Even fresh fruit juice should be limited

Could your child be drinking too much juice?

A recently published study in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, shows that children are getting 10 to 15 per cent of their calories from sugar- sweetened drinks such as soda, sports drinks, lemonade and 100 per cent fruit juice.

Because of the increase in childhood obesity, you should make sure that your children remain active, eat a healthy and balanced diet and limit their sweetened beverage intake.

The American Heart Association recommends "sweetened beverages and naturally sweet beverages, such as fruit juice, should be limited to 4 to 6 oz per day for children one to six years old, and to 8 to 12 oz per day for children seven to 18 years old."

Instead of juice and soda, try to make calcium-rich milk and calorie-free water your children's favourite new drinks.

Prostate cancer drug gives hope to patients

Scientists have unveiled a new drug for prostate cancer that they say could help up to 80 per cent of patients with the aggressive and previously untreatable form of the disease.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with 35,000 new cases and 10,000 deaths a year in the U.S. alone.

Unlike breast cancer, there has been no significant advance in drug treatment for many years.

The new drug, abiraterone, shrinks the tumours of those with advanced forms of the disease.

The pill has few side-effects and has led to dramatic falls in prostate specific antigen (PSA), a blood marker for the cancer.

However, experts warned that the research was at an early stage and had not yet shown that the drug extends survival.

Said Dr. Johann de Bono of England, who led the research, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, "This drug is highly effective."

John Neate, chief executive of Britain's Prostate Cancer Charity, said the discovery was an "exciting development" but needed confirming in larger trials.

-- Compiled by Florence Sicoli from Hamilton Spectator news services.