News
The urgent need for treating liver disease in obese children
16 November 2015
Experts call for research on the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common form of chronic liver disease in children.
11 January 2012
Intake of high doses of B vitamins may improve mood and reduce psychological strain associated with chronic work stress, suggests a new Australian study.
In the randomized controlled trial, 60 participants each took either two tablets per day with vitamins B1
(75 mg), B2 (10 mg), B3 (100 mg), B5 (68.7 mg), B6 (25 mg), B12 (30 µg) and folic acid (150 µg) or placebo for a period of three months (1). To assess personality, work demands, mood, anxiety and strain, the participants completed questionnaires at the beginning of the study and after 30 and 90 days of the treatment. The study results showed that after individual differences in personality and work demands were statistically controlled, the vitamin B complex treatment group reported significantly lower personal strain and a reduction in confusion and depressed/dejected mood after 12 weeks. There were no treatment-related changes in other measures of mood and anxiety.
The researchers concluded that B vitamins may be a cost-effective treatment for the mood and psychological strain effects of occupational stress. These findings could have important personal health, organizational and societal outcomes given the rising cost and incidence of workplace stress.
Adequate levels of vitamins and minerals are essential for the optimal performance of a host of physiological processes that have both direct (e.g. neurotransmitter synthesis, receptor binding, membrane ion pump function) and indirect (e.g. energy metabolism, cerebral blood supply) effects on brain function (2).The results of the study are consistent with two previous studies examining multivitamin supplementation and personal (non-work) feelings of strain (3, 4) and suggestive of significant decreases in the experience of workplace stress after 90-day supplementation of a B multivitamin.
16 November 2015
Experts call for research on the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common form of chronic liver disease in children.
14 December 2015
The results of the recent, comprehensive Age-Related Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) failed to support the prevailing view that marine omega-3 fatty acids could have a protective role in preventing the onset and progression of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). Professor Eric Souied, Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at both the Hôpital Intercommunal de Créteil and the Hôpital Henri Mondor in France, has carefully reviewed the study and found that the null results could be due to methodological differences between this and other recent studies. He thinks that the evidence from laboratory and other clinical studies still provides hope that omega-3 fatty acids could provide benefits in relation to ARMD.
1 January 2012
Low serum beta-carotene and lycopene concentrations may increase the risk of acute myocardial infarction in men, says a new Finnish study.