Avocados and health?

@HealthMed Prompted by a press enquiry about strength of evidence for 'healthy' foods:

Avocados are a high calorie food. They also contain over 200 types of plant steroids, the actions of many of which are still unclear. In laboratory studies, extracts of avocado, and some of the individual bioactive chemicals present in avocados, appear to reduce the growth of certain types of cells.

This supports the idea that there may be actions of avocado and its constituents against inflammation and cancer, and other disorders in which abnormal cell growth and activity occur, although this is yet to be tested on humans.

There is also theoretical evidence that plant steroids present in avocados could help to reduce pain and inflammation caused by joint diseases such as osteoarthritis.

We know enough about these avocado constituents to know that they have very powerful properties in the test-tube. There appears to be sufficient evidence to suggest that rigorous studies should be carried out in humans to see if these effects are relevant outside the laboratory.

The 'Magic of Medicine' at the Dana Centre

@HealthMed The Science Museum’s Dana Centre in South Kensington in London aims to provide updates for adults on contemporary science, technology and culture in an informative and innovative format. For those who can't make it in person the Centre makes its events available for interaction online or by smartphone.

The next event at the Dana Centre - on 16th February - is a sell-out session on the Magic of Medicines, organised jointly with the public engagement team at the British Pharmacological Society. Themes will range from drug discovery from Nature by the ancient Babylonians and Greeks such as that chewing meadowsweet or willow bark relieves pain, to new experimental approaches to drug discovery, latest advances in personalizing medicines, supported by companion diagnostics, to the need to maintain vigilant pharmacology and related expertise ready to combat new and unresolved disease challenges, in the face a declining pharmaceutical sector.

What's on at the Science Museum’s Dana Centre.

The Science Museum’s Dana Centre is a collaboration between the British Science Association, the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, and the Science Museum. It is part of the Wellcome Wolfson Building, which is supported by four principal donors - the Wellcome Trust, the Wolfson Foundation, The Dana Foundation and the Garfield Weston Foundation.