Archive for November, 2009
Studies: Fighting global warming reduces diseases
November 26th, 2009 | 
Author: Cutting global warming pollution would not only make the planet healthier, it would make people healthier too, says officials, as they releases studies calculating the health benefits of a less sickly climate.
Slashing carbon dioxide emissions could save millions of lives, mostly by reducing preventable deaths from heart and lung diseases, the studies show. They are published in a special issue of The Lancet British medical journal, released Wednesday.
The calculations of lives saved are based on computer models that looks at pollution-caused illnesses in certain cities. The figures are also based on the world making dramatic changes in daily life that may at first seem too hard and costly to do, researchers concedes.
Cutting carbon dioxide emissions will also reduce other types of air pollution, especially tiny particles that lodge in the lungs and cause direct health damage, doctors says. Other benefits can come from encouraging more exercise and less meat consumption, to improve heart health, researchers says. Read more…
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Moderate Drinking Guards the Heart
But protective effect can wear off at higher levels in men, study finds
By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter
(HealthDay News) — A Spanish study has found that long-term moderate drinking decreased the risk of heart disease by up to one-third in men and to a lesser degree in women.
The type of alcohol — beer, wine or spirits — made no difference, the researchers reported in the Nov. 19 online issue of Heart. The Spanish analysis used 10-year data on 15,500 men and nearly 26,000 women who were participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer study.
But for men, there was a point at which the coronary benefits of alcohol declined, and risk began to rise again.
The rate of coronary heart disease for non-drinking women in the study was 56 per 100,000. For women listed as low drinkers, averaging less than 5 grams a day, it was 42. For women who were moderate drinkers (5 to 30 grams a day), it was 36; for high drinkers (30 to 90 grams a day) it was 12; and for heavy drinkers (more than 90 grams a day) it was 12.
The rates for men were 398 per 100,000 for those who never drank, 318 for low drinkers, 255 for moderate drinkers, 278 for high drinkers and 334 for heavy drinkers, the researchers reported. Read more…