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Green tea and resveratrol reduce Alzheimer’s plaques in lab tests
Tufts University, November 2, 2022
Tufts researchers are working to understand what might slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease. They have tested 21 different compounds in Alzheimer’s-afflicted neural cells in the lab, measuring the compounds’ effect on the growth of sticky beta amyloid plaques. These plaques develop in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.
The researchers found that two common compounds—green tea catechins and resveratrol, found in red wine and other foods—reduced the formation of plaques in those neural cells. And they did so with few or no side effects. The researchers reported their findings in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
Some of the 21 compounds tested reduced the disease progression by acting as anti-viral agents—slowing Alzheimer’s induced by the herpes virus. But finding a compound “that could diminish the plaques regardless of the virus component would be ideal, because that would show that regardless of the cause of Alzheimer’s, you might still see some kind of improvement,” says Dana Cairns, GBS12. Cairns is a research associate in the Kaplan Lab in the School of Engineering and led the research.
The initial screen found five compounds had “really robust prevention of these plaques,” she says. In addition to the green tea compounds and resveratrol, they found curcumin from turmeric, the diabetic medication Metformin, and a compound called citicoline prevented plaques from forming and did not have anti-viral effects.
“We hoped to find compounds that would be harmless and show some level of efficacy,” she said. Green tea compounds and resveratrol met that standard. “We got lucky that some of these showed some pretty strong efficacy,” Cairns said. “In the case of these compounds that passed the screening, they had virtually no plaques visible after about a week.”
The discovery is significant because there is no cure for Alzheimer’s or a way to prevent its progression, aside from several potential drugs developed by pharmaceutical companies that are still in trials, Cairns says. Compounds like these two that show some efficacy and are known to be safe and easily accessible could be taken as a supplement or consumed as part of one’s diet, she adds.
High fiber, yogurt diet associated with lower lung cancer risk
Vanderbilt University Medical School, October 28, 2022
A diet high in fiber and yogurt is associated with a reduced risk for lung cancer, according to a study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers published in JAMA Oncology.
The benefits of a diet high in fiber and yogurt have already been established for cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal cancer. The new findings based on an analysis of data from studies involving 1.4 million adults in the United States, Europe and Asia suggest this diet may also protect against lung cancer.
Participants were divided into five groups, according to the amount of fiber and yogurt they consumed. Those with the highest yogurt and fiber consumption had a 33% reduced lung cancer risk as compared to the group who did not consume yogurt and consumed the least amount of fiber.
“This inverse association was robust, consistently seen across current, past and never smokers, as well as men, women and individuals with different backgrounds,” she added. Shu said the health benefits may be rooted in their prebiotic (nondigestible food that promotes growth of beneficial microorganisms in the intestines) and probiotic properties. The properties may independently or synergistically modulate gut microbiota in a beneficial way.
Yoga Practice Beneficial to Patients With COPD
All India Institute of Medical Sciences Oct. 28, 2022
Patients with COPD who practice yoga can improve their lung function, according to a study by researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep Disorders. The study found that lung function, shortness of breath, and inflammation all showed significant improvement after patients completed 12 weeks of training.
An estimated 24 million Americans may have COPD, which includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both. Patients with COPD have trouble pushing used air out of their lungs, making it difficult to take in healthy new air. Although there is no cure for COPD, a patient’s quality of life can be improved by controlling symptoms, such as shortness of breath.
The study included 29 stable patients with COPD who received yoga training in a format that included the use of physical postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), cleansing techniques, (kriyas), meditation, and a relaxation technique (shavasan) for 1 hour, twice a week, for 4 weeks. Following the 4-week period, patients were trained for 1 hour every 2 weeks, with the remaining sessions completed at home. Patients were evaluated on assessment of lung function, breathing, quality of life, and inflammation status. A repeat assessment was done at the end of the 12-week training session. All parameters showed significant improvement at the end of the 12-week period.
“We found that yoga can be a simple, cost-effective method that can help improve quality of life in patients with COPD,” stated Dr. Guleria.
Iron proposed as cause of heart failure in many heart attack patients
Indiana University School of Medicine, November 2 2022.
A study published in Nature Communications revealed the discovery of a cause for chronic heart failure that occurs in approximately half of the people who experience a heart attack.
“For the first time, we have identified a root cause of chronic heart failure following a heart attack,” lead researcher Rohan Dharmakumar of Indiana University School of Medicine’s Cardiovascular Institute announced.
Using large animal models, the research team found that in heart attacks in which bleeding within the heart muscle occurs upon restoration of circulation, scar tissue is gradually replaced by fat. The inability of fat to effectively propel blood from the heart can lead to heart failure in survivors of this type of heart attack. “Using noninvasive imaging, histology and molecular biology techniques, and various other technologies, we have shown that iron from red blood cells is what drives this process,” Dr Dharmakumar reported. “When we removed the iron, we reduced the amount of fat in the heart muscle. This finding establishes a pathway for clinical investigations to remedy or mitigate the effects associated with iron in hemorrhagic myocardial infarction patients.”
The finding led to a clinical trial to determine the effect of iron chelation therapy to remove excess iron in patients with hemorrhagic heart attack.
“While advances across populations have made survival after a heart attack possible for most, too many survivors suffer long-term complications like heart failure,” Indiana University’s Cardiovascular Institute physician director Subha Raman, MD noted. “Dr Dharmakumar’s breakthrough science illuminates who is at risk and why and points to an effective way to prevent these complications.”
DHEA supplementation associated with improved sexual function in women
Center for Human Reproduction (New York), October 6, 2022
A report published in the journal Endocrine revealed improvements in sexual function among older premenopausal women who supplemented with the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).
In their introduction to the article, authors Vitaly A. Kushnir of the Center for Human Reproduction in New York and colleagues describe their use of DHEA in the treatment of infertile women who had low levels of androgen hormones. “In the process of treating thousands of so-affected infertile women, we noticed that many spontaneously reported improvements in libido, sexual desire and, sometimes, even pain status, leading to the paradoxical situation of women refusing to discontinue DHEA supplementation once they conceived,” they remarked. “When we, in a review of the literature, were unable to find a study that investigated the effectiveness of DHEA on female sexuality in older premenopausal women, this study was developed.”
The study included 50 infertile premenopausal women whose age averaged 41 years. The participants supplemented with oral DHEA for a minimum of six weeks prior to starting any other fertility treatments.
Serum androgen hormone levels, including DHEA and testosterone, were shown to increase following DHEA supplementation. In comparison with pretreatment scores, FSFI index scores improved by 7%, including a 17% increase in desire, a 12% increase in arousal, and an 8% increase in lubrication. However, among women whose scores were among the lowest 25% of the group, total FSFI scores increased by 34%, which included a 40% increase in desire, a 46% increase in arousal, and a 33% increase in lubrication. Women in this group also experienced a 54% increase in orgasm, greater satisfaction, and less pain in comparison with pretreatment values.
Trauma during childhood triples the risk of suffering a serious mental disorder in adulthood, study finds
Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (Spain), November 2, 2022
A study led by researchers at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute links psychological trauma in childhood with an increased risk of developing some kind of mental disorder years later.
Suffering psychological trauma during childhood significantly increases the risk of developing a mental disorder in adulthood. Specifically, as much as three times, according to a recent study, published in the journal European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience. The study analyses the fourteen reviews and meta-analyses published to date in specialized journals on this issue, and is the first to take into account the full range of existing mental disorders.
In total, the studies analyzed incorporate more than 93,000 cases, revealing a direct link between suffering psychological trauma at a pediatric age and the risk of developing a mental pathology later in life. “It is the strongest evidence to date that psychological trauma really is a risk factor for suffering a mental disorder later on,” says Dr. Benedikt Amann, lead author of the study
The most common childhood traumas are emotional, physical and sexual abuse, as well as emotional or physical neglect and bullying, although there are many others. Suffering one of these situations damages the brain, causing physical as well as psychological consequences in the form of various disorders. In the case of emotional abuse, the most frequent trauma is associated with the most prevalent disorder in the population, that of anxiety. But there is also a relationship between childhood trauma and other pathologies, such as psychosis, which is linked to all traumas, obsessive-compulsive disorder or bipolar disorder. The risk of suffering from borderline personality disorder increases up to fifteen times in the case of having experienced trauma during childhood.
Trauma in adulthood is also associated with a four-fold increase in the risk of a later mental disorder. The researchers point out, however, that there is less evidence for this type of pathology.