"Previous research indicates that flaxseed may contain compounds that protect postmenopausal women from breast cancer," Leah Williamson, a postgraduate researcher at RMIT's Department of Food Science, said.

"These compounds, called phytoestrogens, work at lowering levels of estrogens linked to breast cancer. Flaxseed is particularly high in one such phytoestrogen, lignan, which is believed to reduce the enzymes and the estrogens that cause the breast to produce potentially cancerous cells.

"We are collaborating with Melrose Laboratories to study the potential benefits of flaxseed in reducing the risk of breast cancer and the time it takes to do so."

One in 10 Australian women develops breast cancer, making it the most common cancer and one of the most prevalent diseases in Australian women.

"The aim of the research is to assess the relationship between flaxseed and breast cancer, and to suggest diets that can be incorporated into the lifestyle of women at risk," Ms Williamson said. "Our goal is to lower breast cancer risk and to improve long-term quality of life."

The study, titled "Time taken for Flaxseed Lignans to Effect Biomarkers of Breast Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women", is seeking postmenopausal women in metropolitan Melbourne. Participants must be healthy, not on hormone replacement therapy, non-smokers and at least one year menopausal.

In addition to consuming their normal Western diet, fewer than five alcoholic drinks per week and no more than three caffeinated beverages per day, the women will provide urine and blood samples for evaluation.

Their body weights will be measured and self-reported diet records monitored.

Women interested in taking part in the study should contact Leah Williamson on (03) 9925 3967 or leah.williamsonrmit.au

Media interviews: Leah Williamson (03) 9925 3967 or 0422 505 124

rmit.au

UF researchers are now studying the uric acid pathway in cell cultures in the laboratory, in animals and in people, and are also eyeing it as a possible factor in the development of cardiovascular and kidney diseases because of its effects on blood vessel responses. They are conducting a National Institutes of Health-funded trial to determine if lowering uric acid in blacks with hypertension improves blood pressure control and are collaborating with scientists at Baylor to determine if lowering uric acid will reduce blood pressure in adolescents with hypertension.

"We cannot definitively state that fructose is driving the obesity epidemic," said Johnson. "But we can say that there is evidence supporting the possibility that it could have a contributory role - if not a major role. I think in the next few years we'll have a better feel for whether or not these pathways that can be shown in animals may be relevant to the human condition."

Findings to date suggest certain sugar carbohydrates are actually better than others, he added, because some do not activate the uric acid pathway.

"It may well be we don't need to cut out carbohydrates but just certain types of carbohydrates," Johnson said. "So this may be an alternative to the Atkins type of approach, which cuts out carbohydrates indiscriminately."

As scientists learn more about the pathway, Johnson said, and as studies are completed in people, the findings may influence how to make wise choices about the foods we eat.

"With the caveat that people are different from rodents in many ways, the link between urate levels, blood pressure elevation and insulin resistance demonstrated in rats fed fructose is extremely provocative," said Brian F. Mandell, M.D., Ph.D., vice chairman of medicine for education and a professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. "Whether the fructose supplementation to the diet in the United States is partially responsible for the 'epidemic' of obesity remains to be proven - but this is an association which can be tested, and the work of Dr. Johnson and his collaborators makes the evaluation of the fructose-metabolic link in people an academic and public health imperative."

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