Resveratrol Helps The Heart Says New University Study
Resveratrol Keeps Hearts Young
June 4, 2008
Resveratrol, A natural compound found in red wine, may protect the heart against the effects of the aging process, researchers said on Tuesday.
In their study, mice were given a diet supplemented with the compound known as resveratrol starting at their equivalent of middle age until old age. These mice experienced changes in their gene activity related to aging in a way very similar to mice that were placed on a so-called calorie restriction diet that slows the aging process by greatly cutting dietary energy intake. Most striking was how the resveratrol, like calorie restriction, blocked the decline in heart function typically associated with aging, according to Tomas Prolla, a University of Wisconsin professor of genetics who helped lead the study. Much as Spaniard Juan Ponce de Leon once searched for the mythical fountain of youth, researchers now are seeking ways to extend the quality and length of human life. In some studies, animals given a diet with greatly reduced caloric intake have lived longer than animals with normal diets. But perpetual hunger is a steep price to pay for greater longevity, some researchers say. Resveratrol, found in abundance in grapes and in red wine, has drawn a lot of interest from scientists and some companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, which in April said it would pay $720 million to buy Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc, a company that is developing drugs that mimic the effects of resveratrol. Some studies have shown that in high doses, resveratrol extended the life span of fruit flies and worms and prevented early death in mice fed a high-fat diet. In this study, mice were given relatively low doses compared to the earlier research, and still experienced important aging-related benefits, the researchers said. The researchers began giving the resveratrol diet to the mice when they were 14 months old — their middle age — and followed the animals until they were about 30 months old. The researchers then conducted tests on cardiac function and on gene activity related to aging. “”Resveratrol at low doses can retard some aspects of the aging process, including heart aging, and it may do so by mimicking some of the effects of caloric restriction, which is known to retard aging in several tissues and extend life span,”" added Prolla, whose study was published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE. Using a method that permits simultaneous analysis of thousands of genes at the same time, the researchers found a huge overlap in the genes whose activity were changed by resveratrol and caloric restriction. They looked at the heart, brain and muscles, and said that the effect of resveratrol was strongest in the heart but did prevent some aging-related changes in the other tissues. Just because mice had these benefits does not mean people also would, although Prolla said, “”I think there’s a high likelihood that our findings are applicable to humans.”" He said he expected to see a lot of studies in the coming years on the effects of resveratrol supplementation in people.
Zinc
Zinc helps children thinkApril 10, 2005 Eleven-year-olds that took zinc supplements for five days each week had better mental performance after three months than their classmates, said researchers yesterday.
The children taking an extra 20mg of zinc responded more quickly and accurately on memory tasks and with more sustained attention than classmates who did not take the mineral.
Beneficial effects were seen regardless of the youngsters’ previous zinc status, said the researchers led by Dr James Penland from the US Agricultural Research Service’s Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center in North Dakota.
The findings, presented at the Experimental Biology meeting this week, suggest that there could be new demand for fortified foods and supplements for this age group.
Although zinc nutrition has been related to motor, cognitive and psychosocial function in very young children and adults, this is the first study of its effect in adolescents.
Zinc deficiency is not uncommon, even in nations such as the United States, and the risk is particularly high in adolescents, said Dr Penland, because they are undergoing rapid growth and often have poor eating habits. They may not consume enough zinc-rich foods like red meat, fish and grains.
Moreover the current recommended daily allowance is only 15mg for adults in the US, and up to 9.5 mg a day for men and 4-7 mg a day for women in the UK.
In the study, 111 girls and 98 boys consumed four ounces of fruit juice containing either 0, 10 or 20 mg of zinc gluconate each school day for 10 to 12 weeks. Students, their parents and teachers did not know who was receiving which, if any, zinc supplementation.
At the beginning and end of the study, students performed a battery of tasks designed to measure mental and motor skills, like attention, memory, problem-solving and hand-eye coordination.
Students, their parents, and teachers filled out questionnaires about the students’ mental, physical and social abilities and skills, school performance, and problems in any of these areas to provide a measure of psychosocial function.
Blood samples measured zinc status before and after the treatment.
Compared to the students who received no additional zinc, students who consumed an additional 20 mg zinc each day decreased reaction time on a visual memory task by 12 per cent versus 6 per cent; increased correct answers on a word recognition task by 9 per cent versus 3 per cent; and increased scores on a task requiring sustained attention and vigilance by 6 per cent versus 1 per cent.
Those who received only 10 mg a day, the US Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for this age group, did not significantly improve performance, however.
Supplementation at either the 10 mg or 20 mg did not appear to improve motor and social skills, although girls receiving the placebo experienced a 10 per cent increase in conduct problems during the study while the behaviour of girls receiving any level of zinc supplementation remained unchanged, reported the researchers.
Previous studies have shown that zinc is needed for growth and immune function and may be important for eye-hand coordination and reasoning in very young children. It also appears to influence memory, muscle strength and endurance in adults.
Resistence to Antibiotics on Rise in US
By Serena Gordon HealthScoutNews Reporter FRIDAY, April 19 (HealthScoutNews) — In the wake of a new report that the strep throat germ is now showing significant antibiotic resistance in the United States, many people are wondering if they — or their children — are at risk. They just might be, unless all of us our dependence on antibiotics, says Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology at New York University Medical Center and Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City. “”Antibiotic resistance is more prevalent than you’d think,”" Tierno adds. There are two main reasons for it: Overprescription of antibiotics by doctors and the use of antibiotics in livestock, he says.
“”One hundred and fifty million prescriptions are written annually,”" Tierno says. “”Ninety million of those are for antibiotics, and 50 million of those are unnecessary.”" Many antibiotic prescriptions are written for sore throats, but only a small percentage of them are caused by Group A streptococci bacteria, which causes strep throat. The germ can also cause sinus, ear and skin infections. Left untreated, strep can progress into scarlet fever or the more serious rheumatic fever, with potentially fatal consequences. Young children are especially vulnerable to such complications. Strep throat is commonly treated with antibiotics, such as penicillin, or erythromycin for those who are allergic to penicillin. In yesterday’s New England Journal of Medicine report, researchers from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh studied a group of 100 area school children from kindergarten through eighth grade. They found that Group A streptococci was resistant to erythromycin in 48 percent of the throat cultures taken between October 2000 and May 2001. According to the researchers, this is the first time such a high level of resistance to erythromycin has been found in the United States. Similarly high levels of resistance have been reported in other countries, however, Tierno says. In Japan and Finland, he says, resistance to Group A strep has been reported at levels exceeding 50 percent. The good news, according to Tierno, is that in Japan the rate of resistance has fallen as health officials there decreased their use of erythromycin-based antibiotics. By not using these drugs, Tierno explains, the germs become vulnerable to them again. The Pittsburgh researchers followed the children for three years, and during the first two years, while they did find cases of strep, they found no signs of antibiotic resistance. It wasn’t until the third year that the antibiotic-resistant strain appeared. Tierno says this finding clearly points to overuse of antibiotics. “”What causes drug resistance is the inappropriate use of antibiotics by physicians,”" he says. But patients are partly to blame as well, he adds, because they push for inappropriate prescriptions when they’re ill. Dr. James Musser is chief of the Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Hamilton, Mont. He says, “”From a national perspective, we need to be very concerned about increasing antibiotic resistance in any pathogen.”" And, he adds, we need a study that looks at a greater geographical area to assess how widespread the problem [uncovered in Pittsburgh] might be. In the meantime, he says, “”It’s important for patients to realize that not every upper-respiratory infection is of bacterial origin and to listen closely to the advice of the treating physician.”" That means patients shouldn’t badger their doctor for antibiotics unless they’re deemed necessary.
Learn About Grains
Grains By Jennifer A. Wickes
The proper term, in reference to grains, is cereal grains. The word “”cereal”" comes from Ceres, a pre-Roman goddess of agriculture. Cereal includes any plant from the grass family that produces an edible seed.
Cereals are inexpensive, have an available source of protein and the highest concentration of carbohydrates compared with any other food. Varieties Barley
Barley dates back to the Stone Ages. It is used in recipes such as bread, cereal, and soups. Most barley in the western world is now used for two reasons, for making beer and whiskey, and for animal fodder. Bulgur Wheat
Originating from the Middle East, this is wheat kernels which have been steamed, dried and crushed. Couscous
A staple in North Africa. Couscous is derived from semolina. Can be cooked and added to milk to make a porridge, fruits and honey can be added to make a dessert or you can mix a dressing into it and eat it like a salad. Kasha
This is roasted buckwheat grains. Millet
Millet is a staple grain for over a 1/3 of the world’s population, particularly in Asia and Africa. The United States uses millet almost exclusively for fodder and birdseed. Millet is rich in protein with a bland flavor, so it takes well to be cooked with other foods and spices. You prepare millet like rice, in boiling water, to make into a hot cereal or some sort of pilaf. Ground millet is used in puddings, breads and cakes. You can find millet in natural food stores, as well as Asian markets. Oats
In the 1700s, England would feed oats to their horses, yet the Scottish used to eat oats every day! Polenta / Cornmeal
Dried corn kernels that have been ground to a powder. Quinoa
A staple to the Incas. Contains the most protein than any other grain. It also contains eight essential amino acids. Quinoa is also high in unsaturated fats and lower in carbohydrates. You need to cook Quinoa like rice, and it has been compared in flavor to couscous. Can be found in natural food stores. Rice
Rice has been cultivated throughout Asia since at least 8000 BC. There are also over 7000 varieties. Rice contains iron, calcium and B- complex vitamins. Risotto
An Italian rice which is cooked as rice and can be served with a variety of meats and vegetables. Italian Arborio rice is usually used in the preparation of risotto. Rye
Rye contains less gluten that any other flour, therefore, all rye breads tend to be dense. There are a variety of different ryes, all of which are found at Natural Food Stores: medium, light, dark and pumpernickel. Sorghum
The third largest grain in the entire world, the US only use it as fodder. The only thing the US use sorghum for when speaking of human consumption, sorghum molasses, which is used to sweeten baked goods. Spelt
A cereal grain native to southern Europe, where it has been used for thousands of years. It has a nutty flavor, and can be used in lieu of wheat flour in recipes if a person is gluten intolerant. This grain can also be found in Natural Food Stores. Teff
A cereal grain native to Ethiopia, but is currently being harvested in Idaho. This grain has a nutty flavor, is high in protein, carbohydrates, calcium and iron. It can be found in Natural Food Stores. Triticale
Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye. It has more protein and less gluten than wheat. It comes in berries, flakes and flour. You can find this in Natural Food Stores. Triticale is usually used to make casseroles, hot cereals and pilafs. Due to the low gluten content, breads made from this grain make loaves to be very heavy, therefore using
Scientists Learning More Why Aging Cells Fail to Repair Themselves
Why Aging Cells Lose Ability to Repair Themselves Study finds defect that could lead to new treatments for disease
FRIDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthWire) — A defect in the body’s self-defense mechanism against age-related genetic mutations has been identified by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
The finding may help explain why the aging human body can’t defend itself against DNA damage in the mitochondria, the power plants that fuel the growth and activity of cells.
Finding ways to help aging cells repair their own damaged DNA could possibly lead to ways to prevent or treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other health problems caused by genetic defects.
As cells age, they experience continuous genetic mutations, some of which are caused by the harmful byproducts of the oxygen we inhale. But the body’s repair mechanism is constantly at work fixing this DNA damage. However, this repair activity becomes less efficient as cells age.
In this study, the researchers analyzed why this DNA repair activity becomes less effective in the mitochondria as cells age. They found a biochemical “”roadblock”" that prevents much of the repair enzyme activity from reaching the site of the DNA damage in the mitochondria of aging cells.
In old cells, about half of the repair enzyme activity can’t reach the mitochondria DNA to repair it.
The study was published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Science Begins to Add Weight to CLA
The flurry of activity in CLA applications is being backed by a growing body of research to support the ingredient, particularly for its effects on weight loss. A review published in this month’s Journal of Nutrition supports conjugated linoleic acid’s action on weight management, concluding that it is at least in part due to regulation of glucose and fatty acid uptake and metabolism.
Conjugated linoleic acid is the common name of a group of fatty acids found in dairy products and meat. CLA isomers have been studied for their action on an impressive range of diseases, including cancer, atherosclerosis, obesity, and immune function. However as scientists begin to reveal their effects on reduction of body fat, food makers are increasingly looking at the ingredient for the valuable slimming market.
In Canada, where many of the patents for CLA are held, the dairy industry has long been studying the production of high-CLA milk. In Europe, a research centre in Ireland is studying the compound which could add significant value to its dairy industry, while in Italy, Techno Foods introduced a strawberry flavoured yoghurt naturally rich in CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) and omega-3 fatty acids this summer.
Specific CLA isomers have been shown to prevent the development of obesity in certain rodent and pig models and this has been attributed mainly to trans-10, cis-12 CLA, both in vivo and in vitro, write the University of North Carolina researchers in the review. However, CLA’s ability to modulate human obesity remains controversial because data from clinical trials using mixed isomers are conflicting.
In vitro studies by the team demonstrated that while trans-10, cis-12 CLA prevents triglyceride accumulation in human cells, cis-9, trans-11 CLA increases triglyceride content. The team concluded that the isomers’ regulation of glucose and metabolism must partly explain its mechanism on human fat.
The news is also good for supplement marketers who recently learned of research carried out by Cognis backing the long-term safety of its Tonalin CLA.
Brain Cell Growth Boosted By DHEA Supplements
‘Anti-aging’ hormone DHEA Found to Boost Brain Cell Growth August 24, 2004
Human neural stem cells, exposed in a lab dish to the steroid DHEA, exhibit a remarkable uptick in growth rates, suggesting that the hormone may play a role in helping the brain produce new cells, according to a new study published this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The new work, conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides some of the first direct evidence of the biological effects of DHEA on the human nervous system, according to Clive Svendsen, the study’s senior author and an authority on brain stem cells at UW-Madison’s Waisman Center.
“What we saw was that DHEA significantly increased the division of the cells,” said Svendsen, a UW-Madison professor of anatomy and neurology. “It also increased the number of neurons produced by the stem cells, prompting increased neurogenesis of cells in culture.”
DHEA or dehydroepiandrosterone is among the most abundant naturally occurring steroids in the blood of young humans, but levels decline with age and its physiological effects are poorly understood.
A synthetic form of the hormone is sold over-the-counter as a dietary supplement in the US, thought to have anti-aging properties and to offer prevention against cancer and heart disease, Alzheimer’s and other diseases. But scientists know relatively little about the drug and its basic biological effects on humans.
“We don’t know much about DHEA, but this new work adds a piece to the puzzle,” said Svendsen, who conducted the study with colleagues Masatoshi Suzuki, Lynda S. Wright, Padma Marwah and Henry A. Lardy, all of UW-Madison. “This is the first real evidence of DHEA’s effects on human neural cells.”
Svendsen and Suzuki carried out the experiments by growing human fetal neural stem cells in culture. The cells form aggregates known as ‘neurospheres,’ which were exposed to a cocktail of DHEA and growth and inhibitory factors, and observed a 29 per cent increase in new brain cells compared to cells grown in a medium with the same factors, but without DHEA.
“We saw such a pure effect of DHEA,” Svendsen said.
“It’s the only steroid we tested that had such a direct effect on stem cell growth and new neuron formation,” according to Suzuki.
The new work is important because it provides a direct window to the controversial hormone’s effects on critical human cells. Similar studies have been conducted in mice and rats, but those models have shortcomings that are difficult to address, Svendsen notes.
“There are previous studies in rats that suggest DHEA is neuroprotective, but the problem with DHEA in rats is that it is not a major metabolite in that animal so its effects may not be the same as those seen in humans,” he said. According to Lardy, metabolic products of DHEA hormone have also been shown to aid memory retention in old mice.
Despite hints from the studies in rodents that DHEA may play a role in enhancing the brain and memory, the new findings reported in the PNAS article were a surprise, he said.
“We assumed the compounds we were testing would be more active than DHEA in brain stem cells,” Lardy explains. In previous studies, Lardy, with Wisconsin biochemistry colleagues James Ntambi and Brian Fox, showed that DHEA blocked a step in fat synthesis.
“The effects of DHEA on brain stem cells is a completely new finding,” said Lardy. “The problem of whether DHEA itself is having this effect, or if there’s another metabolite of the hormone involved, still exists.”
One of the intriguing aspects of the new work, according to Svendsen, is the possibility that DHEA could have some positive effects on the adult human brain.
It is known that DHEA amounts fall progressively during aging, and reduced levels of DHEA have been reported in both adolescents and adults with major depressive disorders. And given the fact that adult humans have neural stem cells that continue to make new neurons in some parts of the brain, there is a possibility that DHEA could play a role in moderating the genesis of new brain cells.
Fish Oil Supplements Can Be Purer Than Fish
Fish Oil Supplements Can Be Purer Than Fish
University of Southern California School of Pharmacy Detects No PCBs in Fish Oil Supplements in Health Products for Americas Top Retailers.
CARSON, Calif., Jan. 9 — As more Americans eat fish to protect themselves against heart disease and other illnesses, the scientific community debates whether toxins found in fish can do more harm than good. A recent study to be published in the journal Science found that farm raised salmon contained high levels of pollutants like PCBs and pose a health risk to humans. While the debate will continue on acceptable levels of PCB consumption in fish, consumers should understand that fish oil supplements can be purer than fish and are still safe to take.
Recognizing the serious health risks associated with PCBs found in food, Leiner Health Products asked the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy (USC) to test fish oil supplements it sells to the nation’s top retailers. Using analytical procedures approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), USC randomly analyzed fish oil supplements from 18 different lots. No PCBs, dioxins or heavy metals such as lead, cadium, mercury or arsenic were detected in any of the samples.
“We used EPA’s best method (Gas Chromatography-Electron Capture Detector (GC-ECD) to test Leiner’s fish oil capsules for PCBs. This is a complex, confirmed method of analysis that has been used for over 30 years. Our analysis supports the American Heart Association’s findings of the health benefits from consuming fish oil in the form of dietary supplements. Our research proves that people can take fish oil supplements without risking their health due to possible environmental contaminant intake,” remarked Dr. Roger Clemens, Director of Analytical Research & Services, USC School of Pharmacy.
Additional samples of Leiner’s fish oil capsules were also independently evaluated by Covance Laboratories in Madison, Wisconsin. Those findings were consistent with the USC results.
Some people believe fish oil supplements contain higher concentrations of PCBs than fish but this is not true. In order to produce the purest possible fish oil, Leiner uses a process called molecular distillation to remove pollutants. This process is similar to a water purification process that traps virtually all contaminants, resulting in a “”clean”" oil.
Molecular distillation is an excellent way to rid fish oil of PCBs, other toxins and heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadium and arsenic to below detectable levels. While it is impossible to remove 100% of all impurities, Leiner fish oil processed using molecular distillation exceeds purity standards set by California’s Proposition 65 requirements and the EPA requirements, which are much more rigorous than FDA.