Resveratrol May Help Prevent Breast Cancer

Newsmax Health

Early laboratory research has shown that resveratrol, a common dietary supplement, suppresses the abnormal cell formation that leads to most types of breast cancer, suggesting a potential role for the agent in breast cancer prevention. Resveratrol is a natural substance found in red wine and red grapes. It is sold in extract form as a dietary supplement at most major drug stores.

"Resveratrol has the ability to prevent the first step that occurs when estrogen starts the process that leads to cancer by blocking the formation of the estrogen DNA adducts. We believe that this could stop the whole progression that leads to breast cancer down the road," said Eleanor G. Rogan, Ph.D., a professor in the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Rogan was the lead author of the report that was published in the July 2008 issue of Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

For the current study, Rogan and colleagues measured the effect of resveratrol on cellular functions known to contribute to breast cancer.

The formation of breast cancer is a multi-step process which differs depending on type of disease, a patient's genetic makeup and other factors. However, scientists know that many breast cancers are fueled by increased estrogen, which collects and reacts with DNA molecules to form adducts. Rogan and colleagues found that resveratrol was able to suppress the formation of these DNA adducts.

"This is dramatic because it was able to be done with fairly low concentrations of resveratrol to stop the formation of these DNA adducts in the cells we studied," said Rogan. Although researchers experimented with up to 100 µmol/L of resveratrol, the suppression of DNA adducts was seen with 10 µmol/L. A glass of red wine contains between 9 and 28 µmol/L of resveratrol.

The researchers also found that resveratrol suppressed the expression of CYP1B1 and the formation of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, two known risk factors for breast cancer.

Rogan said resveratrol works by inducing an enzyme called quinone reductase, which reduces the estrogen metabolite back to inactive form. By making estrogen inactive, resveratrol decreases the associated risk.


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New and Improved CPR

"You know you're doing it right when you hear the ribs crack." Those words -- spoken by a paramedic teaching me how to do CPR -- have always stuck with me. They made sense at the time: In order for traditional CPR to work, the rescuer needs to compress the victim's sternum by at least an inch-and-a-half to two inches, over and over again -- and doing that can definitely result in a cracked rib or two.

But a new CPR technique, devised by Leslie Geddes, PhD, DSc, Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Purdue University's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, does away with both cracked ribs and mouth to mouth resuscitation (a concern due to the risk of infection), while also pumping 40% more oxygen-rich blood through the heart. Since conventional CPR has a success rate of just 5% to 10%, Dr. Geddes was looking for a better form of CPR that would improve blood flow and be easier for one person to perform. The technique, known as "Only Abdominal Compression" or OAC-CPR, works by pushing rhythmically on the abdomen (above the belly button), instead of the chest, to squeeze blood through the circulatory system. At the same time, the compression forces the diaphragm to move rhythmically so that air flows into and out of the lungs. In the preliminary tests on pigs Dr. Geddes and his colleagues have done thus far, there's no apparent increased risk of injury to internal organs using OAC-CPR or any increase in the victim's risk of vomiting.

NOT YET OFFICIAL

Dr. Geddes has great hopes that this new form of CPR will gain popularity and save lives -- though he says it will take time before it becomes official. Research is underway to learn more about risks and benefits, and a device Dr. Geddes and his team developed to make the procedure easier needs to be reviewed by the government before it can be recommended for use on people. We'll keep you posted.


Source(s):

Leslie Geddes, PhD, DSc, Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University.


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