Women who have their stomachs stapled not only lose weight, they also may reduce their cancer risk by up to 40%, new research says. In a study of more than 2,000 fat people who had surgery to reduce the size of their stomachs, Swedish researchers found women who had the procedure were likely to get reason, the surgery didn’t have the same effect in men; there was virtually no difference in the cancer rates in men who had surgery and those who did not.
The Japanese researchers say, experiments on mice suggest that having grey hair may tender protection against cancer. Emi Nishimura, of Tokyo medical and dental university in Japan, points out that melanocytes are the cells that produce the pigments that color hair, and that their numbers are kept topped up by stem cells. According to Nishimura, hair goes grey when the number of stem cells in hair follicles declines. The researcher says that a new study conducted at the university has now revealed what causes this decline in mice. During the study, the researchers exposed mice to radiation and chemicals that harm DNA, and found that damaged stem cells transformed permanently into melanocytes. Nishimura and colleagues say that eventually led to fewer melanocyes meaning that there were fewer stem cells capable of toping up melanocytes pool. Writing about their findings in the journal cell, the researchers have revealed that the mice also went grey. They believe that the same process leads to the reduction in stem cells in the follicles of older people, especially as DNA damage accumulates with as they age.
