndrome (IBS).

The woman, a 59 year old librarian from East Sussex said, “I began to experience right-sided abdominal pain, which became persistent and eventually kept me awake at night.

“Very worried and convinced I had bowel cancer, I visited my GP.

“She felt my abdomen and couldn’t detect anything abnormal. Her diagnosis was IBS, but seeing the worried look on my face she agreed to refer me to a gastroenterologist.

“He also examined me abdominally and recorded ‘no obvious mass’. Thankfully, with private health insurance, it was only a short wait for a colonoscopy to rule out colitis.

“The procedure was difficult and painful and although the results were normal, my ovary on the right side was seen to be protruding against the intestine.

“A week later I had a trans-vaginal ultrasound (TVU) and during the scan I realised something was very wrong.

“The sonographer ran to find the consultant with the results. I remember sitting alone in the car in a complete state of shock.

“The consultant rang me later with the bad news: I had a large irregular complex mass behind the uterus and extending to both sides of the pelvis.

“I was referred urgently to a gynaecologist. When I rang my GP to tell her I might have cancer, she was lost for words.”

Mrs Waldron was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer five years ago when she was 54, but is now in full remission and goes to the hospital regularly for check ups.

Her story highlights the importance of a correct and early diagnosis of ovarian cancer, as chances of survival increase significantly if the disease is caught early enough. If left untreated however, death rates are hugely increased.

Ovarian cancer can often manifest with similar symptoms to IBS – abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits. However, look out for these symptoms as they could indicate early stage ovarian cancer, irregular periods, lower tummy pain, back pain, passing urine more often than usual, constipation, pain during sex and a swollen abdomen. If in doubt, get along to your GP – its better to be safe than sorry.

OK people, you better hunt out your kaftans, straw hats, jumbo water bottles and 50 factor sunscreen, because believe it or not, the usually drizzly little country that is England is heading for a meltdown of hot hot hot proportions – that’s right – there’s a heat wave coming your way! Well those of you that live in southern England and the Midlands that is.

Yes, health services are on guard as warnings ring out for soaring temperatures due to appear this week. The Department of Health (DoH) have released a level 2 warning after forecasts predict the mercury could zoom right up to 30C (90F) in old London town today as well as Tuesday. Night time is not expected to bring much cool relief either with minimum temperatures of 19C or 20C – ooh some hot sticky nights ahead then – best to ditch the silk sheets and revert to some lightweight cotton!

Other areas should watch out for the heat also as the Met Office suggests many could be lingering between the 29C and 30C mark with 15C to 18C once the sun sets.

“Keeping the home as cool as possible in hot weather and remembering the needs of friends, relatives and neighbours who could be at risk is essential,” the DoH said. “The elderly and those who are ill are particularly vulnerable in hot weather.”

Well I for one, who lives in Scotland, am not at all jealous of this preposterous heat, and am absolutely delighted with the week’s forecast ahead of being overcast, light/heavy rain with temperatures reaching a maximum of 15C. Humph.

It seems swine flu has managed to infiltrate the firm grip of religious traditions after the Catholic Diocese of Plymouth has announced wine should not be offered as part of Communion for the time being in order to halt the spread of the robust disease.

Churches will be receiving a letter from the Diocese asking them to just offer bread or wafers during the religious ritual after two cases of the virus were confirmed in the city.

Last week letters were sent out which suggested priests should avoid using chalices filled with wine.

Communications officer for the Diocese of Plymouth, Michael Fay, said, “The bishops discussed it and it was left to individual dioceses to decide on what measures they would take.”

He added that the Right Rev Christopher Budd, Roman Catholic Bishop of Plymouth has made the decision to not use wine for Communion as only “a temporary measure.”

He said, “He thought it was prudent to recommend that wine not be offered in the form of blood in the chalice.”

The Plymouth Diocese covers the majority of south-west England, serving Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.

It has 93 parishes and is divided into five deaneries: Cornwall, Plymouth, Torbay, Exeter and North and East Devon, and Dorset.

A report revealed today that some pre-packaged shop bought salads have more fat in them than a Big Mac and fries.

Which? has identified options at Morrisons and Asda are the most unhealthy choices.

The Smedleys Atlantic Prawn Marie Rose Salad, available at a few supermarkets including Morrisons, comes in at a whopping 855 calories and 66.3g fat – that’s 70 per cent of a man’s daily calorie allowance.

The Big Mac and medium fries tallies up at 820 calories and 40g of fat.

Creamy sauces seem to be the culprit for the high fat and calorie content, according to the report.

The report identified the discrepency in the labelling of salads, saying it could be difficult for buyers to see the total fat content.

The research revealed that Tesco Tuna Layered Salad only provide the nutrition information for half of the pack, rather than the full salad which has 550 calories and 41g fat.

Martyn Hocking, of Which?, said, “If you thought your high-street salad was healthy, you could be in for a surprise.

“Which? has found that there were large differences between the amount of fat, saturated fat, salt and calories in pre-packaged salads.

“This latest research backs up what we’ve been saying for ages - a clear, consistent labelling scheme is important to help people spot how much fat, sugar and salt is in the food they’re buying.”

However Morrisons have responded by saying the report was “misleading” and did not truly represent the company.

A spokesman said, “Morrisons sells around 1.5 million salads each week, and this particular branded line accounts for less than one tenth of one per cent of those sales.

“The comparison is absurd, Which? Is weighing up a mayonnaise based product against a leafy salad. It’s not comparing like with like.”

A spokesman for Asda said, “We are the only supermarket that gives customers the benefit of traffic light colours, guideline daily amounts, grams of nutrients per portion and the words ‘high’, ‘medium’ and ‘low’ on our products, the very labelling system that Which? is calling for and has recommended by the Food Standards Agency.

“Unlike other retailers, our customers can see at a glance which of our wide range of salads are the healthiest and which are a bit more of an indulgence.”

Sainsbury’s advised their line of salads was variable and had something to suit a wide range of consumers.

A spokesman said, “The salad highlighted by Which? is clearly labelled red for fat but is also labelled green for saturates as it contains only 2.1g of saturated fat as a result of the work we have done to reduce saturate levels across all of our own label ranges. It is also labelled green for salt and sugars.”

Which? studied 20 different salads available on the high street in order to put the report together.

They did find a few “healthy options” including Sainsbury’s Rainbow Salad which contains soya beans and lentils and Sainsbury’s Thai Chicken Noodle is low in fat, salt and sat fat.

Both salads had the dressing on the side in a separate compartment.

Which? is demanding that food companies use a better labelling system in order for shoppers to know exactly how much fat, sugar and salt they are eating.

TV chef and restaurateur Antony Worral Thompson has become an additional member of a campaign group demanding the smoking ban be amended.

Thompson, along with MPs from three of the main political parties are asking for a more relaxed attitude to the strict ban after many venues are losing money, making staff redundant and even closing down.

The campaigners would like the British system to take a leaf from the Spainiard’s book, where establishments with a small amount of floor space can opt to be smoking or non-smoking, but places with an area larger than 100 square metres can create a completely separate smoking room.

In addition they would like to see smoking tobacco legalised for venues where the appropriate license is obtained which guarantees an efficient ventilation system and quality of air.

Campaigners would also like to see the Government giving way to local authorities in decision making surrounding smoking regulations.

The British Beer and Pub Association report that since the ban as many as six pubs are closing every day, and that urgent action must be taken in order to prevent more from closing.

Patron of the smokers’ group, Forest, Worral Thompson said, “The smoking ban has had an extraordinarily detrimental effect on pubs and clubs, and you can understand why.

“They used to be bastions of adult entertainment where young and old could meet and chat over a pint without the health police looking over their shoulders.

“Modern ventilation systems combined with separate rooms make it perfectly acceptable to smoke indoors. The legislation as it stands is excessive and I would like to see it amended.”

Greg Knight, Conservative MP for East Yorkshire, David Clelland, Labour MP for Tyne Bridge and John Hemming, Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley have all pledged their support to the campaign.

Mr Knight said, “I fully support this campaign. Britain’s pubs and clubs are at the heart of every local community and the UK approach of banning indoor smoking everywhere is damaging the viability of many licensed premises where people wish to smoke.

“Pub landlords and club committees know best what their customers want and they should be allowed to provide smoking rooms if there is a demand.”

In the Midlands it’s strong curry flavours that excite the taste buds, while up north in Scotland they prefer rich creamy textures to savour.

New food researchers have discovered that a person’s taste in food is based on the region they come from.

Scientists at the University of Nottingham identified that like different regional accents, our taste preferences are also varied according to our home towns.

Interestingly this is also determined by the history of the area – in the North East foods they can be tasted immediately right on the tip of the tongue – like sour flavours are preferred. According to the researchers this is due to their history as an industrial area with hungry workers wanting an instant hit.

The survey, which was run by Costa Coffee, investigated the palates of 13,000 people from all different regions. In the north west across cities like Liverpool and Manchester, the preference is for soft, round flavours, with a suggestion this could be due to the region’s soft waters.

Food psychologist, Greg Tucker, and Andy Taylor, Professor of Flavour Technology at the University of Nottingham and an adviser to creative chef Heston Blumenthal, commented that the research was based on the abilities of different parts of the tongue picking up different flavours.

The front detects sweet flavours, the back picks up bitter tastes, the sides of the front can distinguish sour flavours while the middle tastes salty foods.

Professor Taylor said, “Taste is determined by our genetic make-up and influenced by our upbringing and experience with flavours.

“Just as with spoken dialects, where accent is placed on different syllables and vowel formations, people from different regions have developed enhanced sensitivities to certain taste sensations and seek foods that trigger these.”

Mr Tucker, managing director of the Marketing Clinic, based in Cambridge, said, “I suspected that there might be some minor differences from region to region but I was quite surprised that the variations were so pronounced.

“Taste preferences are predetermined by a combinations of economics, culture and genetics. ‘Taste dialect’ is a good phrase because just as you get dialects in any other countries, so you get taste dialects that are driven by different factors.”

In addition the researchers found that surprisingly, those in the South has the least defined regional taste buds, while the Scots were discovered to be the slowest eaters (also surprising!)

Two men are celebrating their lives after they were treated with a new radical drug which in essence, cured their inoperable prostate cancer.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in the US, where the men were being treated, were overwhelmed with the results.

The urologist heading the team that treated them, Dr Eugene Kwon said, “This is one of the Holy Grails of prostate cancer research. We have been looking for this for years.”

Rodger Nelson and Fructuoso Solano-Revuelta were diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and went to the Mayo Clinic – an international renowned facility in search of treatment.

Both men were informed they had advanced stage inoperable prostate cancer, with a prognosis of only a few months to live and palliative care the only option. However, after just one dose of the wonder drug ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody that stimulates the immune system, given with conventional hormone therapy, both men’s tumours dramatically shrunk in size before being surgically removed. They are now in full remission and have returned to their everyday lives.

The two men were part of a group of 108 patients undergoing a trial of the new drug. However, the pair were pulled from the trial after astounding results in order for them to undergo the necessary surgery.

Dr Kwon said yesterday, “Halfway through the trial we began seeing remarkable responses. Some patients had dramatic shrinkage of their tumours so practically all traces had disappeared. We had thought we might get some incremental delay in the progression of the cancer. It had not dawned on us that we might go from an inoperable tumour to an operable one. That just doesn’t happen.”

However, it was only after pressure from Carol Nelson – Mr Nelson’s wife and a former nurse – that the surgeons attempted to remove the tumours.

“The idea of surgery on an ‘inoperable’ tumour had not dawned on us. It is often disappointing and not advisable. But she is a tough lady – and having been a nurse she knew how to control the doctors. We said we didn’t think surgery would work, but we would try,” Dr Kwon said.

In fact, the effects of the drug were so dramatic, that Michael Bute – the operating surgeon – feared he was working on the wrong patient, “I was cutting away scar tissue trying to find cancer cells. The pathologist was checking samples as we proceeded and sent word back asking if we had the right patient. He had a hard time finding any cancer. I have never seen anything like this before. The pathologists were floored.”

Dr Kwon said, “These were patients for whom there was no hope. The course of their disease has been altered in a dramatic fashion. We have a major finding which we never expected to stumble across but we have to complete our studies.”

He added that further trials were required in order to finalise and confirm the research, before the study is published. A larger trial will begin in the autumn.

Professor Malcolm Mason, a Cancer Research UK prostate cancer specialist, said, “These case reports are extremely interesting and encouraging. Ipilimumab might potentially be a strong stimulator of the immune system, and it seems logical that it might also be effective in prostate cancer.

“But caution is needed, as earlier trials with this drug in other types of cancer were less successful than reported here, and its true value can only become clear through large-scale, randomised clinical trials, two of which are already under way. The other cautionary note is that both men received hormone therapy, which in some instances causes dramatic reductions in tumour size by itself.”

A new study poses the possibility of using a drug normally reserved for those who are severely disabled in order to treat early stage rheumatoid arthritis.

In the trials the advanced antibody drug, rituximab had significant reduction effects on patients who had only recently developed the disease.

Up to half a million people in the UK are diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which involves the body’s immune system attacking the joints.

In the Image trial, headed by Professor Paul-Peter Tak from the University of Amsterdam, 775 people were tested – they had all been recently diagnosed.

Patients received one year of treatment with either methotrexate, a “gold standard” early-stage treatment, and rituximab which was discovered to be three times better at reducing symptoms – to the extent where some patients could be deemed in remission.

Ordinarily patients undergo a standard order of treatments – from painkillers to anti-rheumatic drugs like methotrexate, which slow progression and delay joint damage.

As much as 30.5 per cent of the patients on the methotrexate and rituximab combination, saw a huge reduction in symptoms, compared to 12.5 per cent on the methotrexate only. The cost of a course of treatments on rituximab is priced at around £3,492 – much less than the £12,000 cost of a standard anti-TNF drug.

New research has proven that we can up our cancer fighting skills merely by popping our vibrant carrots into the pot whole to cook, rather than chopping them up first. Could it really be that easy? Yes – and in fact there is even a suggestion they taste nicer this way too!

So OK, you may need to hunt out your mega pans, but the action of cooking a carrot whole before chopping it up to eat could increase its cancer fighting properties by 25 per cent! Or so say the researchers at the University of Newcastle, who discovered that “boiled-before-cut” carrots had as much as quarter more quantities of the anti-cancer compound falcarinol compared to those that were chopped up first.

The reason it tastes better this way, is because all the sugars in the carrots that make them taste so sweet are conserved in higher concentrations.

The wonderful effects of the carrot or more specifically of falcarinol, was fist identified four years earlier by Kisten Brandt who headed the study, discovering that rats feeding on Buggs Bunny’s favourite food had a third less likely chance of getting tumours, compared to rats on a different diet.

“Chopping up your carrots increases the surface area so more of the nutrients leach out into the water while they are being cooked,” said Dr Brandt. “By cooking them whole and chopping them up afterwards you are locking in both taste and nutrients. We all want to try to improve our health and diet by getting the right nutrients and eating our five-a-day.

“The great thing about this is it’s a simple way for people to increase their uptake of a compound we know is good for you.”

The successful team took their results to a conference in Lille, France yesterday. In addition, just to hammer their point home, they used 100 people to try a blind taste test in order to compare the “boiled-before-cut” versus “cut-before-boiled” carrots. And the results? Well almost unanimous – with over 80 per cent preferring the former.

New research released today reveals that men have a 40 per cent higher risk of dying from cancer than women. In addition they are 70 per cent more likely to die from cancers where both men and women are affected, excluding breast cancer and prostate cancer.

The statistics have been compiled as part of a new report by the National Cancer Intelligence Network, (NCIN), Cancer Research UK and the Men’s Health Forum, and were formulated according to cancer rates in the population, which were amended for age.

Researchers reveled there was “no biological reason” that men should have a higher risk of getting the disease and dying from it, however possible reasons could be “stereotypical” male behaviours like not visiting the doctor early enough and ignoring the symptoms.

In the report it was discovered that men are 16 per cent more likely to get any type of cancer and 60 per cent more likely to develop a cancer that affects both men and women.

Professor David Forman from the NCIN said, “Men have a reputation for having a ’stiff upper lip’ and not being as health-conscious as women. What we see from this report could be a reflection of this attitude, meaning men are less likely to make lifestyle changes that could reduce their risk of the disease and less likely to go to their doctor with cancer symptoms.”