Group Exercise Helps Cancer Patients

Exercise sessions conducted in groups can help improve the physical and psychological well-being of women with breast cancer, found a Scottish study. Over 200 women took part in the study. They were split into two separate groups. The first group was a control group that received their usual care, while the second group received their usual care and were invited to take part in a 12-week program of exercise sessions.

Participants in the second group were encouraged to attend two classes led by trained exercise specialists and undertake one additional exercise session at home each week. Participants in the second group had better outcomes on both a physical and psychological level than those who had not taken part in the exercise program, both at the 12-week and six-month assessments.

After six months, those who had exercised had made fewer visits to their doctor and spent fewer nights in a hospital than the control group, according to the study published in the British Medical Journal. The researchers say that the benefits experienced by the women may have been caused by the exercise itself or by the group experience, or a combination of both.

Natural Fiber May Fight Obesity

Canadian researchers are beginning a human trial to assess a natural fiber shown to be effective in tests involving genetically obese rats.

"It may not be the magic bullet, but in all likelihood this will likely be one factor that people can change in their life to help achieve a healthy body weight," says Raylene Reimer, a researcher at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. "It won't cure obesity or cause people to drop half their body weight -- not even our strongest obesity drugs can do that -- but we believe it could help."

The fiber, oligo fructose, is not a chemical or a drug; it's a food product that is already used in things like yogurt, cereal and baby food. "We have found in a previous study with rats that the fiber increases the levels of a satiety hormone called glucagon-like peptide -- GLP-1 -- in the body and increases a gene in the intestines that helps the body to create more GLP-1," says Reimer. In the rat study, the researchers found that consuming the natural fiber helped the rats to significantly reduce their food intake and improved their blood lipid profile.

Health Concerns Linked To Irregular Periods

Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is linked to many health concerns, from fertility issues to an increased risk of heart disease, says a U.S. expert.

PCOS, or irregular or infrequent menstrual cycles, affects about one in 10 women of reproductive age, making it one of the more common hormonal abnormalities. Women often notice that something is wrong when they have irregular bleeding -- either infrequent and very light or more frequent and heavy -- and often excess hair growth, says Dr. Dan Lebovic of the University of Michigan Medical School.

"If women are having irregular cycles, they should have their physician examine them either at their annual exam or sooner."

Polycystic ovaries occur when small cysts form on the inside of the ovary. Among women with PCOS, each cyst likely contains a small egg that cannot be released because the hormonal environment prevents that from happening. This leads to an endocrine, or hormonal, disorder in which the egg cannot be ovulated from the ovary, and therefore is kept inside each cyst.

This leads to irregular menstrual cycles, which can mean that a woman has a period fewer than 10 times a year -- resulting in fertility problems. Diagnosis can be tricky, often because women don't always raise the issue of irregular periods with their physicians, according to Lebovic.