High Dose Intravenous Vitamin C for Covid-19

The largest hospital system in New York is now giving high doses of Vitamin C intravenously for patients with COVID 19. The treatment is based on Chinese reports of this approach helping patients with the virus.

Critical care specialist and pulmonologist Dr. Andrew G. Weber has reported that his COVID 19 patients in intensive care are receiving 1,500 mgs of Vitamin C intravenously and are being re-administered the dose 3 to 4 times per day. These doses are 16 times more than the national recommended allowances of 75 mg for adult women and 90 mg for adult men. The approach is based on experimental treatments and small studies with COVID 19 patients in Shanghai, China.

The information from China describes patients with new coronaviral pneumonia who recovered and were discharged from the hospital after high dose Vitamin C. The information also states that early application of large doses of Vitamin C can have a strong antioxidant effect and improve endothelial function. High dose Vitamin C has been shown to not only improve antiviral levels but also can prevent and treat acute respiratory distress and acute lung injury.

Vitamin C is being widely used to treat patients with COVID 19 throughout the system. The treatment protocols do vary from patient to patient. Currently more COVID 19 patients are being treated in the hospital network in New York than anywhere else in the United States.

The Vitamin C treatments are being given along with other medicines including hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and other biologicals and blood thinners. These “cocktails” are being administered to severely ill patients on a compassionate care basis. The patients who received the additional Vitamin C showed significant improvement over those who did not.

Vitamin C levels drop dramatically in people with COVID 19 when they experience sepsis. Sepsis is an inflammatory response that occurs when the body overreacts to an infection. It therefore makes sense to try and maintain levels of Vitamin C.

A hospital in Wuhan, China is currently conducting clinical trials in regards to the effectiveness of high dose intravenous Vitamin C on COVID 19 patients.

A Key Ingredient in Mediterranean Diet May Extend Life

The team at the University of Minnesota Medical School researched olive oil and may have found what it is that activates the pathway to increased lifespan and health!

Previous studies into the Mediterranean Diet identified red wine as a key factor to the health benefits of this diet. Red wine contains a compound known as resveratrol which activates certain pathways in cells to assist in healthier aging. What the recent research has shown is that it is the fat in olive oil that is activating the same pathway.

According to the team, just consuming olive oil may not enough to get all of its health benefits. They suggest that when combined with limiting caloric intake, fasting, and exercising, the benefits of using olive oil are more pronounced.

They found that the way the fat in olive oil works at first is that it has to be stored in microscopic things known as lipid droplets which is how the cells in our body store fat. After the fat is then broken down during fasting or exercising, this is when signaling and the beneficial effects are realized.

The team will further their research by translating it to humans with the goal of finding alternative ways to further tailor dietary regimens that will improve health both in the short term and long term. They want to understand the biology and hopefully change the paradigm of health care from a person seeing a variety of different doctors to treat a variety of disorders. The goal is to treat aging!

To view the original scientific study click below

Lipid Droplet-Derived Monounsaturated Fatty Acids Traffic via PLIN5 to Allosterically Activate SIRT1.

When to Eat to Manage Weight

How we balance weight gain and weight loss is predominantly due to what we eat, how much we eat and by how much we exercise. However, another important factor is often looked over. It isn’t just about the amount of calories we consume, but when they are consumed that will determine how well we will burn those calories.

In a study by Researchers at the Vanderbilt University, the metabolism of middle-aged and older participants was monitored in a whole room respiratory chamber over two 56 hour sessions using a random crossover experimental design.

DUring both sessions, lunch and dinner were served at the same times (always at 12:30 and 5:45), but the third meal timing differed between each of the two halves of the study. In one of the 56 hour time frames the additional meal was served as breakfast at 8:00 a.m. In the other session the meal was nutritionally equivalent to a snack in the late evening at 7:00 p.m. The length of the fast overnight was the same for the two sessions.

Although the two sessions were not different in the type or amount of food eaten or in their activity levels, each day the timing of nutrient availability along with clock/sleep control of metabolism, turned on a switch in the participant’s fat/carbohydrate preference such that the snack in the late evening resulted in a smaller amount of fat burned than the morning session.

The results indicate the time of the meals during the day and night cycle affect the extent to which consumed food is used versus being stored. The study has significant implications in regards to eating habits assuming that daily fast between an evening meal and then eating breakfast will maximize weight management.

To view the original scientific study click below

Eating breakfast and avoiding late-evening snacking sustains lipid oxidation.

Red Meat and Processed Meats Linked to Severe Health Risks

A new large study has linked consuming processed meats and red meats to a higher risk of death and heart disease. The study from Northwestern Medicine and Cornell University refutes a previous controversial study concluded that it was not needed for people to alter their diet in regards to processed and red meats.

Last fall the controversial report encouraged people to not worry about health risks by consuming processed and red meat which contradicts decades of nutrition advice. The report was widely criticized by public health experts including groups like the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association. The recent study highlights the potential harm of a meat heavy diet.

The current research included a diverse group of 29,682 people with a mean age of 53.7 years at baseline and included 44.4% men and 30.7% non-white. All diet data was self reported by the participants who were asked to complete a long list of what they consumed for the previous month or year.

The study pooled together a large diverse sample from six cohorts and also included long follow-up data for up to three decades, harmonized diet data to reduce heterogeneity, adjusted a comprehensive set of con founders, and conducted multiple sensitivity analysis.

The research has shown that consuming 2 servings of processed meat, red meat or poultry, but no fish per week was attributed to a 3 to 7% increased risk of cardiovascular disease. And consuming 2 servings of processed or red meat and not poultry/fish per week was found to be linked to a 3% increased risk of all causes of death.

While it is a small difference, reducing processed and red meat such as deli meats, bologna, and pepperoni is worth trying to help reduce the higher risk of a variety of health problems. Modifying the consumption of these particular protein foods could be an important way for reducing the risk of premature death and cardiovascular disease at a population levels says the research team.

The study showed that the correlation to cardiovascular disease and mortality was high. The previous meta analysis last November recommended people not decrease consuming the amount of processed and red meats. People interpreted it to mean it is was okay to consume these foods, however the team states that the science does not support that.

The findings reinforce recommendations for people to prioritize healthier food choices such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, fish, seeds, and nuts and limit the consumption of processed and red meats, fried foods, sugar laden beverages, and refined grains. Seafood, fish and plant based sources of protein such as legumes and nuts and including peas and beans, are excellent alternatives to meat. These foods are under consumed in the United States.

The study did find a positive association between consuming poultry and cardiovascular disease, but the evidence isn’t yet sufficient to make a clear recommendation in regards to poultry consumption.

Limitations of the study included only one dietary intake assessment and dietary behaviors could have changed over time. Also, how a food was cooked was not considered. Deep fat fried foods that contribute to trans fatty acids such as fried chicken and fried fish have been identified as a link to a variety of chronic diseases.

To view the original scientific study click below

Associations of Processed Meat, Unprocessed Red Meat, Poultry, or Fish Intake With Incident Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality

Mediterranean Diet can Promote Gut Bacteria

New research has indicated that eating a Mediterranean diet for a year can help boost gut bacteria which are linked to healthy aging. The five country study also indicates this diet can help reduce bacteria that is associated with dangerous inflammation people that are older.

Aging is linked with the deterioration of bodily functions and an increase in inflammation. Both are also associated with the onset of frailty. The Mediterranean Diet may act on gut bacteria in a way that helps curb the advance of cognitive decline and physical frailty in advancing years.

Previous studies have suggested that a restrictive/poor diet which is typical among older people and primarily those people in long term residential care, decreaces the types and range of bacteria or microbiome that is discovered in the gut and promotes the acceleration of fraility.

The researchers in the current study wanted to see if the Mediterranean Diet could help sustain the microbiome in the gut of older people and help promote the retention and possibly proliferation of bacteria that are linked with healthy aging.

The team analyzed the gut microbiome of 612 participants ranging in age from 65 to 79 before and following 12 months of either consuming their usual diet or a Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet was rich in vegetables, fruits, olive oil, fish and legumes and low in saturated fats and red meat.

The participants who could be on the verge of frailty or were already considered frail or not frail at the start of the study resided in 5 different countries – Italy, France, Netherlands, the UK and Poland. Those who stuck with the Mediterranean diet for the period of 12 months were associated with beneficial changes to the gut microbiome.

The results were linked with reducing the loss of bacterial diversity; increasing in bacteria types previously linked with several indicators of diminished frailty such as hand grip strength and walking speed, and improved brain function; and with decreased production of potentially dangerous inflammatory chemicals.

Additional detailed analysis indicated that the microbiome changes were linked with a rise in bacteria types known to promote beneficial short chain fatty acids and a reduction in bacteria involved in the production of particular bile acids. An over production of these bile acids is linked to increased risk of bowel cancer, fatty liver, insulin resistance, and cell damage.

The bacteria that accumulated in response to the Mediterranean diet served as keystone species which meant they were critical to a stable gut ecosystem and the pushing out of microbes linked with indicators of frailty.

These changes were mainly driven by an increase in fiber and associated minerals and vitamins. The vitamins and minerals noted were B6, B9, C, potassium, copper, manganese, iron, and magnesium. The findings were independent of the participant’s weight or age both of which influence the make up of microbiome.

There were some differences in the gut microbiome of participants depending on country of origin to start with, however the response to the Mediterranean diet after the 12 month period was consistent and similar irrespective of nationality.

The research team does note that their findings cannot establish a causative role for the microbiome in health and some of the implications are inferred rather than directly measured. The interplay of diet, host health, and microbiome is a complex phenomenon which is influenced by a variety of factors.

The results of the study shed light on some of the rules of this three way interplay. A variety of factors such as body mass index, age, initial dietary patterns, and disease status may play a significant role in determining the extent of the success of these interactions.

The Mediterranean diet may be a challenge for some older adults, particularly those with dental problems and/or difficulty swallowing. However, the beneficial bacteria implicated in health aging found in this study may potentially prove useful therapeutic agents to help ward off frailty.

To view the original scientific study click below

Mediterranean diet intervention alters the gut microbiome in older people reducing frailty and improving health status: the NU-AGE 1-year dietary intervention across five European countries.

Obesity Considered as Premature Aging

According to a new study led by Sylvia Santosa at Concordia University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the mechanisms by which aging and obesity develop are very similar. The team believes that obesity should now be considered premature aging because it predisposes people to acquiring potentially life altering diseases which are normally seen in older people.

Around the world there are an estimated 1.9 billion adults and 380 million children who are either obese or overweight. The World Health Organization says more people are actually dying from overweight than underweight.

With the goal of trying to comprehensively show that obesity parallels aging, the team reviewed more than 200 papers which looked at obesity’s effects and how obesity ages the body from a variety of perspectives. They looked at the immune system to shifts in tissue and body composition, and the processes of cell death and the ongoing maintenance of healthy cells that are typically associated with aging.

Previous studies have shown that obesity is linked to premature death and have shown that obesity induced apoptosis has been observed in mice livers, hearts, neurons, kidneys, retinas and inner ears. Obesity also inhibits autophagy which can lead to a variety of life threatening diseases.

The team notes that at the lowest levels inside the human body, obesity is a factor that directly speeds up aging mechanisms. At the genetic level, the team discovered that obesity influences a number of alterations generally associated with aging. These include the shortening of telomeres which are the protective caps found on the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres in people who are obese can be more than 25% shorter than those seen in control patients.

The study has also suggested that obesity’s effects on mobility, cognitive decline, stress, and hypertension are all similar to those of aging. From the cellular level, the team says obesity plays a significant role in the body’s defenses against age related diseases. Obesity will speed up the aging of the immune system through targeting different immune cells and that later weight loss will not always reverse this process.

Obese people can also be at a higher risk of sarcopenia which is a disease associated with aging and causes a progressive decline in muscle strength and mass. Additionally they have a higher risk of diseases such as the flu which will often affect obese people at a higher rate than people with normal weight.

The hope is that these observations will focus approaches to understanding obesity in a better way and also allow people to think about obesity in a different way.

To view the original scientific study click below

Obesity and ageing: Two sides of the same coin.

New Bone Building Stem Cells Discovered

A group of researchers have found a group of stem cells which have the ability to generate new bone. They live along the vascular channels that reach across bone and connect the inner and outer parts of the bone.

This new discovery is of perivascular cells which reside within the bone itself. They can promote new bone forming cells, and these cells likely regulate the formation of bone or participate in bone mass repair and maintenance.

It has long been thought that stem cells for bone occur within bone marrow and the outer surfaces of bone. Recent research has found the existence of a network of vascular channels that assisted in distributing blood cells out of bone marrow. However, no studies have proven that the cells within these channels have the ability to form new bone.

In the recent study, this team has been the first reporting the existence of these progenitor cells within cortical bone that can generate new osteoblasts or new bone forming cells and can be used to remodel bone. The team looked at the stem cells within an ex vivo bone transplantation model. The cells migrated out of the transplant and began to reconstruct the bone marrow cavity and begin forming new bone.

Although the study shows this population of cells which can help aid formation of bone, more research is needed to determine the cell’s potential to regulate bone resorption and formation.

To view the original scientific study click below

Perivascular osteoprogenitors are associated with transcortical channels of long bones.

Beauty Sleep Could Be Real

Biologists at The Univ. of Manchester have discovered for the first time why having a great night’s sleep could set us up for the occurrences of the day ahead. The study illustrates how the body clock mechanism will boost our ability to maintain our bodies during the hours we are most active.

It is known that the body clock is not as precise as we age. The new discovery thought to help researchers one day unlock some of the mysteries behind aging. The recent discovery sheds fascinating light on the bodies extracellular matrix. This matrix provides biochemical and structural support to cells in the form of connective tissue such as skin, bone, cartilage and tendon.

Over one half of our body weight is matrix and collagen is half of this. It has been long understood that it is fully formed by when a person reaches the age of 17. Now researchers have found there are two types of fibrils which are rope like structures of collagen that are woven by cells to form tissues.

Thick fibrils measure about 200 nanometers in diameter. This is a million times smaller than a pinhead. They are permanent and remain with us during our lives, not changing from the age of 17.

However, thinner fibrils measuring 50 nanometers are sacrificial. They break when we subject our body to the rigors of the day, They do however replenish when we rest at night.

Mice were used for the study. Collagen was looked at by mass spectrometry and the mouse fibrils were seen through the use of state of the art volumetric electron microscopy every 4 hours over 2 days. When the body clock genes where knocked out in the mice, the thick and thin fibrils were amalgamated randomly.

Since collagen provides the body with structure and is also our most abundant protein, it is intuitive to think our matrix is worn down by wear and tear. However it isn’t and the team knows why. Our body clock makes an element which is sacrificial and can be replenished. This protects the permanent parts of the matrix.

Having this new information and discovery could have implications for understanding our biology at the most fundamental level It could give some deeper insight into how wounds heal and also how we age.

To view the original scientific study click below

Circadian control of the secretory pathway is a central mechanism in tissue homeostasis

Artificial Intelligence can find Disease Related Genes

Researchers at Linkoping University have found that an artificial neural network has the ability to reveal patterns in very large amounts of gene expression data and discover groups of genes that are disease related. The findings give hope that this new method can eventually be applied to precision medicine and treatments that are individualized.

Scientists are creating maps of biological networks based on how different genes or proteins interact with each other. The team behind the new study used artificial intelligence (AI) to research whether it is possible to discover biological networks through deep learning in which entities which are known as artificial neural networks are trained through experimental data.

Artificial neural networks are excellent at learning how to find patterns in huge amounts of complex data. They are being used in applications such as image recognition. However until now, this machine learning method has seldom been used in biological research. For the first time, researchers have used deep learning to find genes that are disease related. This method is very powerful in analyzing enormous amounts of biological information or big data.

The team used a large database containing information about the expression patterns of 20,000 genes in a large amount of people. This information was unsorted meaning the team did not give the artificial neural network any information about which gene expression patterns were from people with diseases and which were from people that were healthy. The AI model was then trained to discover patterns of gene expression.

A challenge with machine learning is that it is impossible to see exactly how an artificial neural network will solve a task. AI is at times described as a black box meaning we only see the information that is put into the box and then the result it produces. The steps between cannot be seen.

Artificial neural networks consists of many layers in which information is processed mathematically. The network comprises an output layer and an input layer that delivers results of the information processing carried out by the system. Between the two layers are several hidden layers where calculations are carried out. When the team had trained the artificial neural network, they wondered if it was possible to lift the lid of the black box and then understand how it works. They wondered if the designs of the neural network and the familiar biological networks are similar.

When they analyzed the neural network it turned out that the first hidden layer to a large extent represented interactions between various proteins. Deeper within the model in contrast, on the third level they found groups of different types of cells. It was interesting to them that this type of biologically relevant grouping was automatically produced given that the network was started from unclassified gene expression data.

The team then investigated whether the gene expression model could be used to determine which particular gene expression patterns are normal and which are associated with disease. They were able to confirm that the model finds relevant patterns that agree well with biological mechanisms within the body. Since the model had been trained using unclassified data, it is possible that the artificial neural network had found totally new patterns.

The team plans to now investigate whether these previously unknown patterns are relevant from a biological perspective. They believe the key to progress in the field is to fully understand the neural network. This could teach many new things about biological contexts such as diseases wherein many factors interact. They believe that their method gives models which are easier to generalize and can be used for many different types of biological information.

The hope is that close collaboration with medical researchers will enable the team to apply the method developed in the study in precision medicine. It could be possible to determine which groups of patients should receive a particular type of medicine or identify patients who are most severely affected.

To view the original scientific study click below

Deriving disease modules from the compressed transcriptional space embedded in a deep autoencoder.

How Does Soybean Oil Affect Your Health?

New research at UC Riverside has shown that soybean oil which is America’s most widely consumed oil not only leads to diabetes and obesity, but could also have neurological affects on the brain. These affects could lead to Alzheimer’s Disease, anxiety, depression and even autism.

Soybean oil is used in fast food frying, is added to packaged foods and is fed to livestock. And it appears in all likelihood it is not healthy for humans to consume. It is not good for mice. The recent study compared mice fed three different diets high in fats – soybean oil, soybean oil modified to be low in linoleic acid and coconut oil.

The same research team in 2015 discovered that soybean oil induces diabetes, insulin resistance, obesity and fatty liver in mice. In a 2017 study, this same team learned that if soybean oil is engineered to be low in linoleic acid, it induces insulin resistance and obesity.

In the new study released this month, the team did not find any difference between the unmodified soybean oil and the modified soybean oil’s effects on the brain. The team found pronounced effects of the oil on the hypothalmus which is a part of the brain where a number of critical processes happen.

The hypothalmus regulates body weight through metabolism, maintains body temperature and is critical for physical growth and reproduction as well as response to stress.

The research team discovery determined a number of genes in mice who were fed soybean oil were not functioning properly. One such gene produces oxytocin, the love hormone. In mice fed soybean oil the levels of oxytocin in the hypothalmus went down.

The team discovered about 100 other genes that were also affected by the soybean oil diet. They believe the discovery could have ramifications not only for energy metabolism, but also for proper brain function and a variety of diseases such as Parkinson’s and autism. However, they did note that there is not actual proof that soybean oil causes these diseases.

The team also notes that their findings only apply to soybean oil, not other soy products or to other types of vegetable oils. Many soy products contain small amounts of the oil and large amounts of healthful compounds such as proteins and essential fatty acids.

It is also important to note that the study was conducted on mice and mouse studies don’t always translate the same to humans. And the study utilized male mice. Because oxytocin is very important for maternal health and promotes mother/child bonding, similar studies will need to be performed using female mice.

The team has not isolated exactly which chemicals in soybean oil are responsible for changes they found in the hypothalmus. They have however ruled out two candidates. It is not the linoleic acid since the modified soybean oil also produced genetic disruptions. Nor is it stigmasteral which is a cholesterol like chemical found naturally in the oil.

The team’s future research will include identifying the compounds responsible for the negative effects. Their research could help design healthier dietary oils in the future. The dogma is that any saturated fat is bad and unsaturated fats are good. Soybean oil is actually a polyunsaturated fat but the thought that it is good for you is not proven.

Coconut oil which contains saturated fats, produced very few changes in the hypothalmic genes. The take away now is reduce the consumption of soybean oil.

To view the original scientific study click below

Omega-6 and omega-3 oxylipins are implicated in soybean oil-induced obesity in mice

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