June
2008 - in the news this month are claims that a chemical in the skin of red
grapes will help you live longer.
Dr David Sinclair, Harvard Medical School
professor, says the chemical contains a potent anti-ageing compound, called resveratrol. ------------------------------------------- April
2008 - Antioxidant
warning -------------------------------------------- Enteracept
and Alzheimer'sA
drug, usually used to treat arthritis, has shown dramatic improvement in Alzheimer's
patients.
Enteracept, which is given by injection in the neck, seems to improve
in memory, the ability to think and calculate and verbal ability.
It works
by mopping up the surplus of a chemical called tumour necrosis factor-alpha.
The
Alzheimer's Society has called for a full clinical trial. ----------------------------------------- Alzheimer's
Disease There
is evidence that the cold sore virus may be linked to Alzheimer's disease. In
lab tests at Manchester University it was found that brains infected with the
herpes simplex virus, HSV-1, saw a rise in a protein linked to Alzheimer's. Researchers
believe the discovery could pave the way for a vaccine that may help prevent the
brain disorder but the breakthrough could be a long way off yet. Cultures
of human brain cells were infected with the virus and a "dramatic" increase
in levels of the beta amyloid protein were found - these are the building blocks
of deposits which form in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. Previous
research has established that HSV-1 is found in the brains of up to 70% of people
with Alzheimer's. A
team from the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York found that HSV-1
was more likely to cause a problem in people who carry a mutant version of a specific
gene called ApoE4, which is involved in the breakdown
of fats by the body.
They found the vast majority of Alzheimer's patients they examined carried the
gene - and suspect that it works to make HSV-1 more active. Scientists
have still to establish a direct link between the virus and the disease, but the
Manchester team believe the findings offer hope for the future. It
would appear that Alzheimer's is a multi-factorial disease with many different
causes but for some people a mixture of the gene variant and the virus could be
contributing to it. The
research continues. ----------------------------------------------- Heart
Disease and Flavinoids A
diet rich in compounds called flavinoids can reduce some of the early signs of
heart disease. A
research team from the Institute of Food focused on one of the compounds, quercetin,
which is found in tea, onions, apples and red wine. They
particularly wanted to know what happens to quercetin after the body breaks it
down and found that the sub-compounds help prevent chronic inflammation, which
can lead to thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). A
surprise finding was that lower doses could have a bigger impact in reducing some
of the inflammatory processes and that eating 100g - 200g of onions per day could
have a very beneficial effect. A
nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, said: "Inflammation
is an important process in the furring up of arteries that can lead to heart disease
and stroke and this study gives us clues as to why a diet rich in fruit and vegetables
appears to reduce the risk of these conditions". This
research underlines the importance of eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables
per day. Home
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