Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in botanical medicine and other complementary therapies. This blog will keep you in touch with the latest news.
Aspirin cuts breast cancer risk
A new piece of US research backs the idea that aspirin protects against certain types of breast cancer.
It found women who used aspirin or similar painkillers at least once per week for six months reduced their risk of breast cancer by 20%.
However, the University of Columbia researchers say it is too soon to advise women to start taking aspirin against breast cancer, however.
Their findings appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Vitamins 'increase cholesterol'
It had been thought that vitamins could protect the heart.
But New York University researchers found vitamins including E, C and beta carotene stop the liver breaking down an early form of bad cholesterol.
Writing in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the researchers say their findings mean they cannot recommend that people use the vitamins.
Source BBC News
Vitamins 'do not prevent cancer'
A study by the Universities of Bristol and London suggests eating antioxidant vitamins does not prevent the diseases.
Factors like living in deprived social circumstances and whether you are a smoker, rather than taking vitamin supplements, affect susceptibility.
However, people who have diets rich in vitamins A, C and E are less likely to have suffered deprived circumstances.
Bristol University's Dr Debbie Lawlor and colleagues reviewed previous studies and undertook new research for the study.
Source BBC News
Magnetic Therapy for Spine Injury
Doctors at Imperial College London administered magnetic stimulation to the brains of people with partial damage to their spinal cord.
The therapy led to improved muscle and limb movement, and increased ability to feel sensations.
Details of the technique - known as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) - are published in the journal Spinal Cord.
It works by using an electromagnet placed on the scalp to generate brief magnetic pulses, about the strength of an MRI scan.
These pulses stimulate the part of the brain called the cerebral cortex.
The technique was tested on four patients with what are known as incomplete spinal cord injuries.
This is where the spinal cord has not been entirely severed, but the patient has still lost the ability to move or feel properly below the injury point.