- - European weblog on food, health and environment
News - Week 43 - 2008
Why binge drinking is bad for your
bones
Studies in recent years have demonstrated that binge drinking can decrease bone mass and
bone strength, increasing the risk of osteoporosis. Now a Loyola University study has
found a possible mechanism: Alcohol disturbs genes necessary for maintaining healthy
bones. The findings could help in the development of new drugs to minimize bone loss in
alcohol abusers and in those who don't abuse alcohol but are at risk for osteoporosis.
This is a clip from a David Icke
Documentary called "Freedom Road". This video is PUBLIC DOMAIN. Share it freely.
Tiny particles of sand are strewn on a smooth disk and subjected to vibrations being
passed into the surface, they immediately begin to take form and arrange into a multitude
of geometrically perfect designs. Some variations of these vibrations create known
geometric patterns such as hexagons (honeycombs), pentagrams, crosses, spirals, and many
other infinite combinations. The amazing patterns found on animals and insect wings are
easily explained in this simple experiment. Sound and vibration give birth to form. In one
particular vibratory sequence, opposite oscillations were resonated though the disk - the
sand particles then condensed upon other, rolling into spheres, and then the smaller of
the spheres began to revolve around the larger spheres. This is the portrait of our
universe. Zoom into our cellular and atomic structure and it is found there as well.
Interesting. This is a small clip from David Icke's Freedom Road.
Download the complete video at
www.theinfovault.net
How eating fruit and vegetables can
improve cancer patients' response to chemotherapy
The leading cause of death in all cancer patients continues to be the resistance of tumor
cells to chemotherapy, a form of treatment in which chemicals are used to kill cells. A
study by UC Riverside biochemists reports that ingesting apigenin -- a naturally occurring
dietary agent found in vegetables and fruit -- improves cancer cells' response to
chemotherapy. Apigenin localizes tumor suppressor p53, a protein, in the cell nucleus -- a
necessary step for killing the cell.
A new relationship between brain
derived neurotrophic factor and inflammatory signaling
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine, the Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the University of Colorado
Denver School of Medicine have shown that the development of epilepsy in adult rats is
linked to functional changes in the expression of alpha 1 containing GABA-A receptors.
Life exists at the edge of chaos, where small changes can have striking and unanticipated
effects, and major stimuli may go unheard. But there is no space for ambiguity when the
brain needs to transform head motion into precise eye, head, and body movements that
rapidly stabilize our posture and gaze; otherwise, we would stumble helplessly through the
world, and our vision would resemble an undecipherable blur.
Salk researchers successfully
reprogram keratinocytes attached to a single hair
The first reports of the successful reprogramming of adult human cells back into so-called
induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which by all appearances looked and acted liked
embryonic stem cells created a media stir. But the process was woefully inefficient: Only
one out of 10,000 cells could be persuaded to turn back the clock. Now, a team of
researchers led by Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte at the Salk Institute for Biological
Studies, succeeded in boosting the reprogramming efficiency more than 100 fold, while
cutting the time it takes in half. In fact, they repeatedly generated iPS cells from the
tiny number of keratinocytes attached to a single hair plucked from a human scalp. Their
method, published ahead of print in the Oct. 17, 2008 online edition of Nature
Biotechnology, not only provides a practical and simple alternative for the generation of
patient- and disease-specific stem cells, which had been hampered by the low efficiency of
the reprogramming process, but also spares patients invasive procedures to collect
suitable starting material, since the process only requires a single human hair.
"Having a very efficient and practical way of generating patient-specific stem cells,
which unlike human embryonic stem cells, wouldn't be rejected by the patient's immune
system after transplantation brings us a step closer to the clinical application of stem
cell therapy," says Belmonte, PhD., a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory and
director of the Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, Spain.Keratinocytes form the
uppermost layer of skin and produce keratin, a tough protein that is the primary
constituent of hair, nails and skin. They originate in the basal layer of the epidermis,
from where they move up through the different layers of the epidermis and are eventually
shed.
Children are exposed to a wide range of environmental threats that can affect their health
and development early in life, throughout their youth and into adulthood. Writing in a
forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Environmental Health scientists from the
World Health Organization and Boston University suggest that it is time for both
industrialized and developing countries to assess the environmental burden of childhood
diseases with the aim of improving children's environments.
Mediator in communication between
neurons and muscle cells found
A missing piece of the puzzle of how neurons and muscle cells establish lifelong
communication has been found by researchers who suspect this piece may be mutated and/or
attacked in muscular dystrophy.
Silencing a protein could kill
T-Cells, reverse leukemia
Blocking the signals from a protein that activates cells in the immune system could help
kill cells that cause a rare form of blood cancer, according to physicists and oncologists
who combined computer modeling and molecular biology in their discovery.
U of MN study shows link between
gene variations and cancer survival
Scientific research shows that certain genes can influence a person's likelihood to
contract particular diseases, cancer for example. New research at the Masonic Cancer
Center, University of Minnesota demonstrates that genetic markers may also show a person's
likelihood to survive the disease.
Study shows how antibiotic sets up
road block to kill bacteria
Scientists have taken a critical step toward the development of new and more effective
antibacterial drugs by identifying exactly how a specific antibiotic sets up a road block
that halts bacterial growth. The antibiotic, myxopyronin, is a natural substance that is
made by bacteria to fend off other bacteria. Scientists already knew that this antibiotic
inhibited the actions of an enzyme called RNA polymerase, which sets gene expression in
motion and is essential to the life of any cell. But until now, researchers did not know
the mechanism behind how the antibiotic actually killed the bacteria. Key to investigating
this mechanism is the use of the powerful imaging technique X-ray crystallography, which
allows researchers to see the fine details of the complex between the antibiotic and its
target. In the case of myxopyronin, the antibiotic binds to RNA polymerase in a way that
interferes with the enzyme's ability to use DNA to start the process of activating genes
so they can make proteins. "This is the first antibiotic that we know that inhibits
polymerase before it even starts RNA synthesis," said Irina Artsimovitch, a coauthor
of the study and an associate professor of microbiology at Ohio State University.
Scientists unlock secret of death
protein's activation
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a previously undetected trigger
point on a naturally occurring "death protein" that helps the body get rid of
unwanted or diseased cells. They say it may be possible to exploit the newly found trigger
as a target for designer drugs that would treat cancer by forcing malignant cells to
commit suicide.
Dr. Barry Sears (Author of the Zone Diet)
has a new book "Toxic Fat--When Good Fat Turns Bad". Watch the interview
conducted by Michael Sylvester (Exercise Physiologist)as he asks probing questions
regarding why Dr. Sears believes Obesity is a Cancer and why Eating Less, Exercising More
May Not Work!!!
* Being overweight or obese is not
necessarily your fault, but rather is a reflection of "adverse interaction of your
genes with radical changes that have taken place in the American diet over the past 25
years."
* "Everything you have heard about the `cause' and the `cure' for the current obesity
epidemic is probably dead wrong."
* Obesity is a form of cancer driven by inflammation.
* Some extra body fat can be good.
* Lean doesn't always mean a person is healthy.
* Eating less and exercising more may not work.
* Toxic Fat Syndrome is caused by diet.
* Results from a changed diet will occur within 30 days.
* Diet must include low fat protein, low glycemic carbohydrates, and high dose fish oil.
* Super fish oil contains GLA and will slow the rate of aging.
This video answers the question: "How
often should I breastfeed my baby?
Gene find sheds light on motor
neuron diseases like ALS
Scientists have identified a gene in mice that plays a central role in the proper
development of one of the nerve cells that goes bad in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or
Lou Gehrig's disease, and some other diseases that affect our motor neurons.The study is
the result of a collaboration by scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center
who normally focus on the eye, working together with a developmental neuroscientist at
Harvard who focuses on the cerebral cortex. The work appears in the Oct. 23 issue of the
journal Neuron. The work centers on corticospinal neurons, crucial nerve cells that
connect the brain to the spinal cord. These neurons degenerate in patients with ALS, and
their injury can play a central role in spinal cord injury as well. These are the longest
nerves in the central nervous system – nerves sometimes several feet long that run
from the brain to the spinal cord. As the ends of the nerves degenerate, patients lose the
ability to control their muscles. The team led by Lin Gan, Ph.D., of Rochester and Jeffrey
D. Macklis, M.D., D.HST, of Harvard showed that a protein known as Bhlhb5 is central to
how the brain's progenitor cells ultimately become corticospinal motor neurons, one type
of neuron that deteriorates in ALS. The same group of neurons also degenerates in patients
with a rare neurological disease known as hereditary spastic paraplegia. The work by the
Harvard and Rochester scientists marks an important step in scientists' understanding of
how stem cells in the brain eventually grow into the extraordinary network of circuits
that make up the human nervous system. Understanding how the body determines the destiny
of stem and progenitor cells is crucial if physicians are to ultimately use the cells to
create new treatments for motor neuron diseases like ALS and HSP, as well as other
conditions such as Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and spinal cord injury. Macklis'
team is a world leader in discovering how the brain determines the destiny of its cells.
The process is a bit like what happens on a construction site, where a foreman taps the
expertise of a variety of workers – carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers, and so on
– as needed to build a given structure. In the brain, teams of molecular signaling
molecules are brought together to create nerve cells out of raw material where and when
needed. Hundreds of such signaling molecules are brought together instantly and
continually to allow the brain to create the nerve cells it needs for growth and
development. "How does the brain take a broad class of neurons and decide which ones
to send to the spinal cord, or which will connect to our visual centers?" said
Macklis, who is director of the Center for Nervous System Repair at Massachusetts General
Hospital and at Harvard.
Consortium unravels genetic picture
of lung cancer
A study seeking possible cancer genes elucidated the mutations and the genetic pathways
activated in the most common form of lung cancer – lung adenocarcinoma – and
could lead to improved diagnosis and treatment, said Dr. Richard Gibbs, the director of
the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center. The center played a major
role in the project led by the National Human Genome Research Institute. In the report
that appears in the Oct. 23 issue of the journal Nature, a national consortium of
researchers called the Tumor Sequencing Project identified 26 genes that play a
significant role in the development of lung adenocarcinoma as well as cellular pathways
involved in the lung cancer. The analysis, involving 188 patients, more than any previous
study, allowed scientists to find mutations associated with sub-types of the lung cancer
– such as those among non-smokers. Lung adenocarcinoma kills an estimated 1 million
people worldwide each year. As many as 10 percent of people with the disease are
non-smokers. It is one of the deadliest cancers in men and women with only about 15
percent of those whom it strikes surviving five years.
Scientists Enhance Immune System
Attacks on Cancer
Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have tweaked, prodded, and pushed immune
system cells into successfully attacking tumors in laboratory and animal studies. They say
their new strategy could prove to be safer than some treatments now being used to
stimulate cancer immunity in humans. In an Early Edition issue of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published online on October 20, 2008, the scientists
describe how they used multiple tactics to rev up both innate and adaptive immunity to
enhance the body's ability to fight cancer. "The problem with cancer is that it
becomes part of what the immune system identifies as 'self' and there are ways the body
learns to tolerate 'self' to prevent immune attack," says the study's senior
investigator, Linda Sherman, a professor in the Scripps Research Department of Immunology.
"Hitting it with these new tools basically gets the immune system to pay attention to
the cancer, and go after it. She continues, "What is needed is effective and
non-toxic immunotherapy for cancer patients, and we believe this work provides a
foundation for that. The concepts we have shown are directly translatable to human
therapy."
Okinawa has one of the highest life
expectancy rates in the world. It is one of the first places we studied to learn how their
lifestyle, diet and culture makes them live longer. Dan Buettner introduces us to the
history of this magnificent island.
The New Brain Science of Cognitive
Enhancement: Future ...
Learn from Dr. Trevor Robbins, Professor of
Cognitive Neuroscience at Cambridge University, U.K., about new therapies for
schizophrenia, Alzheimer's Disease, and ADHD using cognitive enhancement drugs. Dr.
Robbins goes into fascinating detail about how drugs such as Ritalin, atomoxetine and the
new class of ampakines can actually improve patients' performance on cognitive tests.
Recorded at the Staglin Music Festival for Mental Health 2008.
Friends of Orphans: Healing the Wounds of
War 2008 Harriet Tubman Reintegration Award Winner. Friends of Orphans (FRO) in northern
Uganda is a lifeline for former child slaves who were abducted by the Lord's Resistance
Army and forced to commit atrocities in their own communities. These former child soldiers
have survived the unimaginable. FRO starts with the basic food and medical care before
moving on to educational and vocational help.
In order to get the public on our side, we
need to use the scientific as well as the moral argument against animal experiments. The
moral and the scientific argument complement each other very powerfully. The moral
argument is best conveyed by images of animals used in experiments. Animal experiments
represent one of the most grotesque of blunders in medical history – let us get
rid of them and replace them with good science. Good science should be species specific,
should do no harm and be evidence based. With the ending of animal experimentation, a
great evil will be lifted from the earth, which will have untold and far-reaching benefits
for health and the life on this planet.
ADHD appears to increase level of
nicotine dependence in smokers
Young people with ADHD are not only at increased risk of starting to smoke cigarettes,
they also tend to become more seriously addicted to tobacco and more vulnerable to
environmental factors such as having friends or parents who smoke. The report from Mass.
General Hospital reseachers also found that individuals with more ADHD-related symptoms,
even those without the full syndrome, are at greater risk of becoming dependent on
nicotine than those with fewer symptoms.
Gene therapy restores vision to
mice with retinal degeneration
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have used gene therapy to restore useful
vision to mice with degeneration of the light-sensing retinal rods and cones, a common
cause of human blindness. Their report, appearing in the Oct. 14 Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, describes the effects of broadly expressing a
light-sensitive protein in other neuronal cells found throughout the retina. “This is
a proof of principle that someday we may be able to repair blindness in people with
conditions like retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration,” says Richard Masland,
PhD, director of the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory in the MGH Department of
Neurosurgery. “There are several limitations we need to overcome before we can begin
clinical trials, but I’m optimistic that this work may someday make a big difference
for people who otherwise would have no vision at all.” The study was designed to
investigate the effect of expressing the light-sensitive protein melanopsin in retinal
ganglion cells. These specialized neurons receive light signals from the rods and cones
and carry those signals into the brain via the optic nerve, which is formed from the
cells’ axons. Melanopsin is usually produced in a subset of cells that are involved
with establishing circadian rhythms but not with vision. The MGH team used the standard
viral vector adeno-associated virus to deliver the gene encoding melanopsin throughout the
retinas of mice whose rod and cone photoreceptors had degenerated from lack of a crucial
protein.
Researchers Examine Evolution of
Genes that Trigger the Body’s Immune Response to Viral Infection
Virginia Commonwealth University Institute of Molecular Medicine researchers have traced
the evolutionary origin of two genes that serve as primary cellular sensors of infection
with RNA viruses, such as influenza, poliovirus, West Nile virus, and HIV, which may
ultimately provide researchers with insight into a possible new pathway for the
development of innate immunity. Recent studies by other investigators have provided
information on exactly how humans respond to virus infection and the role of innate
immunity in protection from viral pathogenesis. Induction of innate immunity is closely
associated with the production of type I interferons. Interferons are a class of proteins
that are secreted by the body in response to a viral infection such as rhinovirus, the
cause of the common cold. In the study, published online in the Early Edition of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of October 20-24, the VCU team
reported that melanoma differentiation associated gene-5 (MDA-5) and retinoic acid
inducible gene-I (RIG-I) originated specifically in mammals. These genes induce the
production of type I interferons.
The Effect of Gamma Waves on
Cognitive and Language Skills in Children
New studies conducted by April Benasich, professor of neuroscience at Rutgers University
in Newark, and her colleagues reveal that gamma wave activity in the brains of children
provide a window into their cognitive development, and could open the way for more
effective intervention for those likely to experience language problems. “Research
into the adult brain has shown that gamma activity is the ‘glue’ that binds
together perceptions, thoughts and memories,” notes Benasich. “Little research,
however, has been conducted into the development of gamma activity in the infant brain and
its possible connection to cognitive and language skills.” Benasich and her research
team are the first to look at “resting” gamma power in the frontal cortex, the
“thinking” part of the brain, in children 16, 24 and 36 months old. In an
article published online and in an upcoming issue of Behavioral Brain Research, Benasich
offers significant new insight into the likely role gamma activity plays in supporting
emerging cognitive and language abilities during the first 36 months of life. Gamma waves
are fast, high-frequency, rhythmic brain responses that have been shown to spike when
higher cognitive processes are engaged. Research in adults and animals suggests that lower
levels of gamma power might hinder the brain’s ability to efficiently package
information into coherent images, thoughts and memories. However, until now little has
been known about the developmental course of gamma power in children.
A rise in carbon emissions is not the only threat to the planet. Changes to the nitrogen
cycle, caused in large part by the widespread use of fertilizers, are also damaging both
water quality and aquatic life. These concerns are highlighted by Professor Grace Brush,
from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA, in her historical review1 of landscape
changes around Chesapeake Bay, a large estuary on the Atlantic coast of the USA.
U of Minnesota study is the first
to show direct link between health-related behaviors and grades
ack of sleep, excessive television/computer screen time, stress, gambling, alcohol and
tobacco use and other health-related issues are taking a toll on college students'
academic performance, according to a study released by the University of Minnesota Boynton
Health Service."Our study shows that there is a direct link between college students'
health and their academic achievement. This is the first time that anything like this has
been published where Grade Point Average is linked to all these behaviors," said Dr.
Ed Ehlinger, the director and chief health officer of the University of Minnesota Boynton
Health Service. Today's report, "Health and Academic Performance: Minnesota
Undergraduate Students," is part of one of the most comprehensive studies of college
students' health in the nation. About 24,000 students from 14 Minnesota colleges and
universities were randomly selected to participate in this study and 9,931 completed the
2007 College Student Health Survey Report. The results only include undergraduate students
from two-year and four-year institutions. All five University of Minnesota campuses were
included in the survey.
Chronic inflammation can help
nurture skin cancer, study shows
Inflammation, a frontline defense against infection or disease, can help nurture skin
cancer, researchers have found. IDO, an enzyme that works like a firefighter to keep
inflammation under control, can be commandeered to protect early malignant cells, say
Medical College of Georgia researchers studying an animal model of chronic inflammation
and skin cancer. "Inflammation should really help prevent a tumor," says Dr.
Andrew Mellor, director of the MCG Immunotherapy Center and Georgia Research Alliance
Eminent Scholar in Molecular Immunogenetics. In fact, there is strong evidence that
inflammation triggers the immune response. "You want a good immune response; this is
what protects you from pathogens," he says. "In this case, it's an unfortunate
exploitation by malignant cells."
Conventional wisdom has been that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – a common virus
that causes infection in the lungs – comes and goes in children without any long
lasting impact. A study conducted in mice by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers,
however, suggests that RSV may hide in the lungs even after other symptoms abate,
ultimately resurfacing to cause recurrent wheezing and chronic airway disease. “This
research suggests that there’s a potential new mechanism for asthma related to viral
infections in children that could be associated with RSV,” said Dr. Asuncion Mejias,
assistant professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern and senior author of a study
available online and in the Nov. 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
“These findings could aid in the development of preventive and therapeutic
interventions for children with recurrent wheezing due to a virus such as RSV.”
3-D Doppler Ultrasound Helps
Identify Breast Cancer
Three-dimensional (3-D) power Doppler ultrasound helps radiologists distinguish between
malignant and benign breast masses, according to a new study being published in the
November issue of Radiology. "Using 3-D scans promises greater accuracy due to more
consistent sampling over the entire tumor," said lead author, Gerald L. LeCarpentier,
Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Radiology at University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor. "Our study shows that 3-D power Doppler ultrasound may be useful in the
evaluation of some breast masses."
New candidate genes for
schizophrenia identified in collaborative study
Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disease characterized by disorganized behavior,
delusions and hallucinations. Sadly, there is no clear understanding of its cause. Now, in
a collaborative study, UCLA and Dutch researchers have identified three new candidate
genes for schizophrenia that may contribute to a better understanding of how the disease
evolves.Reporting in the October issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, Roel A.
Ophoff, an assistant professor with the Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics at the Semel
Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, and his colleagues examined the
genetic makeup of 54 Dutch patients diagnosed with deficit schizophrenia, a particularly
severe form of the disease that is both chronic and debilitating.
Physical decline caused by slow
decay of brain's myelin
Reporting in the online version of the journal Neurobiology of Aging, Dr. George
Bartzokis, professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human
Behavior at UCLA, and his colleagues compared how quickly a group of males ranging in age
from 23 to 80 could perform a motor task and then correlated their performances to their
brains' myelin integrity. The researchers found a striking correlation between the speed
of the task and the integrity of myelination over the range of ages. Put another way,
after middle age, we start to lose the battle to repair the myelin in our brain, and our
motor and cognitive functions begin a long, slow downhill slide. The myelination of brain
circuits follows an inverted U-shaped trajectory, peaking in middle age. Bartzokis and
others have long argued that brain aging may be primarily related to the process of myelin
breakdown.
Exposing chicks to maternal stress
leads to long-term reproductive success
The question arises because it is widely accepted that exposure to maternal stress during
pre-natal development can have negative impacts on offspring following birth. To examine
why a stressed mother would allow this to happen, evolutionary physiologists Oliver Love
and Tony Williams examined how offspring exposure to the maternally-derived stress hormone
corticosterone affect maternal fitness in free-living European starlings (Sturnus
vulgaris). They experimentally increased yolk levels of corticosterone to mimic the
"signal" offspring receive indicating they have a low quality mother. They then
paired corticosterone-exposed hatchlings with experimentally manipulated low quality
mothers to examine how these mothers fared in raising stress-exposed young compared with
"normal" young.
Birth control has long-term effect
on hormone exposure
Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine may be one step closer to
understanding why past oral contraceptive use dramatically lowers the risk of ovarian and
uterine cancers later in life. While studying the effect of post-menopausal dietary soy
consumption on estrogen metabolism in cynomolgus monkeys, Latanya M. Scott, Ph.D.,
discovered that monkeys who had been given birth control earlier in life had a reduced
amount of estrogen excreted in their urine. The research was done in collaboration with
Xia Xu, Ph.D., and Timothy Veenstra, Ph.D. at Science Applications International
Corporation-Frederick, Inc., in Frederick, Md., who have developed novel methods for
analysis of urinary estrogens. The discovery was particularly noteworthy because it was
found three years after oral contraceptive treatment was stopped, roughly the equivalent
of a decade of life in a human. While researchers have known for many years that past oral
contraceptive use significantly lowers the risk of ovarian and uterine cancers later in
life, this new observation in monkeys may shed light on the mechanism behind the
cancer-protective effect of the treatment. Past oral contraceptive use appears to result
in a long-term change in the way the monkeys' bodies process hormones. While researchers
don't yet understand the precise mechanism by which hormone levels are being affected,
they do know that both the level of estrogen in the blood and the amount of estrogen being
excreted in urine are lowered with past oral contraceptive use, which may mean that the
oral contraceptive use is somehow leading to a diminished synthesis of estrogen.
Trevor Shaw, Principal Ergonomist, explains
how bad posture contributes to health problems including back pain. He describes how to
improve your workplace health.
Low-carb diets alter glucose
formation by the liver
A new study shows that a low-carbohydrate diet changes hepatic energy metabolism. When
carbohydrates are restricted, the liver relies more on substances like lactate and amino
acids to form glucose, instead of glycerol. These findings are in the November issue of
Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American
Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The article is also available online
at Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). Over the past 30 years, the U.S.
population has reduced its fat intake, and increased its consumption of carbohydrates.
During the same time period, obesity has been rising along with the prevalence of
metabolic liver disease in which fatty deposits in the liver can lead to inflammation,
fibrosis and cirrhosis. Some evidence has suggested that a high carbohydrate diet leads to
fat formation in the liver, although confirming the association has been difficult. To
better understand hepatic energy production and glucose formation among various types of
diets, researchers led by Jeffery Browning of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center measured the sources of hepatic glucose and TCA cycle flux in weight-stable
subjects, and in subjects following carbohydrate- or calorie-restricted diets.They
recruited 14 subjects whose BMI fell between 25 and 35, and divided them into two groups
of seven, matching them for age, BMI, gender and ethnicity. They also included seven lean
subjects (BMI <25) to act as a weight-stable comparison group. The high-BMI groups followed either a low-carbohydrate or a low-calorie diet for fourteen days, while the weight-stable group continued their regular diet. All subjects then underwent an overnight metabolic study in which the researchers simultaneously assessed the metabolic pathways of hepatic glucose production and the TCA cycle. In the weight-stable group, who consumed carbohydrates as a significant proportion of their diet, the TCA cycle alone provided sufficient energy to drive glucose formation. "This was not the case in individuals undergoing carbohydrate restriction," the authors report. Carbohydrate restriction increased the rate of glucose formed using lactate or amino acids (GNGpep). "This suggests that in fasted human subjects undergoing weight loss, the elevated gluconeogenesis associated with carbohydrate restriction is driven by substrates such as lactate or amino acids," the authors report. In spite of this, TCA cycle flux in the low-carbohydrate group was similar to the low-calorie group, indicating similar rates of energy generation.
Social environment may play a greater role in the disparity between the numbers of African
Americans living with hypertension compared to non-Hispanic whites with the disease. A
study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that the
disparity was substantially reduced when comparing groups of African Americans and
non-Hispanic whites living in similar social environments. The results are published in
the November 2008 print edition of Social Science and Medicine. “Our study found that
nearly 31 percent of the hypertension disparity among African Americans and non-Hispanic
whites is attributable to environmental factors,” says Roland James Thorpe Jr., PhD,
lead author of the study and an assistant scientist with the Bloomberg School’s
Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions. “These findings show that ethnic
disparities could be linked to a number of factors other than race. Careful review of
psychosocial factors, stress, coping strategies, discrimination and other personality
characteristics could play a large role in reducing or eliminating the disparity.”
Contact lenses increase the risk of infection with pathogenic protozoa that can cause
blindness. New research, published in the November issue of the Journal of Medical
Microbiology, shows that a high percentage of contact lens cases in Tenerife are
contaminated with Acanthamoeba that cannot be killed by normal contact lens solution.
Major research initiatives are needed immediately to assess the possibility that using
cellular phones may lead to an increased risk of brain tumors, according to an editorial
in the November issue of the journal Surgical Neurology
(http://www.surgicalneurology-online.com), published by Elsevier. Recent studies have
raised concerns that long-term exposure to electromagnetic fields (ELF) from cell-phone
handsets can increase the risk of brain cancers and other nervous system tumors, according
to the editorial by Dr. Ron Pawl, a neurosurgeon at Lake Forest Hospital, Lake Forest,
Ill. He calls for collaborative research initiatives to determine whether the link between
cell phones and brain cancer is real. Scientists have long been concerned over the
possibility that ELF exposure may increase the risk of brain cancers. Until recently,
however, research has shown no clear link between cell phone use and brain tumors. Earlier
this year, a Swedish research group published an epidemiologic study suggesting an
increased risk of brain cancers (gliomas) as well as acoustic nerve tumors (neuromas) in
people using cell phones for ten years or longer. Tumors were more likely to develop on
the same side as the cell phone was used. Other studies by the same group suggested that
the use of wireless handsets in cordless home phones posed the same risk. After reviewing
the evidence, one author even suggested that long-term cell phone use is "more
dangerous to health than smoking cigarettes." Other recent commentators have raised
similar concerns.
The typical Western diet — fried foods, salty snacks and meat — accounts for
about 30 percent of heart attack risk across the world, according to a study of dietary
patterns in 52 countries reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart
Association.The Prudent diet was associated with a lower heart attack risk than the
Oriental, researchers said. “The objective of this study was to understand the
modifiable risk factors of heart attacks at a global level,” said Salim Yusuf,
D.Phil., the study’s senior author.
Mercury pollution causes immune
damage to harbor seals
Methylmercury (MeHg), the predominant form of mercury found in the blood of marine mammals
and fish-eating communities, could be more damaging to seals than has previously been
thought. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health
shows that MeHg harms T-lymphocytes, key cells in a seal's immune system. Similar results
were also found for human lymphocytes. Mercury exposure is known to occur as a result of
man-made pollution and natural events such as volcanic eruptions. According to the lead
author of this study, Krishna Das of the Université de Liège, Belgium, "Mercury is
known to bioaccumulate and to magnify in marine mammals, which is a cause of great concern
in terms of their general health. In particular, the immune system is known to be
susceptible to long-term mercury exposure". In order to determine the scale of this
problem, the authors carried out analysis of the blood mercury levels of harbour seals
caught in the North Sea and tested the effects of MeHg in lab experiments.
Chest scans may help monitor spread
of head and neck cancer in high-risk patients
Among high-risk patients with head and neck cancer, chest computed tomography (CT) may
help detect disease progression involving the lungs, according to a report in the October
issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.Developing a second, distant cancer (a metastasis or a new primary cancer) is an
important factor affecting survival of patients with head and neck squamous cell
carcinoma, which accounts for most head and neck cancers, according to background
information in the article. The most common site at which such patients develop new
metastases is the lungs, with an incidence of 8 percent to 15 percent. Chest X-rays are
the most commonly used screening tool for detecting these malignancies but do not always
identify early abnormalities.Yen-Bin Hsu, M.D., of Taipei Veterans General Hospital,
Taiwan, and colleagues evaluated 270 screening chest CT scans performed over 42 months in
192 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The scans were categorized as new
cases, follow-up cases or recurrent cases, and results classified as normal or abnormal.
Study examines link between
beta-blocker use and risks of death and heart attack after surgery
Some patients who received beta-blockers before and around the time of undergoing
non-cardiac surgery appear to have higher rates of heart attack and death within 30 days
of their surgery, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Surgery, one
of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Non-melanoma Skin Cancer Linked to
Risk of Other Cancers
A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that people with a
history of basal or squamous cell skin cancer (also known as non-melanoma skin cancer)
were at an increased risk of developing other cancers later on. The research suggests
genetic factors may put some people at a higher cancer risk than others. "There
appears to be a heightened overall cancer risk associated with non-melanoma, and the
evidence seems to indicate that genetic factors are involved," said lead researcher
Anthony J. Alberg, PhD, from the Medical University of South Carolina.
How neuronal activity leads to
Alzheimer's protein cleavage
Amyloid precursor protein, whose cleavage product, amyloid-b, builds up into fibrous
plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, jumps from one specialized membrane
microdomain to another to be cleaved, report Sakurai et al in the Journal of Cell Biology.
Knocking the 'sox' off cancer and
lymphatic disorders
Researchers have identified a gene critical for the development of the lymphatic system in
a discovery that will have implications for treatment of cancer and lymphatic disorders
and other diseases. The team, led by Professor Peter Koopman and Dr Mathias François from
the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland (UQ), found that a
single gene - Sox18 - triggers the development of the lymphatic vessels. "The rate at
which new lymphatic vessels can form is thought to be one of the key factors in
determining how quickly a tumour can spread and thus how severely a patient will be
affected by cancer," Professor Koopman said. "The lymphatic vessels also play a
central role in maintaining fluid balance in the body and carrying infection-fighting
white blood cells, so greater knowledge about the lymphatic system can offer insights and
suggest therapies for a range of diseases."
Researchers uniting to fight
diabetes and heart disease
Australia’s expanding waistline is putting us at increased risk of chronic diseases
such as diabetes and heart disease. The Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute has been
formed from two Australian research bodies to tackle these emerging threats. Research
Australia CEO Rebecca James welcomed the launch of the merged organisation today in
Melbourne. “Diabetes costs Australia $12.4 billion a year. Cardiovascular disease
adds $4 billion a year to health care costs alone, with billions more lost in
productivity,” Ms James said.
Researchers identify Achilles heel
of common childhood tumor
Researchers have discovered a mechanism for the rapid growth seen in infantile hemangioma,
the most common childhood tumor. The tumors, which are made up of proliferating blood
vessels, affect up to 10 percent of children of European descent, with girls more
frequently afflicted than boys. The growths appear within days of birth—most often as
a single, blood-red lump on the head or face—then grow rapidly in the ensuing months.
The development of infantile hemangioma slows later in childhood, and most tumors
disappear entirely by the end of puberty. However, while the tumors are benign, they can
cause disfigurement or clinical complications. This new research offers hope for the most
severe of these cases, pointing at a potential, non-invasive treatment for the
condition.These findings, the result of a collaboration between scientists from Harvard
Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, and
the de Duve Institute at the Catholique University of Louvain in Brussels, will be
published October 19 in Nature Medicine. In this study, researchers looked at tissue
isolated from nine distinct hemangioma tumors. They found that the endothelial cells that
lined the affected blood vessels were all derived from the same abnormal cell. Like other
tumors, hemangiomas are caused by the abnormal proliferation of tissue. Since no other
type of cell within the tissue displayed the same self-replicating tendency, the
scientists concluded that the endothelial cells were the source of the tumors' growth.
Gladstone scientists identify role
of fatty acids in Alzheimer's disease
Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and the University of
California have found that complete or partial removal of an enzyme that regulates fatty
acid levels improves cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.
According to various studies undertaken by researchers from the University of La Rioja,
exposure to light reduces the quality of cauliflower, broccoli, chard, leeks and
asparagus, which have been processed for sale. Their latest work has been published in the
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, and shows that the useful life of chard is
reduced by 11 days if it is exposed to light instead of keeping it in the dark, even
though it has been covered in the best protective wrap. “We have established that
there is a negative effect on the sensory quality of minimally processed vegetables (MPV)
if they are exposed to light. These are foods that are ready for immediate consumption
after being washed, peeled, cut and wrapped in protective polymeric wraps ”, Susan
Sanz explains to SINC and who is from the Department of Food Technology at the University
of La Rioja. Her team has shown that the useful life of leeks is reduced from
approximately 26 to 18 days if they are exposed to light, broccoli from 14 to 11 days, and
cauliflower from 11 to 3 days. According to Sanz, “the colour is affected in
particular in non-pigmented green vegetables (cauliflower, asparagus, leeks and the white
part of the chard), whereas in green vegetables (broccoli, leeks and the green part of the
chard) the sensory attribute which suffers the most deterioration is texture”.
Exposure to low doses of mercury
changes the way the arteries work
An international team of researchers has shown that mercury is another important factor in
cardiovascular disease as it changes the way arteries work. One of the possible sources of
exposure of humans to mercury is by eating contaminated fish.The main effects of mercury
affect the central nervous system and renal function. Over recent years the scientific
community has reported an increase in cardiovascular risk following exposure to mercury,
“although the mechanisms responsible for this increase are not completely
known”, state the authors of the new study that has been published recently in the
American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology explain.
Many people have noticed that as soon as you start using a skin cream, you have to
continue with it; if you stop lubricating, your skin becomes drier than when you started.
And now there is research to confirm for the first time that normal skin can become drier
from creams. Izabela Buraczewska presents these findings in the dissertation she is
publicly defending at Uppsala University in Sweden on October 24. The findings in Izabela
Buraczewska’s dissertation confirm what many have suspected: creams can make the skin
drier. She has studied what happens in the skin at the molecular level and also what
positive and negative effects creams have on the skin. Her research shows that differences
in the pH of creams do not seem to play any role. Different oils were also studied in a
seven-week treatment period, but no difference was established between mineral oil and a
vegetable oil. Both oils resulted in the skin being less able to cope with external
stresses. Treatment with a more complex cream compound, however, resulted in more
resistant skin with no signs of dryness.
The research, from Dr. Dennis Slamon, chief of oncology at the University of California,
Los Angeles, suggests that the most widely used chemotherapy drugs may not benefit most
women. Although the research hasn’t been published or peer-reviewed yet, it is
expected to be soon.
