The Road to Longevity Begins Now

Posted on March 4, 2012 by | 3 comments


A couple of years ago, my mentor told me something that I will remember for the rest of my life. He said, “What you will someday be, you are now becoming.”

At the time, I thought it referred to professional and personal goals. I didn’t realize that it translates to all other aspects of my life, including my health.

A recent study by professor Kiang Liu of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine shows the association of a healthy lifestyle maintained throughout young adulthood led to low cardiovascular disease risk in middle age.
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The older a person get, the harder it is to maintain cardiovascular health since the body is naturally getting weaker. It is more difficult to stay active, which leads to weight gain and the health risks associated with it like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

This study suggests that the lifestyle of an individual is a more significant factor in getting a higher risk of heart disease than genetics. People who do have a genetic link to getting heart disease can reduce that risk by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Starting a healthy balanced lifestyle at a young age will lead to a better quality of life in old age.

References
Science Daily

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Posted in Issues in Science, Uncategorized

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Two New Blood Types Found?

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | 2 comments
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Blood bath salts in Japan. Photograph: kenleewrites

Humans have various blood types, which have various classes. There are 30 known major blood group systems which help classify a person’s blood type, and each one is defined by the presence or absence of a certain glycoprotein, glycolipid, protein, carbohydrate, or other such molecules in the blood.  All around the world, two of the most common blood group systems are ABO and Rhesus systems.

However, in February 2012, Ballif and his colleagues identified two more proteins on the red blood cells which are responsible for two more blood types.  Although their existence was known many years ago, the genetic basis hadn’t been known until now.  An international effort between Vermont, Paris and Hokkaido resulted in the identification of the two proteins: the protein ABCB6, which corresponds with the blood type Langereis, and the protein ABCG2, which corresponds with the blood type Junior.

Ballif says, “it’s pretty remarkable to have two [blood types] identified this year,” as the last one was discovered almost a decade ago.

Blood on finger. Photograph: Ollie Crafoord (flickr.com)

Very few people know if they are Langereis or Junior positive or negative, and even when it is known, obtaining blood of the same type is extremely difficult as there was a lack of reliable reagents to screen the blood.  With this discovery, there would be lesser complications and rejections in blood and organ transfusions, as it would be easier to identify which specific blood type a person needs and respond accordingly.  It has also been found that these proteins may be connected to treatment with anticancer drugs, which will help create more efficient treatments for certain types of cancer.

References:
1. Forbes
2. Nature Genetics – ABCB6
3. Nature Genetics – ABCG2
4. Science Daily
5. Wikipedia

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Who Needs Grit?

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | 2 comments

A bag of grit (photo by Des Colhoun)

Many people take nutritional supplements every morning to support their health. So what about giving dietary supplements to our pets? Should we add joint supplements in the dog’s chow, vitamins to the cat’s water, or a dish of grit in the bird’s cage?

There are over 10 000 species of birds in the world. With so many different species, it is not surprising that there is a wide variation in diet. Their diet ranges from insects, seeds, fruits, nectar, and even to other birds.Birds in the wild eat a significant amount of food to fuel their caloric needs. Some of these diets are harder to digest than others, so you can imagine that these birds would need some mechanism to help grind up their food for faster digestion and absorption.

Green parrot (photo by Yihzy)

Some birds have strong beaks to crack the hard shells of insects, others use their sharp talons tear apart flesh. However, some species of birds ingest ground up minerals and sand to aid digestion. Birds in the wild consume items that are hard to digest, like seeds with hard shells. Birds grind up the seeds in their gizzards, which is a specialized organ built to grind up food. The ingested minerals and sand will help remove husks and shells from the seeds and make digestion easier.

Bird in cage (photo by Planet V)

However, should we give grit to our pet birds? Birds in captivity do not have a choice of what they eat because the owners control the diet of the pet birds. Most commercial bird foods are made for birds to easily digest and absorb, with all the essential nutrition that the bird needs. Furthermore, pet birds often do not have the freedom to fly and expend energy. They do not need grit to help speed up the absorption of nutrients. Another issue is too much grit will cause obstruction of the digestive tract. It is also important to know the content of the grit. Some grit contains charcoal, which will inhibit the absorption of certain nutrients. Below is a video of a breeder mixing his own grit for his birds.

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(Although in the video the person adds charcoal, other articles say to avoid charcoal )

So is it necessary to spend the extra money to buy grit for pet birds? An alternative to buying grit would be to add crushed egg or oyster shells to the bird feed. Not only do the shells help with digestion, they also provide extra calcium to the bird’s diet.

References

Wikipedia

Do Pet Birds Need Grit in Their Diets?

Grit – What Is It and Who Needs It?

Bird Diet Types

A Bit About Grit

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Posted in Biological Sciences

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How The Zebra Got it’s Stripes

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | 6 comments

 

Zebra (Photo by Andy Lederer )

Zebras, who are well known for their black and white stripes, are native to Africa and live in various habitats, such as grassland areas and woodlands. They graze together and travel in herds to protect themselves from predators.

Ever wonder how the zebra got its distinct black and white stripes? Until now it has been a mystery, but zoologists have finally figured it out. Adam Egri from Eötvös University in Budapest, Hungary, believes that zebras evolved stripes to protect themselves from blood-sucking horseflies known as tabinids that carry dangerous germs. He found that horseflies attract less to black and white stripes than all-white or all-black skin. The findings were reported in the journal of experimental biology.

A tabanus also known as a horsefly (Photo by Dennis Ray)

How does this work? According to Egri, horseflies are attracted to polarized light to find water where they can find a mate and lay eggs. Horse models painted with black and white stripes of varying widths and angles revealed that narrower stripes attract the fewest horseflies. When comparing all-white, all-black, and black and white striped horse models, striped horses attracted the least amount of horseflies. The zebra stripes disrupt the polarized light, making them unattractive to the horseflies. Also, the attractiveness to horseflies decreased as the stripe width decreased.

Prior to this study, there have been several hypotheses on why the zebra has black and white stripes. It is thought the stripes help the zebra camouflage within herds making it difficult for predators to distinguish a single zebra but there is no evidence supporting this. The lion, zebra’s main predator, is colour-blind which could be difficult for the lion to distinguish black and white stripes among a herd. Also, each zebra has its distinct black and white stripes that could provide visual cues for other zebra to recognize each other.

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I wonder if this study could be applied to other animals with stripes such as tiger with black and orange stripes. One question that remains to be answered is whether a zebra is white with black stripes or black with white stripes?

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

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In the future, medicine will be administered wirelessly

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | 3 comments

When the term “microchip” is mentioned, many things come into mind such as science fiction stories describing super-small computers or advanced tracking devices. It is probable that “administering medicine” is one of the last things you would think about when you hear “microchip.” But what if this is actually a reality with probable wide usage?

Professors Robert Langer (right) and Michael Cima (left) at the Koch Institute. Photo by: M. Scott Brauer

Professors Robert Langer and Michael Cima of MIT have been conceptualized this idea 15 years ago. The microchips would be implanted into a patient needing a regular dose of a drug and then the programming of the microchip would release consistent doses appropriate for the treatment. After much research with the scientists of MicroCHIPS Inc. the first reports of successful human trials have been released early this month.

“You could literally have a pharmacy on a chip.” – Professor Robert Lange, MIT.

So how does this microchip work? The microchip stores a certain amount of doses of a certain drug that the patient needs (clinical trials on osteoporosis patients included 20 doses in the chip). The chip would then be programmed to release a certain dosage daily into the patients. This programming can be altered or monitored wirelessly from a doctor’s computer. After programming, the chip would be surgically implanted into the patient’s body.

 

This would mean many things for the patient requiring daily doses of essential medicine. First of all, patients will not have to worry about taking their medicine at an allotted time – the chip will do that for them. This is very significant considering living with a drug regimen of daily self-injections can be strenuous for the patient. Second, the correct dosages will be administered by the microchip at the correct times. The doctor can have the chip programmed differently depending on the dosage and dose times depending on the ailment. An example of this is osteoporosis patients receiving teriparatide daily from the chip.

 

But are there any problems with this chip? This method of drug delivery system has shown to be just as good if not better than normal daily injections the patients have to give themselves. In addition to this, the programming of the chip can be altered to release the drugs as a certain dose per day, or a “pulse” or even a consistent release – all customized for the patient’s needs. The researchers at MicroCHIPS Inc. have also refined the chips to store the drugs in an airtight seal inside the chip and the chip itself to be made of materials that do not interfere with the host’s immune system. In the future, Professors Lange and Cima hope to add sensors to the chips so concentrations of chemicals in the patient (such as glucose) and have the chip adapt to the changing background.

 

Sources

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

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Uptake of Intense Amounts of Calories Vs. Uptake of No Calories!

Posted on February 26, 2012 by | 4 comments

During the exam season, most of us pack on the fat!

Uptake of Intense amounts of calories. Photo by: Andrew Shieh

It is during the summer months that we participate in a strict diet to lessen the insulation around ourselves. Our loved ones try to prevent us from starving ourselves because extreme dieting is not a permanent cure to losing weight and can cause harm to our body.

However, this may not be true. Many of us might be unaware of the new study, Fasting can help protect against brain diseases, that shows fasting for regular periods of time can counteract the impacts of diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Furthermore, the researchers at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore explain that stopping all food intake can lessen the effects of such degenerative diseases.

Professor Mark Mattson, head of the Institute’s laboratory of neurosciences, explained that rats who had restricted food intake had an increase in their life span by about 40 percent, he believes that this would also be true for humans. Furthermore, Mattson along with his colleagues, takes this study further and explains that cutting food consumption, to about 500 calories per day for twice a week, can not only cure ill-health but can also prevent early death. Mattson also argues that fasting delays other conditions that might be affecting the brain, such as strokes.

Mattson suggests that decreasing your food intake is not the greatest method which would protect from degenerative diseases, but strong bursts of fasting and eating heavily are needed!

500 calories just include tea and few vegetables Photo by: Rudolf Vlcek

“Reducing your calorie intake could help your brain, but doing so by cutting your intake of food is not likely to be the best method of triggering this protection. It is likely to be better to go on intermittent bouts of fasting, in which you eat hardly anything at all, and then have periods when you eat as much as you want,” said Mattson.

Mattson and his colleagues have figured out a mechanism which explains that reducing energy intakes can increase the growth of the neurons. The reduction of calorie intake leads to a boost in amounts of cellular messaging chemicals and these specific chemicals allow the growth of neurons. The growth of these neurons counteract the effect of Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease, according to Professor Mattson.

Moreover, Mattson’s model suggests that the growth of the neural cells is evolutionary because when our ancestors searched for food they had to recall where they had found the food previously. This would link periods of starvation and neural growth.

Although, this study provides some evidence which links starvation to a healthy brain, Mattson and his colleagues still need to answer why these neurons actually grow? Is there another factor which may be causing the growth of the neurons?

Well, aside from that, for the people who prefer to diet, this study provides a little ray of hope!!

 

 

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Posted in Biological Sciences

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The Secret for an Incorruptible Skin …attainable only after death

Posted on February 24, 2012 by | 2 comments

Is there a woman out there who does not want her skin to look radiant and always fresh? Dry skin is a sign of aging. In today’s society, the average woman would do anything to circumvent this phenomenon and retain her beauty. The numerous surgical procedures that are offered, such as plastic surgery as well as liposuction, attest to this. As a result, dermatologists around the world compete for the magic formula for a healthy-looking skin. The decades of research show that they are getting close. But will they ever be able to reach the goal?

We can look at this issue from another spectrum. If we cannot retain our skin in its youthful glow while we’re still alive, why not do it in the next life?

Science already found ways to preserve dead bodies from corruption. Procedures such as cryonics, plastination andembalming the body have all been proposed.

Cryonics uses extreme low temperatures to freeze the individual. This was a dream idea of Benjamin Franklin in 1773, who wished to use this method in hope to be resurrected in the next century to witnessAmerica’s advancement. Plastination is a procedure in which certain body parts are filled with plastics in order to preserve them. Today, embalming is used at funerals to preserve the bodies for the time being.

Other than for preservation purposes, all of these procedures have something in common. They do not last. The process of decomposition always takes the winning place. It seems that perfect perseverance would only be possible by a miracle.

However, this is not impossible when it comes to religion. Within the Roman Catholic Church, there are dozens of cases where exhumed bodies have been found to be incorrupt. These were not just any people. They were the bodies of saints.

 

AThis is a picture of Saint Bernadette, who after more than 130 years after her death still appears as if only asleep.

(Image source: here)

Mysteriously, these saints have been prevented from decaying. However, not all candidates have to pass the test of incorruptibility in order to be canonized as saints.

Another image of a saint. This time, it is Saint Pio who died in 1968. However, because he has been embalmed, it is not fitting to group him with the incorruptibles.

(Image source: here)

So what is the secret to having a skin that will not fall apart even after you’re dead?

The answer is simple: become a saint!

REFERENCES:

http://gkupsidedown.blogspot.com/2008/05/incorruptible-so-what.html

http://people.howstuffworks.com/incorruptible2.htm

 

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Brain Food = Better GPA

Posted on February 13, 2012 by | 7 comments

Some of us have probably visited a pharmacy or drug store to look for vitamins or supplements that could help boost brain activity, improve short- and long-term memory, or increase focus and concentration. But did you know that you could have all these by simply adding the right foods and beverages to your diet?

Research is showing that certain food substances have different positive effects on our brain. Here are few examples of those “super foods”:

Blueberries were found to help protect the brain from oxidative stress and can

Wild blueberries - A nutritious treat, a good source of Vitamin C and dietary fiber. Photo from: Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia

slow down the onset of age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or Dementia. Some studies done on rats have also shown that their learning capacities and motor skills have improved significantly after implementing a diet rich in blueberries. These aging rats were later found to have brain functioning almost at par with the younger ones.  Blueberries are also capable of improving memory as shown in other studies. It is recommended by Dr. Ann Kulze, author of Dr. Ann’s 10-Step Diet:, to have at least a cup of blueberries every day to aid in long-term memory.

Caffeine stimulates the nervous system and provides a person more energy, alertness as well as focus and better concentrate. Another benefit of caffeine is

Coffee beans - An example of a caffeine source. Photo from: Health Canada

maintaining mental activity by speeding up metabolism. One study done by British researchers said that just one cup of coffee helps boost attention as well as problem-solving skills. However, these effects are only short term and if overused, can make you jittery and uncomfortable.Therefore, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, you should limit caffeine intake to about 300mg per day. Some alternatives to coffee are herbal tea and protein shakes.

Wild Salmon. According to Dr. Steven Pratt, author of Superfoods Rx: Fourteen Foods that Will Change Your Life, wild salmons are known to be rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, which is important for brain function. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fishes are a primary building block of brain tissue and some benefits involve prevention of body inflammatory processes, better overall cell functioning like transferring information between the body’s cells. It is also

Image by cherie from Fotolia.com

associated with improved mood and of course, better brain function. 4-ounce serving, about two times a week, is recommended.

 

 

 

Nuts and Seedsare good source of vitamin E, which slows down the decline in your cognitive system as you get older. Some examples include walnuts (help as antidepressant and mood-boosting), cashews (high in magnesium which can open up blood vessels in your brain, allowing more oxygen-rich blood to reach the

Walnuts. Image from Fruit Extracts

brain), and flax seeds. Flax seeds is found to be a good source of alphalinoleic acid, that improves the functioning of the cerebral cortex (area of the brain that deals with sensory information processing) and therefore provides for sharper senses.  Try snacking an ounce of these nuts daily, whether roasted or raw.

 

Now, all these are only a few of many other examples of good brain foods. As a student, I find it useful to know these kinds of information that help boost my concentration and aid my memory to aid my studying habits. In addition, it is also easy to prepare and is therefore convenient for other students to simply snack on while studying.

 

References:

http://helpingpsychology.com/caffeine-your-brain-on-stimulants

http://www.naturalnews.com/019885.html

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/best-and-worst-brain-foods/

http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/eat-smart-healthier-brain?page=2

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