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A new survey shows half of all smokers regularly drink coffee and smoke at the same time.(1) While smokers may say coffee drinking goes hand in hand with their cigarette, many are unaware that smoking actually affects the way their body processes caffeine.

Scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have figured out why a substance in red grapes and red wine lowers amyloid beta levels that accumulate in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Medicines targeting amyloid beta that make up the clumps in the hallmark plaques are now in many phases of experimental testing.

The Physicians' Health Study II is a large-scale, long-term, randomized clinical trial that included 14,641 physicians who were at least 50 years old at enrollment. These physicians were given 400 IU of vitamin E every other day or its placebo, or 500 mg of vitamin C daily or its placebo. Researchers followed these patients for up to 10 years for the development of cancer with high rates of completion of annual questionnaires, and the confirmation of reported cancer endpoints.

High magnesium intake has been associated with low risk of colorectal cancer. Americans have similar average magnesium intake as East Asian populations. If that were all that were involved, observers might expect both groups to have similar risk for colorectal cancer. However, the United States has seen a much higher colorectal cancer incidence rate than East Asian populations.

Today, the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young people's Services (C4EO) published its first three scoping studies for its first theme, Early Years. The publication of the scoping studies is the first part of the process by which C4EO will create a knowledge bank of 'what works' evidence for each of its six themes. The scoping studies assess the nature and strength of the evidence base and to provide an initial overview of trends in the literature.

A colon cancer cell isn't a lost cause. Vitamin D can tame the rogue cell by adjusting everything from its gene expression to its cytoskeleton. In the Nov. 17 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Ordóñez-Morán et al. show that one pathway governs the vitamin's diverse effects. The results help clarify the actions of a molecule that is undergoing clinical trials as a cancer therapy. Vitamin D stymies colon cancer cells in two ways.

On December 1st, 2008, the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada (IPAC) and the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) will launch four key documents at the Delta Centre-Ville Hotel in Montreal to support the implementation of Indigenous health curriculum at all Canadian faculties of medicine, and increase the number of Indigenous physicians in Canada.

A faster test for the food protein that triggers celiac disease Researchers in Spain and the United Kingdom are reporting development of a faster test for identifying the food protein that triggers celiac disease, a difficult-to-diagnose digestive disease involving the inability to digest protein called gluten that occurs in wheat, oats, rye, and barley.

Johns Hopkins Researchers at Neuroscience 2008 - Curcumin, derived from the curry spice turmeric, has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Both oxidative damage - damage caused by oxygen - and inflammation have been implicated in nerve cell death associated with Parkinson's disease. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have shown in a laboratory model of Parkinson's disease that curcumin does protect cells from dying.

Johns Hopkins Researchers at Neuroscience 2008 - Table grapes are high in flavonoids, which are thought to have strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have shown that powdered grapes appear to reduce pain and inflammation in a rat model of arthritis, where rats knees are inflamed using a chemical injection.