POTATOES MAY SlASH COlON CANCER RISK
A diet containing plenty of purple potatoes and other colourful fruits and vegetables may lower the risk of colon cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases, researchers, including those of Indian origin, claim. Colourful plants, including the purple potato, contain bioactive compounds, such as anthocyanins and phenolic acids, that have been linked to cancer prevention. Understanding how these compounds work on a molecular level could be an initial step towards finding treatments for cancer, researchers said. “What we are learning is that food is a double-edge sword. It may promote disease, but it may also help prevent chronic diseases, like colon cancer,” said Jairam K P Vanamala, associate professor at Pennsylvania State University in the US. In the study, pigs that were served a high calorie diet supplemented with purple-fleshed potatoes had less colonic mucosal interleukin-6 (Il-6) compared to a control group.
MIGRAINE AND JAWBONE DISORDER
In a new study, a group of researchers have found that the more frequent the migraine attacks, the more severe will be the so-called temporomandibular disorder. The temporomandibular joint acts like a sliding hinge connecting the jawbone to the skull, therefore the disorder’s symptoms includes difficulty chewing and joint tension. lidiane Florencio, the first author of the study, said, “Patients with chronic migraine, meaning attacks occurring on more than 15 days per month, are three times as likely to report more severe symptoms of TMD than patients with episodic migraine.” Previous studies already indicated that migraine is somehow associated with pain in the chewing muscles.
STAY SINGlE AND lIVE lONGER: STUDY
A 2011 census conducted in England showed that 51 per cent of adults were single and it was a three per cent rise from the one conducted in 2001. And while there are no dearth of social or familial reminders of why one is not in a relationship, it turns out that staying single has, in fact, a number of health benefits. Single people are said to socialise more. Figures from the American Bureau of labour Statistics show that single people spend more time chatting to friends than their married contemporaries. In short, staying single, one has fewer responsibilities and can go out and meet people, generally having a good time. Also, single people spend an average of 12 minutes a day staying in touch with other people over phone calls and e-mails, as compared to married couples who only spend about 7.8 minutes doing the same.