Health Highlights: Feb. 6, 2008

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors ofHealthDay:

Cell Phone Use Doesn't Increase Brain Cancer Risk: Study

A new Japanese study adds to previous findings that cell phones don't increase the risk of brain cancer. Researchers at Tokyo Women's Medical University compared 322 brain cancer patients and 683 healthy people and concluded that regular cell phone users weren't more likely to develop any of the three most common types of brain tumor -- glioma, meningioma or pituitary adenoma.

In this study, the researchers rated each participant according to how many years they'd used a cell phone and how long they spent talking on it each day. They also examined how radiation emitted by various types of cell phones might affect different parts of the brain,BBC Newsreported.

"Using our newly developed and more accurate techniques, we found no association between mobile phone use and cancer, providing more evidence to suggest they don't cause brain cancer," said lead researcher Professor Naohito Yamaguchi.

The study was published in theBritish Journal of Cancer.

Previous studies investigating a possible link between cell phones and brain cancer have produced contradictory findings, but most have suggested no association,BBC Newsreported.

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Beet Juice Lowers Blood Pressure

Drinking 500 milliliters of beet juice a day may significantly lower blood pressure, says a British study that found that healthy people's blood pressure decreased within an hour of drinking the juice,BBC Newsreported.

The reduction in blood pressure was even more pronounced three to four hours after drinking the beet juice, and some degree of reduction continued for up to 24 hours. The findings were published online in the journalHypertension.

The researchers said nitrate, which is also found in green, leafy vegetables, appears to be the key blood pressure-lowering ingredient in beet juice,BBC Newsreported.