Health and Corona News 10.05.20-10.10.20

Stomach cancer cells halted with whole tomato extracts
Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University October 10, 2017

If you’re concerned about stomach cancer or your overall digestive health … this news will be of great interest to you. The Mediterranean diet has become regarded as highly beneficial to overall health, maintaining ideal weight and a reduced risk of cancer plus many other chronic disease conditions. One of the staples of this diet is tomatoes, especially the low-acid varieties that are grown in Italy and its impact on cancer risk is quite interesting.

Recent research by the Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa. has confirmed that two tomato cultivars grown in Southern Italy inhibit both malignant features and cellular growth in stomach cancer cells.

Tomato extract changes stomach cancer cell behavior, leading to cancer cell death
For the study, whole tomato lipophilic extracts were analyzed for their ability to fight and diminish neoplastic features of stomach cancer cells. Both the Corbarino and San Marzano tomato varieties were found to inhibit the cloning behavior of malignant cancer cells as well as impede their growth.

Also involved in this research were scientists from The National Cancer Institute of Naples, Pascale Foundation, CROM and the National Research Council of Pozzuoli, Italy.

When tomato extracts were used on stomach cancer cells, key processes related to cell development, migration and proliferation were inhibited. The tomato extracts ultimately induced apoptosis, or cancer cell death in cancer cells. The study results were published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology.

The whole tomato found to contribute to its anticancer properties
Significantly, the tomato extracts contributed to the movement of cancer cells away from the primary tumor, which resulted in their death. These anticancer effects weren’t related to just one particular compound such as lycopene. Instead, the whole tomato seemed to contribute to its anticancer effects.

Previous studies had suggested the carotenoid compound lycopene, which creates the orange-red color of tomatoes, is what fights cancer cells. While lycopene may still be a major factor, the entire tomato seemed to have a highly potent effect against cancer.

Stomach cancer is the fourth most common cancer type in the world and the most common among older adults. About 60 percent of individuals diagnosed with gastric cancer are age 65 or older.

Its main causes are Helicobacter pylori infection, genetic predisposition and poor eating habits. Salty and smoked foods seem to be among the most harmful in terms of triggering or contributing to the onset of stomach cancer.

The risk of stomach cancer may be reduced by eating tomatoes
In light of this study, researchers are particularly excited about the possibility of analyzing and using different tomato cultivar extracts for different positive health effects. Some species work better than others against different phases of cancer cell growth, and this information could be applied in a targeted way to help promote healing.

The researchers believe whole tomato extracts could be used generally in the treatment and prevention of stomach cancer. In the meantime, eating more tomatoes and other organic fruits and vegetables can help anyone to cultivate better health with an anticancer lifestyle.

Curcumin ameliorates heat-induced injury through NADPH oxidase-dependent redox signaling and mitochondrial preservation
Uniformed Services University October 2 2020

Nws reporting from Bethesda, Maryland, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase and the mitochondrial electron transport chain are the primary sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Previous studies have shown that severe heat exposure damages mitochondria and causes excessive mitochondrial ROS production that contributes to the pathogenesis of heat-related illnesses.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, “We tested whether the antioxidant curcumin could protect against heat-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and skeletal muscle injury, and characterized the possible mechanism. Mouse C2C12 myoblasts and rat flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) myofibers were treated with 5 mu M curcumin; adultmale C57BL/6J mice received daily curcumin (15, 50, or 100mg/kg body weight) by gavage for 10 consecutive days. We compared ROS levels and mitochondrial morphology and function between treatment and nontreatment groups under unheated or heat conditions, and investigated the upstream mechanism and the downstream effect of curcumin-regulated ROS production. In C2C12 myoblasts, curcumin prevented heat-induced mitochondrial fragmentation, ROS overproduction, and apoptosis (all P< 0.05). Curcumin treatment for 2 and 4 h at 37 degrees C induced increases in ROS levels by 42% and 59% (dihydroethidium-derived fluorescence), accompanied by increases in NADPH oxidase protein expression by 24% and 32%, respectively (all P< 0.01). In curcumin-treated cells, chemical inhibition and genetic knockdown of NADPH oxidase restored ROS to levels similar to those of controls, indicating NADPH oxidase mediates curcumin-stimulated ROS production. Moreover, curcumin induced ROS-dependent shifting of the mitochondrial fission-fusion balance toward fusion, and increases in mitochondrial mass by 143% and membrane potential by 30% (both P< 0.01). In rat FDB myofibers and mouse gastrocnemius muscles, curcumin preserved mitochondrial morphology and function during heat stress, and prevented heat-induced mitochondrial ROS overproduction and tissue injury (all P< 0.05). Curcumin regulates ROS hormesis favoring mitochondrial fusion/elongation, biogenesis, and improved function in rodent skeletal muscle.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Curcumin may be an effective therapeutic target for heat-related illness and other mitochondrial diseases.”

Fighting intestinal infections with the body’s own endocannabinoids
Native chemicals similar to those found in cannabis can inhibit bacterial virulence, study led by UTSW researchers suggests

UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER

DALLAS – Oct. 7, 2020 – Endocannabinoids, signaling molecules produced in the body that share features with chemicals found in marijuana, can shut down genes needed for some pathogenic intestinal bacteria to colonize, multiply, and cause disease, new research led by UT Southwestern scientists shows.

The findings, published online today in Cell, could help explain why the cannabis plant – the most potent part of which is marijuana – can lessen the symptoms of various bowel conditions and may eventually lead to new ways to fight gastrointestinal infections.

Discovered in 1992, endocannabinoids are lipid-based neurotransmitters that play a variety of roles in the body, including regulating immunity, appetite, and mood. Cannabis and its derivatives have long been used to relieve chronic gastrointestinal conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Studies have shown that dysregulation of the body’s endocannabinoid system can lead to intestinal inflammation and affect the makeup of gut microbiota, the population of different bacterial species that inhabit the digestive tract.

However, study leader Vanessa Sperandio, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and biochemistry at UTSW, says it’s been unknown whether endocannabinoids affect susceptibility to pathogenic gastrointestinal infections.

To help answer this question, Sperandio and her colleagues worked with mice genetically altered to overproduce the potent mammalian endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) in various organs, including the intestines. When the researchers infected these animals and their unmodified littermates with Citrobacter rodentium, a bacterial pathogen that attacks the colon and causes marked inflammation and diarrhea, the mutant mice developed only mild symptoms compared with the more extreme gastrointestinal distress exhibited by their littermates. Examination of the mutant animals’ colons showed far lower inflammation and signs of infection. These mice also had significantly lower fecal loads of C. rodentium bacteria and cleared their infection days faster than their unmodified littermates. Treating genetically unmodified animals with a drug that raised levels of 2-AG in the intestines produced similar positive effects.

Sperandio’s team found that increased levels of 2-AG could also attenuate Salmonella typhimurium infections in mice and impede enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli – a particularly dangerous gastrointestinal bacteria that infects humans – in order to express the virulence traits needed for a successful infection.

Conversely, when the researchers treated mammalian cells in petri dishes with tetrahydrolipstatin, a Food and Drug Administration-approved compound sold commercially as Alli that inhibits 2-AG production, they became more susceptible to the bacterial pathogens.

Further experiments showed that 2-AG exerted these effects on C. rodentium, S. typhimurium, and E. coli by blocking a bacterial receptor known as QseC. When this receptor senses the host signaling molecules epinephrine and norepinephrine, it triggers a molecular cascade necessary to establish infection. Plugging this receptor with 2-AG prevents this virulence program from activating, Sperandio explains, helping to protect against infection.

Sperandio notes that these findings could help explain some of the effects of cannabis use on inflammatory bowel conditions. Although studies have shown that cannabis can lower inflammation, recent research has shown that these conditions also tend to have a bacterial component that might be positively affected by plant cannabinoids.

In addition, cannabis compounds or synthetic derivatives could eventually help patients kick intestinal bacterial infections without antibiotics. This could be particularly useful for infections caused by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Sperandio says, which produces a deadly toxin when it’s treated with antibiotics, rendering these drugs not only counterproductive but extremely dangerous. Because many virulent bacteria that colonize areas elsewhere in the body also have the QseC receptor, she adds, this strategy could be used more broadly to fight a variety of infections.

“By harnessing the power of natural compounds produced in the body and in plants,” she says, “we may eventually treat infections in a whole new way.”

Can vitamin D help protect against respiratory virus?
FARS News Agency, October 5, 2020

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble compound made in the skin through the action of sunlight, and is also found in foods such as oily fish. It is chiefly known for building strong bones, but also plays a role in the immune system, including helping to kill virus-infected cells.

Some studies had previously suggested that taking vitamin D tablets wards off respiratory infections like coughs and colds, but in June the UK’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) concluded that the evidence is not strong enough to support such an effect. However, it does advise taking a daily supplement for bone health, as do many other health bodies.

What about covid-19? Several respected researchers have said that vitamin D has potential to protect people from getting being infected with covid-19 in the first place or if they are infected, help to reduce their illness, and some supporting evidence has started to accrue.

However most is in the form of observational studies, which can be misleading because they don’t prove low vitamin D causes infections, just that it correlates with them. For instance, one study to make headlines last week found that people admitted to hospital with covid-19 had half the risk of death if they had adequate vitamin D levels, was of this type.

A third factor could be causing both low vitamin D and susceptibility to the virus, for instance obesity, as the vitamin is stored in fat tissue.

The best way to assess the benefits of vitamin D supplements would be trials giving people with covid-19 the vitamin to see if can help treat their symptoms. One recent such study from Spain found that people in hospital with covid-19 who received high doses of vitamin D were much less likely to need intensive care than those who did not receive it.

However, the study was quite small, involving just 76 people, and there happened to be more cases of high blood pressure in the group that got no vitamin D, which would have made their prognosis worse. But even when the results are corrected for that difference, there was still a large effect, says José Manuel Quesada Gómez at the Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía in Córdoba, Spain, who was involved in the study.

The trial also only tells us that Vitamin D seems to work as a treatment for hospital patients, not that it works as a prevention method for the public. It is promising, but a larger study is needed, says Susan Lanham-New, who is a member of SACN.

Regardless of its impact on covid-19, there is one thing that all experts seem to agree on: most people in temperate climates like in the UKbecome vitamin D deficient over winter, when the sun is too weak to prompt production of the vitamin in the skin. And so, if only to support strong bones, most people should take a standard vitamin D supplement every day, from October onwards in the northern hemisphere.

If people are concerned about coronavirus and want to take double the daily recommended dose, it is unlikely to do harm, says Lanham-New. “The most important thing is to avoid vitamin D deficiency.”

Spinach: good for popeye and the planet
Chemistry experiments show potential to power fuel cells

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

“Eat your spinach,” is a common refrain from many people’s childhoods. Spinach, the hearty, green vegetable chock full of nutrients, doesn’t just provide energy in humans. It also has potential to help power fuel cells, according to a new paper by researchers in AU’s Department of Chemistry. Spinach, when converted from its leafy, edible form into carbon nanosheets, acts as a catalyst for an oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells and metal-air batteries.

An oxygen reduction reaction is one of two reactions in fuel cells and metal-air batteries and is usually the slower one that limits the energy output of these devices. Researchers have long known that certain carbon materials can catalyze the reaction. But those carbon-based catalysts don’t always perform as good or better than the traditional platinum-based catalysts. The AU researchers wanted to find an inexpensive and less toxic preparation method for an efficient catalyst by using readily available natural resources. They tackled this challenge by using spinach.

“This work suggests that sustainable catalysts can be made for an oxygen reduction reaction from natural resources,” said Prof. Shouzhong Zou, chemistry professor at AU and the paper’s lead author. “The method we tested can produce highly active, carbon-based catalysts from spinach, which is a renewable biomass. In fact, we believe it outperforms commercial platinum catalysts in both activity and stability. The catalysts are potentially applicable in hydrogen fuel cells and metal-air batteries.” Zou’s former post-doctoral students Xiaojun Liu and Wenyue Li and undergraduate student Casey Culhane are the paper’s co-authors.

Catalysts accelerate an oxygen reduction reaction to produce sufficient current and create energy. Among the practical applications for the research are fuel cells and metal-air batteries, which power electric vehicles and types of military gear. Researchers are making progress in the lab and in prototypes with catalysts derived from plants or plant products such as cattail grass or rice. Zou’s work is the first demonstration using spinach as a material for preparing oxygen reduction reaction-catalysts. Spinach is a good candidate for this work because it survives in low temperatures, is abundant and easy to grow, and is rich in iron and nitrogen that are essential for this type of catalyst.

Zou and his students created and tested the catalysts, which are spinach-derived carbon nanosheets. Carbon nanosheets are like a piece of paper with the thickness on a nanometer scale, a thousand times thinner than a piece of human hair. To create the nanosheets, the researchers put the spinach through a multi-step process that included both low- and high-tech methods, including washing, juicing and freeze-drying the spinach, manually grinding it into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle, and “doping” the resulting carbon nanosheet with extra nitrogen to improve its performance. The measurements showed that the spinach-derived catalysts performed better than platinum-based catalysts that can be expensive and lose their potency over time.

The next step for the researchers is to put the catalysts from the lab simulation into prototype devices, such as hydrogen fuel cells, to see how they perform and to develop catalysts from other plants. Zou would like to also improve sustainability by reducing the energy consumption needed for the process.

Protective stress response associated with increased iodide levels
Harborview Medical Center, October 07 2020.

Research described on September 30, 2020 in Critical Care Explorations reveals a role for iodide—the free form of the mineral iodine—in the stress response of people and animals.

Mark B. Roth, PhD, and colleagues examined blood samples collected from men and women who had undergone blunt force trauma or sepsis and hibernating artic ground squirrels. They found that plasma iodide increased by 17-fold within two hours of experiencing trauma and by 26-fold in sepsis patients compared to healthy human controls. Ground squirrels undergoing hibernation, which is associated with physiologic stress, had elevations in iodide as well.

In mice, stress was generated by inducing a lack of blood circulation in a hind-limb, which is not a severe enough stress-inducing condition to stimulate an increase in blood iodide. Administering iodide after the injury but prior to allowing blood flow to return resulted in less muscle and heart damage, and a decrease in lung edema in comparison with untreated animals who underwent the same injury. Muscles of the injured hind legs of treated and untreated animals were observed to have higher iodide levels than uninjured hind legs. “The results presented here demonstrate that in response to significant physiologic stress, mammals increase blood iodide and that iodide supplementation improves outcome after injury,” the authors concluded.

“We’ve known for many years that stress-induced inflammation makes injuries even worse,” remarked coauthor Ronald Maier, who is surgeon-in-chief at Harborview Medical Center. “In this study we found that iodide could provide a recyclable, effective and safe way to block damage from excessive inflammation caused by over production of oxygen radicals after injury and provides a potential therapeutic approach to enhance recovery, prevent complications and reduce mortality in severely injured patients. The use of iodide in the clinical setting should soon be moving to clinical trials.”

“Our study suggests that rapid increases of iodide in the blood could represent an ancient response to stress that is shared across animals,” Dr Roth stated. “If we can harness this capability it could transform emergency medicine.”

Zinc is cancer’s worst enemy: This mineral is key to preventing cancer, scientists conclude
University of Texas Arlington, October 3, 2020

Consuming zinc might be something that you only think about when cold season approaches given its stellar performance in keeping the common cold at bay, but its value extends far beyond preventing this relatively innocuous problem to something far more serious: fighting cancer.

Researchers from the University of Texas at Arlington have discovered the important role zinc can play in preventing cancer, especially the esophageal variety. Although past studies had indicated zinc had a protective effect on the esophagus when it comes to cancer, it wasn’t clear why.

A team of researchers led by Associate Professor of Nursing Zui Pan decided to investigate further. They found that zinc has the incredibly useful ability to selectively stop the growth of cancerous cells while leaving normal esophageal epithelial cells intact. The researchers say their finding could help improve treatment for esophageal cancer and even provide some insight into how it might be prevented. Pan pointed out that many cancer patients have a zinc deficiency.

It’s a significant discovery; esophageal cancer is now the sixth-leading cause of cancer death in humans globally, and the average five-year survival rate for those with the disease is less than 20 percent. In 2016, the National Cancer Institute reports that the disease took the lives of 16,000 people in the United States alone.

Next, the researchers would like to study how the signals between zinc and calcium are linked and impact one another in hopes of further refining treatment and prevention strategies.

\Are you consuming enough zinc?

Zinc deficiency is a serious problem. It’s needed for many of the proteins and enzymes in the body, and a lack of zinc can prevent cells from functioning properly, leading to the development of not only cancer but also other diseases. Zinc is also important for immune function and proper wound healing.

Zinc is an essential mineral, which means the body is unable to produce it and people must get it from food to maintain the right amounts. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), adult men need 11 milligrams per day, while women need 8 milligrams. It’s important not to go overboard, however; the NIH reports that zinc toxicity can cause adverse health effects, such as
vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, and nausea.

Some groups are particularly vulnerable to zinc deficiency. For example, people with certain digestive and gastrointestinal diseases can struggle with zinc absorption. Those with chronic liver or renal disease, diabetes, sickle cell disease, and chronic diabetes are also at risk.

Experts say that vegetarians must also make a point of getting enough zinc as this group tends to miss out on some of the best sources of zinc, like meat. Compounding the issue is the fact that vegetarians tend to consume high amounts of whole grains and legumes, which contain phytates that inhibit the absorption of zinc; soaking beans before cooking them can help alleviate this issue to some extent.

Consuming sugary beverages while breastfeeding affects cognitive development in children
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles study shows that juice and drinks with added sugar can affect a child’s cognitive development

CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL LOS ANGELES

A diet high in sugar during adulthood is associated with weight gain, and has also been linked to risk of type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and heart disease. New research shows that when consumed by moms during the breastfeeding period, a high sugar diet can also impact developmental outcomes during infancy.

Michael I. Goran, PhD, Program Director for Diabetes and Obesity at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, has studied how sugar can impact family health. His previous research has shown that moms who consume sugary beverages and juices in the months after giving birth are at risk for weight gain, and may also expose their newborns to these added sugars through breast milk. A new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that consuming these beverages during the breastfeeding period may also lead to poorer cognitive development in children nearly two years later.

The participants were 88 mothers who reported sugary beverages and juices consumed per day during the first month of breastfeeding. Their children were assessed using the Bayley-III Scales of Infant Development at 2 years old. Moms who reported greater consumption of sugary beverages and juices had children with poorer cognitive development scores. The researchers speculated that added sugar from the mom’s diet was passed to their infant through breast milk, and this exposure could conceivably interfere with brain development.

“Breastfeeding can have so many benefits,” says Dr. Goran, “but we’re seeing that breast milk is influenced by what moms eat and drink even more than we realized.” He says that limiting added sugars, found in beverages such as soft drinks, may have benefits not only for moms, but also for babies. “Moms may not realize that what they eat and drink during breastfeeding may influence their infant’s development down the road, but that’s what our results indicate.”

“Ultimately, we want babies to receive the best quality nutrition,” says Paige K. Berger, PhD, RD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow and first author of the study. “Our findings may be used to guide future nutrition recommendations for moms during breastfeeding, to better ensure that babies are getting the right building blocks for cognitive development.”

Curcumin inhibits the primary nucleation of amyloid-beta peptide

Medical University of Sofia (Bulgaria), September 30, 2020

According to news originating from Sofia, Bulgaria, research stated, “The amyloid plaques are a key hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Amyloidogenesis is a complex long-lasting multiphase process starting with the formation of nuclei of amyloid peptides: a process assigned as a primary nucleation.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Medical University of Sofia: “Curcumin (CU) is a well-known inhibitor of the aggregation of amyloid-beta (Ab) peptides. Even more, CU is able to disintegrate preformed Ab firbils and amyloid plaques. Here, we simulate by molecular dynamics the primary nucleation process of 12 Ab peptides and investigate the effects of CU on the process. We found that CU molecules intercalate among the Ab chains and bind tightly to them by hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic, p-p, and cation-p interactions. In the presence of CU, the Ab peptides form a primary nucleus of a bigger size. The peptide chains in the nucleus become less flexible and more disordered, and the number of non-native contacts and hydrogen bonds between them decreases.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “For comparison, the effects of the weaker Ab inhibitor ferulic acid (FA) on the primary nucleation are also examined. Our study is in good agreement with the observation that taken regularly, CU is able to prevent or at least delay the onset of neurodegenerative disorders.”

Acupuncture before surgery means less pain, significantly fewer opioids for Veterans

VA Medical Center of Detroit, October 5, 2020

Veterans who have acupuncture before surgery report less pain and need far fewer opioids to manage their discomfort, according to a randomized, controlled study being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2020 annual meeting. Veterans who received acupuncture also reported they were more satisfied with their pain control than those who did not.

“Six percent of patients given opioids after surgery become dependent on them, and Veterans are twice as likely to die from accidental overdoses than civilians,” said Brinda Krish, D.O., lead author of the study and an anesthesiology resident at Detroit Medical Center, “Clearly it is crucial to have multiple options for treating pain, and acupuncture is an excellent alternative. It is safe, cost effective and it works.”

In the study, both traditional and battlefield acupuncture were used. Traditional acupuncture involves the insertion of very thin needles at specific trigger points around the body to relieve pain. Battlefield acupuncture, developed by a U.S. Air Force doctor to reduce pain without the use of opioids on the front lines, uses tiny needles that are inserted at various trigger points in the ear.

Researchers included two groups of patients treated at John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit. One group received hip replacement surgery and were randomly assigned to either traditional acupuncture or a control group before surgery; and the other included patients undergoing a variety of surgeries (including gallbladder removal, hernia repair, hysterectomy or prostate surgery) who were randomly assigned to receive battlefield acupuncture or to a control group before surgery.

In the first group, 21 patients had traditional acupuncture and 21 were in the control group. Those who had traditional acupuncture consumed an average of 20.4 of morphine milligram equivalent (MME) in the first 24 hours after surgery, while patients in the control group consumed 56 MME, nearly three times as much. Traditional acupuncture patients reported significantly higher satisfaction scores regarding their postoperative pain management 24 hours after surgery (median 8 vs. 5). Patient satisfaction was estimated using a scale (0-10) – with 10 being completely satisfied. Acupuncture patients reported less pain and 14% reported less anxiety.

In the second group, 28 patients received battlefield acupuncture and 36 patients were in the control group. Those who had battlefield acupuncture consumed half as many opioids in the first 24 hours after surgery compared to the control group: 17.4 MME vs. 35 MME. Those who received battlefield acupuncture had significantly lower pain scores and higher patient satisfaction scores (a median of 8 vs. 6) compared to the control group. Only 3% reported nausea and vomiting after surgery, compared to 38% of the control group. Researchers believe nausea and vomiting may have been reduced in the treatment group because some of the acupuncture points in the ear are located near trigger points for the stomach, gall bladder and small intestines.

“Some patients were open to trying acupuncture right away, and others became more interested when they learned more about the risks of opioid use,” said Dr. Krish. “It’s easy, patients love it, it’s not just another medicine and it’s very safe. Because battlefield acupuncture was developed by an armed services doctor, Veterans also were more willing to participate.”

The acupuncture was provided by the study’s principal investigator, physician anesthesiologist Padmavathi Patel, M.D., D.ABA, who plans to use battlefield acupuncture as an additional therapy for pain management for all patients receiving general anesthesia, Dr. Krish said.

Common herbal plants like holy basil leaf and sesame seed have therapeutic effects against inflammation

University of Central Florida, October 6, 2020

In a recent study, researchers at the University of Central Florida evaluated the anti-inflammatory activities of four botanicals widely used as medicines. They reported that extracts derived from holy basil, sesame seeds, long pepper and cubeb pepper can successfully reduce inflammation and prevent other events that could lead to serious diseases.

The researchers discussed their findings in an article published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.

Holy basil, sesame seeds, long pepper and cubeb pepper are potent anti-inflammatory agents

According to the researchers, plant extracts have been gaining traction recently for their potential as anti-inflammatory agents. Holy basil, sesame seeds, long pepper and cubeb pepper are good examples of botanicals with suspected anti-inflammatory activities.

To confirm if they do have the ability to reduce inflammation, the researchers obtained extracts from these four plants and tested their effects on monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs). After exposing MDMs to the extracts for two hours, they subjected the cells to lipopolysaccharide (LPS, a bacterial endotoxin) stimulation for 24?hours and analyzed the expression of pro-inflammatory genes.

The researchers also studied the effects of the four extracts on the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) by enzymatic (myeloperoxidase) and non-enzymatic (copper) reactions. LDL oxidation occurs when bad cholesterol reacts with harmful free radicals, producing oxidized LDL. This type of cholesterol is implicated in atherogenesis — the formation of fatty plaques in the arteries.

The researchers reported that all four extracts reduced LPS-induced inflammation and inhibited LDL oxidation. Using liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry, they analyzed the phytochemical composition of each extract. The following compounds are among the wide range of beneficial chemicals they identified in the extracts:

Short-chain organic acids
Phenolic acids and their derivatives
Piperine and its structural homologues
Eugenol
Rosmarinic acid
Flavonoids and their glucosides

These extracts all have anti-inflammatory properties, according to numerous studies. The researchers believe that their findings could serve as a guide for future studies on natural medicines, especially those that could be useful for consumers and industries that make use of bioactive compounds.

Research suggests that taurine acts in part as a calorie restriction mimetic

Waseda University (Japan), October 5, 2020

According to news reporting from Saitama, Japan, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Calorie restriction (CR) by 30-40% decreases morbidity of age-related diseases and prolongs the lifespan of various laboratory animal species. Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is an important nutrient for lipid metabolism as it conjugates bile acids.”

Financial support for this research came from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Waseda University, “Here, we investigated how taurine supplementation induces effects similar to the CR beneficial effects. Sprague Dawley rats were fed a diet containing different taurine concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0%) to analyze the effects on growth, blood, and hepatic parameters. Rats fed a 5% taurine-supplemented diet showed a significant decrease in visceral fat weight, compared with control rats. Moreover, there were significant decreases in the serum total cholesterol, hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in the taurine-supplemented groups compared with the control group in a dose-dependent manner. These results were associated with decreased mRNA expression of fatty acid synthase, and increased mRNA expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 alpha. C57BL/6 mice were fed a 5.0% taurine-supplemented diet, and their response to 3-nitropropionic acid-induced oxidative stress was analyzed. The rate of weight loss due to oxidative stress decreased and the survival rate significantly increased in the taurine-supplemented groups compared with the control group. Finally, cells were treated with 100 mu m taurine and their resistance to UV-induced oxidative stress was analyzed. We found that the p53-Chk1 pathway was less activated in taurine-treated cells compared with control cells. Furthermore, damage to cells evaluated by oxidative stress indicators revealed a reduction in oxidative damage with taurine treatment.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “These findings suggest that taurine partially acts as a CR mimetic.”

It’s all connected: Your genes, your environment, and your health

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, October 6, 2020

Human health is highly dependent on genetics, yet it is also known to be affected by factors in an individual’s environment—and these days that environment is quite stressful. As we shelter in place amid the coronavirus pandemic, anxiety combined with changes in our routines is driving a significant increase in alcohol consumption, and some are experiencing weight gain. On top of all this, due to recent wildfires, the air in many areas is filled with smoke and hazardous particulate matter.

Long before the events of 2020, scientists were trying to unravel the details of how the separate influences of inheritance and surroundings push and pull against one another to govern traits—such as height, athletic ability, and addictive behavior—and disease risk. Paul Williams, a statistician at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), specializes in investigating the instances where genetics and environment are most closely intertwined. His work focuses on a phenomenon called “quantile-dependent expressivity,” wherein the genes that predispose people to certain traits are amplified by environmental factors.

Now he has published three new studies on alcohol consumption, weight gain, and lung health. Each are published in separate journals, but together they suggest that these facets of health are indeed affected by quantile-dependent expressivity, and indicate that people genetically predisposed to greater drinking, weight gain, and difficulty breathing are particularly at risk in the current environment.

The findings were generated by analyzing datasets from the Framingham Study—a famous, ongoing health and lifestyle study that collects detailed records of diet, exercise, medication use, and medical history from thousands of families. The study was first launched in 1948 by the National Institutes of Health to investigate how lifestyle and genetics affect rates of cardiovascular disease, but the collected data have since been used in thousands of other studies to examine numerous facets of human disease and wellbeing.

Weight gain

Heritability is a term used to define the estimated proportion of a phenotype—the observable characteristics of a trait—that can be explained by genes alone. Past research has shown that there is a large variation in the heritability of body weight: for some individuals, genes appear to account for about 25% of the predisposition to be overweight, while for others, the proportion can be as high as 80%. Many scientists believe that susceptibility genes make some people more prone to weight gain and that environmental factors—including those occurring in utero—trigger the expression of genes that cause weight gain.

After examining Framingham data—including measurements of visceral and subcutaneous fat using CT-scans, which is more precise than simple body mass index (BMI) numbers—Williams found that weight heritability was over three-times greater in offspring who were at the 90th percentile of the body weight distribution than those who were at the 10th percentile.

He said the results are consistent with previous research by others showing that obesity genes have a bigger effect in people in certain lifestyle categories: heavy consumers of fried food, sugar-sweetened beverages, and fatty foods; heavy television watchers; heavy eaters; meal skippers; those who are sedentary; and those who are stressed or depressed.

Williams hopes that this new analysis, recently published in the International Journal of Obesity, will encourage scientists to move toward a new paradigm in studying and treating obesity.

“Different genes and different environmental effects are sometimes interpreted as separate, one-off phenomena, but I think these results suggests that everything is much more interconnected—namely, that seemingly separate factors can all act to increase body weight, and as body weight increases so do the effects of any obesity genes that a person carries,” he said.

Using a statistical approach called simultaneous quantile regression, Williams examined the influence that genes have on alcohol consumption in Framingham participants. His results showed there is indeed an increase in the strength of genetic influence as participants’ consumption levels went up.

According to Williams, scientists have previously found strong links between alcohol consumption and environment, with evidence showing that rural dwellers, those with low socioeconomic status, and adolescents whose peers drink alcohol are more likely to have higher intakes, among other population groups.

The traditional interpretation of gene-environment interaction is that the environment influences gene expression, which in turn produces the phenotype. However, Williams’ work suggests a more complex interaction. “I hypothesize that it is higher alcohol consumption itself, rather than the behavioral and environmental conditions that lead to higher consumption, that accentuates the genetic effects.”

His analysis, “Quantile-Specific Heritability of Intakes of Alcohol but not Other Macronutrients,” was published in the journal Behavior Genetics.

Only a small handful of genes regulating lung health have thus far been identified, making it difficult to provide preventative care for people at higher risk of developing lung (pulmonary) diseases, other than the standard advice of exercise and avoiding tobacco. One benefit of Williams’ statistical approach is that the exact genetic mechanisms do not need to be known in order to calculate the heritability of a trait or traits.

His findings from the Framingham data, published earlier this year in the journal PeerJ—Life & Environment, demonstrated that inherited pulmonary defects had about 50% more of an effect on offspring in the lowest percentile of lung function than those in the highest percentile.

Though the take-home message of not smoking and avoiding airborne pollution as much as possible remains the same, Williams said that the evidence of quantile-dependent expressivity in pulmonary genes stresses the importance of these precautions for anyone who has a family history of pulmonary disease.

Social isolation increases anxiety and asymmetry in brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease

University of Barcelona (Spain), October 3, 2020

Researchers at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have conducted a study which allows estimating the effects of isolation in the current pandemic scenarios in elderly patients with dementia. The findings could serve as a guide to the rethinking of these conditions after the COVID-19 crisis. The study was published in a special edition of Frontiers in Psychiatry dedicated to assessing the effects of the pandemic.

The researchers analyzed the effects of isolation in male mice models suffering from advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease through a series of behavioral tests, which could be compared to several areas found in elderly residence homes. They compared these results with mice models of Alzheimer’s that were not isolated, and with other healthy animal models undergoing a normal aging process. The study was conducted with male mice because they are more affected by COVID-19 and are also the ones to show more deterioration of the neuro-immuno-endocrine system and worse survival conditions when suffering dementia.

The main findings demonstrate that isolation exacerbates hyperactivity up to twice as normal in mice with Alzheimer’s disease, and also causes the appearance of strange behaviors. This increase was demonstrated consistently in the gross motor skills related to the movement of arms, legs, feet or the entire body. However, it also affected fine motor skills, small movements made by hands, wrists, fingers, toes, lips and tongue. The isolated animals showed emotional patterns comparable to anxiety and changes in their stress management strategies.

“The results are concerning, given that anxiety is one of the main neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with dementia, which produces a large burden on the caregiver and, in some cases, makes clinical management a challenge,” says Aida Muntsant, first author of the research, which is included as part of her Ph.D. thesis.

Effects of isolation on memory

The researchers also analyzed the effects of isolation on other neuropathological variables, and obtained different results. “Although the characteristic variables of the disorder, like taupathy, were not modified, others, such as asymmetric hippocampal atrophy, increased with isolation. This dysfunction was recently described in human patients with dementia and modeled here for the first time with animal models of Alzheimer’s disease. The finding is important, given that asymmetry has been linked to greater vulnerability to stress factors,” states Lydia Giménez-Llort, professor in psychiatry and researcher at the INc directing the study.

The study also confirmed that the mice suffering from Alzheimer’s disease lost body and renal mass, effects also observed in COVID-19 patients, although the loss was greater with those in isolation. The loss in spleen mass, an important organ of the peripheral immune system, was only observed in isolated animals.

Rethinking isolation among the elderly

“Thinking of what the post-COVID-19 era will be like for the elderly implies a great deal of effort in redesigning all conditions of life, interventions in care and rehabilitation, and the management of forced solitude as part of new physical distancing measures. Therefore, it is necessary and urgent to estimate the impact these measures will have on the more vulnerable elderly population, such as those suffering from dementia,” the researchers point out.

The study also highlights the need for personalized interventions adapted to the heterogeneous and complex clinical profile of people with dementia, and to consider how all of this affects the obligations of caregivers, whether they be professionals or members of the patient’s family.

Research shows numerous health benefits of Modified Citrus Pectin

Miami Childrens Hospital and Dharma Biomedical, September 29, 2020

New research published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine shows Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP) packs a powerful immune punch. The study uses human blood samples to demonstrate the ability of a specific form of Modified Citrus Pectin to very significantly induce and enhance the benefits of T-cytotoxic cells and human Natural Killer (NK) cells. The NK-cell’s cancer killing activity was demonstrated in live leukemia cancer cells, uncovering yet another mechanism of MCP’s powerful anti-cancer actions. Immune researchers at the Dharma Biomedical LLC (Miami, FL) and the Department of Pathology at Miami Children’s Hospital are excited: “The Modified Citrus Pectin we researched has potential for altering the course of certain viral diseases such as the common cold or other upper respiratory tract viral infections based on the mechanisms of action that were observed in this study,” says lead researcher Steve Melnick. He continues, “we also found that MCP significantly outperformed other known immune enhancing agents such as medicinal mushrooms.” The study includes an analysis performed by the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) that suggests the unique structural components of the MCP induced the selective response in the immune cell subsets.

MCP’s Multiple Cancer-Fighting Properties

This significant increase in T-cytotoxic and NK-cell activation, together with a remarkable increase in NK-cells’ ability to identify and destroy human leukemia cells, demonstrate that the tested MCP is a powerful immune enhancing agent. Specifically, this study highlights MCP’s ability to selectively increase cytotoxic immune activity against cancer and infections. MCP expert Dr. Isaac Eliaz, who is one of the study’s authors, says, “With this new data on Modified Citrus Pectin’s powerful immune effects, together with the extensive research on its ability to block cancer-promoting galectin-3 molecules, we now have a much greater understanding of MCP’s extensive benefits in fighting and protecting against cancer.”

Ongoing Research Explains MCP’s Numerous Health Benefits

Dr. Eliaz says, “as an holistic physician focused on treating cancer and chronic illness, I have been using MCP in my clinical practice for over 15 years. Because Modified Citrus Pectin safely and powerfully addresses so many serious health concerns, it is an ideal tool in integrative medicine. This is particularly true for integrative cancer therapy, where the disease must be attacked simultaneously from multiple angles. By blocking galectin-3′s cancer-promoting effects, reducing inflammation, chelating heavy metals, and — as we now know – providing powerful selective immune benefits including active NK cell induction, MCP is quickly becoming known as one of the most important nutrients in the fight against cancer and other serious health conditions.”

Japanese black vinegar found to be effective against metabolic syndrome

EGAO Health Institute (Japan), October 3, 2020

The Japanese black vinegar known simply as “kurozu” is a mild-tasting vinegar that has been brewed by artisans for more than 200 years in the town of Fukushima, Japan. Also called amber rice vinegar, this condiment is produced by slowly fermenting a mixture of rice and water in black ceramic jars using a microbe called Aspergillus oryzae. This expert fermenter is the same mold used to produce miso, sake and soy sauce, all of which are widely used in traditional Japanese cuisine.

In a recent study, Japanese researchers examined the effect of a dietary supplement containing the fermented product, kurozu, on the accumulation of visceral fat. Visceral fat is the type of fat that builds up in the abdominal cavity and is considered dangerous because of its links to obesity, insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

The researchers reported their findings in an article published in the Japanese Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Supplement containing kurozu can help prevent metabolic syndrome

For their experiment, the researchers recruited 16 overweight or obese participants whose body mass indices (BMI) were equal to or greater than 25 kg/m². They gave the participants a dietary supplement containing kurozu concentrate, which they took every day for eight weeks. Half of the participants received a low-dose supplement (500 mg), while the other half received a higher dose (1,000 mg). The researchers conducted hematological analysis, urinalysis and computerized tomography (CT) scans before and after the intervention.

The researchers found that the supplement containing kurozu significantly decreased visceral fat and systolic blood pressure in the participants who received a higher dose. The same participants also experienced a significant increase in their high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. The researchers noted that the supplement did not cause adverse effects or abnormal hematological values in either group.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that a dietary supplement containing kurozu concentrate can help prevent metabolic syndrome.

Bifidobacteria help manage inflammation

Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera and RUDN University (Russia), October 02 2020.

The October 2020 issue of Anaerobe published the finding of researchers at the I. I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera and RUDN University in Russia of a protein occurring in the probiotic Bifidobacterium longumthat blocks the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a). While inflammation is an essential defense mechanism in the body, an excess such as that which occurs during “cytokine storms” can be damaging and sometimes deadly.

“Bifidobacteria are the prevalent group of bacteria inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of healthy children and amounting to a few percent of the total gut microbiota in adults,” Ilya N. Dyakov and colleagues wrote. “Bifidobacteria are known to play a significant role in shaping and sustaining the immune system. Today there is mounting evidence emphasizing the immunomodulatory properties of Bifidobacteria, which are due to both their cell components and metabolites.”

The researchers sought to determine how one of B. longum’s surface proteins, known as FN3, binds or blocks cytokines. They found that FN3 binds to TNF-a, a major factor in cytokine storms. Confirmation of the ability of B. longum’s surface proteins to recognize specific cytokines supports the team’s hypothesis that the bacteria regulate our immune response.

“Studies of cytokine-binding properties of microorganisms have become extremely important recently in view of the current epidemiological situation,” commented senior author Valery Danilenko, PhD, of RUDN University. “Uncontrollable inflammation or cytokine storm is one of the most prominent elements of COVID-19 pathogenesis. Selective binding of TNF-α, one of the key factors of inflammation, with a fragment of the FN3 protein of Bifidobacterium longum opens a prospect for developing new medicinal drugs that would slow down the cytokine reaction. It has already been agreed that a preclinical trial of a new FN3-based anti-inflammatory medication should be conducted as quickly as possible.”

Laughter May Be Effective Medicine for These Trying Times

Doctors, nurses and therapists have a prescription for helping all of us to get through these difficult times: Try a little laughter

University of Maryland, October 4, 2020

Some enlightened doctors, nurses and therapists have a prescription for helping all of us to get through this seemingly never-ending pandemic: Try a little laughter.

Humor is not just a distraction from the grim reality of the crisis, said Dr. Michael Miller, a cardiologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. It’s a winning strategy to stay healthy in the face of it.

“Heightened stress magnifies the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes,” Dr. Miller said. “Having a good sense of humor is an excellent way to relieve stress and anxiety and bring back a sense of normalcy during these turbulent times.”

Laughter releases nitric oxide, a chemical that relaxes blood vessels, reduces blood pressure and decreases clotting, Dr. Miller said. An epidemiological study of older men and women in Japan confirmed that those who tend to laugh more have a lower risk of major cardiovascular illness. Possessing a healthy sense of humor is also associated with living longer, an epidemiological study from Norway reported, although the correlation appears to be stronger for women than for men.

Armed with this growing body of research, Dr. Miller prescribes “one good belly laugh a day” for his patients. It’s not just going “ha, ha,” he explained, but a “deep physiological laugh that elicits tears of joys and relaxation.”

While the long-term impacts of such a practice remain unknown, Sophie Scott, a neuroscientist at University College London, said that laughter has also been shown to reduce the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline and increases the body’s uptake of the feel-good endorphins.

There also appear to be cognitive benefits. Watching a funny video was tied to improvements in short-term memory in older adultsand increased their capacity to learn, research conducted by Dr. Gurinder Singh Bains of Loma Linda University found.

Perhaps most relevant today, possessing a sense of humor also helps people remain resilient in the face of adverse circumstances, said George Bonanno, a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University.

In one study, Dr. Bonanno interviewed young women who had been sexually abused and noted their facial expressions. “Those who managed to laugh or smile at moments during their interview were more likely to be doing better two years later than those who had not,” he said. “Humor keeps negative emotions in check and gives us a different perspective, allowing us to see some of the bad things that happen to us as a challenge rather than a threat.”

Humor and tragedy may be more intimately connected than one would think.

“Charlie Chaplin once said ‘In order to truly laugh you need to be able to take your pain and play with it,’” said Paul Osincup, the president of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. “Write down all of the most difficult and annoying things about quarantine,” Mr. Osincup recommends. “Play with those. See if you can find any humor in your situation.”

Megan Werner, a psychotherapist in private practice, uses a similar strategy in her work with at-risk youth in Fayetteville, Ark. During group therapy sessions, she has the teenage gang members she works with interact with “Irwin,” a life-size Halloween skeleton, to encourage them to confront their dangerous lifestyle head-on.

“Most of the time you try to deflate a painful situation,” she said. “In my therapy work, it’s more like ‘let’s blow it up, let’s make it so absurd that we laugh about it.’ This releases anxiety, and we’re able to approach the topics that weren’t approachable initially. It takes the power away from the trauma and helps to defuse it.”

Increasingly humor is being integrated into mainstream medical practice with a similar goal, said Dr. Kari Phillips, a resident physician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Dr. Phillips observed over a hundred clinical encounters and discovered that humor typically surfaces about twice during a half-hour doctor visit. It is initiated in equal measure by doctors and patients, often to break the ice between them or to help to soften the impact of a difficult medical conversation.

“We found that introducing humor results in better patient satisfaction and empowerment, and it helps people feel more warmth in their connection with the doctor,” she said.

Dr. Peter Viccellio, a professor of emergency medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island, has seen many Covid-19 patients during his hours in the emergency room. A touch of playfulness and kindly humor, he said, has helped to ease an enormously painful situation for both his patients and members of the overburdened hospital staff.

“Genuine levity can make patients believe that they are not going to meet their doom today” Dr. Viccellio said, but he added that it needs to flow naturally. “If you are empathetic with the person, your humor tends to fit them, it’s not forced. If you are not emotionally connected to them and force a joke it can go very wrong.”

A case in point: “A colleague of mine once said casually to a patient whose medical history he did not know, ‘Don’t worry about it, at least it’s not cancer,’” Dr. Viccellio recalled. “The patient replied, ‘Actually, Doc, it is.’”

Other kinds of joking that are potentially destructive, he said, are the in-group humor that mocks patients or other members of the hospital staff, and the gallows humor that focuses on the darker sides of medicine. And one needs to be careful not to appear to be making light of somebody else’s pain.

Despite these potential pitfalls, some hospitals have initiated formal humor programs, making funny books and videos available and inviting clowns in to interact with their younger patients. Some caregivers are also innovating ways to bring humor into their own practice.

Mary Laskin, a nurse case-manager at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, has been working with her chronic pain patients online, teaching them laughter exercises alongside practices designed to develop other positive mental states like gratitude and forgiveness.

“This pandemic is like a tiger creeping toward us, a huge slow-motion stressor that makes the experience of pain worse. Humor helps my patients relax and release their grip on pain,” she said.

Ms. Laskin suggests that her patients treat humor as a discipline — like physical exercise — that they set aside time for on a daily basis. She recommends “laughter first-aid boxes,” where they can stash joke books, funny toys and other props for this purpose.

“Our health care system focuses on passive ways to manage pain like taking a pill or getting an operation,” Ms. Laskin said. “I encourage people to actively cultivate the healing power of laughter, which puts them back in the driver’s seat.”

Humor can also serve to powerfully reaffirm one’s humanity in the face of illness or disability, said Dr. B.J. Miller, a palliative care physician in San Francisco who suffered a freak electrical accident in 1990 that cost him two legs and an arm.

After the accident, he said, most people — including medical staff members — viewed him as an object of pity. “There is a solemnity in how people look at you,” he said. “You are essentially walled off from others, they stop treating you as a sexual being, they stop treating you as a source of humor.”

The one exception, he recalled, were the men who scrubbed off his burned skin in the hospital. “It’s a terrible job, I mean you are inflicting reams of pain on someone to save their life,” Dr. Miller said. “But this ragtag crew, they were freaking hilarious. One of them had a flask and was drinking during the procedure, they were cracking jokes the whole time.”

“It made me stronger because they were looking at me and saying this guy can handle the pain and he can also handle a joke — it made me feel like a human being again.”

Inspired by their example, Dr. Miller said, he uses every opportunity to bring a dose of comic relief into his own medical work. Increasingly, he sees his colleagues doing so as well.

“The culture is beginning to shift — injecting humor and humanity back into medicine,” he said. “If you can’t change what you are dealing with, you can at least change how you view it. Humor gives us the power to do that.”

Chemical discovered in medicinal herbs for hypertension

University of California at Irvine and University of Copenhagen, October 4, 2020

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the University of Copenhagen have identified a bioactive trait common among many herbs. This trait, researchers say, is responsible for the antihypertensive properties demonstrated by these herbs.

Their finding, detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers a promising alternative strategy for treating hypertension, a condition in which blood pressure levels stay high over a long period.

For the study, the researchers selected herbal extracts from a diverse range of plants, including lavender, chamomile, ginger, fennel seed extract, basil, thyme and marjoram. Analysis showed that the herbs used for treating hypertension activate a particular potassium channel, called KCNQ5. This potassium channel is found in the vascular smooth muscles that line the blood vessels.

The researchers discovered that the activation of KCNQ5 helps relax these muscles, lowering blood pressure. This action might explain the antihypertensive properties of certain herbs. In contrast, other plants that previous research has not shown to reduce blood pressure, such as parsley and wheatgrass, do not activate KCNQ5.

“We found KCNQ5 activation to be a unifying molecular mechanism shared by a diverse range of botanical hypotensive folk medicines,” said co-author Geoff Abbott, a professor at the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine at UCI.

Further analysis revealed that aloperine, a chemical compound found naturally in the herbs, is responsible for activating the potassium channel. It works by binding to the foot of the potassium channel.

The team noted some herbs work better than others due to the differing levels of KCNQ5 activity. Among those studied, lavender, fennel seed extract and chamomile appear to be the most effective at activating KCNQ5.

Study finds a nicotinamide riboside might boost cancer immunotherapy

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, October 5, 2020

A Ludwig Cancer Research study has uncovered a mechanism by which the tumor’s harsh internal environment sabotages T lymphocytes, leading cellular agents of the anticancer immune response. Reported in Nature Immunology, the study describes how a variety of stressors prevalent in the tumor microenvironment disrupt the power generators, or mitochondria, of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs), pushing them into a permanently sluggish state known as terminal exhaustion.

The study, led by Ludwig Lausanne Associate Member Ping-Chih Ho, also found that a widely available nutritional supplement–nicotinamide riboside (NR)–helps TILs overcome the mitochondrial dysfunction and preserves their ability to attack tumors in mouse models of melanoma and colon cancer.

“TILs often have a high affinity for antigens expressed by cancer cells,” says Ho. “This means that, in principle, they should attack cancer cells vigorously. But we often don’t see that. People have always wondered why because it suggests that the best soldiers of the immune system are vulnerable when they enter the battlefield of the tumor. Our study provides a mechanistic understanding of why this happens and suggests a possible strategy for preventing the effect that can be quickly evaluated in clinical trials.”

The inner recesses of tumors are often starved of oxygen and essential nutrients, such as the sugar glucose. Cells in these stressful conditions adjust their metabolic processes to compensate–for example, by making more mitochondria and burning their fat reserves for energy.

In tumors, prolonged stimulation by cancer antigens is known to push TILs into an exhausted state marked by the expression of PD-1–a signaling protein that suppresses T cell responses and is targeted by existing “checkpoint blockade” immunotherapies. If sustained, such exhaustion can become permanent, persisting even when the stimulus of cancer antigens is removed.

Ho and his colleagues found that exhausted TILs are packed with damaged–or “depolarized”–mitochondria. Like old batteries, depolarized mitochondria essentially lack the voltage the organelles require to generate energy.

“Our functional analysis revealed that those T cells with the most depolarized mitochondria behaved most like terminally exhausted T cells,” said Ho.

Ho and colleagues show that the accumulation of depolarized mitochondria is caused primarily by the TIL’s inability to remove and digest damaged ones through a process known as mitophagy. “The TILs can still make new mitochondria but, because they don’t remove the old ones, they lack the space to accommodate the new ones,” said Ho.

The genomes of these TILs are also reprogrammed by epigenetic modifications–chemical groups added to DNA and its protein packaging–to induce patterns of gene expression associated with terminal exhaustion.

The researchers found that the breakdown in mitophagy stems from a convergence of factors: chronic stimulation by cancer antigens, PD-1 signaling and the metabolic stress of nutrient and oxygen deprivation. They also show that the epigenetic reprograming that fixes TILs in a terminally exhausted state is a consequence, not a cause, of the mitochondrial dysfunction.

Related work done by other researchers–including co-authors in the current study, Ludwig Lausanne Investigator Nicola Vannini and Ludwig Lausanne Branch Director George Coukos–has shown that NR, a chemical analogue of vitamin B3, can boost mitophagy and improve mitochondrial fitness in a variety of other cell types.

With this in mind, the researchers explored whether NR might also prevent TILs from committing to terminal exhaustion. Their cell culture experiments showed that the supplement improved the mitochondrial fitness and function of T cells grown under stressors resembling those of the tumor microenvironment.

More notably, dietary supplementation with NR stimulated the anti-tumor activity of TILs in a mouse model of skin cancer and colon cancer. When combined with anti-PD-1 and another type of checkpoint blockade, anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapy, it significantly inhibited the growth of tumors in the mice.

“We have shown that we may be able to use a nutritional approach to improve checkpoint blockade immunotherapy for cancer,” said Ho.

He and his colleagues are now exploring the signals from depolarized mitochondria that epigenetically reprogram TILs for terminal exhaustion–information that could be more generally applied to improve cancer immunotherapy.

New Study Suggests Binge Drinking Could Damage Brain And Cause Lasting Anxiety

University Of Porto (Portugal), October 5, 2020

A recent study suggests that binge drinking alcohol could seriously damage the brain in ways that increase the risk of cognitive-behavioral issues like anxiety.

The study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Porto, found that just ten days of binge drinking can cause immune cells in the brain to destroy connections between neurons, which leads to anxiety and other mental health issues.

It is important to note that these were not human studies, as the test subjects were mice, but these types of experiments typically give significant insight into how different substances affect the brains of humans.

Study co-author João Relvas, told Inverse that, “[We] don’t have any reason to believe that the same mechanisms will not be operating in the human brain. Even for a short period of time, excessive drinking is likely to affect the brain, increasing the level of anxiety, a relevant feature in alcohol abuse and addiction.”

“The dangers of alcohol drinking, especially amongst the younger population, have been widely underestimated and excessive alcohol drinking is socially relatively well tolerated. Increasing public awareness and education of the young can, together with other measures, change the way society looks at alcohol intake,” Relvas added.

Why writing by hand makes kids smarter

Norwegian University of Science and Technology, October 1, 2020

Typing, clicking and watching occupy an increasing number of hours in the average child’s day. But brain research shows that writing by hand helps people remember better and learn more. Credit: NTNU/Microsoft

New brain research shows that writing by hand helps children learn more and remember better. At the same time, schools are becoming more and more digital, and a European survey shows that Norwegian children spend the most time online of 19 countries in the EU.

Professor Audrey van der Meer at NTNU believes that national guidelines should be put into place to ensure that children receive at least a minimum of handwriting training.

Results from several studies have shown that both children and adults learn more and remember better when writing by hand.

Now another study confirms the same: choosing handwriting over keyboard use yields the best learning and memory.

“When you write your shopping list or lecture notes by hand, you simply remember the content better afterwards,” Van der Meer says.

Van der Meer and her colleagues have investigated this several times, first in 2017 and now in 2020.

In 2017, she examined the brain activity of 20 students. She has now published a study in which she examined brain activity in twelve young adults and twelve children.

This is the first time that children have participated in such a study.

Both studies were conducted using an EEG to track and record brain wave activity. The participants wore a hood with over 250 electrodes attached.

The brain produces electrical impulses when it is active. The sensors in the electrodes are very sensitive and pick up the electrical activity that takes place in the brain.

Handwriting gives the brain more hooks to hang memories on

Each examination took 45 minutes per person, and the researchers received 500 data points per second.

The results showed that the brain in both young adults and children is much more active when writing by hand than when typing on a keyboard.

“The use of pen and paper gives the brain more ‘hooks’ to hang your memories on. Writing by hand creates much more activity in the sensorimotor parts of the brain. A lot of senses are activated by pressing the pen on paper, seeing the letters you write and hearing the sound you make while writing. These sense experiences create contact between different parts of the brain and open the brain up for learning. We both learn better and remember better,” says Van der Meer.

Notes written and drawn by hand make it easier for the brain to see connections because you may create arrows, boxes and keywords that make it easier to get a holistic understanding. Credit: NTNU / Microsoft

She believes that her own and others’ studies emphasize the importance of children being challenged to draw and write at an early age, especially at school.

Today’s digital reality is that typing, tapping and screen time are a big part of children’s and adolescents’ everyday lives.

A survey of 19 countries in the EU shows that Norwegian children and teens spend the most time online. The smartphone is a constant companion, followed closely by PCs and tablets.

The survey shows that Norwegian children ages 9 to16 spend almost four hours online every day, double the amount since 2010.

Kids’ leisure time spent in front of a screen is now amplified by schools’ increasing emphasis on digital learning.

Van der Meer thinks digital learning has many positive aspects, but urges handwriting training.

National guidelines needed

“Given the development of the last several years, we risk having one or more generations lose the ability to write by hand. Our research and that of others show that this would be a very unfortunate consequence” of increased digital activity, says Meer.

She believes that national guidelines should be put in place that ensure children receive at least a minimum of handwriting training.

“Some schools in Norway have become completely digital and skip handwriting training altogether. Finnish schools are even more digitized than in Norway. Very few schools offer any handwriting training at all,” says Van der Meer.

In the debate about handwriting or keyboard use in school, some teachers believe that keyboards create less frustration for children. They point out that children can write longer texts earlier, and are more motivated to write because they experience greater mastery with a keyboard.

Important to be outside in all kinds of weather

“Learning to write by hand is a bit slower process, but it’s important for children to go through the tiring phase of learning to write by hand. The intricate hand movements and the shaping of letters are beneficial in several ways. If you use a keyboard, you use the same movement for each letter. Writing by hand requires control of your fine motor skills and senses. It’s important to put the brain in a learning state as often as possible. I would use a keyboard to write an essay, but I’d take notes by hand during a lecture,” says Van der Meer.

Writing by hand challenges the brain, as do many other experiences and activities.

“The brain has evolved over thousands of years. It has evolved to be able to take action and navigate appropriate behavior. In order for the brain to develop in the best possible way, we need to use it for what it’s best at. We need to live an authentic life. We have to use all our senses, be outside, experience all kinds of weather and meet other people. If we don’t challenge our brain, it can’t reach its full potential. And that can impact school performance,” says Van der Meer.

Comparing the effects of piceatannol and resveratrol on factors affecting inflammation, oxidative stress and sirtuins

Seoul Women’s University, October 2, 2020

In this study, South Korean researchers compared the effects of piceatannol (PIC) and resveratrol (RSV) on parameters that affect inflammation, oxidative stress and sirtuins (Sirt). Their findings were published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.

PIC is a natural hydroxylated analog of RSV. It is considered a potential metabolic regulator.
The researchers tested the effects of PIC and RSV on 20-week-old mice.
They assigned the mice to four groups: the lean control, the high-fat diet control, the group fed a high-fat diet plus PIC and the group fed a high-fat diet plus RSV.
The researchers reported that administration of 10?mg/kg/day PIC and RSV for four weeks improved glucose control in the animals, as evidenced by decreasing levels of the area under the curve (AUC) during an oral glucose tolerance test.
PIC improved blood glucose control by increasing hepatic levels of insulin receptor and AMP-activated protein kinase.
PIC also increased Sirt1, Sirt3 and Sirt6 levels, as well as the levels of two downstream targets of Sirt, namely, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha and forkhead box O1.
Meanwhile, RSV downregulated the expression of the inflammatory markers interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6 in the liver.
The researchers also found that PIC and RSV significantly decreased the levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) in the liver.
However, both exerted minimal effects on liver markers of oxidative stress.
Only mice treated with RSV showed improved levels of NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), a known antioxidant enzyme.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that PIC is superior to RSV in terms of regulating Sirt and its downstream targets, while RSV is superior to PIC in terms of suppressing pro-inflammatory markers and increasing antioxidant levels.

Nitric oxide a possible treatment for COVID-19

Upsala University (Sweden), October 2, 2020

Researchers at Uppsala University have found that an effective way of treating the coronavirus behind the 2003 SARS epidemic also works on the closely related SARS-CoV-2 virus, the culprit in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The substance concerned is nitric oxide (NO), a compound with antiviral properties that is produced by the body itself. The study is published in the journal Redox Biology.

“To our knowledge, nitric oxide is the only substance shown so far to have a direct effect on SARS-CoV-2,” says Åke Lundkvist, a professor at Uppsala University, who led the study.

Since there is still no effective cure for COVID-19, the main emphasis in the treatments tested has been on relieving symptoms. This can shorten hospital stays and reduce mortality. To date, however, it has not been possible to prove that any of these treatments has affected the actual virus behind the infection.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a compound produced naturally in the body. Its functions include acting like a hormone in controlling various organs. It regulates, for example, tension in the blood vessels and blood flow between and within organs. In acute lung failure, NO can be administered as inhaled gas, in low concentrations, to boost the blood-oxygen saturation level. During the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) coronavirus epidemic of 2003, this therapy was tried out with success. One key reason for the successful results was that inflammation in the patients’ lungs decreased. This property of nitric oxide – the protection it affords against infections, by being both antibacterial and antiviral – is the very one that now interests the researchers.

Their study builds further on a discovery about the coronavirus that caused the first SARS epidemic. In 2003, NO released from S-Nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) proved to have a distinct antiviral effect. The researchers from Uppsala University and Karolinska Institute have now investigated how the novel coronavirus involved in the current pandemic, SARS CoV-2, reacts to the compound. And SNAP was shown to a clear antiviral effect on this virus, too – and an effect that grew stronger as the dose was raised.

“Until we get a vaccine that works, our hope is that inhalation of NO might be an effective form of treatment. The dosage and timing of starting treatment probably play an important part in the outcome, and now need to be explored as soon as possible,” Åke Lundkvist says.

The research group are now planning to proceed by investigating the antiviral effects of NO emitted in gas form. To do so, they will construct a model in the laboratory in order to safely simulate a conceivable form of therapy for patients.

Capsaicin from chili peppers reduces liver and abdominal fat and protects against oxidative damage

Chiba University of Health Sciences (Japan), October 2, 2020

Capsaicin is not only good for relieving pain. In a recent study, Japanese researchers discovered that the compound also exerts protective effects against fat accumulation and oxidative stress. They reported that capsaicin significantly decreased the visceral fat and liver fat of rats that were given alcohol and fed a high-fat diet.

The researchers discussed their findings in an article published in the Japanese Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The damaging effects of excessive fat and alcohol consumption

There are many reasons why eating fatty foods is bad for your health. According to a study published in the journal Laboratory Investigation, just one fatty meal is enough to cause negative changes in the arteries as well as to the red blood cells (erythrocytes) of healthy individuals.

Four hours after eating a high-fat meal, researchers found that erythrocytes changed from round discs into smaller and less functional cells with a tendency to clump. The fatty meal also increased the levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO), an enzyme believed to be involved in the development of coronary artery disease. These changes, the researchers concluded, promote the destabilization of vulnerable plaques, which increases the risk of heart attack.

Like fatty foods, consuming too much alcohol is also known for its damaging effects. Research has found that alcohol promotes the buildup of digestive enzymes produced by the pancreas. This causes the organ to become inflamed — a condition known pancreatitis. Pancreatitis can be acute or long-lasting. If it becomes chronic and severe, pancreatitis can be life-threatening.

The inflammation triggered by excessive alcohol consumption can also damage the liver and result in scarring, or liver cirrhosis. In some cases, this damage is irreversibleand can eventually stop liver function, at which point nothing but a liver transplant could save a patient’s life. (Related: Study: Exercise can keep cirrhosis and liver cancer at bay.)

Alcohol also has deleterious effects on the central nervous system and can reduce communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Besides affecting coordination and balance, alcohol can cause brain damage and make it difficult to create long-term memories. Heavy drinking also causes stomach ulcers and increases the risk of mouth, throat, esophageal, colon and liver cancer.

Capsaicin can protect against the effects of alcohol and high-fat diet

To test the effects of capsaicin against a high-fat diet and alcohol, the researchers fed four-week-old rats experimental diets for four weeks. They assigned the rats to four different groups, namely, the control group, the capsaicin group, the group fed a high-fat diet plus alcohol, and the group fed a high-fat diet plus alcohol and capsaicin. Alcohol was given to the animals as a replacement drink for water.

The researchers reported that there was no difference between each group in terms of body weight gain and total food intake. The capsaicin group and the capsaicin plus alcoholgroup both had significantly lower posterior abdominal wall fat weights, triglyceride concentrations in the liver and oxidative stress levels than the control group.

The researchers also found that the same parameters were significantly lower for the capsaicin plus alcohol group than the alcohol group, suggesting that capsaicin not only has a positive influence on fat accumulation and blood lipid levels, but also has antioxidant properties that can protect against oxidative stress.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that capsaicin reduces fat accumulation and oxidative stress caused by a high-fat diet and alcohol. The compound can also be expected to prevent dyslipidemia, or abnormal blood lipid levels.

Even in people with Parkinson’s gene, coffee may be protective

Massachusetts General Hospital, October 1, 2020

Even for people with a gene mutation tied to Parkinson’s disease, coffee consumption may be associated with a lower risk of actually developing the disease, according to a new study published in the September 30, 2020, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“These results are promising and encourage future research exploring caffeine and caffeine-related therapies to lessen the chance that people with this gene develop Parkinson’s,” said study author Grace Crotty, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “It’s also possible that caffeine levels in the blood could be used as a biomarker to help identify which people with this gene will develop the disease, assuming caffeine levels remain relatively stable.”

Earlier studies have shown that coffee consumption may protect against the development of Parkinson’s disease in people who have no genetic risk factors for the disease. This study looked at people with a genetic mutation that increases the risk of Parkinson’s. The mutation is in a gene called LRRK2 for leucine-rich repeat kinase 2. But having the abnormal gene does not guarantee that people will develop the disease, so researchers are hoping to identify other genetic or environmental factors that affect whether people develop the disease.

The study compared 188 people who had Parkinson’s disease to 180 people who did not have the disease; both groups had people with the LRRK2 gene mutation and those without it. Researchers looked at the amount of caffeine in the blood, as well as other chemicals that are produced as caffeine is metabolized in the body, and how it varied among the groups. A total of 212 of the participants also completed questionnaires about how much caffeine they consumed each day.

Among people carrying the LRRK2 gene mutation, those who had Parkinson’s had a 76% lower concentration of caffeine in their blood than those who did not have Parkinson’s. People with Parkinson’s with a normal copy of the gene had a 31% lower concentration of caffeine in their blood than non-carriers without Parkinson’s.

Carriers of the gene mutation who had Parkinson’s also had lower consumption of caffeine in their diet. The gene carriers with Parkinson’s consumed 41% less caffeine per day than the people who did not have Parkinson’s, both with and without the gene mutation.

“We don’t know yet whether people who are predisposed to Parkinson’s may tend to avoid drinking coffee or if some mutation carriers drink a lot of coffee and benefit from its neuroprotective effects,” Crotty said.

Crotty noted that the study looked at people at one point in time, so it does not help researchers understand any effect caffeine has over time on the risk for Parkinson’s or how it may affect the disease’s progression. It also does not prove that caffeine consumption directly causes a lower risk of Parkinson’s; it only shows an association.

Research: COVID-19 is echoed in dreams

University of Helsinki, October 2, 2020

The content of the nightmares of nearly a thousand individuals during the coronavirus pandemic were analysed in a study published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal. The study found that the pandemic had affected more than half of the bad dreams reported.

The study, which was based on the crowdsourcing of dreams, saw more than 4,000 people respond to a survey in the sixth week of the state of emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic in Finland. The survey was published in connection with an article on dreams that appeared in the Helsingin Sanomat daily. Roughly 800 respondents also described their dreams.

“It was interesting to see recurring dream content, which echoed the apocalyptic atmosphere of the circumstances brought about by COVID-19,” says Professor Anu-Katriina Pesonen, head of the Sleep and Mind research group at the University of Helsinki.

“The findings enabled us to speculate that dreaming in the middle of exceptional circumstances is a form of shared mindscape between individuals,” she adds.

Themes related to the pandemic repeated in nightmares

Together with her team, Pesonen translated the content of dreams from Finnish to English-language word lists, employing in the analysis an AI-based approach where combinations of words that recur often are identified. The computational analysis established ‘dream clusters’ on the basis of statistical co-occurrence from recurring word associations and their networks. In other words, the dream associations served as individual dream content particles, not comprehensive dream narratives.

Many of the dream clusters were thematic, and there was pandemic-related content in more than half of the nightmare clusters. Such content included failure to observe safe social distancing, contracting the coronavirus, masks and other protective equipment, dystopias and the apocalypse.

For example, the word associations in a dream cluster named ‘Ignoring social distancing’ included hugging by mistake, hug-handshakes, restrictions related to handshakes, handshaking distance, lapses in social distancing, restrictions related to gatherings and crowded parties.

“The computational analysis carried out in the study is new to dream research,” Pesonen notes. “Indeed, we hope to see more AI-aided efforts in the field in the future.”

New details pertaining to stress during the pandemic

The study also offered some insights into people’s sleeping habits and stress levels during the pandemic. For instance, more than half of the respondents reported having slept more than before, although 10% of respondents found falling asleep more difficult and 25% had more nightmares than before.

That more than half of the study participants said their stress levels had increased is not surprising, and the rise was in turn connected to having nightmares. Those experiencing the most severe stress also had dreams with pandemic-related content.

Sleep is a key factor associated with mental health, with recurring powerful nightmares a potential indication of post-traumatic stress. The content of dreams is not entirely arbitrary, but it may be key to understanding what lies at the heart of stress, traumas and anxiety.

Medical Cannabis Superior to Opioids for Chronic Pain, Study Finds

Soroka University and Ben-Gurion University (Israel), September 30th 2020

Sufferers of chronic pain have been faced with a perilous decision–risk a crippling addiction to opioids or find a way to live with the pain. A clinical study has focused on medical cannabis as an alternative to opioids, and the results may be a turning point towards a safe, plant-based option for easing pain

A study published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine represents hope for millions of sufferers of chronic pain. Researchers at the Cannabis Clinical Research Institute at Soroka University Medical Center, and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), found that medical cannabis can significantly reduce chronic pain without adverse effects, particularly among adults aged 65 and older. Use of cannabis, aka medical marijuana, was found to be both safe and effective for elderly patients experiencing pain because of another medical condition, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

One of the head researchers in this study, Prof. Victor Novack, M.D., is a professor of medicine in the BGU Faculty of Health Sciences (FOHS), as well as BGU’s Chair in Internal Medicine. He also heads the Soroka Cannabis Clinical Research Institute. According to Prof. Novack, M.D.:

“Older patients represent a large and growing population of medical cannabis users, [yet] few studies have addressed how it affects this particular group, which also suffers from dementia, frequent falls, mobility problems, and hearing and visual impairments.”[1]

The study surveyed 2,736 patients aged 65 years and older, at the inception of medical cannabis treatment, and throughout the 33-month study period. Surveys indicated the most common reasons for using cannabis were pain (66.6%) and cancer (60.8%). Methods of ingestion included cannabis-infused oils and smoking or vaporizing the herb. After six months of cannabis therapy, researchers provided a follow-up questionnaire which sought to determine any changes to pain intensity and quality of life, as well as any adverse events that were experienced. 901 of the original respondents replied.

After 6-months of medical marijuana treatment (all statistics are +/-):

94% reported an improved overall condition, and a 50% reduction in pain
60% reported improved quality of life, from “bad” or “very bad” to “good” or “very good”
70% reported moderate to significant improvement in their condition
20% of respondents stopped using opioids or reduced their dose

Notably, the most common side effects reported were mild: dizziness (9.7%) and dry mouth (7.1%), a far cry from the high-percentage of opioid-related deaths that are linked to chronic pain.[2] BGU researchers believe that utilizing cannabis may decrease the use of other prescription medications, including opioids, and encourage further research into this plant-based alternative, especially as it relates to an aging population.

Chronic pain is a problem that affects an estimated 100 million Americans.[3] It is also one of the most significant public health problems in the United States, with an estimated cost to society of $560-$635 billion annually, an amount equal to about $2,000 for every person living in the U.S.[4] Meanwhile, the nation’s growing opioid epidemic sees 1 of every 550 chronic opioid users dying within three years of their first opioid prescription.[5] While natural alternatives to deadly opiates are rarely offered by medical doctors, medical marijuana may be the drug that bridges this senseless gap. Research is beginning to mount that shows more promise than the medical establishment can long ignore.

Neuropathy is a type of chronic pain that presents as tingling and numbness in the hands and feet, often due to nerve damage from complications of cancer or diabetes, among other causes. A 2017 meta-analysis of prior studies on neuropathy found that cannabis, particularly selected isolates called cannabinoids, can provide analgesic benefit in patients with chronic neuropathy. Cannabis can also be used as an adjunct to other pain therapies, potentially lowering the amount of dangerous synthetic medication that is required to relieve pain. One study on the Opioid-Sparing Effect of Cannabinoidsfound that when cannabinoids were administered with opioids, specifically morphine, nearly four times less morphine was needed to achieve the same analgesic effect. This presents further evidence for cannabis as a means of reducing cases of opiate dependency and death.

While the politics of cannabis are exceedingly complex, the truth of this miraculous plant is becoming increasingly obvious: it heals the human body. The fact that it does so without the need for a black-box warning of Serious Adverse Events ensures that cannabis is the future of medicine. While clinical studies in the United States have been impeded due to cannabis’s classification as a Schedule One Controlled Substance (meaning the substance has no medicinal value), other countries have taken the lead. A UK study seeking to reduce chronic pain in advanced cancer patients not fully relieved from use of opioids, found that a cannabis extract composed of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (Cannabidiol), two of the active constituents in cannabis, reduced pain by more than 30% from baseline when compared with placebo, with no serious adverse effects.

Beyond the realm of chronic pain, cannabis has been shown to positively support individuals dealing with post-traumatic stress. It has demonstrated effectiveness at calming the often-debilitating side effects of inflammatory bowel disease, aka Crohn’s disease. Isolates from the cannabis plant have shown promise at treating “incurable” diseases such as Grave’s disease and brain cancer, and work better than traditional medications for Alzheimer’s disease. With so much evidence of profound medicinal value, legislation based on old systems of control will not long hold back the tide. There are simply too many health benefits to be obtained from the cannabis plant.

Girls Benefit From Doing Sports

University of Montreal, October 2, 2020

Girls – but not boys – who participate actively in school sports activities in middle childhood show improved behaviour and attentiveness in early adolescence, suggests a new Canadian study published in Preventative Medicine.

“Girls who do regular extracurricular sports between ages 6 and 10 show fewer symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age 12, compared to girls who seldom do,” said Linda Pagani, a professor at Université de Montréal’s School of Psychoeducation.

“Surprisingly, however, boys do not appear to gain any behavioural benefit from sustained involvement in sports during middle childhood,” said Pagani, who led the study co-authored by her students Marie-Josée Harbec and Geneviève Fortin and McGill University associate medical professor Tracie Barnett.

As the team prepared their research, “it was unclear to what extent organized physical activity is beneficial for children with ADHD symptoms,” recalled Pagani.

“Past studies have varied widely in quality, thus blurring the true association between sport and behavioural development.” She added: “On top of that, “past research has not acknowledged that boys and girls are different in how they present ADHD symptoms.”

A chance to get organized

ADHD harms children’s ability to process information and learn at school, Pagani explained. Sport helps young people develop life skills and supportive relationships with their peers and adults. It offers a chance to get organized under some form of adult influence or supervision.

“Thus, from a public-health perspective, extracurricular sport has the potential to be a positive, non-stigmatizing and engaging approach to promote psychological well-being and could thus be viewed as behaviour therapy for youth with ADHD,” Pagani said.

“Sports are especially beneficial if they begin in early childhood. And so, since using concentration and interpersonal skills are essential elements of sport, in our study we undertook to examine whether it would result in reductions in ADHD symptoms over the long term.”

Pagani and her team came to their conclusions after examining data from a Quebec cohort of children born in 1997 and 1998, part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development coordinated by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.

Parents of the 991 girls and 1,006 boys in the study reported on whether their sons and daughters were in an extracurricular physical activity that required a coach or instructor between ages 6 and 10. At age 12 years, teachers rated the children’s behaviour compared to their classmates. Pagani’s team then analyzed the data to identify any significant link between sustained participation and later ADHD symptoms, discarding many possible confounding factors.

“Our goal was to eliminate any pre-existing conditions of the children or families that could throw a different light on our results,” said Pagani.

‘Boys more impulsive’

Why do girls with ADHD benefit from sports, but not boys?

“In childhood, boys with ADHD are more impulsive and more motor-skilled than girls — as a result, boys are more likely to receive medication for their ADHD, so faster diagnosis and treatment for boys in middle childhood could diminish the detectable benefits of sport,” Pagani said. “They might be there; they’re just harder to tease out.”

“In girls, on the other hand, ADHD is more likely to go undetected — and girls’ difficulties may be even more tolerated at home and in school. Parents of boys, by contrast, might be more inclined to enroll them in sports and other physical activities to help them.”

She added: “We know that sporting activities have other numerous benefits for mental health of all children. However, for reducing ADHD symptoms, middle childhood sports in elementary school seem more noteworthy for girls.”

That’s why structured extracurricular activities that demand physical skill and effort under the supervision of a coach or instructor could be valuable to any official policy aimed at promoting behavioral development, the UdeM researchers maintain.

Concluded Pagani: “Sports activities in early childhood can help girls develop essential social skills that will be useful later and ultimately play a key role in their personal, financial and economic success.”

Broadcasting from "THE PROGRESSIVE RADIO NETWORK"

Uncategorized

Health and Corona News 10.05.20-10.10.20

Stomach cancer cells halted with whole tomato extracts
Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University October 10, 2017

Curcumin inhibits the primary nucleation of amyloid-beta peptide

Acupuncture before surgery means less pain, significantly fewer opioids for Veterans

Common herbal plants like holy basil leaf and sesame seed have therapeutic effects against inflammation

Holy basil, sesame seeds, long pepper and cubeb pepper are potent anti-inflammatory agents

Research suggests that taurine acts in part as a calorie restriction mimetic

Waseda University (Japan), October 5, 2020

It’s all connected: Your genes, your environment, and your health

Social isolation increases anxiety and asymmetry in brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease

Research shows numerous health benefits of Modified Citrus Pectin

Japanese black vinegar found to be effective against metabolic syndrome

Supplement containing kurozu can help prevent metabolic syndrome

Bifidobacteria help manage inflammation

Chemical discovered in medicinal herbs for hypertension

Study finds a nicotinamide riboside might boost cancer immunotherapy

New Study Suggests Binge Drinking Could Damage Brain And Cause Lasting Anxiety

University Of Porto (Portugal), October 5, 2020

Why writing by hand makes kids smarter

Comparing the effects of piceatannol and resveratrol on factors affecting inflammation, oxidative stress and sirtuins

Nitric oxide a possible treatment for COVID-19

Capsaicin from chili peppers reduces liver and abdominal fat and protects against oxidative damage

The damaging effects of excessive fat and alcohol consumption

Capsaicin can protect against the effects of alcohol and high-fat diet

Even in people with Parkinson’s gene, coffee may be protective

Research: COVID-19 is echoed in dreams

Medical Cannabis Superior to Opioids for Chronic Pain, Study Finds

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Broadcasting from "THE PROGRESSIVE RADIO NETWORK"

Uncategorized

Health and Corona News 10.05.20-10.10.20

Stomach cancer cells halted with whole tomato extracts Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University October 10, 2017

Curcumin inhibits the primary nucleation of amyloid-beta peptide

Acupuncture before surgery means less pain, significantly fewer opioids for Veterans

Common herbal plants like holy basil leaf and sesame seed have therapeutic effects against inflammation

Holy basil, sesame seeds, long pepper and cubeb pepper are potent anti-inflammatory agents

Research suggests that taurine acts in part as a calorie restriction mimetic

Waseda University (Japan), October 5, 2020

It’s all connected: Your genes, your environment, and your health

Social isolation increases anxiety and asymmetry in brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease

Research shows numerous health benefits of Modified Citrus Pectin

Japanese black vinegar found to be effective against metabolic syndrome

Supplement containing kurozu can help prevent metabolic syndrome

Bifidobacteria help manage inflammation

Chemical discovered in medicinal herbs for hypertension

Study finds a nicotinamide riboside might boost cancer immunotherapy

New Study Suggests Binge Drinking Could Damage Brain And Cause Lasting Anxiety

University Of Porto (Portugal), October 5, 2020

Why writing by hand makes kids smarter

Comparing the effects of piceatannol and resveratrol on factors affecting inflammation, oxidative stress and sirtuins

Nitric oxide a possible treatment for COVID-19

Capsaicin from chili peppers reduces liver and abdominal fat and protects against oxidative damage

The damaging effects of excessive fat and alcohol consumption

Capsaicin can protect against the effects of alcohol and high-fat diet

Even in people with Parkinson’s gene, coffee may be protective

Research: COVID-19 is echoed in dreams

Medical Cannabis Superior to Opioids for Chronic Pain, Study Finds

Stomach cancer cells halted with whole tomato extracts
Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University October 10, 2017