New Hampshire Health News Digest

Nutrigenomics explains omega-3’s immune health benefits Omega-3-rich fish oil beneficially affects gene expression, says a new nutrigenomic study that enhances our understanding of the health benefits of omega-3. The study is said to be the first to show that DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) can affect gene expression to a more anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory status. Lead researcher Lydia Afman told NutraIngredients: “The most exciting finding of this study is the demonstration of less pro-inflammatory gene expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after a 6 months fish oil intervention in a healthy elderly population.” Because PBMCs are immune cells, and play a vital role in inflammation and the development of cardiovascular diseases, the results may go some way to explaining the cardio-protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids. In addition to a large body of science linking DHA and EPA to improved cardiovascular health, the ome...

Omega-3, -6 levels linked to bowel health Increased intakes of omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid may double the risk of ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease, says a Pan-European study. On the other hand, the highest intakes of omega-3 were associated with 77 per cent reduction in the risk of the disease, according to findings of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) with 203,193 men and women published in Gut. The study adds to a small but growing body of evidence supporting the importance of balance between omega-3 omega-6 fatty acids. [...] Commenting on the mechanism, Dr Hart wrote that omega-6 fatty acids are present in the cell membrane of colon cells in the form of arachidonic acid. This can be metabolised to prostaglandin E2, leukotriene B4 and thromboxane A2, all of which have pro-inflammatory effects. On the other hand, omega-3 fatty acids, and particularly the anti-inflammatory effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which ...

Learning Takes Place When You Get Things Right Brain cells tune in on success, monkey experiment finds: HealthDay It is often stated that people learn from their mistakes, but new research sugests people may figure out more from their successes than from their failures. [...] "If the monkey just got a correct answer, a signal lingered in its brain that said, 'You did the right thing.' Right after a correct answer, neurons processed information more sharply and effectively, and the monkey was more likely to get the next answer correct as well," Miller said in the news release. But after a monkey made an error "there was no improvement. In other words, only after successes, not failures, did brain processing and the monkeys' behavior improve."

Effects of dietary carbohydrate restriction vs low-fat diet on flow-mediated dilation Metabolismjournal.com Abstract We previously reported that a carbohydrate-restricted diet (CRD) ameliorated many of the traditional markers associated with metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk compared with a low-fat diet (LFD). There remains concern how CRD affects vascular function because acute meals high in fat have been shown to impair endothelial function. Here, we extend our work and address these concerns by measuring fasting and postprandial vascular function in 40 overweight men and women with moderate hypertriacylglycerolemia who were randomly assigned to consume hypocaloric diets (∼1500 kcal) restricted in carbohydrate (percentage of carbohydrate-fat-protein = 12:59:28) or LFD (56:24:20). Flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery was assessed before and after ingestion of a high-fat meal (908 kcal, 84% fat) at baseline and after 12 weeks. Compared with the LFD, the CRD resulted i...

Cellular Protein Yields Clues to Diabetes, Alzheimer's Animal tests suggest humanin could have therapeutic benefits : HealthDay WEDNESDAY, July 22 (HealthDay News) -- New information about a cellular protein might help in efforts to develop drug treatments for diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, researchers say. In tests on rats, they found that humanin, which may prevent nerve cells from dying, also helps improve insulin action and lower blood glucose levels. "This new role of humanin in glucose metabolism, in addition to its role in Alzheimer's disease, is very intriguing since scientists have long proposed a link between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Nir Barzilai, a professor and director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, said in a news release from the college. "Humanin could turn out to be a therapeutic option for two common debilitating diseases that affect millions of peo...

StumbleUpon WebToolbar - Page from Esciencenews.com Children on the high-fat ketogenic diet to control epileptic seizures can prevent the excruciatingly painful kidney stones that the diet can sometimes cause if they take a daily supplement of potassium citrate the day they start the diet, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center. A report on the work is published in the August issue of Pediatrics. "We can confidently say this is a safe and powerful way to prevent kidney stones, and it should become part of standard therapy in all ketogenic dieters, not just those who already show elevated urine calcium levels," says senior investigator Eric Kossoff, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at Hopkins Children's. "If you wait, it might be too late." The ketogenic diet, believed to work by initiating biochemical changes that eliminate seizure-triggering short circuits in the brain's signaling system, is given to many children whose seizures do not ...

Vitamin D for Cancer Prevention: Global Perspective Higher serum levels of the main circulating form of vitamin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), are associated with substantially lower incidence rates of colon, breast, ovarian, renal, pancreatic, aggressive prostate and other cancers. Methods Epidemiological findings combined with newly discovered mechanisms suggest a new model of cancer etiology that accounts for these actions of 25(OH)D and calcium. Its seven phases are disjunction, initiation, natural selection, overgrowth, metastasis, involution, and transition (abbreviated DINOMIT). Vitamin D metabolites prevent disjunction of cells and are beneficial in other phases. Results/Conclusions It is projected that raising the minimum year-around serum 25(OH)D level to 40 to 60 ng/mL (100–150 nmol/L) would prevent approximately 58,000 new cases of breast cancer and 49,000 new cases of colorectal cancer each year, and three fourths of deaths from these diseases in the United States and C...

StumbleUpon WebToolbar - Page from Newswise.com Newswise — UCLA scientists and colleagues from UC Riverside and the Human BioMolecular Research Institute have found that a form of vitamin D, together with a chemical found in turmeric spice called curcumin, may help stimulate the immune system to clear the brain of amyloid beta, which forms the plaques considered the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. The early research findings, which appear in the July issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, may lead to new approaches in preventing and treating Alzheimer's by utilizing the property of vitamin D3 — a form of vitamin D — both alone and together with natural or synthetic curcumin to boost the immune system in protecting the brain against amyloid beta. Vitamin D3 is an essential nutrient for bone and immune system health; its main source is sunshine, and it is synthesized through the skin. Deficiencies may occur during winter months or in those who spend a lot of time indoo...

Heredity May Be The Reason Some People Feel Lonely : "Heredity helps determine why some adults are persistently lonely, research co-authored by psychologists at the University of Chicago shows. [...] "An interesting implication of this research is that feelings of loneliness may reflect an innate emotional response to stimulus conditions over which an individual may have little or no control," the research team writes in the article, "Genetic and Environmental Contributors to Loneliness in Adults: The Netherlands Twin Register Study" published in the current issue of the journal Behavior Genetics. Psychologists had previously thought loneliness was primarily caused by shyness, poor social skills, or inability to form strong attachments with other people. Scholars are becoming increasingly interested in the role loneliness plays in health. [...] The researchers write that loneliness may have developed early in human evolution as a response by hunter-gathers fac...

Goodbye Agave What many people don’t realize is that concentrated fructose is probably worse for you than high amounts of glucose. People tend to think that fructose is a benign sugar because it is found naturally in fruit. But, despite the name “fructose,” whole fruit actually has a relatively low concentration of fructose compared to agave, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, or cane sugar. (However, eating huge quantities of fruit is just as bad for you as eating a lot of table sugar.) There are a number of health problems associated with eating too much fructose: Fructose interferes with copper metabolism. This prevents collagen and elastin from being able to properly form. Collagen and elastin are components of the connective tissue which essentially holds the body together. 1 A deficiency in copper can also lead to porous bones, anemia, defects of the arteries, infertility, high cholesterol levels, heart attacks, and an inability to control blood sugar levels. 2 When you take in f...

Intelligent men have better quality sperm, research finds | Mail Online They can often be overlooked in favour of their handsome counterparts. But brainboxes should stop despairing because research shows they are more virile than other men. Scientists have shown that bright men have better sperm. They produce more of it and it is of higher quality, suggesting they are better-equipped to start a family than their intellectually inferior friends and colleagues. Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London made the link after comparing archived data on 425 Vietnam War veterans. This dated back to 1985, when the men had given sperm samples as part of an extensive medical and undergone intelligence testing. Comparing the two clearly showed that the brainiest men had the best quality sperm. Total sperm count was higher, as well as sperm concentration and ability to swim, the journal Intelligence reports.

Soy Alert! Confused About Soy?--Soy Dangers Summarized High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children. Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth. Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women. Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease. Vitamin B 12 analogs in soy ...

Low Cholesterol and Behavioral Change Among the side effects reported from statin drug use there has been a broad complex of emotional and behavioral symptoms. Reports by anxious patients, concerned family members of caregivers have included aggressiveness, hostility, irritability, paranoia, road rage type outbursts, homicidal ideation, severe depression resistant to most therapies and as a natural follow-on to depression, a number of suicides have been reported where family members assert vehemently that, "It was the statin that did it." Dolichol inhibition is suspected as a major contributor to such behavioral change because of its established role in neuropeptide formation, where it orchestrates the processes of peptide strand formation in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. [...] Additionally, that low cholesterol plays an important role in cognition and behavior independent of glial cell inhibition is now well known to exist via the seleno-protein pathway. Whe...

Obesity a risk factor in swine flu? Some swine flu cases in Michigan are raising questions about obesity's role in why some people with infections become seriously ill. A high proportion of those who have gotten severely ill from swine flu have been obese or extremely obese, but health officials have said that might be due to the fact that heavy people tend to have asthma and other conditions that make them more susceptible. Obesity alone has never been seen as a risk factor for seasonal flu. But in a report released Friday, health officials detailed the cases of 10 Michigan patients who were very sick from swine flu in late May and early June and ended up at a specialized hospital in Ann Arbor. Three of them died. Nine of the 10 were either obese or extremely obese. Only three of the 10 had other health problems. Two of the three that died had no other health conditions. This hardly settles the question of whether obesity is its own risk factor for swine flu. It's possible ...

Cholesterol Enhances Memory : "Frank Pfrieger announced to the world in 2001 the importance of cholesterol to the process of memory. So critical is this relationship that our brain's glial cells have been tasked with the role of synthesizing cholesterol on demand to meet the needs for memory synapse formation and function. This was far too critical a role to depend upon normal blood levels of cholesterol, for the lipoprotein bound cholesterol molecule presents too large a molecular structure to pass the blood brain barrier. We have evolved as a species totally dependant upon our glial cell source of cholesterol for memory. The effects of statins on this glial cell function is quite predictable - inhibition! This results in transient global amnesia episodes in some, confusion, disorientation and increased forgetfulness in others, increased senility in those already afflicted and permanent loss of short term memory in others. This is the underlying relationship of cholesterol...

Low Cholesterol Linked To Memory Loss, Dementia, Lower Cholesterol : "Low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) - the 'good' cholesterol - in middle age may increase the risk of memory loss and lead to dementia later in life, researchers reported in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association."

Diets Bad For The Teeth Are Also Bad For The Body Dental disease may be a wake-up call that your diet is harming your body. "The five-alarm fire bell of a tooth ache is difficult to ignore," says Dr. Philippe P. Hujoel, professor of dental public health sciences at the University of Washington (UW) School of Dentistry in Seattle. Beyond the immediate distress, dental pain may portend future medical problems. It may be a warning that the high-glycemic diet that led to dental problems in the short term may, in the long term, lead to potentially serious chronic diseases. Hujoel reviewed the relationships between diet, dental disease, and chronic systemic illness in a report published July 1 in the Journal of Dental Research. He weighed two contradictory viewpoints on the role of dietary carbohydrates in health and disease. The debate surrounds fermentable carbohydates: foods that turn into simple sugars in the mouth. Fermentable carbohydrates are not just sweets like cookies, do...

Elevated Insulin Linked To Increased Breast Cancer Risk Elevated insulin levels in the blood appear to raise the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Their findings are published in the online version of the International Journal of Cancer. Geoffrey Kabat, Ph.D.Increased breast cancer risk for postmenopausal women has previously been linked to obesity and diabetes. Both conditions involve insulin resistance, which causes increases in circulating levels of insulin. Since insulin is known to promote cell division and enhance breast tumor growth in animal models, the Einstein scientists reasoned that relatively high insulin levels may contribute to breast cancer risk in women. Wow, so carb cause breast cancer, and other cancers. How many people are afraid of fat in the diet, and gorging themselves on carbs, thinking they can never get cancer that way. The "cancer proof" diet, huh?

Salk Institute - Press Releases - Chronically elevated blood sugar levels disable "fasting switch" March 07, 2008 La Jolla, CA – Continually revved up insulin production, the kind that results from overeating and obesity, slowly dulls the body's response to insulin. As a result, blood sugar levels start to creep up, setting the stage for diabetes-associated complications such as blindness, stroke and renal failure. To make matters even worse, chronically elevated blood sugar concentrations exacerbate insulin resistance. The vicious circle gets rolling, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered, when out-of-control blood sugar levels disable the molecular switch that normally shuts off sugar production in the liver in response to rising levels of insulin. Their findings, published in the March 7 issue of Science suggest that appropriate inhibitors of the enzymatic pathway that blocks the "sugar-off"-switch might be useful in lowering glu...

How Gastric Bypass Rapidly Reverses Diabetes Symptoms A recent report offers new evidence to explain why those who undergo gastric bypass surgery often show greater control of their diabetes symptoms within days. It also helps to explain why lap-band surgery doesn't offer the same instant gratification. By studying mice that have undergone both procedures, the researchers show that changes in the intestine are the key. In addition to removing about two-thirds of the stomach, gastric bypass in effect produces a "double intestine," said Gilles Mithieux of Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale in France. The portion closest to the stomach is taken out of the loop so that it receives no nutrients. The segment normally farther down is then attached directly to the stomach, where it receives all the nutrients coming in. In both cases, those positional changes ramp up production of blood sugar by the small intestine, Mithieux said. He noted that fasting norma...

How Alcohol Changes the Brain ... Quickly | LiveScience Only 6 minutes after consuming an amount of alcohol equivalent to three beers — leading to a blood alcohol level of 0.05 to 0.06 percent, which impairs driving ability — changes had already taken place in the brain cells. For one thing, the brain begins to run on the sugar in alcohol instead of using glucose, the normal brain food. "Our study provides evidence for alternative energy utilization upon alcohol ingestion," said researcher Armin Biller at Heidelberg University Hospital "The brain uses an alcohol breakdown product instead of glucose for energy demands." The concentration of substances such as creatine (energy metabolism), which protect brain cells, decreases as the concentration of alcohol increases. Choline, a component of cell membranes, was also reduced. "That probably indicates that alcohol triggers changes in the composition of cell membranes," Biller said. Whether there are long-term ...

How to Boost Your Willpower - Well Blog - NYTimes.com “Learning self-control produces a wide range of positive outcomes,’’ said Roy Baumeister, a psychology professor at Florida State University who wrote about the issue in this month’s Current Directions in Psychological Science. “Kids do better in school, people do better at work. Look at just about any major category of problem that people are suffering from and odds are pretty good that self-control is implicated in some way.’’ Last month, Dr. Baumeister reported on laboratory studies that showed a relationship between self-control and blood glucose levels. In one study, participants watched a video, but some were asked to suppress smiles and other facial reactions. After the film, blood glucose levels had dropped among those who had exerted self-control to stifle their reactions, but stayed the same among the film watchers who were free to react, according to the report in Personality and Social Psychology Review. The video watche...

The Physiology of Willpower: Linking Blood Glucose to Self-Control -- Gailliot and Baumeister 11 (4): 303 -- Personality and Social Psychology Review The Physiology of Willpower: Linking Blood Glucose to Self-Control Matthew T. Gailliot Florida State University, gailliot@psy.fsu.edu Roy F. Baumeister Florida State University Past research indicates that self-control relies on some sort of limited energy source. This review suggests that blood glucose is one important part of the energy source of self-control. Acts of self-control deplete relatively large amounts of glucose. Self-control failures are more likely when glucose is low or cannot be mobilized effectively to the brain (i.e., when insulin is low or insensitive). Restoring glucose to a sufficient level typically improves self-control. Numerous self-control behaviors fit this pattern, including controlling attention, regulating emotions, quitting smoking, coping with stress, resisting impulsivity, and refraining from criminal an...

Symptoms of Low Blood Sugar By Terry E. - 2006-11-18 Find more articles like this in our Diabetes information category. Having diabetes myself, I know what the symptoms of low blood sugar can be like. Often times it feels like you have no control of your body and you can't figure out what or why is happening. Let's take a closer look at the symptoms of low blood sugar, and how it can affect your health. Did you know that many people have symptoms of low blood sugar, yet don't know it? Think of how many times you've felt tired and worn out between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM? It's a tell tale sign of low blood sugar. Here is how most people handle it. When they begin to feel a tired and worn down, or maybe even depressed and irritable, they will usually down a soda, some coffee, or eat a sweet snack of some kind. Boom, now all of a sudden they feel like they have been re-energized. Well, it's caused by a spike in their blood sugar. So, what's the problem with that? ...

Sugar a Factor in Drinking and Loss of Inhibitions? || kuro5hin.org Brain Food Live Science has reported ("How Alcohol Changes the Brain ... Quickly") on a study appearing in the popular Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, a publication that routinely gives Reader's Digest a run for its money in circulation numbers. Previously consigned to studying drunken animals only, the scientists studied humans drinking alcohol (through straws) while being scanned in an MRI machine. At a blood alcohol level of 0.05-0.06%, brain cells had abandoned their normal energy source, glucose, and instead began to consume the sugar produced by the breakdown of alcohol. "Our study provides evidence for alternative energy utilization upon alcohol ingestion," said researcher Armin Biller at Heidelberg University Hospital. "The brain uses an alcohol breakdown product instead of glucose for energy demands." The focus of their study is on the long-term impact of dr...

Seborrhoeic dermatitis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Seborrhoeic dermatitis (also Seborrheic dermatitis AmE, seborrhea) (also known as "Seborrheic eczema"[1]) is a skin disorder affecting the scalp, face, and trunk causing scaly, flaky, itchy, red skin. It particularly affects the sebum-gland rich areas of skin. Seborrhoeic dermatitis may be visually unpleasant and moderately itchy but is a harmless condition. The condition is often persistent but is easily controlled using readily available medication. After treatment, the condition may recur after a time lapse of months or years. As with other dermatitis conditions, seborrhoeic dermatitis is often loosely defined as a form of eczema although it differs from other more serious conditions more properly defined as eczema. Causes The cause of seborrhoeic dermatitis remains unknown, although many factors have been implicated. The widely present yeast, Malassezia furfur (formerly known as Pityrosporum ovale), is involved,[2]...