Blueberries Against Childhood Cancer

Filed in archive Cancer , Functional Foods , Kid's Health on February 24, 2009

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 6541597

According to a new study in mice from Ohio State University, extract from blueberries may reduce the size of tumours primarily found in infants and children, and improve survival.

Writing in the current issue of the journal Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, the researchers report their findings against tumours in walls of blood vessels called hemangionendotheliomas (HE), which affect about 3 per cent of children. Such tumours usually occur within four weeks of birth and more often affect premature infants. Although such tumours are often resolved naturally, they may reoccur and cause deformity, and can be life-threatening if they obstruct the airways.

The said findings add more evidence to the healthy image of blueberries. Hopefully the findings are the same in humans. But then, who doesn't love blueberries?