Harvard Health Content API

Green tea extract may help to delay oral cancer in people at risk, new research suggests. Researchers gave green tea extract to 41 people who had pre-cancerous cells in their mouths. The dose was equal to 8 to 10 cups of green tea daily. Another group received placebos. The study lasted 28 months. In that time, people who took green tea extract were just as likely as the other group to develop oral cancer. But in one group who took green tea extract, the cancer took longer to develop. This was the group of people who had mild to moderate abnormal cell growth at the start of the study. Study results were released online by the journal Cancer Prevention Research. HealthDay News wrote about the study November 5.

Exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to artery damage by the teen years, new research has found. The study included 494 children, ages 8 through 13. They were given regular blood tests for cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine. They also received ultrasound scans to measure thickness of arteries in the chest and neck. By age 13, those exposed to secondhand smoke tended to have thicker arteries. This a sign of damage that can lead to clogging of arteries. Children with more smoke exposure also had higher levels of apolipoprotein B. This blood protein is one part of LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol. Another test showed that teens exposed to more smoke had reduced function of arteries in the upper arm. The study appeared in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. HealthDay and Reuters news services wrote about it March 2.

B vitamins don’t slow down the decline of mental function in people with Alzheimer’s disease, a study finds. The study included 409 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s. They were randomly assigned to take either vitamins or a placebo. The vitamins included were folate, B6 and B12. They took the pills for 18 months. People with Alzheimer’s have high blood levels of an amino acid called homocysteine. B vitamins can lower these levels. That’s what happened in the study, too. But tests showed that the B vitamins did not slow down people’s mental decline. HealthDay News and Reuters Health wrote about the study October 14. It appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A combination of office and home treatments can help a childhood eye problem, researchers say. The problem is convergence insufficiency. It means that the eyes don’t turn inward (converge) easily. The new study compared four treatments in 221 children. One group did home therapy. This involved focusing on one letter on a pencil while moving it closer to the nose. Another group did this plus computer exercises. A third group had weekly office sessions with a therapist, plus home exercises. The fourth group did placebo activities to mimic the office treatment. After 12 weeks, 75% of the children who got office and home therapy had better vision or normal vision. In the other groups, 33% to 43% had similar success. The study is in the October issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

Strokes caused by bleeding in the brain have increased worldwide, researchers report in the journal Lancet. This type of stroke is called intracerebral hemorrhage. The article focused on bleeding strokes that are caused by a burst blood vessel, not an injury (trauma). Hospital admissions for this type of stroke have increased 18% in the last 10 years, the article says. This means that for every 100 such strokes that occurred 10 years ago, 118 occur now. The authors say one cause is the increase in the number of elderly people. Many of them have high blood pressure that is not well controlled. Use of drugs to prevent blood clots also has greatly increased. Bleeding can be a side effect of these drugs. Better hospital treatment is needed, the authors say.

People may feel healthier after they retire, a new study finds. The study of 15,000 French workers asked them about their health up to 7 years before and after they retired. In the year before retirement, 19.2% said they were in poor health. One year after retirement, it had dropped to 14.3%. The last time so few had reported poor health was 8 years before retirement. After retirement, the health improvements lasted at least 7 years. People with poorer working conditions reported the greatest improvements. The journal Lancet published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it November 9.

Using stents to open arteries near the heart is safe and effective in elderly people, a study concludes. Researchers looked at data from 10,000 people. All received one or more stents. The stents were coated with a drug to help keep the artery open. People over 70 had about the same results as younger adults. The two groups had similar rates of heart attack, blood clots, or a need for repeat surgery. The study appeared in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions. HealthDay News wrote about it June 3.

Parents who know their children are overweight may not act in ways that will help, a new study finds. Researchers interviewed the parents of 314 overweight teens. Some described their children as overweight. But they were no more likely than other parents to make healthful changes, such as buying more fruits and vegetables. Instead, the only thing these parents were more likely to do was to encourage their teens to diet. Teens whose parents encouraged dieting were more likely to be overweight when surveyed five years later. The study was published June 2 in the journal Pediatrics.

Overweight people with heart disease should walk a lot, even if it’s slow, a study suggests. The study included 74 overweight people with coronary artery disease. Half were assigned to a standard cardiac rehabilitation program. They walked, biked or rowed three days a week at a brisk pace. They exercised 25 to 40 minutes each time. Other people in the study were assigned to do slower walks five or six days a week. They walked 45 to 60 minutes at a time. After 5 months, people who took long walks had lost about 18 pounds, compared with 8 for those in the standard program. They also had more improvements in cholesterol, blood pressure and other health measures than the other group. The study was published online by the journal Circulation. HealthDay News wrote about it May 11.

Celiac disease and related conditions increase a person’s risk of death, a study finds. People with celiac disease have problems when they eat foods with gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. The new study used 40 years of data from a Swedish test registry. About 48,000 people had celiac disease or one of two related conditions. Most of them had celiac disease. Another large group had a related type of inflammation. A smaller group had “latent” celiac disease. They had blood antibodies for celiac disease. But they did not have the usual changes inside the intestines. The study compared these groups with the general Swedish population. Compared with the general population, people with just inflammation had a 72% higher risk of death. People with celiac disease had a 39% higher risk. People with “latent disease” had a 35% higher risk.