Tag Archives: health

A tangerine a day keeps the doctor away?

As populations across the developed world age, policy-makers have become increasingly concerned with methods of controlling the rapid-rise of healthcare costs. Rising levels of insulin resistance, a physiological condition characterized by a decreased ability of the hormone insulin to lower blood sugar levels, and it’s associated maladies of obesity, increased blood lipid levels and diabetes increasingly present one of if not the greatest source of rising healthcare expenditures.

Presently aside from diet and exercise there are few widespread effective treatment for insulin resistance, a situation that has posed a concern for policymakers for quite sometime. However, recent research at the University of Western Ontario in partnership with the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation and Pfizer Canada’s Cardiovascular Research Program might just be the first step towards developing one.

The researchers have discovered that a flavonoid chemical, found in tangerines, known as Nobilitin when fed orally to genetically-engineered mice appeared to have helped them stave off the development of insulin resistance, as compared to a control group not given Nobilitin, when fed a high-fat/high-sugar diet.

After eating, a spike in blood-sugar levels leads to the secretion of insulin, a hormone used to control carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body, specifically insulin slows down the use of stored fat-cells as an energy source and the body switches to glucose. In a healthy individual this process is self-regulating, after the food has been digested, insulin levels will drop and the body will once again resume using stored fat as an energy source. In individuals with pre-diabetes however, the insulin receptors become phosphorylated during the uptake of insulin rendering them inoperable.  The body becomes less-effective at controlling blood-sugars, and levels can rise causing adverse health-effects.

Nobilitin appears to activate the same receptor-response mechanism as insulin without causing phosphorylation. Additionally Nobilitin prevents the release of VLDLs (very low density lipoproteins) an unhealthy fat associated with heart disease. When combined, these two factors appears to of prevented the mice from developing insulin-resistance and staved off the development of diabetes, obesity and coronary disease.

While a significant amount of further investigation remains to be done to determine if the findings are transferable to humans, this research is an exciting development nonetheless, towards a potential cure for insulin resistance and type-II diabetes mellitus.

References:

Mulvihill, E. E., Assini, J. M., Lee, J. K., Allister, E. M., Sutherland, B. G., Koppes, J. B., . . . Huff, M. W. (2011). Nobiletin attenuates VLDL overproduction, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis in mice with diet-induced insulin resistance. Diabetes, doi:10.2337/db10-0589

NHS Choices. (2011). Tangerine chemical good for mice. Retrieved 04/06, 2011, from http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/04April/Pages/tangerines-prevent-diabetes-obesity-claim.aspx

Strawberries: A Potential to Prevent Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal cancer is a booming cancer diagnosis in the United states in the past 20 years. It is usually discovered at late stages thus has a very low survival rate.

In the U.S. somebody dies every 36minutes of this disease. Believe it or not, it is usually caused by persistent heartburn or acid reflux disease.

April is Esophageal Cancer Awareness month. Esophageal Cancer action Network (ECAN) has launched a nationwide public awareness campaign.

Here is a short clip of what Esophageal cancer is and its causes and symptoms.YouTube Preview Image

Yesterday i came across a couple articles from Medindia, Time, The wall street

straberries @ flickr

journal and WebMD, that talked about strawberries having a potential to prevent esophageal cancer based on a preliminary research  by Tong Chen. (a cancer researcher at Ohio State  Comprehensive Cancer Center).

Based on the results from her animal study showing that strawberries had anti-cancer effects, Chen decided to study strawberries as a cancer preventive in humans.  Her study involved a total of 38 participants all from China who were about 55 years old suffering from a mild to moderate dysplasia in the esophagus. 36 participants completed the study and biopsies of the esophagus were taken before and after the study.

These participants were instructed to consume 30 grams of freeze-dried strawberries (powder) in a glass of water twice daily for six months. Out of the 36 participants, 29 of them showed a decreased level of precancerous lesions.

So, Strawberries may be an alternative to prevent esophageal cancer. But this does not mean that we could gulp down pounds and pounds of strawberries to prevent or fight cancer. This research is still at its preliminary stage. There is more research and scrutiny that needs to be done for these findings to be valid.

Laboratory Dye May Become the Next Treatment for Aging

Aging - Bob AuBuchon via Flickr

The laboratory dye “Basic Yellow-1” doesn’t sound all that exciting, but it could be the next “cure” for aging.

Almost all of our cellular functions, from cell division to metabolism, rely on proteins. In order to function properly these proteins must be correctly folded into 3D structures. Sometimes, proteins do not form the proper shapes and they must either be refolded or recycled. As we age the number of mis-folded proteins in our cells increases and they begin to form clumps that clog up our cellular systems. Scientists believe that this build up of junk protein is one of the underlying causes of aging.

Clumps of protein in the brain are thought to be on of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Basic Yellow-1 binds to protein clumps allowing researchers studying Alzheimer’s to visualize these clumps or plaques. However, Nature News reports that they also found that feeding worms an optimal dose of this dye extended their lifespan by 78% on average. They believe that the dye is able to alert the cell of the presence of these harmful groups of proteins.

Our body and cells recognize Basic Yellow-1 as a foreign molecule or intruder, so when the dye binds to the proteins it is essentially marking them as dangerous. It seems that our body’s repair mechanisms aren’t always very successful in noticing these protein aggregates and adding the dye molecule might just jumpstart the removal of these proteins, leading to a longer life.

This research is still in the very early stages. However, drugs related to this dye may someday be available to help extend life. While I think that it is very cool that this lab dye may also function as a clinical drug, what I want to know is – would you take it?

High Altitude Reduces Risk of Dying from Heart Disease

When deciding which city to live in, most of us probably consider the neighborhood, convenience, livability, along with other related factors. However, most of us do not consider the elevation of the city. Ironically, this factor could be the most important because it could potentially affect one’s health.

Image: http://www.andes.org.uk/altitude.asp

In a recent article published by Science Daily (which can be found here), they reported a study that was conducted by researchers at the University of Colorado, School of Medicine, in partnership with Harvard School of Global Health. In this study, researchers claim that living in places with high elevation or altitude can lower the chance of dying from ischemic heart disease and increase one’s life expectancy as well.

The four-year study was conducted by analyzing death certificates from various parts of the U.S. The researchers examined cause-of-death, socio-economic factors and other issues in their research. They found that on average, people that lived in higher altitudes had higher life expectancies. Although, they also said that above 4,900 feet were detrimental.

At higher altitudes, oxygen is not as freely available, hence the body has to accommodate and adjust to this abnormality through a variety of ways. It appears that one of the key ways of coping is through the expression of certain genes. These genes are only expressed at high altitudes and they may influence or change the way heart muscles function. Hence, the heart is able to function more efficient and at the same time new blood vessels that can create increased blood flow into the heart are also produced. Furthermore, the researchers claim that increased solar radiation due to the high altitudes can help the body synthesize vitamin D more efficiently, which has also been shown to have beneficial effects on the heart and prevents certain types of cancers.

However, the researchers also mentioned that when socio-economic factors, solar radiation, smoking and pulmonary disease were taken into account, the net effect of altitude on overall life expectancy was negligible. This essentially means that the results of the study are inconclusive and altitude may or may not affect one’s health.

Image: http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/why-do-athletes-train-at-high-altitudes-1005/

Nevertheless, I know that some athletes purposely train at higher altitudes. They do this because it can increase their red blood cell volume. This way, when they travel to competitions at lower altitudes they will still have a higher concentration of red blood cells, which will give them a competitive advantage. Even though, the results may not be conclusive, it is still an interesting area to study, and perhaps it could lead to new discovers for rehabilitation medicine. In the mean time, if you ever decide to move to a new city, just keep the elevation in the back of your head, and remember that it could potentially affect your health.

Why don’t Zebras get ulcers?

  Imagine living on the African plains, spending most of your day finding food to fill your daily calorie load. In addition, there are predators in the shadows, not far away; you have to always watch your back.  Sounds like stressful life, doesn’t it?

  In a way, we all know being stressed is bad for the health. Nevertheless, stress response is an evolutionary trait with benefits—exhibited by numerous members of the animal kingdom. Becoming stressed generates a series of physiological changes that prepare animals for the Fight-or-Flight behaviour. The level of stress hormone, corticosteroids rises and activates the body: the heart start racing, breathing is faster, and the muscles become tensed. So, for the 30 seconds that you find a lion chasing after you, stress is very helpful and essential to your survival. Continue reading