Emphysema is almost always caused by cigarette smoke (it can occur due to second hand smoke). Emphysema is incurable and it worsens over time. In this disease the air sacs (called alveoli) in the lung become damaged and enlarged making it very hard to breathe.

Syrian hamsters are often used in research and in this case are used for research into pancreatic cancer. In this study Japanese researchers injected male Syrian hamsters with a chemical that causes pancreatic cancer four times a week. Some of the hamsters were first given Sulforaphane, Benzyl Isothiocyanate or a very small dose of Resveratrol before and after exposure to the chemical, others were given the phytonutrients after the exposure and of course some were not given the protective nutrients.

In this study, patients were placed on plant sterol esters or plant stanol esters both for 10 weeks in a double-blinded, randomized cross-over fashion. The control group was placed on placebo for 20 weeks for comparisons sake. It was found that the plant stanol esters reduced LDL-cholesterol by 9% and the plant sterol esters decreased LDL-cholesterol by 12% compared to placebo.

Syrian hamsters are often used in research and in this case are used for research into pancreatic cancer. In this study Japanese researchers injected male Syrian hamsters with a chemical that causes pancreatic cancer four times a week. Some of the hamsters were first given Sulforaphane, Benzyl Isothiocyanate or a very small dose of Resveratrol before and after exposure to the chemical, others were given the phytonutrients after the exposure and of course some were not given the protective nutrients.

The gene known as BRCA1 normally restrains cell growth and suppresses tumor growth by repairing breaks in DNA. When a woman has a mutation in this gene she has a large increase in the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer (men with the gene mutation have a greater risk of developing prostate cancer). It is estimated that women with the BRCA1 mutation have a 50% to 85% risk of developing breast cancer over their lifetime, and a 44% risk of developing ovarian cancer whereas women in the general population have a 10% to 12% risk of developing breast cancer and a 1% risk of developing ovarian cancer over their lifetime.