Simple Healthy Habits Decrease Risk Of Disease

Improved Cardiovascular Health From Regular Teeth Cleanings

H-B. Leu, MD, from Taipei Veterens General Hospital in Taiwan, and his team analyzed 10,887 patients who had received a teeth cleaning and 10,989 patients who hadn’t. A follow-up 7 years later revealed that the patients who had received regular teeth cleanings had a lower chance of stroke, infarction, and all cardiovascular events. More trips to the dentist means lower risk of cardiovascular problems.

In the past, researchers have stated that eating fish has not been conclusively associated with a decreased risk of colon cancer. However, they say that people who are living in places where fish is consumed frequently seem to develop colorectal cancer less.

New evidence has now been found by scientists in Xi’an China, proving that the risk of colorectal cancer is decreased by 12% when the person consumes fresh fish regularly. To come to their conclusions, the authors analyzed 42 trials on the association between colorectal cancer and fish consumption between 1990 and 2011.

The authors note that the risk reduction was different between colon cancer and rectal cancer, with colon cancer having a reduction of 4% and rectal 21%.

Daiming Fan of the Fourth Military Medical University and lead author of the study commented: “Despite the fact that colon and rectal cancer share many features and are often referred to as ‘colorectal cancer,’ they tend to demonstrate many different characteristics. One possible reason for the difference may be because colon cancers are generally more molecularly diverse, whereas rectal cancers mostly arise via a single neoplastic pathway.”

Research conducted by Edward J. Mills, PhD, MSc, from the University of Ottawa shows that although low-dose aspirin has been known to prevent cardiovascular disease and reduce cancer risk, it is also effective in lowering nonvascular mortality rates. The 23 randomized studies provided reassurance that low-dose aspirin is a preventative measure for cancer effects and after 4 years was still conclusive. William C. Haas, MD, from the East Caroline University in Greenville, North Carolina and his team discovered that primary care doctors are extremely useful in helping patients lose weight, possibly as helpful as weight loss programs.

For the study, patients wanting to lose weight were given sessions to modify their behavior either at a weight loss facility or at their primary care clinic. The authors found that the primary care clinics were equally as effective in helping the patients lose weight as the weight loss facilities. In both locations, the patients who completed the 12 week treatment programs, on average, lost 11.1% of their body weight.

The authors note that the patients who opted for the full meal replacement options had better results in the end.

A meta-analysis of 14 trials by Mark J. Eisenberg, MD, MPH, from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and his team, revealed that unusual ways of kicking the bad habit may benefit some people more than conventional ways. People who tried acupuncture were 3.53 times more likely to quit the habit than people who have not tried the method, and those who decided to try hypnotherapy were 4.55 times more likely to stop smoking.