-
CDC Foundation is not a government entity, has many conflicts of interest
-
Universal Health Care is a Popular Idea in America, So Why Does Biden Seem Intent on Enriching Private Insurance Companies?
-
Minimum Wage Would Be $44 Today If It Had Increased at Same Rate as Wall St. Bonuses: Analysis
-
Biden Admin Working to Launch “Vaccine Passports” so Americans Can Prove They’ve Been Inoculated, Return to Normalcy
-
French pharma firm found guilty over medical scandal in which up to 2,000 died
-
Austerity Raises Covid Deaths
-
Journalists Attack the Powerless, Then Self-Victimize to Bar Criticisms of Themselves
-
Neoliberalism Is a Killer
-
Elite philanthropy mainly self-serving
-
-
Instagram Is Sharing 79% Of Your Personal Data With 3rd Parties
-
-
Bill Gates finances lobby for “new GMOs” in Europe
-
Protests Against COVID Lockdowns Flare Up in 2021 Around the World
-
Half a billion people may face heat of 56°C by 2100
-
It’s Time To Talk About Ivermectin
-
Oil and natural gas production emit more methane than previously thought
-
Woman Raises Questions after Mom’s Death Certificate References Vaccine. Experts Warn About Drawing Conclusions.
Potent turmeric extract helps protect brain from chemical exposures
Jazan University (Saudi Arabia) & Nalanda College of Pharmacy (India), March 28, 2021
A new study reveals a neuroprotective effect of curcumin extract in combination with its essential oil, suggesting a nutraceutical solution for mitigating the toxic effects of aluminum build-up in the brain. In the study, turmeric extract and purified essential oil of turmeric demonstrated new capabilities in preventing neurotoxicity resulting from aluminium exposure. Presence of free curcumin and its metabolites were observed in the brain and plasma secondary to the complex’s superior bioavailability capabilities. These findings present positive implications for harnessing this unique curcumin delivery system to alleviate a range of common neurodegenerative diseases.
Research has suggested that brain health can be compromised by exposure to neurotoxins, with aluminum believed to be of particular concern. Major sources of aluminum exposure are cookware, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products. The average consumer takes in approximately 10mg of aluminum a day, of which up to 1% undergoes absorption. It can traverse through the blood-brain barrier and is believed to exert a detrimental impact on the central nervous system, especially in older adults.
Chronic exposure can actuate a neuroinflammatory response and rouse a state of oxidative stress, raising risks for neural damage. It has been implicated in a number of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. High concentrations of aluminum have been found to increase amyloid aggregation and deposition in neuronal tissues — a key feature of Alzheimer’s Disease.
“Curcumin is known for its ability to bind to metals such as aluminum and thus could offer neuroprotection from the metal’s potentially toxic effects,” explains lead researcher David Banji, PhD. “But poor absorption and low blood levels of free curcumin after oral intake pose a major limitation for delivering its full clinical benefits. Curcumin’s characteristic low solubility, rapid metabolism, and quick elimination hampers its absorption into the bloodstream nor readily penetrates the blood brain barrier. This is what spurred us to examine BCM-95 of Arjuna Natural where curcumin, the key turmeric extract is combined with the purified essential oil component of turmeric as a bioavailability enhancer.”
Turmeric boasts a long history of use throughout Asia as a popular culinary spice and medicinal herb. Epidemiological evidence has linked enhanced cognitive function in elderly Asians with their tradition of turmeric rich curry consumption.
The study of curcumin extract in combination with its essential oil was conducted at the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Jazan University, in Saudi Arabia and the Nalanda College of Pharmacy, Nalgonda, India. Results were published on January 27, 2021 in the journal Hindawi BioMed Research International. Lead researcher, David Banji, PhD, and his team assessed both the pharmacokinetic profile of turmeric extract and its efficacy in exerting neuroprotection.
Research evaluated the exposure of aluminium in experimental models at different doses comparing Bioavailable curcumin and turmeric extract. Following 45 days of intervention, the cognitive impairment exhibited by the aluminum was significantly reversed with the use turmeric extract and purified turmeric essential oil complex and elicited significant improvement in spatial learning and memory. This bioavailable turmeric extract complex also demonstrated abilities to prevent neurotoxicity significantly better than standard turmeric extracts. This was believed to be due to reducing oxidative stress and increasing antioxidant status in brain tissue with subsequent improvement in glutathione levels.
Neuroprotective benefits observed were correlated with higher plasma and brain curcumin levels, with concentrations shown to be up to 14-fold higher in the turmeric extract- turmeric essential oil complex group than in the curcumin extract group, with higher mean residence time of free curcumin in plasma and visible reduction in aluminium-induced lipid peroxidation.
“Aluminium is unfortunately a prevalent toxin and contact with it is unavoidable in everyday life,” notes Dr. Benny Antony, PhD, Joint Managing Director for Arjuna and inventor of BCM-95. “The challenge of maintaining brain health naturally via plant-derived supplements is that it has to be both practical and safe. We were encouraged by the immediate actionable results of this high bioavailability turmeric extract which is already widely commercially available as a leading bio-available extract.
“Arjuna’s BCM-95 formulation, which completes its 70th published research, is composed of a wholly natural blend of turmeric extract and purified essential oil of turmeric which work in unison to facilitate delivery of free curcuminoids in the brain tissues thereby minimizing microglia activation and subsequent neuronal damage. This effect has been linked to its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, bind to redox metal ions, and neutralize free radicals,” Banji concludes. “From the pharmacokinetic findings, the presence of Ar-turmerones in the essential oil complex is a key player in driving enhanced plasma bioavailability.”
Here’s another health benefit of flaxseed: Improved gum health
Bhojia Dental College and Hospital (India), March 26, 2021
Today, dentists treat periodontitis by first removing dental plaque and calculus (tartar) then prescribing medicated mouthwashes or oral antibiotics. However, commonly used antibiotics for periodontal diseases are known to cause numerous side effects, including rashes, diarrhea, gastrointestinal intolerance, nausea and an unpleasant metallic taste. Because of these concerns, many people are starting to veer away from these medications.
The good new is, there are many natural antibiotics that can help with bacterial infections. In a recent study, researchers in India reported the efficacy of flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum) in preventing the growth of common periodontal pathogens in vitro. Widely cultivated as food and a source of fiber, flaxseed has been labeled as a superfood because of its abundance of essential nutrients and outstanding health benefits.
The researchers discussed the antimicrobial properties of flaxseed in an article published in the International Journal of Herbal Medicine.
More than just a nutrient source: Flaxseed is also a potent antimicrobial
According to research, the use of antibiotics is beneficial in the management of periodontitis. However, antibiotic resistance has now become a major global issue, and it is believed to have stemmed from the misuse of antibiotics. Many researchers now see herbal interventions as therapeutic strategies that deserve more research and attention.
Flaxseed, a popular superfood rich in omega-3 fatty acids, has demonstrated potent antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activities in multiple studies. To further explore these useful properties, the researchers conducted an in vitro study to assess the antimicrobial activity of flaxseed against periodontal pathogens.
They prepared an ethanolic extract from flaxseed powder and determined its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against three oral pathogens, namely, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Tann
erella forsythia. P. gingivalis is an invasive and evasive bacterium that has been described as a “keystone” biofilm species. It is heavily involved in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. A. actinomycetemcomitans is an opportunistic pathogen associated with aggressive forms of periodontitis. Like P. gingivalis, this bacterium is well-equipped to escape host immune response.
T. forsythia, meanwhile, has been strongly implicated in the onset of periodontitis. According to studies, overweight or obese individuals have an overgrowth of this particular bacterium. Hence, it is more commonly associated with periodontal diseases in overweight patients than in people with normal weights.
The researchers reported that flaxseed extract exhibited
bacteriostatic activity (inhibits growth) against all three pathogens. At 100 microliters (uL)/milliliter (mL), the extract exerted bactericidal effects against P. gingivalis, meaning it was able to kill the bacterium. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that flaxseed can be used as a natural adjunct to periodontal therapy because of its bactericidal effects against P. gingivalis.
Exercise boosts blood flow to the brain, study finds
The results add to growing evidence that exercise programs may help older adults slow the onset of memory loss and dementia
University of Texas Medical Center, March 23, 2021
It’s not just your legs and heart that get a workout when you walk briskly; exercise affects your brain as well. A new study by researchers at UT Southwestern shows that when older adults with mild memory loss followed an exercise program for a year, the blood flow to their brains increased. The results were published online today in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
“This is part of a growing body of evidence linking exercise with brain health,” says study leader Rong Zhang, Ph.D., professor of neurology at UTSW. “We’ve shown for the first time in a randomized trial in these older adults that exercise gets more blood flowing to your brain.”
As many as one-fifth of people age 65 and older have some level of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) – slight changes to the brain that affect memory, decision-making, or reasoning skills. In many cases, MCI progresses to dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists have previously shown that lower-than-usual levels of blood flow to the brain, and stiffer blood vessels leading to the brain, are associated with MCI and dementia. Studies have also suggested that regular aerobic exercise may help improve cognition and memory in healthy older adults. However, scientists have not established whether there is a direct link between exercise, stiffer blood vessels, and brain blood flow.
“There is still a lot we don’t know about the effects of exercise on cognitive decline later in life,” says C. Munro Cullum, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at UTSW and co-senior author of the study. “MCI and dementia are likely to be influenced by a complex interplay of many factors, and we think that, at least for some people, exercise is one of those factors.”
In the study, Zhang, Cullum, and their colleagues followed 70 men and women aged 55 to 80 who had been diagnosed with MCI. Participants underwent cognitive exams, fitness tests, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Then they were randomly assigned to either follow a moderate aerobic exercise program or a stretching program for one year. The exercise program involved three to five exercise sessions a week, each with 30-40 minutes of moderate exercise such as a brisk walk.
In both programs, exercise physiologists supervised participants for the first four to six weeks, then had the patients record their exercises and wear a heart rate monitor during exercise.
Forty-eight study participants – 29 in the stretching group and 19 in the aerobic exercise group – completed the full year of training and returned for follow-up tests. Among them, those who performed aerobic exercise showed decreased stiffness of blood vessels in their neck and increased overall blood flow to the brain. The more their oxygen consumption (one marker of aerobic fitness) increased, the greater the changes to the blood vessel stiffness and brain blood flow. Changes in these measurements were not found among people who followed the stretching program.
While the study didn’t find any significant changes in memory or other cognitive function, the researchers say that may be because of the small size or short length of the trial. Changes to blood flow could precede changes to cognition, they say. They’re already carrying out a larger two-year study, Risk Reduction for Alzheimer’s Disease (rrAD), that further investigates the link between exercise and cognitive decline.
“There are likely some people who benefit more from exercise than others,” says Cullum. “But with the sample size in this study, it was hard to analyze subgroups of people to make those conclusions.”
Still, the data are important to help explain the effects of exercise on the brain and why it can be beneficial, say Zhang and Cullum, who are members of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute.
“Having physiological findings like this can also be useful for physicians when they talk to their patients about the benefits of exercise,” says Zhang. “We now know, based on a randomized, controlled trial, that exercise can increase blood flow to the brain, which is a good thing.”
Does ‘harsh parenting’ lead to smaller brains?
University of Montreal, March 22, 2021
Repeatedly getting angry, hitting, shaking or yelling at children is linked with smaller brain structures in adolescence, according to a new study published in Development and Psychology. It was conducted by Sabrina Suffren, Ph.D., at Université de Montréal and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre in partnership with researchers from Stanford University.
The harsh parenting practices covered by the study are common and even considered socially acceptable by most people in Canada and around the world.
“The implications go beyond changes in the brain. I think what’s important is for parents and society to understand that the frequent use of harsh parenting practices can harm a child’s development,” said Suffren, the study’s lead author. “We’re talking about their social and emotional development, as well as their brain development.”
Emotions and brain anatomy
Serious child abuse (such as sexual, physical and emotional abuse), neglect and even institutionalization have been linked to anxiety and depression later in life.
Previous studies have already shown that children who have experienced severe abuse have smaller prefrontal cortexes and amygdala, two structures that play a key role in emotional regulation and the emergence of anxiety and depression.
In this study, researchers observed that the same brain regions were smaller in adolescents who had repeatedly been subjected to harsh parenting practices in childhood, even though the children did not experience more serious acts of abuse.
“These findings are both significant and new. It’s the first time that harsh parenting practices that fall short of serious abuse have been linked to decreased brain structure size, similar to what we see in victims of serious acts of abuse,” said Suffren, who completed the work as part of her doctoral thesis at UdeM’s Department of Psychology, under the supervision of Professors Françoise Maheu and Franco Lepore.
She added that a study published in 2019 “showed that harsh parenting practices could cause changes in brain function among children, but now we know that they also affect the very structure of children’s brains.”
Children monitored since birth at CHU Sainte-Justine
One of this study’s strengths is that it used data from children who had been monitored since birth at CHU Saint-Justine in the early 2000s by Université de Montréal’s Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment (GRIP) and the Quebec Statistical Institute. The monitoring was organized and carried out by GRIP members Dr. Jean Séguin, Dr. Michel Boivin and Dr. Richard Tremblay.
As part of this monitoring, parenting practices and child anxiety levels were evaluated annually while the children were between the ages of 2 and 9. This data was then used to divide the children into groups based on their exposure (low or high) to persistently harsh parenting practices.
“Keep in mind that these children were constantly subjected to harsh parenting practices between the ages of 2 and 9. This means that differences in their brains are linked to repetitive exposure to harsh parenting practices during childhood,” said Suffren who worked with her colleagues to assess the children’s anxiety levels and perform anatomical MRIs on them between the ages of 12 and 16.
This study is the first to try to identify the links between harsh parenting practices, children‘s anxiety and the anatomy of their brains.
Evidence suggests L-carnitine may help reduce mortality risk in sepsis patients
Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Iran), March 26, 2021
According to news reporting out of Mashhad, Iran, research stated, “Sepsis is one of the major causes of high morbidity and mortality in intensive care units (ICU) and severe sepsis leads to some metabolic disorder. The previous studies indicate that l-carnitine deficiency in septic patients and causing mitochondria dysfunction and worsening metabolic disorder.”
Our news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences: “Reducing mortality in sepsis by nutritional supplements may help mitigate the risk of clinical outcomes in sepsis patients. Our systematic search to find relevant studies was performed up to March 2020, using ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, EMBASE, PubMed/MEDLINE and SCOPUS databases. In this systematic review, the aim was to assess whether l-carnitine or levocarnitine may reduce the risk of mortality in patients with sepsis. 10 articles were included in our systematic review. The results of the review showed that plasma carnitine levels were significantly associated with the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (SOFA) (p<0.001). On the other hand, other studies showed carnitine supplementation had no significant effect on SOFA score change in a short time, while carnitine deficiency was associated with significantly increased SOFA score in critically ill patients. L-carnitine supplementation indicated a significant decline in 28 days’ mortality as well.”
According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Evidencefrom limited data suggested that carnitine may helps to reduce mortality risk in sepsis patients, but further studies are required with different doses and durations.”
A strong coffee half an hour before exercising increases fat-burning
University of Granada (Spain), March 23, 2021
Scientists from the Department of Physiology of the University of Granada (UGR) have shown that caffeine (about 3 mg/kg, the equivalent of a strong coffee) ingested half an hour before aerobic exercise significantly increases the rate of fat-burning. They also found that if the exercise is performed in the afternoon, the effects of the caffeine are more marked than in the morning.
In their study, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, the researchers aimed to determine whether caffeine–one of the most commonly-consumed ergogenic substances in the world to improve sports performance–actually does increase oxidation or “burning” of fat during exercise. Despite the fact that its consumption in the form of supplements is very common, the scientific evidence for its beneficial claims is scarce.
“The recommendation to exercise on an empty stomach in the morning to increase fat oxidation is commonplace. However, this recommendation may be lacking a scientific basis, as it is unknown whether this increase is due to exercising in the morning or due to going without food for a longer period of time,” explains the lead author of this research, Francisco José Amaro-Gahete of the UGR’s Department of Physiology.
A total of 15 men (mean age, 32) participated in the research, completing an exercise test four times at seven-day intervals. Subjects ingested 3 mg/kg of caffeine or a placebo at 8am and 5pm (each subject completed the tests in all four conditions in a random order). The conditions prior to each exercise test (hours elapsed since last meal, physical exercise, or consumption of stimulant substances) were strictly standardized, and fat oxidation during exercise was calculated accordingly.
Maximum fat oxidation
“The results of our study showed that acute caffeine ingestion 30 minutes before performing an aerobic exercise test increased maximum fat oxidation during exercise regardless of the time of day,” explains Francisco J. Amaro. The existence of a diurnal variation in fat oxidation during exercise was confirmed, the values ??being higher in the afternoon than in the morning for equal hours of fasting.
These results also show that caffeine increases fat oxidation during morning exercise in a similar way to that observed without caffeine intake in the afternoon.
In summary, the findings of this study suggest that the combination of acute caffeine intake and aerobic exercise performed at moderate intensity in the afternoon provides the optimal scenario for people seeking to increase fat-burning during physical exercise.
Eating pecans had significant effect on biomarkers of heart disease and type 2 diabetes
Pecan-rich diet significantly improved insulin sensitivity in adults who are overweight or obese
Tufts University, March 22, 2021
A new study published in Nutrients shows that eating just 1.5 ounces of pecans – one small handful – every day may protect adults at risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Conducted by researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, this study found that incorporating pecans into a typical American diet significantly improved insulin sensitivity and had a significant effect on markers of cardiometabolic disease in otherwise healthy overweight and obese adults with excess belly fat.
While a growing body of evidence has linked tree nuts such as pecans to reduced risk of CVD, this is the first study to look at the effects of pecan consumption on factors other than blood lipid levels and specifically those related to T2D. Obesity is a risk factor for T2D, and both obesity and T2D increase CVD risk.
“Pecans are naturally high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, so replacing a portion of the saturated fat in the diet with these healthier fats can explain some of the cardio-protective effects we observed,” said lead researcher, Diane McKay, Ph.D. “But pecans also contain a number of bioactive plant compounds as well as vitamins and essential minerals that all likely contributed to this benefit. What’s really interesting is that just one small change – eating a handful of pecans daily – may have a large impact on the health of these at-risk adults.”
In this placebo-controlled crossover study of 26 men and women (average age 59 years), all meals were provided to carefully control their food intake. For four weeks at a time, subjects ate either a control diet with no nuts or the same diet with pecans substituted for 15 percent of the total calories. Both the control diet and the pecan-rich diet were low in fruits, vegetables and fiber. Calorie levels, as well as protein, carbohydrate, and total fat, were kept the same.
LOA Daily
