Gary’s Daily Health News - Vol. 1

People with stroke who walk 30 minutes per day may have 54% lower risk of death

University of Calgary, August 11, 2021

 

A new study shows that people who walk or garden at least three to four hours per week, or bike at least two to three hours per week, or the equivalent after having a stroke may have a 54% lower risk of death from any cause. The research is published in the August 11, 2021, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study found the most benefit for younger stroke survivors. When people under the age of 75 exercised at least that amount, their risk of death was reduced by 80%.

“A better understanding of the role of physical activity in the health of people who survive stroke is needed to design better exercise therapies and public health campaigns so we can help these individuals live longer,” said study author Raed A. Joundi, MD, DPhil, of the University of Calgary in Canada and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “Our results are exciting, because just three to four hours a week of walking was associated with big reductions in mortality, and that may be attainable for many community members with prior stroke. In addition, we found people achieved even greater benefit with walking six to seven hours per week. These results might have implications for guidelines for stroke survivors in the future.”

The study looked at 895 people with an average age of 72 who had a prior stroke and 97,805 people with an average age of 63 who had never had a stroke.

Average weekly physical activity was evaluated from questions about activities such as walking, running, gardening, weight training, bicycling and swimming. For example, people were asked, “In the past three months, how many times did you walk for exercise? About how much time did you spend on each occasion?" Researchers used the frequency and duration of each type of physical activity to calculate the amount of exercise.

Researchers followed participants for an average of about four and a half years. After accounting for other factors that could affect risk of death, like age and smoking, researchers found that 25% of the people who had previous strokes died from any cause, compared to 6% of the people who had never had a stroke.

In the stroke group, 15% of the people who exercised at least the equivalent of three to four hours of walking each week died during follow up, compared to 33%, who did not exercise that minimum amount. In the group of people who had never had strokes, 4% of the people who exercised that amount died, compared to 8% who did not.

Researchers found the largest reduction in death rate among people who had a previous stroke but were under 75 years of age. In that group, 11% of those who exercised at least the minimum amount died, compared to 29% who did not. People with previous stroke who were under 75 years of age and met the minimum level of physical activity were about 80% less likely to die during study follow-up than those who did not. People over 75 years of age who exercised the minimum experienced less of a benefit, but were still 32% less likely to die.  

“Our results suggest that getting a minimum amount of physical activity may reduce long-term mortality from any cause in stroke survivors,” Joundi said. “We should particularly emphasize this to stroke survivors who are younger in age, as they may gain the greatest health benefits from walking just thirty minutes each day.”

A limitation of the study is that people may not have accurately reported their amount of exercise.

 

 

Higher dose DHA supplementation during pregnancy associated with lower risk of early preterm birth: a randomized trial

University of Kansas, August 12, 2021

According to news reporting out of Kansas City, Kansas, research stated, “Several meta analyses have concluded n-3 fatty acids, including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), reduce early preterm birth (EPB, < 34 weeks), however, the amount of DHA required is unclear. We hypothesized that 1000 mg DHA per day would be superior to 200 mg, the amount in most prenatal supplements.”

Financial supporters for this research include Diagnostic Services Manitoba, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Kansas, “This randomised, multicentre, double-blind, adaptive-design, superiority trial was conducted in three USA medical centres. Women with singleton pregnancies and 12 to 20 weeks gestation were eligible. randomization was generated in SAS ® by site in blocks of 4. The planned adaptive design periodically generated allocation ratios favoring the better performing dose. Managing study personnel were blind to treatment until 30 days after the last birth. The primary outcome was EPB by dose and by enrolment DHA status (low/high). Bayesian posterior probabilities (pp) were determined for planned efficacy and safety outcomes using intention-to-treat. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02626299) and closed to enrolment. Eleven hundred participants (1000 mg, n = 576; 200 mg, n = 524) were enrolled between June 8, 2016 and March 13, 2020 with the last birth September 5, 2020. 1032 (n = 540 and n = 492) were included in the primary analyses. The higher dose had a lower EPB rate [1.7% (9/540) vs 2.4% (12/492), pp=0.81] especially if participants had low DHA status at enrolment [2.0% (5/249) vs 4.1%, (9/219), pp=0.93]. Participants with high enrolment DHA status did not realize a dose effect [1000 mg: 1.4% (4/289); 200 mg: 1.1% (3/271), pp = 0.57]. The higher dose was associated with fewer serious adverse events (maternal: chorioamnionitis, premature rupture of membranes and pyelonephritis; neonatal: feeding, genitourinary and neurologic problems, all pp >0.90).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Clinicians could consider prescribing 1000 mg DHA daily during pregnancy to reduce EPB in women with low DHA status if they are able to screen for DHA.”

 

 

 

 

17-year study of children associates poverty with smaller, slower-growing subcortical regions

Washington University at St Louis, August 12, 2021

Children in poverty are more likely to have cognitive and behavioral difficulties than their better-off peers. Plenty of past research has looked into the physical effects of childhood poverty, or documented mental health disparities between socioeconomic classes. But Deanna Barch, chair and professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, and her colleague Joan Luby, MD, the Samuel and Mae S. Ludwig Professor of Child Psychiatry in the School of Medicine, wanted to look at a suite of outcomes to determine whether poverty continues to affect people as they  enter adulthood.

And if so, how?

To answer these questions, Luby and Barch, who is also a professor of radiology and the Gregory B. Couch Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine, and colleagues collected data for 17 years from families who agreed to participate, including 216 preschoolers who were followed through early adulthood. During the course of the study, the young participants underwent brain imaging to help tease out the relationships among their socioeconomic status in preschool, and provided information on a host of outcomes — including cognitive, social and psychiatric — in early adulthood.

The results were published July 14 in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

“First and foremost: yes,” Barch said, “Early poverty sadly continues to predict worse outcomes in all of these domains.” That holds true even if a child’s socioeconomic status changes before adulthood.

The risks for these outcomes, the research showed, are mediated through brain development.

“We think poverty and all of the things associated with it” — such as stress, inadequate nutrition, less access to health care — “impact brain development.” she said. “If we can prevent poverty, we can help circumvent some of these negative outcomes.”

For the study, the researchers recruited primary caregivers and their 3- to 5-year-old children. They used a specific recruiting questionnaire that would ensure there were more children with elevated symptoms of depression. This would later allow researchers to separate the effects of poverty from existing psychological disorders.

The children were interviewed annually, and once they were at least 16, researchers tested them for cognitive function, psychiatric disorders, high-risk behaviors, educational function and social function. During the 17 years, the participants also received five brain scans that measured the volumes of local and global brain matter, giving the researchers a unique insight into whether brain development was a mediating factor — are changes to the brain the way that poverty “gets into” someone?

After controlling for variables including preschool psychopathology and any significant life events throughout the years, the researchers were able to show socioeconomic status in preschool was associated with cognitive function, high-risk behaviors, social function and educational function 13+ years after the then-children joined the study.

Brain-scan results showed the physical marks of poverty.

The children who were living below the poverty level as preschoolers had smaller volumes of certain subcortical brain regions, including the hippocampus, caudate, putamen, and thalamus. “But also they had less growth in these regions over time,” Barch said. “So they’re starting out smaller and not growing as much.”

Subcortical regions aren’t a prime research target because they are not necessarily responsible for a specific cognitive or emotional function. Instead, information must travel through them in order to reach regions of the brain associated with higher-order functioning.

“The thalamus, for example, doesn’t always get a lot of love in the literature,” Barch said, “but it’s a very important relay structure that helps coordinate the transfer of information from the brainstem to higher-order cortical areas.

“These brain regions are like important waypoints on the highway of the brain,” Barch said. And  they are particularly sensitive to environmental factors such as pollutants or poor nutrition, factors more likely to affect those living in poverty.

To be clear, this data does not paint a deterministic picture. “Plenty of kids have wonderful outcomes despite growing up in poverty,” Barch said. That is often because they have had additional support and additional resources. She’s putting this theory to the test in upcoming research where she and her colleagues will be tracking the effects of the child tax credit on children’s development.

“Growing up in poverty makes things harder for people, but it is preventable,” Barch said. “That’s the good news: We can do something about this.”

In a way, the children – now adults – themselves have helped to find answers simply by participating, year after year. They showed up through adolescence, their teenage years, and even once some of them became young parents of their own. “It’s pretty amazing,” Barch said. “They have made a huge contribution to science.”

 

 

Coriander is a potent weapon against antibiotic resistant bacteria

University of Beira Interior (Portugal) August 10, 2021

 

 

 

 

The problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria has been deemed a public health crisis, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting that invasive MRSA – or methicillin-resistant S. aureus – infections affect 80,000 people globally a year, and claim over 11,000 lives. But, what the CDC will never tell you is how coriander can potentially save lives.

Researchers in Portugal now say that that the oil from coriander – a common kitchen spice – is quite toxic to a wide range of harmful bacteria, leading to hopes that it may be enlisted in the fight against MRSA and other pathogens.

The scientific research about coriander is promising

Researchers at University of Beira Interior used flow cytometry to study the effects of coriander oil on 12 different disease-causing types of bacteria, including E. coli, Salmonella, B. cereus and MRSA. In the study, published in Journal of Medical Microbiology, the oil significantly inhibited bacterial growth – especially that of MRSA and E. coli.

Researchers found that the coriander oil worked by damaging the membrane around the bacterial cell, interfering with vital functions such as respiration and eventually causing cell death.

Linalool, a terpenoid responsible for coriander’s pleasant scent, is the main constituent, but the coriander oil outperformed linalool alone – showing that interactions between the components in coriander oil made it even more bactericidal.

Finally, the team found that coriander tended to perform better on Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella – as it could more easily disrupt their cell membranes.

Lead researcher Dr. Fernanda Domingues noted that using coriander in foods could help prevent bacterial spoilage and food-borne illnesses, and possibly function as a natural alternative to pharmaceutical antibiotics. The team called for further study to explore practical applications and delivery systems.

How coriander helps to naturally resolve health issues

Coriander, scientifically known as Coriandrum sativum L. and also called cilantro and Chinese parsley, is an herb used in Mediterranean, Asian, Indian and Mexican cuisine, where it lends its spicy, bracing flavor to chutneys, pickles, sauces and salads.

A staple of folk and herbal medicine, coriander has pain-relieving, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. The seeds have even been used for their mild relaxant, anxiety-easing and mood-elevating properties, and the diluted essential oil has been used to treat topical skin infections.

For this study, researchers used essential oil of coriander, but other research on coriander’s antimicrobial qualities has used other forms, such as freeze-dried powder. Coriander essential oil is one of the most widely-used in the world, and is already in use as a food additive.

More scientific research confirms ‘antibacterial effect’

The need to develop safe, non-chemical preservatives – and the need to find natural solutions for antibiotic resistant bacteria – mean that studies on natural, herbal substances such as coriander are a “research hotspot.”

Coriander has impressed researchers with its antimicrobial properties, and additional studies attest to that fact.

In a study published in International Journal of Food Nutrition and Safety, researchers found that a water extract of coriander had a very strong inhibitory effect on E. coli and B.subtilis. Many serotypes of E.coli can cause illness, and B. subtilis, while not a disease-causing pathogen, can contaminate food, and cause potatoes to rot.

Researchers found that the coriander extract worked best to inhibit bacteria when it was prepared in a concentration of 10 percent, with a pH of 6 and a salt concentration of 2 percent.

And, a 2015 study published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition showed that coriander seed oil exhibited antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria – along with some yeasts and fungi. Researchers expressed their belief in the successful development of a food preservation strategy featuring coriander oil.

MRSA continues to threaten lives, while food-borne illnesses affect up to 30 percent of the population of developed countries – yearly. The CDC reports that a type of infection called STEC – Shiga toxin-producing E. coli – strikes a whopping 265,000 people every year in the United States alone, causing symptoms of severe stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea.

And, finally, coriander seed oil – non-toxic, non-chemical, and packed with beneficial flavonoids – may very well be the food preservative and antibacterial agent of the future.

 

Sitting for long hours found to reduce blood flow to the brain

John Moore's University (UK), August 10, 2021

A team of researchers with Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K. has found evidence of reduced blood flow to the brain in people who sit for long periods of time. In their paper published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, the group outlines the experiments they carried out with volunteers and what they found.

Most people know that sitting for very long periods of time without getting up now and then is unhealthy. In addition to contributing to weight gain, sitting for a long time can cause back pain and leg problems and possibly other ailments. And now, evidence has been reported that it can reduce blood flow to the brain—something shown in the past to contribute to the likelihood of developing neurological disorders such as dementia.

Suspecting that sitting for a long time could cause circulation problems to the brain, the researchers enlisted the assistance of 15 adult volunteers—each of them had a day job that required long hours of sitting. Each of the volunteers participated in three exercises over a period of time—each came to the lab on three separate occasions and sat for four hours. On each visit, they were fitted with a headband that measured blood flow to the brain using ultrasound. Each subject also wore a face mask that captured and measured carbon dioxide levels.

During the first exercise, the volunteers were asked to sit at a desk for four straight hours, leaving their chairs only to use the restroom. For the second exercise, each rose from their chair every 30 minutes and walked on a treadmill for two minutes. In the third exercise, each subject remained in their chair for two hours and then walked on the treadmill for eight minutes, then returned to the chair.

The researchers found evidence of reduced blood flow in all of the volunteers during all of the exercises. However, they also found that normal blood flow was restored by walking breaks. They report that the best outcome was when the volunteers took frequent two-minute walking breaks.

 

 

 

Human metabolism doesn’t really slow down until age 60, study says

Duke University, August 12, 2021

Our metabolisms would seem to slow down once we hit adulthood and grind to a halt by middle age. However, a new study finds that’s not actually the case. In fact, researchers from Duke University say human metabolism doesn’t start slowing until the age of 60.

After an early rush as we grow up, researchers find that our metabolisms slow and stabilize in our 20s before finally declining in our 60s. Many people commonly think of their teens and 20s as the time their metabolism hits its peak, but the truth is even that comes much earlier.

In fact, metabolism is at its fastest during the first few years of life. The study finds humans burn energy roughly three percent slower every year after infancy, until reaching adulthood. Through our 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s, metabolism is actually the most stable.

Human metabolism won’t start to fully decline again until after age 60. The slowdown is gradual, at only 0.7 percent per year. At that rate, a person in their 90s needs 26 percent fewer calories each day than someone in midlife.

Infant metabolism is the fastest it will ever be

An international team made their surprising discovery after analyzing data on more than 6,600 people ranging from one week-old to age 95 as they went about their daily lives in 29 countries worldwide.

“There are lots of physiological changes that come with growing up and getting older,” says Duke associate professor of evolutionary anthropology Dr. Herman Pontzer in a university release. “Think puberty, menopause, other phases of life. What’s weird is that the timing of our ‘metabolic life stages’ doesn’t seem to match those typical milestones.”

“All of this points to the conclusion that tissue metabolism, the work that the cells are doing, is changing over the course of the lifespan in ways we haven’t fully appreciated before,” Pontzer adds. “You really need a big data set like this to get at those questions.”

Energy needs shoot up during the first 12 months of life, such that by their first birthday, a one-year-old burns calories 50 percent faster than an adult does. That’s not just because, in their first year, infants are busy tripling their birth weight.

“Of course they’re growing, but even once you control for that, their energy expenditures are rocketing up higher than you’d expect for their body size and composition,” Dr. Pontzer explains.

An infant’s gas-guzzling metabolism may partly explain why children who don’t get enough to eat during this developmental window are less likely to survive and grow up to be healthy adults.

“Something is happening inside a baby’s cells to make them more active, and we don’t know what those processes are yet,” the Duke researcher continues.

Myths about our teen years

Despite the teen years being a time of dramatic growth spurts, the researchers didn’t see any uptick in daily calorie needs during adolescence after they took body size into account.

“We really thought puberty would be different and it’s not,” Dr. Pontzer notes.

Midlife delivered another surprise for the team. Perhaps you’ve been told that it’s all downhill after 30 when it comes to your weight. Lost muscle mass as we get older may be partly to blame since muscle burns more calories than fat. Despite that, Dr. Pontzer says that’s not the whole picture.

“We controlled for muscle mass,” Pontzer explains. “It’s because their cells are slowing down.”

Previously, most large-scale studies measured how much energy the body uses to perform basic vital functions such as breathing, digesting, pumping blood – in other words, the calories you need just to stay alive. However, that amounts to only 50 percent to 70 percent of the calories we burn each day.

This doesn’t take into account the energy we spend doing everything else like washing the dishes, walking the dog, breaking a sweat at the gym, or even just thinking or fidgeting.

Measuring energy expenditure

To come up with a number for total daily energy expenditure, the researchers relied on the “doubly labelled water” method.

This technique involves a urine test after having a person drink water in which the hydrogen and oxygen in the water molecules have been replaced with naturally occurring “heavy” forms, and then measuring how quickly they’re flushed out.

Scientists have used the method – considered the gold standard for measuring daily energy expenditure during normal daily life outside of the lab – to measure energy expenditure in humans since the 1980s. Studies, however, have been limited in size and scope due to cost.

So, for this project, multiple labs decided to share their data and gather their measurements in a single database, to see if they could tease out truths that weren’t revealed or were only hinted at in previous work.

The findings appear in the journal Science.