Alzheimer's treatment

Researchers testing promising, non-pharmaceutical Alzheimer's treatment

(NaturalNews) Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are carrying out clinical tests in which a pacemaker-like device is implanted into the brains of patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

"We are very excited about the possibilities of this potentially new way to treat Alzheimer's," said lead researcher Constantine G. Lyketsos.



Alzheimer's is an incurable, degenerative disease that leads to progressive loss of cognitive function, including memory and the ability to perform simple daily tasks. An estimated 5.2 million people over the age of 64 currently suffer from Alzheimer's disease in the United States, and this number is project triple by 2050.

Although researchers have searched effective pharmaceutical treatments for years, none have yielded any promise. The new multi-center trial is designed to test a completely different model of treatment, in which electrical stimulation is delivered directly to the brain in order to slow and even reverse cognitive decline.

"Recent failures in Alzheimer's disease trials using drugs such as those designed to reduce the buildup of beta amyloid plaques in the brain have sharpened the need for alternative strategies," said Paul B. Rosenberg, director the Johns Hopkins University site for the study.

"This is a very different approach, whereby we are trying to enhance the function of the brain mechanically. It's a whole new avenue for potential treatment for a disease becoming all the more common with the aging of the population."

Deep brain stimulation

The device consists of a tiny, pacemaker-like stimulator that sends 130 electrical impulses per second through wires that are implanted in the brain's fornixes. The fornix is essential in transmitting information to the hippocampus, a structure believed to play an important role in memory synthesis and learning. In many early stage Alzheimer's patients, the first symptoms appear in the hippocampus. The electrical current is not detectable by the patient, Rosenberg said.

These "deep brain stimulation" devices have already been in use for 15 years in patients with Parkinson's disease, another neurodegenerative disorder. More than 80,000 people have received the implants, which appear to reduce the incidence of tremors and the need for medication. Other studies are underway to determine whether deep brain stimulation can effectively treat obsessive-compulsive disorders or depression.

In a preliminary study conducted in 2010, researchers found that patients with mild Alzheimer's disease who received the devices experienced sustained increases in glucose metabolism over a 13-month period, whereas the typical course of the disease is for glucose metabolism to decrease. Glucose metabolism is an indicator of nerve cell activity.

The new study will be conducted on 40 patients at five institutions across the United States and Canada. Half the participants will have their devices activated two weeks after surgery, while the other half will have their devices activated one year after surgery. The study is double-blind, meaning that neither doctors nor patients will know which group each participant is in.
The study is funded by the National Institute on Aging (part of the National Institutes of Health) and the medical device company Functional Neuromodulation Ltd.

Sources:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121205102615.htm

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/038510_Alzheimers_treatment_natural_remedies_brain_stimulation.html#ixzz2Gb7AXYlt

Fast Food Diet

American fast food diet unleashes disease epidemic sweeping across Asia

(NaturalNews) Though increasingly looked down upon here in the U.S. as a sign of slothfulness and low socioeconomic status, routine fast food consumption in some parts of the world is actually considered to be culturally desirable. But as foreigners progressively adopt the American fast-food lifestyle in place of their own native foods, rates of chronic disease are skyrocketing, including in East and Southeast Asia where diabetes and heart disease rates are off the charts.

According to a recent study published in the journal Circulation, globalization continues to usher U.S.-style fast food into East Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia, where natives, especially those from the younger generations, are quickly adopting things like hamburgers and fries in place of their traditional fare. And based on the data, this Western fast food craze is responsible for a significant uptick in cases of diabetes and heart disease.


For their study, a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota (UM) School of Public Health analyzed data on more than 60,000 Singaporeans of Chinese descent. Study participants were interviewed beginning in the 1990s, and followed and tracked for about ten years. At the end of the study, researchers compared the participants' eating habits to rates of chronic disease.

They found that, among participants who were between the ages of 45 and 74 at the beginning of the study, 1,397 died of cardiac illness by the end of the study, and 2,252 developed type-2 diabetes. Those who ate fast food two or more times a week were 27 percent more likely than others to develop type-2 diabetes, while the same group was 56 percent more likely to die from cardiac illness.

Those who ate American-style fast food four or more times a week were even worse off, as they were nearly twice as likely to die of cardiac illness than participants who ate no fast food. And interestingly, it was only American-style fast food that was linked to the disease uptick -- native fast foods like dim sum, noodles, and dumplings did not appear to increase the participants' risk of developing chronic disease.

"Many cultures welcome (Western fast food) because it's a sign they're developing their economies," says Andrew Adegaard, author of the study from the UM School of Public Health. "But while it may be desirable from a cultural standpoint, from a health perspective there may be a cost. It wasn't their own snacks that was putting them at increased risk, but American-style fast food."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.health.umn.edu

http://www.reuters.com

http://www.scientificamerican.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036595_fast_food_chronic_disease_epidemic.html#ixzz21o0IytPt

High fiber foods

High fiber foods reduce disease

(NaturalNews) According to a health review put together at the Rain Forest Research Institute in India, and recently published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, increased dietary fiber consumption can reduce the risk of developing a number of health complications. Dr. Vikas Rana, who has looked at multiple studies conducted over the last two decades across the globe, explained that dietary fiber can reduce cholesterol levels and decrease blood glucose, maintain gastrointestinal health, increase calcium bio-availability and promote immune function.

What is fiber and why do we need it?

Dietary fiber (also called roughage) consists of the indigestible part of foods, and can be grouped into two categories: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber is readily fermented in the colon into gases and active byproducts, whilst insoluble fiber is not fermented, but absorbs water as it moves through the digestive system to form the bulk of the stool. Chemically, dietary fibers consist of non-starch polysaccharides (of which the most well known is cellulose), waxes, chitins and other plant components. Consequently, the term "fiber" is somewhat of a misnomer, since not all indigestible plant substances are fibrous.

To avoid gastrointestinal discomfort, such as gas and loose stool, the Indian review team advises that people gradually increase their fiber consumption throughout the day by including more fiber rich foods, such as whole grains, legumes, fruits (consumed with the skin on), greens, nuts and seeds.

As worrying health conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity are wreaking havoc in western populations, scientists warn that early onset of illness may be a sign of fiber-deficient diets, which could easily be corrected naturally simply by consuming a wider variety of plant-based foods. The "western-type" diet is rich in red meat, processed sugars, refined flour and countless unnatural additives, often under the pretext that people don't have enough time to spend on preparing complicated meals that are healthy. Nonetheless, porridge, smoothies, salads, mashed legumes, whole breads and crackers are examples of simple dishes that can significantly improve fiber intake. Even having just one or two more unpeeled fruits each day is beneficial to gastrointestinal health.

A warning for future generations

"Consuming adequate quantities of DF [dietary fiber] can lead to improvements in gastrointestinal health, and reduction in susceptibility to diseases such as diverticular disease, heart disease, colon cancer, and diabetes. Increased consumption has also been associated with increased satiety and weight loss," concluded the science team. For both current and future generations, now just may be the time to educate ourselves on the impact of dietary fiber on long term health.

The scientists note that since fresh fruits, vegetables and legumes are widely available all year round in western countries, getting people to eat more fiber is simply a matter of education. This way, individuals may avoid making unhealthy, low-fiber dietary choices throughout their lives.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120111103854.htm

http://www.inderscience.com

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fiber/

About the author:
Raw Michelle is a natural health blogger and researcher, sharing her passions with others, using the Internet as her medium. She discusses topics in a straight forward way in hopes to help people from all walks of life achieve optimal health and well-being. She has authored and published hundreds of articles on topics such as the raw food diet and green living in general. In 2010, Michelle created RawFoodHealthWatch.com, to share with people her approach to the raw food diet and detoxification.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034922_high_fiber_foods_disease_prevention.html#ixzz1zChsTyTg