How to know if an eye twitch is a sign of MS

 Although MS can cause an eye twitch, so can many other conditions. Most eye twitches will resolve on their own in time. However, if an eye twitch is persistent, it is advisable to contact a doctor.

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) sometimes experience facial twitchesTrusted Source, especially in the muscles around the eye.

However, an eye twitch alone does not usually mean that a person has MS. In fact, twitches in the eyelids are commonTrusted Source in otherwise healthy people and sometimes last for days or even months.

MS causes progressive damage to myelin, the substance that coats neurons. This damage affects how neurons work, causing symptoms such as pain, tingling, and involuntary movements, including twitches in the eyes and face.

It is rareTrusted Source for an eye twitch to be the first MS symptom that a person notices.

This article explores the causes and symptoms of an MS-related eye twitch and explains how to distinguish it from eye twitches with other causes.

Causes of eye twitch 

Many different factors — including health conditions, certain foods, and lifestyle and habit changes — may trigger twitches.

Sometimes, an eye twitch appears for no reason at all. Often, it is possible for a person to work out the cause of the eye twitch by linking the time that it first appeared with concurrent changes to their diet or everyday routine.

If a person cannot determine the cause, and the eye twitch does not go away, they should seek consultation with a doctor.

Some potential causes of an eye twitch include:

Stress or fatigue

Eyelid twitches can result from stress or fatigue, which often occur together — for example, when a person works long hours in a demanding job.

Other factors, such as staring at a computer screen for long periods or drinking lots of caffeine to stay awake, may further intensify symptoms.

These twitches may last for the duration of the stressful period, or they may appear suddenly, disappear, then come back again.

People undergoing major life changes, especially those that affect other aspects of health or well-being, may be more vulnerable to eyelid twitches.

For example, people enrolled in intense academic programsTrusted Source may report eyelid twitches, and this symptom can also occur during pregnancy.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant, which means that it increases activity in the brain and central nervous system. In some people, this may trigger an eyelid twitch.

Caffeine is a more likely culprit when a person drinks this stimulant in higher quantities than usual, on an empty stomach, or at a different time of day than they typically do.

However, some people suddenly notice a caffeine-related twitch even without changing their caffeine consumption habits.

Reducing or eliminating caffeine may help. However, some people use caffeine to manage stress or exhaustion. Without also addressing these factors, cutting back on caffeine may not be enough.

Dry, irritated eyes

Some people experience eyelid spasms when their eyes become dry or irritated.

These symptoms may happen after spending a long time in the sun or after extended periods of focusing the eyes on a computer screen. They are more likely to affect people with a history of dry eye.

Resting the eyes, applying eye drops, and, in some cases, performing eye exercises to reduce strain may be beneficial.

Damage to facial nerves

Sometimes, an abnormality in the nerve that connects the facial muscles can cause a muscle spasm that affects the eye on one side of the face.

This might happen after surgery, following a serious infection, or as a result of an injury, such as a fall or deep cut.

In most cases, a person will have other symptoms, such as spasms elsewhere on the face or a recent history of injury or infection.

Medication

Rarely, medication may trigger eyelid twitches. Some drugs that may cause spasms includeTrusted Source:

• flunarizine
• topiramate
• clozapine

A person who notices a new twitch can consider whether they:

• are taking a new medication
• are taking their medication in different circumstances
• have recently increased or lowered the dosage of a drug.

Neurological issues

Problems with the brain can affect the signal that it sends to the muscles and nerves, which can cause a variety of twitches and spasms.

It is impossible to diagnose neurological diseases based on symptoms alone, so it is important to see a doctor if an eye twitch does not go away, causes the face to twitch, or forces the eye to close all the way.

Source: Medical News Today

What are the stages of multiple sclerosis?

 Multiple sclerosis is a complex disease that affects the central nervous system. There are four main types, which differ in their stages or progression.

Learning about each type of multiple sclerosis (MS) may help a person gain a better understanding of the disease and its possible treatments following a diagnosis.

MS symptoms occur as a result of the body’s immune system mistakenly attacking the nerve fibers and protective myelin sheath around them.

The damage changes the signals that the nerves send to the body and can lead to scarring in the brain and spinal cord.

In this article, learn more about the types and stages of MS, the treatment options, and the outlook for people with this condition.

Stages of MS

MS primarily affects the central nervous system (CNS), which plays a crucial role in many bodily functions.

As MS can affect so many different bodily functions, each person may experience the disease slightly differently.

There are a few different types and stages of MS, which differ in how they progress.

Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS)

CIS is the first episode of MS symptoms that people experience, and it results from inflammation and damage to the myelin sheath. The National MS Society note that doctors will only define the episode as being CIS if it lasts at least a day.

In some cases, a person can experience CIS and not have MS. To diagnose MS, doctors will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look for active lesions or evidence of past lesions in a person’s brain.

In people who go on to receive an MS diagnosis, the early treatment of CIS may help delay the full onset of the disease.

Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS)

Most people with MS have relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). The first signs of the disease will typically appear before the age of 30 years.

A person with RRMS will experience attacks of new or worsening symptoms. After each attack, they will have an extended period in which their symptoms improve or disappear until the next relapse.

In some cases, symptoms become permanent and only get slightly better during remission.

New lesions often appear on the brain after a relapse. However, they may also appear without causing apparent symptoms.

The severity of symptoms can vary depending on the extent and location of the nerve damage. Remission time can range from about a week to many years.

During the remission phase, the disease will show no signs of progression.

Primary progressive MS (PPMS)

Primary progressive MS (PPMS) is less common than RRMS. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke state that this type of MS occurs most commonly after the age of 40 years.

People with PPMS have symptoms that gradually get worse over time. They may not have attacks or a sudden onset of symptoms, but they tend to experience symptoms throughout their life without recovery or remission. The severity of these symptoms can vary.

Some treatments for RRMS are less effective in treating the symptoms of PPMS.

Secondary progressive MS (SPMS)

After a person has lived with RRMS for many years, the disease may eventually progress to SPMS.

When this occurs, symptoms will gradually become more severe without any further distinction between attacks and remission.

Source: Medical News Today

Multiple sclerosis and the immune system: What do we know?

 The body’s immune system is a beautiful and complex defense system designed to protect us from infections. In the case of multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions, however, these defenses turn on the body.

In this feature, we investigate the complicated relationship between the immune system and multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as which way the causal relationship may lie.

In a person with MS, the immune system attacks axons — or nerve fibers — in the central nervous system (CNS), which are protected by an insulating layer called myelin.

MS damages these axons in the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves, which send visual information from the eye to the brain.

The scar tissue that MS causes as a result of its attacks is visible in the brain’s white and gray matter. During an MS attack — also called an exacerbation — different types of immune cells damage or destroy most of the myelin within the targeted area.

Experts regard MS as an autoimmune disease, but the scientific community has not been able to identify any MS-specific antigens, which are proteins that prompt the immune system to attack.

Although much is still unknown, what do we know so far about the immune system and its role in MS?

Autoimmunity: Attacking the wrong side

Similar conditions to MS that are regarded as autoimmune diseases include:

• psoriasis
• Crohn’s disease
• lupus
• rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
• type 1 diabetes

With MS, we know that T cellsTrusted Source — which play an important part in the immune system — become activated in the lymph system and then enter the CNS through blood vessels.

They then release chemicals that cause the damage associated with the condition, also activating B cells and other immune system cells to join the immune attack.

What scientists do not understand, however, is what finally knocks the immune system out of balanceTrusted Source, allowing the T and B cells to become activated.

Experts consider conditions, such as MS, RA, lupus, type 1 diabetes, and celiac disease, to be examples of autoimmune diseases that are associated with the production of autoantibodies and self-reactive T cells.

However, with psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, or ankylosing spondylitis, immunity against these so-called self-antigens is not a feature, even though the immune system is involved.

The question that researchers must tackle in the wake of MS is: what could prevent these self-activating T cells from attacking the CNS?

Source: Medical News Today

Multiple sclerosis research: Where are we now?

 Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes a wide range of symptoms involving the brain, optic nerves, and spinal cord. Research is only just beginning to reveal who is at risk and what causes the condition.

MS is a chronic condition affecting 2.8 million people worldwide. While treatment options are currently limited, trials of several new approaches are underway.

Researchers believeTrusted Source that MS is an autoimmune disorder. This type of illness involves the immune system attacking healthy cells, much as it would attack viruses or bacteria.

In the case of MS, the immune system attacks the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve cells. The attack causes lesions to form, and over time, these cause scarring, which leads to nerve damage and reduced function.

As a result of this damage, a person with MS may experience numbness and tingling sensations, fatigue, muscle weakness, dizziness and vertigo, memory issues, and vision problems, among other symptoms.

There are four types of MS: clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), relapsing-remitting MS, primary progressive MS, and secondary progressive MS.

CIS is a single episode of MS-like symptoms that lasts for at least 24 hours. People with CIS do not necessarily have MS, but experiencing an episode can be the first sign of the condition.

Treating MS involves interdisciplinary care, including rehabilitation, disease-modifying drugs (DMARDs), and complementary and alternative therapies.

Scientists do not fully understand the risk factors for MS and the mechanisms of the condition. However, they are making new headway in the search for answers and improvements in treatment.

What does the latest research show about the risk factors, mechanisms, and treatments of MS? In this Special Feature, Medical News Today takes a closer look.

A brief look at the history of MS

French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot first described the features of MS in 1868Trusted Source. He noted the differences between this condition and the tremor of paralysis agitans, a symptom of the neurological condition later named Parkinson’s disease.

The three symptoms associated with MS at the time were called Charcot’s triad. They included a characteristic tremor, involuntary eye movements, also known as nystagmus, and scanning speech, which some call staccato or explosive speech.

Decades later, the invention of MRI scans helped doctors diagnose MS. Treatment with steroids became commonplace, and doctors then began to use medications in a class of drugs called interferons. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved interferons for use in people with MS in 1993.

The unknowns of MS

Although scientists and healthcare professionals understand the defining features of MS, several aspects of the condition remain a mystery.

While researchers recognize that MS is an autoimmune condition, they do not understand why immune cells attack myelin.

Also, diagnosing MS is still an ambiguous processTrusted Source because its symptoms are similar to those of many other health conditions.

In addition, experts do not know why women are 2–3 times more likely to be diagnosed with MS than men.

Source: Medical News Today

Foodborne fungus may disrupt gut healing in Crohn’s disease

 

• A usually harmless fungus found in cheese, sausage, beer, wine, and other fermented foods may prevent intestinal ulcers from healing in people with Crohn’s disease.
• The researchers behind the new study say their evidence is preliminary, so it is too soon to recommend dietary changes.
• Antibiotic treatments in people may disrupt friendly gut bacteria, allowing the fungi to thrive.
• If scientists can develop an oral antifungal, it could improve intestinal wound healing and reduce symptoms.

Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that causes chronic inflammation of the gut, mainly in the small intestine.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases report that more than half a million people in the United States have the condition.

In people with Crohn’s disease, minor injuries to the gut lining fail to heal properly. These ulcers cause abdominal pain, bleeding, and diarrhea, among other symptoms.

Researchers have now discovered that a common foodborne fungus colonizes the intestinal wounds in a mouse model of the disease and in humans.

Once established, the microbe appears to enhance inflammation and slow down wound healing.

The research, led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, and the Cleveland Clinic, OH, has been published in the journal Science.

Exploiting a weakness

The fungus is a type of yeast called Debaryomyces hansenii that is often found in:

• cheese
• sausage and other processed meats
• beer and wine
• fermented foods

The fungus is harmless to people who are otherwise healthy, but it exploits a weakness in the intestinal lining of people with Crohn’s disease to penetrate the tissue.

First author Dr. Umang Jain, an instructor in pathology and immunology at the School of Medicine, explains:

Dr. Jain emphasizes that the research is preliminary and that patients should not stop eating cheese or processed meat.

His team is planning a larger study to investigate whether a person’s diet helps determine the abundance of the fungus in their intestine.

“If so, it is possible dietary modulation could lower levels of the fungus and thereby reduce symptoms of Crohn’s disease,” he says.

Source: Medical News Today

4 women whose work won the Nobel prize for their male colleagues

 Throughout history, female scientists have made groundbreaking discoveries that have contributed to the betterment of humankind. To celebrate Women’s History Month, this Special Feature looks at some of the most influential female scientists who never received a Nobel Prize for their work. Instead, the Prize landed in the hands of their male colleagues.

The Nobel Prize is a coveted honor granted to individuals in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, literature, and peace. The award goes to those who, by decree of Alfred Nobel in his will, “have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”

A Nobel Prize committee, which comprises five people whom the Storting (the Norwegian Parliament) have elected to the position, select the recipients of the award. The current Nobel committee members include three women: Berit Reiss-Andersen, Anne Enger, and Kristin Clemet. Two men, Jørgen Watne Frydnes and Asle Toje, make up the committee.

From the first Nobel Prize award in 1901 to the most recent in 2020, only 57 women have received this honor.

This list of female laureates includes Marie Curie, who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. Curie actually obtained the Prize twice, receiving it in Physics in 1903 and then in Chemistry in 1911.

Many female scientists have made equally outstanding contributions that should have resulted in a Nobel Prize award, but they never became laureates.

Instead, male colleagues took the credit and subsequently received the Nobel Prize.

In other instances, Nobel committees perhaps overlooked these women’s accomplishments at the time.

Who were these women who bestowed a great benefit on humankind yet, perhaps because of unfounded social inequities, never earned a Nobel Prize? Below is a comprehensive list of women in science who, in their lifetime, never became Nobel Prize laureates for their accomplishments.

Source: Medical News Today

Even modest consumption of added sugar may affect the liver

 

• Consuming moderate amounts of specific types of sugar may double the production of fat in the liver.
• This in turn can lead to the development of fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes.
• A recent study found that sucrose boosted fat synthesis slightly more than the same amount of fructose.

New research provides further evidence of the dangers of consuming sugar, proposing that ingesting even moderate amounts of the substance may lead to a change in a person’s metabolism.

Researchers at the Medical University of Graz, Austria, and the University of Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, recently reported their findings in the Journal of Hepatology.

Some sugars are natural components of fruits and vegetables. However, many of the processed foods we eat contain added sugars — sugar that the manufacturers add to foods and beverages to enhance their flavor or improve food’s appearance and texture.

High sugar intake has been linked to numerous health problems, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised that people eat no more than 5% of their daily calories from added sugar. For a diet of 2,000 calories per day, this would amount to 100 calories or 6 teaspoons or roughly 25 grams (g) of added sugar.

In 2015, market research firm Euromonitor reported that the average person in the United States consumes more than 126 g of sugar per day.

Meanwhile, the average person in the United Kingdom consumed 93.2 g.

Switzerland did not make the list of the top 10 countries whose citizens consume the most sugar. Still, the average person there consumed 76.1 g per day in 2015.

Examining moderate consumption of added sugar

Authors of the study were interested in finding out what happens when people consume moderate amounts of added sugar.

For their work, which they carried out between 2013 and 2016, they recruited 94 healthy male volunteers. The participants were aged 18–30 years and had a body mass index under 24kg/m2, which is considered a moderate weight.

The researchers selected participants under a certain weight to decrease the odds of recruiting people who had possibly already developed increased liver fat content.

Males who already consumed sugar-sweetened beverages daily or who logged more than 3 hours of physical activity per week were also excluded.

The researchers explained they did not study females, “as there is evidence for divergent metabolic effects of fructose on male and female subjects.”

Indeed, a 2008 study reported that fructose caused “markedly blunted” metabolic effects on young female participants compared with male ones.

Source: Medical News Today

Revenge bedtime procrastination: A plight of our times?

 The phrase revenge bedtime procrastination rings strangely, and its meaning is, perhaps, unintuitive. Yet, it has seen lots of attention from the press and the public. What is the phenomenon of bedtime procrastination, and what is it revenge on? We investigate.

It is late at night. Your day’s work — day job duties, homework for your course, house chores — is all done.

You glance at the clock: it is past midnight already. You are all ready for bed and so tired that you could almost pass out.

However, instead of closing your eyes and drifting off to sleep, something else happens. You start reading a book, watching an episode of your favorite show, or adding one more row to that knitting project.

Before you know it, one more page has become five more chapters, you have binge-watched an entire season of that show, or all but finished your knitting project.

By this time, however, it is 3.00 a.m., and you know you have to wake up at 6.00 a.m. You are very tired, and you know you will be sleep-deprived, but you could not help yourself. Why?

If this scenario seems familiar, it is because many people around the world have been increasingly engaging in this form of behavior. This phenomenon has become so widespread that it has earned the moniker: revenge sleep procrastination.

What is revenge bedtime procrastination, why does it happen, and who does it affect? Are there ways to modify this behavior to avoid sleep deprivation? In this Special Feature, we investigate.

What is it, and why does it happen?

The concept of bedtime procrastination first came up in a study paper by Dr. Floor Kroese — a behavioral scientist from Utrecht University in the Netherlands — and colleagues, which appeared in Frontiers in Psychology in 2014.

Dr. Kroese and her collaborators described bedtime procrastination as the act of “going to bed later than intended while no external circumstances are accountable for doing so” — that is, choosing to delay bedtime without a practical reason for this delay.

One study that appeared in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2020 focused on adolescents, the most obvious bedtime procrastinators.

This study found that many adolescents put off sleep to watch videos, listen to music, or send text messages. However, the reasons behind this purposeful delay remained unclear, and the study did not address this phenomenon’s occurrence in adults.

Besides, why should bedtime procrastination be an act of revenge? Who or what are bedtime procrastinators taking revenge on?

Source: Medical News Today

Skin swabs could be the next COVID-19 test

 

• Researchers have developed a new method for testing COVID-19 that uses a skin swab.
• The new test is less invasive compared to current testing methods.
• The skin swab test analyzes sebum, which is an oily substance produced by the sebaceous glands.
• Researchers from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom led the study.

It has been just over a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. In that time, more than 121 million people have contracted the virus, and 2.6 million have died.

Researchers have developed multiple vaccines over the past year, which are being administered all over the world. Recently, in some regions, the number of new COVID-19 cases has gone down.

However, testing is vital, as it allows medical professionals to know who has the virus and act quickly to quarantine others who may be at risk of exposure.

A team led by researchers from the University of Surrey in Guildford, England, developed a new method to test for COVID-19. The test utilizes skin swabbing, which is a non-invasive procedure.

COVID-19 testing

There are two types of diagnostic tests that can detect whether a person has the virus that causes COVID-19 — molecular tests and antigen tests.

Molecular tests detect genetic material from the virus, and antigen tests detect proteins from the virus. These tests diagnose active infections, and medical professionals perform these tests by collecting mucus samples from individuals.

As both types of tests generally involve using a long test swab in a person’s throat or nasal passages, most people consider them invasive. Molecular tests typically involve a nasopharyngeal swab (a swab of the part of the throat behind the nose), a nasal swab, or a throat swab. Experts consider molecular tests to be highly accurate, but it can take days to get results.

Antigen tests take less time to get results, but these tests are generally less accurate. Antigen tests may have higher rates of false negatives compared with molecular tests.

Doctors also use antibody testing to find out whether someone has recently had an infection. This type of test requires a blood sample.

The current testing methods have some limitations — the molecular tests can take longer, the antigen tests can be less sensitive, and both can be invasive. However, vaccine researchers continue trying to improve COVID-19 testing.

Not only can improved testing methods encourage people to get tested, but accurate results can also reduce the spread of the virus.

Source: Medical News Today

Does body fat protect females against heart disease?

 

• A study found that in both males and females, higher muscle mass was associated with lower mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD).
• Higher body fat was also associated with lower CVD mortality risk in females but not in males.
• The researchers claim that in females, building muscle mass may be more important than losing weight for cardiovascular health.

The researchers behind the study note that over the past 50 years, death rates from CVD have fallen in both males and females in the United States.

However, the rate of decline has been slower among females than males, and the rate of heart attacks in females aged 35–54 years is actually increasing.

In addition, research suggests that even though females have a lower incidence of CVD than males, they have a higher mortality rate and worse prognosis after an acute cardiovascular event.

As CVD seems to affect the sexes differently, there is an urgent need to determine whether doctors should offer different advice about prevention to their male and female patients.

A new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, suggests that the focus for females should be on maintaining or increasing muscle mass rather than losing fat.

The findings appear in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Body composition

The researchers analyzed body composition data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2004 and CVD mortality data from NHANES 1999–2014.

The data came from a total of 5,627 females and 5,836 males, all aged over 20 years.

Based on the data, the researchers split the study participants into four groups:

• low muscle mass and low body fat
• low muscle mass and high body fat
• high muscle mass and low body fat
• high muscle mass and high body fat

In both sexes, the raw data showed that higher levels of fat were associated with higher CVD mortality, regardless of muscle mass.

However, after accounting for other factors that are known to affect CVD mortality, the relationship between body fat and the risk of dying from CVD changed completely in females.

After making these adjustments, the researchers found that females with high body fat and high muscle mass had a 42% lower risk of dying from CVD compared with females who had a low muscle mass and low body fat.

By contrast, males with high muscle mass and high body fat had a 26% reduced risk of dying from CVD compared with males with low measurements, while those with high muscle mass and low body fat had a 60% decreased risk

Source: Medical News Today

World Water Day 2021

 Wish you all Very Happy World Day Every Student, Citizen, and all my best international friends must be more aware about the importance of Water

World Water Day is not to be congratulated, but Water in the World must be saved! Let's save Water!

Water when locked at one place becomes stagnant & dirty, but when flowing it nourishes all in its way… Similarly, we need to continue our flow ... Wish you a very Happy World Water Day

I wish everyone a very happy World Water Day. It's a day to educate, celebrate, reflect, and make a difference to water management in the world.

Thousands Have Lived Without Love, Not One Without Water. - W.H.Auden

"A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure." " Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

No Water. No Life. No Blue. No Green. - Sylvia Earle

There is No Small Pleasure in Pure Water. - Ovid

"Don't flush our planet's most valuable resource."

" Don't let the water run when you brush your teeth."

Pure Water is the World's First and Foremost Medicine. - Slovakian Proverb.

Clean Water Should be a Necessity.

"Filthy water cannot be washed." " West African Proverb

"It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water." " Franklin P. Jones

Make Water Your Primary Drink instead of Soda, Juice. Choose Pure Water Throughout Your Day.

Water is the Best Natural Remedy. Drink Your Way to Better Health.

Drink Pure Water. Stay Healthy.

" Don't let the water run in the sink, our life's on the brink."

" No matter, how much rich you are, you can't live without water."

Source: jagran english

What are the health benefits of green tea?

 Green tea, native to China and India, has been consumed and hailed for its health benefits for centuries globally, but has only recently gained popularity in the United States.

Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world behind water. However, 78 percent of the tea consumed worldwide is black and only about 20 percent is green.

All types of tea, except herbal tea, are brewed from the dried leaves of the Camellia sinensis bush. The level of oxidation of the leaves determines the type of tea.

Green tea is made from unoxidized leaves and is one of the less processed types of tea. It therefore contains the most antioxidants and beneficial polyphenols.

Green tea health benefits

Listed below are the possible health benefits associated with green tea. Green tea was used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine to control bleeding and heal wounds, aid digestion, improve heart and mental health, and regulate body temperature.

Recent studies have shown green tea can potentially have positive effects on everything from weight loss to liver disorders, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

It is important to note that more evidence is required before these possible health benefit links are proved definitive:

1) Green tea and cancer prevention

According to the National Cancer Institute, the polyphenols in tea have been shown to decrease tumor growth in laboratory and animal studies and may protect against damage caused by ultraviolet UVB radiation.

In countries where green tea consumption is high, cancer rates tend to be lower, but it is impossible to know for sure whether it is the green tea that prevents cancer in these particular populations or other lifestyle factors.

Some studies have also shown the positive impacts of green tea on the following types of cancer:

• breast
• bladder
• ovarian
• colorectal (bowel)
• esophageal (throat)
• lung
• prostate
• skin
• stomach

Researchers believe that it is the high level of polyphenols in tea that helps kill cancerous cells and stop them from growing. However, the exact mechanisms by which tea interacts with cancerous cells is unknown.

However, other studies have not found that tea can reduce cancer risk. The amount of tea required for cancer-preventive effects also varies widely in studies – from 2-10 cups per day.

In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated, “there is no credible evidence to support qualified health claims for green tea consumption and a reduced risk of gastric, lung, colon/rectal, esophageal, pancreatic, ovarian, and combined cancers.”

2) Green tea heart benefits

A 2006 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that green tea consumption is associated with reduced mortality due to all causes, including cardiovascular disease.

The study followed over 40,000 Japanese participants between the ages of 40 and 79 for 11 years, starting in 1994.

The participants who drank at least 5 cups of green tea per day had a significantly lower risk of dying (especially from cardiovascular disease) than those who drank less than one cup of tea per day.

3) Green tea and lower cholesterol

An analysis of published studies in 2011 found that consuming green tea, either as a beverage or in capsule form, was linked to significant but modest reductions in total and LDL or “bad” cholesterol.

Source: Medical News Today