Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Fish Oil Seems to Help Cancer Patients Preserve Muscle

MONDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy may be able to avoid the accompanying muscle loss and malnutrition by taking fish oil supplements that contain omega-3 fatty acids, new research suggests.

The finding is based on a small study involving just 40 lung cancer patients. Nevertheless, it raises hope that a simple, noninvasive intervention might go a long way towards countering the fatigue, poorer prognosis and impaired quality of life that can result from chemo-induced muscle mass loss.

"Fish oil may prevent loss of weight and muscle by interfering with some of the pathways that are altered in advanced cancer," study author Dr. Vera Mazurak, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, said in a news release. "This holds great promise, because currently there is no effective treatment for cancer-related malnutrition."

Mazurak and her colleagues report their observations in the Feb. 28 online edition of Cancer.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20110301/hl_hsn/fishoilseemstohelpcancerpatientspreservemuscle

Child heart murmur or a congenital heart defect?

Does your child suffer from a heart murmur or a congenital heart defect? If you have questions, talk to pediatric specialists from the #1 children's hospital in America in our expert forum. Or talk to other parents in the MedHelp pediatric heart community.


high blood pressure

The foods you eat and feed to your loved ones have the power to ease or exacerbate high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart disease. If you have or are at risk for hypertension, here are 6 foods to nix from your diet plus 3 to add to your shopping list.

http://www.medhelp.org/heart-disease/slideshows/Worst-Foods-for-High-Blood-Pressure/123