Tag Archives: Advancement

Don’t Forget Your Chocolate!

Memory loss has long since been correlated with age, due to a common deficiency of a certain protein in the dentate gyrus (region of the brain involved in memory) observed in elderly patients. Previously, this was just accepted as a hard truth; as you age, you’re destined to have to deal with various parts of your body slowly starting to become less functional, including your brain, which shrinks over time.

 

The dentate gyrus is a subregion of the hippocampus, shown in red. This part of the brain is involved in memory functions. Source: Wikimedia Commons

The dentate gyrus is a subregion of the hippocampus, shown in red. This part of the brain is involved in memory functions. Source: Wikimedia Commons

However, a recent study at the Columbia University Medical Centre has found that age-related memory loss, at least, is one thing that doesn’t necessarily have to impact you in your old age any longer.

Not only were the effects of age-related memory loss reduced in the study, they were actually reversed! How?

A group of otherwise healthy adults aged 50-69 were divided into two groups with different diets, which they followed for 3 months. The key difference was the level of flavanols (plant-based antioxidants) each group was consuming. The participants who followed a high-flavanol diet performed better on memory tests than those who followed a low-flavanol diet, and brain imaging showed that flavanols improved function in the dentate gyrus.

So what? Well, flavanols aren’t just a mysterious chemical reserved for scientific experiments…they are already readily available to us, and have been for a long time. Flavanols are found in tea leaves, blueberries, grapes and broccoli, so while it’s important that you do as you’ve been told and eat your fruits and veggies, flavanols are also found naturally in cocoa, which is present in chocolate.

Cocoa beans are used to make chocolate, and they are natural sources of flavanols. Source: Flickr Commons User Tom Hart

Cocoa beans are used to make chocolate, and they are natural sources of flavanols. Source: Flickr Commons User Tom Hart

A similar study in 2012 showed that drinking cocoa-containing beverages daily helped to indirectly improve blood flow in the brain, resulting in increased cognitive function, including improved memory.

However, this isn’t an excuse for everyone to just turn to a chocolate-only diet and claim that it’s in their best interests to eat as much of it as they can. Research shows that the cocoa-flavanol works best when paired with regular exercise, so it is important that a healthy lifestyle is maintained, while including flavanol-containing foods as part of a balanced diet.

That being said, chocolate can provide many other health benefits if eaten in moderation, as described in the video below.

YouTube Preview ImageVideo Source: YouTube user WLWT

So what are you waiting for? Go grab some tea, blueberries…what was the other thing? I can’t remember…

 

– Mikaela

Broken leg? Go print a new one…

Well, not really. But it might not be such a strange idea in the near future, as research into 3D printing continues to reveal incredible new uses for the technology.

3D-printing, professionally known as ‘additive manufacturing’ has already been around for a few decades, used to manufacture prototypes, or create cute desk ornaments and toys. Digital files contain the design of a model, and include instructions for the printer. Hundreds of different materials can be used, such as liquid plastics, powdered metals, nylon and ceramics. These materials are systematically hardened into a solid shape, with each successive layer forming a small part of the larger design.

One of the 3D printers widely available today on the market. Source: Flickr Commons user Creative Tools

Maker-Bot Replicator 2, one of the 3D printers widely available today on the market. Source: Flickr Commons user Creative Tools

We live in a world, however, where this kind of technology can do so much more than build ‘mini-me’ action figures. Imagine a natural disaster has just occurred in a remote location in the world, and only small aircrafts can reach the site. While it is still necessary to bring in medical professionals, some immediate aid can be provided in the form of 3D-printed casts, splints, and other medical supplies such as bandages and dressings. Syringe Extrusion, one method of additive technology, can use almost any liquid or paste to create a final product, meaning that one day we might even be able to 3D-print food, which would be particularly useful in situations like this one.

Now imagine an impoverished agricultural community, without the means to effectively sustain themselves. What can additive technology do for them? Machinery such as farm tractorswater pumps and tools for sustainable energy use (solar panels, wind turbines) can easily be printed and installed. This technology has the potential to increase the quality of life for many such communities, and the equipment would be cheaper than their mass-produced factory equivalents, due to the fact that 3D-printing eliminates the ‘assembly line’, so to speak. The power to create an object from widely available design software means that you won’t have the added costs associated with product development. Nor will you have any transportation costs, and this will also benefit the environment due to reduced CO2 emissions.

Arguably the most exciting use, though, is in the health industry. Researchers such as Ali Khademhosseini have been using this technology to ‘print’ natural sugar-based templates, on which to grow biological cells. These cells can then differentiate to grow different types of bodily tissue, including cardiac tissue and skin, which can be used in disease studies and drug therapy. For example, cancerous tumours have already been printed and reveal more about the specific proteins and characteristics of cancer than previous methods. Using these cells and tissues to test the effects of new drugs may also eliminate the controversial use of lab animals.

3D-printed ear and nose templates can be used to grow biological tissue. Source: Flickr Commons user UMHealthSystem

3D-printed ear and nose templates can be used to grow biological tissue. Source: Flickr Commons user UMHealthSystem

Transplant patients also benefit from 3D-printing; patients’ own cells are used to develop the needed tissues, thereby eliminating the risk of rejection of foreign transplants. Bone tissue is also being printed which may aid in the advancement of prosthetics, so who knows, maybe the title wasn’t so far off after all.

By Mikaela Stewart