and protect the brain from…^A new study shows that an ingredient in green tea that researchers think might fight cancer may also protect the brain from Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists injected mice with an antioxidant from green tea known as beta-amyloid, a protein that forms the plaques that clog the brains of Alzheimer’s victims. Several months of injections reduced plaque formation by as much as 54 percent.

The mice had been genetically programmed to develop an Alzheimer’s-like disease. Humans would probably need 1,500 to 1,600 milligrams per day to get the amount that helped mice in the Alzheimer’s study,

Alzheimer’s is a progressive disorder that causes memory loss and afflicts an estimated 4.5 million people in the United States and millions more globally.

And, according to a report in the Journal of the American Heart Association, obesity does not clearly increase the risk of death from a heart attack or stroke.

The team studied the impact of obesity on fatal heart attacks or strokes, in connection with other risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Forty-two percent of the men and 21 percent of the women were overweight and about five percent in each group were obese.

In both sexes, the rate of high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol increased significantly with increasing overweight status. Overweight subjects without other risk factors did not have an increased risk of heart attack or stroke death. However, men and women who were overweight and had high blood pressure had about double the risk for heart attack or stroke death.

High blood pressure was the most important factor associated with increased risk of heart attack or stroke deaths in overweight subjects. Therefore, the best way to reduce risk is through, “Treatment that targets both blood pressure and weight reduction.”

(By Vince Gallagher, www.capitalnews9.com, Sept 2005)
Article URL: http://www.capitalnews9.com/shared/print/default.asp?ArID=150533