onsdag 26 november 2014

Reversal of cognitive decline: A novel therapeutic program



Reversal of cognitive decline: A novel therapeutic program

Bredesen DE. Reversal of cognitive decline: A novel therapeutic program.Aging (Albany NY) 2014;6(9):707-717.




"In the absence of effective prevention and treatment, the prospects for the future are of great concern, with 13 million Americans and 160 million globally projected for 2050, leading to potential bankruptcy of the Medicare system."


"Recent estimates suggest that AD has become the third leading cause of death in the United States"



"Neurodegenerative disease therapeutics has been, arguably, the field of greatest failure of biomedical therapeutics development."


"In the case of Alzheimer's disease, there is not a single therapeutic that exerts anything beyond a marginal, unsustained symptomatic effect, with little or no effect on disease progression. Furthermore, in the past decade alone, hundreds of clinical trials have been conducted for AD, at an aggregate cost of billions of dollars, without success. This has led some to question whether the approach taken to drug development for AD is an optimal one."


"Patient one: 

A 67-year-old woman presented with two years of progressive memory loss.


(1) She eliminated all simple carbohydrates, leading to a weight loss of 20 pounds; 

(2) She eliminated gluten and processed food from her diet, and increased vegetables, fruits, and non-farmed fish; 

(3) in order to reduce stress, she began yoga, and ultimately became a yoga instructor; 

(4) as a second measure to reduce the stress of her job, she began to meditate for 20 minutes twice per day; 

(5) she took melatonin 0.5mg po qhs; 

(6) she increased her sleep from 4-5 hours per night to 7-8 hours per night; 

(7) she took methylcobalamin 1mg each day; 

(8) she took vitamin D3 2000IU each day; 

(9) she took fish oil 2000mg each day; 

(10) she took CoQ10 200mg each day; 

(11) she optimized her oral hygiene using an electric flosser and electric toothbrush; 

(12) following discussion with her primary care provider, she reinstated HRT (hormone replacement therapy) that had been discontinued following the WHI report in 2002; 

(13) she fasted for a minimum of 12 hours between dinner and breakfast, and for a minimum of three hours between dinner and bedtime; 

(14) she exercised for a minimum of 30 minutes, 4-6 days per week.

PatientHistory, evaluationDiagnosisStatus
67F 3/32yr memory [down double arrow]; FH+aMCINormal x 2.5 yrs; working
"



"The positive results reported here are perhaps not surprising given that therapeutic programs have proven more effective than monotherapeutics in multiple chronic illnesses, such as atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, HIV, and cancer []. Indeed, chronic illnesses may be more amenable to therapeutic systems than to monotherapeutics."




måndag 24 november 2014

Tyrone Hayes + Penelope Jagessar Chaffer: The toxic baby | Talk Video | TED.com

Tyrone Hayes + Penelope Jagessar Chaffer: The toxic baby | Talk Video | TED.com



Filmmaker Penelope Jagessar Chaffer was curious about the chemicals she was exposed to while pregnant: Could they affect her unborn child? So she asked scientist Tyrone Hayes to brief her on one he studied closely: atrazine, a herbicide used on corn. (Hayes, an expert on amphibians, is a critic of atrazine, which displays a disturbing effect on frog development.) Onstage together at TEDWomen, Hayes and Chaffer tell their story.


Glucose Levels and Risk of Dementia — NEJM





N Engl J Med 2013; 
369:1863-1864 November 7, 2013
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc1311765


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that higher glucose levels may be a risk factor for dementia, even among persons without diabetes. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health.)



torsdag 20 november 2014

Vitamin C (Askorbinsyra), har ingen nämnvärd effekt på förkylning


Att äta en apelsin för att hålla sig frisk från förkylningar, verkar vara en skröna, och förresten så innehåller Paprika mycket mer Vitamin C än Apelsin.

Apelsin innehåller 66 % RDI/100Gram
Paprika innehåller 140-250 % RDI/100Gram




  1. Douglas RM, Chalker EB, Treacy B. Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, 3, 2001. Oxford: Update Software.
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub4/abstract
     
  2. Anderson TN, Suranyi B, Beaton GW. The effect on winter illness of large doses of vitamin CCan Med Assoc J 1974; 111: 31-38.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1947567/
     
  3. Karlowski TR, Chalmers TC, Frenkel LD, et al. Ascorbic acid for the common cold. A prophylactic and therapeutic trialJAMA1975; 231: 1038-1042.
    http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=360168
     
  4. Elwood PC, Hughes SJ, St Leger AS. A randomized controlled trial of the therapeutic effect of vitamin C in the common coldPractitioner 1977; 218: 133-137.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/319446
     
  5. Tyrrell DA, Craig JW, Meada TW, White T. A trial of ascorbic acid in the treatment of the common coldBr J Prev Soc Med 1977; 31: 189-191.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC479021/

  6. Michels AJ, Frei B. Myths, Artifacts, and Fatal Flaws: Identifying Limitations and Opportunities in Vitamin C Research. Nutrients 2013;5(12):5161-5192. doi:10.3390/nu5125161.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3875932/


tisdag 4 november 2014

Interaction between sphingomyelin and oxysterols contributes to ath... - PubMed - NCBI

Interaction between sphingomyelin and oxysterols contributes to atherosclerosis and sudden death - PubMed - NCBI

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23459228


Kummerow FA. Interaction between sphingomyelin and oxysterols contributes to atherosclerosis and sudden death. American Journal of Cardiovascular Disease 2013;3(1):17-26.

Abstract

Despite major public health efforts, coronary heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States. Oxidized lipids contribute to heart disease both by increasing deposition of calcium on the arterial wall, a major hallmark of atherosclerosis, and by interrupting blood flow, a major contributor to heart attack and sudden death. Oxidized cholesterol (oxysterols) enhances the production of sphingomyelin, a phospholipid found in the cellular membranes of the coronary artery. This increases the sphingomyelin content in the cell membrane, which in turn enhances the interaction between the membrane and ionic calcium (Ca2+), thereby increasing the risk of arterial calcification. Patients undergoing bypass surgery had greater concentrations of oxysterols in their plasma than cardiac catheterized controls with no stenosis, and had five times more sphingomyelin in their arteries than in the artery of the placenta of a newborn. The oxysterols found in the plasma of these patients were also found in the plasma of rabbits that had been fed oxidized cholesterol and in frying fats and powdered egg yolk intended for human consumption. Together these findings suggest that oxysterols found in the diet are absorbed and contribute to arterial calcification. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL) further contributes to heart disease by increasing the synthesis of thromboxane in platelets, which increases blood clotting. Cigarette smoke and trans fatty acids, found in partially hydrogenated soybean oil, both inhibit the synthesis of prostacyclin, which inhibits blood clotting. By increasing the ratio of thromboxane to prostacyclin, these factors interact to interrupt blood flow, thereby contributing to heart attack and sudden death. Levels of oxysterols and OxLDL increase primarily as a result of three diet or lifestyle factors: the consumption of oxysterols from commercially fried foods such as fried chicken, fish, and french fries; oxidation of cholesterol in vivo driven by consumption of excess polyunsaturated fatty acids from vegetable oils; and cigarette smoking. Along with the consumption of trans fatty acids from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, these diet and lifestyle factors likely underlie the persistent national burden of heart disease.

fredag 17 oktober 2014

Glycemic index: overview of implications in health and disease

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/76/1/266S.full?sid=4d644bd2-1034-4d75-9a5d-1c30a434ceea

Abstract

The glycemic index concept is an extension of the fiber hypothesis, suggesting that fiber consumption reduces the rate of nutrient influx from the gut. Theglycemic index has particular relevance to those chronic Western diseases associated with central obesity and insulin resistance. Early studies showed that starchy carbohydrate foods have very different effects on postprandial blood glucose and insulin responses in healthy and diabetic subjects, depending on the rate of digestion. A range of factors associated with food consumption was later shown to alter the rate of glucose absorption and subsequent glycemia and insulinemia. At this stage, systematic documentation of the differences that exist among carbohydrate foods was considered essential. The resulting glycemic indexclassification of foods provided a numeric physiologic classification of relevant carbohydrate foods in the prevention and treatment of diseases such as diabetes. Since then, low-glycemic-index diets have been shown to lower urinary C-peptide excretion in healthy subjects, improve glycemic control in diabetic subjects, and reduce serum lipids in hyperlipidemic subjects. Furthermore, consumption of low-glycemicindex diets has been associated with higher HDL-cholesterol concentrations and, in large cohort studies, with decreased risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Case-control studies have also shown positive associations between dietary glycemic index and the risk of colon and breast cancers. Despite inconsistencies in the data, sufficient, positive findings have emerged to suggest that the dietary glycemic index is of potential importance in the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases.


David JA Jenkins, Cyril WC Kendall, Livia SA Augustin, Silvia Franceschi, Maryam Hamidi, Augustine Marchie, Alexandra L Jenkins, and Mette Axelsen
Glycemic index: overview of implications in health and disease
Am J Clin Nutr 2002 76: 1 266S-273S

söndag 12 oktober 2014

Metabolic reprogramming induced by ketone bodies diminishes pancreatic cancer cachexia

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4165433/


Conclusions

Thus, our studies demonstrate that the cachectic phenotype is in part due to metabolic alterations in tumor cells, which can be reverted by a ketogenic diet, causing reduced tumor growth and inhibition of muscle and body weight loss


torsdag 9 oktober 2014

Biomarkers of essential fat... [Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1996] - PubMed - NCBI

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8922296

These data suggest that linoleic acid consumption may increase prostate cancer risk, which is consistent with results from animal experiments. Linoleic acid is found in vegetable oils used in cooking and in cereals, snack foods, and baked goods. Our data failed to demonstrate consistently a protective effect of marine omega-3 fatty acids on prostate cancer.

The association of fatty acids with prostate cancer risk - PubMed - NCBI

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11398173

Results are consistent with other studies showing that linoleic and total omega-6 fatty acids increase risk of prostate cancer. Contrary to animal studies, alpha-linolenic acid was also positively associated with risk. Further research will be required to clarify the role of these fatty acids in human prostate cancer.

A Prospective Study of Trans-Fatty Acid Levels in Blood and Risk of Prostate Cancer

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/17/1/95.long

Results:
Blood levels of all the trans-fatty acids examined were unrelated to total prostate cancer risk. When results were divided according to tumor aggressiveness, blood levels of 18:1n-9t, all the 18:2t examined, and total trans-fatty acids were positively associated to nonaggressive tumors. The relative risks (95% confidence intervals; P trend) comparing top with bottom quintile trans-fatty acid levels were 2.16 (1.12-4.17; 0.11) for 18:1n-9t, 1.97 (1.03-3.75; 0.01) for total 18:2t, and 2.21 (1.14-4.29; 0.06) for total trans-fatty acids. None of the trans fats examined was associated with aggressive prostate tumors.
Conclusion: Blood levels of trans isomers of oleic and linoleic acids are associated with an increased risk of nonaggressive prostate tumors. As this type of tumors represents a large proportion of prostate cancer detected using prostate-specific antigen screening, these findings may have implications for the prevention of prostate cancer. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(1):95–101)

The Secret to Heart Health Is Avoiding Sugar | Marcelle Pick, OB-GYN N.P.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcelle-pick-rnc/the-secret-to-heart-healt_b_5925892.html

onsdag 8 oktober 2014

Dietary carbohydrate restriction as the first approach in diabetes management: Critical review and evidence base - Nutrition

http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(14)00332-3/fulltext

Abstract

The inability of current recommendations to control the epidemic of diabetes, the specific failure of the prevailing low-fat diets to improve obesity, cardiovascular risk, or general health and the persistent reports of some serious side effects of commonly prescribed diabetic medications, in combination with the continued success of low-carbohydrate diets in the treatment of diabetes and metabolic syndrome without significant side effects, point to the need for a reappraisal of dietary guidelines. The benefits of carbohydrate restriction in diabetes are immediate and well documented. Concerns about the efficacy and safety are long term and conjectural rather than data driven. Dietary carbohydrate restriction reliably reduces high blood glucose, does not require weight loss (although is still best for weight loss), and leads to the reduction or elimination of medication. It has never shown side effects comparable with those seen in many drugs. Here we present 12 points of evidence supporting the use of low-carbohydrate diets as the first approach to treating type 2 diabetes and as the most effective adjunct to pharmacology in type 1. They represent the best-documented, least controversial results. The insistence on long-term randomized controlled trials as the only kind of data that will be accepted is without precedent in science. The seriousness of diabetes requires that we evaluate all of the evidence that is available. The 12 points are sufficiently compelling that we feel that the burden of proof rests with those who are opposed.