THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS AT:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1) HHS Grants More than $8 Million to the Medical Reserve Corps
2) HHS Partners to Promote Health and Environmental Safety to the Girl Scouts
3) Intervention Improves Control of High Blood Pressure in Young Inner-City African-American Men
4) NCI Fact Sheet, Antioxidants and Cancer Prevention
5) Secretary Thompson's Public Schedule:
HHS Grants More than $8 Million to the Medical Reserve Corps
HHS Tommy G. Thompson announced 167 grants for the Medical Reserve Corps to help community-based organizations develop volunteer medical emergency and public health response capabilities.
"After September 11, Americans were asking, 'What can I do to help?' The Medical Reserve Corps gives them a way they can help out in their local communities," Secretary Thompson said. "These awards will continue to support our communities in planning and establishing local, citizen-centered volunteer MRC units, which will include physicians, nurses and others with a broad range of skills in health and other support fields."
MRC units are comprised of local, citizen volunteers who are trained to respond to health and medical situations in support of established, local public health and emergency medical response systems. Volunteers' responsibilities may include emergency medical care and triage, logistic or backup support for trauma units and hospitals in the event of a disaster, immunization campaigns, and public health awareness efforts.
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HHS Partners to Promote Health and Environmental Safety to the Girl Scouts
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services joined with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the City of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania to hold an environmental health day at the Philadelphia Zoo Oct. 25. The event was held to teach health and environmental safety to over 800 Brownies and Girl Scouts across the region.
The girls, ages 6 through 11, will participate in a day of fun activities and learn about health and wellness. The interactive tables will focus on life long lessons that the girls can take with them through life such as being smoke free and learning about the role germs play in causing disease.
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Science in the News
In East Baltimore's inner city, a group of hypertensive young African-American men gained control of their high blood pressure, thanks to a comprehensive intervention conducted at the community level by a multidisciplinary health care team. Forty-four percent of the men receiving the intensive form of the intervention attained control after three years, whereas at the study's start, only 17 percent had control.
Conducted by The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, the research is described in an article entitled "Hypertension Care and Control in Underserved Urban African American Men: Behavioral and Physiologic Outcomes at 36 Months, " which appears in the November issue of The American Journal of Hypertension. The study was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services.
Over one in four Americans has high blood pressure. The number of cases is nearly 40 percent higher for African Americans than Caucasians, and the effects of hypertension are more frequent and severe. African Americans may also experience greater organ damage resulting from the condition. Young African -American men in particular have the lowest rates of awareness, treatment and control of hypertension of any population group in the United States. These men's low socioeconomic status and higher risk factors such as obesity, smoking, and alcohol and drug use contribute to the high incidence of hypertension and the lack of its control.
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Personal HealthNCI Fact Sheet
Antioxidants and Cancer Prevention
Key Points
Antioxidants protect cells from damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals (see Question 1&3).
Laboratory and animal research has shown antioxidants help prevent the free radical damage that is associated with cancer. However, results from recent studies in people (clinical trials) are not consistent (see Question 2).
Antioxidants are provided by a healthy diet that includes a variety of fruits and vegetables (see Question 4).
1. What are antioxidants?
Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Free radical damage may lead to cancer. Antioxidants interact with and stabilize free radicals and may prevent some of the damage free radicals otherwise might cause. Examples of antioxidants include beta-carotene, lycopene, vitamins C, E, and A, and other substances.
2. Can antioxidants prevent cancer?
Considerable laboratory evidence from chemical, cell culture, and animal studies indicates that antioxidants may slow or possibly prevent the development of cancer. However, information from recent clinical trials is less clear. In recent years, large-scale, randomized clinical trials reached inconsistent conclusions.
3. What was shown in previously published large-scale clinical trials?
Five large-scale clinical trials published in the 1990s reached differing conclusions about the effect of antioxidants on cancer. The studies examined the effect of beta-carotene and other antioxidants on cancer in different patient groups. However, beta-carotene appeared to have different effects depending upon the patient population. The conclusions of each study are summarized below.
The first large randomized trial on antioxidants and cancer risk was the Chinese Cancer Prevention Study, published in 1993. This trial investigated the effect of a combination of beta-carotene, vitamin E, and selenium on cancer in healthy Chinese men and women at high risk for gastric cancer. The study showed a combination of beta-carotene, vitamin E, and selenium significantly reduced incidence of both gastric cancer and cancer overall. (1)
A 1994 cancer prevention study entitled the Alpha-Tocopherol (vitmain E)/Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study (ATBC) demonstrated that lung cancer rates of Finnish male smokers increased significantly with beta-carotene and were not affected by vitamin E. (2)
Another 1994 study, the Beta-Carotene and Retinol (vitamin A) Efficacy Trial (CARET), also demonstrated a possible increase in lung cancer associated with antioxidants. (3)
The 1996 Physicians' Health Study I (PHS) found no change in cancer rates associated with beta-carotene and aspirin taken by U.S. male physicians. (4)
The 1999 Women's Health Study (WHS) tested effects of vitamin E and beta-carotene in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease among women age 45 years or older. Among apparently healthy women, there was no benefit or harm from beta-carotene supplementation. Investigation of the effect of vitamin E is ongoing. (5)
4. Are antioxidants under investigation in current large-scale clinical trials?
Three large-scale clinical trials continue to investigate the effect of antioxidants on cancer. The objective of each of these studies is described below. More information about clinical trails can be obtained using cancer.gov/clinicaltrials, www.clinicaltrials.gov, or the CRISP database at www.nih.gov.
The Women's Health Study (WHS) is currently evaluating the effect of vitamin E in the primary prevention of cancer among U.S. female health professionals age 45 and older. The WHS is expected to conclude in August 2004.
The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) is taking place in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. SELECT is trying to find out if taking selenium and/or vitamin E supplements can prevent prostate cancer in men age 50 or older. The SELECT trial is expected to stop recruiting patients in May 2006.
The Physicians' Health Study II (PHS II) is a follow up to the earlier clinical trial by the same name. The study is investigating the effects of vitamin E, C, and multivitamins on prostate cancer and total cancer incidence. The PHS II is expected to conclude in August 2007.
5. Will NCI continue to investigate the effect of beta-carotene on cancer?
Given the unexpected results of ATBC and CARET, and the finding of no effect of beta-carotene in the PHS and WHS, NCI will follow the people who participated in these studies and will examine the long-term health effects of beta-carotene supplements. The NCI established an Antioxidant Trialists' Collaborative Group to conduct a systematic meta-analysis of these results and to continue follow-up in all completed trials. Post-trial follow-up has already been funded by NCI for CARET, ATBC, the Chinese Cancer Prevention Study, and the two smaller trials of skin cancer and colon polyps. The Antioxidant Trialists' Collaborative Group may begin to complete follow-up studies on beta-carotene findings as early as May 2003.
6. How might antioxidants prevent cancer?
Antioxidants neutralize free radicals as the natural by-product of normal cell processes. Free radicals are molecules with incomplete electron shells which make them more chemically reactive than those with complete electron shells. Exposure to various environmental factors, including tobacco smoke and radiation, can also lead to free radical formation. In humans, the most common form of free radicals is oxygen. When an oxygen molecule (O2) becomes electrically charged or "radicalized" it tries to steal electrons from other molecules, causing damage to the DNA and other molecules. Over time, such damage may become irreversible and lead to disease including cancer. Antioxidants are often described as "mopping up" free radicals, meaning they neutralize the electrical charge and prevent the free radical from taking electrons from other molecules.
7. Which foods are rich in antioxidants?
Antioxidants are abundant in fruits and vegetables, as well as in other foods including nuts, grains and some meats, poultry and fish. The list below describes food sources of common antioxidants.
Beta-carotene is found in many foods that are orange in color, including sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupe, squash, apricots, pumpkin, and mangos. Some green leafy vegetables including collard greens, spinach, and kale are also rich in beta-carotene.
Lutein, best known for its association with healthy eyes, is abundant in green, leafy vegetables such as collard greens, spinach, and kale.
Lycopene is a potent antioxidant found in tomatoes, watermelon, guava, papaya, apricots, pink grapefruit, blood oranges, and other foods. Estimates suggest 85 percent of American dietary intake of lycopene comes from tomatoes and tomato products.
Selenium is a mineral, not an antioxidant nutrient. However, it is a component of antioxidant enzymes. Plant foods like rice and wheat are the major dietary sources of selenium in most countries. The amount of selenium in soil, which varies by region, determines the amount of selenium in the foods grown in that soil. Animals that eat grains or plants grown in selenium-rich soil have higher levels of selenium in their muscle. In the United States, meats and bread are common sources of dietary selenium. Brazil nuts also contain large quantities of selenium.
Vitamin A is found in three main forms: retinol (Vitamin A1), 3,4-didehydroretinol (Vitamin A2), and 3-hydroxy-retinol (Vitamin A3). Foods rich in vitamin A include liver, sweet potatoes, carrots, milk, egg yolks and mozzarella cheese.
Vitamin C is also called ascorbic acid, and can be found in high abundance in many fruits and vegetables and is also found in cereals, beef, poultry and fish.
Vitamin E, also known as alpha-tocopherol, is found in almonds, in many oils including wheat germ, safflower, corn and soybean oils, and also found in mangos, nuts, broccoli and other foods.
This information is provided by the National Institutes of Health.
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Secretary Tommy G. Thompson's public schedule:
Secretary Thompson has no public schedule this week.
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Last updated November 3, 2003
United States Department of Health and Human Services
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