Month: February 2014

A new study has shown that a simple handshake predict cancer survival rates, as handgrip strength may be linked to a person’s ability to fight the disease.

Concordia professor Robert Kilgour and his colleagues at the McGill Nutrition and Performance Laboratory confirmed a link between handgrip strength and survival rates.

The test was simple: 203 patients fighting advanced-stage cancers squeezed a device known as a dynamometer with their dominant hand. The instrument then measured peak grip strength.

A meta-analysis of all available human trials has revealed that fructose in and of itself is not to blame for the increase in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common chronic liver disease in developed countries, affecting up to 30 percent of their populations.

Since the disease is closely linked to obesity and Type 2 diabetes, there’s a growing debate in the medical community about whether diet plays a role in its development, specifically the consumption of fructose.

A new collaborative study from Finland has found that a simple question about self-rated physical fitness in midlife may reveal individuals who are at an increased risk of developing dementia.

The study, involving the follow-up of 3,559 adults for 30 years, found that those who reported poor self-rated physical fitness in midlife, at the mean age of 50 years, were four times more likely to get dementia during the next three decades compared to those with good self-rated physical fitness.

A new study has shown that combining a caffeine-based compound with a small amount of gold could someday be used as a tool in the fight against cancer.

Angela Casini, Michel Picquet and colleagues note that caffeine and certain caffeine-based compounds have recently been in the spotlight as possible anticancer treatments.

But drinking gallons of coffee, sodas and energy drinks isn’t the solution. And the regular caffeine in these drinks would start to have negative effects on healthy cells, too, at the levels necessary to kill cancerous ones.