Broccoli Helps Fight Skin Cancer

What's good for your diet may also guard against skin cancer
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Oct. 25 (HealthDay News) -- What's good for your diet may also guard against skin cancer. Scientists have discovered that an extract of broccoli sprouts protects the skin against the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

"We looked in vegetables, and it turned out they had a rather large quantities of a compound that induced this system, particularly in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, et cetera," Talalay said.

The compound, called sulforaphane, is found in broccoli sprout extracts and was first identified by Talalay and his colleagues more than 15 years ago. Sulforaphane has been shown to inhibit tumor development in animals.

"If you apply an extract of broccoli sprouts that contains high levels of sulforaphane to regions of human skin, you can protect them very substantially," Talalay said. "We believe, to the best of our knowledge, that this is the first demonstration of protection against a known human carcinogen in humans."

California Fires - "We Can't Stop it"

Officials all but concede defeat to wildfires as estimated 1 million evacuate
MSNBC News Service

SAN DIEGO - Faced with unrelenting winds whipping wildfires into a frenzy across Southern California, firefighters conceded defeat on many fronts Tuesday to an unstoppable force that has chased an estimated 1 million people away.

Unless the shrieking Santa Ana winds subside, and that’s not expected for at least another day, fire crews say they can do little more than try to wait it out and react — tamping out spot fires and chasing ribbons of airborne embers to keep new fires from flaring.

“If it’s this big and blowing with as much wind as it’s got, it’ll go all the way to the ocean before it stops,” said San Diego Fire Capt. Kirk Humphries. “We can save some stuff but we can’t stop it.”

See Complete Story: INFERNO RAGES ON IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Also see live video: Out of This World View of Wildfires

Maine middle school to offer birth control

School board approves pills and patches for students ages 11 to 13
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine - Pupils at a city middle school will be able to get birth control pills and patches at their student health center after the local school board approved the proposal Wednesday evening.

The plan, offered by city health officials, makes King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to students in grades 6 through 8, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

There are no national figures on how many middle schools, where most students range in age from 11 to 13, provide such services.

See: Middle school to offer birth control