WOMEN WITH SHORT LEGS MAY HAVE A HIGHER RISK OF LIVER DISEASE

WASHINGTON (Reuters) Women with short legs may have a higher risk of liver disease, probably caused by either diet or other factors early in life, British researchers reported on Monday. Their study of 3,600 women showed that the shorter a woman's legs were, the more likely she was to have signs of liverdamage. The findings fit in with other studies linking leg length with diabetes and heart disease, Abigail Fraser of the University of Bristol and colleagues said, "Adult liver function is affected by early life environmental exposures as reflected in leg length, and this may suggest common childhood influences on liver development and adult risk of diabetes and coronary heart disease," they wrote. Fraiser's team looked at women aged 60 to 79 who were taking part in a larger health study.They measured their leg length as compared to trunk length and also measured four liver enzymes: alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate transaminase and alkaline phosphatase. "Each of these markers reflects a different aspect of potential liver damage," they wrote in their report, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Leg length can point to how well a person was nourished in early childhood. "In particular, evidence shows that breast-feeding, high-energy intake at four years and childhood affluent socioeconomic position are all associated with longer adult leg length," Fraser's team wrote. The findings held even when Fraser's team took into account smoking, drinking and other behaviours that can damage a person's liver. (Reporting by Maggie Fox; editing by Mohammad Zargham). How To Protect Yourself Against Liver Damage A study published in the July 5th, 2006 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that taking the maximum recommended dose of Tylenol (acetaminophen) for fourteen consecutive days can cause acute liver damage. Medical researchers who co-ordinated this study had 106 participants take 4 grams of acetaminophen (the equivalent of eight 500 mg tablets of extra-strength Tylenol) every day for two weeks. Thirty-nine participants received placebo pills.The key results were as follows:Among the participants who took acetaminophen, almost 40 percent showed signs of acute liver damage.Those who showed signs of acute liver damage continued to show signs of liver stress four days after they stopped taking acetaminophen; it took a full eleven days for their liver enzymes to return to normal levels. Why is your liver so susceptible to damage by acetaminophen? Because almost everything that enters your mouth, travels down your digestive tract, and gets absorbed into your blood stream must travel directly to and through your liver before it travels through the rest of your circulatory system.Your liver acts as a processing plant. It receives everything that you put into your mouth and that ends up in your blood stream, does its best to sort out useful nutrients and harmful substances, and then packages these nutrients and harmful substances to be delivered to your cells and eliminated from your body, respectively. When certain drugs like those that contain acetaminophen reach your liver for processing, they can cause direct injury to your liver cells, sparking an inflammatory reaction that leads to increased production of liver enzymes, which a standard blood test can detect. If your liver cells are injured repeatedly, they can go through a series of degenerative changes, the last ones being cirrhosis (hardening) and cancer of the liver. Medical drugs that list liver damage as a potential "side" effect and all forms of alcohol are the two groups of substances that can most efficiently and predictably cause liver damage in the fashion described above. Protecting yourself against liver damage must begin with avoidance of said medical drugs (whenever possible and under the guidance of your doctor) and alcohol. It's true that not everyone who takes medical drugs and drinks alcohol regularly over many years ends up with irreversible liver damage. Genetics and lifestyle changes can help to ward off liver damage despite a history of alcohol and drug use. Still, you should be aware that any amount of these two substances can and do heap unnecessary stress onto your liver cells. Beyond doing your best to avoid drugs and alcohol, here are some additional steps that you can take to protect yourself against liver damage:Stay away from foods that are high in unhealthy fats and/or sugar. Donuts, deep fried fast food, and soda are three of the worst foods for your liver. And yes, chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches are deep fried.Eat mainly fresh, minimally processed foods. Focus on green vegetables and produce that comes in rich colors like field tomatoes, carrots, avocado, mango, blueberries, and blackberries. These richly colored fruits and vegetables contain naturally occurring antioxidants that can help to protect your liver cells against physical injury. Use extreme caution and common sense when it comes to being physically intimate with another person. Hepatitis B and C are viruses that can cause significant liver damage. These viruses live in all body fluids, including blood and seminal fluids.Be aware that hepatitis C is most commonly spread via blood, and can be acquired through contaminated needles used for IV drug injections, body piercing, and tattooing. Strive to stay away from chemicals of all types, particularly pesticide and insecticide sprays, which can inflict direct damage to your liver cells once they make their way into your blood stream. Many chemicals are capable of entering your blood stream through your skin, so try to use on your skin only those products that you feel comfortable eating. One final note: if you rely on regular intake of acetaminophen to deal with intolerable pain, I encourage you to try taking a high quality cod liver oil or fish oil for their omega-3 fatty acids, which can be extremely effective at decreasing inflammation. Tasly products to help you have a healthier liver: Tasly Cerebral Care Granules Tasly Cerebralcare Granules is a new generation herbal food supplement which Improves Mental alertness - Revives vital energy It is beneficial for overcoming various types of headache, improves soft brain membrane micro-circulation, increases blood flow to the brain and prevents vascular spasm. INDICATIONS Its main indications being preventing headache due to hypertension, tension due to stress, menopausal headache, periodic headache, migraine and etc. In other word, it is excellent for relieving various headaches by dual effects (overcoming the cause and symptom as well) and rapidly improving micro-blood circulation in the brain. Thus effectively reduces occurrence of headache. I Specification: 4g X 20 sachets Dosage: 1 sachet per time, 1 to 2 times per day, taken with lukewarm water Accreditation:Cerebralcare Granules had the China National New Medicine Certificate in 1996. While in 1999, it has been listed in China National Fundamental Medicine Catalogue. In the same year, the product received National Invention Patent and a year later in 2000; it was listed in the National Protective Medicine Catalogue. Tasly Omega-3 Fatty Acid Capsule Has been proven to be vitally important in human health, growth and development. Generally speaking, their functions in human body include: 1. Omega-3 is an essential part for the cellular membrane to remain function. A shortage of Omega-3 reduces the ability of cells to efficiently perform their functions, accordingly leads to nutrient starvation and chronic illnesses. 2. Eicosanoids, the most critical of which are prostaglandins, are also converted by Omega-3. Prostaglandins are important for the regulation of inflammation, pain, blood pressure, heart function, gastrointestinal function and secretions, kidney function transmission, steroid production and hormone synthesis. Lacking or unbalanced of Omega-3 leads to dysfunction of these vital bodily activities. 3. DHA has been identified as an essential building block of brain, nerve and eye tissue. It is especially important to the development of an infant's visual acuity. 4. EPA diminishes inflammation and blood clots within the cardiovascular system. 5. DPA, as the effective agent, is almost as important as either DHA or EPA Tasly Omega-3 Fatty Acid Capsule refined from Harp seal Oil includes the essential fatty acid Alpha-linolenic acid and its longer chain metabolites (DHA-Docosahexaenoic Acid, DPA-Docosapentaenoic Acid & EPA- Eicosapentaenoic Acid). And that has more DPA which is special in protecting and repairing blood vessels, reducing coronary artery diseases of women. People of all ages can benefit from it. Nutritional Information: Each capsule (500mg) contains DHA 210mg, EPA 180mg, DPA 90mg, which is refined from Harp Seal Oil. Dosage: 1 Capsule, two times a day                                Peter Mwaura Mutiti            Mobile: +254-723-024-871            Web-Blog: http://petermwaura.active.ws            E-mail: petermwaura@active.ws