Author: Erin Elizabeth

Alzheimer’s disease, named for Dr. Alois Alzheimer who discovered it in 1906, is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out simple tasks. For most people with Alzheimer’s, symptoms first appeared in their mid-60s. It is the most common cause of dementia among older adults and it is on the rise. So recently, when scientists from the Salk Institute found preliminary evidence suggesting that tetraydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinoids found in marijuana showed signs of promoting the removal of amyloid beta—the toxic protein also known as the “plaque” associated with Alzheimer’s disease- there...

Researchers at the University of Adelaide recently discovered an active anti-cancer component in coconut oil that constitutes 50 percent of its makeup. Called lauric acid, the component completely exterminated more than 90 percent of colon cancer cells after just two days of treatment in a colon cancer cell line (CRC) in vitro (researchers used a rat small intestinal cell line as a model of normal intestinal epithelial cells). The study was published in the journal Cancer Research.  One of the most common cancers to strike both men and women is colon cancer. And while there are a number of natural remedies...

On June 28th, a panel of physicians and other medical experts reported that there isn’t enough evidence to recommend healthy (those who are not pregnant and who do not have pelvic symptoms, i.e., pain or unusual bleeding) women continue to get annual pelvic exams. While millions of women undergo this routine exam every year, the US Preventive Services Task Force- which advises the federal government on preventive care- concluded that studies have not shown that pelvic exams decrease a woman’s chance of developing illnesses such as ovarian cancer or of dying prematurely. Also on Tuesday, in a rather surprising...