Grapes may help lower blood pressure
Grapes helped lower blood pressure and improve heart function in lab rats fed an an otherwise salty diet, a US research indicates. The findings, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, may help people with high blood pressure, the researchers said. Researchers examined the effects of ordinary grapes on rats that develop high blood pressure when fed a salty diet. Some of the rats ate a diet containing a powder from red, green and purple table grapes and a high-salt diet. Others were fed the grape powder and a low-salt diet. The powder, which contained the same nutrients in fresh grapes, allowed the scientists to measure the rats’ intake carefully. After 18 weeks, the rats that ate the grape-enriched diet had lower blood pressure, better heart function, reduced inflammation throughout their bodies, and fewer signs of heart muscle damage than rats that ate a salty diet without grapes.

Headache, arthritis pills reduce Parkinson’s risk
A study by the University of California states that over-the-counter painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen can reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. The researchers studied 579 men and women from California, half of whom had Parkinson’s disease. They were asked if they had taken aspirin or ibuprofen once a week or more at any point in their life for at least a month. Those who took two or more pills a week for at least one month were considered regular users. The researchers found that regular users of such drugs, which ease the pain of arthritis and headaches, were much less likely to have Parkinson’s than non-users or sporadic users. Women who took aspirin regularly lowered their risk of Parkinson’s disease by 40 per cent.