Source:
https://scmp.com/article/552410/life-doctor

Life doctor

Gene genius

Gene therapy may eventually be used to suppress often- fatal ovarian cancer and even to immunise people against radioactive dirty bombs, according to three recent studies. A University of Pittsburgh team injected mice with ovarian cancer cells: one group was also injected with a modified virus containing a so-called suicide gene that helps kill cancerous cells; a second was injected with the virus 30 to 60 days later; a third wasn't treated. No tumours grew among the first group; they grew slowly among the second; and all the mice in the third group died or had to be killed. A separate US-Italian study successfully used a genetically engineered measles virus to kill ovarian tumour cells in a laboratory. And another team at the University of Pittsburgh used gene therapy to treat mice before exposing them to radiation. Those treated lost no weight, had little bone-marrow damage, and lived longer, Reuters reports. Team leader Joel Greenberger says the therapy eventually could be used to protect people from radioactive attack, and may also be effective in treating the after-effects.

Falling foul of food

Poor diet is as bad for you as smoking, according to a Dutch report that's expected to be adopted by the European Food Safety Authority. Unhealthy eating and obesity reduce the average life expectancy of 40-year-old Dutch by two years, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment says. 'Unhealthy dietary habits cause as much health loss as does smoking.' The report says eating more fish, fruit and vegetables could save many of the 20,000 deaths a year in the Netherlands caused by poor diet.

Dead-end jobs

Amid concerns about the country's falling population, a record 330 Japanese died or became seriously ill from overwork last year - a phenomenon known as karoshi. And for the eighth straight year more than 30,000 people committed suicide (mainly due to health or money worries), Agence France-Presse reports. Japan has the highest suicide rate in the industrialised world, says the World Health Organisation.

Soy's dark horse

Dark soy sauce may be better for you than vitamin C or red wine. Researchers at the National University of Singapore say the antioxidant properties of the sauce are 10 times more potent than those in red wine and 150 times more than those in vitamin C. Antioxidants counter so-called free radicals, which attack cells and have been linked to the ageing process. Reuters reports that the sauce also temporarily improves blood flow by as much as 50 per cent. But don't go overboard: team leader Barry Halliwell says the high salt content could boost blood pressure.

Surgical game plan

Surgeons who play video games for 20 minutes before performing complex procedures are faster and make fewer mistakes. The research at New York's Beth Israel Medical Centre is part of an attempt to develop training programmes for surgeons similar to flight simulators for pilots. Medical errors are estimated to contribute to 100,000 deaths a year in the US. Team leader James Rosser, who has played computer games since the 1970s, says they sharpen eye-hand co-ordination, reaction time and visual skill - useful for the likes of laparoscopic surgery, which uses a tiny video camera and long, slender instruments inserted through small incisions. Rosser describes it as 'trying to tie your shoe laces with three-foot-long chopsticks while watching on a TV screen'.

Hotter chocolate

It's not exactly the fountain of youth, but a hot cup of cocoa may help you look younger. According to German research published in the Journal of Nutrition, women who drank an antioxidant-rich brand of hot cocoa for three months developed smoother skin that was less vulnerable to sun damage. A word of warning: the research was supported by chocolate-maker Mars, which supplied the high-flavonol cocoa.