Posts Tagged ‘stomach’

A study led by Johns Hopkins University researchers has found that eating broccoli sprouts can reduce the activity of H. pylori, a bacteria that often infects human stomachs and can lead to inflammation, ulcers, and even stomach cancer. Broccoli sprouts contain sulforaphane, a compound that has been found to act like an antibiotic. By reducing the activity of the bacteria, the inflammatory environment that can lead to cancerous growth may probably be reduced as well.

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The morning after daylight savings time begins is usually more stressful due to the decreased amount of sleep we get. Which is why we will begin this week of doses with something less taxing…the anatomy of sword swallowing. First of all, did you know that sword swallowers really do swallow swords? There’s no trickery, illusion, or slight of hand here. All it takes is plenty of practice and getting your body to do what it reflexively doesn’t want to. Suppression of the gag reflex is the first thing, followed by learning to flick your epiglottis out of the way with the sword on the way down through your airway and into your esophagus, keeping in mind that your heart nestles right next to it and any wrong doing could potentially cause serious damage. The remainder of the feat requires you to navigate through the lower esophagus and finally into the stomach at which time you must suppress the stomach’s retch reflex. Sounds simple? Continue reading about removing the sword…

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Helicobacter pylori is a bacteria known to cause most ulcers of the stomach. In some cases these ulcers can eventually lead to stomach cancer. Until now, it was unclear as to why this change occurs, but scientists have a new hypothesis. Researchers now report that certain strains of H. pylori can induce surrounding stomach cells to lower their immune defenses, essentially allowing inflammation to occur. This environment of persistent inflammation can then reduce the threshold required for more serious diseases, like cancer, to develop. However, is H. pylori necessarily a “bad” bacterium? Some scientists believe that H. pylori actually helps to regulate acidity in our stomach. Furthermore, some studies show that eradicating H. pylori with antibiotics actually raises the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease, heartburn, and even asthma. Full story.