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Heart-healthy lifestyles linked to lower risk of future cancers

Risk of future cancers was lowest among participants in community-based observational study who had a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Massachusetts General Hospital, March 16, 2021

In addition to lowering risk of heart disease, maintaining a heart-healthy lifestyle may pay off in lower risk for developing cancer, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and other centers in the United States and the Netherlands have found.

Looking at the potential link between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer among participants in two large population-based health studies, Emily S. Lau, MD, and Jennifer E. Ho, MD, from the division of Cardiology at MGH and their co-authors found that traditional risk factors for CVD, including older age, male sex, and current or former smoking were all independently associated with increased risk of the development of cancer.

In addition, they found increased levels of natriuretic peptides–markers of stress on the heart–also predicted higher cancer risk among study participants.

Although participants who already had a history of heart disease before the study or experienced a cardiovascular event such as heart attack or heart failure after joining the study were not found to be at increased risk of developing cancers, those who had ideal cardiovascular health at study entry had lower risk of future cancers, the investigators reported in JACC: CardioOncology.

“We found an association between a heart-healthy lifestyle and a lower risk of cancer, and the opposite is true: that a less heart-healthy lifestyle is also associated with higher risk of cancer, but we can’t prove that there is causation in this epidemiologic study,” says Lau.

Lau and colleagues evaluated data from 20,305 participants in two large community-based, long-term health studies: the Framingham Heart Study and the Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-Stage Disease (PREVEND) study. The participants were free of cancer at study entry.

The data included information on laboratory-proven cancers that occurred during the course of the study, CVD risk factors at study entry (including obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure), cardiovascular risk as measured by the 10-year atherosclerotic (ASCVD) risk score, established diagnostic markers for CVD such as the naturally occurring substances natriuretic peptides and cardiac troponins, CVD at study entry, and the American Heart Association (AHA) Life’s Simple 7 cardiovascular health score, a patient-reported measure of heart-healthy lifestyles.

The researchers found that traditional CVD risk factors such as age, sex, and smoking status were each associated with cancer. In addition, each 5% increase in the estimated 10-year ASCVD risk score was associated with a 16% increase in risk for cancer, and participants who were in the highest third of natriuretic peptide levels had a 40% greater risk of developing cancer than those in the lowest third.

Although participants with CVD at baseline and those who had a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke during the study were not at higher risk of subsequent cancer, those who most closely adhered to the AHA recommendations at study entry (manage blood pressure, control cholesterol, reduce blood sugar, get active, eat better, lose weight, stop smoking) had lower risk of future cancers.

Intermittent fasting as a nutrition approach against metabolic disease

University of California at Davis, March 12, 2021

According to news reporting out of Davis, California, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Intermittent fasting has been proposed as a potential nutrition approach against obesity and metabolic disease. Although data from studies in rodents convincingly support the antiobesity and cardiometabolic benefits of intermittent fasting, its effects in human health are still debatable.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of California Davis, “Recent studies have examined the effect of two intermittent fasting approaches, that is, alternate day fasting (ADF) and time-restricted eating (TRE), on weight loss and cardiometabolic risk factors. ADF seems to be an equally effective weight loss approach to caloric restriction, but adherence to ADF is more challenging. ADF improves cardiometabolic risk factors, whereas it may have superior metabolic benefits compared to caloric restriction in people with insulin resistance. TRE with ad libitum food intake is well tolerated and induces 2-4% weight loss in approximatively 3 months. Additionally, TRE may have metabolic benefits particularly in people with metabolically abnormal obesity even without weight loss. Intermittent fasting is a promising nutritional approach against obesity and its related metabolic diseases.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Further research is needed to: i) establish the long-term effectiveness of TRE in weight loss and metabolic health, ii) improve the long-term adherence to ADF and investigate its weight loss independent effects in metabolic health, and iii) determine the mechanisms underlying the potential cardiometabolic benefits of intermittent fasting in humans.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

New natural answers for killer allergies

Australian National University, March 10, 2021

Researchers have discovered a function in the immune system that could hold the key to treating allergic conditions like asthma and stop life-threatening anaphylaxis.

Experts from The Australian National University (ANU) have unearthed a natural way the body prevents autoimmune disease and allergies. The process is driven by a protein in the body called neuritin.

“We found this absolutely fascinating mechanism of our own bodies that stops the production of rogue antibodies that can cause either autoimmunity or allergies,” senior author, ANU Professor Carola Vinuesa, said.

“It’s been known for years that neuritin has a role in the brain and in the nervous system but we found an abundance of neuritin in the immune system and its mechanism—which has never been described in biology.

“We have shown it is one of our immune system’s own mechanisms to prevent autoimmunity and allergy and now we have the evidence, we can go on to harness that for treatment.”

The researchers say they set out over five years ago to bridge a knowledge gap on how the immune system works following an educated guess that neuritin might have a regulatory function in stopping allergies and autoimmune disease.

The study, published today in Cell, found neuritin can prevent the production of pathogenic antibodies.

“It is an incredible discovery. We saw that in the absence of neuritin there is increased susceptibility to death from anaphylaxis, highlighting its role in the prevention of life-threatening allergies,” first author, ANU researcher Dr. Paula Gonzalez Figueroa, said.

For people with allergies, when the immune system overreacts to allergens—like pollen, dust or peanut butter—it produces antibodies called Immunoglobulin E, (IgE).

Allergies happen when the body produces excessive IgE in response to otherwise harmless substances, leading to the release of histamine that causes allergic reactions.

“We have discovered neuritin prevents excessive formation of IgE that is typically associated with some common forms of allergy and food intolerances,” Professor Vinuesa said.

Many autoimmune diseases are caused or exacerbated by antibodies that go on to destroy our own tissues and cause autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

“There are over 80 autoimmune diseases, in many of them we find antibodies that bind to our own tissues and attack us instead of targeting pathogens—viruses and bacteria,” Dr. Paula Gonzalez-Figueroa said.

“We found neuritin supresses formation of rogue plasma cells which are the cells that produce harmful antibodies.”

The researchers hope the discovery will now form the basis of new treatments.

“This could be more than a new drug—it could be a completely new approach to treat allergies and autoimmune diseases,” Professor Vinuesa said.

“If this approach was successful, we would not need to deplete important immune cells nor dampen the entire immune system; instead, we would only need to use the proteins our own body uses to ensure immune tolerance.

“Allergies and autoimmune diseases are both on the rise and we hope this will give us a new way to tackle them.”

A more plant-based diet may improve cardiovascular health

University of Western Ontario, March 16, 2021

Canada’s most recent food guide encourages Canadians to choose protein foods that come from plants more often.

Dr. David Spence has long promoted the role of a more plant-based diet in reducing risk of cardiovascular disease. While it is well known egg yolks have a high content of cholesterol, and meat contains both cholesterol and saturated fat, Dr. Spence points out that lesser-known culprits in eggs and red meat could be increasing the levels of toxic metabolites produced by the intestinal microbiome, that negatively impact cardiovascular health.

Dr. Spence, a professor at Western’s Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and scientist at Robarts Research Institute, highlights the role of a metabolite produced by our gut bacteria called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). Previous studies have shown that TMAO has been shown to caused atherosclerosis in an animal model, and a study in more than 4,000 patients referred for coronary angiograms showed that patients with high levels of TMAO had an increased risk of stroke, myocardial infarction and vascular death. Two dietary substances responsible for the formation of TMAO are carnitine, found mainly in red meat, and phosphatidylcholine, found in egg yolk.

In a recently published paper in the Journal of the American Heart Association, Dr. Spence explores the relationship between TMAO, meat and egg consumption and cardiovascular health.

“It’s important to highlight this because I don’t think it’s on the consciousness yet of most doctors or the public,” said Dr. Spence. “We have in our intestines trillions of bacteria. These bacteria take in the nutrients that we consume and metabolize them into toxic products that get into our bloodstream that can cause a whole host of issues including cardiovascular disease.”

Because our kidneys get rid of the TMAO in our bodies, Dr. Spence says people with reduced kidney function, including older adults, should be especially cautious about consuming red meat and egg yolks.

“It’s not the amount of fat in the diet that matters, it’s the kind of fat,” he said.

Could a pure maple syrup extract be tapped for better brain health?

University of Toronto,  March, 14 2021 

As part of a two-day symposium at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, a group of international scientists shared promising results of 24 studies exploring the beneficial effects of natural products on the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. For the first time at this symposium, real maple syrup was included among the healthful, functional foods that show promise in protecting brain cells against the kind of damage found in Alzheimer’s disease.

One study presented by Dr. Donald Weaver, from the Krembil Research Institute of the University of Toronto, found that an extract of maple syrup may help prevent the misfolding and clumping of two types of proteins found in brain cells – beta amyloid and tau peptide. When cellular proteins fold improperly and clump together, they accumulate and form the plaque that is involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases.

The other research presented at the symposium showed that a pure maple syrup extract prevented the fibrillation (tangling) of beta amyloid proteins and exerted neuroprotective effects in rodent’s microglial brain cells. Scientists have found that a decrease in microglial brain cell function is associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological problems. The maple syrup extract also prolonged the lifespan of an Alzheimer’s roundworm model in vivo. The study was conducted out of the University of Rhode Island, in collaboration with researchers at Texas State University, and was led by Dr. Navindra P. Seeram, the symposium’s organizer.

“Natural food products such as green tea, red wine, berries, curcumin and pomegranates continue to be studied for their potential benefits in combatting Alzheimer’s disease. And now, in preliminary laboratory-based Alzheimer’s disease studies, phenolic-enriched extracts of maple syrup from Canada showed neuroprotective effects, similar to resveratrol, a compound found in red wine,” said Dr. Seeram. “However, further animal and eventually human studies would be required to confirm these initial findings.”

These preliminary findings help support discoveries made over the past few years on the inherent properties of pure maple syrup that comes directly from the sap of the maple tree, making it an all-natural product with unique healthbenefits.

Serge Beaulieu, President of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, is excited by the findings of the independent scientific studies and enthusiastic about the potential pure maple syrup may have on neurological health. “The Federation and the 7300 Quebec maple enterprisers are committed to investing in scientific research to help better understand the link between food and health. This has been demonstrated by a robust and carefully guided research program that started in 2005 to explore the potential health benefits of pure maple syrup,” said Beaulieu. “We already know that maple has more than 100 bioactive compounds, some of which have anti-inflammatory properties. Brain health is the latest topic of exploration and we look forward to learning more about the potential benefits that maple syrup might have in this area.”

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease that impairs daily functioning through gradual loss of memory. Alzheimer’s has no current cure, but treatments for symptoms are available and research continues. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, every 67 seconds, someone in the U.S. develops Alzheimer’s disease, a condition that currently cannot be cured, prevented or even slowed. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., afflicts 11 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 65, and carries with it an annual health care cost of $226 billion (2015 estimate).

The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers does not promote an increase of sugar consumption. When choosing a sweetener for moderate use, pure maple syrup has more healthful compounds compared to some other sources of sugar.

Iron increasingly implicated in pathology of neurodegenerative diseases.

University of Melbourne (Australia), March 10, 2021

According to news originating from the University of Melbourne , the research stated, “Iron has been increasingly implicated in the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases.”

Our news reporters obtained a quote from the research from University of Melbourne: “In the past decade, development of the new magnetic resonance imaging technique, quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), has enabled for the more comprehensive investigation of iron distribution in the brain. The aim of this systematic review was to provide a synthesis of the findings from existing QSM studies in neurodegenerative diseases. We identified 80 records by searching MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and PsycInfo databases. The disorders investigated in these studies included Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Wilson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Friedreich’s ataxia, spinocerebellar ataxia, Fabry disease, myotonic dystrophy, pantothenate-kinase-associated neurodegeneration, and mitochondrial membrane protein-associated neurodegeneration. As a general pattern, QSM revealed increased magnetic susceptibility (suggestive of increased iron content) in the brain regions associated with the pathology of each disorder, such as the amygdala and caudate nucleus in Alzheimer’s disease, the substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease, motor cortex in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, basal ganglia in Huntington’s disease, and cerebellar dentate nucleus in Friedreich’s ataxia. Furthermore, the increased magnetic susceptibility correlated with disease duration and severity of clinical features in some disorders.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Although the number of studies is still limited in most of the neurodegenerative diseases, the existing evidence suggests that QSM can be a promising tool in the investigation of neurodegeneration.”

Ultrasound has potential to damage coronaviruses, study finds

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, March 16, 2021

The coronavirus’ structure is an all-too-familiar image, with its densely packed surface receptors resembling a thorny crown. These spike-like proteins latch onto healthy cells and trigger the invasion of viral RNA. While the virus’ geometry and infection strategy is generally understood, little is known about its physical integrity.

A new study by researchers in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering suggests that coronaviruses may be vulnerable to ultrasound vibrations, within the frequencies used in medical diagnostic imaging.

Through computer simulations, the team has modeled the virus’ mechanical response to vibrations across a range of ultrasound frequencies. They found that vibrations between 25 and 100 megahertz triggered the virus’ shell and spikes to collapse and start to rupture within a fraction of a millisecond. This effect was seen in simulations of the virus in air and in water.

The results are preliminary, and based on limited data regarding the virus’ physical properties. Nevertheless, the researchers say their findings are a first hint at a possible ultrasound-based treatment for coronaviruses, including the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. How exactly ultrasound could be administered, and how effective it would be in damaging the virus within the complexity of the human body, are among the major questions scientists will have to tackle going forward.

“We’ve proven that under ultrasound excitation the coronavirus shell and spikes will vibrate, and the amplitude of that vibration will be very large, producing strains that could break certain parts of the virus, doing visible damage to the outer shell and possibly invisible damage to the RNA inside,” says Tomasz Wierzbicki, professor of applied mechanics at MIT. “The hope is that our paper will initiate a discussion across various disciplines.”

The team’s results appear online in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids. Wierzbicki’s co-authors are Wei Li, Yuming Liu, and Juner Zhu at MIT.

A spiky shell

As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold around the world, Wierzbicki looked to contribute to the scientific understanding of the virus. His group’s focus is in solid and structural mechanics, and the study of how materials fracture under various stresses and strains. With this perspective, he wondered what could be learned about the virus’ fracture potential.

Wierzbicki’s team set out to simulate the novel coronavirus and its mechanical response to vibrations. They used simple concepts of the mechanics and physics of solids to construct a geometrical and computational model of the virus’ structure, which they based on limited information in the scientific literature, such as microscopic images of the virus’ shell and spikes.

From previous studies, scientists have mapped out the general structure of the coronavirus—a family of viruses that s HIV, influenza, and the novel SARS-CoV-2 strain. This structure consists of a smooth shell of lipid proteins, and densely packed, spike-like receptors protruding from the shell.

With this geometry in mind, the team modeled the virus as a thin elastic shell covered in about 100 elastic spikes. As the virus’ exact physical properties are uncertain, the researchers simulated the behavior of this simple structure across a range of elasticities for both the shell and the spikes.

“We don’t know the material properties of the spikes because they are so tiny—about 10 nanometers high,” Wierzbicki says. “Even more unknown is what’s inside the virus, which is not empty but filled with RNA, which itself is surrounded by a protein capsid shell. So this modeling requires a lot of assumptions.”

“We feel confident that this elastic model is a good starting point,” Wierzbicki says. “The question is, what are the stresses and strains that will cause the virus to rupture?”

To answer that question, the researchers introduced acoustic vibrations into the simulations and observed how the vibrations rippled through the virus’ structure across a range of ultrasound frequencies.

The team started with vibrations of 100 megahertz, or 100 million cycles per second, which they estimated would be the shell’s natural vibrating frequency, based on what’s known of the virus’ physical properties.

When they exposed the virus to 100 MHz ultrasound excitations, the virus’ natural vibrations were initially undetectable. But within a fraction of a millisecond the external vibrations, resonating with the frequency of the virus’ natural oscillations, caused the shell and spikes to buckle inward, similar to a ball that dimples as it bounces off the ground.

As the researchers increased the amplitude, or intensity, of the vibrations, the shellcould fracture—an acoustic phenomenon known as resonance that also explains how opera singers can crack a wineglass if they sing at just the right pitch and volume. At lower frequencies of 25 MHz and 50 MHz, the virus buckled and fractured even faster, both in simulated environments of air, and of water that is similar in density to fluids in the body.

“These frequencies and intensities are within the range that is safely used for medical imaging,” says Wierzbicki.

To refine and validate their simulations, the team is working with microbiologists in Spain, who are using atomic force microscopy to observe the effects of ultrasound vibrations on a type of coronavirus found exclusively in pigs. If ultrasound can be experimentally proven to damage coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and if this damage can be shown to have a therapeutic effect, the team envisions that ultrasound, which is already used to break up kidney stones and to release drugs via liposomes, might be harnessed to treat and possibly prevent coronavirus infection. The researchers also envision that miniature ultrasound transducers, fitted into phones and other portable devices, might be capable of shielding people from the virus.

Wierzbicki stresses that there is much more research to be done to confirm whether ultrasound can be an effective treatment and prevention strategy against coronaviruses. As his team works to improve the existing simulations with new experimental data, he plans to zero in on the specific mechanics of the novel, rapidly mutating SARS-CoV-2 virus.

“We looked at the general coronavirus family, and now are looking specifically at the morphology and geometry of COVID-19,” Wierzbicki says. “The potential is something that could be great in the current critical situation.”