Posts Tagged ‘Study’

Research: Eating Broccoli can help in the fight against breast cancer due to the effect on stem cells

The fight against breast cancer is a tough one. Breast cancer affects a sizable number of women, and the risk factors depend on genetics and also on age (to the extent that after a certain age, getting a breast cancer check done is recommended). One of the most significant areas of research is in trying to find chemicals and molecules, both natural and artificial, that help in reducing the risk of developing breast cancer, or in treating the breast cancer to some degree. A lot of naturally occurring plants and herbs are also examined to see whether they have a chance in the fight against cancer, especially breast cancer. In research, a compound found in broccoli has been found to target cancer stem cells (link to article):

A broccoli compound may help prevent or treat breast cancer by targeting cancer stem cells, according to a new study. Stem cells are the small number of cells that fuel a tumour’s growth. The study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center tested sulforaphane, a component of broccoli and broccoli sprouts, in both mice and cell cultures.
Researchers found sulforaphane targeted and killed the cancer stem cells and prevented new tumours from growing.

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Depression very deadly, equivalent to smoking

A bit odd to compare smoking and depression, but the intent of the article was to claim that depression should not be unstated and should be brought out into the open as a dangerous affliction. Smoking is seen as something dangerous that substantially increases the chances of getting into more dangerous complications such as cancer, lung problems; and eventually increases the chance of mortality happening earlier. However, a recent study claims that those people suffering from depression had the same mortality risk as those who smoked.
This was a surprise, since depression is not evaluated in terms of its impact on the mortality chances of an individual, although it has an impact on a higher level of suicide rates, and decreased satisfaction level with life. This means that there should be a greater focus on those people who suffer from depression on an ongoing basis (link to article):

“Unlike smoking, we don’t know how causal the association with depression is but it does suggest that more attention should be paid to this link because the association persisted after adjusting for many other factors,” he said. The study also showed that patients with depression face an overall increased risk of mortality, while a combination of depression and anxiety in patients lowers mortality compared with depression alone.
“One of the main messages from this research is that ‘a little anxiety may be good for you,” Stewart said. “It appears that we’re talking about two risk groups here. People with very high levels of anxiety symptoms may be naturally more vulnerable due to stress, for example through the effects stress has on cardiovascular outcomes.

Why does skin cancer grow ?

Skin cancer is a type of cancer that can be treatable if caught early enough, but causes problems if the cancer spreads to other parts of the body. And of course, like other cancers, there is always an effort to determine the reasons why tumors develop, or why sections of the body cell suddenly become cancerous. In this research, there was an investigation into a type of skin-blistering disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex. This research helped determine factors that led to skin cancer (link to article):

For the study, researchers at Cancer Research UK’s cell structure group at the University of Dundee compared cells of people with EBS to those without. When the EBS cells were damaged – or rubbed enough to cause blistering – their structure changed to stop them dying. The study found that when damaged cells continue to grow, it causes a process that allows a greater number of tumours to grow.
“Even slight damage to the skin of people with EBS can kick-start a signaling pathway which prevents the skin from killing and clearing damaged cells,” the Daily Express quoted Dr David Russell, Cancer Research UK scientist and the study’s lead author, as saying.