Environmental News Network

Vitamin D: How Much is Enough?
While vitamin Dâ€™s role in strengthening bones is well established, its links to cancer and immune-system malfunctions have only recently emerged. At the Harvard School of Public Health, nutrition experts say large segments of the population donâ€™t get enough vitamin D and are urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to raise the daily recommended dose, from 400 international units to 800. For an update on whatâ€™s known so far about this important nutrient, the Harvard Public Health Review spoke with HSPH Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology Edward Giovannucci. >> Read the Full Article
Stem Cells Repair Rat Hearts Damaged By Heart Attack
University of Washington - Researchers were successful in getting human-derived heart muscle cells to graft into rat hearts and thrive alongside the rat's normal heart muscle cells. Researchers were also able to use human-derived stem cells to grow a heart muscle graft in a rat heart damaged by a heart attack. The human-derived cells incorporated with scar tissue and regular heart muscle cells. >> Read the Full Article
Scientists Say "Fat Eggs" Cause Of Infertility In Obese Women
AUSTRALIA University of Adelaide - A University of Adelaide researcher has discovered scientific evidence that obesity is a key factor in infertility - because of how it affects women's eggs. While obesity has long been thought to be a major factor in couples' inability to conceive, this is the first time the effects of obesity on the egg have been discovered. >> Read the Full Article
100-Pound Weight Loss Possible With Behavioral Changes
Lexington, KY - A new study indicates that with behavior change, humans can loose a lot of weight, in a relatively short period of time. The study tracked 118 men and women over nine years. Those 63 men and 55 women were part of a study led by Dr. James Anderson, head of the UK College of Medicine Metabolic Research Group. The average beginning weight of study participants was 353 pounds. The average weight loss was 134 pounds in 44 weeks. >> Read the Full Article
Kids Burn More Fat, Need More Fat, Than Adults
NEW YORK - Children burn more body fat day-to-day than adults do, underscoring their need for a little extra fat in their diets, according to researchers. Though many adults try to limit their fat intake for the sake of their hearts and waistlines, experts recommend that parents allow more leeway in their children's diets. >> Read the Full Article
U.S. Seeks Home For Research On Fearsome Diseases
WASHINGTON - A federal laboratory off Long Island, known as the "Alcatraz for animal disease," may move to the U.S. mainland as part of a new $450 million research center. Plans for the next-generation National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, slated to go online by 2013, include biosafety labs where scientists, clad in outfits resembling spacesuits and tethered to air supplies, would research diseases that can spread to people from animals. >> Read the Full Article
Afghan Opium Crop Soars To "Frightening Levels" Says U.N.
KABUL - Opium production has soared to "frightening record levels" in Afghanistan, which now has more land producing drugs than Colombia, Bolivia and Peru combined, the United Nations said on Monday. Afghanistan is locked in a vicious circle where drug money feeds both the Taliban insurgency and official corruption which in turn weaken the government's hold of large parts of the country and allows more opium to be produced. The area of Afghan land where opium poppies are grown rose by 17 percent to 193,000 hectares in 2007 from 165,000 last year and this year's harvest was 8,200 tonnes, up from 6,100 tonnes in 2006, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said. >> Read the Full Article
Study: Viagra Also Increases "Cuddle Chemical"
University of Wisconsin-Madison - A new study finds Viagra increases the release of a key reproductive hormone. Scientists found that the little blue pill may do more than get the blood pumping. Sildenafil â€” the generic name for Viagra â€” also increases release of a reproductive hormone in rats, according to a new study. The finding is the first indication of a chemical mechanism through which erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra may have physical effects besides increasing blood flow to sexual organs, says study author Meyer Jackson, a physiology professor at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. >> Read the Full Article
New Study: No Link Between Night Shift Work and Cancer Risk
COLUMBUS , Ohio â€“ Working the night shift doesn't appear to increase the risk of developing cancer, suggests the findings of a new study of Swedish workers. >> Read the Full Article
Dunkin' Donuts Cuts Trans Fat from Menu
NEW YORK - Restaurant company Dunkin' Brands Inc. said on Monday that all menu offerings in its Dunkin' Donuts restaurants will have zero grams of artery clogging trans fat by October 15 this year. The company also said all ice cream products at its Baskin-Robbins chain will have zero grams trans fat by January 1, 2008. Privately held Dunkin' Donuts, which has tested over 28 alternative oils since 2003, said it has already tried trans fat free doughnuts in about 400 restaurants throughout the United States, over a period of four months. >> Read the Full Article