Vitamin D cut prostate specific antigen levels, used to mark the seriousness of prostate cancer, by some 50 percent in some subjects, British researchers said.Study leader Jonathan Waxman Imperial College London said vitamin D2 was taken on a daily basis by 26 patients with prostate cancer and five patients showed improvement, Healthcare Today reported.

The study, published in BJU International, said two patients’ PSA levels went down by more than 50 percent, two had decreased levels of between 25 percent and 50 percent, and one had a decrease of less than 25 percent.

“It’s very interesting — there has been no significant trial of vitamin D,” Waxman said in a statement. “This is a treatment which is unlikely to have significant toxicity and is a welcome addition to the therapeutic options for patients with prostate cancer.”

Smoking and high blood pressure produce the greatest number of unnecessary deaths — each account for 1 in 5 preventable U.S. deaths, researchers say.The study, published in the journal PLoS Medicine, finds that other dietary, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors also cause a substantial number of deaths in the United States.

Majid Ezzati of the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues estimated the number of preventable deaths caused by 12 selected risk factors.

These are factors related to lifestyle, including smoking and physical inactivity; dietary factors, such as high salt intake and low intake of fruit and vegetables; and metabolic factors that often result from diet and lifestyle but may also have clinical interventions such as high blood pressure and blood glucose.

Of the 2.5 million U.S. deaths in 2005, the researchers estimated nearly 470,000 were associated with tobacco smoking and nearly 400,000 with high blood pressure. Being overweight or obese accounted for nearly 1 in 10 deaths of U.S. adults, while high salt intake was responsible for 1 in 25 deaths, the study said.

This Friday, Kerrville will host the Relay for Life. This event is more than just a fundraising effort or an opportunity to spend time with friends. It is a collective expression of the desire to eradicate cancer from people’s lives whether we know them or not. What a beautiful thing!The Relay for Life honors those who have succumbed to cancer as well as those who have survived. It also encourages people who are currently undergoing treatment. This beautiful event is juxtaposed by the disease itself, which often arrives unexpectedly. Oftentimes no rational explanation as to the cause of the disease exists.

Cancer can be the result of genetics, exposure to something toxic or diet and lifestyle. The American Institute for Cancer Research estimates that adjusting diet and lifestyle habits alone could dramatically cut the incidence of certain types of cancers by as much as one-third to one-half. Listed below are a few evidence-based strategies that can help.

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables every day. Consuming five fruits and vegetables per day can greatly reduce a person’s risk. But eating a “rainbow” of seven or more greatly improves odds. Select cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Make dark leafy greens (kale, collard greens, spinach) staples in your home. Eat something red or orange daily. Make sure that citrus, berries or cherries are on your weekly grocery list.

Monitor quality and quantity of fats. The type of fats that you consume can help reduce your risk for cancer and other diseases as well. Incorporate omega-3 fats into your diet. Omega-3’s can be found in oily fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, sardines and lake trout) as well as flax seed and walnuts.

Select monounsaturated fats, too. Canola oil, most nuts and seeds, avocados and olive oil are excellent sources. In addition, most nuts and seeds also serve as an excellent source of minerals. Many contain the protective mineral selenium. Extra virgin olive oil contains antioxidants that help reduce cancer and cardiovascular risk.

Minimize the use of trans-fats and saturated (animal) fats in your diet.

Choose quality carbs. You may have heard of the “glycemic index.” This is a tool that communicates how rapidly different types of carbohydrate are digested and absorbed. Overeating carbohydrate-rich foods like snack crackers, some cereals and breads, refined pastas or instant-type rice may trigger hormonal changes that promote alterations in the cell growth in certain parts of the body. Select whole grains, beans and legumes instead.

Watch your weight. Avoid overeating. Weight gain, especially during adulthood, is linked to greater risk. This is probably due to the fact that that body fat stores are linked to higher circulating levels of hormones. Although the relationship is not fully understood, the development of certain cancers has been linked to higher hormone levels.

Eating less high-fat foods is one way to trim excess calories out of the diet. Replace them with one of your daily 5 to 8 servings of fruits and vegetables. Making such changes will make watching your weight an easier task.

Don’t overdo it on the alcohol. A landmark study called the Nurses’ Health Study followed 90,000 nurses for close to 10 years. It reported that women who drank two or more alcoholic beverages per day had a 40 percent greater risk for developing breast cancer when compared to non-drinkers. Researchers are continuing to find links between moderate alcohol consumption and breast cancer as well as liver cancer. The more a person drinks, the greater the risk. Even one drink per day can increase risk. Be careful and be selective.

Get active. Exercise helps us to burn our body fuels more efficiently as well as control weight. The AICR recommends one hour of moderate activity per day plus one hour of vigorous activity each week. However, as little as 30 minutes of daily physical activity can minimize risk.

The Relay for Life is one day a year. Maintaining a quality lifestyle is a daily responsibility. Do what you can to maintain your health at an optimal level. Take small steps if necessary and be patient, yet persistent. We can’t change our genetics, but we can change our lifestyle. And that can make a difference.

Amy A. Chapman is a registered and licensed dietitian and can be contacted at aggiemama95(at)hotmail.com.

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Do you sometimes feel a slight weakness in one part of a lower body movement in your sport? Whether it’s a stride, kick, push, cut, crossover or leap; that miniscule loss of power is telling you something important: not all the muscles in your lower body are equally strong.That not only pulls you down as an athlete, it puts you at genuine risk. If you suddenly have to put pressure or weight on the weak muscle in an unusual range of motion, something may give _ like a joint or a tendon.

Exercises like squats, deadlifts or hamstring curls won’t fix the problem. They are static movements and use a limited range of motion. To get all the muscles of your lower body strong with functional strength (the kind used by athletes), you need walking lunges. In this exercise, every muscle of the lower body has to help out. Plus, they will exponentially improve your balance.

Walking lunges can be done with a weighted bar on your shoulders, or while holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides. It’s a good idea to train with both methods, since the bar and dumbbells each create a different center of mass, thus providing a more overall training effect. For an even better training effect, do the walking lunges outdoors. Use different surfaces such as concrete, grass or dirt. Step up or down on curbs or rocks. This is excellent balance training, and it also trains your focus, which will improve your game in any sport.

Always warm up by doing unweighted walking lunges, working on perfect form. That includes the following elements: The front knee should never bend beyond the toes. The back knee should come within a few inches of the ground surface, but never touch. The torso should be exactly in the middle, not leaning over the front or back thigh. The spine should be straight, not tilted. Chest should be up and out, shoulders back and not hunched.

Choose a place where you can do 20-24 walking lunges (10-12 on each leg) in a straight line without having to open a door or side step something in the way. When you’ve done the set, put the weight down and rest by walking around, but for no longer than a minute. Then pick up the weight and retrace your line back to where you began.

At first, you may be wobbly, especially outdoors. If you feel yourself badly off balance, drop the weight. As your muscles get stronger and your balance improves, the wobbles will go. At that point, add in terrain changes; stepping up and down off a bench or trying to do the lunges while keeping both feet on a curb edging (a real toughie). After every session, give your legs a day or two to recover. Don’t do them every day.

As you get stronger, increase the weight and lower the reps to six or seven on each leg, doing the lunges faster while still keeping perfect form. Soon, you won’t even remember that feeling of weakness, because every muscle in your lower body will be strong.

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So, you say money’s tight these days and you’re looking for ways to cut back on expenses?You might be tempted to cancel your gym membership, but local fitness experts say that’s not always the smartest way to cut costs.

Staying fit is an important way to protect your health and well- being, they say, and a gym or fitness center offers advantages that are hard to duplicate in at-home workouts.

Cindy Williams, a certified health coach, certified wellness coach and a health advocate coordinator at St. Mary’s Medical Center, said a gym can provide a motivational atmosphere and a place to exercise when weather is bad. Gyms can also offer certain resources (group classes, swimming pools) that make memberships worth the cost.

“It’s such a good investment,” Williams said.

Glenna Bower, assistant professor of physical education at the University of Southern Indiana, agreed that gym memberships can be worth the expense, even if your budget is tight.

“If you feel like it’s important, then if you can you should probably keep that particular membership,” she said.

If the monthly fee is a stretch, Bower suggested talking to the gym’s manager to see if they can offer you a lower rate or special discount.

But if your budget is extra-tight, a monthly membership may not be affordable right now. That doesn’t mean your fitness regimen has to go out the window.

No matter whether you are a gym member or not, our experts say, there are plenty of ways to stay fit without blowing your budget.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re in great economic times or terrible.. (you) don’t need to be a member of a gym in order to be a terrific fit person,” said Jackie Spring, wellness coach at

Deaconess Women’s Hospital

Here are some of their best money-saving fitness tips:

* * *

Consider a home gym

If you have $50 or so, you can purchase some dumbbells, a stability ball and resistance bands. These pieces are versatile and allow you to perform a variety of strength, balance and toning exercises.

“A few pieces of fairly inexpensive equipment like that will serve you well for a long time,” Spring said.

Expensive equipment, such as a treadmill or stationary bicycle, isn’t necessary, Spring said. Walking or riding a regular bicycle can give you the same cardiovascular workout.

If you do want to buy a treadmill (and are convinced you really will use it), shop around.

Bower said buying used equipment, either at a store or from a private seller, can save you money, as long as you do your homework.

Ask when the piece was purchased new, how much it’s been used and why it’s being sold. Test the equipment if you can. Treadmills should have adequate shock absorbency, and stationary bikes should offer enough resistance.

“You can find good bargains, just make sure you ask the right questions,” Bower said.

A smart shopper can find a quality treadmill for $500 to $1,500, she said.

If money is truly tight, Bower said you can make do with household items. Canned goods or water jugs can be used as dumbbells, and old panty hose can substitute for resistance tubing.

Shop smart

The sporting-goods store isn’t the only place to buy fitness apparel and accessories.

Discount retailers, such as Target and Wal-Mart, sell quality workout equipment and clothing, Bower said. She also likes the Web site www.shopittome.com, where with free registration users can sign up to be notified when certain brands - including Adidas, Nike, the North Face and Puma - go on sale.

It’s important to buy good shoes, the experts say, but it’s not always necessary to buy the most expensive pair.

Bower, who is a runner, said that as long as a shoe offers adequate cushioning and flexibility, a good pair may be found for as little as $50.

The exception, she said, is if you have special needs - a very narrow or wide foot, for instance, or flat feet. In that case, you might have to spend more on a high-end brand or model that works for you.

Think ‘free’

Some activities, such as walking or running, don’t require any special equipment or fee other than good shoes.

“Walking is amazing. People don’t realize what it can do,” Williams said.

Spring advises saving money on extras such as bottled water, energy bars and protein shakes. They can be expensive, and plain old tap water in a bottle from home will meet the average exerciser’s needs.

And rather than buying workout DVDs, look for free resources online. See related sidebar for some sites our experts like.

Looking for free information on exercise routines, training plans and injury prevention? Check out the following Web sites:

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, http:// orthoinfo.aaos.org. Fact sheets on starting an exercise program, choosing equipment, avoiding injury, more.

American Council on Exercise, www.acefitness.org. Fitness videos, health and fitness facts and tips and more.

American Heart Association’s Choose to Move program, www.choosetomove.org. A 12-week online program for women who want to increase activity levels.

National Institute of Aging’s exercise and physical activity guide: www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/ExerciseGuide/

www.smallstep.gov. Advice on making small changes to improve diet and physical activity levels.

(c) 2009 Evansville Courier & Press. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

Weight gain is more likely to increase as a result of liquid calories, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages, than solid food calories, U.S. researchers said.Lead author Dr. Liwei Chen of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center said the study reports four principal findings: a reduction in liquid calorie intake was significantly associated with weight loss at both six months and 18 months; the weight-loss effect of a reduction in liquid calorie intake was stronger than that of a reduction in solid calorie intake; a reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage intake was significantly associated with weight loss at both six and 18 months; and no other beverage type was associated with weight change.

“Today, Americans consume 150-300 more calories a day than they did 30 years ago, and caloric beverages account for approximately 50 percent of this increase,” Chen said in a statement.

The researchers tracked 810 men and women ages 25-79 whose 24-hour dietary intake recall was measured by telephone interviews conducted when they entered the study and at six and 18 months.

The absence of chewing when consuming liquids may result in decreased pancreatic responses and beverages also clear the stomach sooner than solid food and may induce weaker satiety signals, the researchers said.

The findings are published in May 1 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

While going meatless isn’t for everyone, it can improve your health. Here are tips from nutritionists on making the transition:Know why you’re doing it. Having firm reasons for changing your diet _ whether moral, ethical, medical, environmental or otherwise _ can keep you on track.

Set guidelines. Many vegetarians decide to keep eating eggs and dairy, while others opt to cut all animal products.

Tell family and friends. They may not understand or approve, so be ready to explain your reasons.

Don’t go cold turkey. Two strategies are to eliminate one type of meat a week _ red meat first, say, followed by chicken, pork and seafood _ or to swap in one vegetarian meal each week.

Have some recipes ready. Buy a vegetarian cookbook or use an online source such as www.goveg.com. Try one new dish a week to make the switch fun _ not a form of deprivation.

Keep eating healthy. Vegetarianism can be very unhealthy if you load up on junk food. Stick with fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, meat substitutes, soy protein and low-fat dairy. Good snacks include fruits and vegetables, almonds, hummus, low-fat granola and whole-grain crackers.

Watch your protein intake. Vegetarians need to be careful to get enough protein (as well as calories and healthy fats). Nuts, beans and seeds are three good choices.

Experiment with meatless products. Grocery stores stock tofu and many meat substitutes, including sausage patties, chicken nuggets, bacon and ground beef. So you can keep making favorites like lasagna, spaghetti, chili and stir-fry with those products.

Go ethnic. Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Thai restaurants tend to have a lot of vegetarian choices. You also can ask a restaurant to prepare a dish without meat.

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U.S. researchers say moderate exercise reduces inflammation linked to metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors predicting heart disease and type 2 diabetes.The syndrome has been linked to inflammation found in visceral fat — better known as belly fat.

“In the study, the benefits of exercise were apparent, even without a change in diet. We saw improvements in insulin sensitivity, less fat in the liver, and less inflammation in belly fat,” study researcher Jeffrey Woods of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said in a statement.

The researchers assigned mice to either a sedentary group, an exercise group, a low-fat diet group, or a group that combined a low-fat diet with exercise for six or 12 weeks.

Combining diet and exercise didn’t yield dramatically different and better results than diet or exercise alone. The only significant increase from six to 12 weeks in belly fat was in the sedentary mice. Woods said this is a promising finding.

“The benefits of exercise were apparent even if the animals were still eating a high-fat diet,” Woods said. “That tells me that exercise could decrease or prevent these life-threatening diseases by reducing inflammation even when obesity is still present.”

The findings are published in the American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Obesity is striking another generation of Americans at an alarming rate: 4-year-olds, especially Native American children.More than half a million 4-year-olds are obese, and the numbers are even more startling among children of color, according to a government study published this month in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

The findings mean that nearly 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds are obese. And the rate for Native American children is nearly double that of white children.

The differences by race at such an early age surprised researchers.

The troubling findings also show that young children are becoming obese before they enroll in school, which is when they are more likely to eat unhealthful meals and vending-machine snacks and soda.

The study, conducted by the National Center on Educational Statistics, analyzed height and weight data in 2005 for 8,550 preschoolers born in 2001. It showed 31 percent of Native American children were obese, compared with 22 percent of Hispanics, 21 percent of blacks, 16 percent of whites, and 13 percent of Asian children.

This study did not explore reasons for the racial disparity. But other research has shown that minorities are at a higher risk of obesity because they generally live in poor households, eat diets high in fat and calories, and have less-educated parents.

The new study is believed to be the first analysis of national obesity rates in preschool kids in the nation’s five major ethnic or racial groups. It gives new meaning to the term baby fat.

Sarah Anderson, an Ohio State public health researcher, conducted the study with Temple University’s Dr. Robert Whitaker. Obesity has long been a problem among adult Americans, but that didn’t make the statistics on children any easier to digest.

A growing number of children of all ages are becoming obese, although the rate has leveled off in recent years. A study last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimated that 32 percent of schoolchildren are overweight or obese.

Experts blame junk food, fast food, and sedentary lifestyles that include hours spent playing video games or watching TV. Sadly, many youngsters are simply following in the footsteps of their obese parents.

Without drastic measures, obese children will become chubby teenagers who are more likely to develop serious health problems as they grow older, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

All parents, regardless of race, should be alarmed by this trend and take immediate action to put their children on a healthier track. That means providing kids with more nutritious meal choices, limiting junk food, and encouraging them to exercise more than their fingers punching a computer game’s keypad.

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Dr. Stephen Devine is on a mission to raise levels of HDL, or the “good” cholesterol.Devine, a Gundersen Lutheran cardiologist who specializes in non-invasive ways to prevent heart disease, said low levels of HDL can lead to diabetes and heart disease. He and Dr. Brendan Doyle, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist who works at Franciscan Skemp, are seeing more patients with below-normal levels of HDL, which are putting them at greater risk for heart disease.

Some of these same patients have a good side of their cholesterol profile — normal or below-normal levels of total cholesterol and LDL, the “bad” cholesterol — but lose some protective effects on their heart and vessels with low HDL.

Devine said one-third of American males and 39 percent of American women have below-normal HDL levels.

“When we look at the lipid profile, low HDL stands out,” Devine said. “We have put an emphasis on HDL. It’s too important to overlook it.”

Obesity, increased triglycerides, high blood pressure and high blood sugars often go hand-in-hand with low HDL levels, he said.

“These patients have pre-diabetes, and they don’t know it,” Devine said. “I tell them frankly that they don’t want diabetes and what can go with it — blindness, kidney damage and leg amputation.

“My job is to prevent them going from pre-diabetes to diabetes,” he said.

Devine recently saw a 22-year-old with chest pain who had pre-diabetes and didn’t know it.

HDL levels are going down at an alarming rate, Devine said, and doctors need to treat patients with low HDL levels aggressively.

A study reported in the January issue of the American Heart Journal showed three-fourths of 136,000 heart attack patients had normal or low LDL, but poor levels of HDL.

Raising HDL levels may be the next frontier in reducing one’s risk for heart disease, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Greg Fonarow at UCLA.

Doyle agreed doctors are more concerned about raising HDL levels.

One problem doctors face, he said, is they can raise HDL with some medicines, but that may not translate to decreased risk for heart attacks or a longer life.

“Some drugs can change the number, but we don’t see the clinical benefit,” Doyle said. “The number is half the battle.”

He said doctors know lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity and being sedentary contributes to low HDL and pre-diabetes.

“We’re more aggressively screening for risk factors,” he said. “It’s good to be aware of the numbers, but treatment options can be quite limited. That could change in the future with more research.”

But Doyle said healthier lifestyles — maintaining a healthy weight and a regular exercise program and not smoking — will help reduce risk for heart disease.

Some medications used to lower LDL may also increase HDL, such as niacin, fibrates and statins.

If people have low LDL and low total cholesterol but also have low HDL, they still need to see their physician, Devine said.

Jessica Aberg, a Gundersen Lutheran cardiology registered dietitian, works on dietary and lifestyle changes with patients to increase HDL levels.

Aberg said her patients who have lost significant weight in three or four months often still have low HDL levels.

“I’ve seeing more patients with low HDL, and they’re always surprised their other cholesterol levels are fine,” Aberg said. “HDL should be taken seriously, but raising it can take time.”

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