1. ‘We are facing extermination’: Brazil losing a generation of indigenous leaders to Covid-19
2. Vultures are circling our fragile economies – we must not let them feast
3. For Decades the U.S. Punished Indigenous Healers. Now the Indian Health Service Wants to Hire Them
4. Trump Has a Half Billion in Loans Coming Due. They May Be His Biggest Conflict of Interest Yet.
5. Taking the Nation’s Financial Pulse in Uncertain Times
6. One in four UK adults at risk of hunger and potential malnutrition following lockdown
7. The ‘Palestinian Chair’: Exposing Israel’s Direct Role in US Violence
8. The War Zone Is America
9. The Necessity of Rebellion
10. Scientists’ warning on affluence
11. Post-COVID Economy May Have More Robots, Fewer Jobs and Intensified Surveillance
12. Nearly Half Of Americans Consider Selling Home As COVID Crushes Finances
13. There’s no such thing as an ‘objective view’ of something
14. Agroforestry Is ‘Win Win’ For Bees And Crops, Study Shows
15. Heat may kill more people in US than previously reported: BU and UBC study
16. A Siberian Town Just Hit 100 F Degrees
17. Scientists edited human embryos in the lab, and it was a disaster
18. Arctic records its hottest temperature ever
19. Why Japan’s Jobless Rate Is Just 2.6% While the U.S.’s Has Soared
20. We’ve Never Seen Protests Like These Before
21. A water crisis looms for 270 million people as South Asia’s glaciers shrink
22. The financialization of the end of the world
23. Minneapolis Investigates Police Use Of Ketamine On Suspects
24. So Gen Z-ers hate millennials now? A handy guide to the generation wars
25. Meet BlackRock, the New Great Vampire Squid
26. Fear mounts Trump may pressure FDA to rush Covid-19 vaccine by election
27. Riding the Protest Wave: How Elites Will Co-opt BLM
28. ‘This Scares Me,’ Says Bill McKibben as Arctic Hits 100.4°F—Hottest Temperature on Record
29. A Global Scramble for the Coming Coronavirus Vaccine
30. Lab finds 125 naturally occurring compounds with antiviral potential
31. A Massive Dust Cloud Is Moving From the Sahara to the U.S. This Week
32. Revealed: millions of Americans can’t afford water as bills rise 80% in a decade
33. Nearly 70% of patients make personal or financial sacrifices to afford medications
34. 75% of US workers can’t work exclusively from home, face greater risks during pandemic
35. A Moratorium on Evictions Ends, Leaving Thousands of Tenants Fearful
36. Roundup cancer attorney pleads guilty to extortion attempt
37. 4 Likely 5G Winners from President Trump’s $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
38. Trump, Bolton, and Pompeo: Loathsome Peas in a Pod
39. Revealed: police unions spend millions to influence policy in biggest US cities
40. US Beekeepers Report Second Highest Colony Loss On Record
41. Women With Cancer Awarded Billions in Baby Powder Suit
42. Cows play part in coronavirus vaccine development
43. Compulsory Vaccination That Genetically Alters the Human Body … No Longer a ”Human Being”?
44. Companies spent more than $1 billion in ads for sugary drinks and energy drinks in 2018
45. Study confirms “classic” symptoms of COVID-19
46. America is Exceptional in All the Wrong Ways
47. Transhumanism Is The New Religion Of Technocracy
48. What a 100-degree day in Siberia really means
49. China’s hidden partner in suppressing the Muslim Uighurs – the US
50. The Plant-Based Diet That Our Planet Urgently Needs
51. Global economy will take $12tn hit from coronavirus, says IMF
52. U.S. Ranked Worst for Workers’ Rights Among Major Economies
53. Why the World’s Most Advanced Solar Plants Are Failing
54. “Beyond the Pandemic, Geopolitics as Usual”. A Permanent Brainwash
55. Facebook boycott gains momentum
56. Frankenstein Chimeras: COVID, Wuhan Labs and Biosafety
57. Nine hand sanitizers could be toxic, US government warns
58. 1.48m more Americans file for unemployment as pandemic takes toll
59. Siberian heat wave is a ‘warning cry’ from the Arctic, climate scientists say
60. Online harassment increases to 35% for American minority groups
61. Covid-19 vaccine may not work for at-risk older people, say scientists
62. A “New Cold War” With China Could Mean Curtains For US Retail
63. Capitalism is Destroying ‘Safe Operating Space’ for Humanity, Warn Scientists
64. Dystopia or utopia? The future of cities could go either way
65. Gallup study: Media rank dead last in public trust
66. Trump Admitted Relocation of American Soldiers to Poland Is Aimed Against Russia
67. “The Despair Is Smoldering in Society”
68. ASSANGE EXTRADITION: Assange Hit With New Superseding Indictment Broadening Computer Intrusion Charges
69. The India-China, Himalayan Puzzle
70. Down the rabbit hole: how QAnon conspiracies thrive on Facebook
71. We Need a Vaccine for Something More Dangerous Than the Coronavirus
72. What To Look For In A Face Mask, According To Science
73. Coronavirus may have infected 10 times more Americans than reported, CDC says
74. Stimulus checks: Prepaid debit cards come with fees and privacy strings attached
75. Corporate Backers of the Blue: How Corporations Bankroll U.S. Police Foundations

 

Extracts of the wormwood plant (A. annua) are active against SARS-CoV-2

 

Compound in horny goat weed can promote cartilage repair

Women are overmedicated because drug dosage trials are done on men, study finds

University of Chicago, June 24, 2020

A new study by University of Chicago and University of California, Berkeley researchers suggests that women are being widely overmedicated—and suffering excess side effects—because drug dosages are calculated based on studies done overwhelmingly on male subjects.

“These drugs are optimized from the beginning to work on male bodies,” said Prof. Brian Prendergast, a UChicago psychologist and co-author of the study. “We need to immediately reevaluate the widespread practice of prescribing the same doses to men and women.”

Scientists and medical professionals have long known that women experience more adverse side effects than men, even when drug dosages are adjusted for body weight. These side effects can range from headaches and nausea to bleeding and seizures. But for decades, women were excluded from drug trials due to the false belief that hormone cycles would skew test results.

“For much of the time it’s been practiced, biomedical science has been done by men, on men,” said Prendergast. “It even starts in the petri dish: Most cell lines used in early tests are male, and then drugs are tested on male lab animals.”

Since 1993, the National Institutes of Health has mandated that trials should be run on both men and women. They strengthened these requirements after a seminal study in 2014, coauthored by Prendergast, which showed that female mice’s hormone cycles did not skew drug test results.

However, a large proportion of studies still underrepresent women—and the trials that do include them often don’t analyze the data for sex differences, or even publish that data so that others can. In addition, thousands of drugs remain on the market that were approved before the 1993 ruling.

In the new study, published June 5 in the journal Biology of Sex Differences, Prendergast and co-author Irving Zucker of UC Berkeley combed through the publicly available data for clinical drug studies. They found 86 drugs for which there was clear evidence of sex differences in how the body broke down the drug. For nearly all of these drugs, women metabolized them more slowly than men, leading to higher levels of exposure to the drug; in 96% of cases, this resulted in significantly higher rates of adverse side effects in women.

The medications they studied include such common drugs as aspirin, morphine and heparin, and widely prescribed antidepressants such as sertraline and buproprion.

Every human body reacts slightly differently to any given drug. In women, the drugs tend to linger longer in the blood and tissues than they do in men, for example; the liver and kidneys also generally process drugs at different rates. This remains true even when the dosage is adjusted for the weight of the patient.

“The reasons for these big differences is not fully understood, but this is a really striking result and a wake-up call,” Prendergast said.

The two authors lay out a set of recommendations to address the crisis. For example, they call for the FDA to post the gender breakdown of study participants in trial data for future analyses, and to specifically label drugs that are already known to have sex differences. The information should also be discussed and included in medical education, the authors said.

“There are a lot of drugs that are prescribed on a ‘one-size-fits-all’ basis, and it’s clear that this doesn’t always work,” Prendergast said. “Especially for drugs that we already know have a wide therapeutic range —meaning there’s a wide range of doses that are still effective—we could do a lot better job of titrating dosages with sex in mind.”

This means that, whenever possible, doctors would start with prescribing a smaller dose for women, and gradually increase to reach a balance where the medication is working as intended, but without significant side effects.

“We have an opportunity to do this better,” Prendergast said. “This information needs to be widely available.”

These spices take down inflammation

University of Illinois, June 23, 2020

Chili peppers, cinnamon and red pepper are the three best-selling spices in the U.S., and oregano, parsley and basil are the most favored herbs, according to researchers from the University of Illinois. But many other herbs and spices are gaining favor lately. Around 40% of folks now say they like ginger and rosemary a lot. And 33% are wild for dill and cumin.

That’s a great trend – for the culinary arts and for your health. A study in the Journal of Nutrition by researchers from Penn State found that adding just 6 grams of a blend of basil, bay leaf, black pepper, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, oregano, parsley, red pepper, rosemary, thyme and turmeric to a high-fat and processed-carbohydrate meal lowers levels of bodywide inflammation hours later.

Now this doesn’t give you permission to eat heart-stopping, cancer-triggering, high saturated fat and processed-carb foods. But it is great news, since chronic inflammation, associated with elevated blood glucose, lousy LDL cholesterol levels and obesity is epidemic in America.

Defeating inflammation, which is implicated in the development of some cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia and a lousy sex life, is essential for restoring your health. So next time you’re in the kitchen, cook up some rice and beans for taco night or grill or poach salmon or sea trout. Season generously with your homemade blend of this spice and herb mixture. You’ll be rewarded with great flavors as you cool down the inflammation that’s threatening your healthy future.

Long-term exercise impacts genes involved in metabolic health

Karolinska Institute (Sweden), June 24, 2020

Decades-long endurance training alters the activity of genes in human skeletal muscle that are important for metabolic health. This is according to a new study published in the journal Cell Reports by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of San Diego in the U.S. Sex differences found in untrained individuals were also dramatically reduced with long-term training. The results may have implications for metabolic disease prevention.

Exercise training performed over a lifetime is known to result in numerous health benefits and can prevent diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer but the mechanisms behind these effects are not completely understood.

“Although short bouts of exercise have been shown to influence the gene activity in our muscles, it is the dedication to habitual exercise over a lifetime that is associated with long-term health benefits,” says lead author Mark Chapman, assistant professor at the Department of Integrated Engineering, University of San Diego and researcher at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet. “Thus, understanding how our muscles are changing over many years of training is critical to determining a link between exercise and health.”

Changed activity of more than 1,000 genes

The current study included individuals who had performed intensive exercise training for at least the past 15 years, either long-term endurance training (9 men/9 women) or strength-training (7 men), as well as age-matched untrained healthy controls (7 men/8 women). Skeletal muscle biopsies were collected from all 40 volunteers, and RNA sequencing was performed to measure the activity of over 20,000 genes.

Long-term endurance training (running or cycling) significantly changed the activity of more than 1,000 genes in both women and men compared with controls. Many of the altered genes were related to an increased activity in numerous metabolic pathways related to the prevention of metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Surprisingly, only 26 genes were found to be changed with long-term weightlifting, suggesting that strength training does not result in accumulated changes in gene activity. However, the authors note that this does not mean gene activity is unaffected with weightlifting, it could be that changes in muscle gene activity with weightlifting are related to proteins instead of RNA.

More than 450 genes were found to be expressed differently in the muscles of the untrained male volunteers versus their female counterparts. Such sex differences are known to exist, but the new study demonstrates that sex differences decreased by about 70 percent with long-term endurance training.

Short-term training also had some effect

The researchers also cross-referenced their data with studies examining muscle gene expression before and after a months-long training period in individuals with type 2 diabetes. The results show that following short exercise programs, individuals with impaired metabolism shifted their gene activity to become more similar to the long-term endurance-trained groups compared with before they started training.

“This suggests that even short training programs of 6–12 months are enough to positively influence the health of people suffering from metabolic disorders,” says last author Carl Johan Sundberg, professor at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet. “The study identifies important ‘exercise-responsive’ genes that may play a role in metabolic diseases.”

How Walnuts Alter Your Gut Microbiome For The Best

University of Connecticut, June 10, 2020

 

Eating walnuts may change gut bacteria in a way that suppresses colon cancer, researchers led by UConn Health report in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

A team of researchers from UConn Health and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine found that mice that ate 7-10.5 percent of their total calories as walnuts developed fewer colon cancers. The effect was most pronounced in male mice, which had 2.3 times fewer tumors when fed walnuts as part of a diet similar to the typical American’s. That’s equivalent to a human eating about an ounce of walnuts a day.

One ounce of walnuts is 14 halves – or, a generous handful, maybe two if you have small hands. This study is particularly special because it used a dietary approach versus the Petri dish approach.

“Our results show for the first time that walnut consumption may reduce colon tumor development,” said Principal Investigator Dr. Daniel W. Rosenberg of UConn Health. “There is accumulating evidence that eating walnuts may offer a variety of benefits related to health issues like cancer. This study shows that walnuts may also act as a probiotic to make the colon healthy, which in turn offers protection against colon tumors.”

Who knew that walnuts could act as a probiotic, too?

 

Walnuts are packed with compounds known to be important nutritionally. They have the most polyunsaturated fatty acids of all the commonly eaten tree nuts, as well as the highest ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids, and high levels of a form of Vitamin E with anti-cancer properties.

But walnuts are not merely the sum of their chemical parts, and it may be as a whole food that they pack the most significant anti-cancer punch against colon cancer, the third most common cancer in the world. Other studies have shown walnuts have promise warding off diseases connected to diet and lifestyle, including heart disease, diabetes and neurological disorders.

Rosenberg, a cancer researcher and professor of medicine at UConn Health and Dr. Masako Nakanishi, a research associate in the Center for Molecular Medicine at UConn Health tested the cancer prevention qualities of walnuts on mice fed two different diets. One group of mice ate a standard lab mouse chow, while the other group ate a chow that captured the nutritional profile of the typical American diet. Subsets of both groups were supplemented with walnuts.

Interestingly, male mice fed the Western diet fortified with 10.5 percent walnuts showed the greatest decrease in colon tumors compared with mice fed no walnuts.

To figure out why walnuts were beneficial, the UConn Health team collaborated with Dr. George Weinstock and colleagues at The Jackson Laboratory. Weinstock’s lab took fecal samples from the mice and analyzed the communities of bacteria living in their digestive tracts. They found that walnut consumption tended to push the gut microbiome toward an ecology that was potentially protective against cancer.

It’s not clear exactly how this works, but there are clues. For example, previous research has shown that some gut bacteria digest fiber into compounds with anti-inflammatory properties that may reduce tumor initiation. The microbiome analyses also reflected interesting differences between male and female. Males on walnut-free diets tended to have less-diverse gut flora than females. Adding walnuts to the diets of male mice brought their microbiomes closer to those of female mice on either of the diets. Whether this change contributes to the protection seen in male mice remains to be determined.

Because the studies were done only in mice, more testing needs to be done in humans before walnuts can be unequivocally recommended as a cancer-prevention agent. Rosenberg’s group is working with a nutritionist and surveying human colonoscopy patients about their diets as part of a longer term study in humans.

However, Rosenberg isn’t waiting for the final word. Even right now, he says, “I try to eat walnuts every day.”

He adds: “We’re excited about future studies where we will be able to look at food consumption patterns to see how these results apply to humans.”

This research was supported in part by the California Walnut Commission (CWC) and the American Institute for Cancer Research.

The abstract concludes:   Taken together, our results indicate that walnuts afford partial protection to the colon against a potent carcinogenic insult, and this may be due in part to walnut-induced changes to the gut microbiome.

 

Men more genetically prone to skin cancer

McGill University (Quebec), June 23, 2020

As COVID-19 restrictions loosen this summer, Canadians will spend more time outdoors and make the most of the sunshine. A new study from McGill University suggests why men may be more genetically prone to develop skin cancer.

The research led by Professor Ian Watson of McGill’s Goodman Cancer Research Centre (GCRC), published in the journal Nature Cancer, identified three genes on the X chromosome with significant mutations. Females have two X-chromosomes whereas males have an X and a Y chromosome. “Of the three significantly mutated genes we found on the X-chromosome, only one gene had a specific type of mutation found only in males,” says Prof. Watson.

Females can develop other types of mutations in the gene in question, but since they have two X chromosomes (males have one), they have two copies, allowing the second to serve as a backup if the first becomes mutated. “These mutations may help explain why male melanoma patients have higher incidence and worse survival rates,” says Rached Alkallas, a Ph.D. student at McGill and the study’s co-first author.

Genetic changes and UV

One of the most important risk factors for melanoma skin cancer is ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and indoor tanning. By shedding light on specific genetic changes caused by UV exposure, advances in gene sequencing techniques have given researchers the ability to dig deeper into the underlying causes for the sex differences in melanoma. After analyzing genetic mutations in more than a thousand melanoma cases, researchers have provided some insight behind this mysterious sex bias. “We’re continuing to do more research in this area, including determining how these mutations affect melanoma biology and respond to immunotherapy,” explains Mathieu Lajoie, Ph.D., research associate and study co-lead.

More effective personalized treatment on the horizon

“Immunotherapy has been life-changing for many melanoma patients,” Prof. Watson says of the form of treatment that reactivates a cancer patient’s immune system to get rid of cancer cells. “Unfortunately, a large subset of patients still don’t respond to this treatment and we’re working in collaboration to understand where the problems lie in order to connect all the dots.”

In addition to the role gender plays in different incidence and survival rates, data is beginning to emerge that suggests they may also have different response rates to the latest forms of therapy. Watson is investigating whether the sex difference in mutations he uncovered might help explain the reason. Deepening our knowledge of the genetics of various melanoma subtypes could also go a long way in providing personalized treatment whereby patients are matched with the therapies that are most likely to treat their specific cancer.

Medicinal cannabis may reduce behavioral problems in kids with intellectual disabilities

Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (Australia), June 24, 2020

Cannabidiol, a type of medicinal cannabis, may reduce severe behavioural problems in children and adolescents with an intellectual disability a new study has found.

The pilot study, led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, recorded a clinically significant change in participants’ irritability, aggression, self-injury, and yelling. The intervention was also found to be safe and well-tolerated by most study participants.

The randomised controlled trial involved eight participants, aged 8-16, years who took either cannabidiol or a placebo over eight weeks. Participants were recruited from paediatric clinics from both hospital and private paediatric practices.

Although the pilot study was not large enough to make definitive statements, the early findings strongly support a larger follow-up trial. Only a large scale randomised controlled trial can produce the definitive results necessary to drive changes in prescribing and clinical care guidelines. The researchers are planning a large study to definitively test the findings.

The researchers are also seeking funding for further research into the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis in children with developmental disorders such as autism and Tourette syndrome.

Associate Professor Daryl Efron, a clinician-scientist at MCRI who led the study, said this was the first investigation of cannabidiol to manage severe behavioural problems in children and adolescents with an intellectual disability. Most of the participants also had autism.

The study found the medication was generally well-tolerated and there were no serious side effects reported. All parents reported they would recommend the study to families with children with similar problems.

Associate Professor Efron said severe behavioural problems such as irritability, aggression and self-injury in children and adolescents with an intellectual disability were a major contributor to functional impairments, missed learning opportunities and reduced quality of life.

He said conventional psychotropic medications, including anti-psychotics and anti-depressants, were prescribed by Australian paediatricians for almost half of young people with an intellectual disability, despite limited evidence of their effectiveness. Given how extremely difficult behavioural problems were to treat in these patients, new, safer interventions were needed to treat this highly vulnerable patient group, he said.

“Current medications carry a high risk of side-effects, with vulnerable people with intellectual disability being less able to report side-effects,” he said. “Common side-effects of antipsychotics, such as weight gain and metabolic syndrome, have huge health effects for a patient group already at increased risk of chronic illness.”

Cannabidiol is already being used increasingly to manage a range of medical and psychiatric conditions in adults and epilepsy in children.

Associate Professor Efron said there was intense interest from parents and physicians in medicinal cannabis as a treatment for severe behavioural problems in youth with an intellectual disability.

“Parents of children with an intellectual disability and severe behavioural problems are increasingly asking paediatricians whether they can access medicinal cannabis for their child and some parents have reported giving unregulated cannabis products to their children,” he said.

“We are also finding many physicians feel unprepared to have these conversations with their patients.” Researchers from The Royal Children’s

Nutrition a key ingredient for cognitive health of midlife and older Canadians

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (British Columbia), June 24, 2020

A new study, investigating factors associated with verbal fluency among a large sample of anglophone Canadians aged 45-85, found that individuals who consumed more vegetables and fruits and more nuts and pulses (such as lentils and beans) scored higher on tests of verbal fluency.

“These findings are consistent with other research that has found a Mediterranean diet high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes is protective against cognitive decline,” reported co-author Dr. Karen Davison, a nutrition informatics research program director at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, in British Columbia and a North American Primary Care Research Fellow. “Every increase in average daily fruit and vegetable intake was linked to higher verbal fluency scores, but the best outcomes were found among those who consumed at least 6 servings a day.”

Verbal fluency is an important measure of cognitive function. To test it, subjects are asked to list as many words from a given category as they can in one minute. This measures language and executive function and can be used to detect cognitive impairment.

Adults who have insufficient appetite, face challenges in preparing food or consume low-quality diets, may be at risk of malnourishment, and grip strength can be used to assess under-nutrition. Those in the study who had poor grip strength and/or high nutritional risk scores also had lower verbal fluency.

“Previous research has also indicated that measures of under-nutrition are associated with cognitive decline,” said co-author Zahraa Saab, a recent Masters of Public Health graduate of the University of Toronto.

The researchers investigated the relationship between other factors and cognitive health, as well, including immigrant status, age, blood pressure, obesity, and body fat.

Immigration status

Anglophone immigrants who had lived in Canada at least 20 years had higher verbal fluency scores than their Canadian-born peers. The researchers suspect that this protective effect may be partially due to better cognitive reserve among immigrants.

“Our earlier research on a big British cohort of individuals born in 1946 found that those who emigrated from United Kingdom had, on average, 5 points higher IQ than their peers who remained in the UK,” says senior author, Esme Fuller-Thomson, professor at University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) and director of the Institute for Life Course & Aging. “We purposively restricted the current study to those whose mother tongue was English, so we could investigate the association between immigrant status and verbal fluency, independent of bilingualism.”

Previous research suggests that those who are bilingual have a lower incidence and delayed onset of dementia. Most of the studies finding a ‘bilingualism advantage’ have, unfortunately, neglected to account for immigration status.

“Our findings suggest that this is an important omission, because even immigrants whose mother tongue is English had significantly higher verbal fluency scores than anglophones born in Canada. Thus, the ‘bilingualism advantage’ may be at least partially attributable to the “healthy immigrant effect,” said Fuller-Thomson, who is also cross-appointed to U of T’s Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Faculty of Nursing.

Age & Education

“Consistent with other studies, those younger in age had better cognitive functioning scores when compared to older participants.” says co-author Hongmei Tong, assistant professor of Social Work at MacEwan University in Edmonton.

The association between cognitive impairment and advanced age may be mediated or moderated by cognitive reserve factors such as high educational levels, which are protective against cognitive decline.

“Respondents who were aged 75-85 with a high school degree had verbal fluency scores comparable to individuals a decade younger who had not completed high school,” says co-author Vanessa Taler, associate professor of psychology, University of Ottawa.

Blood Pressure, Obesity & Body Fat

Adults with stage 2 hypertension had lower verbal fluency scores.

“Our findings underline the importance of managing blood pressure for brain health in mid-life and beyond,” says co-author Shen (Lamson) Lin, a doctoral student at the FIFSW.

Both obesity and higher percent body fat were associated with worse verbal fluency scores.

“Obesity has been linked in other research to inflammation and to greater insulin resistance, both of which have been associated to cognitive decline,” says co-author Karen Kobayashi, professor in the Department of Sociology and a research fellow at the Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health at the University of Victoria.

The study team analyzed data from the baseline Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, which included 8,574 anglophone participants aged 45-85, of whom 1,126 were immigrants who had arrived in Canada 20 or more years earlier. All participants were living in the community and were free from dementia. Two verbal fluency tests were examined: the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) and the Animal Fluency (AF) task. The article was published this month in the Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging.

“The team’s findings suggest that it may be beneficial to design policies and health care practices to reduce nutrition risk, improve diet quality, and address obesity and hypertension among midlife and older citizens in order to improve these potentially modifiable risk factors for lower verbal fluency scores,” adds Dr. Fuller-Thomson. “The good news is that the higher levels of education obtained by baby boomers and subsequent birth cohorts may mitigate some of the cognitive decline often observed in previous generations of older adults.”

Study links increased exercise with lower sleep apnea risk

University of Adelaide (Australia), June 24, 2020

A study published online as an accepted paper in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that increased physical activity is associated with a lower risk of obstructive sleep apnea, a common sleep-related breathing disorder. The study is the largest to date focused on the relationship between sleep apnea and levels of physical activity in the general community.

Researchers reviewed lifestyle, medical, socio-demographic and sleep health data collected from more than 155,000 adults participating in the Ontario Health Study. Based on the physical activity of participants with and without sleep apnea, the investigators determined that a modest increase in physical activity, including walking, is associated with a 10 percent reduction in the risk of developing sleep apnea.

“Our results highlight the importance of physical activity as a preventive measure against developing sleep apnea,” said senior author Lyle Palmer, who is professor of genetic epidemiology at the University of Adelaide in Australia. “One surprising finding was that not only vigorous physical activity but also just walking alone was associated with a decreased risk of sleep apnea.”

The authors found that adding 20 minutes to a daily walk and increasing vigorous daily activity by eight minutes would be enough to achieve a lower sleep apnea risk. The finding is independent of other known risk factors for sleep apnea such as sex, age, ethnicity and obesity.

It is estimated that more than 29 million American adults have sleep apnea, many of them undiagnosed. Untreated sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and other potentially serious conditions.

“The rates of sleep apnea in children and adults are continuing to rise. Therefore, understanding the role of modifiable protective factors for sleep apnea is important,” said Palmer. “Exercise is one such protective factor and has many other positive effects on general health. Sleep health care professionals should be trying to get their patients to exercise more.”

The cross-sectional, population-based study analyzed baseline questionnaire data from 155,448 adult residents of Ontario, Canada (60% women and 40% men). Their mean age was 46 years, and about 75% were white. About 6.9% of participants reported being told by a doctor that they have sleep apnea. Those with sleep apnea were more sedentary, sitting for a median of 4.4 more hours per week than those without sleep apnea.

Due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, the authors were unable to make temporal inferences on the observed associations between physical activity and sleep apnea. However, they report that previous studies also have suggested that physical activity can reduce the severity of sleep apnea.

In a related commentary, also published as an accepted paper in JCSM, Dr. Joyce Lee-Iannotti and Dr. James Parish write that the study’s findings give sleep physicians another tool to treat mild to moderate sleep apnea that may be more appealing to patients

 

 

Can this summer lawn weed help protect you from cervical cancer? Study

Hei Long Jiang Reclamation University (China), June 23, 2020

Purslane is a common garden weed that’s consumed as a vegetable because of its high nutrient content. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), purslane is used to remove toxic heat and substances from the body. It is also used to treat dysentery, eczema, hemorrhoidal bleeding and abnormal uterine bleeding. In a recent study, researchers at Heilongjiang August First Land Reclamation University and Daqing Oilfield Hospital in China found that purslane is also effective against cervical cancer. Specifically, a polysaccharide (carbohydrate) in purslane can inhibit the death of dendritic cells, which are important immune cells for stopping the growth of tumors.

The researchers reported their findings in an article published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The mechanism behind the anti-tumor effects of purslane

According to previous studies, a purslane component known as POL-P3b exerts anti-cancer effects by enhancing immune response to tumor antigens when taken orally. This immune response is mediated by the interaction between antigen-presenting cells (APC), T cells and B cells.

Dendritic cells (DC) are some of the most powerful APCs in the body. These cells work by absorbing, processing and presenting antigens for recognition by other immune cells. Mature DCs are said to activate white blood cells called T cells, which are responsible for initiating, regulating and maintaining immune response, including anti-tumor immunity. DCs also play an important role as part of the intestinal immune system.

Tumor cells are capable of modifying their surface antigens and changing their microenvironment in order to influence the function of immune cells. By causing functional defects or triggering apoptosis (programmed cell death) in DCs, tumor cells avoid recognition and escape immune system surveillance. This is why the number of DCs can determine how favorable the prognosis is for cancer patients.

To investigate the mechanism behind POL-P3b’s anti-cancer activity, the researchers first isolated intestinal dendritic cells from tumor-bearing mice treated with 50?mg/kg, 100?mg/kg and 200?mg/kg POL-P3b. They then evaluated the effects of POL-P3b on the proliferation and apoptosis of DC and looked at the expression levels of cancer- and apoptosis-related proteins.

The researchers found that in the untreated mice, a large number of intestinal DCs were undergoing apoptosis. Treatment with different doses of POL-P3b for 12 days significantly improved the survival of intestinal DCs.

The researchers also found that POL-P3b protects against tumor-induced apoptosis by activating the TLR4/PI3K/AKT-NF-kB signaling pathway, which increased the expression of Bcl-2. Bcl-2 is a regulator of cell death and is known to inhibit apoptosis by inactivating pro-apoptotic proteins.

POL-P3b also prevented the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria, which activates the caspase cascade that commits a cell to the death process. Additionally, it reduced the expression of caspase 3, a crucial mediator of apoptosis.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that purslane’s polysaccharide is an effective anti-cancer agent that enhances anti-tumor immunity by preventing the death of dendritic cells.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplements for improving peripheral nerve health

University of Melbourne (Australia), June 22, 2020

According to news reporting out of Parkville, Australia, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Peripheral nerve damage can occur in a variety of systemic conditions and can have a profound impact on functional and psychological health. Currently, therapeutic interventions for peripheral nerve damage are limited.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Melbourne, “The aim of this systematic review, conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Collaboration’s handbook and reported according to the PRISMA checklist, was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of omega-3 oral supplements for improving peripheral nerve structure and function. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases, along with clinical trial registries, were searched from inception to February 2019. Evidence was identified, critically appraised, and synthesized, and the certainty of evidence was appraised using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. Randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of omega-3 oral supplementation on outcomes of peripheral nerve structure, peripheral nerve function, or both were eligible for inclusion. Titles and abstracts of identified articles were independently assessed for potential eligibility by 2 review authors. For studies judged as eligible or potentially eligible, full text articles were retrieved and independently assessed by 2 review authors to determine eligibility; disagreements were resolved by consensus. Fifteen trials were included. Two clinically similar studies that investigated the effect of omega-3 supplementation in individuals receiving chemotherapy were meta-analyzed. Pooled data showed a reduced incidence of peripheral neuropathy (RR = 0.58; 95%CI, 0.43-0.77) and a preservation of sensory nerve action potential amplitudes with omega-3 supplementation compared with placebo (MD = 4.19 mu V; 95%CI; 2.19-6.19). This review finds, with low certainty, that omega-3 supplementation attenuates sensory loss and reduces the incidence of neuropathy secondary to oxaliplatin and paclitaxel treatment relative to placebo.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “There is currently limited evidence to ascertain whether omega-3 supplementation is beneficial in other systemic conditions characterized by peripheral nerve damage.”

Bedtime media use linked to less sleep in children who struggle to self-regulate behavior

Arizona State University, June 23, 2020

For some children, screen time before bed translates to less sleep.

According to a study from the Arizona State University Department of Psychology, media use in the hour preceding bedtime impacts how kids sleep, especially children who struggle to self-regulate their behavior. Frequent media use before bed in these children predicted later bedtimes and less sleep. The work is now available online in Psychological Science.

“Among kids who used the same amount of media in the hour before bed, we found differences that were explained by a personality characteristic called effortful control,” said Leah Doane, associate professor of psychology at ASU and senior author on the paper. “Kids who score low on measures of effortful control are the ones who struggle to wait to unwrap a present or are easily distracted. We found a strong association between media use in the hour before bed and when these kids went to sleep and how long they slept. Media use before bed was not associated with the sleep of kids who scored high on measures of effortful control.”

The research team spent a week following 547 children, aged 7-9 years. The participant group was socioeconomically diverse and lived in rural and urban areas. The parents kept daily diaries that tracked the children’s media use and sleep patterns. They also completed a survey that asked about their children’s temperament, including their ability to self-regulate behavior.

For the entire week, the children wore specialized wrist watches called actigraphs that tracked their movement and also ambient light. The actigraph data gave the research team detailed information about when and how long the children slept.

The children slept an average of 8 hours a night and used media before bed for an average of 5 nights during the study week. Children who did not use media before bed during the study week slept 23 minutes more and went to bed 34 minutes earlier than children who used media most nights during the study week.

“Media use was generally associated with a shorter sleep duration, but this effect was most pronounced in children with low effortful control,” said Sierra Clifford, a research scientist at ASU and first author on the paper. “The impact of media on sleep was also an average affect, meaning that it reflects habitual media use rather than occasionally staying up late to watch a movie.”

The children who scored low on measures of effortful control slept the least amount of time when they consistently used media in the hour before bed during the study week. These children slept approximately 40 minutes less per night. Media use before bed did not affect the sleep of children who scored high on effortful control, which was approximately 35 percent of the study participants.

“Media exposure mattered for the children who measured lowest in effortful control,” Clifford said.

Children with low effortful control might struggle with switching their attention from watching media before bed to calming down and falling asleep. But because effortful control is a personality characteristic, it is more difficult to change.

“Instead of parents wondering how to help their child better regulate their behavior, they can try to focus on creating more consistent sleep and media use schedules,” Doane said.

Blocking sugar metabolism slows lung tumor growth

New findings suggest treatments that block two sugar-transporting proteins could help slow the growth of lung tumours

Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, June 23, 2020  

Blocking a pair of sugar-transporting proteins may be a useful treatment approach for lung cancer, suggests a new study in mice and human cells published today in eLife.

Cancer cells use a lot of sugar to fuel their rapid growth and spread. This has led scientists to consider cutting off their sugar supply as a way to treat cancer. The current study suggests this could be an effective approach but it will be necessary to block multiple pathways at once to be effective.

Proteins called glucose transporters supply sugar to cells making them an appealing target for therapies intended to starve cancer cells. But scientists don’t know the best ways to do this, or if cancer cells would just switch to alternative fuel sources if they are denied sugar.

“Inhibiting sugar use in lung tumours could be an efficient treatment strategy, but whether glucose transporters should be targeted and which ones to target remains unclear,” says lead author Caroline Contat, a PhD student and Doctoral Assistant at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.

To find out, Contat and her colleagues genetically engineered mice with lung cancer that were missing a glucose transport protein called Glut1 or an alternate sugar transporter called Glut3. The team found that tumours grew just as fast in the mice lacking Glut1 or Glut3 as they did in mice with both transporters.

However, when they genetically engineered mice with lung cancer that lack both Glut1 and Glut3, they found that the animals grew fewer tumours and survived longer. By using an imaging technology called positron emission tomography (PET) and sugar labelled with radioactive tags, the team confirmed that the tumours used less sugar. The tumour cells also grew more slowly.

Finally, they deleted Glut1 and Glut3 in four different human lung cancer cell lines grown in the laboratory, which caused these cells to grow more slowly. “These experiments suggest Glut1 and Glut3 together are needed to fuel the growth of lung cancer,” Contat says.

Using nanoscale imaging studies, the team also found that most of the sugar-derived biomass in mouse lung tumour cells accumulates in cellular compartments called lamellar bodies and that Glut1 is necessary for this fuel storage.

“While more studies of these tumour fuel storage compartments are needed, our results suggest a new approach to lung cancer treatment that focuses on starving tumour cells of energy,” says senior author Etienne Meylan, Assistant Professor at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, EPFL. “In particular, treatments that block Glut1 and Glut3 simultaneously will be necessary to help stop lung tumour growth.”

 

Rosemary essential oil can enhance working memory in children

Northumbria University (UK), June 23, 2020

In their groundbreaking research, a team of researchers from Northumbria University in England demonstrated that the aroma of rosemary essential oil can enhance mental performance in children.

Their findings had been presented as part of the British Psychological Society‘s (BPS) annual conference in the UK.

The health benefits of essential oils

The use of aromas can be traced back to ancient civilizations. In ancient Greece, for example, the extracts of aromatic plants had often been used for both cosmetic and medicinal purposes.

Not much has changed since then. Fragrant essential oils continue to be used in, and are part and parcel of, aromatherapeutic practices. In these scenarios, essential oils are used for their soothing effects on the brain. Oils are also used to enhance mood and ease sore muscles.

In addition, multiple studies attest to the antimicrobial effects of some oils. Dermatologists, for instance, use the essential oils of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) to treat acne and bacterial skin infections.

But it remains unclear if there are other substantial benefits to these aromatic oils outside of their therapeutic effects and dermatological uses.

Rosemary aroma helps improve brain functions

In 2012, Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver from Northumbria University were the first to demonstrate that a certain compound in rosemary oil is behind the herb’s reported brain-boosting effects. Moss is also part of the team behind the paper presented at the BPS conference.

Published in Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, their findings affirmed that higher concentrations of the aromatic compound (terpene) called 1,8-cineole in the bloodstream are related to better mental performance.

To understand the effects of rosemary oil on brain function, Moss and Oliver conducted a single-blind experiment on a cohort of 20 adult subjects.

The participants had been exposed to rosemary oil at different concentrations for four, six, eight or 10 minutes prior to completing cognitive tests. Each participant had been assigned a specific concentration at random in their designated cubicle. Moss and Oliver then collected their blood samples upon completion of the tests.

Upon examining the samples, Moss and Oliver found traces of 1,8-cineole. Samples that had higher amounts of 1,8-cineole corresponded to participants that performed better in the tests, leading the researchers to conclude that rosemary aroma had a significant effect on cognition.

Rosemary aroma may boost memory in children

In their paper presented at the BPS conference, Moss and his co-authors found that children exposed to the aroma of rosemary oil scored higher in memory tests than those in the control group.

To determine if rosemary essential oil has similar effects on cognition in children, Moss and his team gathered 40 participants aged 10 to 11 for a class-based test on different mental tasks.

The team assigned each participant at random to either a scented room or a non-scented room. To prepare the scented room, the team diffused rosemary oil in the room for 10 minutes.

Inside either room, a researcher tested a participant’s cognitive skills based on different mental tasks.

The team found that participants tested in the scented room scored higher in the tests compared to those tested in the non-scented room. Participants tested in the scented room also scored highest in the test designed to gauge their working memory.

In children, working memory is crucial for learning and performing basic tasks. It is the part of short-term memory that is most engaged in processing and holding information for a limited period of time.

For this reason, Moss and his team sought to understand if the rosemary’s brain-boosting effects can also be of use to school-age children in classroom settings. Moss added that poor working memory is often related to poor academic performance.

Based on their findings, the researchers thus concluded that rosemary essential oil can be a simple and affordable intervention for the improvement of children’s academic performance.

Greater intake of some homocysteine metabolism-related B vitamins associated with lower risk of stroke

Zhengzhou University (China), June 22, 2020

According to news originating from Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China, research stated, “Observational studies regarding the putative associations between dietary intake of homocysteine metabolism-related B-vitamins (vitamin B-6, folate, and vitamin B-12) and stroke risk have yielded inconsistent results. Thus, we conducted a systematic meta-analysis of prospective studies in order to examine the relation between the dietary (from diet and supplements) intake of these B-vitamins and the risk of stroke.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Zhengzhou University, “PubMed and Web of Science were searched for relevant articles published through to 25 February, 2020, and RR of stroke in relation to dietary intake of vitamin B-6, folate, and vitamin B-12 were pooled using a random-effects model. Eleven publications of 12 prospective studies comprising 389,938 participants and 10,749 cases were included in the final analysis. We found that dietary intake of vitamin B-6 and folate were associated with a reduced risk of stroke, and this inverse association remained significant in studies with >10 y of follow-up periods and among participants without a pre-existing stroke event. A dose-response analysis revealed a linear inverse association between folate and vitamin B-6 intake and the risk of stroke, with a pooled RR of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.90-0.98) and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.89-0.99) for each 100 mg/d increment in folate intake and 0.5 mg/d increment in vitamin B-6 intake, respectively. In contrast, we found no significant association between dietary vitamin B-12 intake and the risk of stroke, with an RR of 1.01 (95% CI: 0.97-1.06) per 3 mg/d increase.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Our findings suggest that increased intake of vitamin B-6 and folate is associated with a reduced risk of stroke, supporting the notion that increasing habitual folate and vitamin B-6 intake may provide a small but beneficial effect with respect to stroke.”

Cocoa, tea compound may slash heart disease mortality by 40%

Wageningen University (Netherlands), June 11, 2020

Long-term consumption of epicatechin, a compound found in tea, apples, and cocoa, may significantly boost heart health and reduce the risk of heart-related mortality, says a new study from The Netherlands.

Data from the Zutphen Elderly Study collected over 25 years indicated that men with the highest average intakes of epicatechin had a 38% lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease (CHD) than men with the lowest average intakes.

Scientists from Wageningen University also report that epicatechin intake was also significantly associated with a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in men suffering from CVD.

“To our knowledge, this is the first prospective cohort study to examine specifically the association between dietary epicatechin intake and CVD mortality,”wrote the researchers in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . “Previous cohort studies have focused on total flavan-3-ol monomer intake and showed conflicting results. An explanation could be that individual flavan-3-ol monomers differ in their metabolic effects. Epicatechin is of particular interest because it is the major flavan-3-ol monomer of cocoa, and a meta-analysis of randomized controlled cocoa trials showed that cocoa and chocolate improved [blood pressure] and endothelial function in adults.”

The Zutphen Elderly Study started in 1985 and included 774 older men. Epicatechin intake was estimated four times over 15 years, and then correlated with cardiovascular disease over 25 years.

Results showed that he mean intake of epicatechin was 15.2 mg per day. Participants were divided into three groups (tertiles) based on average epicatechin intakes. The highest average intake was 21.9 mg per day, the middle group was 14.7 mg per day, and the lowest average intake was 7.9 mg per day.

Over 25 years of study, 329 deaths from CVD were recorded, with an additional 148 dying from CHD and 72 from stroke.  Crunching the numbers indicated that men with the highest average intakes had a significantly lower risk of CHD mortality than men in the lowest tertile.

Commenting on the potential mechanism(s) of action, the researchers note that epicatechin has been shown to influence endothelial function by improving blood flow via increased bioavailability of the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO). There may also be an effect of epicatechin on insulin resistance, they said.

“Our findings suggest that higher epicatechin intake is associated with lower risk of long-term CHD mortality in a population-based study of elderly men as well as with CVD mortality in men with prevalent CVD,” wrote the researchers. “More and larger studies are needed to confirm these associations before statements can be made about the strength of the association of epicatechin with CVD mortality,” they concluded

 

Sea buckthorn compounds show eye health support 

China Agricultural University, June 10, 2020

 

Proanthocyanidins (PACs) from sea buckthorn seeds may protect retinas from harmful light effects, says a new study.

Scientists from the China Agricultural University report that PACs from sea buckthorn protected the retina of rabbits against light-induced damage via antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic mechanisms.

“Supplementing with PACs may be a useful dietary approach to prevent [age-related macular degeneration] and other diseases related to retinal photo-oxidative damage,”  wrote the researchers in Nutrients .

Sea buckthorn

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) has been gaining increasing attention, particularly for extracts of its berries which are known to contain omega-7 fatty acids. The plant is nutrient dense and also contains vitamins A, K, E, C, B1 and B2, amino acids, carbohydrates, folic acid, tocopherols and flavonoids, phenols, terpenes, and tannins.

The new study focused on extracts from sea buckthorn seeds, which are reported to be a rich source of PACs.

The researchers gave lab rabbits extracts of sea buckthorn seeds with PACs levels of 50 or 100 mg/kg/day for two weeks before putting them in a light cage. After this, supplementation was continued for another seven days.

“The sea buckthorn seed extract containing 38.9% PACs was used in this study,” explained the researchers. “Thus, the dose of 50 mg/kg sea buckthorn seed PACs used in rabbits could be considered a moderate dose. A human diet with foods rich in PACs, such as red wine, baking chocolate, apples and dried fruits, could reach dosages up to 700–800 mg/day of PACs, which would be about 100 mg/kg in rabbits using the BSA conversion. Thus, 100 mg/kg sea buckthorn seed PACs can be considered a high nutritional dose.”

Results showed that sea buckthorn seed PACs protected the structure of the retina and significantly attenuated any retinal damage.

While the control animals also displayed significant increases in various inflammatory markers like IL-1beta, IL-6, and TNF-alpha, the animals fed the sea buckthorn seed PACs did not experience these increases.

“PACs from sea buckthorn seed possess a protective effect against light-induced retinal degeneration through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic mechanisms,” wrote the researchers.

“In addition, the gut-derived microbial metabolites of PACs are the main circulating forms in the blood and accumulation in the retinas. The efficacy of PACs is either via small molecular metabolite(s) and/or mediated by a distant upstream step in the defenses against light-induced retinal degeneration.

“Therefore, future studies are required to explore which specific forms of PC metabolites are active in the retina.”

Mediterranean, plant-based diets reduce heart disease risk up to 21%

Harvard School of Public Health, June 19, 2020

The Mediterranean diet and similar plant-based nutrition plans appear to reduce heart disease risk by up to 20 percent, an analysis published Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine found.

Adults with higher levels of adherence to the Mediterranean diet — fish- and plant-based meals inspired by Greek and Italian cuisine — or one of three other plant-based diets had a 14 percent to 21 percent lower risk for cardiovascular disease, depending on the diet and how closely they stuck to it, researchers said.

Overall, higher compliance with a healthy eating regimen was associated with a 10 to 20 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease, the researchers said.

“We found that following a variety of healthy eating patterns confers significant health benefits in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease,” study author Dr. Frank B. Hu told UPI.

These heart-healthy diets “share common characteristics such as higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts, and lower consumption of red and processed meats and added sugar,” said Hu, professor and chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

For their study, Hu and his colleagues tracked the heart health of roughly 170,000 women and 43,000 men with no history of heart disease from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Many of the study participants were followed for more than 25 years.

The study evaluated the effects of four dietary approaches on heart disease risk, using various measures of adherence — the Healthy Eating Index-2015, the Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score, the Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index and the Alternate Healthy Eating Index.

In all, 23,366 cases of heart disease among study participants were reported, including just over 18,000 diagnoses of congestive heart disease and nearly 5,700 strokes.

Compared to those who didn’t adhere closely to an eating plan, participants who stuck with the Mediterranean diet reduced their risk for heart disease by 17 percent, while those who scored highly on the Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index lowered their risk by 14 percent, the researchers said.

Meanwhile, participants who scored highly on the Healthy Eating Index-2015 reduced their risk for heart disease by 17 percent, while those who performed well on the Alternate Healthy Eating Index lowered their risk by 21 percent.

“A common misconception is that there is a magic bullet diet to health and longevity,” Hu said. “No such magic diet solution exists, [and] there is no one-size-fits-all diet that is best for everyone.

“One can combine healthy foods in a variety of flexible ways to achieve healthily eating patterns according to individuals’ health needs, food preferences and cultural traditions.”

At least 30 million American adults have been diagnosed with heart disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To lower heart disease risk, the American Heart Association recommends a diet that includes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, skinless poultry and fish, nuts and legumes, as well as non-tropical vegetable oils

Yoga And Meditation Could Potentially Reverse The Genetic Effects Of Stress

Coventry University (UK), Antwerp University (Belgium), Radboud University (Netherlands), June 21, 2020

A review of multiple studies focusing on the effects of mindfulness practices like yoga and meditation has found that these efforts may have the potential to reverse genetic expressions of stress.

As the analysis, published this month in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, explains:

While some MBIs, such as yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong, have a strong physical component, others like meditation and mindfulness, breath regulation techniques, and the relaxation response (RR) are mainly sedentary. Despite the variability in these techniques, they all seem to produce various psychological benefits on healthy and clinical populations, such as the reduction of perceived stress [e.g., Ref. (1)], the alleviation of depression [e.g., Ref. (2)], decreases in anxiety [e.g., Ref. (3)], or to help in coping with a chronic medical disease [e.g., Ref. (4)]. However, it is less clear what are the mechanisms underpinning the self-reported benefits of MBIs.

Most of the study’s authors are researchers at European universities like Radboud University in the Netherlands, Coventry University in the U.K., and Antwerp University in Belgium. They reviewed research that included longitudinal studies, cross-sectional studies, and mixed design studies. The research included investigations into MBI’s effects on stress and depression, as well as psychological responses in the context of life-threatening illnesses like cancer.

Noting that there is some speculation that “MBIs increase gray matter in the brain regions related to emotion regulation, learning, memory, self-referential processes, and perspective taking,” they acknowledged the evidence is not conclusive and set out to delve deeper into the genetic expressions of stress and how MBIs may affect them.

The review analyzed 18 studies “that used gene expression analysis in research on meditation and related MBIs [mind-body interventions].” Ultimately, they found that “meditation and related MBIs [were associated with] downregulation of NF-κB-targeted genes, which can be understood as the reversal of the molecular signature of the effects of chronic stress.”

The NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa B) gene is a key transcription factor that is “produced when stress activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) (11). NF-κB translates stress into inflammation by changing the expression of genes which code for inflammatory cytokines (12). Lower activity of NF-κB suggests reduced inflammation.”
According to their research, practices like yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong are associated with reduced activity of the NF-κB gene.

Even so, the researchers were careful to note the limitations of the studies they analyzed. These limitations were numerous. The authors explained that one major concern was the lack of an active control group in much of the literature they reviewed, suggesting this better use of control groups should be mandatory for further research into the topic. Among other shortcomings, they also pointed out that “various environmental and lifestyle factors that may change gene expression in similar ways to MBIs” and that genetic data “[does] not provide much useful information unless the relationship between gene expression and psychological variables is directly explored.”

Nevertheless, they concluded that their findings absolutely warrant further research:

Even though the study designs, the population, and the types of MBI used in the studies included in this review vary, it indicates that some of the psychological and physical benefits of MBIs are underpinned by biological changes in NF-κB genes.

Taken with mounting anecdotal evidence and people’s increasing adoption of practices like yoga and meditation (one study from Oxford University found mindfulness meditation was roughly equivalent to the effects of some anti-depressants), there is certainly cause to consider these alternative options for dealing with the stressors and complexities of modern life.

Extra-virgin olive oil preserves memory and protects brain against Alzheimer’s: study

Temple University, June 21, 2020

The Mediterranean diet, rich in plant-based foods, is associated with a variety of health benefits, including a lower incidence of dementia. Now, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) have identified a specific ingredient that protects against cognitive decline: extra-virgin olive oil, a major component of the Mediterranean diet. In a study published online  in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, the researchers show that the consumption of extra-virgin olive oil protects memory and learning ability and reduces the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain—classic markers of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Temple team also identified the mechanisms underlying the protective effects of extra-virgin olive oil. “We found that olive oil reduces brain inflammation but most importantly activates a process known as autophagy,” explained senior investigator Domenico Praticò, MD, Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Microbiology and the Center for Translational Medicine at LKSOM. Autophagy is the process by which cells break down and clear out intracellular debris and toxins, such as amyloid plaques and tau tangles.

“Brain cells from mice fed diets enriched with extra-virgin olive oil had higher levels of autophagy and reduced levels of amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau,” Dr. Praticò said. The latter substance, phosphorylated tau, is responsible for neurofibrillary tangles, which are suspected of contributing to the nerve cell dysfunction in the brain that is responsible for Alzheimer’s memory symptoms.

Previous studies have suggested that the widespread use of extra-virgin olive oil in the diets of people living in the Mediterranean areas is largely responsible for the many health benefits linked to the Mediterranean diet. “The thinking is that extra-virgin olive oil is better than fruits and vegetables alone, and as a monounsaturated vegetable fat it is healthier than saturated animal fats,” according to Dr. Praticò.

In order to investigate the relationship between extra-virgin olive oil and dementia, Dr. Praticò and colleagues used a well-established Alzheimer’s disease mouse model. Known as a triple transgenic model, the animals develop three key characteristics of the disease: memory impairment, amyloid plagues, and neurofibrillary tangles.

The researchers divided the animals into two groups, one that received a chow diet enriched with extra-virgin olive oil and one that received the regular chow diet without it. The olive oil was introduced into the diet when the mice were six months old, before symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease begin to emerge in the animal model.

In overall appearance, there was no difference between the two groups of animals. However, at age 9 months and 12 months, mice on the extra virgin olive oil-enriched diet performed significantly better on tests designed to evaluate working memory, spatial memory, and learning abilities.

Studies of brain tissue from both groups of mice revealed dramatic differences in nerve cell appearance and function.

“One thing that stood out immediately was synaptic integrity,” Dr. Praticò said. The integrity of the connections between neurons, known as synapses, were preserved in animals on the extra-virgin olive oil diet. In addition, compared to mice on a regular diet, brain cells from animals in the olive oil group showed a dramatic increase in nerve cell autophagy activation, which was ultimately responsible for the reduction in levels of amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau.

“This is an exciting finding for us,” explained Dr. Praticò. “Thanks to the autophagy activation, memory and synaptic integrity were preserved, and the pathological effects in animals otherwise destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease were significantly reduced. This is a very important discovery, since we suspect that a reduction in autophagy marks the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Dr. Praticò and colleagues plan next to investigate the effects of introducing extra-virgin olive oil into the diet of the same mice at 12 months of age, when they have already developed plaques and tangles. “Usually when a patient sees a doctor for suspected symptoms of dementia, the disease is already present,” Dr. Praticò added. “We want to know whether olive oil added at a later time point in the diet can stop or reverse the disease.”

Focused ultrasound shows promise against deadliest brain tumor

University of Virginia, June 22, 2020

An innovative use of focused ultrasound being pioneered at the University of Virginia School of Medicine is showing promise against glioblastoma, the deadliest brain tumor, and could prove useful against other difficult-to-treat cancers.

The technique hits cancer cells with a drug that sensitizes them to sound waves, then blasts them with focused ultrasound. The sound waves create tiny bubbles inside the cancer cells, causing them to die.

The work is early, with researchers testing the concept on cell samples in lab dishes. But their results suggest the technique has “substantial potential for treatment of malignant brain tumors and other challenging oncology indications,” such as lung cancer, breast cancer and melanoma, the researchers report in a new scientific paper. They predict the technique will be particularly useful in treating cancers in sensitive parts of the body that are difficult to access.

“Sonodynamic therapy with focused ultrasound offers a new therapeutic approach to treating patients with malignant brain tumors,” said UVA Health neurosurgeon Jason Sheehan, MD, PhD. “This approach combines two approved options, [the drug] 5-ALA and focused ultrasound, to produce a powerful tumoricidal effect on several different types of glioblastomas.”

Aggressive Glioblastoma

Glioblastomas are the most common malignant brain tumors in adults. They are inevitably fatal, typically within 12 to 18 months of diagnosis. The shortage of effective treatments for this aggressive cancer means new approaches are needed desperately.

To evaluate the potential of their new focused ultrasound technique, the UVA researchers looked at its effects on both rat and human cell samples. They examined the benefits of the “sonosensitizing” drug, 5-ALA, and focused ultrasound individually and in combination, and they found that the pairing was far more effective than either alone. The drug reduced the number of viable cancer cells by 5%, while focused ultrasound reduced it by 16%. Together, the reduction was 47%.

“Focused ultrasound has the potential to improve outcomes for patients with complex brain tumors and other neurosurgical pathologies,” Sheehan said. “We may be at the tip of the iceberg in terms of intracranial indications for focused ultrasound.”

Busting Cancer With Bubbles

Many applications of focused ultrasound rely on the technology’s ability to create tiny points of heat inside the body to burn away harmful cells, or to damage cells enough to provoke an immune response. Sheehan’s approach is notable in that it takes another tack, destroying cancer cells without generating heat.

To test out the new technique, the researchers had to develop custom equipment so they could perform the focused ultrasound research on the cell samples. They did this from scratch, using a 3D printer and software at the Charlottesville-based Focused Ultrasound Foundation, a longtime supporter of focused ultrasound research at UVA and elsewhere.

The researchers say the new platform will advance focused ultrasound research in the future. Using it, scientists can quickly screen cell types and sonosensitizing drugs like the one used in UVA’s study. It will also be a benefit in pre-clinical and clinical testing in people, they say.

Pioneering Focused Ultrasound

While the sonosensitizing research is in its earliest phases, Sheehan is launching a separate glioblastoma clinical trial in people using a different focused ultrasound approach. That study will evaluate the technology’s potential to open the brain’s protective barrier briefly so that doctors can deliver treatments to the tumor that they normally can’t.

Sheehan’s research is part of a broad effort at UVA to explore the potential of focused ultrasound to treat various types of diseases. For example, UVA researchers are examining the technology’s ability to treat breast cancer and epilepsy.

Pioneering research by UVA neurosurgeon Jeff Elias, MD, already paved the way for the federal Food and Drug Administration to approve focused ultrasound to treat essential tremor, a common movement disorder, and tremor caused by Parkinson’s disease. Focused ultrasound treatment for those conditions is now available to appropriate patients. Learn more about focused ultrasound at UVA.

Glioblastoma Results Published

Sheehan and his colleagues have published their initial glioblastoma results in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology. The research team consisted of Kimball Sheehan, Darrah Sheehan, Mohanad Sulaiman, Frederic Padilla, David Moore, Sheehan and Zhiyuan Xu. Padilla and Moore are employed by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.

 

 

 

Cinnamon’s potential anti-obesity benefits underlined by new study

Firat University (Turkey), June 20, 2020

Cinnamon polyphenol can help tackle obesity and manage hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia, a new study on rats which were fed a high-fat diet reveals.

Academics in Turkey found that supplementation reduced body weight and visceral fat, and improved carbohydrate metabolism. It also boosted insulin, and free fatty acid and lipid profiles, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes.

For the study, rats were divided into four groups: control, cinnamon supplementation, high-fat diet (HFD) and high-fat diet with cinnamon supplementation.

Writing in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, the academics wrote: “Cinnamon polyphenol extract treatment decreased body weight, visceral fat, and liver weight by 8.4%, 36.6%, and 17.7% in the HFD-fed rats  “The hypertriglyceridemia and elevated lipid indicators in HFD-fed rats were also reduced with cinnamon polyphenol extract supplementation.”

It also improved carbohydrate, protein and antioxidative levels.

However, the HFD-fed rats treated with cinnamon still had a final body weight and visceral fat higher than those of the control rats.

The researchers believe that cinnamon polyphenol successfully reduced hyperlipidaemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress by activating transcription factors and the defence signalling pathway in the liver.

“Another important mechanism contributing to cinnamon antiobesity is the upregulation of antioxidant-dependent proteins,” they added. “We found that expression of the proteins Nrf2 and HO-1 increased in HFD rats with cinnamon intake, indicating that this antioxidant mechanism may underlie reduced levels of lipid peroxidation in liver tissues.”

The study was sponsored by OmniActive Health Technologies and supported in part by the Turkish Academy of Sciences.

 

 

 

 

The blueberry component pterostilbene has potent anti-myeloma activity

Tongji University (China) June 21, 2020

Investigators at Tongji University School of Medicine Zero  in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, stated, “Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable hematologic malignancy because of its drug resistance. Pterostilbene (Pter) is found mainly in blueberries and grapes.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the Tongji University School of Medicine, “The effects of Pter and its exact pharmacologic mechanisms on chemoresistant myeloma are not known. Herein, we investigated the anti-myeloma activity of Pter in bortezomib-resistant cell line H929R and explored the related mechanism of action for the first time. We found that Pter inhibited proliferation of H929R cells and promoted apoptosis of the cells through a caspase-dependent pathway, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and activation of Akt and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. DNA damage and S-phase arrest might be involved in Pter-related toxicity in H929R cells. Pter and the histone deacetylase inhibitors panobinostat or vorinostat inhibited proliferation of H929R cells in a synergistic manner.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “These data supported that Pter might be a promising natural compound for relapsed/refractory myeloma therapy, especially against myeloma resistant to bortezomib chemotherapy.”

For more information on this research see: The blueberry component pterostilbene has potent anti-myeloma activity in bortezomib-resistant cells. Oncology Reports, 2017;

Urine test reveals quality of your diet — and whether it’s the best fit for your body

Scientists have completed large-scale tests on a new type of five-minute urine test that measures the health of a person’s diet, and produces an individual’s unique urine ‘fingerprint’.

Imperial College London, June 22, 2020

Scientists have completed large-scale tests on a new type of five-minute urine test that measures the health of a person’s diet, and produces an individual’s unique urine ‘fingerprint’.

Scientists at Imperial College London in collaboration with colleagues at Northwestern University, University of Illinois, and Murdoch University, analysed levels of 46 different so-called metabolites in the urine of 1,848 people in the U.S.

Metabolites are considered to be an objective indicator of diet quality – and are produced as different foods are digested by the body, say the research team, who published their findings in the journal Nature Food.

The work was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Health Data Research UK.

Dr Joram Posma, author of the research from Imperial’s Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction said: “Diet is a key contributor to human health and disease, though it is notoriously difficult to measure accurately because it relies on an individual’s ability to recall what and how much they ate. For instance, asking people to track their diets through apps or diaries can often lead to inaccurate reports about what they really eat. This research reveals this technology can help provide in-depth information on the quality of a person’s diet, and whether it is the right type of diet for their individual biological make-up.”

The findings revealed an association between 46 metabolites in urine, and types of foods or nutrients in the diet. For instance, certain metabolites correlated with alcohol intake, while others were linked to intake of citrus fruit, fructose (fruit sugar), glucose and vitamin C. The team also found metabolites in urine associated with dietary intake of red meats, other meats such as chicken, and nutrients such as calcium. Certain metabolites were also linked with health conditions – for instance compounds found in urine such as formate and sodium (an indicator of salt intake) are linked with obesity and high blood pressure.

Professor Paul Elliott, study co-author and Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine at Imperial said: “Through careful measurement of people’s diets and collection of their urine excreted over two 24-hour periods we were able to establish links between dietary inputs and urinary output of metabolites that may help improve understanding of how our diets affect health. Healthful diets have a different pattern of metabolites in the urine than those associated with worse health outcomes.”

In a second study also published in Nature Food by the same Imperial team, in collaboration with Newcastle University, Aberystwyth University, and Murdoch University and funded by the National Institute for Health Research, the Medical Research Council and Health Data Research UK, the team used this technology to develop a five-minute test to reveal that the mix of metabolites in urine varies from person to person.

The team says the technology, which produces an individual’s urine ‘fingerprint’, could enable people to receive healthy eating advice tailored to their individual biological make-up. This is known as “precision nutrition”, and could provide health professionals with more specific information on the quality of a person’s diet.

Dr Isabel Garcia-Perez, author of the research also from Imperial’s Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction explained: “Our technology can provide crucial insights into how foods are processed by individuals in different ways – and can help health professionals such as dieticians provide dietary advice tailored to individual patients.”

Dr Garcia-Perez added that the team now plan to use the diet analysis technology on people at risk of cardiovascular disease.

The researchers say this urine ‘fingerprint’ can be used to develop an individual’s personal score – called the Dietary Metabotype Score, or DMS.

In their experiments, the team asked 19 people to follow four different diets – ranging from very healthy (following 100 per cent of World Health Organisation recommendations for a balanced diet), to unhealthy (following 25 per cent WHO diet recommendations).

The team found that people who strictly followed the same diet had varied DMS scores.

The team’s work also revealed that the higher a person’s DMS score, the healthier their diet. A higher DMS score was also found to be associated with lower blood sugar, and a higher amount of energy excreted from the body in urine.

The team found the difference between high energy urine (i.e. high DMS score) and low energy urine (low DMS score) was equivalent to someone with a high DMS score losing an extra 4 calories a day, or 1,500 calories a year. The team calculate this could translate to a difference of 215g of body fat per year.

The next step is to investigate how a person’s urine metabolite fingerprint may link to a person’s risk of conditions such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Professor Gary Frost, co-author of the research and Chair in Nutrition and Dietetics at Imperial said: “These findings bring a new and more in-depth understanding to how our bodies process and use food at the molecular level. The research brings into question whether we should re-write food tables to incorporate these new metabolites that have biological effects in the body.”

Professor John Mathers, co-author of research and Director of the Human Nutrition Research Centre at Newcastle University said: “We show here how different people metabolise the same foods in highly individual ways. This has implications for understanding the development of nutrition-related diseases and for more personalised dietary advice to improve public health.”

Memory impairment in mice reduced by soy derivate that can enter the brain intact

Ingestion of the protein fragment improved working and long-term memory in mice treated to simulate Alzheimer’s disease

Kyushu University (Japan), June 19, 2020