Hormone Shows Promise in Reversing Alzheimer?s and Stroke

Saint Louis University researchers have identified a novel way of getting a potential treatment for Alzheimer?s disease and stroke into the brain where it can do its work. ?We found a unique approach for delivering drugs to the brain,? says William A. Banks, M.D., professor of geriatrics and pharmacological and physiological science at Saint Louis University. ?We?re turning off the guardian that?s keeping the drugs out of the brain.? The brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a gate-keeping system of cells that lets in nutrients and keeps out foreign substances. The blood-brain barrier passes no judgment on which foreign substances are trying to get into the brain to treat diseases and which are trying to do harm, so it blocks them without discrimination.  More »


Breakfast Improves Overall Diet Quality

A groundbreaking new study shows that eaters of lower energy dense breakfast have improved diet quality, and may have a better ability to maintain a healthy weight. The study, published in the November 2008 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that those who enjoy a less energy dense morning meal have diets that are richer in important vitamins and minerals and lower in saturated fat and cholesterol compared to those who consume a more energy dense meal. The study explored whether or not the energy density?the number of calories in relation to the grams of foods and beverages?consumed at breakfast predicted energy density and diet quality for the rest of the day, as well as weight among 12,000 US women and men (as assessed by BMI - body mass index). ?Our new findings carry several important implications concerning breakfast and overall health,? says study co-author, cardiologist Dr. James Rippe of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute. ?Our study confirms the findings of many previous studies that eating breakfast helps maintain a healthy weight and provides multiple health benefits. However, what?s unique is that we found lower energy density breakfast foods and beverages high in nutrients, such as whole grain oatmeal and 100 percent orange juice, appear to predict better food choices for the rest of the day and may help with better management of body weight.? More »


Estrogen, Testosterone May Affect Atherosclerosis

Naturally produced sex hormones may influence the risk and progression of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, Johns Hopkins researchers report in a recent study. The findings may help explain the increased risk men have of developing heart disease, which runs about twofold higher than women?s heart disease risk worldwide. The study suggests that older women who produce a relatively high amount of estrogen are more likely to develop coronary artery calcium (CAC), a component of the fatty plaque that builds up in blood vessels and hardens arteries. Older men with relatively high amounts of testosterone are also more likely to develop CAC. However, once CAC is present, higher testosterone appears to help prevent CAC from progressing too quickly in men?s arteries. These findings will be presented Nov. 11 at the American Heart Association?s annual Scientific Sessions in New Orleans. ?We know many things that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol and diabetes,? says Erin D. Michos, M.D., M.H.S., assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart and Vascular Institute. ?But 10 percent to 20 percent of people who get heart disease don?t have these risk factors, so we need to understand other factors that might be involved. Our results suggest that someday, in addition to testing your cholesterol and blood sugar levels to assess your heart disease risk, your doctor may want to measure your sex hormone levels as well.? More »


Lack of Children Receiving Dental Care Is Public Health Problem

A University of South Carolina study of children?s dental health has found that nearly one-fourth of the nation?s children have had no dental care in at least a year. Conducted by researchers at the S.C. Rural Health Research Center at the Arnold School of Public Health, the study found that nearly 32 percent of Hispanic children in rural areas had no dental care in the past year. Twenty-six percent of rural black children had no dental care, followed by 23 percent of ?other? children and 22 percent of white children. ?Our nation has a group of children suffering dental disease severe enough to constitute a public health problem,? said Dr. Amy Brock Martin, the lead author of ?Dental Health and Access to Care among Rural Children: A National and State Report.? Data for the report came from the 2003 National Survey of Children?s Health, which used parents? reports to measure the health and well-being of children from birth to age 17. The survey asked parents in urban and rural areas about the condition of their children?s teeth, utilization of dental care and dental insurance coverage. The University of South Carolina report looks at dental health from a national perspective and also provides state and regional analyses. More »


Study Reveals Smoking?s Effect on Nurses? Health, Death Rates

A new UCLA School of Nursing study is the first to reveal the devastating consequences of smoking on the nursing profession. Published in the November/December edition of Nursing Research, the findings describe smoking trends and death rates among U.S. nurses and emphasize the importance of supporting smoking cessation programs in the field. ?Nurses witness firsthand how smoking devastates the health of their patients with cancer and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases,? said principal investigator Linda Sarna, DNSc, a professor at the UCLA School of Nursing. ?Yet nurses struggle with nicotine addiction like the rest of the 45 million smokers in America. We are concerned that nurses who smoke may be less apt to support tobacco-control programs or encourage their patients to quit.? Sarna led a team of researchers who analyzed data from the Nurses? Health Study, a historic study on women?s health. Launched at Brigham and Women?s Hospital in the mid-1970s, the study relied upon surveys completed every two years by 237,648 female registered nurses about their health, including smoking habits.  More »


















Cigarette Smoke Could Alter Shape of Heart

Prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke can increase levels of the stress hormone norepinephrine and enzymes in the heart that have the potential to reshape the left ventricle, according to new research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In a study using rats as as animal model, five weeks exposure to cigarette smoke was associated with the activation of enzymes called mitogen-activated protein kinases that govern cell growth and survival in heart muscle. Activation of these enzymes may be a key event in cigarette smoke-induced heart injury, says Mariann Piano, professor of biobehavioral health science in the UIC College of Nursing and lead researcher of the study. Heart disease probably develops as a result of complex interactions among many elements in cigarette smoke, she said. More »


A ring of amyloid is visible in the wall of an arteriole in the brain of a patient who had a rel=

Alzheimer?s Gene Slows Export of Toxic Protein

The only known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer?s disease slows down the brain?s ability to export a toxic protein known as amyloid-beta that is central to the damage the disease causes, scientists have found. The research, published Nov. 13 by the Journal of Clinical Investigation, provides new clues into the workings of a protein known as apolipoprotein E4, or ApoE4. People who carry two copies of the gene have roughly eight to 10 times the risk of getting Alzheimer?s disease than people who do not. The new results mark a step toward resolving a longstanding question that scientists have had about exactly how ApoE4 increases a person?s risk for the disease. The findings point to differences in the way that amyloid-beta is removed from the brain depending on which ApoE protein is involved. More »


The Tooth Whisperers

The phrase, ?the eyes are the windows to the soul,? is attributed to several authors and philosophers. But the phrase, ?your teeth are the windows to your health,? can be attributed to Mohamed Bassiouny, DMD, MSc, PhD, who has been studying how teeth provide important clues to his patients? overall health for more than 30 years. As part of his ongoing research, Bassiouny chronicles the case of a patient in the November/December issue of General Dentistry whose teeth had eroded from stomach acids, a condition normally associated with bulimia and other systemic disorders. However, in this case the patient had no history of an abnormal eating disorder or gastric reflux syndrome. Rather, she suffered from dysmenorrhea - painful cramping related to menstruation. This severe cramping is what forced acids from her stomach back up her esophagus and into her mouth. More »


Plastic surgeons warn of malnutrition in body contouring patients

Identifying malnutrition before surgery in massive weight loss patients seeking body contouring will significantly decrease surgical complications, accelerate wound healing, improve scar quality and boost patient energy levels, according to a study in the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Optimizing nutrition with the addition of supplements, such as powder drinks and multi-vitamin tablets formulated for massive weight loss patients, is vital to successful body contouring surgery, the study reveals. ?Body contouring procedures for massive weight loss patients are major operations with large incisions in many areas that demand a lot of the body during the healing process,? said ASPS Member Surgeon and study co-author Dennis Hurwitz, MD. ?By carefully monitoring nutritional deficiencies preoperatively and supplementing the patient with the necessary nutrients, minerals and vitamins, I have seen a significant decrease in complications and improved postoperative healing. In my practice, I won?t do body contouring procedures on this patient population without a preoperative regimen of nutritional supplements.? The study was performed in two parts; First, medical literature regarding nutrition?s effect on healing from the 1940s to the present was reviewed. More »