Thursday 17 January 2013

Nicotinamide: An Oral Antimicrobial Agent with Activity against Both Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Abstract
Coinfection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is responsible for one-third of all deaths due to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. More than 99% of cases of HIV-M. tuberculosis coinfection occur in the developing world, where limited resources add urgency to the search for effective and affordable therapies. Although antimicrobial agents against each of these infections are available, single agents that have activity against both M. tuberculosis and HIV are uncommon. The activity of nicotinamide has been evaluated in 2 different eras: in anti-M. tuberculosis studies performed during 1945–1961 and in anti-HIV studies performed from 1991 to the present. This review brings together these 2 bodies of inquiry and raises the possibility that, with more study, this small molecule could emerge at the beginning of the 21st century either as a therapeutic agent in itself or as the lead compound for a new class of agents with activity against both M. tuberculosis and HIV.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Diet soda, aspartame shown to destroy kidney function

by Lisa Garber,

In an 11-year study by scientists at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, there was a strong positive correlation found between degeneration of kidney function and consumption of aspartame-containing diet soda.

Published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, the study followed 3,318 women for a number of years as they consumed diet soda containing artificial sweeteners like Aspartame. Scientists took into account each participant’s age, blood pressure, smoking habits (when applicable), and pre-existing conditions like heart disease or diabetes, and administered food frequency questionnaires in 1984, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998. Two or more diet drinks daily, it was found, led to a doubled risk in fast-paced kidney decline.

A separate study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that, contrary to safety claims made by the manufacturers of aspartame, health-related concerns including non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukemia still abound. While study authors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School admitted that there were other variables to consider, such as the sex of the consumer in that particular case, they remained troubled by the risks associated with diet soda.

Dangerous killers and most common diseases in Africa

MALARIA
The female mosquito (Anopheles Culex) infects its victims with a single-celled parasite called Plasmodium, which multiplies in red blood cells and causes malaria. When a female mosquito sucks blood from an infected person, the Malaria parasites reproduce in her body and migrate to the salivary glands. When the next person is bitten, they would be injected with the saliva carrying the parasite and would become infected. Once in the bloodstream, the parasite travels to the liver where they grow and multiply into millions of malaria germs into periods of 5 to 10 days. Once multiplied, the germs are then released into the bloodstream where they penetrate the red blood cells. Once inside these cells they grow quickly, burst the contaminated cells and attack new cells. At this stage, the patient experiences fever attacks. Initially, the patient feels cold and has bouts of shivering before experiencing headaches and rise in body temperature. Subsequently, the patient will experience excessive sweating and delirium with the time between each attack becoming less and less. The potential for being bitten by an infected female mosquito is approximately 1:100. the reasoning behind this risk factor is that the biting female would be aged between 10 and 27 days, has sucked blood from a host already infected with the Plasmodium parasite in the adult stage of his life cycle and all in the last 22 hours. The preventative measures are to remove yourself from the source of infection and protect yourself from new infections by wearing long trousers and long sleeves in the evenings. Also, rather than using chemoprophylaxis (such as Lariam, Chloroquine or Malarone), another effective prophylactic is to have mosquito coils, meat tender riser (the papain enzyme) destroys the injected foreign protein the causes the bite’s reaction or a commercially available hand moisturizer containing isopropylmalate. However, research at University of Cape Town was published in August 2012 which suggests that a drug that can cure all strains of malaria with a single oral dose has been discovered. A synthetic molecule from the aminopyridine has been shown to kill the resistant malaria parasite without any adverse side effects. Although human clinical trials have not been completed the research demonstrated that the animals were cured with no toxicity and no side effects. There is hope for the future.

Vitamin D not only prevents chronic diseases, but also extends natural lifespan

(NaturalNews) Vitamin D has been hailed for its unique ability to dramatically lower the risk of many forms of cancer, and has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and dementia. As these chronic diseases combine to be the leading causes of death for the vast majority of adults, it likely comes as no surprise that the sunshine vitamin can extend lifespan by ameliorating the detrimental effects of many common and often fatal illnesses.

Researchers from the University Medical Center in the Netherlands have published the result of their study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal detailing how suboptimal levels of vitamin D may be associated with decreased longevity, according to a study involving middle-aged children of people in their 90s. The authors noted "We found that familial longevity was associated with lower levels of vitamin D and a lower frequency of allelic variation in the CYP2R1 gene, which was associated with higher levels of vitamin D."

Vitamin D works at the genetic level to lower the incidence of mutations and improve cellular replication. To determine the association between vitamin D levels and longevity, scientists reviewed data from 380 white families with at least two siblings over the age of 90 (89 years or older for men and 91 year or older for women) in the long running Dutch Longevity Study. The study examined siblings and their offspring for a total of 1,038 offspring and 461 controls.

Read the rest of this article at: http://www.naturalnews.com/038685_vitamin_D_lifespan_disease_prevention.html

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Four Foods That Accelerate AGING

Due to biochemical reactions in your body that occur with every type of food you eat on a daily basis, some foods age you FASTER than your real age, while other foods help to FIGHT aging.

Eat the wrong foods regularly, and you can look and feel 10 or more years OLDER than your real age (not fun!) ... but eat the right foods, and over time, you can start to look 5-10 years YOUNGER than your real age.

Three of the processes that go on inside your body that have a MAJOR impact on your rate of aging are called "glycation", "inflammation", and "oxidation". When we talk about aging, we're not just talking about wrinkles on your skin or how thick your hair is... we're also talking about factors that you can't see, such as how well your organs function, and whether your joints are degrading.

Yes, I'm sure you'll agree this is much more important than just how you look superficially (although we'll show you how to improve BOTH!)

So let's dig right in and I'll show you how your rate of aging can be directly related to the foods you might eat every day, and how to protect yourself...