| Selenium and Omega-3 shown to protect against colorectal cancer |
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SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Natural News] By S.L. Baker - January 26, 2010 - When scientists gathered in Houston recently for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, they heard groundbreaking evidence about how colon cancer can be prevented. The new data wasn't about drugs or surgery, either. Instead, two separate research groups concluded natural substances appear to protect from often deadly colon malignancies. Colon cancer, which the American Cancer Society estimates is diagnosed in over 108,000 Americans each year, is intricately linked to adenomas, also called polyps. These lesions grow in the large bowel and start off as benign. However, they can turn into cancerous tumors and 70 to 80% of all cancers of the colon (the longest part of the large intestine) and rectum result from adenomas-turned-malignant. So, in hopes of preventing future cancerous growths, polyps found during colonoscopies are snipped off and biopsied. Unfortunately though, pre-cancerous polyps often return. But scientists at the National Institute for Cancer Research in Genoa, Italy, conducted a long term study that shows the risk of pre-cancerous polyps (dubbed colorectal metachronous adenomas) coming back after they've been removed can be greatly reduced. The key? Taking specific antioxidants, including a selenium-based compound. 'Our study is the first intervention trial specifically designed to evaluate the efficacy of the selenium-based antioxidant compound on the risk of developing metachronous adenomas,' said Luigina Bonelli, M.D., head of the unit of secondary prevention and screening at the National Institute for Cancer Research, in a statement to the media. 40%
reduced risk: The research team
studied volunteers between the ages of 25 and 75 who had already had one
or more colorectal adenomas removed. None of the participants were
diagnosed with any additional colorectal disease, cancer or other
life-threatening illness and none were taking vitamins or mineral
supplements when the study began. The scientists randomly divided the 411
participants into two groups: those in one group received an inactive
placebo and those in the second group took a daily antioxidant supplement
containing a selenium compound (selenomethionnine 200 ug), zinc 30 mg,
vitamin A 6,000 IU, vitamin C 180 mg and vitamin E 30 mg. 'Our results indicated that individuals
who consumed antioxidants had a 40% reduction in the incidence of
metachronous adenomas of the large bowel,' Bonelli said. 'It is noteworthy
that the benefit observed after the conclusion of the trial persisted
through 13 years of follow up.' |
| Gulf fisheries unlikely to be affected as large Port Arthur oil spill is quickly contained |
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SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Associated Press] By John Mcfarland - January 26, 2010 - The worst Texas oil spill in more than 15 years was contained Monday, and authorities credit a huge emergency response with averting an environmental disaster. About 462,000 gallons of oil spilled when an 800-foot tanker headed for an Exxon Mobil Corp. refinery in Beaumont collided Saturday with a vessel pushing two barges. As of Monday, about 220,000 gallons of oil had evaporated, dispersed or been recovered, the U.S. Coast Guard said. No injuries have been reported. Port Arthur residents were evacuated after the spill while officials tested the air quality. So far only two oil-covered birds have been reported; one of them was captured and cleaned up, and the other flew away. More than 60 vessels and 550 people from the Coast Guard, the state, the shipping company and others responded to the spill. More than 11 miles worth of the plastic walls known as booms are floating around the spill, and 27 skimmer boats were removing the oil floating on the water. 'This response has helped contain this oil and keep it from becoming a catastrophe,' said Texas General Land Office spokesman Jim Suydam. 'Had this oil escaped the ship channel, it could have been a catastrophe.' oil-spill-boats.JPGGuiseppe Barranco / Beaumont Enterprise
via APWorkers use boats to line the Sabine Neches Waterway with booms
designed to collect oil on the water's surface in Port Arthur, Texas on
Sunday. It was the largest spill in
Texas since 1990, when a Norwegian tanker spilled 4.3 million gallons
about 60 miles off Galveston. The state typically has about 800 spills a
year, but nearly all involve less than one barrel, according to the Texas
General Land Office. Two sensitive
wildlife areas near the spill remain unaffected by it. The spill is mostly
contained in a 2-mile stretch of the Sabine Neches Waterway near Port
Arthur, about 90 miles east of Houston. The estuaries and other delicate
environments are crucial for fish, shrimp and 'everything that lives in
the Gulf,' Suydam said.
Environmental watchdogs were encouraged by the speedy response but
concerned about what air pollutants people nearby were exposed to. Hilton Kelley, a Port Arthur
environmental activist and head of the group Community In-Power and
Development Association, said he was near the water Saturday during the
evacuation. He said the smell was so overpowering that he had to put on a
respirator mask, and that he told two women walking down the street with
their coats over their faces to leave because it was dangerous. 'The fumes were just unbearable,' he
said. 'Our main concern is the number of people who might have been
impacted over the long term by the fumes.' The evacuation was lifted Saturday
night. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was monitoring the
air and water quality and said there were no reports of problems with
drinking water or wastewater. 'We've
learned a lot over the years how to do this right,' said Tom 'Smitty'
Smith of the activist group Public Citizen. 'The downsides, of course, are
the long-term impacts of the people who are exposed to the
emissions.'
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