Vitamin A boosts fat burning in cold conditions

The conversion of white into brown adipose tissue is a promising target for obesity treatment

Medical University of Vienna, 21 October 2020

A recent study conducted by a research team led by Florian Kiefer from MedUni Vienna’s Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism shows that cold ambient temperatures increase vitamin A levels in humans and mice. This helps convert “bad” white adipose tissue into “good” brown adipose tissue which stimulates fat burning and heat generation. This “fat transformation” is usually accompanied by enhanced energy consumption and is therefore considered a promising approach for the development of novel obesity therapeutics. The study has now been published in the leading journal Molecular Metabolism.

In humans and mammals, at least two types of fatty depots can be discerned, white and brown adipose tissue. During obesity development, excess calories are mainly stored in white fat. In contrast, brown fat burns energy and thereby generates heat. More than 90% of the body fat depots in humans are white which are typically located at the abdomen, bottom, and upper thighs. Converting white into brown fat could be a new therapeutic option to combat weight gain and obesity.

A research group led by Florian Kiefer from the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine III at MedUni Vienna demonstrated now that moderate application of cold increases the levels of vitamin A and its blood transporter, retinol-binding protein, in humans and mice. Most of the vitamin A reserves are stored in the liver and cold exposure seems to stimulate the redistribution of vitamin A towards the adipose tissue. The cold-induced increase in vitamin A led to a conversion of white fat into brown fat (“browning”), with a higher rate of fat burning.

When Kiefer and his team blocked the vitamin A transporter “retinol-binding protein” in mice by genetic manipulation, both the cold-mediated rise in vitamin A and the “browning” of the white fat were blunted: “As a consequence, fat oxidation and heat production were perturbed so that the mice were no longer able to protect themselves against the cold,” explains Kiefer. In contrast, the addition of vitamin A to human white fat cells led to the expression of brown fat cell characteristics, with increased metabolic activity and energy consumption.

“Our results show that vitamin A plays an important role in the function of adipose tissue and affects global energy metabolism. However, this is not an argument for consuming large amounts of vitamin A supplements if not prescribed, because it is critical that vitamin A is transported to the right cells at the right time,” explains the MedUni Vienna researcher. “We have discovered a new mechanism by which vitamin A regulates lipid combustion and heat generation in cold conditions. This could help us to develop new therapeutic interventions that exploit this specific mechanism.”

High flavanol diet may lead to lower blood pressure

First study to use objective measure to look at 25,000 people’s diet

University of Reading (UK), October 21, 2020

People who consume a diet including flavanol-rich foods and drinks, including tea, apples and berries, could lead to lower blood pressure, according to the first study using objective measures of thousands of UK residents’ diet.

The findings, published in Scientific Reports, studied the diet of more than 25,000 people in Norfolk, UK and compared what they ate with their blood pressure. In contrast to most other studies investigating links between nutrition and health, the researchers did not rely on study participants reporting their diet, but instead measured flavanol intake objectively using nutritional biomarkers – indicators of dietary intake, metabolism or nutritional status that are present in our blood.

The difference in blood pressure between those with the lowest 10% of flavanol intake and those with the highest 10% of intake was between 2 and 4 mmHg. This is comparable to meaningful changes in blood pressure observed in those following a Mediterranean diet or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. Notably, the effect was more pronounced in participants with hypertension.

Professor Gunter Kuhnle, a nutritionist at the University of Reading who led the study said:

“Previous studies of large populations have always relied on self-reported data to draw conclusions, but this is the first epidemiological study of this scale to objectively investigate the association between a specific bioactive compound and health. We are delighted to see that in our study, there was also a meaningful and significant association between flavanol consumption and lower blood pressure.

“What this study gives us is an objective finding about the association between flavanols – found in tea and some fruits – and blood pressure. This research confirms the results from previous dietary intervention studies and shows that the same results can be achieved with a habitual diet rich in flavanols. In the British diet, the main sources are tea, cocoa, apples and berries.

“The methodology of the study is of equal importance. This is one of the largest ever studies to use nutritional biomarkers to investigate bioactive compounds. Using nutritional biomarkers to estimate intake of bioactive food compounds has long been seen as the gold standard for research, as it allows intake to be measured objectively. The development, validation and application of the biomarker was only possible because of the long-term commitment of all collaborators. In contrast to self-reported dietary data, nutritional biomarkers can address the huge variability in food composition. We can therefore confidently attribute the associations we observed to flavanol intake.”

An international team from the University of Reading, Cambridge University, the University of California Davis, and Mars, Incorporated studied 25,618 participants from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) Norfolk study and found that the biggest difference was observed in participants with the highest blood pressure. This suggests if the general public increased its flavanol intake, there could be an overall reduction in cardiovascular disease incidence.

Hagen Schroeter, Chief Science Officer at Mars Edge, said:

“This study adds key insights to a growing body of evidence supporting the benefits of dietary flavanols in health and nutrition. But, perhaps even more exciting was the opportunity to apply objective biomarkers of flavanol intake at a large scale. This enabled the team to avoid the significant limitations that come with past approaches which rely on estimating intake based on self-reported food consumption data and the shortcomings of current food composition databases.”

Researchers discover molecular link between diet and risk of cancer

Tel Aviv University, October 22, 2020

An international team of researchers has identified a direct molecular link between meat and dairy diets and the development of antibodies in the blood that increase the chances of developing cancer. This connection may explain the high incidence of cancer among those who consume large amounts of dairy products and red meat, similar to the link between high cholesterol and an increased risk of heart disease.

The study was led by Dr. Vered Padler-Karavani of the Department of Cell Research and Immunology at the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at Tel Aviv University’s George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences. The results of the research were published on September 23, 2020, in BMC Medicine.

Neu5Gc is a sugar molecule found in the tissues of mammals but not in poultry or fish. Humans develop antibodies to Neu5Gc in infancy, when they are first exposed to dairy and meat products. While it is known that these antibodies increase the risk of cancer, especially colorectal cancer, no direct link had been found between the antibodies and meat and dairy consumption.

For the study, the researchers used samples from NutriNet-Santé, an extensive national nutritional survey conducted in France. Salam Bashir, a PhD student in Dr. Padler-Karavani’s lab, together with other team members measured the amount of Neu5Gc sugar in a variety of dairy and meat foods common in the French diet and calculated the daily Neu5Gc intake of 19,621 adults aged 18 and over, who reported all of their food intake online over a period of several days.

The research team then took a representative sample of 120 participants and tested the levels of the anti-Neu5Gc antibodies in their blood.

Based on these findings and the quantification of Neu5Gc sugar in various food products from France, Dr. Padler-Karavani and her team created an index called the Gcemic index. This index ranks foods whose excessive consumption can lead to an increase in the antibodies – and possibly to an increase in the risk of cancer.

“We found a significant correlation between high consumption of Neu5Gc from red meat and cheeses and increased development of those antibodies that heighten the risk of cancer,” Dr. Padler-Karavani says. “For years there have been efforts to find such a connection, but no one did. Here, for the first time, we were able to find a molecular link thanks to the accuracy of the methods used to measure the antibodies in the blood and the detailed data from the French diet questionnaires.”

Dr. Padler-Karavani adds that this combination of methods allowed the researchers to predict that those who eat a lot of red meat and cheese will develop high levels and a different variety of the antibodies, and therefore may be at higher risk for cancer – especially colorectal cancer, but other cancers as well.

Study finds association between lignan and stilbene intake and improvements in cognitive function

Navarra Institute for Health Research (Spain), October 20, 2020

According to news reporting from Pamplona, Spain, research stated, “The global growing rates of cognitive decline and dementia, together with the absence of curative therapies for these conditions, support the interest in researching potential primary prevention interventions, with particular focus on dietary habits. The aim was to assess the association between the intake of polyphenols, lignans and stilbene (primarily found in grapes and berries) and 6-year change in cognitive function in the ‘Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra’ (SUN) Project, a Spanish prospective cohort study.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Navarra Institute for Health Research, “Changes (final -initial) in cognitive function were evaluated in a subsample of 806 participants (mean age 66 years (SD 5), 69.7% male) of the SUN Project using the validated Spanish Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-modified (STICS-m) score. Polyphenol intake was derived from a validated semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire and matching food composition data from the Phenol Explorer database. Multivariable linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between total polyphenol intake, polyphenol subclasses and cognitive changes. No significant association between total polyphenol intake and changes in cognitive function was found. However, a higher intake of lignans (bQuintile (Q) 5 vs. Q1 0.81; 95% CI 0.12, 1.51; p trend=0.020) and stilbenes (bQ5 vs. Q1 0.82; 95% CI 0.15, 1.49; p trend 0.028) was associated with more favorable changes in cognitive function over time, particularly with respect to immediate memory and language domains. Olive oil and nuts were the major sources of variability in lignan intake; and wine in stilbene intake.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The results suggest that lignan and stilbene intake was associated with improvements in cognitive function.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

Bacterial metabolism of dietary soy may lower risk factor for dementia

University of Pittsburgh, Oct. 22, 2020

A metabolite produced following consumption of dietary soy may decrease a key risk factor for dementia–with the help of the right bacteria, according to a new discovery led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

Their study, published today in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, reports that elderly Japanese men and women who produce equol–a metabolite of dietary soy created by certain types of gut bacteria–display lower levels of white matter lesions within the brain.

“White matter lesions are significant risk factors for cognitive decline, dementia and all-cause mortality,” said lead author Akira Sekikawa, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health. “We found 50% more white matter lesions in people who cannot produce equol compared to people who can produce it, which is a surprisingly huge effect.”

To obtain this result, Sekikawa’s research team measured equol levels within the blood of 91 elderly Japanese participants with normal cognition. Participants were sorted by their equol production status, and then six to nine years later underwent brain imaging to detect levels of white matter lesions and deposits of amyloid-beta, which is the suspected molecular cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers found that while equol production did not appear to impact levels of amyloid-beta deposited within the brain, it was associated with reduced white matter lesion volumes. Sekikawa’s team also discovered that high levels of isoflavones–soy nutrients that are metabolized into equol–had no effect on levels of white matter lesions or amyloid-beta when equol wasn’t produced.

According to Sekikawa, the ability to produce equol from soy isoflavones may be the key to unlocking protective health benefits from a soy-rich diet, and his team has previously shown that equol production is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. As heart disease is strongly associated with cognitive decline and dementia, equol production could help protect the aging brain as well as the heart.

Epidemiological studies in Japan, where soy is regularly consumed, have shown that dietary intake of soy isoflavones has been linked to a lower risk for heart disease and dementia. However, most clinical trials in America have failed to show this.

Sekikawa believes that this discrepancy may be due to the microbiome–40-70% of Japanese harbor gut bacteria that can convert dietary isoflavones into equol compared to only 20-30% of Americans.

Sekikawa said that equol supplements could one day be combined with existing diet-based prevention strategies that appear to lower the risk of dementia, particularly the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and Mediterranean diets.

Though Sekikawa hopes to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of equol supplements in a future randomized clinical trial, in the meantime, he urges caution to anyone who might be tempted to purchase equol supplements to stave off dementia.

“This type of study always catches people’s attention, but we cannot prove that equol protects against dementia until we get a randomized clinical trial with sufficient evidence,” he said.

Serum creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio predicts mortality

Yonsei University (South Korea), October 21, 2020

In patients initiating continuous renal replacement therapy for acute kidney injury, higher serum creatinine-to-cystatin C ratios were associated with lower mortality.

Identifying risk factors for mortality in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) receiving intensive care and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is useful for improving assessment of prognosis. In this study of 1,588 patients who underwent CRRT in a single tertiary center intensive care unit, the 30- and 90-day mortality risks were significantly lower in patients with higher creatinine:cystatin C ratio at the time CRRT was begun. This association remained after adjustment for confounding factors. These findings suggest that creatinine:cystatin C ratio may be a simple, useful tool for mortality risk assessment in critically ill patients who develop AKI.

Glutathione precursor GlyNAC reverses premature aging in people with HIV

Baylor College of Medicine, October 16, 2020

Premature aging in people with HIV is now recognized as a new, significant public health challenge. Accumulating evidence shows that people with HIV who are between 45 to 60 years old develop characteristics typically observed in people without HIV that are more than 70 years of age. For instance, declining gait speed, physical function and cognition, mitochondrial aging, elevated inflammation, immune dysfunction, frailty and other health conditions are significantly higher in people with HIV when compared to age- and sex-matched uninfected people.

At Baylor College of Medicine, endocrinologist Dr. Rajagopal Sekhar, associate professor of medicine-endocrinology, and his team have found themselves in the right place at the right time to study premature aging in people with HIV. For the last 20 years, they have been studying natural aging in older humans and aged mice in the Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism of the Department of Medicine. Also, for the last 17 years, Sekhar has been active in HIV research, and has been providing clinical care for patients at the HIV clinic at Thomas Street Health Center, a part of Houston’s Harris Health System, where he runs the sole endocrinology and metabolism clinic.

Sekhar’s years-long expertise, knowledge and interest in metabolic disorders affecting HIV patients and a parallel track investigating non-HIV people have resulted in the publication of significant discoveries regarding the metabolic complications in aging, HIV and diabetes, and has guided numerous clinical trials that together provide a better understanding of why we age.

“The work presented here, published in the journal Biomedicines, builds a bridge between laboratory bench and bedside by showing proof-of-concept that supplementing people with HIV specifically with a combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine, which we call GlyNAC, as precursors of glutathione, a major antioxidant produced by the body, improves multiple deficits associated with premature aging,” said Sekhar.

Why we age?

For several decades, experimental evidence has supported two theories for aging. The free radical theory and the mitochondrial theory propose that elevated free radicals (oxidative stress) and mitochondrial dysfunction, respectively, are at the core of geriatric aging. Both, elevated oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, are present in people with HIV.

Free radicals, such as reactive oxygen species, and the mitochondria are physiologically connected. The mitochondria are like the batteries of the cell, they produce the energy needed for conducting cellular functions. The body transforms the food we eat into sugar and fat, which the mitochondria burns as fuel to produce energy.

However, one of the waste products of cellular energy generation is free radicals, which are highly reactive molecules that can damage cells, membranes, lipids, proteins and DNA. Cells depend on antioxidants, such as glutathione, to neutralize these toxic free radicals. When cells fail to neutralize free radicals, there is an imbalance between the radicals and the antioxidant responses, leading to harmful and damaging oxidative stress.

“The free radicals produced during fuel burning in the mitochondria can be compared to some of the waste products produced by a car’s combustion engine, some of which are removed by the oil filter,” Sekhar said. “If we don’t change the oil filter periodically, the car’s engine will diminish its performance and give less mileage.”

Similarly, if the balance between free radical production and antioxidant response in cells consistently favors the former, in time cellular function could be disrupted. Glutathione helps cells keep oxidative stress in balance, it keeps the oil filter clean. GlyNAC helps the cell make glutathione.

Sekhar and his colleagues have been studying mitochondrial function and glutathione for more than 20 years. Their findings, and those of other researchers, have shown that glutathione is the ultimate natural antioxidant.

Interestingly, compared to those in younger people, glutathione levels in older people are much lower, and the levels of oxidative stress are much higher. Glutathione levels also are lower and oxidative stress is higher in conditions associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, including ageing, HIV infection, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular disorders, neurometabolic diseases, cancer, obesity and other conditions.

“When the mitochondrial batteries are running low on power, as a medical and scientific community, we do not know how to recharge these batteries,” Sekhar said. “Which raised the question, if the levels of glutathione were restored in cells, would the mitochondria be recharged and able to provide power to the cell? Would restoring mitochondrial functioning improve conditions associated with mitochondrial dysfunction?”

Restoring glutathione

Restoring glutathione in cells was not straightforward because glutathione cannot work if taken orally for the same reasons that diabetic patients cannot eat insulin. It would be digested before it reached the cells. Also, providing glutathione in the blood cannot correct glutathione deficiency because every cell makes its own.

“Glutathione is a small protein made of three building blocks: amino acids cysteine, glycine and glutamic acid. We found that people with glutathione deficiency also were deficient in cysteine and glycine, but not glutamic acid,” Sekhar said. “We then tested whether restoring deficient glutathione precursors would help cells replenish their glutathione. But there’s another catch, because cysteine cannot be given as such, we had to supplement it in another form called N-acetylcysteine.”

In past studies, Sekhar and his colleagues determined that supplementing GlyNAC, a combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine, corrected glutathione deficiency inside the cells of naturally aged mice to the levels found in younger mice. Interestingly, the levels of glutathione and mitochondrial function, which were lower in older mice before taking GlyNAC, and oxidative stress, which was higher before GlyNAC, also were comparable to those found in younger mice after taking GlyNAC for six weeks.

The same results were observed in a small study in older humans who had high oxidative stress and glutathione deficiency inside cells. In this case, taking GlyNAC by mouth for 2-weeks corrected the glutathione deficiency and lowered both oxidative stress and insulin resistance (a pre-diabetic risk factor).

In past clinical trials, Sekhar provided GlyNAC to small groups of people to correct a nutritional deficiency, and produced encouraging evidence supporting further studies of the value of this approach to restoring mitochondrial function in clinical trials.

Improving premature aging in people with HIV

In the current study, Sekhar and his colleagues conducted an open-label clinical trial that included six men and two women with HIV, and eight age-, gender- and body mass index-matched uninfected controls, all between 45 and 60 years old. The people with HIV were on stable antiretroviral therapy and had not been hospitalized for six months prior to the study.

Before taking GlyNAC, the group with HIV, compared with the controls, was deficient in glutathione and had multiple conditions associated with premature aging, including higher oxidative stress; mitochondrial dysfunction; higher inflammation, endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance; more damage to genes; lower muscle strength; increased belly fat and impaired cognition and memory.

The results are encouraging. GlyNAC supplementation for 12 weeks improved all the deficiencies indicated above. Some of the improvements declined eight weeks after stopping GlyNAC.

“It was exciting to see so many new beneficial effects of GlyNAC that have never been described before. Some of the most encouraging findings included reversal of some measures of cognitive decline, a significant condition in people with HIV, and also improved physical strength and other hallmark defects,” Sekhar said.

“It was encouraging to see that GlyNAC can reverse many of these hallmark defects in people with HIV as there is no current treatment known to reverse these abnormalities. Our findings could have implications beyond HIV and need further investigation,” Sekhar said.

Overall, these findings in HIV patients provide proof-of-concept that dietary supplementation of GlyNAC improves multiple hallmarks of aging and that glutathione deficiency and oxidative stress could contribute to them.

Encouraged by these results, Sekhar has continued his investigations by testing the value of GlyNAC supplementation for improving the health of the growing older population, and has completed an open label trial, and another NIH-funded, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in older adults.

“The results from these recently completed trials support the findings of the HIV study,” said Sekhar, who is currently the Principal Investigator of two NIH-funded randomized clinical trials studying the effect of GlyNAC in older humans with mild cognitive impairment, and with Alzheimer’s disease.

Greater adherence to aspects of Mediterranean diet associated with lower mortality risk among men during seven-year follow-up

IRCCS Foundation National Cancer Institute (Italy), October 22, 2020

According to news originating from Milan, Italy, research stated, “The present study analyzes the relation between diet and all-cause mortality in a cohort of Italian men residing in different regions of Italy. The cohort was established using the members of the Associazione Nazionale Alpini, a voluntary organization that enlists individuals who have served in the Alpine troup; a mountain warfare infantry corps of the Italian Army.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from IRCCS Foundation National Cancer Institute, “For the purpose of these analyses a total of 5049 participants were followed for an average of seven years. At baseline information was collected regarding age, education, life style habits, with special emphasis on diet (with the use of a validated dietary questionnaire), smoking and alcohol use. A total of 190 deaths were ascertained. In multivariate analyses the consumption of a Mediterranean type diet was inversely associated with mortality. Additional findings of relevance include: an inverse association between mortality and intake of vegetable fats and proteins, monounsaturated (MUFA) fats of vegetable origins, starch and folic acid. Positive association were evident between mortality and intake of animal fats, MUFA of animal origins and sugar. This study, focusing on a homogenous cohort characterized by a varied intake and high intake of monounsaturated fats, confirms the inverse association between a Mediterranean type diet and mortality and points out that the nature of the MUFA may be relevant for their effects on health.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “In addition, the study confirms that fats of animal origins and dietary sugar are associated with an overall deleterious effect on mortality.”

Black ginseng found to protect against lung injury caused by particulate matter

Korea Institute of Bioscience, October 20, 2020

In a recent study, South Korean researchers investigated the effects of an extract derived from black ginseng against the lung damage caused by exposure to particulate matter. Particulate matter (PM) is a complex mixture of solid and liquid particles of varying size and composition that can be found suspended in the air. These particles may range from harmless liquid droplets to dangerous smoke, dust, pollen or soot.

The researchers reported their findings in an article published in The American Journal of Chinese Medicine.

Black ginseng can protect the lungs from hazardous air pollution

Particulate matter can be made up of coarse particles and fine particles. Coarse particles refer to the large particles that usually contain earth crust materials and fugitive dust from roads and industries. Fine particles, on the other hand, are usually about 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM 2.5) or smaller and contain combustion particles, secondary aerosols and recondensed organic and metal vapors.

Due to their composition, fine particles pose considerable health risks. They are said to be responsible for most of the acidity and mutagenic activities of particulate matter. The small size of fine particles also allows them to travel deeply into the respiratory tract and reach the lungs, causing throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath. Exposure to high levels of PM 2.5 can also affect lung function and worsen conditions like asthma, lung cancer and heart disease.

Inhalation of PM 2.5 has been linked to lung injury caused by the loss of vascular barrier integrity. The vascular barrier, which is made up of endothelial cells, serves as the wall that separates the blood — along with any harmful substances that may have potentially entered into the bloodstream — from the surrounding tissue of the body. This barrier only becomes permeable to fluids and cells under pathological conditions, such as inflammation.

According to previous studies, black ginseng exhibits a variety of pharmacological properties, which include antibacterial, antihyperglycemic, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities. Black ginseng has also been found to have anti-cancer, antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties, which can all be attributed to the transformed ginsenosides it contains. Ginsenosides are the major active compounds present in ginseng.

To investigate the effects of black ginseng on lung endothelial cell barrier disruption and lung inflammation caused by particulate matter exposure, the researchers exposed endothelial cell cultures and mice to PM 2.5 and treated them with black ginseng extract. They then examined permeability, white blood cell migration, activation of proinflammatory proteins, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and histology in these two setups.

The researchers found that the black ginseng extract significantly scavenged PM2.5-induced ROS and inhibited ROS-induced activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), an enzyme involved in inflammatory responses and cell death, while concurrently activating the pro-survival enzyme Akt, which helped maintain endothelial integrity. The extract also reduced vascular protein leakage, immune cell infiltration and proinflammatory signaling protein release in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid taken from PM-exposed lung tissues.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that black ginseng protects against PM-induced inflammatory lung injury and vascular hyperpermeability.

Study shows active older adults have better physical and mental health

American Cancer Society, October 20, 2020

Older adults with higher physical activity and lower sitting time have better overall physical and mental health, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society (ACS). The study, appearing in the journal, CANCER, suggests that higher amounts of regular moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) and lower duration of sedentary time is associated with higher global mental and physical health for older cancer survivors and older adults, in general.

With a rapidly aging population and nearly 16.9 million cancer survivors in the United States today, there is a need to identify strategies associated with healthy aging and improving quality of life for aging cancer survivors. Being physically active is related to several health benefits, and in this study, ACS investigators led by Dr. Erika Rees-Punia analyzed self-reported aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activities, sitting time, and mental and physical health among nearly 78,000 participants in the ACS’s Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort. Participants (average age 78 years) included older cancer survivors up to 10 years post-diagnosis, and cancer-free adults.

The investigators found that regardless of cancer history, the differences in global mental and physical health between the most and least active, and the least and most sedentary, were clinically meaningful. These findings provide evidence for the importance of engaging in regular MVPA and decreasing sitting time as a reasonable non-pharmacologic strategy to improve quality of life in older men and women, with or without a prior cancer diagnosis. In fact, the recently published ACS physical activity guidelines recommend that adults get 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity through the week, and to limit sedentary behaviors such as screen-based entertainment.

“The findings reinforce the importance of moving more and sitting less for both physical and mental health, no matter your age or history of cancer,” said Rees-Punia. “This is especially relevant now as so many of us, particularly cancer survivors, may be staying home to avoid COVID-19 exposure, and may be feeling a little isolated or down. A simple walk or other physical activity that you enjoy may be good for your mind and body.”

Green Tea, Coffee, and Mortality Risk in T2DM

Japanese study reported effects were strongest in those who drank both

Kyushu University (Japan), October 21, 2020

Drinking green tea and coffee was associated with reduced all-cause mortality in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes, especially those who drank both, researchers reported.

In a cohort study that followed nearly 5,000 patients for approximately 5 years, Masanori Iwase, MD, PhD, of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, and colleagues found a dose-response relationship for both beverages. Drinking one cup of green tea every day was associated with a 15% lower mortality risk compared with those who drank no green tea, having two to three cups daily was associated with a 27% reduction, and drinking four or more cups was associated with a 40% drop in risk (P=0.001 for trend).

Similarly, as shown in the study online in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care, among coffee drinkers, one cup a day was associated with a 12% lower mortality risk, and two or more cups with a 41% reduction compared with those who drank no coffee (P=0.001 for trend).

Furthermore, risk of death was even lower for those who drank both beverages daily: 51% lower for two to three cups of green tea plus two or more cups of coffee; 58% lower for four or more cups of green tea plus one cup of coffee every day; and 63% lower for a combination of four or more cups of green tea and two or more cups of coffee daily (HR 0.37, 95% CI 0.18-0.77, P for trend not given).

“To date, no study has investigated the combined effect of green tea and coffee consumption on all-cause mortality,” the researchers wrote. “The present study determined that combined higher green tea and coffee consumption markedly reduced mortality. Further, this cohort study included potential confounders, such as sleep duration, diabetic complications, lifestyle, physical activity, laboratory data, and medications.”

Previous studies in the general population have suggested that both green tea and coffee have health benefits, including preventing chronic diseases and reducing mortality, the team noted, adding that few studies, however, have been conducted in patients with diabetes.

Still not fully understood are the mechanisms involved, the researchers said. Green tea contains substances that may have health benefits, including phenolic compounds, theanine, and caffeine, and epigallocatechin gallate, the most prevalent phenolic compound, has been shown to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-mutagenic properties.

Coffee also contains phenolic compounds and caffeine, as well as other bioactive components that may have favorable health effects, Iwase and co-authors explained. Phenolic compounds found in coffee, such as chlorogenic acid, have been reported to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Of course, coffee has also been associated with harmful effects, including increasing blood pressure and heart attack risk.

For the new study, Iwase’s group analyzed data on 4,923 patients (2,790 men; 2,133 women) with type 2 diabetes from the Fukuoka Diabetes Registry, a multicenter prospective study designed to investigate the effect of modern treatments and lifestyles on patients with diabetes. The mean age of patients was 66, and they were followed for a median of 5.3 years.

Consumption of green tea and coffee was assessed by a self-administered dietary questionnaire. The main study outcome was all-cause mortality. In the analysis, the researchers adjusted for potential risk or protective factors for mortality including age, sex, body mass index, diabetes duration, smoking, alcohol intake, sleep duration, glycated hemoglobin, systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, history of cardiovascular disease, and cancer. In addition, when examining the effects of green tea, the researchers also adjusted for coffee consumption, and vice versa.

During the follow-up period, 309 individuals died. The main causes of death were cancer (114 patients) and cardiovascular disease (76). When the researchers examined the associations of green tea with these cause-specific mortalities, they found no significant association with cancer (HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.35-1.19, P=0.11) and a non-significant trend with cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.33-1.29, P=0.08). The results were similar for coffee when the team assessed cancer (HR 0.77, 95% CI 0.45-1.33, P=0.39) and cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.27-1.04, P=0.06).

One limitation of the study, the researchers noted, was that it did not include information on education level and socioeconomic status, both of which are known to affect mortality. In addition, there was no determination of whether the coffee consumed was caffeinated or decaffeinated (decaf coffee is uncommon in Japan, however, the team pointed out).

“In conclusion, this prospective cohort study demonstrated that greater consumption of green tea and coffee was significantly associated with reduced all-cause mortality: the effects may be additive,” the study authors wrote. “Our results suggest that consuming green tea and coffee may have beneficial effects on the longevity of Japanese people with type 2 diabetes.”

Compound in honey bee venom found to destroy cancer cells within 60 minutes

University of Western Australia, October 20, 2020

n a new study published in npj Precision Oncology, Australian and American researchers reported that honey bees are also a great source of anti-cancer agents.

Honey bee venom is a colorless acidic liquid honey bees excrete through their stingers when they are threatened. It contains numerous compounds with different biological activities. The researchers found that honey bee venom and its major component, melittin, can effectively kill cancer cells, even those that belong to one of the most aggressive types of cancer.

Honey bee venom: a venom that could save lives

Apitherapy is the ancient medicinal practice of using bee products, namely, honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom, for disease prevention and treatment purposes. Its roots can be traced back to the time of the Ancient Egyptians. Apitherapy is also a feature of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Ancient records describe honey as a remedy for various ailments, including cough, stomach pains, dry throat, dry skin and constipation.

Today, apitherapy is a popular complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). In particular, bee venom therapy is recognized for its potential in alleviating the symptoms of painful inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Other modern uses for apitherapy include treating multiple sclerosis and infections, and as a natural remedy for burns, wounds and tendonitis. (Related: Dermal injection of purified honey bee venom found to reduce knee osteoarthritis pain.)

According to earlier studies, bee venom is rich in both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory compounds, as well as peptides with pain-relieving properties. Bee venom also contains an abundance of active enzymes, sugars, minerals and amino acids, some of which have been linked to immunoprotective effects.

Melittin, a small protein made up of 26 amino acids, comprises about 50 percent of the dry weight of bee venom and is considered one of its major components. Previous studies have linked the antimicrobial and anti-cancer effects of bee venom to melittin, although the mechanisms behind these activities are poorly understood.

For their study, the American-Australian team investigated the anti-cancer properties of honey bee venom and melittin by testing both on normal breast cells, as well as different breast cancer cells. They found that honey bee venom and melittin significantly and rapidly reduced the viability of even the most aggressive subtypes, namely, triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-enriched breast cancer cells.

The researchers also reported that melittin exerted its anti-cancer effects using two mechanisms. First, it suppressed the activation of signaling pathways involved in cancer cell growth and proliferation. Secondly, it induced cell death by poking holes in the plasma membranes of cancer cells. The researchers observed this effect within an hour of exposure to melittin.

Despite the toxic effects of honey bee venom and melittin on breast cancer cells, neither caused any damage to healthy cells. The researchers said that both are promising anti-cancer agents that can be used in combination with chemotherapy. Melittin showed that it could enhance the effect of docetaxel, a chemotherapeutic drug used to suppress the growth of breast tumors, in mice.

“Honeybee venom is available globally and offers cost-effective and easily accessible treatment options in remote or less-developed regions. Further research will be required to assess whether the venom of some genotypes of bees has more potent or specific anticancer activities, which could then be exploited.”

“Overall, our results could be leveraged to aid the development of new therapeutic modalities for many cancer types associated with frequent drug resistance and poor prognosis,” the researchers concluded in their report.

Improved mental and physical condition is directly linked to nutrition, study shows

New research demonstrates that the right nutrition is directly linked to physical and cognitive performance in active duty men and women in US Air Force

University of Illinois, Abbott Labs, US Air Force Research Lab, October 19, 2020

Researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Abbott and, the U.S. Air Force Research Lab announced today the results of a new study that found a direct link between physical fitness, cognitive performance, and optimal nutrition. The scientists revealed that getting the right nutrition not only fuels our bodies and improves fitness, but gives us an edge mentally, too.

The double-blind study, published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, examined the effectiveness of optimal nutrition and exercise to enhance fitness and cognitive performance among a population of active-duty men and women in the U.S. Air Force. Researchers divided the 148 study participants into two groups for 12 weeks.

The double-blind trial included 148 men and women who engaged in a 12-week regimen consisting of aerobics and resistance training five days per week. Seventy participants also received a nutritional drink twice per day that contained protein, carbohydrates and fat, as well as calcium beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB), choline, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), folic acid, lutein, magnesium, phospholipids, zinc and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, D and E. The remainder of the participants received a placebo drink that contained protein, carbohydrates and fat. Both groups performed the same training program, which included a balanced exercise program comprised of aerobic and resistance training performed five days per week. In addition to the training program, one group was given a prototype nutritional drink, the other group received a placebo.

Improved working memory by 11% (i.e., information processing and problem-solving), which predicts multitasking and is often impaired under stress
Improved reaction time by 6% – participants became faster and more accurate
Increased muscle mass by more than two pounds
Lowered resting heart rate by 8% – a sign of increased cardiovascular fitness. Resting heart rate improved from 71 beats per minute to 65 beats per minute

“The physical and mental health benefits of exercise are well known, but this study demonstrates how optimal nutrition can help boost brain function as well,” said lead study author, Chris Zwilling, Ph.D, a postdoctoral researcher working with the study’s principal investigator Aron Barbey, Ph.D. at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois. “We are excited by the results because they provide critical insights into how simple dietary changes can make a big difference in helping people be as efficient and productive as possible in today’s world. “

FUELING BODY AND BRAIN

“Abbott has been researching the impact of nutrition on brain function for more than a decade,” said Matthew Kuchan, Ph.D., a research fellow and brain health scientist at Abbott and co-author of the study. “These results confirm that by combining the right nutrition and exercise, people who are facing high-pressure situations can stay sharp physically and mentally when they need it most.”

Abbott Research Fellow, Tapas Das, Ph.D., led the design of the innovative liquid nutritional drink used in the study. It contained DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, lutein, a carotenoid, as well as phospholipids and micronutrients to support mental performance. The nutrition formulation also included protein, vitamin D, and HMB to support muscle health. Abbott will leverage these results and ingredients to design future nutritional products to allow individuals to live their lives to the fullest.

“It is clear that nutrition is a critical component for developing and maintaining the physical and cognitive performance of the men and women in the U.S. Air Force,” said Adam Strang, Ph.D., and lead investigator with the Air Force Research Laboratory. “This research confirms that a nutritional supplement with the right nutrients can support and facilitate those improvements when paired with balanced exercise training. We hope to use this knowledge now and, in the future, to better prepare them for the complex and diverse mission sets they are facing.”

Study of chess player performance over many years suggests brain peaks at age 35

Institut Polytechnique Paris, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat München, and Erasmus University, October 20, 2020

A trio of researchers from Institut Polytechnique Paris, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat München, and Erasmus University has found evidence suggesting that cognitive abilities in humans peak at age 35 and begin to decline after age 45. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Anthony Strittmatter, Uwe Sunde and Dainis Zegners describe their study of chess player skill over a span of 125 years and what they found.

Prior research has shown that cognitive skillsfor most people begin to decline sometime during mid-life and continue to deteriorate for the rest of a person’s life. In this new effort, the researchers have found a novel way to show such decline—by measuring the skills of professional chess players.

The work involved analyzing player performance over approximately 24,000 professional chess matches from the years 1890 to 2014. In all, they studied the moves of 4,294 players, 20 of whom were world champions—the other 4,274 were their opponents. The researchers’ goal was to follow the skill level of each player over many years of their life to gage their skill level over time. They did this by comparing chess moves made by each player against optimal moves suggested by a computerized chess engine over the course of their career.

They found that performance for most players increased rapidly until they reached the age of 20—after that, their performance improvements slowed until reaching a peak at approximately age 35. Most of the players were able to maintain their peak playing abilities for approximately 10 years—after age 45, skills began to deteriorate. The researchers describe the data for a given individual as representing a “hump-shaped curve.”

The researchers also found that player performance across the board has increased over the past 125 years, particularly among young people. They noted that performance rose sharply in the 1990s as chess enthusiasts gained access to computerized chess games, providing them with more accomplished opponents. They found that experience levels for most players rose, as well—in the modern age, professional chess players play a lot more matches than did those a century ago.

Significant link found between air pollution and neurological disorders

Harvard University, Emory University, Columbia University, October 19, 2020

Air pollution was significantly associated with an increased risk of hospital admissions for several neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias, in a long-term study of more than 63 million older U.S. adults, led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The study, conducted with colleagues at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, is the first nationwide analysis of the link between fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution and neurodegenerative diseases in the U.S. The researchers leveraged an unparalleled amount of data compared to any previous study of air pollution and neurological disorders.

The study will be published online October 19, 2020 in The Lancet Planetary Health.

“The 2020 report of the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care has added air pollution as one of the modifiable risk factors for these outcomes,” said Xiao Wu, doctoral student in biostatistics at Harvard Chan School and co-lead author of the study. “Our study builds on the small but emerging evidence base indicating that long-term PM2.5 exposures are linked to an increased risk of neurological health deterioration, even at PM2.5 concentrations well below the current national standards.”

Researchers looked at 17 years’ worth (2000-2016) of hospital admissions data from 63,038,019 Medicare recipients in the U.S. and linked these with estimated PM2.5 concentrations by zip code. Taking into account potential confounding factors like socioeconomic status, they found that, for each 5 microgram per cubic meter of air (μg/m3) increase in annual PM2.5 concentrations, there was a 13% increased risk for first-time hospital admissions both for Parkinson’s disease and for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This risk remained elevated even below supposedly safe levels of PM2.5 exposure, which, according to current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, is an annual average of 12 μg/m3 or less.

Women, white people, and urban populations were particularly susceptible, the study found. The highest risk for first-time Parkinson’s disease hospital admissions was among older adults in the northeastern U.S. For first-time Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias hospital admissions, older adults in the Midwest faced the highest risk.

“Our U.S.-wide study shows that the current standards are not protecting the aging American population enough, highlighting the need for stricter standards and policies that help further reduce PM2.5 concentrations and improve air quality overall,” said Antonella Zanobetti, principal research scientist in Harvard Chan School’s Department of Environmental Health and co-senior author of the study.

EGCG sensitizes chemotherapeutic-induced cytotoxicity in multiple cancer cell lines

University of California at Davis, October 18, 2020

According to news reporting originating in Davis, California, research stated, “Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major polyphenol component of green tea, presents anticancer efficacy. However, its exact mechanism of action is not known.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of California Davis, “In this study, we evaluated the effect of EGCG alone or in combination with current chemotherapeutics [gemcitabine, 5-flourouracil (5-FU), and doxorubicin] on pancreatic, colon, and lung cancer cell growth, as well as the mechanisms involved in the combined action. EGCG reduced pancreatic, colon, and lung cancer cell growth in a concentration and time-dependent manner. EGCG strongly induced apoptosis and blocked cell cycle progression. Moreover, EGCG enhanced the growth inhibitory effect of 5-FU and doxorubicin. Of note, EGCG enhanced 5-FU’s and doxorubicin’s effect on apoptosis, but not on cell cycle. Mechanistically, EGCG reduced ERK phosphorylation concentration-dependently, and sensitized gemcitabine, 5-FU, and doxorubicin to further suppress ERK phosphorylation in multiple cancer cell lines.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “EGCG presents a strong anticancer effect in pancreatic, colon, and lung cancer cells and is a robust combination partner for multiple chemotherapeutics as evidenced by reducing cancer cell growth, in part, by inhibiting the ERK pathway.”

Exercise and nutrition regimen benefits physical, cognitive health

University of Illinois, October 19, 2020

Researchers studied the effects of a 12-week exercise regimen on 148 active-duty Air Force airmen, half of whom also received a twice-daily nutrient beverage that included protein; the omega-3 fatty acid, DHA; lutein; phospholipids; vitamin D; B vitamins and other micronutrients; along with a muscle-promoting compound known as HMB. Both groups improved in physical and cognitive function, with added gains among those who regularly consumed the nutritional beverage, the team reports.

The findings appear in the journal Scientific Reports.

Participants were randomly assigned to the two groups. The exercise regimen combined strength training and high-intensity interval aerobic fitness challenges. One group received the nutritional beverage and the other consumed a placebo beverage that lacked the added nutrients. Neither the researchers nor the participants knew who received the nutrient-enriched beverage or placebo.

“The exercise intervention alone improved strength and endurance, mobility and stability, and participants also saw increases in several measures of cognitive function. They had better episodic memory and processed information more efficiently at the end of the 12 weeks. And they did better on tests that required them to solve problems they had never encountered before, an aptitude called fluid intelligence,” said Aron Barbey, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who led the study with postdoctoral researcher Christopher Zwilling.

“Those who also consumed the nutritional supplement saw all of these improvements and more. For example, they were better able to retain new information in their working memory and had quicker responses on tests of fluid intelligence than those taking the placebo,” Barbey said.

Physical power increased in both groups as a result of the physical training, Zwilling said.

“Power is a measure of physical fitness that is based on several factors, such as how fast a participant can pull a heavy sled over a set distance, how far they can toss a weighted ball, and how many pushups, pullups or situps they can perform in a set time period,” he said.

The physical training reduced participants’ body fat percentage and increased their oxygen-uptake efficiency, or VO2 max. The airmen also performed better than they had initially on several measures of cognitive function. The most notable of these was an increase in the accuracy of their responses to problems designed to measure fluid intelligence.

“But we also wanted to know whether taking the supplement conferred an advantage above and beyond the effect of exercise,” Zwilling said. “We saw that it did, for example in relationship to resting heart rate, which went down more in those who took the supplement than in those who didn’t.”

Participants who consumed the nutritional beverage also saw greater improvements in their ability to retain and process information. And their reaction time on tests of fluid intelligence improved more than their peers who took the placebo, the researchers found.

“Our work motivates the design of novel multimodal interventions that incorporate both aerobic fitness training and nutritional supplementation, and illustrates that their benefits extend beyond improvements in physical fitness to enhance multiple measures of cognitive function,” Barbey said.

The U. of I. team conducted the intervention with study co-author Adam Strang, a scientist in the Applied Neuroscience Branch of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, along with his colleagues in the Air Force Research Laboratory. The U. of I. team also worked with research fellow and study co-author Tapas Das and his colleagues at Abbott Nutrition, who led the design of the nutritional beverage, which is a mixture of nutrients targeting both muscle and brain. The specially designed beverage provided ingredients that previous studies have shown are associated with improved physical cognitive function.

Cannabis reduces OCD symptoms by half in the short-term

Washington State University, October 20, 2020

People with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, report that the severity of their symptoms was reduced by about half within four hours of smoking cannabis, according to a Washington State University study.

The researchers analyzed data inputted into the Strainprint app by people who self-identified as having OCD, a condition characterized by intrusive, persistent thoughts and repetitive behaviors such as compulsively checking if a door is locked. After smoking cannabis, users with OCD reported it reduced their compulsions by 60%, intrusions, or unwanted thoughts, by 49% and anxiety by 52%.

The study, recently published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, also found that higher doses and cannabis with higher concentrations of CBD, or cannabidiol, were associated with larger reductions in compulsions.

“The results overall indicate that cannabis may have some beneficial short-term but not really long-term effects on obsessive-compulsive disorder,” said Carrie Cuttler, the study’s corresponding author and WSU assistant professor of psychology. “To me, the CBD findings are really promising because it is not intoxicating. This is an area of research that would really benefit from clinical trials looking at changes in compulsions, intrusions and anxiety with pure CBD.”

The WSU study drew from data of more than 1,800 cannabis sessions that 87 individuals logged into the Strainprint app over 31 months. The long time period allowed the researchers to assess whether users developed tolerance to cannabis, but those effects were mixed. As people continued to use cannabis, the associated reductions in intrusions became slightly smaller suggesting they were building tolerance, but the relationship between cannabis and reductions in compulsions and anxiety remained fairly constant.

Traditional treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder include exposure and response prevention therapy where people’s irrational thoughts around their behaviors are directly challenged, and prescribing antidepressants called serotonin reuptake inhibitors to reduce symptoms. While these treatments have positive effects for many patients, they do not cure the disorder nor do they work well for every person with OCD.

“We’re trying to build knowledge about the relationship of cannabis use and OCD because it’s an area that is really understudied,” said Dakota Mauzay, a doctoral student in Cuttler’s lab and first author on the paper.

Aside from their own research, the researchers found only one other human study on the topic: a small clinical trial with 12 participants that revealed that there were reductions in OCD symptoms after cannabis use, but these were not much larger than the reductions associated with the placebo.

The WSU researchers noted that one of the limitations of their study was the inability to use a placebo control and an “expectancy effect” may play a role in the results, meaning when people expect to feel better from something they generally do. The data was also from a self-selected sample of cannabis users, and there was variability in the results which means that not everyone experienced the same reductions in symptoms after using cannabis.

However, Cuttler said this analysis of user-provided information via the Strainprint app was especially valuable because it provides a large data set and the participants were using market cannabis in their home environment, as opposed to federally grown cannabis in a lab which may affect their responses. Strainprint’s app is intended to help users determine which types of cannabis work the best for them, but the company provided the WSU researchers free access to users’ anonymized data for research purposes.

Cuttler said this study points out that further research, particularly clinical trials on the cannabis constituent CBD, may reveal a therapeutic potential for people with OCD.

This is the fourth study Cuttler and her colleagues have conducted examining the effects of cannabis on various mental health conditions using the data provided by the app created by the Canadian company Strainprint. Others include studies on how cannabis impacts PTSD symptoms, reduces headache pain, and affects emotional well-being.

Vitamin K levels lower in stroke patients

University of Maryland, October 16 2020.

A study of chronic stroke patients reported on October 6, 2020 in the journal Nutrients revealed that the majority consumed an amount of vitamin K that was below recommended intake levels.

The study included 60 men and women between the ages of 54 to 68 years who experienced more than six months of residual deficits after the onset of ischemic stroke. Dietary records were analyzed for the intake of vitamin K and other factors. The subjects were divided into groups according to whether their vitamin K consumption met or was below the recommended intake of 120 micrograms (mcg) per day for adult men and 90 mcg for adult women.

Eighty-two percent of the study subjects reported an inadequate daily intake of vitamin K. An equal percentage of subjects did not report using a multivitamin supplement, most of whom did not meet the recommendation for vitamin K. Subjects who did not supplement their diets with vitamin D and calcium also failed to attain the recommended adequate intake levels of these nutrients. Those whose diet met the adequate intake of vitamin K were likelier to have a greater intake of vegetables, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin E in comparison with those whose intake was lower.

Authors Chad Wessinger of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and colleagues remarked that vitamin K has a role in the prevention of vascular calcification and noted that “The potential relationship between vitamin K intake and cardiometabolic disease introduces vitamin K intake as a conceivable additional measure when assessing chronic stroke survivors’ risk of recurrence.”

“Due to vitamin K’s potential therapeutic interactions with various diseases, controlled supplementation may be indicated for individuals struggling to consume adequate amounts,” they wrote. “Vitamin K supplementation should be considered as a potential adjuvant therapy to address atherosclerosis.”

Regular social engagement linked to healthier brain microstructure in older adults

University of Pittsburgh, October 19, 2020

Older people who report greater levels of social engagement have more robust gray matter in regions of the brain relevant in dementia, according to new research led by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. It is the first to use a particularly sensitive type of brain imaging to conduct such an evaluation.

The findings, reported today in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, suggest that “prescribing” socialization could benefit older adults in warding off dementia, much the way prescribing physical activity can help to prevent diabetes or heart disease.

“Our data were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, but I believe our findings are particularly important right now, since a one-size-fits-all social isolation of all older adults may place them at risk for conditions such as dementia,” said lead author Cynthia Felix, M.D., M.P.H., a geriatrician and a post-doctoral associate in Pitt Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology. “Older adults should know it is important for their brain health that they still seek out social engagement in safe and balanced ways during the pandemic.”

Felix and her colleagues used information about social engagement from 293 community-dwelling participants from the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study. These participants, who averaged 83 years old, also received a sensitive brain scan called Diffusion Tensor Imaging MRI that measured the cellular integrity of brain cells used for social engagement.

These participants provided detailed information about their social engagement and were scored using a tool Felix developed. High scores were awarded to people who did things like play board games; go to movies; travel long distance; attend classes, lectures or adult education events; participate in church or other community activities; get together with children, friends, relatives or neighbors at least once a week; volunteer or work; be married and live with others.

Felix and colleagues found that greater social engagement is related to better microstructural integrity of brain gray matter in these older adults. Maintaining brain health is of critical importance. Once brain cells die, dementia typically follows.

Social engagement with at least one other relative or friend activates specific brain regions needed to recognize familiar faces and emotions, make decisions and feel rewarded. The good news is that even moderate “doses” seem to be beneficial.

“We need to do more research on the details, but that’s the beauty of this–social engagement costs hardly anything, and we do not have to worry about side-effects,” Felix said. “There is no cure for dementia, which has tremendous costs in terms of treatment and caregiving. Preventing dementia, therefore, has to be the focus. It’s the ‘use it or lose it’ philosophy when it comes to the brain.”

Felix notes that cause-and-effect still need to be disentangled: Does greater social engagement keep these brain regions healthy? Or is it that having a healthy brain results in better social engagement?

Similar to how large public health studies assess the best programs to encourage physical activity to prevent chronic disease in older people, Felix believes her team’s findings, coupled with previous research, provides justification for randomized control trials to assess the impact of specific types and amounts of social activities on brain health.

Enriched by her prior public health training at Johns Hopkins University, Felix recognizes the critical role of public health in applying this finding on a large scale.

“It would be good if we develop programs across the U.S. through which structured social activities can be prescribed for community-dwelling older adults, aimed at reducing rates of dementia and the resulting health care costs,” Felix said. “Existing platforms providing group physical activities can be a good starting point.”

White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

Review finds quality of evidence is poor and noise may lead to more disrupted sleep

University Pennsylvania School of Medicine, October 18, 2020

Whether it is nature sounds, the whine of a hairdryer or the incessant hum of a ceiling fan, white noise apps have been downloaded by millions of people around the world in the hope of getting a better night’s sleep. However, research suggests there is no good evidence that they work, and may even be making things worse.

True white noise is the hissy fizzing sound of all the frequencies that humans can hear being fired off randomly and at the same intensity. In recent years, numerous apps and devices have been developed that use it – or other “relaxing” sounds such as the hum of a fan or crashing waves – to help people fall asleep.

They have been hugely successful – the Bedtime Fan app, available on Apple devices, has had more than 3m downloads, while the Android White Noise Generator has more than 1m. One theory is that they help to drown out other bothersome sounds such as street noise; another is that listening to the same sound each night may trigger a kind of Pavlovian response, where people learn to associate it with falling asleep. But does it actually work?

Mathias Basner, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and colleagues systematically reviewed the scientific literature and identified 38 studies that have investigated noise as a sleep aid. Although there was some evidence that continuous noise reduced the amount of time it took individuals to fall asleep, the quality of the evidence was extremely poor, and at least one study suggested the noise may lead to more disrupted sleep.

“If these apps or devices could only do good things, I wouldn’t really care. But because there may be negative consequences, I would just be careful,” said Basner, whose research has been published in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews. “I wouldn’t broadly recommend them, because there is no evidence that they are actually working.”

He is also concerned about the potential ill-effects of not allowing the auditory system to switch off overnight, although this also has not yet been tested. “Whenever we’re exposed to sounds and noise, the inner ear is translating that into nerve signals that are then interpreted by the brain,” he said. “It is an active process, which generates metabolites, some of which have been shown to be harmful to the inner ear. You probably want to have a period where the auditory system can wind down, regenerate and prepare for the next wake period.”

Colin Espie, a professor of sleep medicine at the University of Oxford, agrees the research quality of studies on continuous noise and sleep is poor. “Even the idea is a very limited one conceptually,” he said. “The main concern to overcome in poor sleep is the busy or racing mind. People can’t switch off mentally. White noise is just like any other monotonous stimulation, which has been tried many times in many ways over decades, and the evidence [for it working] is poor.”

Prof Christian Cajochen, who heads the Centre for Chronobiology at the University of Basel in Switzerland, said: “I think the better [forms of] continuous white noise mask highly intermittent background noise, which is why it is recommended for nightshift workers who often need to sleep during the day in a ‘noisy’ environment. There I can see a benefit, but not when sleeping in a relatively quiet environment. Any acoustic stimulus being continuous or not has the potential to interrupt the sleep process.”

He added: “I would rather recommend mindfulness apps like Sleepio, since they are based on good evidence coming from research in sleep medicine, particularly cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia.”

The association between dietary amino acid intake and cognitive decline 8 years later in Japanese older adults

National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (Japan), October 18, 2020

According to news reporting out of Aichi, Japan, research stated, “Previous studies have reported a relationship between low protein intake and cognitive decline and have suggested that this association may be related to specific amino acid intake. However, the effects of amino acid intake on the maintenance of cognitive function have yet to be clarified.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, “We examined the longitudinal association between dietary amino acid intake (lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, and alanine) and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults. Longitudinal epidemiological study. Community-based setting. This study comprised 427 study participants aged 60-82 years with no cognitive decline, defined as a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of >27 at baseline, who also participated in a follow-up. The average and standard deviation of the follow-up period was 8.2 +/- 0.3 years. Dietary intake was assessed using three-day dietary records at baseline. Participants were classified into quartiles (Q1-Q4) based on the intake of 19 amino acids for males and females. Next, we classified participants into Q1 and Q2-Q4 groups. Cognitive function was assessed using the MMSE both at baseline and at follow-up. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between the Q1 group and cognitive decline (MMSE <=;27), using the Q2-Q4 group as a reference group. Covariates were age, sex, body mass index, years of education, severity of depressive symptoms, history of lifestyle diseases (hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, stroke, and ischemic heart disease), energy intake (kcal/d), protein intake (g/d), and MMSE score at baseline. Cognitive decline was present in 133 (31.1%) participants. After adjustment for covariates, including total protein intake, the ORs (95% CIs) for cognitive decline were 2.40 (1.21-4.75) for lysine, 2.05 (1.02-4.09) for phenylalanine, 2.18 (1.09-4.34) for threonine, and 2.10 (1.06-4.15) for alanine.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The results suggest that lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, and alanine intake is important for the maintenance of cognitive function in older people, independent of total protein intake.”

Study: Supplementing with fish oil daily linked to a reduced risk of CVD-related death

Harvard University School of Public Health, October 17, 2020

Daily fish oil supplementation can help reduce the risk of a heart attack, as well as the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD), new research suggests.

As detailed in a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted a meta-analysis of 13 randomized trials involving more than 120,000 adults.

The studies were designed to analyze the cardiovascular effects of daily doses of omega-3 fish oil supplements particularly on the risks of heart attack, coronary heart disease(CHD), CHD death, CVD, CVD death, major vascular events and stroke.

“This meta-analysis provides the most up-to-date evidence regarding the effects of omega-3 supplementation on [the] risk of multiple CVD outcomes,” Yang Hu, the study’s first author said, adding that they found significant protective effects from daily omega-3 supplementation against most CVD-related events.

For their study, the researchers included three recent large-scale trials that increased the sample size by 64 percent. Among these trials was the VITAL trial, which is considered by experts to be one of the largest randomized trials on omega-3 supplementation to date.

According to the research team, their results showed that people who took fish oilsupplements every day lowered their risk of CVD-related outcomes, with the exception of stroke. Daily supplementation also lowered the risk of heart attack and CHD death by eight percent, with high doses of omega-3s linked to greater risk reduction.

In addition, the researchers found that doses above 840 mg/day provide the greatest protective benefits.

“Omega-3 supplementation may have a role in appropriate patients,” senior author JoAnn Manson said, noting that it is particularly beneficial when combined with a heart-healthy diet and regular physical activity.

According to the researchers, considering that millions of people around the world experience major CVD events each year, even small reductions in their risk can help prevent hundreds of thousands of heart attacks and CVD deaths.

Acute cardiovascular disease patients with low CoQ10 have greater risk of mortality during 3.2 median period

Juntendo University Hospital (Japan), October 20, 2020

An investigation reported on September 16, 2020 in the journal Heart and Vessels revealed an association between increased long-term mortality risk and lower levels of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10).

The study enrolled 242 men and women consecutively admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU) of Juntendo University Hospital in Tokyo between April 2012 and January 2013. Blood samples collected within 24 hours of admission were analyzed for CoQ10, lipids and other factors.

During a median follow-up of 3.2 years, 58 patients died of cardiac causes, carcinoma, infection, bleeding and other diagnoses. Coenzyme Q10 levels averaged 0.48 milligrams per liter (mg/L) among non-survivors in comparison with 0.58 mg/L among survivors. When subjects were categorized according to having low (less than the median level of 0.46 mg/L) or high (0.46 mg/L or more) levels of CoQ10, higher levels were associated with an adjusted 52% lower risk of dying from any cause during follow-up in comparison with lower levels.

Patients in the low CoQ10 group were found to be receiving higher doses of statins than those in the high CoQ10 group. “Therefore, low CoQ10 levels induced by malnutrition and statin treatment are a potential therapeutic target in patients admitted to the CCU,” Megumi Shimizu of Juntendo University School of Medicine and colleagues wrote.

The authors observed that research involving CoQ10 supplementation has resulted in lower levels of the inflammatory marker interleukin 6, and that levels of CRP, another marker of inflammation, were significantly lower in patients in the current study who had high CoQ10 levels compared to those with low levels.

“The present study results suggest that lower CoQ10 levels in patients with acute cardiovascular disease can predict poor long-term prognosis,” the authors wrote. “Further prospective studies are warranted to conclusively determine the effect of CoQ10 supplementation on the prognosis of patients with critical cardiovascular disease admitted to the CCU.”

How stress affects your brain and how to reverse it

Stanford University Medicine News, October 7, 2020

When the fight-or-flight stress response was first hardwired into our ancestors’ brains, predators were a top concern.

But, times have changed.

“I’ve been sitting at the same desk for six months now, and there’s just not been a lot of predators,” quipped Stanford bioengineer Russ AltmanOpens in a new window, MD, PhD, as he welcomed his guest, neurobiologist Andrew Huberman, PhD, to a show on stress and the brain for Stanford Engineering’s podcast series, the “Future of Everything.”

Altman’s joke highlights an important point. The things that stress humans out have changed dramatically over the years, however the human stress response has remained largely the same.

Because of this, Huberman explained, whether you’re facing an approaching tiger or an alarming text, the neurons in your brainstem initiate identical cascades of reactions that dump epinephrine, acetylcholine and other chemicals into your body. This chemical dump causes rapid heart rate and breathing, dilated pupils and other body responses, all subconsciously and all in about 500 milliseconds.

Is stress in 2020 worse than ever, or does it just feel that way? Stanford neurobiologist Andrew Huberman discusses stress-taming tips with the “Future of Everything” host Russ Altman.

Sources of stress in modern world

With the increased strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, the upcoming U.S. presidential election, and social injustices, some people are reporting feeling stressed about feeling stressed, Huberman told Altman.

Huberman says people often describe this “meta stress” saying, “I’m doing my meditation and I’m sleeping well, I’m eating well… why am I so stressed?”

People feel stressed because the fight-or-flight response was designed to “recruit almost all of your being — your mind, body, eyes, everything” in just half a second, Huberman told Altman. “Meaning, it’s going to be very hard to prevent the stress response from happening.”

So, if our response to stress is hardwired, and we cannot stem the tide of increasing stressors in our lives, what can we do? According to Huberman, using the body’s own stress-relieving mechanisms may be the key.

Huberman’s lab studies what influences our stress response with the goal of helping people learn to use the parasympathetic “rest and digest” part of the autonomic nervous system to de-escalate the arousal of stress.

“The most common way that we’ve learned to turn off the stress response is to ingest food, carbohydrates in particular. … When our belly is distended, it sends a signal to the brain that counters the stress response, and this is the essence of the parasympathetic response,” he said.

But pounding carbs isn’t a healthy or practical way to counter stress, Huberman noted. Other stress management techniques like, “exercise, baths, massages and vacations are wonderful… but we wanted to develop tools that people could use in the moment.”

How can I protect my brain from stress?

Breathing is a perfect example of such a tool, Huberman said and he’s working with colleagues to understand how different breathing patterns affect feelings of stress and tranquility.

One breathing pattern they’re studying is called “physiological sighs” — pattern of breathing in which two inhales through the nose are followed by an extended exhale through the mouth.

Huberman explained how it works: “You have little sacks of air in the lungs, which increase the volume of air that you can bring in. Those sacks collapse over time, and as a result, oxygen levels start to go down and carbon dioxide levels go up in the bloodstream and body, and that a big part of the signaling of the stress response.”

The double inhale of the physiological sigh “pops” the air sacks (called alveoli) open, allowing oxygen in and enabling you to offload carbon dioxide in the long exhaled sigh out.

This is a real time tool that people can deploy anytime, anywhere to reduce stress, Huberman said.

Stress serves a purpose, Huberman said, but “I think everybody, starting from a very young age and until really, until our last days of life, could benefit from having tools that allow us to push back on that stress response.”

Cannabis’s CBD helps reduce lung damage from COVID by increasing levels of protective peptide

Medical College of Georgia, October 19, 2020

One way CBD appears to reduce the “cytokine storm” that damages the lungs and kills many patients with COVID-19 is by enabling an increase in levels of a natural peptide called apelin, which is known to reduce inflammation and whose levels are dramatically reduced in the face of this storm.

Dental College of Georgia and Medical College of Georgia researchers reported this summer CBD’s ability to improve oxygen levels and reduce inflammation as well as physical lung damage in their laboratory model of deadly adult respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS.

Now they have shown that apelin levels go way down with the viral infection, which has killed 1 million people worldwide, and that CBD quickly helps normalize those levels along with lung function.

“It was dramatic in both directions,” says Dr. Babak Baban, DCG immunologist and associate dean for research, of shifting apelin levels in both circulating blood and lung tissue.

Blood levels of the peptide dropped close to zero in their ARDS model and increased 20 times with CBD, they report in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

“CBD almost brought it back to a normal level,” Dr. Jack Yu, physician scientist and chief of pediatric plastic surgery at MCG, says of the apparent first connection between CBD and apelin.

Apelin is a pervasive peptide made by cells in the heart, lung, brain, fat tissue and blood, and is an important regulator in bringing both blood pressure and inflammation down, says Baban, the study’s corresponding author.

When our blood pressure gets high, for example, apelin levels should go up in the right place, like endothelial cells that line blood vessels, to help bring it down. Apelin should do the same to help normalize the significant increases in inflammation in the lungs and related breathing difficulties associated with ARDS.

“Ideally with ARDS it would increase in areas of the lungs where it’s needed to improve blood and oxygen flow to compensate and to protect,” Baban says. But when they looked at their ARDS model, apelin didn’t do either, and instead decreased in both the lung tissue itself and the general circulation. Until they gave CBD.

They reported this summer in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research that treatment with CBD reduced excessive lung inflammation, enabling improvements in lung function, heathier oxygen levels, and repair of some of the structural damage to the lungs that are classic with ARDS. The investigators said then more work was needed, including finding how CBD produced the significant changes as well as human trials, before it should be included as part of a treatment regimen for COVID-19.

Now they have correlated those improvements with regulation of apelin. While they don’t attribute all CBD’s benefits to apelin, they say the peptide clearly has an important role in this scenario. They also don’t yet know whether the novel coronavirus, or CBD for that matter, have a direct effect on apelin, or if these are downstream consequences, but they are already pursuing answers to those unknowns.

“It is an association; we don’t know yet about causative, but it is a very good indicator of the disease,” Baban says of the bottom line impact of the viral infection on apelin levels.

The now familiar spiked virus enters human cells via the also pervasive angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, or ACE2, receptor. “The spike proteins have just the right docking mechanism,” says coauthor Yu. And there is plenty of common ground between ACE2 and apelin, including the fact that many cell types and tissues have both, including the lungs.

Apelin and ACE2 also normally work together to control blood pressure, and upregulation of both may be helpful in cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, by decreasing blood pressure while increasing the heart’s ability to pump. In fact, apelin and ACE2 work together to regulate a healthy cardiovascular system and they are factors in pretty much any condition, like obesity or hypertension, that hurt the cardiovascular system, Baban says.

Like other disease, the novel coronavirus appears to upset their positive partnership. The virus’ binding to the receptor for ACE2 has been shown to decrease ACE2 levels and increase levels of the powerful blood vessel constrictor angiotensin II, because less angiotensin II gets degraded and fewer vasodilators get produced, which worsens the patient’s prognosis.

“Instead of ACE2 helping blood vessels relax, it helps the virus get into the host where it makes more virus instead of helping the lungs relax and do their job,” says Yu.

While the researchers are still putting the pieces together, reduced levels of ACE2 appear to enable less apelin and less protection.

However it happens, their finding of dramatic reductions in apelin in the face of ARDS, makes levels of the protective peptide a potential early biomarker for ARDS and response to treatment efforts, they say.

The new finding was their first in learning more about how CBD produces the beneficial effects they saw in their model of ARDS. Next steps include better understanding the interaction between CBD, apelin and the novel coronavirus including why apelin goes down in the face of the virus and why CBD brings it up. That includes exploring how eliminating apelin affects ARDS and if CBD produces the same lung benefit without apelin.

Likely the virus suppresses something that suppresses apelin, they say and CBD interferes. But they doubt the apelin-CBD interaction is the only way the compound, the second most prevalent found in the marijuana plant, works in this and other scenarios.

The studies were enabled by the investigators’ development of a safe, relatively inexpensive model of ARDS by giving a synthetic analog of double-stranded RNA called POLY (I:C). The novel coronavirus also has double-stranded RNA, while ours is single-stranded, so this analog produced a response similar to the virus, including the extreme lung damage that has led to the need for ventilator and other extreme support measures for patients, and is a major cause of death. Much as with the SARS-CoV-2 infection, the result is the “cytokine storm” that reflects an over-the-top immune response in the lungs, which results in an attack rather than protection.

For these studies, a control group received intranasal saline for three consecutive days while the COVID-19 model received POLY (I:C) intranasally for three days. A third group, the treatment group, received POLY ((I:C) and CBD over the same timeframe.

This time they looked and also found significantly reduced apelin levels in the mice that developed COVID-like symptoms compared to controls. Treatment with CBD normalized the immune response and apelin levels, along with oxygen levels and swelling and scarring in the lungs characteristic of the deadly ARDS.

“The apelinergic system is a very, very ubiquitous signaling system,” Yu says. While it has diverse jobs in different places, and levels may rise and fall depending on what is needed, its levels are consistently measurable in the lungs, one of the reasons it should be a good biomarker, and it’s also generally considered protective, they say.

Apelin’s important, diverse roles include helping ensure the placenta is well supplied with blood and the oxygen and nutrients it carries during a pregnancy. In fact, DCG and MCG investigators decided to look at apelin because of the work of Dr. Évila Lopes Salles, a postdoctoral fellow with Baban in the DCG Department of Oral Biology and the study’s first author, who was looking at the peptide’s significant impact in gestation and clear anti-inflammatory role, Baban says.

Synthetic agonists that increase apelin levels exist and are showing promise in the laboratory for cardiovascular disease, including slowing the growth rate of weak points in blood vessels called aneurysms. CBD appears to be a natural apelin agonist, the researchers say.

Fluoride Is Toxic To Developing Brains, New Studies Find

US National Toxicology Program, October 18, 2020

The debate on the fluoridation of drinking water — one of the most polarized, long-running, and high-decibel controversies in public health — has been reignited as new studies find that fluoride is toxic to the developing brain.

Last week, the U.S. National Toxicology Program released a systematic review of all published studies evaluating the potential neurotoxicity of fluoride; the benefits of fluoride with respect to reducing tooth decay were not addressed. A committee of the National Academy of Science, Medicine, and Engineering will review it this fall. This comprehensive report scrutinized hundreds of human and animal studies on the impact of fluoride on brain and cognitive function. Most, but not all, of the high-quality studies evaluated fluoride concentrations that were about twice the level added to drinking water or higher. However, when considering all the evidence, their conclusion was “fluoride is presumed to be a cognitive developmental hazard to humans.”

The National Toxicology Program’s conclusion was strengthened by a synthesis of high-quality studies showing that children who were exposed to higher amounts of fluoride during early brain development scored about 3 to 7 points lower on their IQ tests.

Their conclusion is consequential as about 75% of Americans on community water systems have fluoride in their tap water. Water is the main source of fluoride for people who live in communities with water fluoridation.

When do we know enough to revise long-held beliefs? We are reminded of the discovery of neurotoxic effects of lead that led to the successful banning of lead in gasoline and paint. Despite early warnings of lead toxicity, regulatory actions to reduce childhood lead exposures were not taken until decades of research had elapsed and millions more children were poisoned.

We know that the developing brain is exquisitely sensitive to minute concentrations of lead and other toxic chemicals. Moreover, toxic chemicals’ irreversible effects on children’s rapidly growing brains emphasize the need for prevention.

Failing to act on accumulated evidence raises deep and unsettling questions. Why are beliefs about the safety of fluoride so intransigent in the face of consistent evidence to the contrary?

Costs outweigh benefits

Fluoride offers no benefits to the fetus and infant and — as shown in the video below — new evidence suggests that fluoride is toxic to the developing brain at levels routinely found in the general population.

The benefits of fluoride in the prevention of tooth decay are predominately topical, occurring only after teeth appear in the child’s mouth. Fortunately, pregnant women can use fluoridated toothpaste and, if they want to do more to prevent cavities, can limit their consumption of sugar, a leading cause of tooth decay.

The loss of a single IQ point for an individual child is imperceptible, but the societal cost of millions of children losing 5 IQ points, or more is enormous. A decrement of even 1 IQ point translates to a 2% reduction in lifetime economic productivity (roughly $20,000), not to mention the additional educational costs required for children with lower IQs.

Many health and dental organizations in North America recommend community water fluoridation. Given the weight of evidence that fluoride is toxic to the developing brain, the time for health organizations and regulatory bodies to review their recommendations and regulations to ensure they protect pregnant women and their children is now.

We can act now by recommending that pregnant women and infants reduce their fluoride intake.

Specialized water filtration systems can be used to remove fluoride from tap water for pregnant women and infants fed formula. Pregnant women can also avoid black tea, which hyper-accumulates fluoride. The good news for all women is that there is little fluoride in breast milk. Bottled water typically contains lower amounts of fluoride than fluoridated tap water.

Some health advocates are going a step further. In 2016, a group of citizens petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop adding fluoride to drinking water because it is toxic. The EPA rejected the petition. In response, the citizen’s group took an unprecedented step and sued the EPA in federal court. EPA lawyers argued half-heartedly that the science was insufficient and said the Agency does not have the resources to regulate fluoride under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

In August, Judge Edward Chen of the Ninth Circuit deferred his ruling on whether fluoridation poses an unreasonable risk until the National Toxicology Program released their report.

New evidence questions existing policies about the safety of fluoride for babies’ developing brains. Given that safe alternatives are available and that there is no benefit of fluoride to babies’ teeth before they erupt or appear, it is time to protect those who are most vulnerable.

High fructose intake may drive aggressive behaviors, ADHD, bipolar

University of Colorado, October 19, 2020

New research suggests that conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome (ADHD), bipolar disorder, and even aggressive behaviors may be linked with sugar intake, and that it may have an evolutionary basis.

The research, out today from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and published in Evolution and Human Behavior, presents a hypothesis supporting a role for fructose, a component of sugar and high fructose corn syrup, and uric acid (a fructose metabolite), in increasing the risk for these behavioral disorders.

“We present evidence that fructose, by lowering energy in cells, triggers a foraging response similar to what occurs in starvation,” said lead author Richard Johnson, MD, professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

Johnson outlines research that shows a foraging response stimulates risk taking, impulsivity, novelty seeking, rapid decision making, and aggressiveness to aid the securing of food as a survival response. Overactivation of this process from excess sugar intake may cause impulsive behavior that could range from ADHD, to bipolar disorder or even aggression.

“While the fructose pathway was meant to aid survival, fructose intake has skyrocketed during the last century and may be in overdrive due to the high amounts of sugar that are in the current Western diet,” Johnson adds.

The paper looks at how excessive intake of fructose present in refined sugars and high fructose corn syrup may have a contributory role in the pathogenesis of behavioral disorders that are associated with obesity and Western diet.

Johnson notes, “We do not blame aggressive behavior on sugar, but rather note that it may be one contributor.”

Johnson recommends further studies to investigate the role of sugar and uric acid, especially with new inhibitors of fructose metabolism on the horizon.

“The identification of fructose as a risk factor does not negate the importance of genetic, familial, physical, emotional and environmental factors that shape mental health,” he adds.

Gratitude is Good for the Heart and Soul

University of California San Diego School of Medicine, October 16th 2020

One study discovered the more grateful you are, the lower your risk of heart attack. Is there a recipe for gratitude?

It is well known that mental and physical health are closely intertwined, but evidence suggests your attitude may have a major influence your heart attack risk. The latest science reveals that a “grateful heart” is a healthy heart.

Dr. Paul Mills of the University of California San Diego School of Medicine has been researching the connection between mental health and heart health for decades.[1] A positive attitude is associated with lower heart disease risk because it reduces stress, anxiety and depression, all of which contribute to cardiovascular disease.

But what about gratitude and your heart? To answer this question, Mills designed a study.[2] He recruited 186 men and women with heart disease and came up with a gratitude questionnaire.

What he learned was, the more grateful people are, the healthier they are. Mills also performed blood tests to measure inflammation levels. Inflammation strongly correlates with the buildup of arterial plaque and the development of heart disease. Interestingly, the most grateful individuals showed the lowest inflammatory markers.

Mills then dug in deeper with a follow-up study involving gratitude journaling. After two months, individuals with a history heart disease who kept gratitude journals enjoyed a decrease in their overall cardiac risk, whereas a non-journaling group did not. Mills isn’t certain how gratitude helps the heart but believes the key may be reduced stress.[3]

These results aren’t surprising in light of previous studies linking negative emotional states with increased risk of heart attack and stroke. A 2012 review of 200 studies by the Harvard School of Public Health[4] concluded that optimism and happiness do indeed reduce cardiovascular risk.

Gratitude Offers Benefits for Both Mind and Body

Robert A. Emmons heads up a long-term research project designed to create and disseminate scientific data on the nature of gratitude, its causes and potential consequences for human health and well-being.[5] [6] Neuroscientist Emiliana Simon-Thomas, the science director of Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) at UC Berkeley, works alongside Emmons in the study of gratitude. Simon-Thomas reports:[7]

“After eight weeks of practice, brain scans of individuals who practice gratitude have stronger brain structure for social cognition and empathy, as well as the part of the brain that processes reward.”

Simon-Thomas has also seen gratitude relieve symptoms of post-traumatic stress and helps individuals with PTSD recover more quickly. Studies involving trauma survivors (Vietnam vets and 9/11) have found gratitude to be a significant factor in healing from trauma.[8] [9]

In a blurb about the radio special The Science of Gratitude,[10] UC Berkeley’s online magazine Greater Good says the prescription for happiness can be distilled into one simple recommendation: Say thank you. But happiness is only the tip of the iceberg! Research reveals gratitude comes with an impressive array of benefits, including the following:56[11] [12]

Improved personal and work relationships[13]	Better physical health	Greater empathy, sensitivity, and connectedness with others
Higher self esteem	Increased happiness	Better self care
Increased mental strength and resilience	Higher optimism	Better sleep; plus, good night’s sleep also promotes gratitude[14]
Reduced stress and anxiety	Diminished aggression	Less focus on material goods

Is There a Recipe for a Grateful Heart?

I am particularly fond of the way editor Jeremy Adam Smith describes gratitude in a Greater Good article:[15]

“Gratitude (and its sibling, appreciation) is the mental tool we use to remind ourselves of the good stuff. It’s a lens that helps us to see the things that don’t make it onto our lists of problems to be solved. It’s a spotlight we shine on the people who give us the good things in life.”

Believing he lacked a bit of discipline in the gratitude department, Smith put together a list of six traits he believes set “fantastically grateful people” apart from the rest:

1. Once in a while, they think about death and loss. Also known as “mental subtraction,” this involves acknowledging what we do have by reflecting upon what might NOT have been. It’s not about doom and gloom, but developing appreciation by looking at all possibilities.

2. They take the time to smell the roses. Savoring positive experiences makes them stick more in the brain. Have you ever noticed that the first sip of coffeetastes the best? We have a tendency to adapt to pleasurable things, enjoying them less over time–a phenomenon called “hedonic adaptation.” The remedy is to temporarily give up the practice.[16]

3. They take the good things as gifts, not birthrights. The opposite of gratitude is entitlement. A preoccupation with the self will quickly quash any feelings of thankfulness.

4. They’re grateful for people, not just things. Expressing gratitude to others strengthens social bonds and increases trust, compassion and affection.

5. They mention the pancakes. Grateful people are very specific in their expressions of gratitude, which makes those expressions feel more authentic. For example, they would say, “I love you for making me pancakes on Saturday mornings when you know I’ve had a rough week,” rather than, “I love you because you’re wonderful.”

6. They thank outside the box. This is not a denial of negativity, but rather a way of thinking about the world that turns obstacles into opportunities.

Protective effects of blueberry anthocyanin extracts on hippocampal neuron damage induced by extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field

Shenyang Agricultural University (China), October 13, 2020

According to news reporting originating from Shenyang Agricultural University, research stated, “The protective effects of blueberry anthocyanin extracts against damage induced by extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) were investigated in a rat model.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Shenyang Agricultural University: “Wistar rats were exposed to ELF-EMF with or without the administration of blueberry anthocyanin extracts (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg per day intragastrically once a day) for 30 days. Blueberry anthocyanin extracts supplementation inhibited the decrease in Nissl substance levels, cell membrane integrity, and mitochondrial membrane potential induced by ELF-EMF; prevented the increase in nitric oxide, malondialdehyde, and Ca2+ concentrations; suppressed superoxide dismutase and glutathione depletion; and enhanced the cognitive ability of the rats exposed to ELF-EMF. The protective effects of blueberry anthocyanin extracts against hippocampal neuron injury caused by ELF-EMF were dose-dependent.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “These results demonstrated that blueberry anthocyanin extracts suppress hippocampal neuron injury caused by ELF-EMF by inhibiting cell membrane damage and oxidative stress pathways, and suggested that blueberry anthocyanin treatment potentially prevents hippocampal neuron injury.”

Looking for new ways to fuel athletic performance? Try a potato!

University of Illinois and University of Montana, Oct. 15, 2020

Lab-manufactured sports products are a go-to supplement for many athletes today to maximize performance. But as consumers seek out simpler foods, there is an opportunity to find more diverse, whole food options for athletes. A series of recent studies published in Nutrients, Journal of Applied Physiology and European Journal of Applied Physiology, shows promising results for one whole food option – the potato. These three studies demonstrate that whether consumed before, during or after workouts, potatoes positively impact performance and recovery as effectively – and sometimes more effectively than – traditional commercial sports products, such carbohydrate gels.

Nicholas Burd, PhD, primary investigator of the study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology explained, “While ingestion of concentrated carbohydrate gels is commonplace, my study indicates that whole food alternatives – like potatoes – when fed during exercise, are equally effective in supporting athletes’ performance. These promising results complement two studies from my peers, demonstrating that potatoes can also support muscle building and recovery. Collectively, these are important findings as they provide a new wholesome, nutrient-dense and cost-effective option for athletes.”

Together, these studies are a foundational turning point for both the sports and nutrition research world – opening up new fueling and recovery sources for active people and novel research hypotheses for scientists. Specifically, the studies found that:

As a significant part of a higher protein diet (above the Recommended Dietary Allowance, or RDA), consuming potato protein isolate throughout the day for two weeks – including before resistance exercise – increased muscle protein synthesis in women (Oikawa et al., Nutrients, 2020)
Russet potatoes consumed during a cycling trial improved performance and sustained blood glucose concentrations of trained athletes equal to that of a commercial sports gel (Burd et al., J App Physiol, 2019)
Potato-based products consumed after a 90-minute cycling trial helped replenish muscle glycogen stores and support subsequent exercise as effectively as common sports supplements (Flynn et al., Eur J App Physiol, 2020)

According to Brent Ruby, PhD, FACSM, the lead researcher of the study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, finding effective and agreeable foods to fuel exercise is important, and potatoes can fit this bill. “Evidence shows many athletes – especially women – have lower energy intakes and consume less than the recommended amount of daily carbohydrates during intensive segments of training and competitions. In our study, there were no differences in post-exercise muscle glycogen recovery and time trial performance when we compared common sport supplements with a potato-based feeding plan. Moreover, participants rated the post-exercise potato meals as more tasty, satisfying and acceptable compared to commercial sports supplement foods. This indicates that potatoes may be a viable and more economical option to help athletes meet their recovery fueling needs,” explained Dr. Ruby.

Stuart Phillips, PhD, lead researcher for the study published in Nutrients, further added that his research is important for consumers leaning towards plant-based lifestyles. According to Dr. Phillips, “Plant-based diets are certainly growing in popularity. But compared to animal-derived proteins, we know much less about how plant-based proteins can support muscle protein synthesis. Our study demonstrates that potato protein – which is a high-quality protein comparable to animal-based sources and better than many plant sources – is an effective option for exercise regimens and muscle protein synthesis.”

While choosing potatoes as an optimal performance food may seem odd and difficult to execute, the trials demonstrate that various potato forms can be used to support athlete’s needs – ranging from a simple puree to potato pancakes or hash browns. According to Dr. Burd, “Potatoes are a versatile ingredient and there are many different forms of this vegetable for consumers today. While we tested a potato puree in our study, athletes can opt for different potato recipes and on-the-go products as their exercise fuel.”

These three studies provide exciting new evidence to the field of sports nutrition, but they are just a start. According to Dr. Phillips, “Our study is the first, to our knowledge, to examine effects of potato protein supplementation in any capacity in humans – and it clearly showed the inadequacy of the protein RDA. Given that recommendations and personal preferences are shifting to more plant-based, whole food options, we need more research around diverse fuels for athletes and active people alike. Researchers should continue this important work and consider other ways in which potato-derived ingredients, in various forms and situations, can support exercise performance.”

Research finds that blue-light glasses improve sleep and workday productivity

Indiana University, October 15, 2020

During the pandemic, the amount of screen time for many people working and learning from home as well as binge-watching TV has sharply increased. New research finds that wearing blue-light glasses just before sleeping can lead to a better night’s sleep and contribute to a better day’s work to follow.

“We found that wearing blue-light-filtering glasses is an effective intervention to improve sleep, work engagement, task performance and organizational citizenship behavior, and reduced counterproductive work behavior,” said Cristiano L. Guarana, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. “Wearing blue-light-filtering glasses creates a form of physiologic darkness, thus improving both sleep quantity and quality.”

Most of the technology we commonly use—such as computer screens, smartphones and tablets—emits blue light, which past research has found can disrupt sleep. Workers have become more dependent on these devices, especially as we navigate remote work and school during the coronavirus pandemic.

The media have recently reported on the benefits of blue-light glasses for those spending a lot of time in front of a computer screen. This new research extends understanding of the circadian rhythm, a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours.

“In general, the effects of wearing blue-light-filtering glasses were stronger for ‘night owls’ than for ‘morning larks,’ said Guarana, who previously has studied how lack of sleep affects business decisions, relationships and other behaviors in organizations. “Owls tend to have sleep periods later in the day, whereas larks tend to have sleep periods early in the day.

“Although most of us can benefit from reducing our exposure to blue light, owl employees seem to benefit more because they encounter greater misalignments between their internal clock and the externally controlled work time. Our model highlights how and when wearing blue-light-filtering glasses can help employees to live and work better.”

The findings appear in the paper, “The Effects of Blue-Light Filtration on Sleep and Work Outcomes,” published online by the Journal of Applied Psychology. Guarana is the corresponding author; his co-authors are Christopher Barnes and Wei Jee Ong of the University of Washington.

The research found that daily engagement and performance of tasks may be related to more underlying biological processes such as the circadian process.

“Our research pushes the chronotype literature to consider the relationship between the timing of circadian processes and employees’ performance,” the researchers wrote.

A good night’s sleep not only benefits workers; it also helps their employers’ bottom lines.

“This study provides evidence of a very cost-effective means of improving employee sleep and work outcomes, and the implied return on investment is gigantic,” said Barnes, professor of management and the Evert McCabe Endowed Fellow at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. “I personally do not know of any other interventions that would be that powerful at that low of a cost.”

Across two studies, researcher collected data from 63 company managers and 67 call center representatives at Brazil-based offices for a U.S. multinational financial firm and measured task performance from clients. Participants were randomly chosen to test glasses that filtered blue light or those that were placebo glasses.

“Employees are often required to work early mornings, which may lead to a misalignment between their internal clock and the externally controlled work time,” the researchers said, adding that their analyses showed a general pattern that blue-light filtration can have a cumulative effect on key performance variables, at least in the short term.

“Blue-light exposure should also be of concern to organizations,” Guarana said. “The ubiquity of the phenomenon suggests that control of blue-light exposure may be a viable first step for organizations to protect the circadian cycles of their employees from disruption.”

The therapeutic effects of ginseng against Alzheimer’s disease

Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and University of Chicago, October 14, 2020

In a recent study, American and Chinese researchers screened, identified and evaluated the bioactive compounds present in Asian ginseng. Specifically, they looked at the herb’s neuroprotective effects, which have been reported by numerous studies but remain poorly understood. The researchers reported their findings in an article published in The American Journal of Chinese Medicine.

Asian ginseng shows promise against Alzheimer’s disease

According to cell culture and animal studies, Asian ginseng exerts neuroprotective effects, but the specific bioactive compounds responsible for these effects and the mechanisms behind them still need to be investigated.

To screen, identify and evaluate the bioactive compounds present in this TCM herb, the researchers used affinity ultrafiltration (AUF), a combination of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) and molecular docking for their experiment.

AUF is a method often used to fish out molecules of interest from complex matrices. UPLC-QTOF-MS, on the other hand, is used to characterize and identify phytochemicals present in plant extracts. Molecular docking is a method frequently used to predict the three-dimensional structure and binding-conformation of ligands to their receptors.

The researchers selected three macromolecules, namely, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) and the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, to be the target proteins for AUF-MS screening and found 16 potential neuroactive compounds present in Asian ginseng.

AChE is the enzyme responsible for breaking down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and is mainly found in muscles and nerves. MAO-B, on the other hand, is the enzyme that breaks down brain chemicals, including the neurotransmitter dopamine. Meanwhile, the NMDA receptor is the protein to which the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the human brain, glutamate, binds to. NMDA receptor dysfunction is linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Upon evaluation of the bioactivities of Asian ginseng components by AChE-inhibitory test and DPPH (antioxidant activity) assay, the researchers found that all of them have significant neuroactivity. Molecular docking results also confirmed the AUF results, save for a few discrepancies.

Based on their findings, the researchers concluded that Asian ginseng exerts a therapeutic effect against Alzheimer’s disease through the interactions between its active components and its biological targets (molecules and pathways).

Reported effects of Asian ginseng on the mind and brain

The main active components of Asian ginseng are triterpene saponins called ginsenosides. The majority of research on Asian ginseng attributes the herb’s medicinal properties to these compounds. Ginsenosides are said to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities, as well as the ability to inhibit cell suicide (apoptosis). Ginsenosides are also considered potent neuroprotective agents.

According to a study involving 112 healthy volunteers all more than 40 years of age, supplementation with a ginseng product called Gerimax for eight weeks resulted in certain brain benefits. Besides having better and faster simple reactions after the trial period, the volunteers also enjoyed improvements in abstract thinking.

Daily supplementation with ginseng can also lead to improvements in certain psychomotor functions. Two small studies involving 30 young and healthy volunteers each reported that those who took ginseng for eight weeks had better attention, processing and auditory reaction time afterward. Ginseng also improved the volunteers’ social functioning and mental health.

In a randomized controlled trial, 384 postmenopausal women took either a placebo or ginseng for 16 weeks. Those who supplemented with ginseng showed improvements in three subsets of a Psychological General Well-Being index, a measure of subjective psychological well-being. In another study, healthy volunteers also reported improvements in cognitive performance, secondary memory performance, speed of performing memory tasks and accuracy of attentional tasks after taking ginseng daily.

Meditation can counter mental stress on college campuses, experts say

Stanford University, October 6, 2020

When Graham Erwin, PhD, was a third-year graduate student in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, he hit a wall. Overwhelmed by stress and anxiety, he had no clue what to do and considered dropping out. Then he discovered a lifesaver that was, for him, unlikely: a breath-based meditation course.

“I had 12 research projects and none of them were working, and my qualifying exam was approaching fast,” said Erwin, now a Stanford Medicine postdoc in genetics who’s also a teaching assistant for meditation courses. “I didn’t know how to deal with the stress. A lab mate suggested a meditation course. I grew up in the Midwest and thought, ‘That’s something for Californians, not for me.'”

Feeling desperate, he took the course anyway. And, he said, learning practical ways to manage stress and calm his mind changed his life.

“I proceeded to publish papers in top journals and received two patents on my way to getting my PhD,” he said. “Honestly, this level of success was a fantasy prior to that course. Now, I tell all my science friends that if they want to be creative in their research, learn meditation.”

Targeting increasing levels of stress

Meditation courses, including the SKY Campus Happiness Program course Erwin took, can be particularly helpful now, when pandemic isolation and stress are adding to a decade of declining mental health on college campuses, said Emma Seppala, PhD, a research psychologist and science director of the Stanford University Center for Compassion Altruism Research and Education.

“Universities are wondering how to handle mental health,” said Seppala, who has published multiple studies on meditation and stress. “Especially in this time of racial tension and isolation, we should be teaching students how to handle their emotions as well as their minds.”

Stanford is one of the few campuses to offer a for-credit SKY program course, said instructor Julia Tang. With Erwin’s help, she also holds online SKY program retreats for the Stanford community, hoping to better connect with students during the pandemic.

Calming the mind during the COVID crisis

“These days, with so much going on — COVID, the orange skies — we are in a constant state of fight or flight,” Tang said. “We aren’t allowing ourselves to relax.”

The SKY program meditation technique uses cyclical, rhythmic breathing patterns to bring the mind and body into a restful, calm state, said Tang, who also teaches the importance of interpersonal connections for good mental health.

“Sometimes it’s so difficult to think your way out of anxiety,” she said, explaining that, by practicing the breathing technique, “You can tap into the parasympathetic nervous system, using the breath to escape that fight-or-flight response that keeps you in a constant state of agitation.”

Stress on colleges campuses has been a growing concern for the past 10 years and the pandemic hasn’t helped, Seppala said. A recently published study on the impact of COVID-19 on student well-being reported that 60% of college students said the pandemic has made it harder to access mental health care, even as their financial stress and depression increased.

“Counseling services are overwhelmed,” Seppala said. “People are wondering how do we get a handle on mental health? How do we handle the isolation?”

Helping more people for less money

Meditation and well-being courses can reach a broader audience far more cheaply than adding more staff to counseling centers, she said. And evidence shows that coping strategies from the courses help.

Breathing practices, for example, are effective at training the body to be calmer and rested, and lower one’s levels of cortisol — the stress hormone, she said.

Seppala led a recently published study that evaluated the benefits for undergraduates of three well-being programs: SKY Campus Happiness; Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and Foundations of Emotional Intelligence.

The SKY program was found to be most effective at relieving stress and depression, and improving mental health, social connection, mindfulness and positive emotion, she said. A University of Arizona study with similar results also showed that mental health benefits were strong even three months after the program.

Tang said that a lot of students at Stanford experience the “imposter syndrome,” feeling like they don’t belong.

“There is so much pressure among these high-achieving students,” she said. “We teach them to let go of that need for feeling perfect. ‘People are rooting for you,’ we tell them, ‘imperfections and all.'”

Erwin, who is dedicated to sharing the meditation skills with other students, said the practice has become part of his daily life. “That course was transformative for me,” he said.

Study shows people find well-being more so from special places than from mementoes

University of Surrey October 16, 2020

(Medical Xpress)—A team of researchers at the University of Surrey has found that people experience a feeling of well-being when thinking about or visiting a place that holds special meaning to them. They also found that such feelings are stronger than those induced by objects such as wedding rings or pictures of their wedding.

Most everyone knows that visiting a place that holds special meaning evokes emotion, but what happens in the brain to cause such feelings? The researchers with this new effort sought to find out by conducting a three-stage study.

The first stage involved asking 20 volunteers to look at various photographs while encased in an fMRI machine. The volunteers were asked to bring 10 photographs of objects that were important to them and 10 of places that held special meaning for them. The researchers then watched to see how the brain responded as the volunteers looked through the pictures—they report that there were three response areas—the left amygdala, which is known to play a major role in processing emotion, the medial prefrontal cortex, which has been found to play a strong role in evaluating whether something is positive or negative, and the parahippocampal place area, which prior studies have shown responds to locations that are personally relevant.

The second stage involved asking 11 volunteers to take part in in-depth qualitative interviews, both at home and at a place that was meaningful to them. The third stage involved inviting people to take an online survey to which 2000 people responded.

After looking at all the data from the three stages, the researchers reported that the brain responds more strongly to meaningful places than to objects that represent something important. Visiting the place where someone got married, for example, elicited a more emotional response than looking at pictures of the event or even their wedding ring. They further reported that 64 percent of people involved in the study claimed their special place caused them to feel calm while 54 percent reported that their special place offered a respite from normal life.

Early trauma influences metabolism across generations

University of Zurich, October 16, 2020

People who live through traumatic experiences in childhood often suffer long-lasting consequences that affect their mental and physical health. But moreover, their children and grand-children can also be impacted as well. In this particular form of inheritance, sperm and egg cells pass on information to offspring not through their DNA sequence like classical genetic heredity, but rather via biological factors involving the epigenome that regulates genome activity. However, the big question is how the signals triggered by traumatic events become embedded in germ cells.

“Our hypothesis was that circulating factors in blood play a role,” says Isabelle Mansuy, professor of neuroepigenetics at the University of Zurich’s Brain Research Institute and the ETH Zurich’s Institute for Neuroscience. Mansuy and her team demonstrated that childhood trauma does have a lifelong influence on blood composition and that these changes are also passed to the next generation. “These findings are extremely important for medicine, as this is the first time that a connection between early trauma and metabolic disorders in descendants is characterized,” explains Mansuy.

Traumatic stress leads to metabolic changes across generations

In her study, Mansuy used a mouse model for early trauma that had been developed in her lab. The model is used to study how the effects of trauma in early postnatal life on male mice are transmitted to their offspring. To determine whether these early experiences have an impact on blood composition, the researchers conducted multiple analyses and found large and significant differences between blood from adult traumatized animals and blood from normal, non-traumatized control group.

Changes in lipid metabolism were particularly striking, with certain polyunsaturated fatty acids metabolites appearing in higher concentrations in the blood of traumatized male mice. These same changes were also observed in their offspring. Even more strikingly, when the serum of traumatized males was chronically injected into non-traumatized males, their offspring also developed metabolic symptoms of trauma – providing a direct link between circulating factors and germ cells, thus confirming the hypothesis that blood delivers stress signals to the gametes.

Comparison with traumatized children

The researchers then investigated whether similar effects are present in humans. For this, they assembled a cohort of 25 children from an SOS Children’s Village in Pakistan who have lost their father and were separated from their mother, and analyzed their blood and saliva. When compared with children from normal families, the orphans showed higher level of several lipid metabolites – just like the traumatized mice.

“These children’s traumatic experiences are comparable to those in our mouse model, and their metabolism show similar changes in blood,” explains Mansuy. “This demonstrates the importance of animal research for providing us with fundamental insights into human health.” Up to one fourth of children across the world experience violence, abuse and neglect, that can lead to chronic diseases later in their life, highlighting the importance of Mansuy’s research.

Receptor interferes with gametes

Further experiments led the team to discover a molecular mechanism by which lipid metabolites can transmit signals to animals’ germ cells. PPAR, a receptor at the surface of cells, plays a key role in this process; it is activated by fatty acids and regulates gene expression and DNA structure in numerous tissues. The researchers discovered that this receptor is upregulated in the sperm of traumatized males.

Artificially activating this receptor in male mice led to lower body weight and disturbances in glucose metabolism – an effect that was also seen in their offspring and grand-offspring. These and other experiments led researchers to conclude that PPAR activation in sperm cells plays a significant role in the heritability of metabolic dysfunctions caused by traumatic experiences in ancestors.

Trauma damages the health of offspring

“Our findings demonstrate that early trauma influences both mental and physical health in adulthood and across generations, which can be seen in factors like lipid metabolism and glucose levels,” says Mansuy. “This is rarely taken into consideration in clinical settings.” Improving the understanding of the underlying biological processes could help medical practitioners prevent the late-onset consequences of adverse life experiences in their patients in the future.