(Press-News.org) MINNEAPOLIS – Eating tomatoes and tomato-based foods is associated with a lower risk of stroke, according to new research published in the October 9, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Tomatoes are high in the antioxidant lycopene.
The study found that people with the highest amounts of lycopene in their blood were 55 percent less likely to have a stroke than people with the lowest amounts of lycopene in their blood.
The study involved 1,031 men in Finland between the ages of 46 and 65. The level of lycopene in their blood was tested at the start of the study and they were followed for an average of 12 years. During that time, 67 men had a stroke.
Among the men with the lowest levels of lycopene, 25 of 258 men had a stroke. Among those with the highest levels of lycopene, 11 of 259 men had a stroke. When researchers looked at just strokes due to blood clots, the results were even stronger. Those with the highest levels of lycopene were 59 percent less likely to have a stroke than those with the lowest levels.
"This study adds to the evidence that a diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of stroke," said study author Jouni Karppi, PhD, of the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. "The results support the recommendation that people get more than five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, which would likely lead to a major reduction in the number of strokes worldwide, according to previous research."
The study also looked at blood levels of the antioxidants alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol and retinol, but found no association between the blood levels and risk of stroke.
INFORMATION:
The study was supported by Lapland Central Hospital.
To learn more about stroke, visit http://www.aan.com/patients.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 25,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.
For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit http://www.aan.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.
Media Contacts:
Rachel Seroka, rseroka@aan.com, (612) 928-6129
Angela Babb, APR, ababb@aan.com, (612) 928-6102
END
Toronto – October 3, 2012. By the time our children reach kindergarten their learning and developmental patterns are already taking shape, as is a trajectory for their future health. Now, for the first time, scientists have amassed a large collection of research that looks "under the skin", to examine how and why experiences interact with biology starting before birth to affect a life course.
Biological Embedding of Early Social Adversity: From Fruit Flies to Kindergartners, a special volume published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and authored ...
Maternal depression and a common class of antidepressants can alter a crucial period of language development in babies, according to a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia, Harvard University and the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI) at BC Children's Hospital.
Published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study finds that treatment of maternal depression with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) can accelerate babies' ability to attune to the sounds and sights of their native language, while maternal depression ...
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—October 8, 2012—Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have mapped the precise frequency by which genes get turned on across the human genome, providing new insight into the most fundamental of cellular processes—and revealing new clues as to what happens when this process goes awry.
In a study being published this week online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Gladstone Investigator Leor Weinberger, PhD, and his research team describe how a gene's on-and-off switching—called "bursting"—is the predominant method by which genes make ...
McGill researchers have identified a small region in the genome that conclusively plays a role in the development of psychiatric disease and obesity. The key lies in the genomic deletion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, a nervous system growth factor that plays a critical role in brain development.
To determine the role of BDNF in humans, Prof. Carl Ernst, from McGill's Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, screened over 35,000 people referred for genetic screening at clinics and over 30,000 control subjects in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Overall, ...
TORONTO, October 4, 2012 – Drugs streamed into Health Canada's accelerated review process are more likely to be withdrawn from the market or earn a serious safety warning than those that undergo the standard review, according to a recent paper out of York University.
The study, published online by the Archives of Internal Medicine on Oct. 8, is the first of its kind undertaken in Canada. It tracked a total of 434 new active substances (NASs) approved by Health Canada between 1995 and 2010, examining how many subsequently acquired either serious safety warnings or had ...
A new model of influenza transmission, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, using more detailed information about patterns and severity of infection than previous models, finds that cases and transmission rates of H1N1 during the 2009-2010 flu pandemic have been underestimated. This model can provide a more robust and accurate real-time estimate of infection during a pandemic, which will help health services prepare and respond to future outbreaks.
During an epidemic one of the most important pieces of information health services need in order ...
Mathematicians have developed a powerful tool to quantify the spread and infectiousness of viruses like the pandemic H1N1 flu strain, which can be used together with modern laboratory techniques to help the healthcare system plan its response to disease outbreaks.
By putting statistical data under the microscope, University of Warwick researchers have created a model to predict the impact of future pandemics in real-time as they strike.
During the 2009 outbreak, the true extent of H1N1 was difficult to detect as in some people it caused severe symptoms, even death, whereas ...
Scientists have designed a blood test that reads genetic changes like a barcode – and can pick out aggressive prostate cancers by their particular pattern of gene activity.
A team at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust found reading the pattern of genes switched on and off in blood cells could accurately detect which advanced prostate cancers had the worst survival.
And the researchers believe the blood test could eventually be used alongside the existing PSA test at diagnosis to select patients who need immediate treatment.
The ...
CHICAGO – A study of children in the New Bedford, Mass., area suggests that low-level prenatal mercury exposure may be associated with a greater risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related behaviors and that fish consumption during pregnancy may be associated with a lower risk of these behaviors, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.
ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood and affects 8 percent to 12 percent of children worldwide, although ...
CHICAGO – Overall death rates due to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection declined over time between 1993 and 2007 for most men and women by race/ethnicity and educational levels, with the largest absolute decreases for nonwhites, but rates remain high among blacks, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.
Widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has resulted in steep declines in HIV-related mortality, but not all groups have benefited equally from its availability. Many factors ...
