Yang terbaru dari Newsweek ttg Kesehatan, diet dan exercise

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Science and Your Health
A guide to some of the newest research and recommendations

Newsweek

Updated: 6:40 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2005

Jan. 20 - Women: Get Your Folic Acid

Folic acid may help prevent high blood pressure in women, according to a new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Dr. John Forman and his colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston studied diet data on 150,000 women from two age groups (27-to-44 and 43-to-70) by tracking the women's folate (the naturally occurring form of folic acid) intake and blood pressure for eight years. They found that younger women who consumed more than 1,000 micrograms of folate a day had a 46 percent reduction in their risk of developing high blood pressure as compared to women who consumed less than 200 micrograms a day.

The older women saw an 18-percent reduction. Most American women consume about 400 micrograms of folic acid a day, just through food. To reach 1,000 micrograms a day, the women in the study took supplements. Dr. Forman says more research is needed, but the current data looks promising for the prevention of high blood pressure.

Tip: Foods that contain folate or folic acid include fortified breakfast cereals, beans, leafy green vegetables and orange juice.

New Government Guidelines
The U.S. government has released new dietary guidelines that recommend Americans eat less and exercise more. The guidelines, developed by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, call for at least 30 minutes of exercise per day for adults and 60 minutes per day for kids. The nutrition guidelines, which will be used to revise the USDA's Food Pyramid, encourage Americans to consume four and a half cups of fruit and vegetables per day, three or more ounces of whole-grain products per day and three cups of fat-free or low-fat milk or similar dairy products each day. They also recommend choosing foods that are fiber-rich and those with little added sugar or salt.

Tip: Adults who want to lose weight or maintain weight loss should exercise 60 to 90 minutes per day.

Secret Big Tobacco Documents
Some tobacco companies made efforts to undermine research linking tobacco smoke and cancer-causing mutations in a gene called p53, according to a study published Jan. 14 in The Lancet. In the study, Prof. Stanton Glantz [link to Q&A] and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, examined 43 previously confidential tobacco-industry documents and found that cigarette manufacturers planned several research projects to cast doubt on the findings from a 1996 study published in the journal Science that was the first to identify a direct link between a carcinogen found in cigarette smoke and lung cancer. That study showed the interaction between Benzo[a]pyrene, a carcinogen identified in cancer smoke in 1952, and the p53 gene mirrored mutations found in human lung tumors (some cancerous). Since then, UCSF researchers found that the tobacco companies funded studies to downplay the connection. In two specific cases, research arguing against the connection was undertaken and published by a company with links to the tobacco industry, and both studies were published in a journal whose editor in chief has an extensive history of working as a tobacco-industry researcher and consultant.

Tip: The American Lung Association notes that smoking is the No. 1 cause of lung cancer; but if you stop smoking for 10 years, the risk of lung cancer drops to a level that is one third to one half of the risk for people who continue to smoke.

© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.

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