Of course your mama was right!

CHARL0TTESVILLE, VA - Mom knew broccoli was good for you, but didn’t know it was this good. “Everyone contains compounds known to lessen occurrence of some types of cancer. We want to know what their targets may be,” says Dr. Janet Cross, assistant professor of pathology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She and colleague Dr. Dennis J. Templeton, chairman of the UVa Dept. of Pathology, got a $1.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study how specific nutrients in healthy vegetables prevent cancer. Drs. Cross and Templeton found nutrients in broccoli unexpectedly bond with a specific enzyme in cells. This enzyme had been linked clearly to inflammatory disease, but Dr. Cross solidified a link with cancer when she found mice who didn’t have the gene for this enzyme developed far fewer cancers when given carcinogens. The incorporation of these compounds into a cancer prevention treatment in a pill or liquid form could enhance stopping cancers before they start. Dr. Cross says “the real irony is that I can’t stand broccoli.”

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The Wall Street Journal reported Genentech Inc. warned eye specialists about a higher risk of stroke in elderly patients taking its drug to treat age-related blindness. Genentech sent a letter to 1,500 specialists warning interim results from a trial of Lucentis showed the higher incidence of strokes. The letters are consistent with risks of the drug noted on label under warnings and precautions, but add fuel to the debate over risks, benefits, and costs of Lucentis, which was tailored for the eye and designed to be safer than its parent compound, Avastin, a related drug used in cancer. The findings came in a test comparing two doses of Lucentis - the recommended dose of 0.5mg and a lower dose of 0.3mg. Patients taking the higher dose had a higher incidence of strokes (1.2%) than those on the lower dose (0.3%), but no difference in heart attacks. Within the study group, people who had suffered prior strokes were at greater risk. One difficulty of assessing risk is that the drug is used mainly by elderly people who suffer more strokes than the general population. Nobody was excluded from this study because of cardiovascular risk, Genentech said.

WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, DC noted the AARP Policy & Research Update (Volume 2, Issue 24) included “Across the States 2006: Profiles of Long-Term Care and Independent Living.” This resource for policymakers and others provides easy access to up-to-date data on multiple aspects of long-term care and independent living in each state and District of Columbia. This edition, the seventh from AARP's Public Policy Institute, has data for 150 indicators from a wide variety of sources. For more, visit www.aarp.org/research/longtermcare/trends/d18763_2006_ats.html.

ATLANTA - MedPage Today stated a more comprehensive vaccination schedule for children and adolescents was issued by the CDC for 2007.
Jointly released with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians, the schedule includes new recommendations for rotavirus, human papilloma virus (HPV), varicella, and influenza. The recommendations were divided by age - birth to six years, and seven to 18 - due to the increasing number of vaccines developed for adolescents, such as the HPV vaccine. The schedule allows HPV vaccination at a minimum age of nine years but a recommendation for girls 11-12 to get three HPV vaccine doses. After the first dose, the second should follow two months later and the third dose at least four months later. Catch-up vaccination is suggested for girls 13-18 if they weren’t previously vaccinated.

HOUSTON - Early signs of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can be detected in optic nerves. At MS Eye Care, doctors use four exams to seek abnormalities in the retina and damage to optic nerve fibers. Some doctors agree that in more than half of patients MS first attacks the eyes, causing spotty or blurry vision and temporary or permanent loss of sight. In MS, the immune system attacks myelin, the protective layer around nerve fibers.
Nearly 400,000 Americans have been diagnosed, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) states. Symptoms are unpredictable and vary; many people have loss of muscle coordination, tremors, and vision woes. The Texas site is a collaboration of NMSS and the University of Houston Eye Institute.
The four tests are: visual evoked potential; multifocal VEP; optical coherence tomography, and visual field (Goldman) tests.

ROCHESTER, MN - The journal CHEST noted a study shows patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are more likely than those without OSA to have a family history of premature death due to coronary artery disease (CAD). Mayo Clinic College of Medicine scientists analyzed the relationship between OSA and premature death due to CAD by comparing the personal and family histories of 316 patients with OSA and 202 patients without OSA.
Regardless of the patient’s own CAD status, there was a significant and independent tie between OSA and family history of premature CAD mortality.

BOSTON - There’s no one way to cut breast cancer risk, but combined approaches could help, reports Harvard Women’s Health Watch. Here are several factors: Weight - studies show weight gain is a factor after menopause. The link is estrogen, believed to promote breast cancer.
Alcohol - women who have even a few drinks per week raise their risk. It may be alcohol raises estrogen or interacts with carcinogens. Activity - exercise may help prevent breast cancer and its recurrence, including keeping weight down and decreasing estrogen in breast tissue. Vitamin D - it helps protect against several types of cancer. Hormones - concern about women’s use of birth control pills and postmenopausal hormones. Breast density - trumped only by age and certain gene mutations in the hierarchy of risk factors. Digital mammography has been shown to improve detection in women with dense breasts. Chemoprevention - taking tamoxifen or raloxifene may cut the incidence in women at increased risk.