Nuts keep cancer at bay

– Eating tree nuts, such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts and cashews, has been linked to a dramatically lower risk of colon cancer recurrence, researchers say.

The observational study involved 826 patients who had undergone treatment for stage 3 colon cancer, typically including surgery and chemotherapy.

Such patients, whose cancer had not spread elsewhere in the body, have a 70% chance of surviving three years after treatment.

About 19% of patients consumed 50g or more of all types of nuts per week. They saw a 42% lower chance of cancer recurrence and a 57% lower chance of death than patients who did not eat nuts after completion of their cancer treatment, said the report.

When researchers looked only at tree-nut consumption, the chance of recurrence was 46% lower and the chance of death was 53% lower for those who ate at least 50g week, compared to people who did not eat nuts.

However, peanuts did not appear to have any significant effect.

“Patients with colon cancer should eat a healthy diet, including tree nuts, to keep them healthier,” said the American Society for Clinical Oncology. –

Washington

Caracas

Venezuela’s government said it would send troops to a region rocked by violence during antigovernment protests, as Washington rallied the United Nations (UN) Security Council to prevent conflict in the country.

The death of a 15-year-old boy brought the toll from weeks of protests in Venezuela to 43, a sad milestone that matched the number killed in the last comparable wave of unrest, in 2014.

Looting and attacks against security installations erupted in the state of Tachira, which borders Colombia, authorities said. The state prosecution service said on Twitter the boy was killed “during a demonstration” there.

“I have ordered the transfer of 2 000 guards and 600 special operations troops” to Tachira, Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said on state television.

The US warned that Venezuela’s crisis was worsening and could escalate into a civil conflict.

Following Security Council talks, US ambassador Nikki Haley called for countries to send a message to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“We’ve been down this road – with Syria, with North Korea, with South Sudan, with Burundi,