Spice of Life Might Help Prevent Alzheimer's
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1. Spice of Life Might Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Turmeric, which is called the spice of life in ancient Indian lore, might help fight Alzheimer’s, according to initial stages of a study. The spice is an integral ingredient in curry, and tests on laboratory rats have provided evidence that curry helps prevent dementia. A human clinical trial is under way in California. Murali Doraiswamy, director of the mental fitness laboratory at the Duke University Medical Center's psychiatry department, told a conference that curcumin, an element of turmeric, appears to prevent the accumulation of amyloid plaques. The plaques are toxic proteins found in the brains of Alzheimer’s victims and are a key characteristic of the disease. The plaques are thought to interfere with the electrical signals between brain cells. In animal trials, high doses of curcumin not only prevented the plaques from forming but also dissolved existing plaques. “You can modify a mouse so that at about 12 months its brain is riddled with plaques,” Doraiswamy told United Kingdom’s Doncaster Free Press. “If you feed it a curcumin-rich diet it dissolves these plaques. The same diet prevented younger mice from forming new plaques. “Studies looking at populations show that people who eat a curry meal two or three times a week seem to have a lower risk for dementia,” he said. “These studies seem to show that you need only consume what is part of the normal diet, but the research studies are testing higher doses to see if they can maximize the effect. It would be equivalent of going on a curry spree for a week.” Turmeric also is being studied for its possible ability to lower the incidence of cancer and arthritis. Editor's Note: 2. Link Found Between Parkinson’s and Pesticides A new epidemiological study involving the exposure of French farmworkers to pesticides tied that exposure to Parkinson's disease, especially for organochlorine insecticides. The study, published in Annals of Neurology, the official journal of the American Neurological Association, involved individuals affiliated with the French health insurance organization for agricultural workers who were exposed frequently to pesticides in the course of their work. Occupational health physicians constructed a detailed lifetime exposure history to pesticides by interviewing participants, visiting farms, and collecting a large amount of data on pesticide exposure. These included farm size, type of crops, animal breeding, which pesticides were used, time period of use, frequency and duration of exposure per year, and spraying method. The study found that Parkinson's patients had been exposed to pesticides through their work more frequently and for a greater number of years/hours than those without the diseases. Among the three main classes of pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides), researchers found the largest difference for insecticides: Men who had used insecticides had a two-fold increase in the risk. The cause of Parkinson's disease, the second-most-frequent neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease, is unknown, but it is believed to involve a combination of environmental risk factors and genetic susceptibility in most cases. Laboratory studies in rats have shown that injecting the insecticide rotenone leads to an animal model of Parkinson's, and several epidemiological studies have shown an association between pesticides and the disease. But previous studies had not identified specific pesticides or studied the amount of exposure relating to the association. "Our findings support the hypothesis that environmental risk factors such as professional pesticide exposure may lead to neurodegeneration," said the lead researcher in the new study. The study highlights the need to educate workers applying pesticides as to how these products should be used and the importance of promoting and encouraging the use of protective devices. In addition to the significance of the study for those with a high level of exposure to pesticides, it also raises the question about the role of lower-level environmental exposure through air, water and food, and additional studies are needed to address this question. Editor's Note: 3. Cherry Juice May Be New Sports Drink Drinking cherry juice could help ease the pain for people who run, according to new research from Oregon Health & Science University presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference in Seattle, Wash. The study showed that people who drank tart cherry juice while training for a long-distance run reported significantly less pain after exercise than those who didn't. Post-exercise pain often can indicate muscle damage or debilitating injuries. In the study of 60 healthy adults ages 18-50, those who drank 10.5 ounces cherry juice (CHERRish 100 percent Montmorency cherry juice) twice a day for seven days before and on the day of a long-distance relay had significantly less muscle pain following the race than those who drank another fruit juice beverage. On a scale from 0 to 10, the runners who drank cherry juice as their "sports drink" had a 2-point lower self-reported pain level at the completion of the race, a clinically significant difference. Although more research is needed to understand the effects of tart cherry juice, researchers say the early finding indicate cherries may work like common medications runners use to alleviate post-exercise inflammation. "For most runners, post-race treatment consists of RICE (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) and traditional NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)," said Dr. Kerry Kuehl, a sports medicine physician and principal study investigator. "But NSAIDS can have adverse effects — negative effects you may be able to avoid by using a natural, whole food alternative, like cherry juice, to reduce muscle inflammation before exercise." The researchers suggest cherries' post-exercise benefits are likely because of the fruit's natural anti-inflammation power. They attributed that power to antioxidant compounds called anthocyanins, which also give cherries their bright red color. This natural anti-inflammation power of cherry juice could have far-reaching benefits for the millions of active Americans currently taking over-the-counter pain medications to reduce muscle pain and beyond. A growing body of research suggests that cherries could affect inflammation related to heart disease, arthritis and even might help maintain muscle strength for those suffering from fibromyalgia (a common, chronic widespread pain disorder), according to a second study presented by the same researchers at the ACSM conference. Editor's Note: 4. Video Games Can Deliver Fun Workouts Video game lovers are being coaxed off couches as the industry sprints ahead with a trend toward fitness titles and motion-sensing controllers. The premier Electronic Entertainment Expo that wrapped in Los Angeles Thursday was rife with exercise, sports, and dance video games that people play by moving their bodies instead of just their thumbs. "A really exciting trend is publishers getting people off the couch and moving," said Scott Steinberg of video game and gadget Web site Digital Trends. "Video gaming doesn't always add pounds. It can burn calories instead." Analysts credit Nintendo with revolutionizing the way videogames are played with the release in 2006 of Wii consoles with motion-sensing controllers. Traditional controllers on consoles such as Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 feature toggles and buttons players manipulate to dictate characters' actions. About a year ago, Nintendo introduced a "Wii Fit" exercise game with a controller shaped like a bathroom scale that senses the weight, balance, and shift of pressure players make. The game has become a top seller worldwide, according to Nintendo. Other video game makers, including U.S. titan Electronic Arts and France-based Ubisoft, have crafted workout titles of their own for Wii consoles, and Nintendo soon will release an enhanced "Wii Fit Plus" video game. Video game software lets players act out soccer, tennis, basketball, canoeing, and other sports. Such games let people try risky new endeavors without having to face the consequences common to learning, or failing at, such activities, said Michael Cai, video game research vice president at Interpret. "Fitness can be designed for a lot of active games," Cai said. "The only concern is whether, like health club memberships or treadmills, people will buy them and forget about them." Copyright AFP Editor's Note: 5. FDA Releases List of Potential Drug Risks U.S. regulators on Thursday listed two dozen drugs, including weight-loss medicines and sleep disorder pills, that it is reviewing for potential safety problems. Many of the issues have been disclosed previously, but the Food and Drug Administration continues to review them. The FDA is checking Pfizer Inc.'s smoking cessation drug Chantix for possible risk of accidental injury, vision impairment and other issues, and Cephalon Inc.'s sleep disorder drugs Nuvigil and Provigil for a potential of serious skin reactions. Other drugs listed included orlistat, a weight-loss drug that Roche Inc. sells as the prescription product Xenical and GlaxoSmithKline Plc sells as the over-the-counter drug Alli. The FDA said it is continuing to evaluate liver toxicity reports for orlistat. Pfizer's overactive bladder drug Detrol is being investigated in connection with reports of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a serious skin reaction, the FDA said. The problems are potential safety issues and their appearance on the list "does not mean that FDA has identified a causal relationship" with the drug, the agency said. Roche spokesman Terry Hurley, commenting on the listing of Xenical, said available data "does not suggest that orlistat is causally related" to liver problems, noting that obesity itself is a risk factor for liver injury. Glaxo spokeswoman Mary Anne Rhyne also said "no causal relationship . . . has been established" between Alli and hepatitis, a liver disease. Pfizer spokeswoman Sally Beatty said the maker of Chantix evaluates any reports of health problems and "as with all our medicines, we work with the FDA to ensure our labeling reflects the latest safety information." The FDA had said last year it was taking a closer look at Chantix after reports of accidents, vision loss, and other problems in hundreds of patients. A Cephalon spokeswoman did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Nuvigil and Provigil. Serious skin reactions were identified as an issue with the drugs in 2007 and the FDA continues to study the matter, the agency said. A spokeswoman for Glaxo could not be reached for comment on the listing of Alli. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's HIV drug, Sustiva, was listed because of one report of an eye-related birth defect. A description of the case was added to the drug's prescribing instructions in March 2009, the FDA said. Bristol-Myers spokeswoman Cristi Barnett said the drug's label states it should be used in pregnant women only "if the benefit to the patient justifies the potential risk to the fetus." The FDA also is probing pancreatitis with Bayer AG's contraceptive Yasmin, the agency's list said. Bayer spokeswoman Rose Talarico said the listing "was not prompted by any change in the existing safety profile" of Yasmin and the company "continues to work with the FDA to ensure that the most up-to-date and accurate safety information" is included in the drug's label. The FDA posted the list on its Web site. To view Go Here. Copyright Reuters Editor's Note: Editor's Notes:
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