Menopausal women should eat more blackcurrant to prevent bone loss
University of Connecticut, December 11, 2022
Hormonal changes are one of the leading causes of bone loss or osteoporosis. Menopausal women, in particular, are more likely to experience bone loss because they are deficient in estrogen, a hormone in women that protects the bones. The amount of estrogen drops when women reach menopause. To lower the risk of bone loss, researchers at the University of Connecticut suggested menopausal women should eat more blackcurrant. The researchers conducted an animal study to look at the effect of blackcurrant on bone mass in an estrogen-deficient mouse model. Earlier studies have reported that the anthocyanins in blackcurrant have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that could potentially improve bone mass.For their study, which was published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, the team removed the ovaries of the mice to mimic estrogen deficiency in menopausal women. Then, they gave the mice either a basal diet alone or a basal diet that contains anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant extract. They measured bone mineral density, trabecular bone volume, and serum bone markers. Ovariectomy resulted in a significant reduction in bone mineral density and trabecular bone volume. However, the treatment of blackcurrant reduced ovariectomy-induced bone loss. In addition, the treatment decreased osteoclast-like cell formation and bone resorption activity. These outcomes suggest that blackcurrant may mitigate postmenopausal bone loss. Adequate estrogen level is important for maintaining the rhythm of bone remodeling. Since estrogen levels decline after menopause, this causes an imbalance in bone production and breakdown. Osteoclasts are cells that break down bone and are responsible for bone remodeling. With the decline of estrogen levels, osteoclasts become more active and break down more bone than it can form. With these findings, the researchers concluded that blackcurrant may help prevent bone loss in postmenopausal women. Improving your gut microbiome is also a way to prevent and reduce your risk of age-related bone loss. A study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine suggested that taking probiotic supplements daily can cut age-related bone loss by half. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden gave elderly women a probiotic supplement to be taken twice a day for one year. The supplementation resulted in lower bone loss compared to those who did not take the supplement.
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Long-term antacid use linked to vitamin B12 deficiency
Kaiser Permanente in California, December 16, 2022
Antacids are commonly used to neutralize the acid in the stomach, helping many individuals who have acid reflux. But a new study suggests that using this medication consistently for 2 years or more is linked to a deficiency of vitamin B12, which can have adverse effects for the nervous system. The research, published in JAMA, is among the first to show associations between long-term exposure to antacids and vitamin B12 deficiencyin a large population-based study. The investigators say that antacids, including proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine 2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs), are some of the most commonly used pharmaceuticals in the US.However, because they suppress the creation of gastric acid, the team says antacids may lead to malabsorption of vitamin B12. This vitamin helps to keep the nervous system – consisting of the brain, nerves and spinal cord – healthy.”Vitamin B12 deficiency is relatively common,” say the researchers, “especially among older adults; it has potentially serious medical complications if undiagnosed.” “Left untreated, vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to dementia, neurologic damage, anemia and other complications, which may be irreversible.”The study found a link between 2 years’ use of antacids or more and a deficiency of vitamin B12.Similarly, 4.2% of the vitamin-deficient patients had a 2-year or more supply of H2RAs, versus 3.2% in the control group.
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Microbiome: Scientists highlight role of harmful gut bacteria in fever afflicting cancer patients
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, December 16, 2022
An altered gut microbiome is an unexpected cause of fever afflicting many patients undergoing chemotherapy, according to scientists who’ve also discovered that poor appetite during cancer treatment may trigger the biological forces that can likewise adversely raise body temperature. The domino effect that leads to dangerous fevers in cancer patients is driven by a loss of infection-fighting white blood cells, a condition called neutropenia. Chemotherapy lowers blood neutrophils—white blood cells and key constituents of the immune system—resulting in fever in some, but not all, cancer patients. The new research shines a spotlight on the role of the gut microbiome and how it can promote neutropenic fever. An interdisciplinary group of researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has uncovered intriguing evidence demonstrating that an increase in a specific species of detrimental bacteria can overwhelm the gut among people receiving chemo. The research adds a tantalizing new dimension of understanding to the role of the gut microbiome among patients undergoing one of the most widely administered forms of cancer care. Concerns about neutropenia and fever are important because an estimated half of people with cancer who are receiving chemotherapy develop some degree of neutropenia. For patients undergoing treatment for leukemia, it’s a common side effect, according to the American Cancer Society. Turning to an animal model in the laboratory, the team discovered that when they transferred the gut microbiota from 119 patients with cancer who developed neutropenic fever to irradiated mice, some of the animals inevitably developed a fever, too.What the team found when analyzing the gut microbiota of the mice was an excess of mucin-degrading Akkermansia bacteria, the same bacteria in the patients with neutropenic fever. The study of fecal samples confirmed that Akkermansia muciniphila replicates prolifically in the absence of sufficient neutrophils and is linked with subsequent fever. The bacteria are also noteworthy because they are mucin-degrading, which means they actively deplete the protective mucin layer of the intestines. A total of 63 patients—53%—developed a fever and their fecal microbiome displayed increased accumulation of Akkermansia muciniphila, the same species that grew excessively in the mice.
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Healthy diet may mean longer life for kidney patients
University of Bari (Italy), December 9, 2022
A healthy diet may help people with kidney disease live longer, researchers report.They analyzed seven studies that included more than 15,000 people with chronic kidney disease, to assess the effects of a diet high in fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, cereals, whole grains and fiber. In six of the studies, a healthy diet was consistently associated with a 20 percent to 30 percent lower rate of early death, and with 46 fewer deaths per 1,000 people over five years. But the study did not directly prove that a healthy diet would lengthen life.
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Study finds higher levels of common diet-associated microbe elevates heart failure risk
Cleveland Clinic, December 16, 2022
New research at Cleveland Clinic expands the link between what we eat and how the gut microbiome impacts our susceptibility to develop different diseases—in this case, how a specific gut microbe-generated byproduct is linked to heart failure risk. Elevated levels of phenylacetylglutamine (PAG)—a byproduct created when microbes in the gut breakdown dietary protein—can be directly linked to both increased heart failure risk and severity, according to findings published in Circulation: Heart Failure.The new findings improve researchers’ understanding of how the gut microbiome, through PAG levels, are linked to cardiac disease risks, and suggest potential approaches to modify PAG-associated risks through interventions such as diet and beta blocker use. Elevated PAG levels also were shown to correspond with types of heart failure. For example, elevated blood PAG was observed in subjects with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, a condition where the heart muscle doesn’t relax enough between beats and becomes too stiff, making it less able to fill and consequently pump blood.This new study dug deeper into other potential functions of PAG with focus on heart failure. The team of investigators found that PAG levels were linked to heart failure risks through patient data from thousands of patients in two independent study cohorts, one from Europe and another the U.S. In other studies, introducing PAG into cardiac cells in the lab allowed researchers to better understand the mechanism behind PAG’s association with heart failure—and a foundation for countering its effects.
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Study: Running actually lowers inflammation in knee joints
Running may also slow the process that leads to osteoarthritis
Brigham Young University, December 12, 2022
We all know that running causes a bit of inflammation and soreness, and that’s just the price you pay for cardiovascular health. You know; no pain, no gain. Well, maybe not. New research from BYU exercise science professors finds that pro-inflammatory molecules actually go down in the knee joint after running. In other words, it appears running can reduce joint inflammation. In a study recently published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, Seeley and a group of BYU colleagues, as well as Dr. Eric Robinson from Intermountain Healthcare, measured inflammation markers in the knee joint fluid of several healthymen and women aged 18-35, both before and after running. The researchers found that the specific markers they were looking for in the extracted synovial fluid–two cytokines named GM-CSF and IL-15–decreased in concentration in the subjects after 30 minutes of running. When the same fluids were extracted before and after a non-running condition, the inflammation markers stayed at similar levels. Hyldahl said the study results indicate running is chondroprotective, which means exercise may help delay the onset of joint degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis. This is potentially great news, since osteoarthritis–the painful disease where cartilage at the end of bones wears down and gradually worsens over time–affects about 27 million people in the United States.