HEALTH TIP:  The Magic of Ginger

At least once a week, I have a craving for sushi and not just
because I grew up loving California rolls, sliced fresh tuna,
and crab salad. In fact, my favorite part of the raw Japanese
meal by far has to be the little lump of often peach-colored
pickled ginger that sits in the corner of the plate. Snapping
up the slices of ginger from all of the plates on the table in
one delicious yet spicy mound is the best part of my night. I
never really thought that consuming that much ginger could be
preventing future body pain, I just love the taste. The good
news is that this wonderful root can actually help lessen a
whole host of ailments.

Ginger is commonly used in cooking as well as for medicinal
purposes. Ginger, also known by its Latin name Zingiber
officinale, is often used in Asian cultures as a way to treat
nausea or stomachaches usually associated with post surgical
symptoms, pregnancy, chemotherapy aftereffects, or motion
sickness. This reason may be why it is served with sushi—
although it is called Gari instead of ginger when used in this
manner—besides its original intention as a palate cleanser.”
Many American dietary supplements contain ginger for its anti-
nausea and vomit relief.

Ginger has also been used for treating osteoarthritis and
rheumatoid arthritis as well as muscle and other joint pains.
Ginger comes in many forms: tablets, capsules, liquid, extract,
tea, dried roots, or fresh root (as in my pickled kind at sushi).
According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (NCCAM), is conducting experiments on the different
drug interactions ginger may cause as well as whether or not
ginger can be proven to help inflammation.

According to experts so far, there are few side effects due
to taking small doses of ginger, such as: gas, bloating,
heartburn, and the occasional case of nausea and these reported
cases are from patients who took powdered ginger.

However, a 2006 study conducted at the University of Michigan
Comprehensive Cancer Center, shows that powdered ginger—while
it may have some side effects in small doses—may also help
reduce ovarian cancer. The researchers studied a high-grade
ginger powder in the laboratory against ovarian cancer cells.
They found that the ginger when dissolved in a solution and
applied to the cells caused them to die.

Two types of cell death occurred: apoptosis, in which the
cells commit suicide, and autophagy, in which the cells attacke
each other or digest themselves. Lead author and researcher, Dr.
J. Rebecca Liu, the University of Michigan’s Medical School
assistant professor of obstetrics says that the emerging results
of their ginger study is a big leap for ovarian cancer research,
“Most ovarian cancer patients develop recurrent disease that
eventually becomes resistant to standard chemotherapy—which is
associated with resistance to apoptosis. If ginger can cause
autophagic cell death in addition to apoptosis, it may
circumvent resistance to conventional chemotherapy.”

As with all preliminary verdicts, there is much more research
to be done and dozens more studies to conduct before any final
results can be made. The next step is to test these findings on
animals within the lab before any human trials can be done.
Since ginger has little to no side effects, the upside to it
being a cancer treatment is that it is natural and not as harsh
as radiation, chemotherapy, or surgery and it can potentially
inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer cells as an added bonus.

If ginger is delicious in sushi, the spice can be used in
savory dishes like our nutrition columnist’s own chicken soup
or salad dressings and it can also be enjoyed in sweet treats.
Gingersnap cookies are a favorite, same as gingerbread figures
and houses around the holidays. Whatever foods you enjoy ginger
in, just remember that beyond tantalizing your taste buds, you
just may be saving your body from some serious and not so serious
harm.

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Molecule might block the spread of cancer

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Sept. 24 (UPI) — U.S. and Chinese
scientists  say a piece of genetic material with no
previously known function might hold the key to being
able to stop the spread of cancer.

Researchers at Yale University’s School of Medicine
and Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, found in a
study of mice an RNA molecule that can bind to and
block the function of proto-oncogenes — genes that
have the potential to trigger cancer.

The researchers, led by Professor Alan Garen at Yale
and Xu Song in China, said one mechanism that stops
cell proliferation is a family of tumor-suppressor
proteins. The TSP protein they discovered, called PSF,
is virtually identical in mice and humans, they said.

The Yale team said it succeeded in preventing the
formation of tumors in mice by either increasing the
amount of PSF or decreasing the amount of the non-
coding RNA in a cell.

“The tumor cell stops proliferating and the tumor
regresses in a mouse model of cancer, suggesting that
both procedures could be the basis of a clinical
protocol,” said Garen.

The study appeared in the Sept. 11 issue of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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New way to fight bacteria studied

HAMILTON, Ontario, Sept. 28 (UPI) — Canadian
researchers say they’ve identified a chemical compound
that targets drug-resistant bacteria in a different way
from existing antibiotics.

McMaster University scientists say their discovery is
an ideal starting point to develop new interventions
for resistant infections. Despite the need for new
treatment options, the scientists note there have been
only two new classes of antibiotics developed during
the last 40 years.

Professor Eric Brown and colleagues from the Michael
DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research said
the compound could lead to new treatments to overcome
antibiotic resistance in certain types of microorganisms.

“Everyone reads the headlines about drug-resistant bugs,
it’s a big problem,” said Brown. “Really what we’re
trying to do is understand whether or not there are new
ways to tackle this problem.”

Existing antibiotics destroy bacteria by blocking
production of its cell wall, DNA or protein. The new
McMaster-discovered compound, MAC13243, is directed at
blocking a particular step in the development of the
bacteria’s cell surface, which until now has not been
recognized as a target for antibiotics.

“We’re excited about finding a new probe of a relatively
uncharted part of bacterial physiology,” Brown said. “It’s
a new way of thinking about the problem.”

The findings appear in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

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Ultrasound can ID melanoma metastasis

BERLIN, Sept. 28 (UPI) — Medical scientists in Germany
say they’ve determined that ultrasound signals can be
used to determine if cancer has started to spread in
melanoma patients.

Dr. Christiane Voit of the Medical University of Berlin
said the discovery enables physicians to decide how much
surgery, if any, is required and to predict a patient’s
probable survival.

“We have identified two ultrasound patterns of lymph
node metastasis in melanoma patients, which can identify
correctly any amount of tumor cells in the sentinel
lymph nodes in (75 percent to 90 percent) of cases
before proceeding to surgery on the sentinel lymph
node,” Voit said.

Voit said although her research needs to be confirmed
in multi-center, randomized clinical trials, it has the
potential to spare patients unnecessary surgery,
especially if it was combined with ultrasound-guided
fine needle biopsy of lymph nodes rather than
onventional surgery.

She present her research last week in Berlin during a
joint meeting of the European CanCer Organization and
the European Society for Medical Oncology.

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Non-TB lung disease increasing in the U.S.

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 29 (UPI) — The U.S. National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says incidents of non-
tuberculosis mycobacteria lung disease are increasing across
the nation.

Researchers said non-tuberculous mycobacteria are
environmental organisms found in both water and soil that
can cause severe pulmonary disease in humans — and a large
study indicates the disease is increasing.

A research team led by epidemiologists from the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the
National Institutes of Health, analyzed hospital discharge
records of patients in 11 states whose combined total
population represents 42 percent of the country. They said
they reviewed database records spanning 1998 to 2005 and
identified more than 16,475 hospitalizations associated
with non-tuberculosis mycobacteria in people without AIDS.

Before the widespread availability of combination
antiretroviral therapy, pulmonary disease was a common
opportunistic infection among people with AIDS. The study
was limited to patients not suffering from AIDS.

Researchers said of the 11 states studied, Florida, New
York and California had 62 percent of the pulmonary
hospitalizations.

Study results show while overall prevalence of non-
tuberculosis mycobacteria lung disease is higher in women,
prevalence increases for both sexes in the fifth or sixth
decade of life, the scientists said.

The research appears in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

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Gut worms may protect against allergies

NOTTINGHAM, England, Sept. 29 (UPI) — British and Vietnamese
scientists say they’ve discovered parasitic gut worms, such
as hookworms, might help prevent and treat asthma and other
allergies.

Researchers led by Dr. Carsten Flohr of the University of
Nottingham, and Dr. Luc Nguyen Tuyen of the Khanh Hoa
Provincial Health Service in central Vietnam said their
study is the largest double-blind, placebo controlled
clinical trial to date looking at potential links between
hookworm and other gut worm infections and allergic
conditions such as asthma and eczema.

The research was conducted in a rural area of central Vietnam
where two of every three children have hookworm and other gut
parasite infections and where allergies are extremely rare.
More than 1,500 schoolchildren ages 6-17 took part in the
clinical trial.

The team investigated whether repeated tablet treatments to
clear the body of gut worms made it more likely for children
to develop allergic conditions. While the treatment did not
demonstrate an effect on asthma or eczema, the treated
children had a significantly increased risk of having a
positive allergy skin test to house-dust mites and cockroaches.

That, the scientists said, suggests gut worms have the
potential to tone down human immune responses.

“The next step is to understand exactly how and when gut
parasites program the human immune system in a way that
protects against allergic sensitization, and for such studies,
follow-up from birth will be essential,” Flohr said.

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Spanking Linked to Lower IQ Scores

The issue of whether or not parents should spank their children
has been widely debated and continues to provoke strong feelings
on both sides. Advocates of spanking view it as an effective
form of discipline and maintain that reasonable use of the
practice is not harmful to children. Opponents argue that
hitting children is not an effective deterrent for bad behavior,
but a practice that plants the seeds for later violent behavior.
The spanking haggle has a lengthy history in scientific research,
and two new studies that suggest children who are spanked have
lower IQ’s than those who aren’t is likely to reignite the debate
yet again.

The research was led by Dr. Murray A. Straus at the University
of Hampshire, who has studied the effects of corporal punishment
on child development for 50 years. In one study, Straus and
colleague Dr. Mallie J. Paschall of the Pacific Institute for
Research and Evaluation analyzed data from 806 U.S. children who
were two to four years old at enrollment and 704 between the ages
of five and nine who took part in the National Longitudinal Survey
of Youth. The children’s intelligence was tested when they entered
the trials and again four years later.

After accounting for factors such as socioeconomic status and
parental education, that could influence scores, the researchers
found that IQ’s of the younger group of children who were spanked
were an average of 5 points lower four years later than the same
age children who were not spanked. Scores among the older children
who were spanked were an average of 2.8 points lower than those
in the same age group who did not receive corporal punishment.
“That’s kind of the cruelly ironic thing, because we hear that
it’s OK to hit younger children because they won’t remember it,”
said Straus. “This evidence says it’s worse for children between
two to six, that the younger child is the most vulnerable.”

The frequency of spanking also played a role. “How often
parents spanked made a difference; the more spanking the slower
the development of a child’s mental ability,” Straus said.
“Even small amounts of spanking made a difference.”

In the second study, Straus analyzed data from nearly 18,000
university students in 32 countries who were polled about their
parents’ use of corporal punishment. When the answers were
compared to national average IQ scores, the highest were in
nations where spanking had either been banned or was not socially
acceptable—lower in countries where spanking was more prevalent.
The exceptions were the top five countries on the average-IQ list:
Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, a discrepancy
Straus attributed to a strong emphasis in those nations on
cademic excellence. “To put it in a nutshell, corporal punishment
slows down the rate of development of mental ability,” Straus
said. “All the kids got smarter because they got older, but the
ones who were spanked, less so.”

David Day, an associate psychology professor at Ryerson
University in Toronto who studies aggression and anti-social
behavior in children and youth, said instead of striking their
children, parents should be using positive-reinforcement
techniques. “What spanking doesn’t do is promote cognitive
development or language and problem-solving abilities in
children,” said Day. “It’s very frightening for a child because,
at a young age, they’ll have the inability to deal with stress
and be afraid of being hit. It really has long-term consequences
for children.” He said physical punishment is usually linked
with other negative parenting techniques, such as yelling and
removing food privileges, which would also be detrimental to a
child’s mental and emotional development.

Straus says that while the results only show an association
between spanking and intelligence, his methodology and the fact
that he took into account other factors that could be at play
(such as parents’ socioeconomic status) make a good case for a
causal link. “You can’t say it proves it, but I think it rules
out so many other alternatives; I am convinced that spanking
does cause a slowdown in a child’s development of mental
abilities,” Straus said.

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Side Effects of Medications Can Be Dangerous to Children

Although side effects of commonly used medications are
often mild and temporary, many can be harmful to children.
Over the period of a decade, medication side effects alone
sent over half a million American children to outpatient
clinics and emergency rooms annually.

The disturbing statistics come from a group of researchers
at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Their study found that
between the years 1995 and 2005, a total of 585,922
incidents of adverse drug events occurred annually among
children 18 years and younger. Although most of these
children received treatment at outpatient clinics, 22
percent resulted in a visit to a hospital emergency room.
The findings were recently published in the journal Pediatrics.

The study analyzed data from the National Center for Health
Statistics and found that as many as 13 outpatient visits
per 1,000 children occur due to drug-related adverse events;
an indication that medication complications are common in
pediatric care. The greatest risk of medication side effects
was discovered to be among children ages four and younger,
accounting for approximately 43 percent of all events. The
second highest risk was found to be among teens between the
ages of 15 and 18 at a total of 23 percent.

Of all medicine related complications among children, skin-
related disorders, including rashes, were revealed to be the
most common at a total of 45 percent, while gastrointestinal
complications accounted for more than 16 percent. Over half
of children (52 percent) who suffered adverse events, were
found to have experienced symptoms of allergic reaction to
a medication.

In 27.5 percent of incidents, adverse drug events were
linked to the use of antibiotics such as penicillin. Among
children under the age of 4, nearly 40 percent of the adverse
drug events leading to hospital or clinic visits involved
the use of antibiotics. Allergies to antibiotics are often
discovered when a young child obtains a first dose. In
addition, there is a higher risk of errors in medication
dosing among younger children.

Among older children, the most likely culprits were found
to be neurologic and psychotropic medications that accounted
for slightly more than six percent of adverse events, while
hormones were the cause of six percent. This is likely due
to increased use of antidepressants and attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) meds among teens for emotional
and behavioral disorders, as well as the use of birth control
among teen girls.

The study authors urged doctors to be more vigilant in
helping to curtail potential medication-related adverse
events in children and provide parents of children being
treated with information regarding possible drug
interactions. In a news release, study leader Dr. Florence
Bourgeois of Children’s division of emergency medicine
said, “One approach to reducing adverse events is to
ensure that clinicians have ready access to complete
information on the adverse effects and comparative
effectiveness of medications. This information should
derive from data on the real-world use of the drugs, not
just from the package inserts.”

It is important for parents to understand that in most cases
the benefits of treatment with medication outweigh the risks.
Based on previous research, only about 1 percent of children
treated on an outpatient basis suffer from drug related
adverse events. However, remaining watchful and being aware
of potential problems is key. After all, an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure.