Azlin and colleagues wanted to know if red wine had any impact upon food-borne pathogens like E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes and H. pylori. The first two bacteria are frequent culprits in food poisonings and can be fatal. H. pylori, which can be transmitted by contaminated food and water, is the main culprit in stomach ulcers.
The researchers found that red wines - cabernet, zinfandel and merlot in particular - appear to have anti-microbial properties, actively inhibiting the growth of pathogens while not affecting probiotics (beneficial bacteria in the gut that aids digestion).
"It's not just the ethanol in the red wine that is inhibitory toward food-borne pathogens," Mustapha said. He said other factors, such as the wine's acidity and phytochemicals like reseveratrol seem to play a role.
Unfortunately for white wine lovers, Mustapha said none tested showed any significant effect against pathogens.
MEDTRONICA
Go ask Alice
www.goaskalice.columbia.edu
Web site for college students, sponsored by Health Services at Columbia University in New York City. The emphasis is on subjects mostly likely to involve or concern 20-somethings, such as alcohol abuse, sexual relations and emotional health. The various Q&A's are particularly relevant.
STORIES FOR THE WAITING ROOM
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says about 14,000 American males between the ages of 13 and 19 were treated for gynecomastia (enlarged breasts) in 2006. That represents 70% of all male breast reduction surgeries in the U.S. that year.
Enlarged breasts in male teens is fairly common. Indeed, David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men's Health, told The New York Times that the condition usually resolves itself in the latter stages of puberty and adolescence.
"But add some fat in there, and a cut-happy approach to body oddities, and you've got teens under the cosmetic knife," Zinczenko said.
BEST MEDICINE
"But you are the greatest psychiatrist in the world!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, but Dr. Jones charges less."
LAST WORDS
I did not get my Spaghetti-O's, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.
- Convicted murderer Thomas J. Grasso, complaining about his last meal before being executed in 1995
BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
The weight of the average human body is roughly 40 to 50 times greater than the weight of the average human brain. According to "The Odd Brain" by Stephen Juan, the animal with the largest brain in proportion to its body is the ant.
PHOBIA OF THE WEEK
Bolshephobia - fear of Bolsheviks (e.g. communist revolutionaries, circa 1917)
GET ME THAT. STAT!
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 30.9% of American adults over the age of 18 engaged in regular leisure-time physical activity in 2006, up from 30.1% in 2005. That also means more than two-thirds of American adults did not.
FITNESS AND FIBROIDS
Regular exercise may protect your reproductive system, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences says. Researchers screened nearly 1,200 women for uterine fibroids and for hysterectomy. The more active the women were, the less likely they were to have fibroids. Those who worked out at least seven hours a week had a 40% lower risk than those who exercised less than two hours weekly.
A MILE OF BLOOD VESSELS
Think about this the next time you get ready to dig into that heaping bowl of rich Chunky Monkey ice cream. For every pound you gain, your body creates about an extra mile of blood vessels, Prevention Magazine says. Blood must travel that much farther, which strains the heart and increases your risk of high blood pressure. Still hungry for the fatty stuff?
- Compiled by R.J. Ignelzi
