December 22, 2009

Glucose restriction extends healthy cellular life span

Life Extensions, December 21, 2009
Writing in an article published online on December 2009 in FASEB Journal, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) reveal that restricting glucose, a common dietary sugar that is used by the cells for energy, results in extended life for healthy cells and growth inhibition and programmed cell death of precancerous cells.
University of Alabama Department of Biology professor Trygve Tollefsbol, PhD, DO and colleagues cultured healthy and precancerous human lung cells with normal or significantly restricted glucose for several weeks. "In that time, we were able to track the cells' ability to divide while also monitoring the number of surviving cells,” Dr Tollefsbol reported. “The pattern that was revealed to us showed that restricted glucose levels led the healthy cells to grow longer than is typical and caused the precancerous cells to die off in large numbers.”
Dr Tollefsbol and his associates found that while there was an increase in the expression of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene and a decrease in the expression of the anticancer protein p16 in normal glucose restricted cells, opposite effects were observed in precancerous cells that were glucose-restricted. "The healthy cells saw their telomerase rise and p16 decrease, which would explain the boost in healthy cell growth,” Dr Tollefsbol noted. “The gene reactions flipped in the precancerous cells with telomerase decreasing and the anticancer protein p16 increasing, which would explain why these cancer-forming cells died off in large numbers."
"Our results not only support previous findings from the feeding of animals but also reveal that human longevity can be achieved at the cellular level through caloric restriction," he added. "The hope is that this UAB breakthrough will lead to further discoveries in different cell types and facilitate the development of novel approaches to extend the lifespan of humans."
http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2009_12.htm#Glucose-restriction-extends-healthy-cellular-life-span

Ginger Quells Chemo-induced Nausea

The New Straits Times 12-21-09
IT seems that science seems to be proving grandma right all the time. This time it is about something that she has quite a lot of experience with - ginger.
Ginger is a plant native to Southeast Asia. The root is usually the part of the plant used in herbal remedies. Today, it is a globally reknown spice, food and herb.
The English name for ginger comes from the French gingimbre, from medieval Latin gingiber, from Greek zingiberis, from Pali s ri ingivera, ultimately of Dravidian origin from Tamil inji ver (meaning root of inji).
The root of the ginger plant has been used in cooking and as an herbal remedy since ancient times. It was described in Ayurvedic medicine some 4,000 years ago. A proverb from ancient India maintains that everything good can be found in ginger.
For many centuries, Chinese sailors have taken ginger to avoid sea sickness. The ancient Greeks ate ginger wrapped in bread to prevent nausea from a huge feast.
Its traditional role in herbal medicine has been as a remedy for nausea, motion sickness, heartburn, vomiting, stomach cramps, and loss of appetite.
Grandma was right when she recommended ginger for an upset stomach. Indeed, every grandmother has taught her daughter to take ginger tea to circumvent that the nausea related to morning sickness. Indeed, ginger is ideal for this as it is safe, effective and has no side effects for mother and foetus.
Now we have strong clinical validation that ginger not only works for pregnancy-related nausea. It even works for nausea in cancer patients! And it seems to work combined with modern drugs that prevent or suppress vomiting (anti-emetics) and works better if administered days before the chemotherapy.
A recent randomised clinical trial has confirmed what many grandmothers would have suspected: that ginger can decrease nausea caused by chemotherapy. Better still, it seems that the effect goes beyond that provided by standard anti-vomiting drugs.
Ginger has been approved by Commission E (Germany's regulatory agency for herbs) for indigestion and the prevention of motion sickness.
Ginger is available as a dried or fresh root, as a tea, in powder form, as a liquid extract, as a tincture, in tablets, in capsules, and in candied form.
Many parents give their children ginger ale to settle an upset stomach, but the soft drink often does not contain much ginger, and some ales have artificial flavouring in them instead of ginger.
Fresh or dried ginger root is used in cooking and in preparing herbal remedies. A broad range of daily doses of ginger is reported, from 250mg to 1g. For the treatment of nausea, the usual dose is 250mg to one gramme of powdered ginger taken with a liquid several times per day.
Indeed, people with cancer can reduce post-chemotherapy nausea by 40 per cent by using ginger supplements, along with standard anti- vomiting drugs. About 70 per cent of cancer patients who receive chemotherapy complain of nausea and vomiting.
"There are effective drugs to control vomiting, but the nausea is often worse because it lingers," said lead author Julie L. Ryan, Ph.D, M.P.H., assistant professor of Dermatology and Radiation Oncology at Rochester's James P. Wilmot Cancer Centre.
"Nausea is a major problem for people who undergo chemotherapy and it's been a challenge for scientists and doctors to understand how to control it," said Ryan, a member of Rochester's Community Clinical Oncology Programme Research Base at the Wilmot Cancer Centre.
Her research is the largest randomised study to demonstrate the effectiveness of ginger supplements to ease the nausea. Previous small studies have been inconsistent and never focused on taking the common spice before chemotherapy.
The Phase II/III placebo-controlled, double-blind study included 644 cancer patients who would receive at least three chemotherapy treatments. They were divided into four arms that received placebos, 0.5g of ginger, one gramme of ginger, or 1.5g of ginger along with antiemetics drugs currently in use.
Patients took the ginger supplements three days prior to chemotherapy and three days following treatment. Patients reported nausea levels at various times of day during following their chemotherapy and those who took the lower doses had a 40 per cent reduction.
Ginger is readily absorbed in the body and has long been considered a remedy for stomach aches.
"By taking the ginger prior to chemotherapy treatment, the US National Cancer Institute-funded study suggests its earlier absorption into the body may have anti-inflammatory properties," Ryan said.
Rochester's Community Clinical Oncology Programme Research Base is a national cooperative research group funded by the National Cancer Institute. The Wilmot Cancer Centre team specialises in improving the quality of life of people who have cancer. The trial, financed by the National Cancer Institute,
While previous studies have yielded inconsistent results, this new study might have succeeded because the ginger was given before chemotherapy.
Indeed, it seems that grandma does know best!
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=9161&Section=Disease

B-6 & Colon Cancer

Nutrition Action Health Letter 12-21-09
In two recent studies, people with higher blood levels of vitamin B-6 had a lower risk of colorectal cancer.
Participants in the Physicians' Health Study and the Multiethnic Cohort Study who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer had lower blood levels of vitamin B-6 up to 20 years earlier- when they entered the studies- than those who weren't diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Two other B vitamins (B-12 and folic acid) weren't linked to the disease.
What to do: While it's too early to conclude that vitamin B-6 can prevent colorectal cancer, it's a good idea to load up on healthy foods that are rich in B-6 (like whole grains, beans, bananas, chicken, salmon, avocado, and sunflower seeds).
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarken Prev. 18: 1197, 2195, 2009.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=9159&Section=Vitamins

You're 10 Times More Likely to Get MS in Rhyl Than You Are in Rio De Janeiro ; Call for Assembly to Highlight the Link between Disease And Lack of Vitamin D

Western Mail 12-21-09
CHARITY has called on the Welsh Assembly Government to fund a campaign about vitamin D deficiency and multiple sclerosis.
The MS Society Cymru is calling for ministers to follow Scotland's lead and raise awareness about the links between the two.
Such a campaign would encourage pregnant women and children under four to take a regular vitamin D supplement.
Scientists recently discovered that MS could be prevented through daily vitamin D supplements.
There is a clear link between vitamin D - known as the sunshine vitamin - and a gene that increases the risk of MS, raising the possibility that the debilitating auto-immune condition could be eradicated.
The prevalence of MS is far higher in typically wet and cold countries such as Wales, where 110 people in every 100,000 are living with the condition.
In a country with lots of sunshine - such as Brazil - only 18 people in every 100,000 have MS.
The NHS in Scotland said it would raise awareness about the links between vitamin D deficiency and MS this month, after being spurred into acting by Glasgow teenager Ryan McLaughlin.
Ryan's mother, Kirsten, has had MS for three years, and Ryan, 14, has shown some symptoms of the disease but the family only discovered the link earlier this year after a family holiday.
The teenager said: "I was shocked there had not been publicity around this before. We wanted there to be more awareness of the link and more research into how much of a problem it is in Scotland.
"These actions will make a big difference - it will go a long way to giving children some protection against the disease and give parents proper advice."
Joseph Carter, spokesperson for MS Society Cymru, said: "We are delighted by this announcement by the Scottish Government and are now calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to do the same.
"You are 10 times more likely to develop MS in Rhyl than you are Rio de Janeiro, and new research suggests this is due to vitamin D deficiency."
Vitamin D, obtained from foods and through the action of sunlight on skin, is essential for maintaining healthy bones.
It is unclear exactly what causes MS but it has become increasingly evident that environmental and genetic factors play a role.
Previous research has shown that populations from Northern Europe have an increased MS risk if they live in areas receiving less sunshine.
This supports a direct link between deficiency in vitamin D, which is produced in the body through the action of sunlight, and increased risk of developing the condition.
Researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of British Columbia this year discovered a direct relationship between the genetic variant DRB1*1501, which is associated with MS, and vitamin D. Dr Julian Knight, a co-author of the research, said: "In people with the DRB1 variant associated with MS, it seems that vitamin D may play a critical role.
"If too little of the vitamin is available, the gene may not function properly."
And the study's lead author Dr Sreeram Ramagopalan said: "Our study implies that taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy and the early years may reduce the risk of a child developing MS in later life."
A spokeswoman for the Welsh Assembly Government said: "We are working closely with the MS Society to raise awareness of multiple sclerosis.
"Earlier this year, we produced a leaflet, Multiple Sclerosis - living with a long term condition. This includes information on the condition, its symptoms and the people affected."
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=9158&Section=Vitamins

The brain may feel other people's pain
Last Updated: 2009-12-21 12:00:58 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If you've ever thought that you literally feel other people's pain, you may be right. A brain-imaging study suggests that some people have true physical reactions to others' injuries.
Using an imaging technique called functional MRI, UK researchers found evidence that people who say they feel vicarious pain do, in fact, have heightened activity in pain-sensing brain regions upon witnessing another person being hurt.
The findings, published in the journal Pain, could have implications for understanding, and possibly treating, cases of unexplained "functional" pain.
"Patients with functional pain experience pain in the absence of an obvious disease or injury to explain their pain," explained Dr. Stuart W. G. Derbyshire of the University of Birmingham, one of the researchers on the new study.
"Consequently," he told Reuters Health in an email, "there is considerable effort to uncover other ways in which the pain might be generated."
Derbyshire said he now wants to study whether the brains of patients with functional pain respond to images of injury in the same way that the current study participants' did.
For the study, Derbyshire and colleague Jody Osborn first had 108 college students view several images of painful situations -- including athletes suffering sports injuries and patients receiving an injection. Close to one-third of the students said that, for at least one image, they not only had an emotional reaction, but also fleetingly felt pain in the same site as the injury in the image.
Derbyshire and Osborn then took functional MRI scans of 10 of these "responders," along with 10 "non-responders" who reported no pain while viewing the images.
Functional MRI charts changes in brain blood flow, allowing researchers to see which brain areas become more active in response to a particular stimulus. Here, the researchers scanned participants' brains as they viewed either images of people in pain, images that were emotional but not painful, or neutral images.
The investigators found that while viewing the painful images, both responders and non-responders showed activity in the emotional centers of the brain. But responders showed greater activity in pain-related brain regions compared with non-responders, and as compared with their own brain responses to the emotional images.
"We think this confirms that at least some people have an actual physical reaction when observing others being injured or expressing pain," Derbyshire said.
He noted that the responders also tended to say that they avoided horror movies and disturbing images on the news "so as to avoid being in pain" -- which, the researcher said, is more than just an empathetic response.
As far as the potential practical implications of the findings, Derbyshire said it would be a "reach" to think that such brain mechanisms might be behind all functional pain. But, he added, "they might explain some of it."
SOURCE: Pain, online December 11, 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/12/21/eline/links/20091221elin001.html

Nearly 100 percent of women reject tamoxifen drug despite claims that it prevents breast cancer
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews.com December 22, 2009 

(NaturalNews) A study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment has found that women overwhelmingly reject the breast cancer prevention drug tamoxifen even when given a thorough, personalized analysis of its risks and benefits. University of Michigan researchers administered the information about the drug to 632 women and found that only one percent of participants actually ended up taking it.

Originally formulated to prevent recurrences in women who have already had breast cancer, tamoxifen is now being touted as a breast cancer prevention drug.

The women who participated in the study were given detailed information about how the drug would work for them based on a number of personalized factors. These included medical and family history, age, and race. After completion, only 29 percent of women said they would research the drug further. A mere six percent said they were likely to actually take tamoxifen.

Following the study, of the 29 percent who said they would seek out more information about tamoxifen, only six percent actually did. Among those who said they were likely to take it, a measly one percent followed through.

Eighty-percent of the women who participated in the study indicated that they were most concerned about the side effects of the drug, which include sexual problems, hot flashes, blood clots, cataracts, and endometrial cancer. Despite concern among some that women are not taking the drug because they don't know about it, Dr. Peter Ubel from the University of Michigan noted that the real reason women are not taking tamoxifen is because of the many dangers associated with it.
This is a fascinating study because it shows that when women are properly informed about the dangers of cancer drugs, they almost universally reject them.

This is why the cancer industry works so hard to keep women ignorant by distancing them from accurate information about the dangers of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and anti-cancer drugs. The more women know about these things, the more they reject conventional cancer treatments altogether (and the more they seek out alternative therapies).

Alternative (natural) therapies are non-toxic, safe, affordable and highly effective at both preventing and treating cancer.
http://www.naturalnews.com/027788_Tamoxifen_brst_cancer.html

High-sugar diet alters intestinal bacteria, making losing weight more difficult
E. Huff, NaturalNews.com December 22, 2009 

(NaturalNews) A report published in the new journal Science Translational Medicine has made an interesting discovery concerning the relationship between sugar intake and the balance of intestinal flora. Researchers have discovered that a diet high in sugar and fat substantially alters the bacterial composition in the gut, making it difficult to maintain a healthy weight.

Dr. Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University in St. Louis has been accumulating research for years that highlights the role intestinal bacteria plays in regulating bodily weight. Intestinal flora, sometimes called "good" bacteria, is vital for the proper digestion of food and assimilation of nutrients into the blood. When digestive bacteria is out of balance or otherwise altered, the body is unable to convert otherwise indigestible foods into digestible form.

The research, conducted on mice, experimented with implanting various strains of bacteria into mice in order to observe their effects. The two primary divisions of bacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, compose approximately 90 percent of all bacteria. Studies by Dr. Gordon have revealed that Firmicutes bacteria are more efficient at digesting food that the body is unable to digest on its own.

With this in mind, Dr. Gordon decided to experiment with the various bacteria in gnotobiotic mice, or mice which had no bacteria in their intestines because they were raised in a sterile environment. What he found was that gnotobiotic mice who received bacteria from obese mice became obese as well. Similarly, those gnotobiotic mice who received lean-mice bacteria tended more towards leanness.

The same experiment was tried with human intestinal bacteria and similar results were achieved. What also became apparent was that mice who received bacteria from lean human intestines had a much higher proportion of Bacteroidetes than they did Firmicutes. 

These mice, who began with a low-fat diet rich in healthy plants, were switched to a high-sugar, high-fat diet following the implant of the lean human bacteria. It was discovered that within 24 hours, the two phyla compositions switched resulting in the Firmicutes bacteria becoming more dominant than the Bacteroidetes bacteria. 

This study illustrates the powerful correlation between diet and health in a way that has not typically been studied by researchers. The foundation of bodily health lies in the gut where bacterial colonies are designed to properly route and process nutrients for use in the body. When they get thrown out of balance due to improper diet, the entire body becomes susceptible to all sorts of diseases, including obesity.
http://www.naturalnews.com/027787_intestinal_bacteria_digestion.html

New research: natural exposure to everyday germs may protect kids from disease as adults
S. L. Baker, NaturalNews.com December 22, 2009 

(NaturalNews) Gone are the days when play time for kids often meant getting dirty making mud "pies", splashing in mud puddles and creeks, and climbing trees -- and when children washed their hands, mostly just before a meal, it was with plain soap and water. Modern day parents often take pride in keeping their little ones squeaky clean and as germ-free as possible, dousing them with antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers. But new Northwestern University research suggests that normal exposure to everyday germs is a natural way to prevent diseases in adulthood.

The study, published in the December 9th edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, is the first to investigate whether microbial exposures early in life affect inflammatory processes related to diseases in adulthood. Remarkably, the Northwestern study suggestsexposure to infectious microbes in childhood may actually protect youngsters from developing serious illnesses, including cardiovascular diseases, when they grow into adults.

"Contrary to assumptions related to earlier studies, our research suggests that ultra-clean, ultra-hygienic environments early in life may contribute to higher levels of inflammation as an adult, which in turn increases risks for a wide range of diseases," Thomas McDade, lead author of the study, said in a statement to the media. McDade is associate professor of anthropology in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research. 

He added that humans have only recently lived in super clean environments and it could well be time to put down the antibacterial soap. That's because the new research suggests that inflammatory systems need a reasonably high level of exposure to common everyday germs and other microbes to develop and work properly in the body. 

"In other words, inflammatory networks may need the same type of microbial exposures early in life that have been part of the human environment for all of our evolutionary history to function optimally in adulthood," stated McDade.

The Northwestern University researchers specifically studied how environments early in life might affect production of C-reactive protein (CRP), a protein that rises in the blood due to inflammation, in adulthood. Research concerning CRP, which is an important part of the immune system's fight against infection, has primarily focused on the protein as a possible predictor of heart disease. Scientists previously have mostly conducted CRP research in affluent settings, including the U.S., where there are relatively low levels of infectious diseases.

McDade and colleagues were interested in what CRP production looks like in the Philippines where residents have with a high level of infectious diseases in early childhood compared to Western countries. However, compared to Western countries, the people of the Philippines have relatively low rates of obesity (which is associated with CRP) and cardiovascular diseases.
How the research was conducted
The research team worked with data from a longitudinal study of Filipinos which began in the 1980s with 3,327 Filipino mothers in their third trimester of pregnancy. The mothers were interviewed about breast feeding and care giving and their households were assessed for socioeconomic levels, hygiene (including whether homes included domestic animals) and how many people lived in the home. 

Researchers also visited with the mothers after their babies were born and then every two months for the first two years of the children's lives. From that point on, the researchers followed up with the children every four or five years until the research subjects were approximately 22 years of age. During this entire period, records were kept on the children documenting their height and weight and any infectious diseases they contracted. 

Blood tests revealed Filipino participants in their early 20s had CRP concentrations on average of .2 milligrams per liter -- that's about five to seven times lower than the average CRP levels for Americans of the same age.

"In the U.S we have this idea that we need to protect infants and children from microbes and pathogens at all possible costs," McDade concluded. "But we may be depriving developing immune networks of important environmental input needed to guide their function throughout childhood and into adulthood. Without this input, our research suggests, inflammation may be more likely to be poorly regulated and result in inflammatory responses that are overblown or more difficult to turn off once things get started." 
http://www.naturalnews.com/027780_germs_inflammation.html

Fears over child fitness levels
Nick Triggle 
Health reporter, BBC News December 21, 2009
Sedentary lifestyles are making children less fit - even among those who are not obese, a study suggests.
Essex University staged fitness tests on 600 10-year-olds a decade apart in an area with low levels of obesity.
They found significant falls in fitness levels, concluding the average 10-year-old in 1998 could beat 95% of youngsters in 2008 in running tests.
The researchers said the focus on obesity was obscuring the health risks of wider declines in fitness levels.
Children are routinely weighed and measured in schools in England as part of the government's drive to tackle rising obesity rates, but there is no equivalent for fitness.
“ The measurement of obesity alone may not be sufficient to keep an eye on children's future health ” 
Dr Gavin Sandercock, lead researcher
The Essex team of sports experts chose to focus on Chelmsford, an affluent town with traditionally low levels of obesity, to illustrate how being a normal weight did not necessarily equate to having good fitness.
In 1998, they carried out 20m shuttle run tests - commonly known as the bleep test - on 303 children from six schools.
In 2008, the tests were repeated on a similar number of 10-year-olds, the Archives of Disease in Childhood reported.
While obesity levels had hardly changed, there was a significant shift in fitness which was "large and worrying".
Researchers said similar if not worse findings would be expected in areas with high levels of obesity.
Activity
Lead researcher Dr Gavin Sandercock said: "The measurement of obesity alone may not be sufficient to keep an eye on children's future health. We need some form of monitoring of fitness.
"We have a generation of children who are spending more and more time in front of a screen, whether it is a TV or a computer.
"Schools are now trying to do more, but it is the lack of unstructured activity outside that is the problem."
Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: "We have been concerned about the sedentary lifestyles of children for some time.
"But the focus on obesity is right at the moment because it is more directly linked to chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease."
A Department of Health spokesman said promoting physical activity remained a "top priority" and a key part of the obesity drive.
She added Change4Life, the government's campaign to promote healthy lifestyles, had "kick-started a lifestyle" revolution since it was launched in January.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8425161.stm

Sugary Soft Drinks Raise Risk of Diabetes for Pregnant Women

Researcher correlates even moderate amounts of sweet beverages with greater likelihood of developing gestational diabetes

VOA News, 21 December 2009

Soft drinks have become a staple of diets in both wealthy and poorer countries.  Now research shows that calories from those sugary drinks might increase a woman's risk of developing diabetes while she's pregnant.  

In the United States, beverages supply close to 20 percent of the calories people consume every day.  Most of those calories come from sugary soft drinks.  

Liwei Chen, a researcher from Louisiana State University, says all that sugar is a problem because it contributes to obesity and life threatening conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  Chen suspected that women in the habit of consuming lots of sugary drinks might be increasing their risk of gestational diabetes.  

"Gestational diabetes is a special condition among women who do not have a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes before pregnancy, but, you know, have glucose intolerance during pregnancy," Chen says. 

This inability to process sugar normally is not only a problem for the expectant mother.  It also creates problems for the baby. It's one of the most important causes of complications before and during birth. 

So Chen looked at data from a study of more than 13,000 women.  The women were asked about what they ate and drank.  After they became pregnant, researchers monitored their health for about ten years.

"And what we found is those women who had habitual intake of higher sugar-sweetened beverages have a much higher risk of gestational diabetes as compared to those women who consume very low amounts of those beverages," Chen says.

The women at higher risk drank about five sugary drinks a week.  Even though this level falls below the average consumption in the U.S. and many other countries, it still presents a problem.  Chen concluded that a woman who consumes this much sugar, even before she gets pregnant, puts herself and her baby at risk during the pregnancy.  

"So those women are pretty healthy before the pregnancy, but they develop the diabetes during the pregnancy," she says.

Chen adds many factors affect health that people cannot control, such as a familial pre-disposition to diabetes.  But she says diet is something that people can change, and changing diets can help women stay healthier during pregnancy.

Chen published her paper in the journal Diabetes Care.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/health/Sugary-Soft-Drinks-Raise-Risk-of-Diabetes-for-Pregnant-Women--79820472.html

Newly Researched Soy Component could be Nutritional Cancer Treatment

Michael Jolliffe, NaturalNews.com December 21, 2009

(NaturalNews) A little-known soy protein known as lunasin could become a novel nutritional cancer treatment, according to research carried out at the University of Illinois. Studies revealed that lunasin, a peptide discovered accidentally by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley more than ten years ago, may fight cancers such as leukemia and may also dampen down the inflammation that contributes to heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

A team at U Of I headed by Dr Elvira de Mejia conducted new cancer-related trials on lunasin, which was demonstrated to block key enzymes that contribute to the development of cancer, with a dose-dependent effect against leukemia cells.

It was also found to block NFkB, one of the body's most important inflammatory factors, that has been linked not only to cancer, but also to diseases as far ranging as obesity and Alzheimer's disease. [1]

Writing in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, Dr de Mejia expressed her belief that the compound would have similar effects when consumed by humans and may become an important nutritional cancer treatment and preventative.

"We confirmed lunasin's bioavailability in the human body by doing a third study in which men consumed 50 grams of soy protein--one soy milk shake and a serving of soy chili daily--for five days. Significant levels of the peptide in the participants' blood give us confidence that lunasin-rich soy foods can be important in providing these health benefits."

"We can see that daily consumption of lunasin-rich soy protein may help to reduce chronic inflammation", she added.

Ironically, it is the protein digestion inhibitors in soy, much derided by soy opponents, that appear to allow lunasin to avoid digestion and become absorbed into the body.

Until recently lunasin, which has also been found in small quantities in barley and rye grains, had been discarded as a waste product at soy processing plants. It was discovered in 1999 by Dr. Ben O. de Lumen, Ph.D, a professor at the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, University of California at Berkeley, California. Dr de Lumen and colleagues named the protein lunasin, which comes from the Tagalog word for "cure", and the compound soon lived up to its name after the Berkeley team was quickly able to establish a skin cancer-fighting effect in mice. [2]

Many researchers believe that the compound may also be responsible for soy's long-discussed cholesterol lowering properties. One of these researchers is Alfredo F. Galvez, Ph.D., a lead scientist at the Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics, University of California, Davis.

"The presence of the lunasin peptide in soy protein preparations provides a plausible mechanism of action to explain the cholesterol-lowering effect attributed to soy protein and paves the way for optimizing soy protein ingredients to maximize its heart-healthy benefits", wrote Dr Gonzalez in a not-yet-published abstract. [3]

Researchers in the Phillipines now plan to conduct clinical trials in the Philippines on lunasin as a nutritional cancer treatment for cervical tumours.

[1] Lunasin, with an arginine-glycine-aspartic acid motif, causes apoptosis to L1210 leukemia cells by activation of caspase-3 (p NA; Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, Wenyi Wang, Vermont P. Dia; Published Online: Nov 24 2009 1:14AM; DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.200900073.
[2] "Chemopreventive property of a soybean peptide (lunasin) that binds to deacetylated histones and inhibits acetylation." Galvez AF, Chen, N, Macaseib J, de Lumen BO. Div. of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, Uv. of California, Berkely, USA. Cancer Res. 2001 Oct 15;61(20):7473-8
[3] http://www.lunasin.com/Research/tab...
http://www.naturalnews.com/027782_soy_cancer.html

Toothpaste Ingredients Your Dentist Will Not Warn You About
Flora Stay, D.D.S., NaturalNews.com December 22, 2009

(NaturalNews) One of the fastest ways to absorb anything into the body is through the mouth. This is why certain drugs such as heart medication nitroglycerin and some pain relief drugs are administered under the tongue. Because of this, you should be aware that potentially toxic ingredients in your toothpaste and mouthwash could also be absorbed into your body.

Unfortunately, your dentist may think he or she knows what to recommend for you, but chances are that is not the case.

The following is a list of some potentially toxic ingredients in dental and other personal care products and of the reasons for concern that your dentistprobably does not realize:

1.Fluoride - FDA warning on toothpaste/mouthwash containing fluoride reads: "WARNING, keep out of reach of children under the age of 6. If more than used for normal brushing is swallowed, contact your physician or local Poison Control Center immediately."

Children`s toothpaste often has flavors that taste like candy or bubblegum which may tempt children to swallow it. This can be a problem since the warning states that even small amounts of fluoride swallowed can cause serious health risks.

Toxic dosage of toothpaste with fluoride can cause death. For example, death could result if a 2 year old swallows 42 percent of a tube of fluoride toothpaste, a 4 year old swallows 56 percent of a tube of fluoride toothpaste or a 6 year old swallows 70 percent of the contents of a fluoride toothpaste tube.

2.Triclosan - This antibiotic/antimicrobial agent is used in many products including dishwashing soap, hand soap, deodorants, toothpaste andmouthwash. In August 2009 the Canadian Medical Association requested Canada Health to ban triclosan use in personal care products due to development of bacterial resistance. In 2006 and 2009, studies demonstrated triclosan exposure significantly impacts thyroid hormone concentrations. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports frequent use of antibiotics could lead to growth of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. We all know of the rise in `superbugs` that are resistant to most antibiotics and have resulted in deaths.

3.Sodium Lauryl Sulfate - Using toothpaste without sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) may reduce the frequency of canker sores (aphthous ulcers). Researchers speculate that SLS dries out the protective mucous lining in the mouth...making it vulnerable to irritants that lead to canker sores. SLS is a detergent that is in almost all toothpastes, dishwashing soaps and body washes.

4.Abrasives - Tooth sensitivity is caused by many factors. A term used for certain types of tooth sensitivity is known as `abfractions` and may be caused by abrasive toothpaste. Some toothpaste including teeth whitening pastes and tartar control brands may contain stronger abrasives. A test available, but not used by most brands is called the RDA rating. This determines the abrasiveness of toothpaste to dentin, the middle layer of teeth. Unless the RDA (Relative Dentin Abrasivity) of a brand is known, the consumer or dentist may not know if tooth abrasion was caused on some level by the toothpaste used.

5.Artificial sweeteners - The FDA has vacillated over the years about the safety of artificial sweeteners such as saccharin. Canada Health has still not approved saccharin as safe.

6.Botanical ingredients - Drugs come from plants, and many herbs including the popular tea tree oil have side effects and drug interactions. NIH along with MedlinePlus website have an excellent source to check herbal ingredients for their false vs true indications and potentially harmful side effects; you can find which ones pregnant women and children should specially avoid: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/...
http://www.naturalnews.com/027786_toothpaste_dentist.html

Depression Saps Endurance of the Brain's Reward Circuitry

ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2009) — A new study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that depressed patients are unable to sustain activity in brain areas related to positive emotion.
The study challenges previous notions that individuals with depression show less brain activity in areas associated with positive emotion. Instead, the new data suggest similar initial levels of activity, but an inability to sustain them over time. The new work was reported online the week of Dec. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure in things normally rewarding, is a cardinal symptom of depression," explains UW-Madison graduate student Aaron Heller, who led the project. "Scientists have generally thought that anhedonia is associated with a general reduction of activity in brain areas thought to be important for positive emotion and reward. In fact, we found that depressed patients showed normal levels of activity early on in the experiment. However, towards the end of the experiment, those levels of activity dropped off precipitously.
"Those depressed subjects who were better able to sustain activity in brain regions related to positive emotion and reward also reported higher levels of positive emotion in their everyday experience," Heller continues.
"Being able to sustain and even enhance one's own positive emotional experience is a critical component of health and well-being," notes the study's senior author, Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry and director of both the UW-Madison Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, and the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior. "These findings may lead to therapeutic interventions that enable depressed individuals to better sustain positive emotion in their daily lives."
During the study, 27 depressed patients and 19 control participants were presented with visual images intended to evoke either a positive or a negative emotional response. While viewing these images, participants were instructed to use cognitive strategies to increase, decrease or maintain their emotional responses to the images by imagining themselves in similar scenarios. Heller and colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity in the target areas. The scientists examined the extent to which activation in the brain's reward centers to positive pictures was sustained over time.
The work was funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals, Fetzer Institute and Impact Foundation, and by gifts from the John W. Kluge Foundation, Bryant Wangard, Ralph Robinson and Keith and Arlene Bronstein.

New Research Sheds Light on Our Reactions to Humanitarian Crises

ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2009) — Millions of lives are lost around the world each year to accidents, terrorist attacks, wars, epidemics and natural disasters. What's more, the prediction is that climate change will increase the number and intensity of some of these events. Newly published research from the ESRC Centre for Economic Learning and Social Evolution (ELSE) suggests that the way people -- whether members of the public or policy makers -- react when faced with human fatalities is highly dependent on the distribution of death tolls they are typically exposed to.
The findings could have important implications for multi-lateral donors, national governments, aid agencies and the press in terms of planning for, fundraising for, reporting on and responding to such emergencies.
Reactions to these tragic events depend largely on the size of their associated death tolls. A disaster involving millions of victims tends to produce a bigger response than one that impacts on tens of thousands of our fellow humans. Previous research has shown, however, that people tend to show a diminishing sensitivity to the numbers of lives involved. As an event's death toll increases, each additional death seems less shocking, so that, for example, we appear to care less about the last thousand people to die in a large-scale disaster than the first thousand fatalities.
Despite its grave implications, the reason for this tendency has until now not been well understood. Christopher Olivola, a researcher from University College London and ELSE, along with Namika Sagara from the University of Oregon, have published research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explaining what may cause such diminishing sensitivity.
The research has demonstrated for the first time that our motivation to act is based on our memory of similar events and a comparative, rather than absolute, evaluation of human death tolls. It suggests that reactions to fatalities are fundamentally relative and dependent on personal history.
According to Drs. Olivola and Sagara, we evaluate the seriousness of a disaster by first drawing upon a sample of comparable events from our memory to obtain a set of comparison death tolls. We might, for example, compare a target event with other disasters that we have seen in the news or heard about from talking to family, friends, or colleagues. Then we compare the target event with all those we have drawn from memory. The ''shock'' associated with a target death toll is simply its relative rank-position within the set of comparison events rather than some fundamental value on a scale of human fatalities. This new research stresses that our responses will be shaped by the environment we live in -- in particular the frequency with which we observe small or large death tolls in the news and in our day-to-day lives.
In a series of studies, Drs. Olivola and Sagara demonstrate that our diminishing sensitivity to human fatalities seems to follow from the fact that death tolls are distributed in such a way that most deadly events involve very few deaths, while a few events involve very large numbers of human fatalities. As they show in one experiment, this sensitivity is malleable and can be altered by exposing people to varying distributions of death tolls.
Another implication of this research is that sensitivity to human fatalities will differ predictably across countries, as a function of the distribution of death tolls they are typically exposed to. In a country, such as the UK, which is unused to mass deaths, a medium-scale disaster will seem really shocking, but the shock value will quickly start to blur as the numbers increase so that large-scale events will seem indistinguishable. However, in a country where mass deaths are more common, a medium-scale disaster may seem less shocking but people will be more sensitive to differences in magnitude between large-scale events because they have observed many more of them.
In line with this prediction, Drs. Olivola and Sagara compared respondents in India, Indonesia, Japan, and the US, and found evidence of greater diminishing sensitivity to fatalities in the latter two countries (which tend to experience relatively fewer large-scale disasters) than in the former two.
"On a theoretical level, this research fundamentally challenges the view that the value we place on human lives is governed by stable underlying disutility functions. On a practical level, it advances our understanding of people's reactions to humanitarian crises and other deadly events. For example, it would seem that wealthy nations which have the resources to help those countries most affected by mass deaths also have populations that are most likely to show a diminishing sensitivity to human fatalities. We hope this knowledge will ultimately help save many lives." explains Dr. Olivola.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091220174835.htm

Physicians Knowledge of Childhood Food Allergies Needs Room for Improvement, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2009) — With an estimated four to six percent of children in the U.S. suffering from food allergies, a new study shows that pediatricians and family physicians aren't always confident they have the ability to diagnose or treat food allergies.
A study published in the January 2010 issue of Pediatrics and headed by Dr. Ruchi Gupta, M.D., M.P.H., a researcher at Children's Memorial Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, brought attention to current knowledge gaps among primary care physicians in the diagnosis and management of food allergy.
Researchers at Children's Memorial used the Chicago Food Allergy Research Survey for Pediatricians and Family Physicians to analyze physicians' knowledge and perceptions of food-related allergies in children. More than 400 pediatricians and family physicians across the nation responded to questions in areas ranging from the definition and diagnosis of food allergy to appropriate treatment and use of healthcare among affected children. Notably, 99 percent of those surveyed reported providing care for children with food allergy.
Participants' overall knowledge of food allergy was fair, with misconceptions and conflicting ideas commonly reported. For example, most participants incorrectly identified chronic nasal congestion as a symptom of food allergy. The majority of physicians were proficient in identifying common childhood food allergies however they were less knowledgeable about the frequencies with which these allergies are outgrown. While the severity of food allergies and potential for anaphylaxis was acknowledged among those surveyed, few knew the appropriate dosage of epinephrine in the treatment of anaphylaxis or that teenagers are at a greater risk of fatality due to anaphylaxis compared to younger children. Such inconsistencies among providers likely contribute to uncertainties among caregivers and families.
"Many physicians themselves reported not being comfortable with diagnosis, treatment, or interpreting labs for food allergies," says Dr. Gupta, "Understanding theses misconceptions will help us to create an intervention tool to close the knowledge gap." Dr. Gupta and her team are working to create a food allergy module that can easily be used by physicians in the office as a reference when providing care to food-allergic children.
The research was completed by Ruchi Gupta, M.D., M.P.H.; Elizabeth E. Springston, A.B.; Jennifer S. Kim, M.D.; Bridget Smith, Ph.D.; Jacqueline A. Pongracic, M.D.; Xiaobin Wang, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D.; and Jane Holl, M.D. M.P.H.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091209134906.htm

Global temperatures to rise more than expected

Times of India, 21 December 2009

A new study led by Yale University geologists has suggested that the kinds of increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) taking place today could have a significantly larger effect on global temperatures than previously thought. 

The team demonstrated that only a relatively small rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) was associated with a period of substantial warming in the mid- and early-Pliocene era, between three to five million years ago, when temperatures were approximately 3 to 4 degrees Celsius warmer than they are today. 

Climate sensitivity—the mean global temperature response to a doubling of the concentration of atmospheric CO2—is estimated to be 1.5 to 4.5 degrees Celsius, using current models. 

“These models take into account only relatively fast feedbacks, such as changes in atmospheric water vapor and the distribution of sea ice, clouds and aerosols,” said Mark Pagani, associate professor of geology and geophysics at Yale and lead author of the study. 

“We wanted to look at Earth-system climate sensitivity, which includes the effects of long-term feedbacks such as change in continental ice-sheets, terrestrial ecosystems and greenhouse gases other than CO2,” he added. 

To do this, the team focused on the most recent episode of sustained global warmth with geography similar to todays. 

Their reconstructed CO2 concentrations for the past five million years was used to estimate Earth-system climate sensitivity for a fully equilibrated state of the planet, and found that a relatively small rise in CO2 levels was associated with substantial global warming 4.5 million years ago. 

They also found that the global temperature was 2 to 3 degrees Celsius higher than today while CO2 levels were only between about 365 and 415 parts per million (ppm)—similar to today’s concentration of about 386 ppm. 

“This work and other ancient climate reconstructions reveal that Earth’s climate is more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide than is discussed in policy circles,” Pagani said. 

“Since there is no indication that the future will behave differently than the past, we should expect a couple of degrees of continued warming even if we held CO2 concentrations at the current level,” he added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/health-fitness/health/Global-temperatures-to-rise-more-than-expected/articleshow/5361402.cms