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HEALTH NEWS
Vitamin K protects cells
3 grams of fresh salmon does wonders for high blood pressure, study reveals
Physical activity stimulates the generation of new heart muscle cells in aged mice
The Human Mind Is Not Meant to Be Awake After Midnight, Scientists Warn
Social Isolation, Loneliness Raise Risk Of Death From Heart Attack Or Stroke By Nearly A Third
Mushrooms of the Far East hold promise for the anti-cancer therapy
Vitamin K protects cells
Helmholtz Zentrum München (Germany), August 5 2022
An article appearing in Nature reported that the reduced form of vitamin K has an antioxidant effect that inhibits cell death caused by ferroptosis: an iron-dependent type of programmed cell death characterized by the oxidative destruction of cell membranes. “We identified that vitamin K, including phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and menaquinone-4 (vitamin K2), is able to efficiently rescue cells and tissues from undergoing ferroptosis,” first author Eikan Mishima announced.
Ferroptosis has been implicated in Alzheimer disease and other disorders. “Ferroptosis, a non-apoptotic form of cell death marked by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, has a key role in organ injury, degenerative disease and vulnerability of therapy-resistant cancers,” the authors explained. “Here we show that the fully reduced forms of vitamin K—a group of naphthoquinones that includes menaquinone and phylloquinone—confer a strong anti-ferroptotic function, in addition to the conventional function linked to blood clotting.”
In the current investigation, they determined that the fully reduced form of vitamin K (vitamin K hydroquinone) is a strong antioxidant and prevents ferroptosis. “The reduced forms of Vitamin K and coenzyme Q10 are not very stable, so our finding that FSP1 can maintain them in their active (reduced) state is key to understanding how they are able to function to maintain cell viability,” coauthor Derek A. Pratt stated.
The team found that vitamin E and three forms of vitamin K— phylloquinone, menaquinone-4 (MK4) and menadione (vitamin K3)—rescued cells that were genetically modified to undergo ferroptosis.
3 grams of fresh salmon does wonders for high blood pressure, study reveals
Macau University of Science and Technology (China), August 9, 2022
Omega-3 carries many health benefits, and a new review suggests eating three grams of it per day is enough to lower your blood pressure. The findings include omega-3 fatty acids obtained from food or dietary supplements.
“According to our research, the average adult may have a modest blood pressure reduction from consuming about 3 grams a day of these fatty acids,” says Xinzhi Li, MD, PhD, assistant professor and program director of the School of Pharmacy at Macau University of Science and Technology in China.
The average fish oil supplement carries an average of 300 mg of omega-3 per pill. A four to five-ounce Atlantic salmon carries about three grams of omega-3 fatty acids.
“Most of the studies reported on fish oil supplements rather than on EPA and DHA omega-3s consumed in food, which suggests supplements may be an alternative for those who cannot eat fatty fish such as salmon regularly,” explains Dr. Li. “Algae supplements with EPA and DHA fatty acids are also an option for people who do not consume fish or other animal products.”
The National Institutes of Health recommends 1.1 to 1.6 grams of omega-3 fatty acids daily. The American Heart Association advises getting some of your omega-3 intake through two servings of three to four ounces of cooked fish per week.
The review combed through the data from 71 clinical trials studying the relationship between blood pressure and the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA in adults with or without high blood pressure or cholesterol disorders.
High blood pressure was lower in people who ate between two and three grams of combined DHA and EPA omega-3 fatty acids daily than adults who did not. Eating more than three grams of omega-3s made a tremendous difference in adults with high blood pressure or high blood lipids.
With three grams of daily omega-3s, the average blood pressure in people with hypertension decreased about 4.5 mm/Hg. Those without high blood pressure saw their blood pressure drop by 2.0 mm/Hg.
Eating five grams of omega-3s lowered the blood pressure by nearly 4.0 mm/Hg for people with hypertension. Those without high blood pressure who ate five daily grams of omega-3s saw an average decrease of less than 1.0 mm/Hg.
Physical activity stimulates the generation of new heart muscle cells in aged mice
Heidelberg University (Germany), August 8, 2022
Can physical activity support the generation of heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) even in aged animals? Researchers at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) together with a team of international collaborators demonstrated positive effects on the formation of new heart muscle cells (cardiomyogenesis) in aged mice and investigated the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. The current research results have been published in the journal Circulation.
The heart of adult mammals has a very limited ability to generate new cardiomyocytes. With aging, this capacity continues to decrease, while at the same time the risk of cardiovascular disease increases. Dr. Carolin Lerchenmüller, head of the Cardiac Remodeling and Regeneration research group in the Department of Cardiology, Angiology and Pneumology at the UKHD, and her team have found evidence that physical activity stimulates the new formation of heart muscle cells in aging mice.
The researchers found that the calculated annual rate of newly generated heart muscle cells in the “exercising” group of older mice was 2.3 percent. In contrast, there were no new heart muscle cells in the “sedentary” control group. A previous study with young animals had already shown that mice had a calculated annual rate of 7.5 percent new heart muscle cells through exercise, compared to 1.63 percent in the corresponding “sedentary” control group.
The Human Mind Is Not Meant to Be Awake After Midnight, Scientists Warn
Harvard University, August 4, 2022
In the middle of the night, the world can sometimes feel like a dark place. Under the cover of darkness, negative thoughts have a way of drifting through your mind, and as you lie awake, staring at the ceiling, you might start craving guilty pleasures, like a cigarette or a carb-heavy meal.
Plenty of evidence suggests the human mind functions differently if it is awake at nighttime. Past midnight, negative emotions tend to draw our attention more than positive ones, dangerous ideas grow in appeal and inhibitions fall away. A new paper summarizes the evidence of how brain systems function differently after dark.
Their hypothesis, called ‘Mind After Midnight’, suggests the human body and the human mind follow a natural 24-hour cycle of activity that influences our emotions and behavior.
In short, at certain hours, our species is inclined to feel and act in certain ways. In the daytime, for instance, molecular levels and brain activity are tuned to wakefulness. But at night, our usual behavior is to sleep.
According to the researchers, to cope with this increased risk, our attention to negative stimuli is unusually heightened at night. Where it might once have helped us jump at invisible threats, this hyper-focus on the negative can then feed into an altered reward/motivation system, making a person particularly prone to risky behaviors.
Add sleep loss to the equation, and this state of consciousness only becomes more problematic.
The authors of the new hypothesis use two examples to illustrate their point. The first example is of a heroin user who successfully manages their cravings in the day but succumbs to their desires at night.
The second is of a college student struggling with insomnia, who begins to feel a sense of hopelessness, loneliness and despair as the sleepless nights stack up.
Both scenarios can ultimately prove fatal. Suicide and self-harm are very common at nighttime. In fact, some research reports a three-fold higher risk of suicide between midnight and 6:00 am compared to any other time of day.
A study in 2020 concluded that nocturnal wakefulness is a suicide risk factor, “possibly through misalignment of circadian rhythms.”
Social Isolation, Loneliness Raise Risk Of Death From Heart Attack Or Stroke By Nearly A Third
University of California, San Diego, August 9, 2022
Loneliness increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by almost a third, according to new research. Socially isolated individuals are about 30 percent more likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack — death from either.
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego also identified a lack of information on interventions that may boost the health of vulnerable individuals. The findings are based on data pooled from studies across the world over the past 40 years.
“Over four decades of research has clearly demonstrated social isolation and loneliness are both associated with adverse health outcomes,” says lead author Dr. Crystal Wiley Cené, a professor of clinical medicine and chief administrative officer for health equity, diversity and inclusion at the school, in a statement. “Given the prevalence of social disconnectedness across the U.S., the public health impact is quite significant.”
Risk increases with age due to life factors, such as widowhood and retirement. But the problem is increasingly affecting young people. The study finds social isolation and and loneliness increase the risk of death from heart disease or stroke by 29 and 32 percent, respectively.
People with heart disease who were socially isolated had a two to threefold increase in death during a six-year follow-up study. Socially isolated adults with three or fewer social contacts a month were up to 40 percent more likely to suffer recurrent strokes or heart attacks. In addition, five year heart failure survival rates were 60 and 62 percent lower for those who were socially isolated or both socially isolated and clinically depressed, respectively.
Isolation and loneliness are associated with elevated inflammatory markers, increasing symptoms of chronic stress. It becomes a vicious circle. Depression may lead to social isolation, and social isolation may increase the likelihood of experiencing depression. Social isolation during childhood can even lead to cardiovascular disease in adulthood, increasing the risk of obesity, high blood pressure and raised blood glucose levels.
Mushrooms of the Far East hold promise for the anti-cancer therapy
Far Eastern Federal University (Russia) & University of Lausanne (France), August 3, 2022
Mushrooms from the Far East area contain the natural chemical compounds, which could be used for the design of the novel drugs with highly specific anti-tumor activities and low-toxicity. These compounds may offer new avenues for oncology, providing us with either stand-alone alternatives to chemotherapy, chemopreventive medicines, or drugs to be used in combination with other therapies.
The international team of scientists from the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), University of Lausanne, and Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity FEB RAS describes the available body of research on four fungi species with high anti-cancer potential. The article is published in Oncotarget and contains the list of tumors, which were reported to be promising targets of the fungal compounds. Among them sarcoma, leukemia, rectum and colon cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer, colon carcinoma and others.
For the purpose of the current study scientists chose mushrooms widely used in Asian and Far Eastern folk medicine: Fomitopsis pinicola (conk), Hericium erinaceus (Lion’s mane), Inonotus obliquus (Chaga), and Trametes versicolor (polypore). Each is also indigenous to North America. These species of fungi were shown to selectively target certain malignant tumors. The desired effect is achieved thanks to the various bioactive compounds contained in the mushrooms: polyphenols, polysaccharides, glucans, terpenoids, steroids, cerebrosides, and proteins. These substances are not only capable to hit different critical targets within cancer cells levels but also in certain cases to synergistically boost the chemo. Scientists emphasize that four species of fungi were chosen due to the fact that their medicinal properties are relatively well described. Some of them are already actively used for the anti-cancer drugs manufacturing in certain countires. Undoubtedly, there are many other species of fungi that contain chemical compounds to defeat cancer cells.
The scientists hope that the high potential of the fungi for the anti-cancer therapy showcased in their article will encourage the further research at the junction of oncology and mycology. Currently in the laboratories of the School of Biomedicine (FEFU) led by Vladimir Katanaev and Alexander Kagansky,the new experiments are conducted to reveal the anti-cancer activities of the mushrooms extracts. This work is aimed at creating the new generation of highly specific low-toxic drugs, which could be specifically targeted on different tumor types.