Drinking Water Myth

For years our mothers and doctors told us we should drink lots of water each day. How much is enough? Americans say 8 glasses, and some say probably between 8 to 10 glasses.

It's a rule that is familiar to almost everyone. But it seems to have no basis in fact. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania

searched for the origin of the eight-glasses-a-day theory by going back through at least three decades of scientific data. They found nothing conclusive.

Dr. Stanley Goldfarb of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School is the senior author of this latest study says it is easy to understand how the idea of drinking large quantities of water got started-water is needed to sustainlife, then obviously that's led people to think: Well, if a normal amount is good, then extra might be better.

Dr. Goldfarb and his colleagues looked at five claims about drinking water -- the first, that large amounts help flush out toxins from the kidneys. They say no study provided evidence to support that.

Another claim is that the body's organs work efficiently with more water. The Pennsylvania scientists say the body's retention of water depends on the speed it is taken in. Sipping helps the body maintain greater amounts of water, they say, than gulping it.

Dieters have often been told the more water they drink, the less hungry they will feel. Again, there are two conflicting studies about the merits of water for weight reduction.

Two other claims -- that lots of water improves skin tone and helps prevent headaches -- were also unproven.

So, how much is enough? The scientists say 11 glasses of any kind of liquid is good for women and 15 is recommended for men. But that includes other fluids we drink or even the food we eat.

Dr. Goldfarb says we should just listen to what our bodies tell us. "Drink when you're thirsty. That's the way the body is designed."

By Vannasone Keodara (22/04/2008)

http://www.voanews.com/lao/2008-04-22-voa3.cfm

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Premature Birth Can Lead To Life-Long Problems

Premature Birth Can Lead To Life-Long Problems

Most babies are born after 40 weeks of pregnancy. However, a significant number of children come into the world early.

There are many reasons why babies are born 'pre-term'. In developing countries, poor maternal care, poor nutrition for mothers, infections and disease can contribute to preterm birth. But some children in the industrialized world are also born early - and the numbers of preterm births are slowly rising. The reason for the increase is unclear.




Duke University obstetrics professor Geeta Swamy was interested in the long-term effects of being born prematurely. She says, "We don't know a lot about what happens to those children [over the] long term, particularly as they grow up into adolescence and into adulthood and what implications does this have on their long-term health."

Swami was able to analyze the lifetime medical records of more than a million children born in Norway. She collected information about when they were born, what kinds of health problems they had and when they died.


Swamy focused on preterm children born before 37 weeks gestation, and also on children born before 28 weeks gestation? that's considered extremely preterm. She found children who were born early were also more likely to die early.

For girls, the increased risk of mortality was about 10 times higher than those born at term. And that's particularly true for those girls who were born extremely preterm. For boys who were born extremely preterm, they had about a five times increased risk of death during the early childhood age, up to about age 6, but they also had an increased risk mortality, up to about age 13.


Swamy says she also found long-term effects of being born early. Preterm children ended up completing fewer years of education. And they were less likely to have children of their own.



Among women who are born at term, roughly 70% of those women went on to reproduce or have a child. Among those women who were born extremely preterm, say, before 28 weeks, only 25% of those women actually went on to reproduce or have a child? We saw similar implications for men who are born preterm and term. For those who were born at term, about 50% of them went on to reproduce, compared to only about 14% of men who were born extremely preterm.


Swamy says scientists don't know for sure why prematurity confers such risk over the lifetime, and other studies are looking for those answers.

Her research is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

By Vannasone Keodara (05/04/2008)

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Red Wines Helps Prevent E. Coli, Other Food-born Diseases

Wine bottle and vineyard

Numerous studies show that a glass or maybe two of red wine can be good for your heart and even good for your waistline. Now researchers say red wine may also protect you from E. coli and other food-related diseases. Study also shows white wines did not help prevent or reduce negative effects of food-related illnesses. More from VOA's Carol Pearson.

Professor Azlin Mustapha at the University of Missouri says the study has shown that red wines do not harm useful bacteria in the stomach but do help protect against the harmful ones.

"We do know that they [red wines] actually kill these bugs as well as inhibit their growth. And the three [wines] that were the best among the ones we tested were Cabernet, Merlot, and Pinot Noir."

Professor Mustapha says certain chemical compounds occurring naturally in the vine or on the skin of the grape help the plant defend itself against diseases. She says these chemical compounds might also be found in red wine and that may be why it protects humans against certain disease-causing bacteria.

Some studies have disputed the benefits of drinking red wine. But Professor Mustapha says even when the researchers diluted red wines, they still killed or inhibited the growth of harmful bacteria. (picture: E Coli Bacteria)

"The key here is moderate consumption, meaning one glass about four ounces (about 120 ml) of red wine per day for females, a couple of glasses for males a day."

The researchers also evaluated white wines but found that only the red wines helped protect against the harmful bacteria.

By Carol Pearson

http://www.voanews.com

(23/03/2008)

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