HG SMS Hospital (India), October 17, 2021

Heart disease patients who practice yoga in addition to aerobic exercise saw twice the reduction in blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol levels when compared to patients who practiced either Indian yoga or aerobic exercise alone, according to research to be presented at the 8th Emirates Cardiac Society Congress in collaboration with the American College of Cardiology.

Lifestyle intervention has been shown to aid in reducing the risk of death and heart disease comorbidities when used alongside medical management. Indian yoga is a combination of whole exercise of body, mind and soul, and a common practice throughout India. Researchers in this study looked specifically at Indian yoga and aerobic training’s effect on the coronary risk factors of obese heart disease patients with type 2 diabetes.

The study looked at 750 patients who had previously been diagnosed with coronary heart disease. One group of 225 patients participated in aerobic exercise, another group of 240 patients participated in Indian yoga, and a third group of 285 participated in both yoga and aerobic exercise. Each group did three, six-month sessions of yoga and/or aerobic exercise.

The aerobic exercise only and yoga only groups showed similar reductions in blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, weight and waist circumference. However, the combined yoga and aerobic exercise group showed a two times greater reduction compared to the other groups. They also showed significant improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction, diastolic function and exercise capacity.

“Combined Indian yoga and aerobic exercise reduce mental, physical and vascular stress and can lead to decreased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity,” said Sonal Tanwar, PhD, a scholar in preventative cardiology, and Naresh Sen, DM, PhD, a consultant cardiologist, both at HG SMS Hospital, Jaipur, India. “Heart disease patients could benefit from learning Indian yoga and making it a routine part of daily life.”

Fighting inflammation and oxidative stress: New study finds some benefits of orange juice

University of Geneva (Switzerland) and Ludwigs-Maxmilians University (Germany), October 19, 2021

Circadian clocks, which regulate most of the physiological processes of living beings over a rhythm of about 24 hours, are one of the most fundamental biological mechanisms. By deciphering the cell migration mechanisms underlying the immune response, scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in Switzerland, and the Ludwigs-Maximilians University (LMU), in Germany, have shown that the activation of the immune system is modulated according to the time of day.

Indeed, the migration of immune cells from the skin to the lymph nodes oscillates over a 24-hours period. Immune function is highest in the resting phase, just before activity resumes—in the afternoon for mice, which are nocturnal animals, and early morning for humans. These results, which can be read in the journal Nature Immunology, suggest that the time of day should possibly be taken into account when administering vaccines or immunotherapies against cancer, in order to increase their effectiveness.

Unlike the innate immune system, which reacts immediately but in a non-targeted way, the adaptive immune system builds a long-term response specific to each infectious agent. “The adaptive immune system takes weeks to form a response specific to a given pathogen. This response then lasts for a long time thanks to a cellular memory mechanism”, says Christoph Scheiermann, a professor in the Department of Pathology and Immunology and in the Geneva Centre for Inflammation Research (GCIR) at UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, who led this research. “This is typically the mechanism at work during vaccination against a virus, for example.”

To understand the role of circadian rhythms on immune activation, the researchers looked at the migration of dendritic cells from the skin into the lymphatic system, one of the pillars of the adaptive immune response. Located in many peripheral organs, including the skin, dendritic cells migrate through the lymphatic vessels to the lymph nodes, where antigens are presented, in order to trigger an immune response against an incoming pathogen.

Synchronized clocks

The scientists first observed the migratory capacity of dendritic cells in wild mice four times a day, then in mice without functional internal clocks. “For cell migration to take place correctly, not only the dendritic cells but also the lymphatic vessel cells must respond to a circadian rhythm”, explains Stephan Holtkamp, then a researcher at the Biomedical Center of the Ludwig-Maximilian University and first author of this study. The circadian clock must therefore be functional on both sides of the mechanism: in the cell and in its environment. If not, the activity peaks no longer occur and the immune system continuously works in slow motion.

The researchers then repeated their experiment on human skin cells taken from patients at different times of the day. “We identified numerous molecules, in particular chemokines, which are involved in the migratory process and whose expression is regulated by circadian clocks”, says Christoph Scheiermann. “The same molecules were found in human and mouse cells with an inverted rhythm corresponding to the life habits of the two species, nocturnal for rodents, diurnal for humans. This confirms that this rhythm is governed by natural activity according to the alternation of day and night.”

Stimulating the immune system at a favorable time

Additional data also indicate that if the immune system is stimulated at different times of the day, the same oscillations appear, with a peak in the morning. But why is the immune system governed by an oscillatory rhythm? “Circadian rhythms function as an energy-saving system to make the best use of energy resources according to the most immediate needs. Could this be a way for the immune system to be on alert at times when the risk of exposure to pathogens is greatest, through the ingestion of food and/or social interactions?” 

Likewise, could we be more vulnerable to pathogens in the evening and at night? It is impossible to say for the moment. Nevertheless, the importance of the circadian rhythm on the immune system is only just being to be revealed and could be of major importance both for preventive vaccination and for the administration of anti-tumor therapies or the management of autoimmune diseases. Christoph Scheiermann’s team will now explore in more detail the very first stage of the immune response, when the pathogen or vaccine enters the body.

New York University School of Medicine, October 13, 2021

Daily exposure chemicals called phthalates, used in the manufacture of plastic food containers and many cosmetics, may lead to roughly 100,000 premature deaths among older Americans each year, a new study shows. The resulting annual economic burden is between $40 billion and $47 billion, a value more than quadruple that of previous estimates.

For decades, phthalates have been shown to pose a potential danger to human health because the chemicals can interfere with the function of hormones, signaling compounds made in glands that circulate to influence processes throughout the body, experts say. Exposure is believed to occur through buildup of these toxins as consumer products break down and are ingested, with exposure linked to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new investigation of more than 5,000 adults between the ages of 55 and 64 showed that those with the highest concentrations of phthalate in their urine were more likely to die of heart disease than those with lesser exposure.

Similarly, Americans in this high-exposure group were more likely to die of any cause than those in low-exposure groups. However, high levels of the toxins did not appear to increase risk of death due to cancer.

“Our findings reveal that increased phthalate exposure is linked to early death, particularly due to heart disease,” says study lead author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP. “Until now, we have understood that the chemicals connect to heart disease, and heart disease in turn is a leading cause of death, but we had not yet tied the chemicals themselves to death.”

Trasande cautions that the new study does not establish a direct cause and effect association between phthalate exposure and early deaths, in part because the specific biological mechanism that would account for the connection remains unclear. The study investigators say they plan to further study the role these chemicals may play in hormone regulation and inflammation in the body.

However, according to Trasande, the Jim G. Hendrick MD Professor at NYU Langone Health, the new results add to mounting evidence of societal costs related to continued heavy exposure to the chemicals. For example, past research has linked more than 10,000 deaths a year to lowered testosterone levels in adult men attributed to phthalate exposure. These deaths cost Americans nearly $9 billion in lost economic productivity.

To see if there were similar mortality and economic costs from other disorders, the new study, publishing online Oct. 12 in the journal Environmental Pollution, was designed to further examine links between phthalate exposure and deaths of all causes in the U.S. and quantify the resulting economic costs, according to Trasande.

For the investigation, the research team analyzed data including phthalates found in urine samples obtained from adults who participated in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Survey from 2001 to 2010. The researchers limited their analysis to those whose cause of death had been tracked through 2015. In addition, they focused on a subgroup of Americans between 55 and 64, since previous studies had based estimates of phthalate-driven death in this population. This way, the team could accurately compare their study results to the prior estimates.

The study investigators also used data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wonder database, the U.S. Census Bureau, and models from earlier studies to estimate the economic cost of early death for this group.

“Our research suggests that the toll of this chemical on society is much greater than we first thought,” says Trasande, who also serves as director of the NYU Langone’s Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards. “The evidence is undeniably clear that limiting exposure to toxic phthalates can help safeguard Americans’ physical and financial well-being.”

Daily use of cannabidiol (‘CBD’) oil may be linked to lung cancer regression

May be worth further exploring cannabinoids as potential cancer treatment, say researchers

Watford General Hospital (UK), October 18, 2021

Young adults with depression or anxiety may be more likely to have lower levels of cardiovascular health, new research shows.

Adults ages 18-34 who have moderate to severe anxiety or depression were more likely to smoke and have excess weight, and were less likely to get adequate exercise, according to the findings presented last week at the American Heart Association’s virtual Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Conference.

This is the latest contribution to a growing body of research showing how depression and anxiety impact heart health.

For example, a 2011 study in Psychiatry Research found people experiencing post-traumatic stress had a higher likelihood of poor heart health, while a 2018 study in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine suggested prolonged mental stress can increase heart disease risk.

Federal statistics show about 8% of U.S. adults had depression in 2019, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of U.S. adults who experienced depression or anxiety jumped from 36.4% to 41.5%, with the highest spike among people ages 18-29, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Previous research has focused mainly on older adults who are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease. But “mood disorders like depression and anxiety commonly emerge in younger adults, so I was interested in seeing whether they’re associated with cardiovascular health in this age group,” said lead researcher Sierra Patterson, a clinical research coordinator in the department of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

She and colleagues analyzed self-reported data from 882 young adults. They classified the participants as having poor, intermediate or ideal levels of Life’s Simple 7, a term coined by the AHA for a collection of lifestyle targets shown to help achieve ideal heart and brain health. The seven metrics are blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, physical activity, diet, weight and not smoking.

The finding showed 134 participants—about 15% – had moderate to severe anxiety. They were less likely to have optimal levels of physical activity, smoking and weight, and a cardiovascular health score 0.91 points lower, compared to those without the condition. Similarly, 15% of participants had moderate to severe depression and scored worse on the same metrics, as well as cholesterol and blood pressure.

“These findings give (perspective on) a different demographic and suggest that we should start looking at both depression/anxiety and cardiovascular health in younger adults,” Patterson said. The findings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

An AHA scientific statement published this year in Circulation summarized the recent evidence of biological, behavioral and psychological pathways that link mental health to heart disease. The statement suggested that because of the clear link emerging between psychological health and heart health, doctors should assess the mental well-being of heart patients as part of their routine care.

Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director of New York University’s Women’s Heart Program, said the findings underscore the importance of monitoring both mental health and heart health in this younger age group.

“People who tend to smoke”—one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease—”may be smoking to counterbalance their anxiety or depression,” said Goldberg, a clinical associate professor at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine who was not involved in the new research. But, as of now, she said no study has shown that interventions to treat anxiety or depression have an effect on lowering risk factors for cardiovascular conditions.

That doesn’t mean people can’t take steps to elevate their mental and cardiovascular well-being. Goldberg said aerobic exercise, even a low-impact activity like walking the dog, improves mood and stamina.

Patterson advised getting better sleep, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a balanced diet. “I think it comes down to doing things that make you feel good as a person that are also contributing to your cardiovascular health.”

The study suggests physicians should continue to routinely screen their younger patients for depression and anxiety—and to look out for cardiovascular issues at the same time. Patterson also suggests the reverse. If a young adult seems at risk for heart disease, health professionals should ask about their mental well-being.

“It’s important to target people before they get to an age where it’s harder for them to modify their behaviors,” she said. “Being able to catch these risk factors earlier will be beneficial overall.”