Gary's Daily Health News

Gary‘s Daily Health News - Vol. 10

Rooibos, a supportive role to play during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Cape Peninsula University of Technology (South Africa), September 7, 2021

This article presents the potential health benefits of Rooibos to be considered a support during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent pandemic of COVID-19 has led to severe morbidity and mortality. The highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 is known to prime a cytokine storm in patients and progression to acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome. Based on clinical features, the pathology of acute respiratory disorder induced by SARS-CoV-2 suggests that excessive inflammation, oxidative stress, and dysregulation of the renin angiotensin system are likely contributors to the COVID-19 disease. Rooibos, a well-known herbal tea, consumed for centuries, has displayed potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, redox modulating, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, cardiometabolic support and organoprotective potential. This article describes how Rooibos can potentially play a supportive role by modulating the risk of some of the comorbidities associated with COVID-19 in order to promote general health during infections.

Oxidative stress is causally involved in the development of some chronic diseases (CVD and diabetes) and inflammatory responses, that increase the risk of a severe outcome from COVID-19. Rooibos and its phytochemical constituents are increasingly under scientific inquiry for their potential beneficial effects on health. These beneficial effects are, in part related to the potent antioxidant and redox modulatory potential, underscoring the preventative and protective roles against poor health and disease. Specific effects relating to metabolic diseases include protection against oxidative distress and inflammation as well as maintaining glucose homeostasis.

The bioactivity of Rooibos is multi-faceted with numerous beneficial targets. Several lines of scientific evidence as discussed in this article, suggest Rooibos to be of considerable benefit as a supportive approach in the current pandemic. Rooibos has a low toxicity profile and although the direct evidence for a Rooibos application in COVID-19 is currently unclear, numerous animal models and increasing human studies have documented its efficacy and safety in several relevant chronic non-communicable diseases, such as CVD and diabetes, oxidative distress, and inflammation as a support for general health and well-being. Its use during this pandemic by those with and without co-morbidities, as part of their daily health regime, could be highly beneficial. However, further clinical studies are required to validate this hypothesis.

Considering all the empirical evidence, it is rational to employ Rooibos as a support of general health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies suggest that it has potent antioxidant, antiviral and immunomodulating effects, which enhances the body’s natural defence system. However, it must be noted that Rooibos is not a drug or substitute for clinical treatment of COVID-19. To validate the clinical relevance of Rooibos selection, additional studies are needed to evaluate its use treating not only COVID-19 but also the common cold and other respiratory disorders.

 

Eating peanuts may lower risk of ischemic stroke, cardiovascular disease among Asians

Osaka University (Japan), Sept. 9, 2021

Asian men and women living in Japan who ate peanuts (on average 4-5 peanuts/day) had a lower risk of having an ischemic stroke or a cardiovascular disease event compared to those who did not eat peanuts, according to new research published today in Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

While previous studies have linked peanut consumption with improved cardiovascular health among Americans, researchers in this study specifically examined the link between peanut consumption and the incidence of different types of stroke (ischemic and hemorrhagic) and cardiovascular disease events (such as stroke and ischemic heart disease) among Japanese men and women.

“We showed for the first time a reduced risk for ischemic stroke incidence associated with higher peanut consumption in an Asian population,” said lead study author Satoyo Ikehara, Ph.D., specially appointed associate professor of public health in the department of social medicine at the Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine in Suita, Japan. “Our results suggest that adding peanuts to your diet has a beneficial effect on the prevention of ischemic stroke.”

Peanuts are rich in heart-healthy nutrients, such as “monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber that help lower risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing risk factors, including high blood pressure, high blood levels of ’bad’ cholesterol and chronic inflammation,” Ikehara said.

Researchers examined the frequency of how often people reported eating peanuts in relation to stroke occurrence and cardiovascular disease. The analysis includes people who were recruited in two phases, in 1995 and 1998-1999, for a total of more than 74,000 Asian men and women, ages 45 to 74, from the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study. Participants completed a comprehensive lifestyle survey, which included a questionnaire about the frequency of peanut consumption. They were followed for approximately 15 years – through 2009 or 2012, depending on when they were originally enrolled.

The incidence of stroke and ischemic heart disease were determined by linking with 78 participating hospitals in the areas included in the study.

Researchers adjusted for other health conditions, smoking, diet, alcohol consumption and physical activity, as detailed by participants in the questionnaires. According to medical records, researchers noted 3,599 strokes (2,223 ischemic and 1,376 hemorrhagic) and 849 cases of ischemic heart disease developed during the follow-up period.

The levels of peanut consumption were ranked in four quartiles, with 0 peanuts a day as the least intake compared to 4.3 unshelled peanuts a day (median) as the highest. Compared to a peanut-free diet, researchers found eating about 4-5 unshelled peanuts per day was associated with:

• 20% lower risk of ischemic stroke;
• 16% lower risk of total stroke; and
• 13% lower risk of having cardiovascular disease (this included both stroke and ischemic heart disease).
• A significant association was not found between peanut consumption and a lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke or ischemic heart disease.

The link between peanut consumption and lowered risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease was consistent in both men and women.

“The beneficial effect of peanut consumption on risk of stroke, especially ischemic stroke was found, despite the small quantity of peanuts eaten by study participants,” Ikehara said. “The habit of eating peanuts and tree nuts is still not common in Asian countries. However, adding even a small amount to one’s diet could be a simple yet effective approach to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

The American Heart Association recommends eating about five servings of unsalted nuts per week; one serving is ½ ounce (2 tablespoons) of nuts. Besides peanuts, the Association also says other healthy nut options include unsalted cashews, walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts and hazelnuts.

Several limitations were noted in the study, including the validity and reliability of peanut consumption measurements in the data collection and analysis. Bias caused by these measurements may lead to errors in the association. However, a measurement error correction analysis was performed, and the associations proved to be accurate.

 

Good sleep-time recovery is associated with a healthier diet and lower alcohol consumption

Good sleep-time recovery is associated with a health-promoting diet and health-promoting eating habits, as well as with lower consumption of alcohol, according to a new study investigating psychological and physiological well-being

University of Easterm Finland, September 8, 2021

 

The association of physiological recovery with nutrition has been studied only scarcely. Published in Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, a new study now investigates whether physiological recovery during sleep relates to eating behaviour and diet quality.

The study population consisted of 252 psychologically distressed adults with overweight, who participated in a lifestyle intervention study in three Finnish cities. Their recovery was measured on the basis of sleep-time heart rate variability recorded on three consecutive nights. Heart rate variability was used to measure both parasympathetic and sympathetic activation of the autonomic nervous system, and their relation, i.e., the balance between stress and recovery. The parasympathetic nervous system plays a key role in recovery, during which heart rate is decreased and heart rate variability is high.

The study participants’ eating behaviour was measured using four different questionnaires, and their diet quality and alcohol consumption was quantified using two different questionnaires and a 48-hour dietary recall. The aim was to explore the association between physiological recovery, diet quality, alcohol consumption and different aspects of eating behaviour, such as eating according to hunger and satiety cues. The present results are from the data collected at baseline before the lifestyle intervention.

According to the study, higher sleep-time parasympathetic activity, which is indicative of better physiological recovery, associates with more health-promoting diet quality and lower alcohol consumption, and possibly also with eating habits, especially factors affecting our decision to eat. Especially participants with a good stress balance reported better overall diet quality, higher fibre intake, stronger dietary self-control and lower alcohol consumption than those with a poorer stress balance.

However, the researchers point out that the cross-sectional study design allows no causality conclusions. In other words, it cannot be concluded from the results if better recovery leads to a healthier diet or if a healthy diet supports better recovery.

 

Nutritional supplementation during adolescence associated with lower risk of adult-onset MS 

Tehran University of Medical Sciences, September 8 2021. 

A population-based case-control study published in the November 1, 2021 issue of Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders revealed a protective effect for a nutritious diet and supplementation with specific nutrients during adolescence against the development of primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) in adulthood.

Primary progressive multiple sclerosis is a type of MS that progresses gradually from the initial appearance of symptoms without relapse or remission. An estimated 10 to 15% of patients with MS have PPMS.

“To the best of our knowledge, so far, no study has specifically investigated the effect of nutritional factors during adolescence on PPMS onset,” Nasim Rezaeimanesh and colleagues at Iran’s University of Medical Sciences announced.

The team compared 143 men and women diagnosed with PPMS to 400 sex-matched control subjects within the same community who did not have the disease. Questionnaire responses provided information concerning demographics and dietary and supplement intake between the ages of 13 and 19 years.

A significantly lower risk of PPMS was observed in association with greater adolescent intake of vegetables, fruit, nuts, dairy products, seafood and red meat. “The need of protein varies according to the degree of physical maturation,” Dr Rezaeimanesh and associates remarked. “Inadequate protein intake and iron deficiency anemia during adolescence could result in immune response impairment and infection susceptibility.”

Among fish oil users, the adjusted risk of developing PPMS was 52% lower than the risk experienced by those who did not consume fish oil. Multivitamin, calcium, iron, folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin C supplementation were associated with adjusted risk reductions of 33%, 84%, 17%, 38%, 88% and 92%.  

“Our data proposed that adequate intake of food groups and nutrient supplementation during adolescence may be effective in reducing adult-onset PPMS risk,” the authors concluded.

 

 

Green soy extract could prevent cognitive dysfunction

 

University of Shizuoka (Japan), September 13, 2021

 

Intake of green soybean extract could help reverse cognitive dysfunction and its associated accumulation of beta-amyloid proteins in the brain, say researchers.

 

The accumulation of beta-amyloid proteins has long been linked to the development of brain stunting conditions including Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. 

 

The new findings come from a Japanese trial in mice with cognitive dysfunction. Writing in the Journal of Functional Foods, the team revealed that brain functions were ‘significantly better-preserved’ in aged mice fed green soybean than age-matched control mice with or without yellow soybean feeding.

 

The molecular mechanisms of these beneficial effects on brain function were examined using transcriptome analysis.

 

An increased expression of lipocalin-type prostaglandin D₂ synthase (Ptgds) and a significant reduction in the amyloid precursor protein Aplp1 was reported by the team, led by Keiko Unno from the University of Shizuoka in Japan.

 

“As Ptgds binds and transports small lipophilic molecules (…) it has been proposed as the endogenous Aβ chaperone,” noted the team, adding that lower levels of the usually abundant protein “may play an important role in the development of dementia and of Alzheimer's disease (AD).”

“Furthermore, the amount of beta-amyloid 40 and 42 was reduced in the insoluble fraction of cerebral cortex,” the team noted.

 

Unno and colleagues noted that previous research has suggested several beneficial effects of soybean components such as so isoflavones, including previous suggestions of benefits for cognitive function and the prevention of oxidative damage.

 

In the current study, the isoflavones found to be present in soybean extracts were mostly the glycosides genstin and daidzin.

 

“The levels of genistein and daizein, aglycones of genstin and daidzin, respectively, were very low or not detected,” reported the team – adding that the content of oligo sugars, especially sucrose, was significantly higher in green soybean than in yellow.

 

Furthermore, the contents of saponin and carotene in green soybean were found to be slightly higher in the green than in yellow, however the contents of other components were not different between green and yellow soybeans.

 

“Soybean feeding did not change the weight of body, liver or cerebrum,” Unno and colleagues said – adding that the average food consumptions of each group were also not different. 

 

 

Study links free radicals to heart damage caused by cancer

Ohio State University, September 10, 2021

A new study in animal models shows that the presence of a cancer tumor alone can lead to cardiac damage, and suggests the culprits are molecules called free radicals interacting with specific cells in the heart.

Tumors in mice and fruit flies led to varying degrees of cardiac dysfunction – particularly a decrease in the heart’s blood-pumping capabilities.

Adding specific types of antioxidants to food consumed by fruit flies with tumors reversed the damage to their hearts – a finding suggesting that harm caused by free radicals was the likely link between cancer and cardiac dysfunction.

“Cancer becomes a systemic disease. It’s not just a tumor doing one thing,” said co-lead author Shubha Gururaja Rao, assistant professor of pharmacology at Ohio Northern University and an adjunct faculty member in physiology and cell biology at The Ohio State University.

Most of what is known about cancer’s link to heart damage relates to chemotherapy’s toxic effects and muscle wasting commonly experienced by cancer patients.

This is the first study to use a genetic model to investigate cancer’s direct effect on cardiac dysfunction. The researchers found that different cancer-associated genes affect the heart in different ways – a sign that genetic information could one day guide heart-protective treatment decisions in cancer patients.

“This suggests treatment could be tailored if you know what genes are causing the cancer or are abnormal in certain cancers,” said Harpreet Singh, co-lead author of the study and associate professor of physiology and cell biology at Ohio State.

“Above all else, we want to make clinicians aware that upon first detecting cancer, long before muscle wasting sets in or chemotherapy begins, other organs are getting the message and are being affected.”

The study is published in the journal Antioxidants.

An estimated 50 to 80% of cancer patients develop the muscle wasting condition called cachexia, which can lead to heart failure, and radiation and chemotherapy treatments are associated with toxicity-related damage to the heart muscle.

However, emerging research has suggested that heart problems can surface before cancer treatment or muscle wasting occur. The Ohio State team noted that a study published recently in the Journal of the America Heart Association reported the detection of abnormalities in heart tissue and cardiac function in human cancer patients before cancer treatment had begun.

In this new study, the Ohio State researchers injected breast cancer cells into mouse mammary glands and measured the animals’ cardiac function four weeks later. They found that two measures of heart pumping output, left ventricular ejection fraction and fractional shortening, had decreased by about 20% and 22%, respectively.

In fruit flies, the team overexpressed cancer-causing genes to trigger development of tumors in the flies’ eyes. The scientists observed significantly lower ejection fraction and fractional shortening – similar to what was seen in mice with tumors – as well as an increase in heart rate in flies with tumors.

The researchers found a total-body increase in the rate of production as well as a higher total number of free radicals – also known as reactive oxygen species – in fruit flies with tumors compared to controls. The rate of reactive oxygen species production was also significantly higher in mice with tumors compared to controls.

To test whether supplements could reverse the tumor-related heart damage, four antioxidants were added to the fruit flies’ food for seven days: Glutathione (GSH), vitamin E, CoQ10 or vitamin C.

Results showed that all but vitamin C restored the flies’ cardiac function to normal levels.

“We don’t know yet why one antioxidant works versus another,” said Rao, adding that because the flies ate the antioxidants in their food, researchers also don’t have definitive information on the antioxidant doses at this point.

She and Singh also emphasized that reactive oxygen species are just one identified mechanism of tumor-related heart damage, and that there is still a lot to learn about how antioxidants might fit into a treatment regimen.

Though this research zeroed in on one cancer-causing gene to study the mechanism of heart damage in fruit flies, the researchers initially tested the effects of several cancer-causing genes in the flies. The heart function affected and the intensity of the effects on the heart varied, depending on the gene. Rao plans to continue genetic studies in fruit flies and to test antioxidants’ restorative effects on the hearts in mice with tumors.

Singh is collaborating with clinicians at Ohio State and other institutions to collect blood samples from cancer patients who have heart failure.

“The signal is traveling from the tumor to the heart, and the tissue connecting these sites is blood – so the question is, are reactive oxygen species traveling through the blood?” he said. “On the clinical end, our priority is to look for the correlation between different oncogenic pathways and heart failure. Second, we want to see what the message is and whether we can prescribe antioxidants.”

Additional co-authors include Priyanka Karekar, Haley Jensen, Kathryn Russart, Devasena Ponnalagu, Shridhar Sanghvi, Sakima Smith and Leah Pyter from Ohio State and Sarah Seeley from Ohio Northern University (ONU).

The work was supported by Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement Program grants, the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust, the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health, Ohio State’s Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, and ONU startup funds.

 

 

What vitamins, nutrients will help prevent glaucoma from worsening?

 

Glaucoma Research Foundation, September 14, 2016

 

 

In general, I recommend that my patients include nutrient-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet. A healthy lifestyle, consisting of balanced nutrition, moderate exercise, and appropriate rest is an important part of your overall health and well-being and can help prevent illness too.

 

The best way to ensure that you're getting all of your essential vitamins and minerals is to eat a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables -- they are a primary source of carotenoids, which can have overall benefits for vision health. Certain fruits and vegetables with higher vitamin A and C content have been shown to reduce glaucoma risk as well. Some of the most helpful fruits and vegetables for healthy vision are: collard greens, cabbage, kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts, celery, carrots, peaches, radishes, green beans, and beets.

 

Because oxidative stress is associated with damage to the optic nerve in glaucoma, antioxidants may help to prevent further injury. Dietary sources of antioxidants include pomegranate, acai berries, cranberries, dark chocolate, black and green tea, bilberry, lycopene (from tomato products), dark green leafy vegetables like kale and spinach, and flax seeds.

 

Any specific nutritional deficiencies in your diet can be addressed with supplements that include Vitamins A, B-complex, C, and E as well as the minerals Magnesium, Calcium and Zinc. However, there is no convincing data that vitamin supplements help to prevent glaucoma. I recommend that patients take a general multivitamin if they are uncertain whether their daily nutritional needs are met.

 

While good nutrition plays a role in disease prevention and overall health, it is not a treatment for glaucoma. Certain herbs such as ginkgo and bilberry may even increase the risk of bleeding with glaucoma surgery. Given the breadth of nutritional supplements available over-the-counter, it is important to discuss with your eye doctor all prescription, herbal, vitamin, mineral, and over-the-counter remedies you currently take. Talk to your doctor about any other questions related to glaucoma and your diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices.

Gary‘s Daily Health News - Vol. 9

The benefits of royal jelly for menopausal women

Hormozgan University of Medical Science (Iran), September 2, 2021

A recent study published in the journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice revealed that supplementing with royal jelly can help alleviate menopausal symptoms. In their report, researchers from the Hormozgan University of Medical Science in Iran noted that the severity of menopausal symptoms was significantly lower in women who had been given a royal jelly supplement.

Menopause and its accompanying symptoms

Clinically speaking, menopause refers to the end of the menstrual cycle. It’s diagnosed after a woman has gone 12 months without a menstrual period. In the U.S., the average age for menopause is 51; however, it has been reported in women as early as 40. It’s worth noting that menopause is a natural biological process. But physical and mental changes that come with menopause can impact a woman’s quality of life.

There are signs and symptoms that signal menopause, called perimenopause. These can occur in the months or years leading up to menopause.

• Irregular periods. During perimenopause, a woman may experience either shorter or longer periods than usual. It could also cause unexpected bleeding during periods, or missed periods altogether.
• Hot flashes. A hot flash is defined as a sudden feeling of heat in the chest and face. Hot flashes are very common in perimenopause, but their frequency and severity may differ for each woman. A night sweat, on the other hand, refers to a hot flash that occurs during sleep. While night sweats can interrupt a woman’s sleep cycle and cause daytime fatigue, there are cases where it can be debilitating.
• Mood swings. Changes in mood are fairly common among perimenopausal women; these may include symptoms of irritability, depression and anxiety. However, women experiencing persistent mood changes, or those that affect their quality of life, should talk to a healthcare professional.
• Vaginal atrophy. Perimenopausal women also have reduced estrogen production. This can lead to a condition called vaginal atrophy, or vaginal dryness. A woman with vaginal atrophy has thinning, drying or inflamed vaginal walls caused by reduced estrogen levels in the body. This makes sexual intercourse painful, often accompanied by feelings of itching and burning. This also increases a woman’s risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs).
• Loss of libido. Women in perimenopause — and later, menopause — experience a loss of interest in sex due to hormonal fluctuations.

Royal jelly intervention reduced menopause symptoms

For the study, the team looked at whether royal jelly can help in alleviating the symptoms that come with menopause. Royal jelly is a gelatinous substance produced by honey bees to feed queen bees. It’s often sold as a dietary supplement. It’s long been used in traditional medicine; however, there are few studies that explore its effectiveness in managing symptoms of menopause.

The team enrolled women in menopause from Bandar Abbas, Iran, for an eight-week study. During this time, the participants were assigned to take either a capsule of royal jelly or a placebo every day. At the beginning of the study, they were asked to score their menopausal symptoms, which they revisited after completing the study.

Based on the findings, the women treated with royal jelly reported significant reductions in their menopausal symptoms, compared to those who took the placebo. In addition, they also reported a significant reduction in the severity of their symptoms after the intervention. 

“[Daily] consumption of oral royal jelly (1,000?mg) for eight weeks was effective in alleviating the menopausal symptoms,” the researchers concluded in their report. “However, further research is necessary to confirm the effects.”

 

 

First Ground Breaking Study Shows How Rhodiola Rosea Protects People From Viral Infections

 

Appalachian State University  August 26, 2021

 

Also known as arctic root or golden root, Rhodiola Rosea has already been clinically shown to stimulate serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine activity, and support healthy neurotransmitter balance, but human trials have now shown the the herb protects against viral infection.

 

Arctic Root is a plant indigenous to Siberia, where it thrives in high altitudes and dry arctic climate. The primary medicinal compounds of Arctic Root are derived from the root of the plant. In Russia, Scandinavia and much of Europe, Arctic Root has been traditionally recognized for itsadaptogenic properties. An adaptogen is a physiological agent that naturally increases the body’s resistance to physical and emotional stress. Rhodiola Rosea has been clinically shown to stimulate Serotonin, Norepinephrine and Dopamine activity, and may help to support healthy neurotransmitter balance. 

Ground breaking studies led by David Nieman, DrPh, FACSM, director of the Appalachian State University Human Performance Laboratory at the NC Research Campus (NCRC) in Kannapolis, are building on previous human trials that demonstrate the anti-viral activity of blueberry and green tea polyphenols. 

A 2002 review in HerbalGram, the journal of the American Botanical Council, reported that numerous studies of rhodiola in both humans and animals have indicated that it helps prevent fatigue, stress, and the damaging effects of oxygen deprivation. Evidence also suggests that it acts as an antioxidant, enhances immune system function, and can increase sexual energy. Rhodiola's efficacy was confirmed in a 2011 review of 11 placebo-controlled human studies. The reviewers considered studies that all had study designs rated as moderate to good quality, and the analysis of their combined data concluded that rhodiola might have beneficial effects on physical performance, mental performance, and certain mental health conditions. 

Testing For Anti-Viral Defense

Nieman’s study "Rhodiola rosea exerts antiviral activity in athletes following a competitive marathon race," which was published in Frontiers in Nutrition, is the first to show anti-viral activity.

 

In his study, 48 marathon runners participating in the 2012 Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte were randomly divided into two groups that ingested either 600 milligrams of Rhodiola rosea or a placebo for a month before the race. Blood samples were collected the day before the marathon and 15 minutes and 1.5 hours post-race. Initial studies found no impact on inflammation and oxidative stress. Additional studies used an in vitro assay to measure the ability of the polyphenolic compounds to protect the cells against Vesicular stomatitis virus. The results demonstrated that Rhodiola rosea delayed viral infection for up to 12 hours after the marathon.

 

Nieman was the first scientist to find that marathon runners are prone to viral illnesses such as upper respiratory tract infections after competing. This discovery motivated him to research plant-based compounds that could prevent infection and enhance recovery and overall athletic performance.

Since Rhodiola rosea administration appears to impact central monoamine levels, it might also provide benefits and be the adaptogen of choice in clinical conditions characterised by an imbalance of central nervous system monoamines. It also suggests that research in areas such as seasonal affective disorder, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome, among others, is warranted.

 

"Basically after heavy exertion, bacteria and viruses can multiply at a higher rate than normal due to factors in the serum like stress hormones and inflammatory cytokines," Nieman said. "This is why runners are six times more likely to get sick after a marathon. We showed that in those who used Rhodiola rosea the viruses could not multiply, meaning it was acting as a countermeasure."

 

The in vitro assay used in the study was developed by Nieman and Maryam Ahmed, PhD, an associate professor of biology at Appalachian who is a virology expert and study co-author.

 

"A lot of these types of compounds, you cannot test in humans," Ahmed said. "So the really unique aspect of this study is that we gave these individuals the supplements, and we were able to test their blood in the lab using the experimental procedures that we developed to find out whether the compounds in the blood can protect cells against viruses."

 

Using the specially developed assays, Ahmed and Nieman also identified a mix of polyphenolic compounds from green tea and blueberries that is even more effective than Rhodiola rosea at preventing viral replication in athletes after intense competition. Those findings were reported in the 2014 study "The Protective Effects of a Polyphenol-Enriched Protein Powder on Exercise-Induced Susceptibility to Virus Infection" that was published in the journal Phytotherapy Research. The study was led by Nieman in collaboration with the Dole Nutrition Institute and the NC State University Plants for Human Health Institute, both at the NCRC.

 

Anybody Can Benefit

Rhodiola both stimulates and protects the immune system by reinstating homeostasis (metabolic balance) in the body. It also increases the natural killer cells (NK) in the stomach and spleen. This action may be due to its ability to normalise hormones by modulating the release of glucocorticoid into the body. 

Both Nieman and Ahmed assert that the anti-viral effects of polyphenols are beneficial to more than athletes. In a 2012 study published in the journal Nutrients, Nieman lead a 1,000 person community study that demonstrated people who eat three or more servings of fruit per day substantially reduced their incidence of upper respiratory tract infections.

 

"These compounds that we are looking at are not only for athletes," Ahmed said. "They are also anti-oxidant and anti-cancer and have other properties that can benefit the general public."

 

Nieman added, "We are producing some of the first human studies showing plant polyphenols -- the naturally occurring chemicals in fruits and vegetables that give them their colors like purple, red and yellow -- work with the immune system to help clear viruses and keep their ability to multiply under control."

 

 

Rhodiola significantly improves mental health and promotes a calm state of mind

University of Wein (Austria), September 3, 2021

Rhodiola rosea is a potent herb commonly grown in the wild Arctic region. Also known as arctic root and golden root, rhodiola is used in traditional medicineto treat anxiety, fatigue and weakness, and improve endurance, work performance and tolerance of high altitudes. Nowadays, it is commonly used to boost energy levels, improve athletic performance and treat depression, anxiety and other symptoms.

Rhodiola is considered an “adaptogen,” meaning it helps your body adapt to stress. Read the studies below to learn more about the adaptogenic effect of rhodiola.

Studies show rhodiola improves mental health

In a study published in the journal Neuropsychiatric Diseases and Treatment, Austrian and German researchers found that rhodiola promotes a calm state of mind and helps reduce symptoms of burnout, an “occupational phenomenon” caused by chronic workplace stress.

Austrian and German researchers recruited 118 burnout patients and asked them to take 400 milligrams (mg) of rhodiola daily over a period of three months. The researchers assessed the participants’ symptoms using various burnout screening tests as well as language and sleep quality tests. Assessment occurred before starting supplementation and on weeks one, four, eight and 12.

The team found that the participants slept better and experienced rapid improvements in all measures of fatigue and burnout, including overall stress levels, fatigue, irritability, anxiety and depression. They also displayed improvements in high-level cognition and decision making and reported increased frequency of sexual activity and increased overall satisfaction with their sex life. These improvements occurred during the first week and continued to increase for the duration of the study, according to the researchers.

In a 2012 study published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, British researchers recruited more than 100 individuals that exhibit stress symptoms and had them take 200 mg of rhodiola extract twice a day for four weeks.

Using various stress and fatigue questionnaires, the researchers found “clinically relevant improvements” in regard to stress symptoms, disability and functional impairment. All participants reported experiencing relief from stress and fatigue and 83 percent of them reported that their symptoms were either “much improved” or “very much improved.” These improvements were observed as early as day three of treatment and continued after weeks one and four.

Rhodiola has several mechanisms of action that can explain these findings. For one, it helps balance amounts of the stress hormone cortisol and increase levels of a stress-resisting protein called Hsp70. It also stimulates serotonin and dopamine activity and boosts the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate, the main source of energy for most cellular processes. In addition, compounds in rhodiola like rosavin and salidroside can help fight oxidative stress and inflammation.

 

Being positive linked to lower chance of dying, study says

University of Oxford, September 8, 2021 

 

Being positive, marrying and getting a degree are each significantly associated with a lower chance of dying, a new study says Christopher Jacobi, of the University of Oxford, studied survey responses and medical records of 28,662 people in the U.K. to find out whether their chance of dying was associated with their mental health.

 

Mr Jacobi told the British Sociological Association's Medical Sociology conference in Birmingham today  that people with high positive mental health were less likely to die than average, though a longer follow-up period would be needed to see the long-term effects.

 

Those in the top sixth group of scores for positive mental health experienced a relative risk of dying that was 18% lower in the four years after the survey, he found.

Mr Jacobi, of Nuffield College, said that the strength of this effect was similar to the effect of having a degree or being married.

In his research, he analysed people with similar physical health, income and other life characteristics to exclude the effects of these and isolate those of mental health, marriage and education.

 

Other factors, such as religious belief and income, did not have a statistically significant role.

 

Factors linked to a greater chance of dying were, as expected, being older and having physical health problems.

 

"The results indicate that better positive mental health seems to have a somewhat protective effect against mortality," Mr Jacobi told the conference.

 

"In research literature the most frequently stated ways in which positive mental health is likely to affect mortality are via direct physiological responses such as lowered blood pressure, capacity to cope with stress, less drinking and smoking, an active lifestyle, and better sleep quality.

 

"Likewise, people with high positive mental health might not be affected as severely by potentially negative symptomatic and physiological effects of life events like divorce or unemployment."

 

The interviewees' mental health was evaluated by scoring them for how optimistic they were about the future, how useful and relaxed they were, how close they felt to other people and how decisive they felt.

 

Steps every day could lead to longer life

University of Massachusetts, September 3, 2021

Miami publicist Robin Diamond is "step-obsessed."

She aims for 10,000-plus steps every day using her Apple watch and even bought a treadmill during the COVID-19 quarantine to make sure she reaches her daily goal. The 43-year-old has lost 15 pounds since April 2019 and feels better than ever before.

"Walking saved my sanity and restored my body," she said.

Now, a new study suggests that all those steps may also add years to her life.

Folks who took about 7,000 steps a day had a 50% to 70% lower risk of dying from all causes during after 11 years of follow-up when compared with people who took fewer steps each day. These findings held for Black and white middle-aged men and women.

And quicker steps weren't necessarily any better, the study showed. Step intensity, or the number of steps per minute, didn't influence the risk of dying.

The study, led by Amanda Paluch, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts' department of kinesiology, appears in the Sept. 3 issue of the journal JAMA Network Open.

"Step-counting devices can be useful tools for monitoring and promoting activity in the general public and for patient-clinician communication, Paluch said. "Steps per day is a simple, easy-to-monitor metric and getting more steps/day may be a good way to promote health."

She added, "7,000 steps/day may be a great goal for many individuals who are currently not achieving this amount. We also found in our study that accumulating a greater number of steps/day was associated with an incremental lower risk of mortality until leveling off at approximately 10,000 steps/day."

Two physicians with no ties to the study looked favorably at the findings.

"This is a very nice study with a great message: "Live longer, walk more," said Dr. Guy Mintz, Northwell Health's director of cardiovascular health at the Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. "There's no need to join a gym, no need to purchase equipment, just start walking."

The research wasn't designed to say how, or even if, taking more steps reduced the chances of dying.

But "exercise can reduce cardiovascular risk by improving blood pressure, reducing cholesterol, improvement of hyperglycemia [blood sugar] in diabetes, and contributing to weight reduction," said Mintz.

Dr. Michael Massoomi is a big fan of step counting. He is a clinical assistant professor of medicine within the division of cardiology at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

There is no one-size-fits-all magic number, he said. "Instead of focusing on 10,000 steps per day, as many groups call for, focus on doing more than you did the day before," he said. "If you get less than 5,000 steps a day, try to increase it to 6,000 in the next few weeks."

This can mean adding a 20-minute walk into your daily schedule, said Massoomi.

You don't need anything fancy or expensive to help count steps either, he said. There are many free apps for smartphones that work extremely well.

In an accompanying editorial, Nicole Spartano, a research assistant professor of medicine in endocrinology, diabetes, nutrition, and weight management at Boston University School of Medicine, pointed out that the step counter used in the new study isn't commercially available.

"It is unclear the extent to which steps measured on these activity monitors compare with steps measured by common consumer devices, including smartwatches, pedometers and smartphone applications," she wrote.

The new study looked at the risk of dying, but other outcomes matter, such as quality of life and mental health. "I hope to encourage investigators and research funders to focus on these understudied topics that will provide evidence to support a national step guideline," Spartano wrote.

 

Taurine and vitamin E protected against pulmonary toxicity in those exposed to cigarette smoke

University of Ilorin (Nigeria), September 3, 2021

According to news originating from Ilorin, Nigeria, research stated, “Cigarette smoke (CS) contains toxicants causing pathological derangements. The effects of taurine and/or vitamin E (TAOV) on the lungs of rats exposed to CS were evaluated.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from University of Ilorin: “Five groups (each containing randomly selected five albino male rats) were formed. Rats in Group 1 were not exposed to CS. Group 2 was exposed to CS without administration of TAOV. Prior to CS exposure, rats in groups 3, 4 and 5 were administered 50 mg/kg b.w. taurine, 30 mg/kg b.w. vitamin E, and a combination of both, respectively. The level of reduced glutathione and activities of Na+/K+-ATPase (SPA), Ca2+/Mg2+-ATPase (CMA), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), catalase and superoxide dismutase in the lungs of rats were analyzed. Activities of SPA and CMA in the lung of untreated rats exposed to CS significantly decreased when compared with control (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the activities of SPA and CMA in the lungs of treated rats and control group. The ALT, AST and ALP activities in the lungs of untreated rats reduced significantly relative to control (p < 0.05). Contrastingly, no significant difference was recorded for ALT, AST and ALP activities in the lungs of rats administered taurine and vitamin E prior to CS exposure when compared to the control.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Results showed taurine and vitamin E protected against damage that were otherwise observed in untreated rats. Thus, the administration of TAOV may mitigate CS-induced damage in the lungs of rats.”

 

 

What Is the Liver Powerhouse Silymarin?

GreenMedInfo, September 7th 2021

Here's what science has found most beneficial about silymarin, extracted from milk thistle and known to be a friend of your liver mainly through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

When it comes to treating liver and gallbladder disorders, there is one name that stands out: silymarin. As a group of flavonolignans extracted from milk thistle, silymarin has been traditionally used for various protective benefits, from reinvigorating liver function to promoting breast milk production.

The milk thistle plant, scientifically known as Silybum marianum, is a prickly plant with purple flowers and milky white veins present on the leaves, thus its name. Silymarin is the group of plant compounds that act as its active ingredient.[i]

Silymarin is the main bioactive component of this medicinal plant. It is a mix of various flavonolignans, includings silybinin A and B, isosilybinin A and B, silychristin and silydianin.[ii] Milk thistle extract has a high silymarin content of approximately 65% to 80%.

Silymarin is famed for its antioxidant, antiviral and anti-inflammatory components,[iii] as well as its traditional use or treating the liver and restoring its health. In addition, milk thistle itself is generally considered safe to take. Side effects are rare, and in an oral form standardized to contain 70% to 80% silymarin, it appears to be safe for up to 41 months of use.[iv]

Silymarin's Liver-Protective Effects

• Fights liver inflammation and liver damage. Mounting evidence shows improvements in liver function among people with liver diseases who have taken a milk thistle supplement.[v] This suggests protection against flavanone silibinin liver inflammation and liver damage through use of the natural -- silymarin's primary active component -- which was combined with phosphatidylcholine in a specific study to enhance its solubility and bioavailability.
• Protects from toxins such as amatoxin, produced by Amanita mushroom, which can cause death if ingested. Two cases in the U.S. were treated with N-acetylcysteine, high-dose penicillin, cimetidine and silibinin.[vi]

Uncontrolled trials and case reports cited successful treatment with intravenous silibinin, a flavonolignan isolated from milk thistle extracts, in nearly 1,500 cases.[vii] Overall mortality in those treated with the formula was less than 10%, compared to more than 20%when using penicillin, or a mix of silibinin and penicillin.

• Reduces liver fibrosis. In a randomized trial of 99 patients, the team administered silymarin in 700-milligram (mg) doses, or a placebo, given three times daily for 48 weeks.[viii] Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) activity score was reduced by 32.7% in the silymarin group compared to 26% in the placebo group.

Among the secondary outcomes were reductions in inflammation and fibrosis score in the silymarin group, leading the researchers to conclude that silymarin may decrease liver fibrosis, to be confirmed in larger trials. Fibrosis is the formation of abnormally large amounts of scar tissue in the liver.

• Helps prevent liver cancer. Studies have concluded that the long-term use of silymarin significantly increases survival time among patients with alcohol-induced liver cirrhosis, a risk factor for liver cancer. Silymarin can also significantly reduce tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis or new blood vessel formation, as well as insulin resistance.[ix]

The chemopreventive effects "have been established in several studies using in vitro and in vivo methods," according to the researchers, and combine well with anti-inflammatory and inhibitory effects on the metastasis or spread of cancer.

• Contributes to liver regeneration. An animal study suggested that silymarin played a crucial role in accelerating liver regeneration after liver resection, a kind of surgery designed to remove cancerous tumors from the liver.[x] Liver regeneration is thought to evolve to protect animals from loss of liver due to toxins or tissue injury.

Silymarin for Breastfeeding, Neurological Support

Not to be ignored is silymarin's formidable list of other health benefits, such as boosting milk production in lactating mothers. A randomized trial found that mothers taking 420 mg of silymarin for 63 days produced more breast milk than subjects who took a placebo.[xi] Silymarin combined with phosphatidylserine and galega also increased milk production in moms of preterm infants, without any significant side effects.[xii]

Milk thistle is also a traditional remedy for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer'sand Parkinson's diseases. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action mean it may be neuroprotective and help prevent the brain decline experienced with aging.

Gary‘s Daily Health News - Vol. 8

Pomegranate peel has protective effects against enteropathogenic bacteria

US Department of Agriculture, August 31, 2021

A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that pomegranate peel extract contains bioactive compounds that have potential antibacterial activity. The study’s findings were published in the journal Nutrition Research.

• Pomegranate fruit peel is considered an agricultural waste product. However, it is a rich source of polyphenols like punicalins, punicalagins and ellagic acids.
• Earlier studies have shown that products derived from pomegranates have health benefits, including antibacterial activity, in vitro.
• There is limited evidence, however, of their antibacterial activity in vivo.
• For this study, researchers sought to determine the antibacterial properties of pomegranate peel extract in vivo. In particular, they focused on the punicalin, punicalagin and ellagic acid present in the peel extract.
• The researchers infected C3H/He mice with the bacterial pathogen Citrobacter rodentium, a bacterium that mimics the enteropathogenic bacterium, Escherichia coli. Prior to infection, the mice were orally treated with water or pomegranate peel extract.
• Twelve days after infection, the researchers examined C. rodentium colonization of the colon and spleen, as well as changes in tissue and gene expression. Fecal excretions were also analyzed for C. rodentium.
• The results revealed that the pomegranate peel extract reduced weight loss and mortality induced by C. rodentium infection.
• The extract also reduced C. rodentium colonization of the spleen.
• Additionally, pomegranate peel extract decreased the extent of damage in the colon caused by C. rodentium infection.

In sum, pomegranate fruit peel extract contains bioactive compounds that can help reduce the severity of C. rodentium infection in vivo.

 

Vitamin D may protect against young-onset colorectal cancer

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard  School of Public Health, September 1, 2021

Consuming higher amounts of Vitamin D - mainly from dietary sources - may help protect against developing young-onset colorectal cancer or precancerous colon polyps, according to the first study to show such an association.

The study, recently published online in the journal Gastroenterology, by scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and other institutions, could potentially lead to recommendations for higher vitamin D intake as an inexpensive complement to screening tests as a colorectal cancer prevention strategy for adults younger than age 50.

While the overall incidence of colorectal cancer has been declining, cases have been increasing in younger adults - a worrisome trend that has yet to be explained. The authors of the study, including senior co-authors Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber, and Edward Giovannucci, MD, DSc., of the T.H. Chan School, noted that vitamin D intake from food sources such as fish, mushrooms, eggs, and milk has decreased in the past several decades. There is growing evidence of an association between vitamin D and risk of colorectal cancer mortality. However, prior to the current study, no research has examined whether total vitamin D intake is associated with the risk of young-onset colorectal cancer.

“Vitamin D has known activity against colorectal cancer in laboratory studies. Because vitamin D deficiency has been steadily increasing over the past few years, we wondered whether this could be contributing to the rising rates of colorectal cancer in young individuals,” said Ng, director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber. “We found that total vitamin D intake of 300 IU per day or more - roughly equivalent to three 8-oz. glasses of milk - was associated with an approximately 50% lower risk of developing young-onset colorectal cancer.”

The results of the study were obtained by calculating the total vitamin D intake - both from dietary sources and supplements - of 94,205 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS II). This study is a prospective cohort study of nurses aged 25 to 42 years that began in 1989. The women are followed every two years by questionnaires on demographics, diet and lifestyle factors, and medical and other health-related information. The researchers focused on a primary endpoint - young-onset colorectal cancer, diagnosed before 50 years of age. They also asked on a follow-up questionnaire whether they had had a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy where colorectal polyps (which may be precursors to colorectal cancer) were found.

During the period from 1991 to 2015 the researchers documented 111 cases of young-onset colorectal cancer and 3,317 colorectal polyps. Analysis showed that higher total vitamin D intake was associated with a significantly reduced risk of early-onset colorectal cancer. The same link was found between higher vitamin D intake and risk of colon polyps detected before age 50.

The association was stronger for dietary vitamin D - principally from dairy products - than from vitamin D supplements. The study authors said that finding could be due to chance or to unknown factors that are not yet understood.

Interestingly, the researchers didn’t find a significant association between total vitamin D intake and risk of colorectal cancer diagnosed after age 50. The findings were not able to explain this inconsistency, and the scientists said further research in a larger sample is necessary to determine if the protective effect of vitamin D is actually stronger in young-onset colorectal cancer.

In any case, the investigators concluded that higher total vitamin D intake is associated with decreased risks of young-onset colorectal cancer and precursors (polyps). “Our results further support that vitamin D may be important in younger adults for health and possibly colorectal cancer prevention,” said Ng. “It is critical to understand the risk factors that are associated with young-onset colorectal cancer so that we can make informed recommendations about diet and lifestyle, as well as identify high risk individuals to target for earlier screening.”

 

 

Choosing personal exercise goals, then tackling them immediately is key to sustaining change

University of Pennsylvania, September 1, 2021

When people set their own exercise goals – and then pursue them immediately – it’s more likely to result in lasting positive changes, according to a new study at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results of this research are especially important because they were found among an underserved population that is at particularly high risk of having or developing heart conditions. The study was published in JAMA Cardiology.

“Most behavior change programs involve goal-setting, but the best way to design that process is unknown,” said lead author Mitesh Patel, MD, MBA, an associate professor of Medicine at Penn and vice president for Clinical Transformation at Ascension. “Our clinical trial demonstrated that physical activity increased the most when patients chose their goals rather than being assigned them, and when the goals started immediately rather than starting lower and gradually increasing over time. These findings are particularly important because the patients were from lower-income neighborhoods and may face a number of challenges in achieving health goals.”

This study consisted of 500 patients from low-income neighborhoods, mainly in West Philadelphia but also elsewhere in and outside of the city. Participants either had a cardiovascular disease or were assessed to have a near-10 percent risk of developing one within a decade. These high-risk patients stood to greatly gain from increased physical activity.

Patel’s previous work at the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit often focused on the use of gamification, a concept used to create behavioral change by turning it into a game. The work usually tested whether playing a game attached to physical activity goals could make significant increases against not playing a game, or between different versions of a game.

As with past studies, every participant was given a wearable step tracker that recorded their daily step counts through Penn’s Way to Health platform. But what set this study apart from many of its predecessors was that the main outcomes of the research were less about participation in the games themselves and more about how goals were established, as well as when participants were encouraged to pursue them.

Once every participant got their wearable step counter, they were given a week or two to get used to it. This time period also functioned as a baseline-setting period for everyone’s pre-intervention daily step count. After that, participants were randomly assigned to the control group, which didn’t have step goals or games attached, or one of the gaming groups with goals.

Those in the gamified group also went through two other sets of random assignments. One determined whether they’d have input on their step goal, or whether they’d just be assigned a standard one. The second decided whether each participant would immediately start working toward their goals (for the entire 16-week intervention), or whether they’d ramp up to it, with minor increases in goals, until the full goals kicked in at week nine.

After analyzing the results, the researchers saw that the only group of participants who achieved significant increases in activity were those who chose their own goals and started immediately. They had the highest average increase in their steps compared to the group with no goals, roughly 1,384 steps per day. And, in addition to raw step counts, the study also measured periods of sustained, high activity, amounting to an average increase of 4.1 minutes daily.

Comparatively, those who were assigned their goals or had full goals delayed for half the intervention only increased their daily steps above the control group’s average by between 500 and 600 steps.

“Individuals who select their own goals are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to follow through on them,” said Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. “They feel like the goal is theirs and this likely enables greater engagement.”

The study didn’t end when the researchers turned the games off. Participants kept their activity trackers, and in the eight weeks following the intervention, the group that chose their goals and started immediately kept up their progress. In fact, they achieved almost the exact same average in steps – just three less than during the active games.

“It is exciting to see that the group that increased their activity levels by the most steps maintained those levels during follow-up,” Patel said. “This indicates that gamification with self-chosen and immediate goals helped these patients form a new habit.”

Many programs, whether offered through work or by health insurance companies, offer incentives for boosts in physical activity. But these goals are often fairly static and assigned based on round numbers. Patel, Volpp, and colleagues believe this research suggests that adjusting goal setting in these programs can have a significant impact. And if these adjustments lead to gains among people with lower incomes, whom cardiovascular disease kill at 76 percent higher rates, that could be particularly important.          

“Goal-setting is a fundamental element of almost every physical activity program, whether through a smartphone app or in a workplace wellness program,” Volpp said. “Our findings reveal a simple approach that could be used to improve the impact of these programs and the health of their patients.”

 

Comparing seniors who relocate long-distance shows that where you live affects your longevity

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 1, 2021

Would you like to live longer? It turns out that where you live, not just how you live, can make a big difference.

That's the finding of an innovative study co-authored by an MIT economist, which examines senior citizens across the U.S. and concludes that some locations enhance longevity more than others, potentially for multiple reasons.

The results show that when a 65-year-old moves from a metro area in the 10th percentile, in terms of how much those areas enhance longevity, to a metro area the 90th percentile, it increases that person's life expectancy by 1.1 years. That is a notable boost, given that mean life expectancy for 65-year-olds in the U.S. is 83.3 years.

"There's a substantively important causal effect of where you live as an elderly adult on mortality and life expectancy across the United States," says Amy Finkelstein, a professor in MIT's Department of Economics and co-author of a newly published paper detailing the findings.

Researchers have long observed significant regional variation in life expectancy in the U.S., and often attributed it to "health capital"—tendencies toward obesity, smoking, and related behavioral factors in the regional populations. But by analyzing the impact of moving, the current study can isolate and quantify the effect that the location itself has on residents.

As such, the research delivers important new information about large-scale drivers of U.S. health outcomes—and raises the question of what it is about different places that affects the elderly's life expectancy. One clear possibility is the nature of available medical care. Other possible drivers of longevity include climate, pollution, crime, traffic safety, and more.

"We wanted to separate out the role of people's prior experiences and behaviors—or health capital—from the role of place or environment," Finkelstein says.

The paper, "Place-Based Drivers of Mortality: Evidence of Migration," is published in the August issue of the American Economic Review. The co-authors are Finkelstein, the John and Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics at MIT, and Matthew Gentzkow and Heidi Williams, who are both professors of economics at Stanford University.

To conduct the study, Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams analyzed Medicare records from 1999 to 2014, focusing on U.S. residents between the ages of 65 and 99. Ultimately the research team studied 6.3 million Medicare beneficiaries. About 2 million of those moved from one U.S. "commuting zone" to another, and the rest were a random 10 percent sample of people who had not moved over the 15-year study period. (The U.S. Census Bureau defines about 700 commuting zones nationally.)

A central element of the study involves seeing how different people who were originally from the same locations fared when moving to different destinations. In effect, says Finkelstein, "The idea is to take two elderly people from a given origin, say, Boston. One moves to low-mortality Minneapolis, one moves to high-mortality Houston. We then compare thow long each lives after they move."

Different people have different health profiles before they move, of course. But Medicare records include detailed claims data, so the researchers applied records of 27 different illnesses and conditions—ranging from lung cancer and diabetes to depression—to a standard mortality risk model, to categorize the overall health of seniors when they move. Using these "very, very rich pre-move measures of their health," Finkelstein notes, the researchers tried to account for pre-existing health levels of seniors from the same location who moved to different places.

Still, even assessing people by 27 measures does not completely describe their health, so Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams also estimated what fraction of people's health conditions they had not observed—essentially by calibrating the observed health of seniors against health capital levels in places they were moving from. They then consider how observed health varies across individuals from the same location moving to different destinations and, assuming that differences in unobserved health—such as physical mobility—vary in the same way as observed differences in health, they adjust their estimates accordingly.

All told, the study found that many urban areas on the East and West Coasts—including New York City, San Francisco, and Miami—have positive effects on longevity for seniors moving there. Some Midwestern metro areas, including Chicago, also score well.

By contrast, a large swath of the deep South has negative effects on longevity for seniors moving there, including much of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and northern Florida. Much of the Southwest, including parts of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona, fares similarly poorly.

The scholars also estimate that health capital accounts for about 70 percent of the difference in longevity across areas of the U.S., and that location effects account for about 15 percent of the variation.

"Yes, health capital is important, but yes, place effects also matter," Finkelstein says.

Other leading experts in health economics say they are impressed by the study. Jonathan Skinner, the James O. Freeman Presidential Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Dartmouth College, says the scholars "have provided a critical insight" into the question of place effects "by considering older people who move from one place to another, thus allowing the researchers to cleanly identify the pure effect of the new location on individual health—an effect that is often different from the health of long-term residents. This is an important study that will surely be cited and will influence health policy in coming years."

The Charlotte Effect: What makes a difference?

Indeed, the significance of place effects on life expectancy is also evident in another pattern the study found. Some locations—such as Charlotte, North Carolina—have a positive effect on longevity but still have low overall life expectancy, while other places—such as Santa Fe New Mexico—have high overall life expectancy, but a below-average effect on the longevity of seniors who move there.

Again, the life expectancy of an area's population is not the same thing as that location's effect on longevity. In places where, say, smoking is highly prevalent, population-wide longevity might be subpar, but other factors might make it a place where people of average health will live longer. The question is why.

"Our [hard] evidence is about the role of place," Finkelstein says, while noting that the next logical step in this vein of research is to look for the specific factors at work. "We know something about Charlotte, North Carolina, makes a difference, but we don't yet know what."

With that in mind, Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams, along with other colleagues, are working on a pair of new studies about health care practices to see what impact place-based differences may have; one study focuses on doctors, and the other looks at the prescription opioid epidemic.

In the background of this research is a high-profile academic and policy discussion about the impact of health care utilization. One perspective, associated with the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care project, suggests that the large regional differences in health care use it has documented have little impact on mortality. But the current study, by quantifying the variable impact of place, suggest there may be, in turn, a bigger differential impact in health care utilization yet to be identified.

For her part, Finkelstein says she would welcome further studies digging into health care use or any other factor that might explain why different places have different effects on life expectancy; the key is uncovering more hard evidence, wherever it leads.

"Differences in health care across places are large and potentially important," Finkelstein says. "But there are also differences in pollution, weather, [and] other aspects. … What we need to do now is get inside the black box of 'the place' and figure out what it is about them that matters for longevity."

 

Gut bacteria influence brain development

Researchers discover biomarkers that indicate early brain injury in extreme premature infants

University of Vienna (Austria), September 3, 2021

The early development of the gut, the brain and the immune system are closely interrelated. Researchers refer to this as the gut-immune-brain axis. Bacteria in the gut cooperate with the immune system, which in turn monitors gut microbes and develops appropriate responses to them. In addition, the gut is in contact with the brain via the vagus nerve as well as via the immune system. "We investigated the role this axis plays in the brain development of extreme preterm infants," says the first author of the study, David Seki. "The microorganisms of the gut microbiome - which is a vital collection of hundreds of species of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microbes - are in equilibrium in healthy people. However, especially in premature babies, whose immune system and microbiome have not been able to develop fully, shifts are quite likely to occur. These shifts may result in negative effects on the brain," explains the microbiologist and immunologist.

Patterns in the microbiome provide clues to brain damage
"In fact, we have been able to identify certain patterns in the microbiome and immune response that are clearly linked to the progression and severity of brain injury," adds David Berry, microbiologist and head of the research group at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) at the University of Vienna as well as Operational Director of the Joint Microbiome Facility of the Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna. "Crucially, such patterns often show up prior to changes in the brain. This suggests a critical time window during which brain damage of extremely premature infants may be prevented from worsening or even avoided."

Comprehensive study of the development of extremely premature infants
Starting points for the development of appropriate therapies are provided by the biomarkers that the interdisciplinary team was able to identify. "Our data show that excessive growth of the bacterium Klebsiella and the associated elevated γδ-T-cell levels can apparently exacerbate brain damage," explains Lukas Wisgrill, Neonatologist from the Division of Neonatology, Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine and Neuropediatrics at the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. "We were able to track down these patterns because, for a very specific group of newborns, for the first time we explored in detail how the gut microbiome, the immune system and the brain develop and how they interact in this process," he adds. The study monitored a total of 60 premature infants, born before 28 weeks gestation and weighing less than 1 kilogram, for several weeks or even months. Using state-of-the-art methods - the team examined the microbiome using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, among other methods - the researchers analysed blood and stool samples, brain wave recordings (e.g. aEEG) and MRI images of the infants' brains.

Research continues with two studies
The study, which is an inter-university clusterproject under the joint leadership by Angelika Berger (Medical University of Vienna) and David Berry (University of Vienna), is the starting point for a research project that will investigate the microbiome and its significance for the neurological development of prematurely born children even more thoroughly. In addition, the researchers will continue to follow the children of the initial study. "How the children's motoric and cognitive skills develop only becomes apparent over several years," explains Angelika Berger. "We aim to understand how this very early development of the gut-immune-brain axis plays out in the long term. " The most important cooperation partners for the project are already on board: "The children's parents have supported us in the study with great interest and openness," says David Seki. "Ultimately, this is the only reason we were able to gain these important insights. We are very grateful for that."

 

 

Amino acid supplements may boost vascular endothelial function in older adults: Study

University of Alabama, August 28, 2021

A combination of HMB (a metabolite of leucine), glutamine and arginine may improve vascular function and blood flow in older people, says a new study.

Scientists from the University of Alabama report that a supplement containing HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate), glutamine and arginine (Juven by Abbott Nutrition) increased flow-mediated dilation (FMD - a measure of blood flow and vascular health) by 27%, whereas no changes were observed in the placebo group.

However, the researchers did not observe any changes to markers of inflammation, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)

“Our results indicate that 6 months of dietary supplementation with HMB, glutamine and arginine had a positive impact on vascular endothelial function in older adults,” wrote the researchers, led by Dr Amy Ellis in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition . “These results are clinically relevant because reduced endothelial-dependent vasodilation is a known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

“Further investigation is warranted to elucidate mechanisms and confirm benefits of foods rich in these amino acids on cardiovascular outcomes.”

The study supported financially by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Study details

Dr Ellis and her co-workers recrtuited 31 community-dwelling men and women aged between 65 and 87 to participate in their randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: The first group received the active supplements providing 3 g HMB, 14 g glutamine and 14 g arginine per day; while the second group received a placebo.

After six months of intervention, the researchers found that FMD increased in the HMB + glutamine + arginine group, but no such increases were observed in the placebo group.

While no changes in CRP or TNF-alpha levels were observed in the active supplement group, a trend towards an increase in CRP levels was observed in the placebo group, but this did not reach statistical significance, they noted.

“Although no previous studies have examined this combination of amino acids on vascular function, we hypothesized that the active ingredients of the supplement would act synergistically to improve endothelial function by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation,” wrote the researchers. “However, although we observed a trend for increasing hsCRP among the placebo group (P=0.059), no significant changes in hsCRP or TNF-alpha were observed for either group.

“Possibly, the effects of the supplement on reducing oxidative stress and inflammation were subclinical, or the high variability in these biomarkers, particularly hsCRP, among our small sample could have precluded visible differences.”

The researchers also noted that an alternate mechanism may also be responsible, adding that arginine is a precursor of the potent vasodilator nitric oxide

“Although investigation of this mechanism was beyond the scope of this study, it is feasible that the arginine in the supplement improved endothelial-dependent vasodilation by providing additional substrate for nitric oxide synthesis,” they added.

 

 

Moderate coffee drinking associated with lower risk of mortality during 11-year median follow-up

Semmelweis University (Bulgaria), September 1 2021. 

Research presented at ESC (European Society of Cardiology) Congress 2021 revealed a lower risk of dying from any cause during an 11-year median period among light to moderate coffee drinkers in comparison with men and women who had no intake.

The study included 468,629 UK Biobank participants of an average age of 56.2 years who had no indications of heart disease upon enrollment. Coffee intake was classified as none, light to moderate at 0.5 to 3 cups per day or high at over 3 cups per day. A subgroup of participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart to assess cardiac structure and function. 

Light to moderate coffee intake during the follow-up period was associated with a 12% decrease in the risk of dying from any cause, a 17% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality and a 21% reduction in the incidence of stroke in comparison with the risks associated with not drinking coffee. 

“The imaging analysis indicated that, compared with participants who did not drink coffee regularly, daily consumers had healthier sized and better functioning hearts,” reported study author Judit Simon, of Semmelweis University in Budapest. “This was consistent with reversing the detrimental effects of aging on the heart.”

“To our knowledge, this is the largest study to systematically assess the cardiovascular effects of regular coffee consumption in a population without diagnosed heart disease,” she announced. “Our results suggest that regular coffee consumption is safe, as even high daily intake was not associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality after a follow-up of 10 to 15 years. Moreover, 0.5 to 3 cups of coffee per day was independently associated with lower risks of stroke, death from cardiovascular disease, and death from any cause.”

Gary‘s Daily Health News - Vol. 7

Eating walnuts daily lowered bad cholesterol and may reduce cardiovascular disease risk

Hospital Clínic of Barcelona in Spain, Aug. 30,2021 

Eating about ½ cup of walnuts every day for two years modestly lowered levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, known as “bad cholesterol,” and reduced the number of total LDL particles and small LDL particles in healthy, older adults, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation.

Walnuts are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid), which have been shown to have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular health.

“Prior studies have shown that nuts in general, and walnuts in particular, are associated with lower rates of heart disease and stroke. One of the reasons is that they lower LDL-cholesterol levels, and now we have another reason: they improve the quality of LDL particles,” said study co-author Emilio Ros, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Lipid Clinic at the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona in Spain. “LDL particles come in various sizes. Research has shown that small, dense LDL particles are more often associated with atherosclerosis, the plaque or fatty deposits that build up in the arteries. Our study goes beyond LDL cholesterol levels to get a complete picture of all of the lipoproteins and the impact of eating walnuts daily on their potential to improve cardiovascular risk.”

In a sub-study of the Walnuts and Healthy Aging study, a large, two-year randomized controlled trial examining whether walnuts contribute to healthy aging, researchers evaluated if regular walnut consumption, regardless of a person’s diet or where they live, has beneficial effects on lipoproteins.

This study was conducted from May 2012 to May 2016 and involved 708 participants between the ages of 63 and 79 (68% women) who were healthy, independent-living adults residing in Barcelona, Spain, and Loma Linda, California.

Participants were randomly divided into two groups: active intervention and control. Those allocated to the intervention group added about a half cup of walnuts to their usual daily diet, while participants in the control group abstained from eating any walnuts. After two years, participants’ cholesterol levels were tested, and the concentration and size of lipoproteins were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This advanced test enables physicians to more accurately identify lipoprotein features known to relate to the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The two-year study had a 90% retention rate (632 participants completed the study). Complete lipoprotein analyses were available in 628.

Among key findings of all study participants:

• At 2 years, participants in the walnut group had lower LDL cholesterol levels - by an average of 4.3 mg/dL, and total cholesterol was lowered by an average of 8.5 mg/dL.
• Daily consumption of walnuts reduced the number of total LDL particles by 4.3% and small LDL particles by 6.1%. These changes in LDL particle concentration and composition are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Intermediate Density Lipoprotein (IDL) cholesterol also decreased. It is known that IDL cholesterol is a precursor to LDL and refers to a density between that of low-density and very-low-density lipoproteins. In the last decade, IDL cholesterol has emerged as a relevant lipid cardiovascular risk factor independent of LDL cholesterol.
• LDL cholesterol changes among the walnut group differed by sex; in men, LDL cholesterol fell by 7.9% and in women by 2.6%.

“While this is not a tremendous decrease in LDL cholesterol, it’s important to note that at the start of the study all our participants were quite healthy, free of major non-communicable diseases. However, as expected in an elderly population, close to 50% of participants were being treated for both high blood pressure and hypercholesterolemia. Thanks in part to statin treatment in 32%, the average cholesterol levels of all the people in our study were normal,” Ros said. “For individuals with high blood cholesterol levels, the LDL cholesterol reduction after a nut-enriched diet may be much greater.”

“Eating a handful of walnuts every day is a simple way to promote cardiovascular health. Many people are worried about unwanted weight gain when they include nuts in their diet,” Ros said. “Our study found that the healthy fats in walnuts did not cause participants to gain weight.”

The major limitation of this investigation is that both participants and researchers knew who was and was not eating walnuts. However, the study did involve two very different populations with distinct diets. “The outcomes were similar in both groups, so we can safely apply the results of this study to other populations,” Ros said. More research is also needed to clarify the different LDL results in men and women.

 

 

Research suggests potential for curcumin against demyelinating diseases

National Institute of Health (Italy), August 27, 2021

According to news reporting originating in Rome, Italy, research stated, “Curcumin is a compound found in the rhizome of Curcuma longa (turmeric) with a large repertoire of pharmacological properties, including anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective activities. The current study aims to assess the effects of this natural compound on oligodendrocyte progenitor (OP) differentiation, particularly in inflammatory conditions.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the National Institute of Health, “We found that curcumin can promote the differentiation of OPs and to counteract the maturation arrest of OPs induced by TNF-a by a mechanism involving PPAR-g (peroxisome proliferator activated receptor), a ligand-activated transcription factor with neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory capabilities. Furthermore, curcumin induces the phosphorylation of the protein kinase ERK1/2 known to regulate the transition from OPs to immature oligodendrocytes (OLs), by a mechanism only partially dependent on PPAR-g. Curcumin is also able to raise the levels of the co-factor PGC1-a and of the cytochrome c oxidase core protein COX1, even when OPs are exposed to TNF-a, through a PPAR-g-mediated mechanism, in line with the known ability of PPAR-g to promote mitochondrial integrity and functions, which are crucial for OL differentiation to occur.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Altogether, this study provides evidence for a further mechanism of action of curcumin besides its well-known anti-inflammatory properties and supports the suggested therapeutic potential of this nutraceutical in demyelinating diseases.”

 

 

The bitter truth of added sugar: What excessive fructose consumption can do to our body

New review explains how overconsumption of fructose, a common additive in sweetened foods and beverages, can contribute to diseases

Tianjin Medical University (China), August 30, 2021

In today’s fast-paced world, the dependence on the widely available “fast” foods and beverages has risen. These foods are typically low in fiber and essential nutrients, and often consist of high amounts of added sugar. This shift in dietary trends, accompanied by a sedentary lifestyle, has been attributed to the rise in various metabolic disorders like diabetes, fatty liver disease, and heart disease. The concerning thing about sugar is that the more you eat it, the more you crave it—leading to a vicious cycle of excessive sugar consumption and poor health.

So what exactly is this added sugar and why is it so bad for us? To understand this, let us first understand the basics. Refined sugar (or “sucrose”) is structurally composed of two simple forms of sugars called “glucose” and “fructose.” Although these simple sugars are structurally similar to each other, they are metabolized via different pathways in the body. And while excessive fructose intake (even within “normal” ranges, to some extent) has been shown to be harmful for us, the underlying mechanisms behind fructose metabolism and their potential role in metabolic disorders have not been fully understood so far.

Researchers from China, thus, sought to understand the fate of dietary fructose in the body and pathways regulating its metabolism, in a comprehensive review published in Chinese Medical Journal. Explaining the clinical implications of their study, Prof. Weiping J. Zhang, corresponding author of the study, says, “Our review provides a comprehensive update on the progress on molecular and cellular aspects of fructose metabolism and their role in the development of metabolic diseases. These findings can aid the development of new diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic strategies for metabolic diseases.”

The researchers begin by explaining that most of the fructose that we ingest is absorbed by cells lining the intestine. Protein transporters called GLUT5 and GLUT2, expressed by intestinal cells, facilitate this absorption, with GLUT5 showing the highest affinity to fructose. Interestingly, these receptors are regulated in response to fructose levels, and thus, GLUT5 deficiency can result in fructose malabsorption and intestinal dysfunction. In fact, studies in mice have shown that deletion of GLUT5 can cause intestinal problems like gas and fluid accumulation. This is why, GLUT5 is a potential drug candidate for certain fructose-induced diseases.

Now when fructose enters circulation, its levels in the blood (albeit much lower than glucose) are kept at bay by the kidney and liver, both crucial metabolic hubs in our body. In these organs, fructose is redirected for glucose production, via a process called “gluconeogenesis.” However, this reaction requires the breakdown of a molecule called “ATP” (the main source of energy in cells). Thus, an excessive intake of fructose can lead to ATP depletion in cells, which activates another pathway involved in uric acid metabolism—leading to an accumulation of uric acid in the blood and joints and increasing the risk of developing “gout” (a condition causing severe joint pain). The researchers further explain that fructose consumption can also trigger an increase in cholesterol levels and abdominal fat, increasing the risk of heart disorders.

Next, the study talks about gene-level changes that regulate fructose metabolism. A protein called “ChREBP” is a crucial regulator of genes involved in the absorption, transport, and degradation of sugars. Animal studies in ChREBP-deficient mice now suggest that ChREBP is essential for fructose absorption and clearance. The molecular mechanisms regulating ChREBP activation in response to fructose stimulation, however, remain less understood. Prof. Zhang explains, “Obtaining a better understanding of the biochemical regulatory mechanism of ChREBP pathway can definitely provide new clues into the regulation of fructose metabolism and its metabolic effects. Future advances in this field will benefit our efforts to achieve better cardiometabolic health and inform clinical recommendations on the dietary intake of sugar.”

Overall, these findings shed light on how an increase in fructose consumption can lead to an imbalance in various metabolic pathways in our body and subsequently cause various diseases.

Indeed, what we eat plays a huge role in our overall health!

 

 

 

Olive oil compound may protect against AGE-induced toxicity

Università degli Studi della Campania (Italy), August 30, 2021

According to news originating from Naples, Italy, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Hydroxytyrosol (HT), the major phenolic compound in olive oil, is attracting increasing interest for its beneficial properties including a notable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power.”

Financial supporters for this research include Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Universita e della Ricerca.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Department of Precision Medicine: “In this study, using a combination of biophysical and cell biology techniques, we have tested the role of HT in the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). AGEs have a key role in clinical sciences as they have been associated to diabetes, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, as the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is strongly increased in diabetic patients, AGE formation is supposed to be involved in the development of the pathological hallmarks of AD. Our data show that HT selectively inhibits protein glycation reaction in human insulin, and it is able to counteract the AGE-induced cytotoxicity in human neurotypical cells by acting on SIRT1 level and oxidative stress, as well as on inflammatory response.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “This study identifies new beneficial properties for HT and suggests it might be a promising molecule in protecting against the AGE-induced toxicity, a key mechanism underlying the development and progression of neurodegenerative disorders.”

 

 

 

Breast cancer survivors increase the risk of dying prematurely when eating grilled and smoked meats

University of North Carolina, August 30, 2021

Now, disturbing study results show that female breast cancer survivors who ate more grilled, barbecued and smoked meats had a greater risk of dying, compared to those with lower intakes. Keep reading to discover how cooking meats at high temperatures can generate dangerous toxins – and the best way to protect your health.

The study, conducted at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, followed 1,508 women diagnosed with breast cancer for a median 17.6 years. During this time, 597 deaths occurred – 237 of which were associated with breast cancer.

Researchers found that having a higher intake of meats prior to the breast cancer diagnosis was associated with a 23 percent risk of dying from any cause. And, having higher amounts of grilled, barbecued and smoked meats after the diagnosis of breast cancer carried an increased mortality rate of 31 percent – a very substantial rise.

Other studies have mirrored the results of the research, and shown that the incidence of certain types of cancers increases among people who eat meat cooked at high temperatures.

In a University of Minnesota study, women who ate overcooked hamburgers increased their breast cancer risk by more than 50 percent compared to those who consumed their burgers rare or medium.

And an Iowa Women’s Health Study found that women who regularly ate well-done steak, hamburgers and bacon had a shocking 4.62-fold increase in their risk of developing breast cancer.

Experts say that eating foods cooked at high temperatures – through grilling, broiling, roasting, searing or frying – can expose the body to dangerous chemicals and DNA-altering mutagens known as glycotoxins, or “advanced glycation end products.”

These harmful compounds are released by the “browning” reaction – the darkening that gives grilled meat its charred appearance. The browning reaction produced by cooking at high temperatures causes the release of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines, both of which are linked to cancers of the breast and prostate.

Advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, not only occur naturally in foods, but can be formed in the body through normal metabolism.

However, excessively high amounts in tissues and bloodstream can become pathogenic. AGEs cause tissue-damaging oxidative stress and produce chronic inflammation – factors that are at the root of degenerative chronic disease. They can also alter enzymes, hormones, antibodies and neurotransmitters – while damaging cell DNA and increasing susceptibility to cancer.

And, the acronym “AGE” is an apt one. Many experts believe that these glycotoxins can trigger weight gain and even premature aging.

Animal studies have shown that AGE-rich diets are associated with atherosclerosis and kidney diseases. In contrast, researchers found that reducing dietary AGEs in humans with diabetes reduced markers of inflammation and oxidative damage.

Avoiding exposure to highly cooked foods is a good place to start. Experts recommend using “moist heat” methods of cooking, such as poaching, steaming, boiling and stewing – along with using shorter cooking times and cooking at lower temperatures. (Of course, you still want to be sure that meats are fully cooked).

Interestingly, cooking with acidic ingredients – such as lemon or vinegar in marinades – can dramatically cut production of AGEs.

You can also adjust your food choices to generate fewer AGEs. Animal-based foods such as meats and poultry are naturally high in AGEs – and cooking triggers the formation of even more. For example, pan-fried beef contains a whopping 9,052 kilounits of AGEs per serving – and bacon rings in at 11,905 kilounits.

On the other hand, plant-based foods such as vegetables, whole grains, fruits and nuts have much lower levels of AGEs.  As a general rule, the more protein and fat a food contains, the more likely it is to be high in AGEs.

Studies have shown that certain supplements, including carnosine, benfotiamine and pyridoxal-5-phosphate, can function as anti-glycation agents. And indole-3-carbinol, an anti-cancer compound found in cruciferous vegetables, can sharply reduce damage from AGEs.

If you absolutely can’t resist indulging in an occasional sizzling steak, it would probably be wise to prepare it with an acidic marinade, and generous amounts of broccoli and Brussels sprouts on the side.

 

 

Cocoa flavanols may protect against diabetes: Study

Brigham Young University, August 31, 2021

Specific compounds within cocoa promote the release of insulin and may help protect against the onset of type-2 diabetes (T2D), reports a new study in Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.

Adequate insulin production and protection of beta islet cells in the pancreas are both recognised to be important in the prevention of T2D.   

Monomeric cocoa catechins were found to stimulate insulin production in the pancreatic beta cells of rats. Additionally, these compounds, also known as flavanols, helped protect against death of these cells when exposed to high doses of fat, discovered the team led by researchers from Brigham Young University (BYU), Utah.

The catechins exerted their effect by increasing mitochondrial respiration in the cells, which in turn raises the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – the molecule that transports energy within the cells.

"What happens is it's protecting the cells, it's increasing their ability to deal with oxidative stress," explained lead researcher, Professor Jeffery Tessem from BYU. "The epicatechin monomers are making the mitochondria in the beta cells stronger, which produces more ATP (a cell's energy source), which then results in more insulin being released."

The findings may have applications in the fight against the growing epidemic of T2D.   

"These results will help us get closer to using these compounds more effectively in foods or supplements to maintain normal blood glucose control and potentially even delay or prevent the onset of type-2 diabetes," said study co-author Professor Andrew Neilson, from Virginia Tech.

Small molecule effect

The researchers found that only the smaller molecules in cocoa extract – ‘monomeric’ catechins had the effect of increasing insulin production. The larger ‘oligomeric’ and ‘polymeric’ procyanidins and the whole cocoa extract actually slightly decreased insulin production.

Previous research has shown that the catechin monomer fraction of cocoa extract has the highest bioavailability when taken orally. Combined with the findings from this study that the monomeric flavanols are the most bioactive compounds, “suggests great potential for translation from in vitro cell culture to in vivo efficacy in animals and humans,” wrote the researchers.

Although the larger molecules’ (the oligomeric and polymeric procyanidins) influence on beta cell function is neutral or slightly negative, some animal studies have suggested these fractions of the cocoa extract may be metabolised by gut bacteria to bioavailable compounds.

Further studies are ongoing to investigate the impact of these larger cocoa flavanols in vivo.

Unfortunately, the beneficial effect on insulin production is likely to be obtained only from cocoa extract and not from eating chocolate bars, caution the researchers.

"You probably have to eat a lot of cocoa, and you probably don't want it to have a lot of sugar in it," said Tessem. "It's the compound in cocoa you're after."

As such, the next step will be to look at ways of extracting the monomeric catechins from cocoa, enhancing the quantity produced and then investigate its potential use as a treatment for diabetes patients, suggested the researchers.

Gary‘s Daily Health News - Vol. 6

PQQ supplementation associated with improved cognitive function among older individuals

Teikyo University (Japan) and Texas Southern University, August 27 2021. 

A trial reported on August 20, 2021 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition resulted in better memory and cognitive function among middle aged and older men and women who received supplements containing pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) disodium salt in comparison with a placebo.

PQQ is an antioxidant found in cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, apples, bananas, green tea and other foods. PQQ supports the growth of new mitochondria, which are the cells’ energy-producing power plants. PQQ also protects nerve cells by increasing the expression of nerve growth factor and its receptors, as well as by suppressing the aggregation of amyloid beta.

The trial included 58 participants between the ages of 40 and 80 years with aging-associated cognitive impairment who received 12 weeks of 21.5 milligrams PQQ per day or a placebo. Cognitive performance was evaluated before the treatment period and at 6 and 12 weeks. A questionnaire that obtained information concerning subjective forgetfulness was also administered at these time points. 

At the end of the trial, significant improvement was observed among the group that received PQQ in areas of cognitive function that included composite memory, verbal memory, reaction time, complex attention, cognitive flexibility, and executive function (judgement) compared to the placebo. Motor speed was also better in the PQQ group after 12 weeks. Subjective forgetfulness was improved at 6 and 12 weeks in PQQ treated participants in comparison with the placebo. Reported adverse effects were mild in both groups.

Authors Yoshiaki Shiojima and colleagues cited several mechanisms that contribute to PQQ’s observed benefits. They concluded that the “study demonstrates that supplementation of PQQ disodium salt is useful in improving memory, attention, judgment, and cognitive function, in middle-aged to elderly population, who feel they have become more forgetful because of aging.”

 

 

Green neighbourhoods linked with better heart health

University of Miami, 28 Aug 2021

People who live in green neighbourhoods are less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2021.1,2

“Higher levels of greenness were associated with lower rates of heart conditions and stroke over time, both when an area maintained high greenness and when greenness increased,” said study author Dr. William Aitken of the University of Miami, US. “It was remarkable that these relationships appeared in just five years, a relatively short amount of time for a positive environmental impact.”

Making streets and neighbourhoods greener has many benefits and this study investigated whether it had any relationship with rates of heart disease. The researchers also examined whether planting more vegetation in a locality would be accompanied by reductions in heart disease over time.

The study included 243,558 US Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older who lived in the same area of Miami during 2011 to 2016.3 Medicare records were used to obtain the incidence of new cardiovascular conditions during the five-year study including heart attack, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, ischaemic heart disease, hypertension, and stroke/transient ischaemic attack.

Satellite images were used to assess the amount of visible and near-infrared (i.e. invisible) sunlight reflected from the Earth’s surface. Chlorophyll from plants typically absorbs visible light and reflects near-infrared light, so measuring both indicates the amount of vegetation. The greenness of city blocks was then classified as low, medium or high.

Participants were categorised based on whether they lived in low, medium or high greenness blocks in 2011. The process was repeated for those same residents and the greenness of their blocks in 2016. During that period of time Miami-Dade County Parks conducted tree planting programmes so, for example, there was the possibility that someone in a low greenness block in 2011 could be living in a high greenness block in 2016.

The researchers analysed the odds of developing any new cardiovascular disease, and the number of new cardiovascular conditions, based on block-level greenness. The analyses were adjusted for other factors that could be related to new-onset heart disease: age, sex, race/ethnicity, number of baseline cardiovascular conditions, and neighbourhood characteristics including median household income and walkability.

The researchers first compared heart health among those continually living in high versus low greenness areas during the five-year study. Residents of high greenness blocks throughout the study had a 16% lower odds of developing any new cardiovascular conditions compared to those in low greenness blocks (odds ratio [OR]=0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79–0.90; p<0.001). Among participants who developed a cardiovascular condition during follow-up, those in high greenness areas developed 4% fewer new diseases compared with those in low greenness blocks (OR=0.96; 95% CI 0.92–0.99; p<0.05).

The researchers then compared heart health in participants whose neighbourhood became greener versus those who continued to live in areas with low vegetation. When compared to residents of low greenness areas throughout the study, those living in areas that increased their greenness from low in 2011 to high in 2016 had 15% lower odds of developing new cardiovascular conditions (OR=0.85; 95% CI 0.75–0.97; p<0.001). Among participants who developed a cardiovascular condition during follow-up, those whose neighbourhood became greener developed 9% fewer new cardiovascular conditions compared to residents of localities with continually low levels of greenness throughout the study (OR=0.91; 95% CI 0.83–0.99; p<0.05).

Dr. Aitken said: “We suspect that multiple factors may account for these observations. For instance, people living in greener areas may do more outdoor exercise and might feel less stressed due to being surrounded by nature. In addition, vegetation could provide some protection from air and/or noise pollution. This is an area for further exploration.”

He added: “Tree planting and greening of neighbourhoods is associated with multiple benefits and offers a relatively low-cost investment to enhance health and well-being in many circumstances. For the cost of one emergency room visit for a heart attack, trees could be planted in a neighbourhood with 100 residents and potentially prevent ten heart diseases in this group.”

 

 

Curcumin shows potential against malignant meningiomas

Qingdao University, August 28, 2021

According to news originating from Qingdao, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Meningiomas, which are the most common primary intracranial tumors, have highly aggressive cells in malignant cases. Due to its extensive antitumor effects, curcumin is widely used in experimental and clinical studies.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the Department of Nephrology, “However, the role of curcumin during the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in meningioma has not been established. We found that curcumin blocks hepatocyte growth factor- (HGF-) induced proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT of human malignant meningioma cells by regulating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. In addition, treatment of human malignant meningioma cells with the tyrosine protein kinase (c-MET) inhibitor (SU11274) or the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor (LY294002) suppressed HGF-induced migration and EMT. Furthermore, we found that curcumin inhibited tumor growth and HGF-induced EMT in mice subjected to subcutaneous xenotransplantation. These findings indicate that HGF regulates EMT in human malignant meningioma cells through c-MET/PI3K/Akt/mTOR modulation.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Curcumin inhibits HGF-induced EMT by targeting c-MET and subsequently blocking the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.”

 

 

Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

A new health and economic model clearly shows why it’s imperative that food manufacturers reduce the amount of added sugar in their products

Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts University & Harvard University, August 27, 2021

Cutting 20% of sugar from packaged foods and 40% from beverages could prevent 2.48 million cardiovascular disease events (such as strokes, heart attacks, cardiac arrests), 490,000 cardiovascular deaths, and 750,000 diabetes cases in the U.S. over the lifetime of the adult population, reports a study published in Circulation.

A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOH) created a model to simulate and quantify the health, economic, and equity impacts of a pragmatic sugar-reduction policy proposed by the U.S. National Salt and Sugar Reduction Initiative (NSSRI). A partnership of more than 100 local, state and national health organizations convened by the NYC DOH, the NSSRI released draft sugar-reduction targets for packaged foods and beverages in 15 categories in 2018. This February, NSSRI finalized the policy with the goal of industry voluntarily committing to gradually reformulate their sugary products.

Implementing a national policy, however, will require government support to monitor companies as they work toward the targets and to publicly report on their progress. The researchers hope their model will build consensus on the need for a national-sugar reformulation policy in the US. “We hope that this study will help push the reformulation initiative forward in the next few years,” says Siyi Shangguan, MD, MPH, lead author and attending physician at MGH. “Reducing the sugar content of commercially prepared foods and beverages will have a larger impact on the health of Americans than other initiatives to cut sugar, such as imposing a sugar tax, labeling added sugar content, or banning sugary drinks in schools.”

Ten years after the NSSRI policy goes into effect, the U.S. could expect to save $4.28 billion in total net healthcare costs, and $118.04 billion over the lifetime of the current adult population (ages 35 to 79), according to the model. Adding the societal costs of lost productivity of Americans developing diseases from excessive sugar consumption, the total cost savings of the NSSRI policy rises to $160.88 billion over the adult population’s lifetime. These benefits are likely to be an underestimation since the calculations were conservative. The study also demonstrated that even partial industry compliance with the policy could generate significant health and economic gains.

The researchers found that the NSSRI policy became cost-effective at six years and cost-saving at nine years. The policy could also reduce disparities, with the greatest estimated health gains among Black and Hispanic adults, and Americans with lower income and less education—populations that consume the most sugar as a historical consequence of inequitable systems.

Product reformulation efforts have been shown to be successful in reducing other harmful nutrients, such as trans fats and sodium. The U.S., however, lags other countries in implementing strong sugar-reduction policies, with countries such as the UK, Norway, and Singapore taking the lead on sugar-reformulation efforts. The US may yet become a leader in protecting its people from the dangers of excessive sugar consumption if the NSSRI’s proposed sugar-reduction targets are achieved. “The NSSRI policy is by far the most carefully designed and comprehensive, yet achievable, sugar-reformulation initiative in the world,” says Shangguan.

Consuming sugary foods and beverages is strongly linked to obesity and diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of mortality in the U.S.  More than two in five American adults are obese, one in two have diabetes or prediabetes, and nearly one in two have cardiovascular disease, with those from lower-income groups being disproportionately burdened.

“Sugar is one of the most obvious additives in the food supply to reduce to reasonable amounts,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, co-senior author and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. “Our findings suggest it’s time to implement a national program with voluntary sugar reduction targets, which can generate major improvements in health, health disparities, and healthcare spending in less than a decade.”

 

Healthy dietary intake associated with lower brain iron, better cognition in older adults

University of Kentucky, August 26, 2021

Research conducted at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine suggests that higher intake of specific nutrients is associated with lower brain iron concentration and better cognitive performance in older adults.

The study was recently published in the Neurobiology of Aging and highlights the important balance of non-heme iron for optimal neuronal function. Excess non-heme brain iron has been associated with neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. High levels of brain iron can also be seen in normal aging, where they have been correlated with poor cognitive performance.

A key question is whether age-related increases in brain iron and related cognitive declines can be slowed by environmental factors, such as healthy dietary intake. To explore this question, the research team evaluated the relationship between nutritional intake, brain iron and cognitive performance in a group of healthy, older adults between 61 and 86 years old.

The team was able to address the question using a variety of methods including computer assessments to quantify working memory performance, questionnaires to obtain nutrition information and an in vivo MRI technique called quantitative susceptibility mapping to measure iron concentration in brain tissue.

Consistent with previously published work, the results indicated that increasing age was associated with higher levels of brain iron concentration and poorer working memory performance. However, those older adults with high dietary intake of nutrients commonly found in nuts, soybeans, olive oils, and fish (such as vitamin E, lysine, DHA omega-3 and LA omega-6 PUFA) tended to have lower brain iron and better working memory performance than expected for their age.

“Our results suggest that these nutrients may offer protection against brain iron accumulation and cognitive decline in older adults,” said Valentinos Zachariou, Ph.D., a researcher in the UK Department of Neuroscience and first author of the publication.

“Our promising correlational findings provide motivation for follow-up clinical trials to assess whether specific nutrition can slow brain iron accumulation in older adults,” said Brian Gold, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience and principal investigator of the study.

 

 

Probiotic supplementation may improve bone health

Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Iran), August 28, 2021

According to news reporting originating from the Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center , research stated, “Despite the proposed role of the gut microbiota-bone axis, findings on the association between probiotic consumption and bone health are conflicting. This systematic review aimed to assess the effect of probiotic consumption on bone health parameters.”

Financial supporters for this research include Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Our news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center: “A systematic literature search of relevant reports published in PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and Google scholar before December 2020 was conducted. All clinical trials or experimental studies, which examined the relationship between probiotic consumption and bone health parameters, were included. No limitation was applied during the search. After screening articles based on inclusion criteria, 44 studies remained. In clinical trials, probiotic consumption affects bone health parameters such as serum calcium levels (3.82; 95% CI: 1.05, 6.59 mmol/l), urinary calcium levels (4.85; 95% CI: 1.16, 8.53 mmol/l), and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels (-5.53; 95% CI: -9.83, -0.86 ng/l). In most studies, Lactobacillus species such as L. helveticus, L. reuteri, and L. casei were consumed and women aged 50 years or older were assessed. Spinal and total hip bone mineral density (BMD) was not affected significantly by probiotic consumption. In 37 animal experiments, probiotic or symbiotic feeding mostly had effects on bone health parameters. Some strains of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus including L. reuteri, L. casei, L. paracasei, L. bulgaricus, and L. acidophilus have indicated beneficial effects on bone health parameters.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “In conclusion, this systematic review and meta-analysis indicate that probiotic supplementation might improve bone health. Further studies are needed to decide on the best probiotic species and appropriate dosages.”

 

 

Lower mortality in heart failure trial patients given CoQ10

Yulin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital (China), August 30 2021. 

 

A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials concluded that supplementation with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) was associated with a lower risk of mortality and better exercise capacity during the course of the trials. The results were reported in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders.

“Our research is the newest meta-analysis that analyzes the efficacy of coenzyme Q10 in heart failure patients,” authors L. Lei of Yulin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and Y. Liu of Yulin Second Hospital in Yulin, China announce.

For their analysis, Drs Lei and Liu selected 14 randomized trials that compared the effects of CoQ10 to a placebo among a total of 2,149 heart failure patients. Over the course of the trials, 55 participants who received CoQ10 and 83 placebo subjects died, resulting in a 31% lower risk of mortality among those who were given CoQ10.

In four trials that reported the endpoint of exercise capacity, participants who received CoQ10 experienced greater improvement in this area compared to the placebo group. No significant differences were observed between the groups in left heart ejection fraction (a determinant of systolic heart failure severity) and New York Heart Association cardiac function classification.

“Supplementary oral administration of coenzyme Q10 has been found to increase coenzyme Q10 levels in plasma, platelets, and white blood cells,” the authors observe. “Studies also evidenced that the concentration of coenzyme Q10 in the plasma of patients with heart failure is an independent predictor of heart failure death.”

“Conducting more rigorous, large-sample, international trials is needed to confirm our results,” they conclude.

Gary’s Daily Health News - Vol. 5

Drinking sufficient water could prevent heart failure

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (US), 24 Aug 2021

Staying well hydrated throughout life could reduce the risk of developing heart failure, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2021.1

“Our study suggests that maintaining good hydration can prevent or at least slow down the changes within the heart that lead to heart failure,” said study author Dr. Natalia Dmitrieva of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, US. “The findings indicate that we need to pay attention to the amount of fluid we consume every day and take action if we find that we drink too little.”

Recommendations on daily fluid intake vary from 1.6 to 2.1 litres for women and 2 to 3 litres for men. However, worldwide surveys have shown that many people do not meet even the lower ends of these ranges.2 Serum sodium is a precise measure of hydration status: when people drink less fluid, the concentration of serum sodium increases. The body then attempts to conserve water, activating processes known to contribute to the development of heart failure.

Dr. Dmitrieva said: “It is natural to think that hydration and serum sodium should change day to day depending on how much we drink on each day. However, serum sodium concentration remains within a narrow range over long periods,3 which is likely related to habitual fluid consumption.”

This study examined whether serum sodium concentration in middle age, as a measure of hydration habits, predicts the development of heart failure 25 years later. The researchers also examined the connection between hydration and thickening of the walls of the heart's main pumping chamber (left ventricle) – called left ventricular hypertrophy – which is a precursor to heart failure diagnosis.

The analysis was performed in 15,792 adults in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Participants were 44 to 66 years old at recruitment and were evaluated over five visits until age 70 to 90.

Participants were divided into four groups based on their average serum sodium concentration at study visits one and two (conducted in the first three years): 135–139.5, 140–141.5, 142–143.5, and 144–146 mmol/l. For each sodium group, the researchers then analysed the proportion of people who developed heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy at visit five (25 years later).

Higher serum sodium concentration in midlife was associated with both heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy 25 years later. Serum sodium remained significantly associated with heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy after adjusting for other factors related to the development of heart failure: age, blood pressure, kidney function, blood cholesterol, blood glucose, body mass index, sex and smoking status. Every 1 mmol/l increase in serum sodium concentration in midlife was associated with 1.20 and 1.11 increased odds of developing left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure, respectively, 25 years later.

The risks of both left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure at age 70 to 90 began to increase when serum sodium exceeded 142 mmol/l in midlife.

Dr. Dmitrieva said: “The results suggest that good hydration throughout life may decrease the risk of developing left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure. In addition, our finding that serum sodium exceeding 142mmol/l increases the risk of adverse effects in the heart may help to identify people who could benefit from an evaluation of their hydration level. This sodium level is within the normal range and would not be labelled as abnormal in lab test results but could be used by physicians during regular physical exams to identify people whose usual fluid intake should be assessed.”

 

High cholesterol fuels cancer by fostering resistance to a form of cell death

Most cancer cells die under the stress of metastasis, but cholesterol fuels a process that makes them impervious to stress-induced cell death

Duke University, August 24, 2021

Chronically high cholesterol levels are known to be associated with increased risks of breast cancer and worse outcomes in most cancers, but the link has not been fully understood.

In a study appearing online Aug. 24 in the journal Nature Communications, a research team led by the Duke Cancer Institute has identified the mechanisms at work, describing how breast cancer cells use cholesterol to develop tolerance to stress, making them impervious to death as they migrate from the original tumor site.

“Most cancer cells die as they try to metastasize -- it’s a very stressful process,” said senior author Donald P. McDonnell, Ph.D., professor in the departments of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology and Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. “The few that don’t die have this ability to overcome the cell’s stress-induced death mechanism. We found that cholesterol was integral in fueling this ability.”

McDonnell and colleagues built on earlier research in their lab focusing on the link between high cholesterol and estrogen-positive breast and gynecological cancers. Those studies found that cancers fueled by the estrogen hormone benefitted from derivatives of cholesterol that act like estrogen, stoking cancer growth.

But a paradox emerged for estrogen-negative breast cancers. These cancers are not dependent on estrogens, but high cholesterol is still associated with worse disease, suggesting a different mechanism might be at work.

In the current study using cancer cell lines and mouse models, the Duke researchers found that migrating cancer cells gobble cholesterol in response to stress. Most die.

But in the what-doesn’t-kill-you-makes-you-stronger motif, those that live emerge with a super-power that makes them able to withstand ferroptosis, a natural process in which cells succumb to stress. These stress-impervious cancer cells then proliferate and readily metastasize.

The process appears to be used not only by ER-negative breast cancer cells, but other types of tumors, including melanoma. And the mechanisms identified could be targeted by therapies.

“Unraveling this pathway has highlighted new approaches that may be useful for the treatment of advanced disease,” McDonnell said. “There are contemporary therapies under development that inhibit the pathway we’ve described. Importantly, these findings yet again highlight why lowering cholesterol -- either using drugs or by dietary modification -- is a good idea for better health.”

 

Drinking green tea may be protective against Alzheimer disease

Anhui Agricultural University, August 23, 2021

The following information was released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences:

Chinese scientists have found that drinking green tea may help prevent Alzheimer's disease, Science and Technology Daily reported Monday.

With population aging deepening, neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, are showing rapid high incidence rates.

Scientists from Anhui Agricultural University and the University of Science and Technology of China have revealed that green tea could help reduce synaptic damage and improve learning and memory.

The study provides a theoretical basis for revealing the mechanism of preventing Alzheimer's disease by drinking tea and its further application.

The study was recently published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. 

 

 

Effects of one month of Common Yoga Protocol practice appear to be mediated by the angiogenic and neurogenic pathway: A pilot study

Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (India), August 19, 2021

 

To examine the molecular effects of mindful activities such as yoga and meditation. Common Yoga Protocol includes asanas, pranayama and meditation practice. Markers of angiogenesis and neurogenesis were analyzed before and after one month of Common Yoga Protocol practice in healthy adults.

Study participants

64 healthy individuals within the age of 18–60 years were recruited for this one month yoga intervention study. The participants were assessed for biochemical parameters including Fasting Sugar and Lipid profile. The molecular markers of neurogenesis (i.e. Brain derived Neurotropic Factor, BDNF) and Angiogenesis (i.e. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, VEGF and Angiogenin) along with Amyloid β (marker related to neuro-degenerative diseases) were assessed. All the assessments were made at baseline and after one month of the intervention.

Results

After one month of CYP practice High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) levels increased significantly (p<0.001), although other biochemical parameters i.e. fasting sugar and other lipid assessments were found to be unaltered. Angiogenesis marker, angiogenin was increased significantly (p<0.002), other angiogenesis marker VEGF did not show any change along with BDNF, marker of neurogenesis. Amyloid β levels were also unaltered. Even though individual levels of VEGF and Amyloid β did not show any change, proportion of VEGF to Amyloid β showed a significant increase (p<0.001) after one month of CYP intervention indicating that the change in VEGF levels was significantly higher than the change in Amyloid β levels.

Conclusion

CYP practice may influence cell survival pathways mediated by angiogenic and neurogenic cross talk. Hence, CYP can be considered as a preventive measure for diseases associated with impaired angiogenic and neurogenic mechanism. This is the first study to examine the effects of CYP at the molecular level.

 

 

Anti-aging tricks from dietary supplement seen in mice

Alpha-lipoic acid stimulates telomerase in vascular smooth muscle

Emory University, August 21, 2021

 

In human cells, shortened telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, are both a sign of aging and contribute to it. Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found that the dietary supplement alpha lipoic acid (ALA) can stimulate telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres, with positive effects in a mouse model of atherosclerosis.

The discovery highlights a potential avenue for the treatment for chronic diseases.

The results were published  in Cell Reports.

"Alpha-lipoic acid has an essential role in mitochondria, the energy-generating elements of the cell," says senior author Wayne Alexander, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. "It is widely available and has been called a 'natural antioxidant'. Yet ALA's effects in human clinical studies have been a mixed bag."

ALA appears to exert its effects against atherosclerosis by spurring the smooth muscle cells that surround blood vessels to make PGC1 (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1)-alpha. PGC1-alpha was already well known to scientists as controlling several aspects of how skeletal muscles respond to exercise. While the Emory researchers did not directly assess the effects of exercise in their experiments, their findings provide molecular clues to how exercise might slow the effects of aging or chronic disease in some cell types.

"The effects of chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis and diabetes on blood vessels can be traced back to telomere shortening," Alexander says. "This means that treatments that can restore healthy telomeres have great potential."

"What's new here is that we show that PGC1-alpha is regulating telomerase, and that has real beneficial effects on cellular stress in a mouse model of atherosclerosis," says Shiqin Xiong, PhD, instructor in the division of cardiology and first author of the paper.

Xiong and Alexander used a model of atherosclerosis where mice lacked the ApoE cholesterol processing gene and were fed a high-fat diet. In this model, mice also lacking PGC1-alpha have more advanced plaques in their blood vessels, but only in older animals, the authors show.

Consistent with the poorer state of their blood vessels, aortic cells from PGC1-alpha-disrupted mice had shorter telomeres and reduced telomerase activity. Having shortened telomeres led the smooth muscle cells to display more oxidative stress and damage to the rest of their DNA.

The authors show that introducing PGC1-alpha back into vascular smooth muscle cells lacking that gene with a gene-therapy adenovirus could restore telomerase activity and lengthen the cells' telomeres.

Telomerase is off in most healthy cell types and only becomes turned on when cells proliferate. Because telomerase is active in cancer cells and enables their continued growth, researchers have been concerned that stimulating telomerase in all cells might encourage cancer growth or have other adverse effects.

As a way to boost PGC1-alpha in cells more conveniently, Xiong and Alexander turned to alpha lipoic acid or ALA. ALA is a sulfur-containing fatty acid used to treat diabetic neuropathy in Germany, and has previously been shown to combat atherosclerosis in animal models.

Treating isolated smooth muscle cells with ALA for one day could both stimulate PGC1-alpha and telomerase, the authors found. ALA's effects on vascular smooth muscle cells could also be seen when it was injected into mice. Xiong and Alexander say they are now investigating the effects of ALA on other tissues in mice. They have not observed increased cancers in ALA-treated mice, but say more thorough investigation is needed to fully assess cancer risk.

"While ALA is present in many foods and its effects in animal models look promising, it may be problematic for clinical use because of its poor solubility, stability and bioavailability," Xiong says. "We are designing new ways to formulate and deliver ALA-related compounds to resolve these issues."

 

 

 

Disaggregation behavior of amyloid beta fibrils by anthocyanins

Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine (Japan), August 20, 2021

According to news originating from Osaka, Japan,research stated, “Amyloid fibrils are formed from various proteins, some of which cause the corresponding neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. It has been reported that many compounds inhibit the formation of amyloid fibrils.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, “Anthocyanins are flavonoid pigments present in fruits and vegetables -- notably all dark berries, black plums and red cabbage --  which are known to suppress symptoms related with Alzheimer’s disease. However, the influence of anthocyanins on the amyloid fibril remains unclear. Here, we succeeded in the direct monitoring of the disaggregation reaction of single amyloid b (Ab) fibrils by anthocyanins using total-internal-reflection-fluorescence microscopy with a quartz-crystal microbalance (TIRFM-QCM). It is found that the disassembly activity to the Ab fibrils depends on the number of hydroxyl groups in six-membered ring B of anthocyanin, and only delphinidin-3-galactoside, possessing three hydroxyl groups there, shows high disassembly activity.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Our results show the importance of the number of hydroxyl groups and demonstrate the usefulness of TIRFM-QCM as a powerful tool in studying interactions between amyloid fibrils and compounds.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

 

 

Men, people over 65 sleep better when they have access to nature 

University of Illinois College of Agricultural, August 24, 2021

Men and persons age 65 and older who have access to natural surroundings, whether it's the green space of a nearby park or a sandy beach and an ocean view, report sleeping better, according to a new University of Illinois study published in Preventive Medicine. 

"It's hard to overestimate the importance of high-quality sleep," said Diana Grigsby-Toussaint, a U of I professor of kinesiology and community health and a faculty member in the U of I's Division of Nutritional Sciences. "Studies show that inadequate sleep is associated with declines in mental and physicalhealth, reduced cognitive function, and increased obesity. This new study shows that exposure to a natural environment may help people get the sleep they need." 

In the study, Grigsby-Toussaint worked with both U of I researchers and scientists from the New York University School of Medicine. The team used data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which surveyed 255,171 representative U.S. adults, to learn whether there was an association between self-reported days of insufficient sleep and access to green space. The team also used a USDA index that scores the country's geographical areas for their natural amenities, using hours of sunlight, which is important in regulating a person's circadian rhythm, and temperature.

In response to the survey question about sleep quality in the last month, the researchers found that the most common answer was that respondents had slept poorly for less than one week.

"Interestingly, though, across the entire sample, individuals reporting 21 to 29 days of insufficient sleep consistently had lower odds of access to green space and natural amenities compared to those reporting less than one week," she said.

For men, the relationship between sleep and exposure to green space was much stronger than for women. And males and females 65 and over found nature to be a potent sleep aid, she added.

Grigsby-Toussaint noted that living near green landscapes is associated with higher levels of physical activity and that exercise in turn predicts beneficial sleep patterns.

But men appeared to benefit much more from their natural surroundings. The researcher speculated that women may take less advantage of nearby natural settings out of concern for their safety, but she added that more research is needed.

The finding should be a boon for people who are having trouble sleeping as they age. "If there is a way for persons over 65 to spend time in nature, it would improve the quality of their sleep--and their quality of life--if they did so," Grigsby-Toussaint said.

The study points to the importance of conserving nature in general, she added.

"And, specifically, our results provide an incentive for nursing homes and communities with many retired residents to design buildings with more lighting, create nature trails and dedicated garden spaces, and provide safe outdoor areas that encourage outdoor activity for men and women," she said. 

Gary’s Daily Health News - Vol. 4

New research from Harvard explores link between walnut consumption and life expectancy

Findings show a connection between regular walnut consumption and greater longevity, as well as reduced risk of death from cardiovascular diseases

Harvard School of Public Health, August 19, 2021 

According to a study by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, higher walnut consumption – both in terms of the amount and frequency – may be associated with a lower risk of death and an increase in life expectancy among older adults in the U.S., compared to those who do not consume walnuts.

“What we’ve learned from this study is that even a few handfuls of walnuts per week may help promote longevity, especially among those whose diet quality isn’t great to begin with. It’s a practical tip that can be feasible for a number of people who are looking to improve their health, which is top of mind for many people,” said Yanping Li, Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and lead investigator of this research.

This study, supported by the California Walnut Commission and published in Nutrients, found five or more servings of walnuts per week (one serving = one ounce) may provide the greatest benefit for mortality risk and life expectancy. Eating five or more servings per week was associated with a 14% lower risk of death (from any cause), 25% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases, and a gain in about 1.3 years of life expectancy, compared to those who didn’t consume walnuts. Consuming walnuts two to four times per week could have its benefits, too, with the study finding a 13% lower risk of death overall, 14% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases, and a gain in about one year of life, compared to non-walnut consumers.

Interestingly, even among people with a suboptimal diet, as measured by a validated index based on foods and nutrients predictive of chronic disease risk, just a one-half serving per day increase in walnut consumption was associated with benefits, including 12% reduced risk of death and 26% lower risk of death from cardiovascular diseases, specifically.

For this study, researchers examined data from 67,014 women of the Nurses’ Health Study who were average aged 63.6 years and 26,326 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study aged 63.3 years in 1986 (the first cycle collected data of walnut consumption in both cohorts). Participants were relatively healthy when they joined the studies (e.g., free of cancer, heart disease, and stroke) and were followed for about 20 years (1998-2018). Dietary intake was assessed every 4 years in which participants reported on their overall dietary intake - including how often they consumed walnuts, other tree nuts, and peanuts – as well as lifestyle factors like exercise and smoking status. Based on this data, the researchers were able to identify associations between walnut consumption at varying levels and different health indicators related to longevity.

As a prospective observational study, these results do not prove cause and effect, but they do shed light on how walnuts may support an overall healthy lifestyle that promotes longevity. Participants who consumed greater amounts of walnuts tended to be more physically active, have a healthier diet, lower alcohol consumption, and take multivitamins. All of these factors could influence life expectancy, however, the researchers adjusted for these aspects in their analysis. In addition, it’s important to note that this data was collected before the current COVID-19 pandemic.

One ounce of walnuts is a powerhouse of important nutrients for optimum health, including protein (4g), fiber (2g), a good source of magnesium (45mg) and an excellent source of the essential omega-3 ALA (2.5g). 

 

Pregnant women may need higher vitamin D dosage

Zahedan University of Medical Sciences (Iran), August 17, 2021

According to news originating from Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, the research stated, “Background & aim: Although evidence confirms the importance of vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy, there is still a debate over the adequate daily doses of vitamin D intake. This study aimed to investigate the effect of 400 and 1,000 IU vitamin D/day on maternal serum 25 (OH) D levels.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Zahedan University of Medical Sciences: “This quasi-experimental study was carried out on 74 healthy pregnant women between June 12 and September 22, 2019. The intervention group (n=44) received 1,000 IU vitamin D/day from 8 to 10 weeks of pregnancy for 17 weeks, while the control group (n=39) took multivitamin supplements (400 IU vitamin D/day) from 16 weeks of pregnancy for 12 weeks. Maternal serum 25 (OH) D levels were measured at 25-28 weeks of gestation. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21) through the Chi-square, Student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney U, and linear regression tests. There was no significant difference between the two groups at the beginning of the study in terms of 25 (OH) D concentration (P=0.23). The intake of 1,000 IU vitamin D/day had a significant (b=0.28, p <0.001), yet small effect (effect size=0.30), on increasing serum 25 (OH) D levels after controlling the confounding variables. About half of the females who took 1,000 IU vitamin D/day had a serum 25(OH) D level less than 30 ng/dl at 25-28weeks of pregnancy.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Even after receiving 1,000 IU/day Vitamin D, vitamin D insufficiency was still prevalent during the second trimester of pregnancy. It seems that a higher dosage of vitamin D is required for pregnant women.”

 

 

Key mental abilities can actually improve during aging

Georgetown University Medical Center, August 19, 2021

It’s long been believed that advancing age leads to broad declines in our mental abilities. Now new research from Georgetown University Medical Center offers surprisingly good news by countering this view.

The findings, published August 19, 2021, in Nature Human Behaviour, show that two key brain functions, which allow us to attend to new information and to focus on what’s important in a given situation, can in fact improve in older individuals. These functions underlie critical aspects of cognition such as memory, decision making, and self-control, and even navigation, math, language, and reading.

“These results are amazing, and have important consequences for how we should view aging,” says the study’s senior investigator, Michael T. Ullman, PhD, a professor in the Department of Neuroscience, and Director of Georgetown’s Brain and Language Lab.

“People have widely assumed that attention and executive functions decline with age, despite intriguing hints from some smaller-scale studies that raised questions about these assumptions,” he says. “But the results from our large study indicate that critical elements of these abilities actually improve during aging, likely because we simply practice these skills throughout our life.”

“This is all the more important because of the rapidly aging population, both in the US and around the world,” Ullman says. He adds that with further research, it may be possible to deliberately improve these skills as protection against brain decline in healthy aging and disorders.

The research team, which includes first author João Veríssimo, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, looked at three separate components of attention and executive function in a group of 702 participants aged 58 to 98. They focused on these ages since this is when cognition often changes the most during aging. 

The components they studied are the brain networks involved in alerting, orienting, and executive inhibition. Each has different characteristics and relies on different brain areas and different neurochemicals and genes. Therefore, Ullman and Veríssimo reasoned, the networks may also show different aging patterns.

Alerting is characterized by a state of enhanced vigilance and preparedness in order to respond to incoming information. Orienting involves shifting brain resources to a particular location in space. The executive network inhibits distracting or conflicting information, allowing us to focus on what’s important.

“We use all three processes constantly,” Veríssimo explains. “For example, when you are driving a car, alerting is your increased preparedness when you approach an intersection. Orienting occurs when you shift your attention to an unexpected movement, such as a pedestrian. And executive function allows you to inhibit distractions such as birds or billboards so you can stay focused on driving.”

The study found that only alerting abilities declined with age. In contrast, both orienting and executive inhibition actually improved.

The researchers hypothesize that because orienting and inhibition are simply skills that allow people to selectively attend to objects, these skills can improve with lifelong practice. The gains from this practice can be large enough to outweigh the underlying neural declines, Ullman and Veríssimo suggest. In contrast, they believe that alerting declines because this basic state of vigilance and preparedness cannot improve with practice.   

“Because of the relatively large number of participants, and because we ruled out numerous alternative explanations, the findings should be reliable and so may apply quite broadly,” Veríssimo says. Moreover, he explains that “because orienting and inhibitory skills underlie numerous behaviors, the results have wide-ranging implications.”

“The findings not only change our view of how aging affects the mind, but may also lead to clinical improvements, including for patients with aging disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease,” says Ullman. 

 

 

Curcumin prevents peripheral organ dysfunction associated with Alzheimer disease

 

Central Michigan University, August 18, 2021 

 

The clinical progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a central nervous system disorder, is closely linked with peripheral organ dysfunction. The research led by Dr. Maiti and Dr. Dunbar at Field Neurosciences Institute, Ascension St. Mary’s Hospital and Central Michigan University, Michigan, USA was to understand the pathological changes in peripheral organs in mouse models of AD and to check if natural anti-inflammatory molecule, Curcumin, can prevent these changes. [Jayeeta Manna, Gary L. Dunbar and Panchanan Maiti. Curcugreen (BCM-95) Treatment Prevented Splenomegaly and Other Peripheral Organ Abnormalities in 3xTg and 5xFAD Mouse Models of Alzheimer’s disease. Antioxidants 2021, 10, 899. https://doi.org/10.3390/ antiox10060899].

The deposition of amyloid beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are the hallmark pathologies of AD, but severe splenomegaly associated with inflammation and disruption of the immune system warranted investigations to understand the interaction between central and peripheral systems interacting in AD. Curcumin, due to its anti-inflammatory and immune modulating properties, could preserve the cytoarchitecture of the spleen and prevent its enlargement. 

“We used 3xTg and 5xFAD mice which are well-established models for AD research, producing memory loss and cognitive impairments which progress with age, along with increased levels of inflammatory cytokines. We found that Curcumin was able to restore increased levels of caspases 3, 6, TNF-a, IL-1ß and decreased Bcl2, IL-10, COX-IV and pAkt/Akt levels. This shows the potency of Curcumin to reduce stress and cellular damages, improve their survival and protect from immune reactions. “, says Dr. Maiti, Principal Research Neuroscientist, and Dr. Dunbar, Executive Director, Field Neuroscience Institute, Ascension St. Mary’s Hospital, Saginaw, Michigan, United States.

The degenerative changes, metabolic dysfunction in the liver and kidney and abnormal lung function is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia and cognitive impairment in later life. Curcumin treatment was able to restore the function in these organs thereby helping to clear AD-related amyloid proteins. Dr.Maiti also shared, “Alzheimer is a disease of multi-organ disorder, developing from metabolic dysfunction and pathological process in both brain and the peripheral organs. The free Curcumin levels achieved with a bioavailable formulation of curcuminoid and essential oil of turmeric, Curcugreen (BCM-95) in blood, brain, liver and kidneys prevented the degenerative changes and was about 200 to 300 times more prevalent than the levels reported for natural Curcumin in other studies.”

Dr.Maiti explains further, “We understand that these AD pathogenesis is not confined to the central nervous system, but it also involves metabolic dysfunction in the peripheral organs. Curcumin can be good news to prevent these disorders to a great extent, which are largely found in the form of disorders and abnormalities amidst the ageing and cognitive impairments.” The scientific community could gain valuable insights into the usage of this formulation for the prevention of several pathological conditions.”

 

 

Waking nightmare: Disturbed circadian rhythm may be associated with Alzheimer's disease

Circadian rhythm disruption adversely affects the physiology and behavior of rats, with implications in Alzheimer’s disease pathology

Shoolini University (India), August 19, 2021

Our body is tuned to function in a synchronous manner with a “circadian” or day-and-night rhythm. Alterations to daily lifestyles due to the current stressful routines people follow disrupt the body’s day-night cycle for longer periods. Recent studies in rats have shown that even chronic light exposure can disrupt the circadian rhythm and cause memory deficits seen in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Interestingly, circadian rhythm disruption has also been frequently reported in patients suffering from AD. However, the cause-and-effect relationship between AD and circadian rhythm disruption remains unclear.

To understand the correlation between circadian rhythm disturbances and AD progression, a team of researchers from Shoolini University, India, tested the effect of circadian rhythm disruption caused by chronic light exposure on the physiology and functional abilities of Wistar rats. Explaining the rationale behind their study published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience (American Chemical Society), Professor Rohit Goyal, who led the study, said, “Cells of various organs in the body are synchronized to the day-night cycle, and release different biochemical substances including hormones in a time-specific manner. Untimely expression of these hormones can trigger anxiety, cognitive impairment, and memory loss, all symptoms of brain disorders such as AD.”

In a previous study, the team had reported that upon chronic light exposure for two months, rats exhibit cognitive deficits along with sub-clinical accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ), the pathogenic protein known to form aggregates in AD. Building on these findings, they speculated that longer light exposure may result in circadian rhythm disruptions that cause an AD-like phenotype. To test this hypothesis, they exposed adult rats to constant light conditions for four months and compared them with rats subjected to a normal light-dark cycle taken as the control group.

They found that chronic light exposure disrupted the expression of genes like Per2 that follow circadian rhythms. Markers of oxidative stress such as peroxiredoxins were also dysregulated in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) region of the brain in these rats, which is the primary controller of circadian rhythms in the body. Neurotransmitters, including glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid, were dysregulated in the SCN of rats with circadian rhythm disruption due to chronic light exposure. Additionally, these animals showed disrupted metabolic profiles, suggestive that their digestive systems may also have been adversely affected by the disrupted circadian rhythms.

The level of soluble Aβ in the brain was also significantly higher in these rats compared to the controls, and they experienced down-regulation of anti-aging gene Sirt1 and up-regulation of the neuronal damage markers. The researchers also found that circadian rhythm disruption due to chronic light exposure caused memory and cognitive deficits in the rats. Collectively, these findings were suggestive of an AD-like phenotype.

Based on the above results, their next hypothesis was that fluoxetine, a drug used for treating anxiety and hyperactivity, could alleviate physiological and functional abnormalities associated with circadian rhythm disruption. Sure enough, fluoxetine treatment prevented oxidative damage, Aβ accumulation, and rescued memory and cognitive deficits in the treated rats.

Overall, the study suggests that long-term circadian rhythm disruption induces AD-like pathology in rats, which can be prevented by treatment with fluoxetine. Notably, elevation in Aβ, a hallmark of AD, and disturbed circadian rhythms, can each trigger the other, resulting in a cascade of irreversible neurological symptoms. This sets the stage for serious life-long conditions like AD.

The clinical implications of their findings are also evident. Prof. Goyal remarks, “Lifestyle changes that support exposure to natural light followed by ample rest at night may thus be key to limiting the risk of neurological disorders. Therapeutic strategies to optimize circadian timing in prospective patients hold great promise to restrain the prevalence of AD”. Better lifestyle practices, following the traditional Indian discipline of Yoga, or maintaining a natural day-night cycle for work schedules and even dietary practices may make our bodies healthier and function better.

This study certainly “sheds light” on the cause-and-effect relationship between circadian rhythms and AD progression, paving the way for future investigations on this important topic.

 

 

 

Neuroprotective potential of carotenoids

VIT University (India), August 18, 2021

According to news reporting from Tamil Nadu, India, research stated, “Despite advances in research on neurodegenerative diseases, the pathogenesis and treatment response of neurodegenerative diseases remain unclear. Recent studies revealed a significant role of carotenoids to treat neurodegenerative diseases.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from VIT University, “The aim of this study was to systematically review the neuroprotective potential of carotenoids in vivo and in vitro and the molecular mechanisms and pathological factors contributing to major neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and stroke). Carotenoids as therapeutic molecules to target neurodegenerative diseases. Aggregation of toxic proteins, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, the excitotoxic pathway, and neuroinflammation were the major pathological factors contributing to the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo studies supported the beneficiary role of carotenoids, namely lycopene, b-carotene, crocin, crocetin, lutein, fucoxanthin and astaxanthin in alleviating disease progression. These carotenoids provide neuroprotection by inhibition of neuro-inflammation, microglial activation, excitotoxic pathway, modulation of autophagy, attenuation of oxidative damage and activation of defensive antioxidant enzymes. Additionally, studies conducted on humans also demonstrated that dietary intake of carotenoids lowers the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Carotenoids may be used as drugs to prevent and treat neurodegenerative diseases.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Although, the in vitro and in vivo results are encouraging, further well conducted clinical studies on humans are required to conclude about the full potential of neurodegenerative diseases.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

 

Berry eaters may be at lower risk of diabetes: Meta-analysis

Zhejiang University (China), August 22, 2021

Data from almost 400,000 people suggests that consuming berries and the anthocyanins they contain may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus by 15-18%.

Scientists from Zhejiang University in China reported that the potential benefits could be linked to the antioxidant properties of anthocyanins in berries and their regulation of inflammatory responses, as well as via pathways to reduce blood glucose and insulin resistance.

“T2DM [type 2 diabetes mellitus] and its associated complications cause serious medical and socioeconomic burdens. The findings from the present meta-analysis provide sufficient evidence that dietary intakes of anthocyanins and berries are associated with a lower risk of T2DM, respectively,” wrote the researchers in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition .

An example of one of the many berry extract dietary supplement products commercially available to US consumers

The new study, said to be the first to “evaluate the association of dietary consumption of anthocyanins and berries with T2DM risk”, assessed data from three cohort studies looking at dietary anthocyanin intakes and diabetes risk (200,894 participants and 12,611 cases of diabetes documented) and five cohort studies looking at berry intake and diabetes risk (194,019 participants and 13,013 cases of diabetes).

Crunching the numbers indicated that dietary anthocyanin consumption was associated with a 15% reduction in the risk of T2DM, while berry intake was associated with an 18% reduction in risk.

For every 7.5 mg/day increment of dietary anthocyanin or 17 g/day increment in berry intake the risk of T2DM decreased by 5%, added the researchers.

Interestingly, there were some gender differences observed with the benefits from berry consumption observed for women and not men.

“More prospective studies in other regions and ethnic groups are warranted to further explore the associations of dietary anthocyanins and berries with T2DM risk,” wrote the researchers.

Gary’s Daily Health News - Vol. 3

Boosting magnesium levels found to help reverse conditions like diabetes and heart disease

Erasmus University (Netherland), August 16, 2021

Magnesium is an essential mineral that’s necessary to maintain good health. It is involved in many important bodily processes, such as muscle contraction and blood sugar and blood pressure regulation. Because it is important for many bodily functions, having low magnesium levels can lead to serious conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.

On the other hand, recent studies show that boosting your magnesium levels can help reduce risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, such as inflammation and high blood pressure.

Low magnesium levels linked to diabetes, heart disease

Low magnesium levels have been linked to high blood pressure and a high risk of stroke and heart disease. A study by researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands also revealed that magnesium deficiency can increase a person’s risk of dying due to coronary heart disease (CHD) and sudden cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, even a small increase in one’s magnesium levels could lower this risk .

The findings of the study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA), suggest that magnesium supplementation could help protect people from CHD, sudden cardiac death (SCD) and other cardiovascular events. 

Experts believe that magnesium helps protect against heart disease by reducing inflammation, which is associated with atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the arteries. Magnesium also helps improve blood circulation by regulating blood pressure. High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease.

When it comes to diabetes, researchers have observed that diabetics tend to have low magnesium levels or are more prone to magnesium deficiency than non-diabetics. A study by researchers from Brazil’s Federal University of Bahia found that 75 percent of people with Type 2 diabetes have magnesium deficiency.

Some studies indicate that magnesium plays a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes by affecting insulin sensitivity. According to clinical trials, low magnesium levels are linked to a higher risk of insulin resistance, a precursor to Type 2 diabetes.

Insulin resistance occurs when there is too much blood sugar circulating inside the body. The pancreas respond to this by releasing more insulin to induce cells to take up sugar from the blood. But over time, cells become resistant to insulin and stop responding to it.

Magnesium is required for both glucose utilization and insulin signaling. This is why metabolic alterations in cellular magnesium can lead to insulin resistance which, in turn, contributes to the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

In addition, a recent study published in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice found that low serum magnesium is linked to diabetes and high blood pressure. Both these conditions can severely increase your risk of developing heart disease.

 

 

How chlamydia might increase cancer and ectopic pregnancy risk

University of Bristol and University of Edinburgh, August 16, 2021

A review of evidence by researchers at the University of Bristol and University of Edinburgh has suggested a possible new means by which chlamydia could lead to an increased risk of cancer and ectopic pregnancy. The hypothesis also provides a possible explanation for how pelvic inflammatory disease may be triggered in some women.

The review, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, looked at evidence from lab-based studies, animal models and clinical studies on the role of chlamydia in diseases of the reproductive tract.

The researchers' analysis of the studies' findings suggests that chlamydia induces a particular type of change in reproductive tract cells known as 'epithelial to mesenchymal transition' (EMT), which can lead to inflammation and cell growth. Their hypothesis is that this chlamydia-triggered cell change contributes to the development of further disease.

"Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that stimulates EMT, which may persist after the chlamydia infection has cleared," explains Dr. Paddy Horner from the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Behavioural Science and Evaluation at University of Bristol, who led the review.

"We think that the association of chlamydia with ovarian and cervical cancer could be explained by the persistence of EMT changes in combination with DNA damage caused by chlamydia following chlamydia infection," he said.

"Also, we know that EMT cells impair the integrity of the lining of the infected reproductive tract cell, making it more susceptible to invasion by other bacteria. This increases the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease from those invading bacteria.

"Furthermore, epithelial (barrier) cells in the fallopian tube that have previously been infected with chlamydia have more receptors on their surface, which are associated with an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy. There is evidence that these cell surface receptor changes could be caused by EMT.

"If our hypothesis about the role of EMT following chlamydia infection in women is correct, it could help explain some of the recent epidemiological observations about chlamydia and reproductive disease which are difficult to account for using current concepts about the immune response to chlamydia.

"It would also support the English National Chlamydia Screening Program's shift to earlier testing of women, as the shorter the duration of infection, the lower the risk of developing EMT changes. Further down the line, this could lead to the development of new tests for identifying women at increased risk of ovarian cancer and ectopic pregnancy and interventions that could reduce these risks.

"Obviously a lot more research is needed before we can be sure that our hypothesis is correct, but the evidence from this review suggests that further research in this area would be fruitful and could have important benefits both for patients and in the prevention of chlamydia-induced disease in the long-term."

Munira Oza, director of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, said: "This analysis helps to further our understanding of one of the possible risk factors for ectopic pregnancy and we would welcome more research in this area.

"It also highlights the importance of the change of focus of the National Chlamydia Screening Program to opportunistically making proactive offers of a chlamydia test to young people without symptoms to reduce the risk of reproductive harm.

"With early detection through the screening program and much-needed education to reduce the stigma of chlamydia, we hope that many women and families might be spared the health risks and heartache of ectopic pregnancy. We encourage young women to screen when given the opportunity."

Chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide. If left untreated, it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, tubal factor infertility, and chronic pelvic pain due to tubal scarring.

 

Whey protein associated with improved microvascular function in patients with heart failure

National Institute of Cardiology (Brazil), August 13 2021. 

 

The June 2021 issue of the Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research reported a randomized pilot trial that revealed improvement in systemic microvascular circulation in heart failure patients who were supplemented with whey protein. 

The endothelium is the lining of the body’s arteries, whose function may be impaired in cardiovascular diseases, thereby reducing the arteries’ ability to relax, which adversely affects circulation. “It is important to note that macro- and microvascular dysfunctions are defined as the impairment of endothelium-dependent vasodilation and/or increased arterial stiffness, which are related to several cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and heart failure,” explained authors A. De Lorenzo and colleagues. 

The trial included 19 men and 6 women aged 52 years and older who had New York Heart Association class I or II heart failure. Participants received whey protein or a placebo for 12 weeks. Endothelial microvascular function was evaluated by measuring cutaneous microvascular flow and reactivity using acetylcholine to assess endothelial-dependent vasodilation and sodium nitroprusside to assess endothelium-independent vasodilation. 

At the end of 12 weeks, significant increases were observed in both endothelial dependent and endothelial independent vasodilation among participants who received whey protein. The authors of the report suggested that whey’s endothelial-dependent vasodilatory effect may be the result of its arginine content. Modulation of premature senescence of vascular smooth muscle cells and ACE inhibition by whey were suggested as endothelial-independent vasodilatory mechanisms.

“Our results suggested that dietary supplementation with whey protein improved microvascular endothelial function and possibly smooth muscle structure in patients with heart failure,” the authors concluded. “It showed new findings regarding the vascular effects of whey protein, which may turn this nutrient into another constituent of therapeutic regimen of patients with heart failure in the future and after larger trials.”

 

 

Eating Yogurt Everyday May Help Cure Alzheimer’s Disease Finds New Study

University College Cork (Ireland), August 17, 2021

According to a new study, eating yogurt everyday may help cure Alzheimer’s disease.

In a recent study, memory problems were reversed after old mice were given “friendly” bacteria. This research suggests gut-boosting yogurts could help to ward off Alzheimer’s disease, which opens the door to the development of probiotics that treat or even prevent dementia.

This study is published in Nature Aging.

“It’s a potential game-changer. We’ve now established the microbiome can be harnessed to reverse age-related brain deterioration. We also see evidence of improved learning ability and cognitive function,” says corresponding author Professor John Cryan, of University College Cork in Ireland, per South West News Service.

A staggering 100 trillion microorganisms live in the human gut – both good and bad. The immune system is impacted by the balance. The research team from Ireland showed that lab rodents experienced increased memory and cognitive function by introducing specific species.

Aging-associated changes in the immune system were reversed with fecal transplants from younger mice, including quicker deciphering of maze patterns and better memory afterward. 

They were also less prone to anxiety, another common symptom of dementia. Scans later showed their brains had been rejuvenated, containing metabolites and patterns of gene regulation resembling those of adolescents.

“It should be said we are not advocating fecal transplants for people who want to rejuvenate their brain. Instead, these studies point towards a future where there will be a focus on microbiota-targeted dietary or bacterial-based interventions. They will promote optimum gut health and immunity in order to keep the brain young and healthy,” explains Cryan.

The study suggests such therapies could combat cognitive decline. It adds to evidence that probiotics sold in supermarkets as diet supplements boost concentration, decision-making, and understanding.

“Microorganisms that live on and in the human body have an impact on health and vary with age. Friendly bacteria have beneficial effects on the metabolic and immune systems. They can be gradually replaced with bacteria that drive chronic inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and disease,” notes Cryan.

“Much work is needed to translate the findings for clinical use in humans. We know that microorganisms in the gut shape local immunity, but can also affect brain aging and increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Now, there is a growing appreciation of the importance of the microbes in the gut on all aspects of physiology and medicine.”

Previous research has found that a daily dose of probiotics over 12 weeks can produce significant improvement in elderly patients.

 

Wash your hands for 20 seconds: Physics shows why

Hand-washing model uses fluid mechanics to track harmful particles.

Hammond Consulting, August 17, 2021 

Though hand-washing is proven effective in combating the spread of disease and infection, the physics behind it has rarely been studied. But in Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Hammond Consulting Limited describe a simple model that captures the key mechanics of hand-washing.

By simulating hand-washing, they estimated the time scales on which particles, like viruses and bacteria, were removed from hands.

The mathematical model acts in two dimensions, with one wavy surface moving past another wavy surface, and a thin film of liquid between the two. Wavy surfaces represent hands because they are rough on small spatial scales.

Particles are trapped on the rough surfaces of the hand in potential wells. In other words, they are at the bottom of a valley, and in order for them to escape, the energy from the water flow must be high enough to get them up and out of the valley.

The strength of the flowing liquid depends on the speed of the moving hands. A stronger flow removes particles more easily.

"Basically, the flow tells you about the forces on the particles," said author Paul Hammond. "Then you can work out how the particles move and figure out if they get removed."

He likens the process to scrubbing a stain on a shirt: the faster the motion, the more likely it is to come out.

"If you move your hands too gently, too slowly, relative to one another, the forces created by the flowing fluid are not big enough to overcome the force holding the particle down," said Hammond.

Even when particles are removed, that process is not fast. Typical hand-washing guidelines, like those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggest at least 20 seconds under the faucet.

Results from Hammond's model agree. It takes about 20 seconds of vigorous movement to dislodge potential viruses and bacteria.

The model does not consider chemical or biological processes that occur when using soap. However, knowing the mechanisms that physically remove particles from hands may provide clues to formulating more effective, environmentally friendly soaps.

"Nowadays, we need to be a bit more thoughtful about what happens to the wash chemicals when they go down the plughole and enter the environment," said Hammond.

Hammond said this is not the whole story of hand-washing, but it does answer important questions and lay the foundation for future research.

 

Vitamin C may encourage blood cancer stem cells to die

New York University Langone Health. August 16, 2017 

Vitamin C may "tell" faulty stem cells in the bone marrow to mature and die normally, instead of multiplying to cause blood cancers. This is the finding of a study led by researchers from Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health, and published online in the journal Cell.

Certain genetic changes are known to reduce the ability of an enzyme called TET2 to encourage stem cells to become mature blood cells, which eventually die, in many patients with certain kinds of leukemia, say the authors. The new study found that vitamin C activated TET2 function in mice engineered to be deficient in the enzyme.

"We're excited by the prospect that high-dose vitamin C might become a safe treatment for blood diseases caused by TET2-deficient leukemia stem cells, most likely in combination with other targeted therapies," says corresponding study author Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine and director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center.

Changes in the genetic code (mutations) that reduce TET2 function are found in 10 percent of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 30 percent of those with a form of pre-leukemia called myelodysplastic syndrome, and in nearly 50 percent of patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Such cancers cause anemia, infection risk, and bleeding as abnormal stem cells multiply in the bone marrow until they interfere with blood cell production, with the number of cases increasing as the population ages.

Along with these diseases, new tests suggest that about 2.5 percent of all U.S. cancer patients - or about 42,500 new patients each year - may develop TET2 mutations, including some with lymphomas and solid tumors, say the authors.

Cell Death Switch

The study results revolve around the relationship between TET2 and cytosine, one of the four nucleic acid "letters" that comprise the DNA code in genes. Every cell type has the same genes, but each gets different instructions to turn on only those needed in a given cellular context.

These "epigenetic" regulatory mechanisms include DNA methylation, the attachment of a small molecule termed a methyl group to cytosine bases that shuts down the action of a gene containing them.

The back- and-forth attachment and removal of methyl groups also fine-tunes gene expression in stem cells, which can mature, specialize and multiply to become muscle, bone, nerve, or other cell types. This happens as the body first forms, but the bone marrow also keeps pools of stem cells on hand into adulthood, ready to become replacement cells as needed. In leukemia, signals that normally tell a blood stem cell to mature malfunction, leaving it to endlessly multiply and "self-renew" instead of producing normal white blood cells needed to fight infection.

The enzyme studied in this report, Tet methylcytosine dioxygenase 2 (TET2), enables a change in the molecular structure (oxidation) of methyl groups that is needed for them to be removed from cytosines. This "demethylation" turns on genes that direct stem cells to mature, and to start a count-down toward self-destruction as part of normal turnover. This serves as an anti-cancer safety mechanism, one that is disrupted in blood cancer patients with TET2 mutations, says Neel.

To determine the effect of mutations that reduce TET2 function in abnormal stem cells, the research team genetically engineered mice such that the scientists could switch the TET2 gene on or off.

Similar to the naturally occurring effects of TET2 mutations in mice or humans, using molecular biology techniques to turn off TET2 in mice caused abnormal stem cell behavior. Remarkably, these changes were reversed when TET2 expression was restored by a genetic trick. Previous work had shown that vitamin C could stimulate the activity of TET2 and its relatives TET1 and TET3. Because only one of the two copies of the TET2 gene in each stem cell is usually affected in TET2-mutant blood diseases, the authors hypothesized that high doses of vitamin C, which can only be given intravenously, might reverse the effects of TET2 deficiency by turning up the action of the remaining functional gene.

Indeed, they found that vitamin C did the same thing as restoring TET2 function genetically. By promoting DNA demethylation, high-dose vitamin C treatment induced stem cells to mature, and also suppressed the growth of leukemia cancer stem cells from human patients implanted in mice.

"Interestingly, we also found that vitamin C treatment had an effect on leukemic stem cells that resembled damage to their DNA," says first study author Luisa Cimmino, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at NYU Langone Health. "For this reason, we decided to combine vitamin C with a PARP inhibitor, a drug type known to cause cancer cell death by blocking the repair of DNA damage, and already approved for treating certain patients with ovarian cancer."

Researchers found that the combination had an enhanced effect on leukemia stem cells, further shifting them from self-renewal back toward maturity and cell death. The results also suggest that vitamin C might drive leukemic stem cells without TET2 mutations toward death, says Cimmino, given that it turns up any TET2 activity normally in place.

"Our team is working to systematically identify genetic changes that contribute to risk for leukemia in significant groups of patients," says corresponding author Iannis Aifantis, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Pathology at NYU Langone Health. "This study adds the targeting of abnormal TET2-driven DNA demethylation to our list of potential new treatment approaches."

 

High fat diet in middle age could raise later malnutrition risk

Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute , August 17, 2021

A high energy intake from total fat, saturated fat and monounsaturated fat in middle and older age increases the risk of malnutrition ten years later, say Swedish researchers.

The research contradicts previous findings suggesting the opposite effect. 

A high fat diet is is not recommended for the general population, but for frail and sick older adults the greatest nutrition risk they face is malnutrition, rather than overweight or obesity. As people age appetite often decreases, raising the risk of protein-energy malnutrition – meaning inadequate calorie or protein intake.

Past research suggested higher fat diets could help older adults prevent this form of malnutrition.

“Contrary to our expectations, a high energy intake from total fat, SFA [saturated fat] and MUFA [monounsaturated fat] among middle-aged and older adults increased the risk of developing malnutrition ten years later,” researchers from the Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden wrote in the British Journal of Nutrition.

However, these findings only applied to individuals with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 kilograms per m² at baseline.

“These findings suggest that preventive actions to counteract malnutrition in older adults should focus on limiting the intake of total fat in the diet by reducing consumption of food with a high content of saturated and monounsaturated fat, such as full-fat dairy foods, solid fats, processed meat and sugar sweetened foods.”

In the follow-up phase, 383 (52.8%) of the participants were at risk of malnutrition and 52 (7.2%) were malnourished.

The chance of being at risk of malnutrition increased for each additional percentage point of energy intake from total fat (by 6.5%), saturated fat (by 11.8%) and monounsaturated fat (by 17.3%).

For the odds of actually being malnourished this increased by 10.6% for total fat, 19.6% for saturated fat and 27.2% for monounsaturated fat.

“[Protein–energy malnutrition] is associated with greater health-care costs, worse quality of life and preterm death. The identification of modifiable risk factors in the diet is thus desirable for taking preventive action before malnutrition develops,” they wrote.

Gary’s Daily Health News - Vol. 2

The good herb: buckwheat extract helps cells clean house

Researchers find that quercetin, a component of buckwheat extract, promotes the degradation of harmful protein aggregates in cells

Osaka University (Japan), August 16, 2021

Seeds like quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat that have been used for centuries in traditional cuisine are having a trendy moment in culinary circles as alternatives to wheat and other grains. Now, researchers from Japan have found that a traditional liquor made from buckwheat could even be used medicinally.

In a study published last month in Antioxidants, researchers from Osaka University revealed that an ingredient in Chinese buckwheat liquor, which contains various herbal medicine extracts, can induce autophagy, a process that cells use to clean up proteins that are damaged or no longer needed.

Autophagy plays an important role in diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, so finding a way to encourage this process is a topic of considerable interest. Herbal substances are an intriguing potential source of compounds that could be used in this type of treatment.

“We already knew that tartary buckwheat liquor, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine, can decrease antioxidants in mice, and that it has some antibacterial effects,” explains lead author of the study Sumiko Ikari. “What we wanted to find out in this study is whether it also affects autophagy.”

To explore this possibility, the researchers treated epithelial (skin) cells and liver cells with tartary buckwheat extract and looked at how different fluorescent markers of autophagy responded.

“The results clearly showed that tartary buckwheat induces autophagy in epithelial cells,” states Takeshi Noda, senior author. “We found that treating cells with the extract stimulated the formation of autophagasomes, specialized cellular structures that carry out autophagy, and altered the location of proteins involved in regulating autophagy.”

When the researchers looked more closely at specific components of tartary buckwheat extract, they found that one component, quercetin, had the same effects as the extract. What’s more, both tartary buckwheat extract and quercetin prompted liver cells to clean up protein aggregates through a process known as aggrephagy.

“Our findings suggest that tartary buckwheat extract and quercetin induce not only autophagy, but also aggrephagy,” says Ikari.

Given that protein aggregates in liver cells are closely linked to alcoholic liver disease, these findings suggest that quercetin could be a useful treatment for patients with this condition. It may also hold promise for treatment of other diseases associated with protein aggregation, such as Alzheimer’s.

 

 

Greater vitamin K intake associated with lower risk of hospitalization for cardiovascular disease

University of Western Australia, August 12, 2021

 

A new research has found that eating a diet rich in vitamin K can lower the risk of atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease (conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels).

The findings of the study were published in the 'Journal of the American Heart Association'.

Researchers examined data from more than 50,000 people taking part in the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health study over a 23-year period.

They investigated whether people who ate more foods containing vitamin K had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease-related to atherosclerosis (plaque build-up in the arteries).

There are two types of vitamin K found in foods we eat: vitamin K1 comes primarily from green leafy vegetables and vegetable oils while vitamin K2 is found in meat, eggs and fermented foods such as cheese.

The study found that people with the highest intakes of vitamin K1 were 21 per cent less likely to be hospitalised with cardiovascular disease related to atherosclerosis.

For vitamin K2, the risk of being hospitalised was 14 per cent lower.

This lower risk was seen for all types of heart disease related to atherosclerosis, particularly for peripheral artery disease at 34 per cent.

ECU researcher and senior author on the study Dr Nicola Bondonno said the findings suggested that consuming more vitamin K may be important for protection against atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular disease.

"Current dietary guidelines for the consumption of vitamin K are generally only based on the amount of vitamin K1 a person should consume to ensure that their blood can coagulate," Dr Bondonno said.

"However, there is growing evidence that intakes of vitamin K above the current guidelines can afford further protection against the development of other diseases, such as atherosclerosis," Dr Bondonno added.

"Although more research is needed to fully understand the process, we believe that vitamin K works by protecting against the calcium build-up in the major arteries of the body leading to vascular calcification," Dr Bondonnoexplained.

University of Western Australia researcher Dr Jamie Bellinge, the first author on the study, said the role of vitamin K in cardiovascular health and particularly in vascular calcification is an area of research offering promising hope for the future.

"Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death in Australia and there's still a limited understanding of the importance of different vitamins found in food and their effect on heart attacks, strokes and peripheral artery disease," Dr Bellinge said.

"These findings shed light on the potentially important effect that vitamin K has on the killer disease and reinforces the importance of a healthy diet in preventing it," Dr Bellinge concluded.

Next steps in the research

Dr Bondonno said that while databases on the vitamin K1 content of foods are very comprehensive, there is currently much less data on the vitamin K2 content of foods.

Furthermore, there are 10 forms of vitamin K2 found in our diet and each of these may be absorbed and act differently within our bodies.

"The next phase of the research will involve developing and improving databases on the vitamin K2 content of foods. More research into the different dietary sources and effects of different types of vitamin K2 is a priority," Dr Bondonnosaid.

Additionally, there is a need for an Australian database on the vitamin K content of Australian foods (e.g. vegemite and kangaroo).

To address this need, Dr Marc Sim, a collaborator on the study, has just finished developing an Australian database on the vitamin K content of foods which will be published soon.

The research is part of ECU's Institute of Nutrition Research. It was a collaboration with researchers from the University of Western Australia, Royal Perth Hospital, Herlev and Gentofte University Hospital in Denmark and the Danish Cancer Society Research Centre.

 

Burnt out? Rhodiola rosea supplements may help, says new study

Wein University Medical School (Austria), August 17, 2021

Daily supplements containing Rhodiola rosea extract may improve the symptoms of burnout, suggests data from the first trial to examine the effects of the botanical extract on this modern day condition.

Results of the open-label, multicenter, single-arm trial provide “an encouraging basis” for future clinical trials to study if R. rosea extract can indeed help people suffering from burnout, which is reported to be an increasing burden to people and economies in the Western world.

“Most of the outcome variables assessed in this trial demonstrated relevant improvement over time with considerable changes already being detectable after the first week of R. rosea administration,” wrote Siegfried Kasper from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria and Angelika Dienel from Dr Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. in Germany in Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment .

Despite being the first to specifically examine the effects of R. rosea in burnout, the results are in-line with previously reported benefits of the root extract, which is primary used for stress, mental and physical fatigue, depression, and to boost energy. For the new study, Kasper and Dienel recruited 118 men and women aged between 30 and 60 suffering from symptoms of burnout. The participants were asked to consume 400 mg per day of a R. rosea extract (WS 1375, Rosalin, which is the active ingredient in Dr Willmar Schwabe’s Vitango product) for 12 weeks.

The majority of symptoms improved during the course of the study, with some improvements measurable as early as the first week, said the researchers.  Specifically, improvements in symptoms such as “emotional exhaustion”, “fatigue”, “exhaustion”, “lack of joy”, “loss of zest for life”, and “depersonalization” were all recorded during the study.

In addition, the participants reported increased sexual interest and functioning, which supports the potential activity of R. rosea to ameliorate burnout’s impairment on sexual functio

2015. roseais a high altitude and arctic regions plant native to Europe, North America, and Asia. According to the American Botanical Council, “Scientists have identified about 140 chemical compounds in the roots of rhodiola, including phenols, rosavin, rosin, rosarin, organic acids, terpenoids, phenolcarbonic acids and derivatives thereof, and flavonoids.” Rhodiola is in the top 40 for herbal dietary supplements sales in both mass and natural channels. Combined sales totaled almost $13 million in 2015.

“Despite the observed quick and distinct improvement of most of the outcome parameters during the first week of intervention, which might at first glance not seem to be in accordance with what is known about the usually rather slow process of burnout therapy, it is still in line with what is known about the gradual development of burnout,” wrote Kasper and Dienel.

“In this context, the outcomes of the [Perceived Stress Questionnaire] and [Numerical Analogue Scales of subjective stress symptoms] assessment suggest that the reduction of core values such as exhaustion, fatigue, and subjective stress perception during the treatment with R. rosea extract might be an important first step toward a continuous alleviation of burnout symptoms, thus inhibiting the exacerbation of the syndrome and preventing the development of subsequent disorders such as depression or physical illness.”

Importantly, compliance during the study was high with very few adverse events reported, which supports the safety profile of R. rosea in this population.

“The results presented provide an encouraging basis for clinical trials further investigating the clinical outcomes of R. rosea extract in patients with the burnout syndrome,” concluded Kasper and Dienel.

 

 

Regular exercise, even in polluted areas, can lower risk of death

Chinese University of Hong Kong, August 16, 2021

Regular exercise, even performed in areas with air pollution, can reduce the risk of death from natural causes, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) 

“Habitual exercise reduces the risk of death regardless of exposure to air pollution, and air pollution generally increases the risk of death regardless of habitual exercise. Thus, habitual exercise should be promoted as a health improvement strategy, even for people residing in relatively polluted areas,” writes Dr. Xiang Qian Lao, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China, with coauthors.

They conducted a large study, over 15 years from 2001 to 2016, with 384 130 adults in Taiwan, seeking to understand the effects of regular exercise and long-term exposure to fine particle matter on the risk of death from natural causes. The researchers found that a higher level of regular exercise compared with inactivity was beneficial, even in polluted areas, although less exposure to pollution was better.

“We found that a high level of habitual exercise and a low level of exposure to air pollution was associated with lower risk of death from natural causes, whereas a low level of habitual exercise and a high level of exposure was associated with higher risk of death,” write the authors.

This study adds to several other smaller studies conducted in the United States, Denmark and Hong Kong that found that regular exercise, even in polluted areas, is beneficial.

The authors say that “further studies in areas with more severe air pollution are required to examine the applicability of our findings. Our study reinforces the importance of air pollution mitigation, such as to reduce the harmful effects of air pollution and maximize the beneficial effects of regular exercise.“

In a related commentary https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.211282, authors from the Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia, argue that physical inactivity and air pollution should be considered as “syndemics” as together they influence behaviour and health outcomes. Recommendations for safe exercise in polluted areas, such as indoor exercise, and avoiding walking and biking on congested roads, can contribute to inequalities as people of lower socioeconomic status often lack these options.

“[R]isk reduction approaches that do not address the root causes of noncommunicable diseases could exacerbate health inequalities,” write Drs. Ding and Elbarbary. “People should not be forced to choose between physical activity and air pollution.”

“Both physical inactivity and air pollution have detrimental effects on health. Staying active should not be at the cost of compromised health from air pollution. Addressing both major public health issues through synergistic, upstream, system-level approaches would lead to long-term health benefits for humans and the planet,” write the commentary authors.

 

 

Resveratrol supplementation improves arterial stiffness in type 2 diabetics

Toho University (Japan), August 17 2021 

A randomized, double-blind study reported in the International Heart journal found improvements in arterial stiffness and oxidative stress among type 2 diabetics who were supplemented with resveratrol.

The trial included 50 diabetic men and women who received 100 milligrams resveratrol or a placebo daily for 12 weeks. Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI, a novel diagnostic measure of arterial stiffness that is a marker of atherosclerosis) and blood pressure were assessed at the beginning and end of the study, in addition to blood assessments of oxidative stress and other factors.

At the end of the study, subjects who received resveratrol had significantly lower blood pressure, less oxidative stress and decreased arterial stiffness in comparison with values obtained at the beginning of the study.  Participants who received a placebo experienced no significant changes in these areas.

“The primary finding in the present study was that oral supplementation of resveratrol for 12 weeks decreased CAVI in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus,” authors Haruki Imamura, MD, and colleagues at Toho University Sakura Medical Center in Japan write. “Many previous studies have demonstrated increased CAVI in atherosclerotic diseases such as acute coronary syndrome and stroke, and these reports indicate that CAVI reflects organic atherosclerosis.”

They suggest that a reduction in oxidative stress may be one mechanism involved in the improvement in arterial stiffness observed in this study among participants who received resveratrol. Improved endothelial function via increased nitric oxide production may be another mechanism.

“Resveratrol may be beneficial in preventing the development of atherosclerosis induced by diabetes,” the authors conclude. “However, a large-scale cohort study is required to validate the present findings.”

 

 

Zinc: Growing larger than a cough and sore throat remedy

Summary of Zinc's many benefits

Life Extension, August 16, 2021

 

At meal times everyday, I do not easily lose sight of two important food supplements on the dining-table. One of them is Potato leaf powder. The other is Pumpkin leaf powder. Like Spinach powder, Jute Mallow Ewedu, (Yoruba) powder and some other leaf powders, they are power houses of nutrition in a country such as Nigeria where there is a prevalence of carbohydrate on the dining-table and a harvest of diseases such as diabetes, elevated blood cholesterol, calcified and plaque blocked blood vessels, heart challenges, osteoporosis, easily fractured bones, young boys and girls with genitalia too small for their ages, reproductive age men and women beset with fertility and a lot more health headaches.

Where we are heading are not this trouble. But they are important ports of call on the way. Many Nigerians do not eat potato leaves as a vegetable such as Pumpkin leaves. We are still unlike Asians, Pacific Ocean Islanders and some Africans who recognise that even Banana peel and Plantain peel are more nutritious than banana and plantain and eat them! What got me into taking potato leaf powder as a food supplement?

Potato leaf

Goats eat potato leaves. Out of ignorance, many humans do not. Yet, potato leaves are one of the sources of plant nutrients which not only build and maintain radiance but can prevent cancer and kill health cancer cells as well. Isn't this good news for people who are challenged with all sorts of cancers? The cancer fighting ability of plant nutrients such as potato are now recognised due to their Polyphenolic compounds. If you ask Mr Olajuwon Okubena, whose Nigerian plant product Jobelyn is the only plant medicine product in this country listed on the United States National Cancer Institute Drug Dictionary of plant medicines worldwide recommended for cancer therapies, he would gladly and quickly reply that Jobelyn made it to this enviable list only because the rare specie of Soghum Bicolour which is the major ingredient, has a high rating of Polypheolic contents.

In his opinion, these compounds may even have outstaged antioxidants in the onward march of medicine, even though they themselves are antioxidants. Science and medicine are ever on the march, expanding the understanding of our bodies and of our environment as well. Only about a hundred years ago, Louis Pasteur ushered in the Pasteurisation Age. Today, I would not touch Pasteurised food because they are devitalised foods. The Germ Theory of Diseases lost its hold on researchers because of several persons exposed to the same germ in the same environment, a few may succumb to diseases which the germ may cause while other persons may be unaffected. The difference is all about individual differences which, in this case, boils down to Immunity. From immunity, we have journeyed to Stem Cell medicine using plant stem cells to regenerate dying organs. And from there, Stem Cell Surgery has come about in which stem cells are surgically taken from a patients bone marrow and transfered to the help-requering organ. Now, it is being whispered that Polyphenolic compounds are those materials which activate all those processes in the body, be they antioxidants or the immune systems, to do their work and make us disease free and energetic. Thus, a plant and its materials are rated high or low in terms of the rating of phenolic or polyphenolic compounds they parade.

Potato leaves are not only rich sources of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants but also of Phenolic and Polyphenolic compounds. Although they are not the concern of this column, they are, nevertheless, important bus-stops or sign posts on the way to the go. So, in the interim, what are some of the health benefits to derive from eating potato leaves as vegetable?

Benefits

We grow potato in the flowerbeds at home for its leaves. Eaten raw or lightly cooked, it provides lots of Vitamin A which is good for vision, immunity, healthy skin, hair, nails and bones. It is a good manager of elevated blood sugar, stress inflammation, ulcer, heart and blood vessel diseases. It is a builder of immunity, is antimicrobial, and a promoter of digestion. Most of these attributes come from a high presence of Vitamin K in the leaves. The high amount of Vitamin K in that leaves helps to prevent excessive bleeding, as it also prevents the calcification of the arteries, a cause of elevated blood pressure and heart attacks. It does not permit plaque formation in blood vessels, a healthy support for friendly blood pressure. Calcium needs Vitamin K to settle properly in the bones, prevent and heal fractures and prevent osteoporosis. Vitamin K is a friend of the menstruating woman with a tendency to overbleed and succumb to the pains of cramping uterine muscles.

Sufferers from gum disease and teeth decay should appreciate potato leaf. It is fortified with Vitamins A, C, D and K. These fat soluble vitamins help to prevent teeth and gum decay by eliminating bacteria in the mouth and teeth which cause them. Vitamin K works with these vitamins to eradicate these bacteria.

Pumpkin leaf

Many Nigerians eat pumpkin leaves. Some drink the juice to improve blood count because of the high iron content. Pumpkin leaves are as endowed as potato leaves in vitamins and minerals which confer several health benefits. In the 1980s, I wondered if pumpkin leaves would not be rich sources of Zinc, which is plentiful in pumpkin fruits. That was when pumpkin seeds became popular as dietary sources of Zinc for Benign Prostate Hyperplasia(BPH) and inflammation of the prostate gland. If the fruit can be a Zinc provider, why not the leaves?, I wondered. I was right on the mark. Every 100grams of pumpkin seed hold about 7.99mg of Zinc, whereas every 100grams of pumpkin leaf stocks about 22.3mg of Zinc. Many people who eat pumpkin leaves do not know what good they do themselves because the human body requires Zinc for more than 250 of its activities. The potato obliges 0.35mg in every 100grams. Potato leaf gives 0.3mg of Zinc or three per cent of daily requirement. While potato leaf may not rank high as pumpkin leaf in terms of Zinc supply, it makes up with seven phenolic compounds just as pumpkin leaf. Additionally, potato leaf provides five Chlorogenic acids. Chlorogenic acids lower blood concentrations of glucose, which means they help the burning of blood sugar and, thereby, check diabetes. This is why potato leaf may be combined with pumpkin leaf in a potato tuber diet or any carbohydrates-laden diet. Potato leaf powder is, therefore, recommended for diabetics and people who wish to lower their blood glucose levels either as a tea or a food supplements. This is good news as we pick out nutrients everyday from various food sources. Although from Zinc, I need to mention that potato leaf offers 30mg of Calcium(or 3% of daily value), 25mg of Magnesium(7%), 47mg of Phosphorus(7%), 37mg of Potassium(7%) and 55mg of Sodium(5%).

Google tells us we can obtain a higher Zinc value for potato leaves harvested from Zinc enriched soils. The only problems with that will be that the Vitamin C content will be high, Tyrosine and Phenolic levels in the tuber will reduce. Just as humans exhibit Zinc deficiency in various ways, potato leaves also do. The leaves grow smaller and stunted, deformed with inward folds. In the middle, the leaves may spot greyish brown to bronze blotches and all over, later on. Since researchers have been suggesting that Polyphenols are like the enrichers and activators of plant nutrients and their antioxidants, including Zinc, in the case of potato leaf, it is heart warming to note that several experiments have shown no fewer than seven Polyphenolic compounds and five Chlorogenic acids are present in potato leaves.

Zinc in leaves

Here is where we are heading……Zinc, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Phosphorus, all very important for health, but more specific for today, Zinc. With Zinc presence in potato and pumpkin leaves…..what makes the powders of these leaves regular features on my dinning table.

Zinc

This macromineral which the average adult human requires at about 15mg everyday is wonderful for radiant health in many respects. Matted hair is a sign of Zinc deficiency. In other words, Zinc promotes heathy hair. Zinc plays a crucial role in functions of the central nervous system. A flood of Zinc during epilepsy or seizures, for example may upset this system as a deficiency of the mineral, causing neurodegenerative conditions. Zinc deficiency in the brain have been linked as well to such mental disorders as Schizophrenia, a condition in which the challenged person does not think straight, always fearful, misbehave due to faulty perceptions and withdraws from relationships.

Night blindness……may be a sign of Zinc deficiency. In other words, Zinc promotes healthy vision. If we didn't realise that Vitamin A promotes healthy vision, we should not at least guess when we see babies taken to hospital till they are about five years old for periodic sublingual dosing with Vitamin A to avert vision challenges. But of what value is the Vitamin A in the eyes of everyone if the eyes can hardly use it in the absence of Zinc? Zinc is highly concentrated in the eye. It has been suggested that Zinc deficiences in the eye, along with other nutrient deficiences, causes cataract of the eye lens and changes at the back of the eye where images are registered on the optic nerve. My generation of children and young adults enjoyed Zinc Lozenges which we chewed and let slowly trickle down the throat to offset cough and sore-throat. We also knew about Calamine Lotion which our mothers draped our bodies with at the slightest sing of measles or other dangerous skin eruptions. Zinc is one of the dominants ingredients in Calamine Lotion.

Zinc is important for growth and fertility…….Zinc deficiency causes stunted growth. It may make the ovaries and the testes under-function. It helps to maintain the lining of reproduction tracks. Being alkaline and antioxidants, it protects the sperm against acidosis and free radical attacks. Adequate Zinc blood levels support the production of healthy cells. There is evidence of testicular degeneration in Zinc deficient in male. Rexadams reports in his Miracle Medicine Foods that, in a popular Egyptian study, boys and girls who came to puberty with underdeveloped male organs and breasts were given Zinc food supplements for three months. At the end of the study, they not only grew taller, they achieved as well big and longer organs and bigger breasts. They also grew taller. Alone or along with such herbs of Vitex, Dong Qual, Black Cohosh, Peruvian Macca and Ashwa Ghandah, Zinc has helped many women correct hormone imbalances which may cause conception delays or sustenance of pregnancy or period pains and premenstrual syndrome. For men, Zinc diet supplement has helped to increase sperm count, improve sperm morphology and motility and overcome acidic passages in a woman's reproductive channels which may kill off the sperm.

Prostate gland…

Men who face prostate gland challenges may be helped with Zinc supplements. The Prostate gland is believed to be the largest store house of Zinc in the body. Zinc must accompany the sperm with an alkaline and antioxidants semen environment. It also checks an enzyme in the prostate gland called 5-Alpha Reductase, from becoming too garulous as it were in its own functions there. Overactivity of this enzyme may overstimulate prostatic cells to overgrow and cause prostate gland enlargement. Zinc stocks in the gland may reduce for various reasons and pay the way for this misnomer. If the body is becoming acidic due to acidic diet, stress, negative emotions or umbrilled sexual engagements and consequent Zinc losses through ejaculations, Zinc levels in the prostate gland may reduce. This is if the diet does not bring more into the pantry. In such a situation, 5-Alpha Reductase may have a free rein in the conversion of Testosterone, the male hormone, into DihydrotestosteroneIHYDRO TESTOSTERONE(DHT) a powerful agent. This is why in cases of hormone fuelled prostate gland, doctors prefer to surgically removed the testes to reduce the amount of testosterone in the system. Happily, nowadays, the knowledge of the place of Zinc in these matters is growing.

It is in the activity of the immune system that Zinc again reveals its value. Many people do not know they have a gland called the Thymus and of its role in the defence of their bodies. The Thymus is behind the breast bone. It produces a Zinc dependent nonapeptide enzyme called Thymulin. The job of Thymulin is to complete the development and maturation of T-cells and Natural killer cells(NK) of the immune system. In many Zinc deficient middle-aged persons, the Thymus gland, located behind in the sternum, between the lungs, may have shruken to about a quarter of its natural size. That means restrained capacity in the maturation of T-Lymphocytes, and, immune responses in a way. The good cheer is that two months of Zinc supplementation often regularises Thymus gland size and capacity.

Other uses

Zinc deficiency causes poor wound healing. Thus, Zinc supplementation before and after surgery is advisable. Ulcers may accompany use of anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-histamines. Thus, Zinc as a part of the protocols is not out of place for healing ulcerations. Dr. F. Bathmanghelidy showed the importance of Zinc to the immune system when he used it to kill the once feared Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV) in test tubes. He believed there was no HIV but cells which lack Zinc and the amino acid cysteine. So when he added both to cultured so-called HIV cells, and they reverted to normal cells, Zinc and cysteine, like Selenium, joined HIV therapy protocol. Diabetics and sufferers from Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA) and urinary excrete the pancreas requires a lot of Zinc and make Insulin replenishment and lower high blood cholesterol. Zinc improves libido in men and women. A deficiency in pregnant women may cause low birth weight, pregnancy related problems such as spontaneous abortions or low progesterone levels, an invitation to cravings for sweet and salty foods. Diminished taste and smell acuity also goes back to Zinc. People with low stomach acids who cannot easily digest Zinc, such as old people, may profit from Chelated Zinc. This type of Zinc is attached to another substance which makes Zinc easily soluble and which also attaches to other minerals, including heavy metals. Chelated Zinc is known for removing heavy metals from the organs and the cells to prevent damage to them by this metals.

I would like to wrap it up with the voice of Dr Robert Atkins, who lived ahead of his time as I always say, because his prescriptions as far back as when he documented some of them in one of his books, Dr. Atkins Vital-Nutrient Solution, are being validated everywhere on the globe today, after much detours from nutritional medicines. His books are well recommended by this column for the health libraries of serious health seekers. Hear Dr. Atkins, for example, in respect of Zinc and Neurological Illnesses:

'As part of my introduction to nutritional medicine, Dr. Carl Pfeiffer taught me that Zinc (along with its supporting mineral, Manganese) is the essential treatment for such serious psychiatric disorders as schizophrenia and clinical depression. He saw schizophrenia as a 'dysperception syndrome' caused by biochemical imbalances. Hearing voices, for example, was simply a flawed perception that often could be eliminated by giving Zinc, Manganese and B-vitamins. A Zinc deficiency, we now recognise, can be implicated in a whole range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, dyslexia, acute psychosis, dementia, anorexia nervosa, attention deficit disorder and depression.

Zinc supplements may help to prevent Alzheimer's disease. The presence of the Zinc-dependent thymus hormone, thymulin, is almost undetectable in people with Alzheimer's, implying that a Zinc deficiency plays a role in the disease's onset'.

Conclusion

How else can I conclude all of this but to say (1) our knowledge of Zinc has grown beyond the use of Zinc Lozenges for cough and sore-throat (2) Zinc has also gone beyond use in Calamine Lotion for skin challenges (3)Zinc is that multipurpose mineral which we must seek from foods, from soil that has not been depleted of it and, if we suspect Zinc is gone from the soil, from Zinc supplements of salts.

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.