Green tea 'may protect the heart'

BBC News Last Updated: Monday, 28 February, 2005, 01:01 GMT  Green tea has been linked with a series of health benefits Green tea could help protect against the damage caused by heart attacks and strokes, researchers suggest.A chemical found in the tea, which has been drunk for over 4,000 years, has been shown to reduce the amount of cell death which follows such trauma. Cell death leads to tissue death and even organ failure. Experts from the UK's Institute of Child Health carried out the study, published in the journal of the Federation of Experimental Biology.  Green tea has, in the past, been associated with a reduced risk of coronary artery disease  Belinda Linden, British Heart Foundation Green tea was frequently used in the past as fluid supply for patients suffering from infectious diseases, but recently researchers have begun to scientifically determine the health benefits of green tea.

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Tea 'could help prevent cancer'

BBC News Tuesday, 9 April, 2002, 00:53 GMT 01:53 UK

Drinking tea could help prevent cancers, say scientists.

They say antioxidants in tea offer protective benefits against cancers of the stomach and oesophagus (gullet).

A study in China showed tea drinkers were around half as likely to develop the cancers as others who did not drink tea.

The researchers looked to see whether certain chemicals called polyphenols, which are present in tea, were present in the urine of the men they studied.

[A cup of tea could help prevent cancer]

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Green tea beneficial in fight against cancer

World: Europe

 Scientists in Sweden say they have discovered why green tea, a popular drink in China and Japan, has a protective effect against some forms of cancer.
A report by researchers in Stockholm, published in the scientific journal 'Nature', says that a substance in green tea slows down or stops the growth of new blood vessels.
A BBC science correspondent says that as cancer tumours are dependent on a constantly growing network of blood vessels to supply them with food and oxygen, they will shrink and may even disappear, if the network stops growing.
He says its now clear why moderate consumption of green tea can be beneficial. He says that unlike black tea, green tea is not squashed to rupture its cells and cause fermentation reactions as it dries.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/309196.stm

Green tea extract may fight HIV

A chemical in green tea could be used in drugs Green tea could form the basis of a new generation of HIV drugs, say experts. Scientists in Japan have found a component of green tea can stop HIV from binding to healthy immune cells, which is how the virus spreads. Their laboratory tests suggest a chemical called Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) protects cells. Writing in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the scientists said the discovery could lead to new treatments to fight the disease.

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