Archive for the 'Mental Health' Category
August 13th, 2008 -- Posted in Arthritis / Joint Pain, Life Extension, Mental Health, Osteoporosis / Bone Health |
The University of Illinois at Chicago will receive $4.25 million over the next five years for research on aging individuals with disabilities, and the award will be partially matched by Special Olympics International.
UIC’s Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with Developmental Disabilities (RRTC) will start receiving its money on October 1 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), which is part of the U.S. Department of Education.
“This new funding that starts in October is going to build on [our previous research] but it has more of a lifespan focus,” said professor and head of RRTC, Tamar Heller, Ph.D. She added that not much research has been done on adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The UIC center received a similar grant in 2003, according to a spokesman from the Department of Education.
The RRTC received the grants in 2003 and in 2008 due to its well-received proposals in peer review and the progress it made in its activities, he said.
One out of the seven studies that will make use of the grant money will also use health screening data collected from athletes participating in the Special Olympics, a project partner with RRTC.
“The Special Olympics does screenings for thousands of people around the world and we’re going to be working with them to look at some of that screening data,” Heller said.
Heller and her research team will use this data to determine, over time, what risks or secondary conditions people with disabilities have that may be related to their disability. For example, Heller explains that individuals with Down’s syndrome have a higher propensity for osteoporosis.
“The Special Olympics population is very much a convenience sample for UIC,” said Special Olympics’ senior vice president for constituent services and support, Stephen Corbin. He agrees with Heller that more research needs to be done on adults with disabilities, especially in terms of what risk factors and environmental variables affect overall health.
So for the next several years, RRTC will use Special Olympic athletes’ health screening data to track long-term health trends.
“It’s one thing to show something in a lab or a clinic, but we will want to show how to improve lives in the real world,” Heller said.
Source: MedIll NorthWestern University, Elyse Russo (”http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=97197“)
August 11th, 2008 -- Posted in Alzheimers, Mental Health |
For Jim Easton, a UCLA alumnus and longtime benefactor of the university, his $10 million donation to the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at UCLA’s Department of Neurology is truly a gift from the heart. It honors his mother, who died from the disease.
“My mother lived a long and productive life that ended in a devastating way,” Easton said. “She was involved in the beginning of my father’s small sporting goods manufacturing business and continued to work in the administrative and financial areas until the effects of Alzheimer’s caused her to retire.
“I hope my gift, along with donations from many others, will help make it possible for the talented scientists and physicians at UCLA to develop a cure and eventually prevent Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.
In recognition of Easton’s generosity, the center has been renamed the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research. Easton’s $10-million gift will support research by the newly established Jim Easton Consortium for Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery and Biomarker Development, the principal research vehicle of the Easton Center.
A 1959 graduate of UCLA, Easton is chairman and chief executive officer of Jas. D. Easton Inc., a privately owned manufacturer of sports equipment, with headquarters in Van Nuys, Calif. He is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee, for which he served as vice president from 2002 to 2006.
Easton has given generously to other areas at UCLA, including Intercollegiate Athletics, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Anderson School of Management.
Five inaugural projects have been chosen for support through the Easton Consortium. They reflect the most promising investigations in Alzheimer’s disease conducted by UCLA’s dedicated physicians and scientists. They include:
- Investigation of the molecular structure of the toxic protein that accumulates in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease.
- Studies of the molecular interactions that make the protein involved in Alzheimer’s toxic.
- Characterization of and intervention for Alzheimer’s in genetically engineered mouse models.
- Studies involving familial Alzheimer’s patients.
- Genetic studies and serial imaging of patients with Alzheimer’s.
“I am truly grateful for Jim’s commitment to accelerating leading-edge research to develop new treatment approaches and prevention strategies for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, UCLA professor of neurology and director of the Easton Center.
Founded in 1991, UCLA’s Alzheimer’s research center conducts research and provides care relevant to normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of late-onset cognitive decline.
A formal dedication ceremony for the Easton Center will take place this fall.
The Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research is part of the UCLA Department of Neurology, which encompasses more than a dozen research, clinical and teaching programs. These programs cover brain mapping and neuroimaging, movement disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, multiple sclerosis, neurogenetics, nerve and muscle disorders, epilepsy, neuro-oncology, neurotology, neuropsychology, headaches and migraines, neurorehabilitation, and neurovascular disorders. The department ranked No. 1 in 2005 and 2006 among its peers nationwide in National Institutes of Health funding. For more information, visit
http://neurology.medsch.ucla.edu/.
August 8th, 2008 -- Posted in Brain Food, Life Extension, Physical Health |
Herbs and spices are rich in antioxidants, and a new University of Georgia study suggests they are also potent inhibitors of tissue damage and inflammation caused by high levels of blood sugar.
Researchers, whose results appear in the current issue of the Journal of Medicinal Food, tested extracts from 24 common herbs and spices. In addition to finding high levels of antioxidant-rich compounds known as phenols, they revealed a direct correlation between phenol content and the ability of the extracts to block the formation of compounds that contribute to damage caused by diabetes and aging.
“Because herbs and spices have a very low calorie content and are relatively inexpensive, they’re a great way to get a lot of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power into your diet,” said study co-author James Hargrove, associate professor of foods and nutrition in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Hargrove explained that when blood sugar levels are high, a process known as protein glycation occurs in which the sugar bonds with proteins to eventually form what are known as advanced glycation end products, also known as AGE compounds. The acronym is fitting because these compounds activate the immune system, resulting in the inflammation and tissue damage associated with aging and diabetes.
The researchers found a strong and direct correlation between the phenol content of common herbs and spices and their ability to inhibit the formation of AGE compounds. Spices such as cloves and cinnamon had phenol levels that were 30 percent and 18 percent of dry weight, respectively, while herbs such as oregano and sage were eight and six percent phenol by dry weight, respectively. For comparison, blueberries – which are widely touted for their antioxidant capabilities – contain roughly five percent phenol by dry weight.
Study co-author Diane Hartle, associate professor in the UGA College of Pharmacy, said various phenols are absorbed differently by the body and have different mechanisms of action, so it’s likely that a variety of spices will provide maximum benefit.
“If you set up a good herb and spice cabinet and season your food liberally, you could double or even triple the medicinal value of your meal without increasing the caloric content,” she said.
She added that controlling blood sugar and the formation of AGE compounds can also decrease the risk of cardiovascular damage associated with diabetes and aging. She explained that high blood sugar accelerates heart disease partly because AGE compounds form in the blood and in the walls of blood vessels. The AGE compounds aggravate atherosclerosis, which produces cholesterol plaques.
The UGA researchers tested for the ability to block AGE compounds in a test tube, but animal studies conducted on the health benefits of spices lend support to their argument. Cinnamon and cinnamon extracts, for example, have been shown to lower blood sugar in mice. Interestingly, cinnamon lowers blood sugar by acting on several different levels, Hargrove said. It slows the emptying of the stomach to reduce sharp rises in blood sugar following meals and improves the effectiveness, or sensitivity, of insulin. It also enhances antioxidant defenses.
Hargrove said their findings suggest it’s likely that the herbs and spices they studied will provide similar benefits in animal tests. He points out that because humans have been consuming herbs and spices for thousands of years, they come without the risk of possible side effects that accompany medications.
“Culinary herbs and spices are all generally recognized as safe and have been time-tested in the diet,” he said. “Indeed, some of spices and herbals are now sold as food supplements because of their recognized health benefits.”
Study co-author Phillip Greenspan, associate professor in the College of Pharmacy, noted that most people don’t get their recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Rather than seasoning their food with salt – which provides no beneficial phenols and has been linked to high blood pressure – he recommends that people use a variety of herbs and spices to help boost the nutritional quality of their meals.
“When you add herbs and spices to food, you definitely provide yourself with additional benefits besides taste,” Greenspan said.
Source:Science Daily (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080805153830.htm)
August 4th, 2008 -- Posted in Brain Food, Mental Health, Physical Health |
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Food does more than satisfy hunger; it provides fuel for the body and mind, too. So as you make a list of school supplies to buy for the upcoming school year, don’t forget to consider the items at your local supermarket that can also help prepare your child for the classroom.
Catherine Kraus, RD, M.Ed, CHES, a dietitian at the University of Michigan Health System, says that a balanced, healthy diet enables chemical messengers in the brain — known as neurotransmitters — to function more efficiently. This produces better concentration and memory.
Parents can take several steps to create well-balanced meals and snacks that provide children the energy and nutrition they need to perform well at school, notes Kraus, a member of the Pediatric Comprehensive Weight Management Center at U-M C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
Breakfast. Research has demonstrated that students who skip breakfast in the morning don’t perform as well as students who do eat breakfast. Kraus recommends serving a healthy breakfast that consists of a whole grain cereal, oatmeal or bread with a form of protein, such as peanut butter or a hard-boiled egg.
Pairing the meal with whole fruit instead of a fruit juice offers a way to add more vitamins, minerals and fiber into a diet. Kraus adds that dairy products are an acceptable addition to your child’s breakfast, as long as they are in the form of fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt or cheese.
Lunch. While many schools are making efforts to include healthier items on lunch menus, high-calorie items still exist — including pizza, nachos and sweetened drinks. If you are concerned about your child’s cafeteria choices, Kraus recommends packing a lunch.
“When children consume a high-fat, high-sugar meal, their bodies will crash, and they will be come very tired and lethargic — which is not going to help them perform at their best level in school,” explains Kraus.
When packing a lunch, variety is best; choose an assortment of fruits and vegetables in various colors and sizes. This ensures that kids receive a mix of vitamins and minerals, and it will prevent them from becoming bored with the same packed lunch routine every day. Kraus recommends including a type of whole grain product in the meal, such as tortillas or bread, with a lean protein, such as tuna, turkey or chicken.
She also notes that sweetened beverages are full of empty calories and don’t provide any nutritional value. Opt for a beverage that does not contain added sugars — such as water, fat-free or low-fat milk, or 100 percent fruit juice.
Snacks. When it comes to snack foods, Kraus says that the proper adage to follow is, “Out of sight, out of mind.”
“When you are grocery shopping, keep in mind that if a snack is in the home, your children will likely eat it. So keep healthy food in the house at all times to ensure that they will always have healthy snack options. If you keep candy bars and fruit in the home, most children would pick the candy bar. So just keep it out of the house,” she says.
Focus on finding snack foods that will keep your kids satisfied until dinner and energized for homework and studying. For optimal energy and hunger satisfaction, Kraus recommends pairing protein with a high fiber carbohydrate; serve up string cheese or peanut butter with whole grain crackers or prepare a half-sandwich made with whole grain bread or pita. Another tasty treat option is creating a homemade smoothie by blending yogurt and fruit together.
She also suggests that parents take time each day to wash and slice fresh fruits and vegetables. Remember to place the produce on the counter or at eye level in the refrigerator so it is more accessible to children.
Dinner. “A smart dinner will help your child’s brain function. If they are satisfied after dinnertime then they will sleep through the night, and a child needs at least eight to nine hours of sleep a night in order to function while in school the next day,” explains Kraus.
She says that half of a “smart” dinner plate should be made up of fruits and vegetables, and a quarter of the plate should consist of a lean protein. Fill the remaining quarter with whole grains, such as brown rice or whole wheat pasta.
Overall Kraus says that encouraging your children to eat smart during the school day can help them develop healthy habits for life.
“Childhood is a crucial time when bodies are growing and brains are developing,” she says. “It’s so important to fuel the body with good nutrition, and teaching children smart eating habits at a young age is a great idea. It starts with the parents serving as the role model.”
July 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Arthritis / Joint Pain, Brain Food, Life Extension, Mental Health, Physical Health |
If Bruce Lipshutz has his way, you may soon be buying bottles of water brimming with the life-sustaining coenzyme CoQ10 at your local Costco.
Lipshutz, a professor of chemistry at UC Santa Barbara, is the principal author of an upcoming review, “Transition Metal Catalyzed Cross-Couplings Going Green: in Water at Room Temperature,” which will be published in Aldrichimica Acta in September. In it, Lipshutz and post-doctoral researcher Subir Ghorai discuss how recent advances in chemistry can be used to solubilize otherwise naturally insoluble compounds like CoQ10 into water.
Never heard of CoQ10? Lipshutz says you’re not alone. “If you don’t know anything about it,” Lipshutz said during a recent interview, “that’s not surprising to me. Much of the public hasn’t heard of it.” But he’s on a mission to correct what he views as a major oversight. “In a sense, I’m just a messenger. People need to not only know about CoQ10, they need to take it.”
Like vitamin C, CoQ10 is a compound that’s vital to our survival. It’s a coenzyme that our cells synthesize, albeit in 21 steps, and it’s in every cell. This contrasts with a vitamin, such as vitamin C, which is not made by the body. Both CoQ10 and vitamin C are “compounds of evolution,” Lipshutz said. “Everybody accepts the importance of vitamin C. The reason the public does not fully appreciate it is that there’s no Linus Pauling for CoQ10. There is no champion.”
Pauling, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, was also an advocate for greater consumption of vitamin C. “CoQ is not really in that category of public awareness yet,” Lipshutz said.
While the body produces its own CoQ10, that production decreases with age. “Nature gave us, through 2.5 billion years of evolution, a number of fundamental anti-aging, free-radical scavengers that helped us to survive, on average, only to about 40 years of age, until modern medicine came along,” Lipshutz said.
A large percentage of the body is made up of water, “but there are also the lipophilic portions of our cells that make up the non-aqueous part,” Lipshutz explained. At some point in our evolution, the water-soluble antioxidant vitamin C was produced in vivo, or what would technically be “coenzyme C.” Eventually, “a mutation took place that now prevents humans from making it,” he said. “However, evolution chose not to mutate out CoQ10.”
If one doesn’t get vitamin C, the consequences can be dire. “It’s essential for several cellular processes. For example, everyone knows about scurvy,” Lipshutz said. “You can last 30 days, maybe 60 days, as your cells deteriorate.”
On the other hand, CoQ10 – much of which is in the mitochondria of our cells – is essential for cellular respiration and ATP (adenosine triphosphate) production. “You wouldn’t last 30 minutes without CoQ10,” he said. “Thus, evolution teaches us that CoQ10 is as important as vitamin C. But who’s teaching this to our aging population? Nobody.”
Lipshutz has a history of CoQ10 research at UCSB. Initially, he retooled the chemistry that would produce the supplement via synthesis instead of fermentation, which is what Japan used to become the world leader in CoQ10 production. But China’s entry into the CoQ10 market only a few years ago changed everything.
“The price of CoQ for over 30 years was about $1,600 per kilo as produced by the Japanese,” Lipshutz said. “The Chinese came along and, for the time being, have dramatically altered the market by deciding at the government level that they were going to own this important area of dietary supplements. CoQ10 can now be purchased for as little as $400 a kilo, which in principle is great news for consumers.”
When the supply of CoQ10 grew faster than demand, Lipshutz went into the lab to study what else could be done with this life-enriching compound. After all, CoQ is now readily available. At Costco or drug stores, you can buy CoQ10 formulated into softgels that deliver the nutrient in various strengths. It’s marketed as helping to provide a boost in energy as well as a healthy heart. But, Lipshutz notes, you absorb only10-15 percent of CoQ10 in the softgel form. How, he asked, could this become more available and bioefficient?
“The future is not about access to CoQ10 anymore,” he said. “It’s not about, ‘Do we have the best synthesis?’ or ‘Can we compete with the Chinese?’ It’s about getting it into water, so that we can get it into our mitochondria.”
Quite a challenge since CoQ10 is water insoluble. The answer? Go nano.
“We do it with nano-micelle-forming technology,” Lipshutz said. He starts by putting a known, inexpensive molecule called PTS into water, which spontaneously forms a nanosphere about 25 nanometers (one nanometer is equal to one billionth of a meter) in diameter. This sphere has a lipophilic portion tied to a hydrophilic portion through a linker. The lipophilic portion, which is actually vitamin E, goes to the center. “The vitamin E portion associates in the middle with itself because it doesn’t have any solubility, any energy-lowering interactions, with the water around it,” Lipshutz said. “But the external or hydrophilic portion associates with water.
“So, on the outside is the water-loving portion, while the lipophilic, or grease-loving portion, is on the inside. When you add the CoQ, it says, ‘Where would I rather be?’ Since like dissolves like, the CoQ10 goes inside the micelle. It’s 25 nanometers and it’s crystal clear. And, it’s stable at room temperature.”
That’s nanotechnology. It delivers twice the amount of the compound into the bloodstream, and the concentration in water can be adjusted, he said. This approach can be applied to a broad range of nutraceuticals, including omega-3s, carotenoids like lutein and beta-carotene, and resveratrol. “We can also take pharmaceuticals, like Taxol, an anti-tumor agent, and put them into just water or saline using this PTS,” he said.
By taking advantage of this micellar technology, synthetic chemistry can also be done inside the nano-containers. That translates into doing chemistry in pure water, and at room temperature. “That’s green chemistry,” Lipshutz said.
The amount of heat usually needed in reactions, and the waste created by organic solvents, are dramatically reduced. Lipshutz hopes that when his processes are looked at on a much larger scale, a savings of metric tons of solvent, currently released into the environment, will be realized.
“We aim to get organic solvents out of organic reactions,” he said. “And we’re already looking into next-generation possibilities. All of our green chemistry has come out of being able to put CoQ10 and other dietary supplements into water.”
Lipshutz sees this as his most significant contribution to an already illustrious career as an organic chemist.
“It’s an opportunity to affect every person on the planet,” he says proudly.
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