Study: More Fish Oil = More Prostate Cancer

Taking lots of fish oil supplements may increase a man's risk of prostate cancer, according to a new report from Ohio State University. Researchers found that men with high concentration of marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids had a greater than 40% higher risk of coming down with the very "private" form of cancer.

There's quite a bit of evidence showing that omega 3's are good for the heart and brain, but taking them in supplement form, instead of getting them from natural seafood sources, may not be a great idea for most men. Experts say the unique fatty acids may act on the body's cells in much more complex ways than previously thought. In fact, one theory is that they actually increase oxidative stress while decreasing inflammation in a strange, not-yet-understood way.

Learn some mo': Omega-3 Fatty Acids Linked to Higher Risk of Cancer

By the way, many health experts have been talking about the connection between fish oil and prostate cancer for some time now:

Study: Beer Is Good for Your Heart!

According to a new study from Greece, drinking some beer may provide serious heart health benefits. Researchers from Harokopio University compared cardiovascular health signals in a group of young men who had drank beer, non-alcoholic beer, and vodka. All experienced some heart benefits but the beer drinkers experienced significantly more than the others.

Endothelial function -- the measure of how easily blood passes through arteries -- improved in the beer drinkers but not in the vodka or near-beer consumers. The researchers believe that beer's high antioxidant content was responsible for the heart health boost.

We say: It's about time another "health" study came out re-affirming our commitment to heavy beer (and wine and whisky) drinking!

Learn some mo': Beer can be good for your heart

Study: Vitamin C, Cysteine Kill TB

Does citrus kill TB too?
Photo Credit

Here's some more good news about vitamin C: it appears to be very good at killing tuberculosis! Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York made an "accidental" discovery while studying TB drug resistance. They found that both the amino acid cysteine and vitamin C -- both reducing agents -- directly killed TB bacteria in a test tube.

Here's the best part: tuberculosis doesn't appear to develop resistance to vitamin C the way it does to nearly all other drugs. Researchers said it is "almost like a dream drug" in a video released by the college.

Obviously killing TB in test tubes and killing it inside the human body are two very different things. But experts say the new findings will definitely lead to more research in the use of vitamin C, cysteine, and other nutrient chemicals in the future. New forms of multi-drug resistance (MDR) TB are becoming a major threat to global health so there's a strong hope that vitamin C will provide a new therapy in the battle.

We say: It will be very interesting to see if any significant TB treatment research is actually done on vitamin C, cysteine, or any other cheap vitamin that can't be patented by the large pharmaceutical companies!

Learn some mo':  Accidental find shows Vitamin C kills tuberculosis

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The Marlboro E-Cigarette Is Here

It was only a matter of time. The owner of the world-famous cigarette brand Marlboro has decided to launch its own electronic cigarette product. Altria Group Inc hopes to take advantage of a recent consumer trend -- "smokeless" cigarettes -- in order to try to offset the sales slump of regular cigarettes.

More smoking bans, health worries, and increasing taxes on tobacco products have moved millions of Americans to try e-cigarettes, which provide the nicotine boost of regular tobacco products without the burning smoke. Basically they vaporize liquid nicotine from disposable cartridges and, at least in theory, greatly reduce the health risks (although some doctors disagree) and inconvenience of regular old smoking. Some of the products are promoted as ways to quit smoking gradually, or at least limit the damage it does.

The new e-cigs will be sold under the "MarkTen" brand and priced around $10 each, with new nicotine cartridges sold in packs. Many industry experts expect all the other major tobacco companies to follow Altria's lead and come out with their own electronic cigarettes within the next couple of years.

We say: This is kinda cool but we're still worried about the toxic nano-sized metal particles found in some e-cigarette products.

Learn some mo': Marlboro maker Altria to sell e-cigarettes

More Carbon Dioxide in Air = Greener Deserts

Apparently all the carbon dioxide gas building up in Earth's atmosphere is helping to make its deserts greener, according to a new report from the Geophysical Research Letters scientific journal. Researchers found that "leaf cover" in arid areas (dry deserts in the US, Australia, the Middle East, and Africa) have increased by 11 percent in just the past 30 years, most likely due to increased photosynthesis from rising CO2 levels.

The research confirms the theories held by many global climate experts: more carbon "plant food" equals more plants all over the planet Earth. Other studies have shown that vegetation has increased everywhere, not just in the deserts and that warming temperatures and increased rainfall may also be having a strong effect.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide, which has increased nearly 15% in the past 30 years, seems to be especially fueling tree growth. According to Australian researcher Randall Donohue:

"Trees are reinvading grasslands, and this could quite possibly be related to the carbon dioxide effect... Long lived woody plants are deep rooted and are likely to benefit more than grasses from an increase in carbon dioxide... The effect of higher carbon dioxide levels on plant function is an important process that needs greater consideration"

We say: Good news! Who cares if rising CO2 levels are raising sea levels... the Las Vegas desert needs more palm trees!

Learn some mo': Carbon Dioxide Greening Deserts