Capsaicin, the compound gives red chilli pepper its heat, may exert its benefits at the protein level to boost fat burning and energy production, says new research. Obese rats supplemented with capsaicin had 8 per cent less body weight than control animals, and displayed changes in the levels of 20 proteins associated with obesity, according to findings published in the Journal of Proteome Research.
“These changes provide valuable new molecular insights into the mechanism of the anti-obesity effects of capsaicin,” report researchers from Daegu University in Korea. “Thus, we believe that the findings presented here open new insights into the study and potential treatments for this pathology.”
The research taps into the burgeoning weight loss and management market, estimated to already be worth $7bn (€5.2bn) globally. With 50 per cent of Europeans and 62 per cent of Americans classed as overweight, the food industry is waking up to the potential of products for weight loss and management.
The slimming ingredients market can be divided into five groups based on the mechanisms of action - boosting fat burning/ thermogenesis, inhibiting protein breakdown, suppressing appetite/ boosting satiety (feeling of fullness), blocking fat absorption, and regulating mood (linked to food consumption).
Capsaicin is reported to boost heat generation by the body, which means people burn more energy. A laboratory study from the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan, found that capsaicin may inhibit the growth of fat cells (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2007, Vol. 55, pp. 1730-1736), while a human study with capsaicin, in combination with green tea extracts, found that (Clinical Nutrition, doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2009.01.010) an alternative mode of action with promotion of the feeling of fullness and sustained satiety.
The new data suggests that the compound may exert its benefits by triggering certain beneficial protein changes in the body.
Read the rest of the article HERE
Read also :
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Research Shows Hot Peppers Also Prevent The Number One Cause of Death
March 28, 2012
Capsaicinoids found in cayenne pepper, jalapenos, habaneros and other chili peppers already have an established treatment role in creams to address joint and arthritis pain. They also promote fat burning, increase metabolism and even kill cancer cells. Scientists have now reported the latest evidence that chili peppers are a heart-healthy food with potential to protect against the No. 1 cause of death in the developed world.
The report was part of the 243rd National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held in San Diego the week of March 26.
Past research suggested that spicing food with chilies can lower blood pressure in people with that condition, reduce blood cholesterol and ease the tendency for dangerous blood clots to form.
Researchers in Korea recently published evidence that suggests the mechanisms behind why capsaicin may aid weight loss.
Spicing up your daily diet with some red pepper can also curb appetite, especially for those who don't normally eat the popular spice, according to research from Purdue University.
The component that gives jalapeno peppers their heat may also kill prostate cancer cells.
"Our research has reinforced and expanded knowledge about how these substances in chilies work in improving heart health," said Zhen-Yu Chen, Ph.D., who presented the study. "We now have a clearer and more detailed portrait of their innermost effects on genes and other mechanisms that influence cholesterol and the health of blood vessels. It is among the first research to provide that information."
The team found, for instance, that capsaicin and a close chemical relative boost heart health in two ways. They lower cholesterol levels by reducing accumulation of cholesterol in the body and increasing its breakdown and excretion in the feces. They also block action of a gene that makes arteries contract, restricting the flow of blood to the heart and other organs. The blocking action allows more blood to flow through blood vessels.
Read the rest of this article HERE
Capsaicinoids found in cayenne pepper, jalapenos, habaneros and other chili peppers already have an established treatment role in creams to address joint and arthritis pain. They also promote fat burning, increase metabolism and even kill cancer cells. Scientists have now reported the latest evidence that chili peppers are a heart-healthy food with potential to protect against the No. 1 cause of death in the developed world.
The report was part of the 243rd National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held in San Diego the week of March 26.
Past research suggested that spicing food with chilies can lower blood pressure in people with that condition, reduce blood cholesterol and ease the tendency for dangerous blood clots to form.
Researchers in Korea recently published evidence that suggests the mechanisms behind why capsaicin may aid weight loss.
Spicing up your daily diet with some red pepper can also curb appetite, especially for those who don't normally eat the popular spice, according to research from Purdue University.
The component that gives jalapeno peppers their heat may also kill prostate cancer cells.
"Our research has reinforced and expanded knowledge about how these substances in chilies work in improving heart health," said Zhen-Yu Chen, Ph.D., who presented the study. "We now have a clearer and more detailed portrait of their innermost effects on genes and other mechanisms that influence cholesterol and the health of blood vessels. It is among the first research to provide that information."
The team found, for instance, that capsaicin and a close chemical relative boost heart health in two ways. They lower cholesterol levels by reducing accumulation of cholesterol in the body and increasing its breakdown and excretion in the feces. They also block action of a gene that makes arteries contract, restricting the flow of blood to the heart and other organs. The blocking action allows more blood to flow through blood vessels.
Read the rest of this article HERE
Microwaved Water - See What It Does To Plants
If you find this article interesting you would certainly find the following article well worth reading "Radiation Ovens - The Proven Dangers Of Microwaves"
The following is an old article that appeared at Rense.com many years ago, but certainly remains worth reading.
The original article "Microwaved Water - See What It Does To Plants" contains much more detail - click HERE
More photographs and examples can be found in the following base-article "Microwaved Water and Plants"
Below is a Science fair project presented by a girl in a secondary school in Sussex.
In it she took filtered water and divided it into two parts.
The first part she heated to boiling in a pan on the stove, and the second part she heated to boiling in a microwave.
Then after cooling she used the water to water two identical plants to see if there would be any difference in the growth between the normal boiled water and the water boiled in a microwave.
She was thinking that the structure or energy of the water may be compromised by microwave.
As it turned out, even she was amazed at the difference, after the experiment which was repeated by her class mates a number of times and had the same result.
It has been known for some years that the problem with microwaved anything is not the radiation people used to worry about, it’s how it corrupts the DNA in the food so the body can not recognize it.
Microwaves don’t work different ways on different substances. Whatever you put into the microwave suffers the same destructive process. Microwaves agitate the molecules to move faster and faster. This movement causes friction which denatures the original make-up of the substance. It results in destroyed vitamins, minerals, proteins and generates the new stuff called radiolytic compounds, things that are not found in nature.
So the body wraps it in fat cells to protect itself from the dead food or it eliminates it fast. Think of all the Mothers heating up milk in these ‘Safe’ appliances. What about the nurse in Canada that warmed up blood for a transfusion patient and accidentally killed him when the blood went in dead. But the makers say it’s safe. But proof is in the pictures of living plants dying!!!
FORENSIC RESEARCH DOCUMENT
Prepared By: William P. Kopp
A. R. E. C. Research Operations
TO61-7R10/10-77F05
RELEASE PRIORITY: CLASS I ROO1a
Ten Reasons to dispose off your Microwave Oven
From the conclusions of the Swiss, Russian and German scientific clinical studies, we can no longer ignore the microwave oven sitting in our kitchens. Based on this research, one can conclude this article with the following:
1). Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term – permanent – brain damage by ‘shorting out’ electrical impulses in the brain [de-polarizing or de-magnetizing the brain tissue].
2). The human body cannot metabolize [break down] the unknown by-products created in microwaved food.
3). Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods.
4). The effects of microwaved food by-products are residual [long term, permanent] within the human body.
5). Minerals, vitamins, and nutrients of all microwaved food is reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit, or the human body absorbs altered compounds that cannot be broken down.
6). The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in microwave ovens.
7). Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths [tumours]. This may explain the rapidly increased rate of colon cancer in UK and America .
8). The prolonged eating of microwaved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.
9). Continual ingestion of microwaved food causes immune system deficiencies through lymph gland and blood serum alterations.
10). Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability, and a decrease of intelligence.
Source - Microwave test – an eye opener | Employee News
The following is an old article that appeared at Rense.com many years ago, but certainly remains worth reading.
The original article "Microwaved Water - See What It Does To Plants" contains much more detail - click HERE
More photographs and examples can be found in the following base-article "Microwaved Water and Plants"
Below is a Science fair project presented by a girl in a secondary school in Sussex.
In it she took filtered water and divided it into two parts.
The first part she heated to boiling in a pan on the stove, and the second part she heated to boiling in a microwave.
Then after cooling she used the water to water two identical plants to see if there would be any difference in the growth between the normal boiled water and the water boiled in a microwave.
She was thinking that the structure or energy of the water may be compromised by microwave.
As it turned out, even she was amazed at the difference, after the experiment which was repeated by her class mates a number of times and had the same result.
It has been known for some years that the problem with microwaved anything is not the radiation people used to worry about, it’s how it corrupts the DNA in the food so the body can not recognize it.
Microwaves don’t work different ways on different substances. Whatever you put into the microwave suffers the same destructive process. Microwaves agitate the molecules to move faster and faster. This movement causes friction which denatures the original make-up of the substance. It results in destroyed vitamins, minerals, proteins and generates the new stuff called radiolytic compounds, things that are not found in nature.
So the body wraps it in fat cells to protect itself from the dead food or it eliminates it fast. Think of all the Mothers heating up milk in these ‘Safe’ appliances. What about the nurse in Canada that warmed up blood for a transfusion patient and accidentally killed him when the blood went in dead. But the makers say it’s safe. But proof is in the pictures of living plants dying!!!
FORENSIC RESEARCH DOCUMENT
Prepared By: William P. Kopp
A. R. E. C. Research Operations
TO61-7R10/10-77F05
RELEASE PRIORITY: CLASS I ROO1a
Ten Reasons to dispose off your Microwave Oven
From the conclusions of the Swiss, Russian and German scientific clinical studies, we can no longer ignore the microwave oven sitting in our kitchens. Based on this research, one can conclude this article with the following:
1). Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term – permanent – brain damage by ‘shorting out’ electrical impulses in the brain [de-polarizing or de-magnetizing the brain tissue].
2). The human body cannot metabolize [break down] the unknown by-products created in microwaved food.
3). Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods.
4). The effects of microwaved food by-products are residual [long term, permanent] within the human body.
5). Minerals, vitamins, and nutrients of all microwaved food is reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit, or the human body absorbs altered compounds that cannot be broken down.
6). The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in microwave ovens.
7). Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths [tumours]. This may explain the rapidly increased rate of colon cancer in UK and America .
8). The prolonged eating of microwaved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.
9). Continual ingestion of microwaved food causes immune system deficiencies through lymph gland and blood serum alterations.
10). Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability, and a decrease of intelligence.
Source - Microwave test – an eye opener | Employee News
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
High-Fat Diet May Cause Less Weight Gain And Stimulate New Brain Cell Growth
Arlene Paredes
International Business Times
Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:13 CDT
Scientists gave mice a high fat diet, after which, the mice showed growth of new brain cells and less weight gain.
"We really don't understand the function of these neurons in the normal brain," study researcher Seth Blackshaw, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told LiveScience.
Prof. Blackshaw said the growth of new brain cells has yet to be explained, but initial data makes interesting implications.
"Our data suggests that these neurons may have an important role in regulating feeding."
Researchers noted the new brain cells grew in an area of the brain that seems to regulate eating. They also noted that even after they stopped the new brain-cell growth, the mice on the experiment gained less weight and stayed more active.
The new cells grew in a part of the brain called the median eminence, which lies at the edge of a fluid-filled chamber and therefore outside of the blood-brain barrier (which keeps toxic substances out of the brain), but it extends deep into the hypothalamus, which helps the human body spend the energy it accumulates, reports LiveScience.
The researchers wanted to see how brain cells in the median eminence reacted to a high-fat diet, so they put mice on a "Big Mac" diet - which contained 60 per cent fat instead of the 35 percent fat in regular mouse chow, LiveScience reports.
"We have no idea if this happens in any species other than mice. In humans all the cells and the structures are conserved," Blackshaw said. "I think there's no reason to assume necessarily that this wouldn't happen in humans, but I would be very careful into reading too much in these studies."
The study was published on March 25 in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
COMMENT:
All the REAL research that is NOT "bought" by special interests shows that humans thrive on high fat, low carbohydrate diets (as long as the fat is healthy, mostly animal, saturated fat and not the plastic, toxic fats like most seed and vegetable oils and especially trans fats / hydrogenated fats). There's mountains of scientific evidence for this going back to the early 20th Century -- besides all the records of cultures who ate this way going back MUCH longer. MUCH more than the bogus mainstream claims about fat and cholesterol being "bad" and high carb diets being "good," etc.
In fact, all the health issues that were supposed to be prevented and/or improved during the period since these totally bogus and insane recommendations were made, all these "diseases" and more have skyrocketed. Besides all the solid scientific studies, papers, clinical trials, and research of every kind supporting these facts, there are thousands of readers and forum members here that have experimented with the Paleo / Primal low carb, high fat diet and have eliminated or vastly improved every kind of health issue under the sun, and MANY, MANY more around the world who've posted their results on numerous websites and blogs. And the science that shows all this is NOT funded and controlled by Big Pharma / Big Agra cartels or the Powers That Be.
You can find all this out if you have an open mind and want to do the research yourself, otherwise, you can always run along and go to the disinformation superhighway -- it's a big one and will keep you going in circles for very long time.
International Business Times
Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:13 CDT
Scientists gave mice a high fat diet, after which, the mice showed growth of new brain cells and less weight gain.
"We really don't understand the function of these neurons in the normal brain," study researcher Seth Blackshaw, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told LiveScience.
Prof. Blackshaw said the growth of new brain cells has yet to be explained, but initial data makes interesting implications.
"Our data suggests that these neurons may have an important role in regulating feeding."
Researchers noted the new brain cells grew in an area of the brain that seems to regulate eating. They also noted that even after they stopped the new brain-cell growth, the mice on the experiment gained less weight and stayed more active.
The new cells grew in a part of the brain called the median eminence, which lies at the edge of a fluid-filled chamber and therefore outside of the blood-brain barrier (which keeps toxic substances out of the brain), but it extends deep into the hypothalamus, which helps the human body spend the energy it accumulates, reports LiveScience.
The researchers wanted to see how brain cells in the median eminence reacted to a high-fat diet, so they put mice on a "Big Mac" diet - which contained 60 per cent fat instead of the 35 percent fat in regular mouse chow, LiveScience reports.
"We have no idea if this happens in any species other than mice. In humans all the cells and the structures are conserved," Blackshaw said. "I think there's no reason to assume necessarily that this wouldn't happen in humans, but I would be very careful into reading too much in these studies."
The study was published on March 25 in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
COMMENT:
All the REAL research that is NOT "bought" by special interests shows that humans thrive on high fat, low carbohydrate diets (as long as the fat is healthy, mostly animal, saturated fat and not the plastic, toxic fats like most seed and vegetable oils and especially trans fats / hydrogenated fats). There's mountains of scientific evidence for this going back to the early 20th Century -- besides all the records of cultures who ate this way going back MUCH longer. MUCH more than the bogus mainstream claims about fat and cholesterol being "bad" and high carb diets being "good," etc.
In fact, all the health issues that were supposed to be prevented and/or improved during the period since these totally bogus and insane recommendations were made, all these "diseases" and more have skyrocketed. Besides all the solid scientific studies, papers, clinical trials, and research of every kind supporting these facts, there are thousands of readers and forum members here that have experimented with the Paleo / Primal low carb, high fat diet and have eliminated or vastly improved every kind of health issue under the sun, and MANY, MANY more around the world who've posted their results on numerous websites and blogs. And the science that shows all this is NOT funded and controlled by Big Pharma / Big Agra cartels or the Powers That Be.
You can find all this out if you have an open mind and want to do the research yourself, otherwise, you can always run along and go to the disinformation superhighway -- it's a big one and will keep you going in circles for very long time.
Monday, 26 March 2012
Putting The Myth To Rest - There Is No Such Thing As Bad Cholesterol
By PreventDisease.com
Perhaps one of the biggest health myths propagated in western culture and certainly in the United States, is the correlation between elevatedcholesterol and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Unfortunately, despite dozens of studies, cholesterol has not been shown to actually cause CVD. To the contrary, cholesterol is vital to our survival, and trying to artificially lower it can have detrimental effects, particularly as we age.
Cholesterol seems to be one of those things that strikes fear into the hearts of many, so to speak. We have become obsessed with eating foods low in cholesterol and fat. Ask almost anyone, and they can tell you their cholesterol levels.
What is certain is that the 'little knowledge' that the media often imparts means many folks assume cholesterol is simply a 'bad' thing. Alternately, a good number of us may have heard the terms 'good' cholesterol and 'bad' cholesterol bandied about without knowing much about what this really means. In fact it is a fairly safe bet that if you asked anyone on the street for his or her instinctive response, if asked about cholesterol, they would probably say that we simply need to 'reduce it'.
The 'noddy-science' offered by marketing men to a generally scientifically-naive public has led many people to believe that we should replace certain food choices with specially developed products that can help 'reduce cholesterol'. Naturally this comes at a price and requires those who can afford it to pay maybe four or five times what a 'typical ordinary' product might cost. But is this apparent 'blanket need' to strive towards lowering our cholesterol justified? And, indeed, is it healthy?
For anyone who has had the official diagnosis of 'high cholesterol' in their bloodstream, they may even have embarked upon a program of medicinal intervention. In fact it is quite likely that they may have joined the legions of long-term pill-poppers who are already lining the pockets of the profit-oriented pharmaceutical giants.
But let's take a moment, now, to review some of the facts and fallacies about the much-maligned substance: cholesterol.
Cholesterol is needed to make hormones. Without it we would not produce estrogen, progesterone or testosterone. It is vital for the functioning of nerve synapses and provides the structural integrity for our cell membranes. Cholesterol is used by the skin to help prevent water evaporation and to make our skin waterproof. Vitamin D is synthesized from cholesterol. And bile, used for fat digestion, consists mostly of cholesterol. The liver produces about 90 percent of the cholesterol in our bodies; only 10 percent comes from diet. If we eat too much cholesterol, the liver decreases the output of cholesterol.
Cholesterol is a naturally occurring lipid. This means it is a type of fat or oil and it is in fact an essential component in creating and sustaining the membranes of the cells of all bodily tissues. So this alone means we need cholesterol to survive! Most of the cholesterol that is found in our bodies is actually naturally manufactured within our own cells. However there is also an additional contribution that we get from external 'nutritional' sources - the foods we consume. In a typical diet providing around 400mg of cholesterol per day from food sources, about half to two-thirds of this amount is actually absorbed through the process of digestion. The body will normally secrete about a gram (1000mg) of cholesterol per day into the bile via the ducts, and approximately three-fifths of this is then re-absorbed.
Where our tissues or organs are a particularly dense complex of cells, which have closely packed cell membranes, there will naturally be higher levels of cholesterol. The key organs that need, and contain, these higher amounts of cholesterol include the liver, the brain and the spinal cord - none of which would work well if we reduced cholesterol too much!
In effect cholesterol plays an essential role in the development and maintenance of healthy cell walls. It is also a critical factor in the synthesizing of steroid hormones, which are a key factor in our natural physical development.
Being a lipid, cholesterol is fat-soluble, but it is not soluble in blood. However it needs to be transported around the body to the places where it can be utilized. This is why, in order to be moved around, it must become 'associated' with certain lipoproteins which feature a water-soluble (therefore 'blood transportable') coat of proteins. There are two key types of lipoproteins that transport cholesterol around the body: low-density and high-density variants. The essential cellular function of cholesterol requires that sufficient amounts are manufactured by specialized sub-systems (or organelles) within the body's cells called the endoplasmic reticulum. Alternatively, the cholesterol we need must be derived from our diet. During the process of 'digestion and assimilation' of foods, it is the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) that carries dietary cholesterol from the liver to various parts of the body.
When there is sufficient cholesterol for cellular needs, the other key transport mechanism in this amazing 'logistics system' - high-density lipoprotein (HDL) - can take cholesterol back to the liver from where any unnecessary excess can be processed for excretion.
The 'noddy-science' of the so-called 'functional food' manufacturers would have us believe that there is such a thing as 'bad' cholesterol and 'good' cholesterol. This is, in fact, totally untrue. The cholesterol itself, whether being transported by LDL or HDL, is exactly the same. Cholesterol is simply a necessary ingredient that is required to be regularly delivered around the body for the efficient healthy development, maintenance and functioning of our cells. The difference is in the 'transporters' (the lipoproteins HDL and LDL) and both types are essential for the human body's delivery logistics to work effectively.
Read the rest of this article HERE
Perhaps one of the biggest health myths propagated in western culture and certainly in the United States, is the correlation between elevatedcholesterol and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Unfortunately, despite dozens of studies, cholesterol has not been shown to actually cause CVD. To the contrary, cholesterol is vital to our survival, and trying to artificially lower it can have detrimental effects, particularly as we age.
Cholesterol seems to be one of those things that strikes fear into the hearts of many, so to speak. We have become obsessed with eating foods low in cholesterol and fat. Ask almost anyone, and they can tell you their cholesterol levels.
What is certain is that the 'little knowledge' that the media often imparts means many folks assume cholesterol is simply a 'bad' thing. Alternately, a good number of us may have heard the terms 'good' cholesterol and 'bad' cholesterol bandied about without knowing much about what this really means. In fact it is a fairly safe bet that if you asked anyone on the street for his or her instinctive response, if asked about cholesterol, they would probably say that we simply need to 'reduce it'.
The 'noddy-science' offered by marketing men to a generally scientifically-naive public has led many people to believe that we should replace certain food choices with specially developed products that can help 'reduce cholesterol'. Naturally this comes at a price and requires those who can afford it to pay maybe four or five times what a 'typical ordinary' product might cost. But is this apparent 'blanket need' to strive towards lowering our cholesterol justified? And, indeed, is it healthy?
For anyone who has had the official diagnosis of 'high cholesterol' in their bloodstream, they may even have embarked upon a program of medicinal intervention. In fact it is quite likely that they may have joined the legions of long-term pill-poppers who are already lining the pockets of the profit-oriented pharmaceutical giants.
But let's take a moment, now, to review some of the facts and fallacies about the much-maligned substance: cholesterol.
Cholesterol is needed to make hormones. Without it we would not produce estrogen, progesterone or testosterone. It is vital for the functioning of nerve synapses and provides the structural integrity for our cell membranes. Cholesterol is used by the skin to help prevent water evaporation and to make our skin waterproof. Vitamin D is synthesized from cholesterol. And bile, used for fat digestion, consists mostly of cholesterol. The liver produces about 90 percent of the cholesterol in our bodies; only 10 percent comes from diet. If we eat too much cholesterol, the liver decreases the output of cholesterol.
Cholesterol is a naturally occurring lipid. This means it is a type of fat or oil and it is in fact an essential component in creating and sustaining the membranes of the cells of all bodily tissues. So this alone means we need cholesterol to survive! Most of the cholesterol that is found in our bodies is actually naturally manufactured within our own cells. However there is also an additional contribution that we get from external 'nutritional' sources - the foods we consume. In a typical diet providing around 400mg of cholesterol per day from food sources, about half to two-thirds of this amount is actually absorbed through the process of digestion. The body will normally secrete about a gram (1000mg) of cholesterol per day into the bile via the ducts, and approximately three-fifths of this is then re-absorbed.
Where our tissues or organs are a particularly dense complex of cells, which have closely packed cell membranes, there will naturally be higher levels of cholesterol. The key organs that need, and contain, these higher amounts of cholesterol include the liver, the brain and the spinal cord - none of which would work well if we reduced cholesterol too much!
In effect cholesterol plays an essential role in the development and maintenance of healthy cell walls. It is also a critical factor in the synthesizing of steroid hormones, which are a key factor in our natural physical development.
Being a lipid, cholesterol is fat-soluble, but it is not soluble in blood. However it needs to be transported around the body to the places where it can be utilized. This is why, in order to be moved around, it must become 'associated' with certain lipoproteins which feature a water-soluble (therefore 'blood transportable') coat of proteins. There are two key types of lipoproteins that transport cholesterol around the body: low-density and high-density variants. The essential cellular function of cholesterol requires that sufficient amounts are manufactured by specialized sub-systems (or organelles) within the body's cells called the endoplasmic reticulum. Alternatively, the cholesterol we need must be derived from our diet. During the process of 'digestion and assimilation' of foods, it is the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) that carries dietary cholesterol from the liver to various parts of the body.
When there is sufficient cholesterol for cellular needs, the other key transport mechanism in this amazing 'logistics system' - high-density lipoprotein (HDL) - can take cholesterol back to the liver from where any unnecessary excess can be processed for excretion.
The 'noddy-science' of the so-called 'functional food' manufacturers would have us believe that there is such a thing as 'bad' cholesterol and 'good' cholesterol. This is, in fact, totally untrue. The cholesterol itself, whether being transported by LDL or HDL, is exactly the same. Cholesterol is simply a necessary ingredient that is required to be regularly delivered around the body for the efficient healthy development, maintenance and functioning of our cells. The difference is in the 'transporters' (the lipoproteins HDL and LDL) and both types are essential for the human body's delivery logistics to work effectively.
Read the rest of this article HERE
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Drug-resistant strains of TB out of control, warn experts
Mar 25 2012 07:21
The fight against new, antibiotic-resistant strains of tuberculosis has already been lost in some parts of the world, according to a senior World Health Organisation expert. Figures show a 5% rise in the number of new cases of the highly infectious disease in the UK.
Dr Paul Nunn, head of the WHO's global TB response team, is leading the efforts against multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Nunn said that, while TB is preventable and curable, a combination of bad management and misdiagnosis was leaving pharmaceutical companies struggling to keep up. Meanwhile, the disease kills millions every year.
"It occurs basically when the health system screws up," said Nunn. "Treating TB requires a carefully followed regime of medication over six months. In places where health services are fragmented or underfunded, or patients poor and health professionals ill-trained, that treatment can fall short, which can in turn lead to patients developing drug-resistant strains. It's been estimated that an undiagnosed TB-infected person can infect 10 others a year.
"There's a vicious circle, because when new drugs come out they are expensive, so there is no demand. Without the volume of demand, the cost will not come down. If we can't tackle this, we are going to finish up with a lot more people being diagnosed with multi-drug resistant strains. We've already lost the battle in places such as the former Soviet Union, and so we need a huge expansion of effort, especially in places like India and China." He added: "In some areas we have probably already lost the battle. Globally, it is still just 5% of the total number of TB cases, but with sloppy management of treatment we are moving towards an accelerating problem."
Tuberculosis is long thought to have lost out as donors preferred to fund HIV research and healthcare for children. "The absolute numbers were seen to be falling and TB seemed somehow to lose out and never had the profile of other health issues; it was the orphan child and just didn't get the same funding," said Nunn. But while there were few drugs on the horizon, new rapid diagnostic tests were a "wonderful" breakthrough.
It is 130 years since the German scientist Dr Robert Koch astounded the world by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, killing one in seven people. Today tuberculosis remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of several million people each year, most of them in developing countries. The combination of HIV and TB has proved catastrophic. More than 350 000 people living with HIV died because of TB in 2010.
TB was once the biggest killer in Britain, but cases are now concentrated in London and among people not born in the UK. Provisional figures from the Health Protection Agency showed there were 9 042 new cases in 2011, compared with 8 587 in 2010. But Professor Ibrahim Abubakar, head of the TB section at the HPA, cautioned: "Despite the observed increase in TB cases in 2011, this provisional data should be interpreted with caution, because numbers are likely to change due to late notifications and de-notification of cases. It is therefore too early to determine whether this is a return to the upward trend of cases seen in the past two decades in the UK. TB continues to disproportionately affect those in hard to reach and vulnerable groups, particularly migrants, so it is crucial that we have specific strategies in place to address this."
The UK is also under pressure to restore funding to the Global Fund, first established to tackle what is often called the "big three" of HIV, malaria and TB. A $1.7-billion reduction in funding to tackle TB over the next five years will affect the treatment of 3.4-million TB patients and could reverse gains made in tackling the disease, says new evidence released by three charities.
Results UK, the International HIV/Aids Alliance and the Stop Aids Campaign say they no longer have the resources to continue expanding their work. They are urging the UK to back emergency action to replenish the Global Fund at the G20 meeting in Mexico in June. The fund provides more than four-fifths of all funding to fight TB.
Read more HERE
The fight against new, antibiotic-resistant strains of tuberculosis has already been lost in some parts of the world, according to a senior World Health Organisation expert. Figures show a 5% rise in the number of new cases of the highly infectious disease in the UK.
Dr Paul Nunn, head of the WHO's global TB response team, is leading the efforts against multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Nunn said that, while TB is preventable and curable, a combination of bad management and misdiagnosis was leaving pharmaceutical companies struggling to keep up. Meanwhile, the disease kills millions every year.
"It occurs basically when the health system screws up," said Nunn. "Treating TB requires a carefully followed regime of medication over six months. In places where health services are fragmented or underfunded, or patients poor and health professionals ill-trained, that treatment can fall short, which can in turn lead to patients developing drug-resistant strains. It's been estimated that an undiagnosed TB-infected person can infect 10 others a year.
"There's a vicious circle, because when new drugs come out they are expensive, so there is no demand. Without the volume of demand, the cost will not come down. If we can't tackle this, we are going to finish up with a lot more people being diagnosed with multi-drug resistant strains. We've already lost the battle in places such as the former Soviet Union, and so we need a huge expansion of effort, especially in places like India and China." He added: "In some areas we have probably already lost the battle. Globally, it is still just 5% of the total number of TB cases, but with sloppy management of treatment we are moving towards an accelerating problem."
Tuberculosis is long thought to have lost out as donors preferred to fund HIV research and healthcare for children. "The absolute numbers were seen to be falling and TB seemed somehow to lose out and never had the profile of other health issues; it was the orphan child and just didn't get the same funding," said Nunn. But while there were few drugs on the horizon, new rapid diagnostic tests were a "wonderful" breakthrough.
It is 130 years since the German scientist Dr Robert Koch astounded the world by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, killing one in seven people. Today tuberculosis remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of several million people each year, most of them in developing countries. The combination of HIV and TB has proved catastrophic. More than 350 000 people living with HIV died because of TB in 2010.
TB was once the biggest killer in Britain, but cases are now concentrated in London and among people not born in the UK. Provisional figures from the Health Protection Agency showed there were 9 042 new cases in 2011, compared with 8 587 in 2010. But Professor Ibrahim Abubakar, head of the TB section at the HPA, cautioned: "Despite the observed increase in TB cases in 2011, this provisional data should be interpreted with caution, because numbers are likely to change due to late notifications and de-notification of cases. It is therefore too early to determine whether this is a return to the upward trend of cases seen in the past two decades in the UK. TB continues to disproportionately affect those in hard to reach and vulnerable groups, particularly migrants, so it is crucial that we have specific strategies in place to address this."
The UK is also under pressure to restore funding to the Global Fund, first established to tackle what is often called the "big three" of HIV, malaria and TB. A $1.7-billion reduction in funding to tackle TB over the next five years will affect the treatment of 3.4-million TB patients and could reverse gains made in tackling the disease, says new evidence released by three charities.
Results UK, the International HIV/Aids Alliance and the Stop Aids Campaign say they no longer have the resources to continue expanding their work. They are urging the UK to back emergency action to replenish the Global Fund at the G20 meeting in Mexico in June. The fund provides more than four-fifths of all funding to fight TB.
Read more HERE
It seems Marijuana is becoming the next miracle drug that cures all known disease
It seems Marijuana is becoming like so many other alternative / complementary products that start out being marketed or suggested for the treatment of some condition and then eventually ends up being a miraculous cure-all for any condition from the common cold to cancer.
Another Reason Marijuana is Illegal: It Prevents The Spread of HIV
The overwhelming evidence of the curative powers of marijuana and cannabinoids leave little doubt that the pharmaceutical industry is behind marijuana prohibition laws. The amount of research now validating the truly remarkable nature of this healing plant is simply enormous. According to new findings published in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers have now have now discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS.
The U.S. Patent 6630507 was specifically initiated when researchers found that cannabinoids had specific antioxidant properties making them useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia.
Read more HERE
Another Reason Marijuana is Illegal: It Prevents The Spread of HIV
The overwhelming evidence of the curative powers of marijuana and cannabinoids leave little doubt that the pharmaceutical industry is behind marijuana prohibition laws. The amount of research now validating the truly remarkable nature of this healing plant is simply enormous. According to new findings published in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers have now have now discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS.
The U.S. Patent 6630507 was specifically initiated when researchers found that cannabinoids had specific antioxidant properties making them useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia.
Read more HERE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)