DRINKING TOO LITTLE WATER DAMAGES KIDNEY

Just as wrong eating habits damage the stomach and the G.I tract, improper intake of liquids damages the kidneys and the urinary tract. The kidneys are weakened by drinking either too much water or too little water, by excessive sexual activity, by alcohol, by taking diuretic drugs, by antibiotics, and by not heeding the urge to urinate. Excess consumption of calcium or of food like spinach which contain oxalic acid are additional factors.

Why do aged muscles heal slowly?

As we age, the function and regenerative abilities of skeletal muscles deteriorate, which means it is difficult for the elderly to recover from injury or surgery. New work from Carnegie's Michelle Rozo, Liangji Li, and Chen-Ming Fan demonstrates that a protein called b1-integrin is crucial for muscle regeneration. Their findings, published by Nature Medicine, provide a promising target for therapeutic intervention to combat muscle aging or disease.

Muscle stem cells are the primary source of muscle regeneration after injury. These specialized adult stem cells lie dormant in the muscle tissue--off to the side of the individual muscle fibers, which is why they were originally dubbed satellite cells. When muscle fibers are damaged, they activate and proliferate. Most of the new cells go on to make new muscle fibers and restore muscle function. Some return to dormancy, which allows the muscle to keep repairing itself over and over again.

Rozo, the lead author, determined that the function of integrins (or, more specifically, the protein called β1-integrin) is absolutely crucial for maintaining the cycle of hibernation, activation, proliferation, and then return to hibernation, in muscle stem cells. Integrins are proteins that 'integrate' the outside to the inside of the cell, providing a connection to the immediate external environment, and without them, almost every stage of the regenerative process is disrupted.

The team theorized that defects in β1-integrin likely contribute to phenomena like aging, which is associated with reduced muscle stem cell function and decreased quantities of muscle stem cells. This means that healing after injury or surgery is very slow, which can cause a long period of immobility and an accompanying loss of muscle mass.

"Inefficient muscular healing in the elderly is a significant clinical problem and therapeutic approaches are much needed, especially given the aging population-and I am including myself in this population," Fan explained. "Finding a way to target muscle stem cells could greatly improve muscle renewal in older individuals."

Rozo and Li determined that the function of β1-integrin is diminished in aged muscle stem cells. Furthermore, when they artificially activated integrin in mice with aged muscles, their regenerative abilities were restored to youthful levels. Importantly, improvement in regeneration, strength, and function were also seen when this treatment was applied to animals with muscular dystrophy, underscoring its potential importance for the treatment of muscle disorders.

Muscle stem cells use b1-integrin to interact with many other proteins in the muscle external environment. Among these many proteins, they found a clue that one called fibronectin might be most relevant. To connect b1-integrin to fibronectin, they teamed up with another group led by scientists from the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, in addition to researchers from the EPFL EDBB Doctoral Program, the Leibniz Institute for Age Research, the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry.

They discovered that aged muscles contain substantially reduced levels of fibronectin compared to young muscles. Like b1-integrin, eliminating fibronectin from young muscles makes them appear as if they were old, and restoring fibronectin to aged muscle tissue restores muscle regeneration to youthful levels. Their joint efforts demonstrated a strong link between b1-integrin, fibronectin and muscle stem cell regeneration, which is the subject of a second paper, also published by Nature Medicine in the same issue.

"Taken together, our results show that aged muscle stem cells with compromised b1-integrin activity and aged muscles with insufficient amount of fibronectin both root causes of muscle aging. This makes b1-integrin and fibronectin very promising therapeutic targets," Fan said.

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Carnegie Institution for Science. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Michelle Rozo, Liangji Li, Chen-Ming Fan. Targeting β1-integrin signaling enhances regeneration in aged and dystrophic muscle in mice. Nature Medicine, 2016; DOI: 10.1038/nm.4116

Effects of supervision variables in treating ASD

Leading autism treatment provider, Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), announced today a joint study with Chapman University about the effects of variables in treating autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The evaluation provides the most up-to-date, scientifically sound evidence to CARD and other autism therapy specialists in order to provide the best treatment to those with ASD.

CARD and Chapman University analyzed a pool of more than 800 children from ages 18 months to 12 years. Results revealed important determinations in regards to supervision. For example, being a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA) and the years of experience an analyst has have a significant direct impact on the autistic individual's treatment success rate, while increased hours of supervision above the standard ratio and caseload of the BCBA do not. These findings will help guide those who treat individuals with autism better plan, allocate time and direct resources accurately toward treatment plans.

"We are consistently finding that the single most important factor in a child's treatment outcome is the number of hours of therapy that they have received," said Dr. Dennis Dixon, CARD's Director of Research and Development. "What this new study adds is a better understanding of what matters in regards to supervision of treatment. We are now able to improve treatment efficiency while also improving outcomes for every child."

The study is a collaboration led by CARD's founder Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh and Dr. Dennis Dixon and Dr. Erik Linstead, Assistant Professor of Chapman University's Schmid College of Science and Technology. The combined team of CARD and Chapman University proved to be successful in learning more about the best course of action for treating those with ASD.

"It is tremendously exciting to see such impactful work coming from this collaboration between CARD and Dr. Linstead's team here at Chapman," said Dr. Andrew Lyon, Dean of the Schmid College of Science and Technology. "The ability to use advanced analytics tools to make better decisions about clinical standards of care is likely to completely transform how we approach healthcare for future generations. With this research collaboration, we see a promising example of this shift in the context of ASD."

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Chapman University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Dennis R. Dixon, Erik Linstead, Doreen Granpeesheh, Marlena N. Novack, Ryan French, Elizabeth Stevens, Laura Stevens, Alva Powell. An Evaluation of the Impact of Supervision Intensity, Supervisor Qualifications, and Caseload on Outcomes in the Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2016; DOI:10.1007/s40617-016-0132-1

Computational modelling can predict onset, progression of knee osteoarthritis in overweight people

Computational modelling makes it possible to predict the onset and progression of knee osteoarthritis in overweight people, shows a new study from the University of Eastern Finland. A computational model based on the degradation of the collagen fibril network in the articular cartilage was able to predict the onset and progression of osteoarthritis in overweight people during a four-year follow-up. In normal-weight people, osteoarthritis did not develop within this time span.

The study also developed a model of the knee joint which makes it possible to evaluate the mechanical responses experienced by cartilage cells in healthy and osteoarthritic cartilage during daily activities such as walking. The model demonstrated that both menisectomy and osteoarthritic changes to the cartilage cause significant alterations in cartilage cell responses.

Osteoarthritis is a joint disease estimated to affect around 5% of the total world population. Osteoarthritis is the most common in the knee or hip joint and it often develops as a result of aging, but it can also develop due to excessive loading or joint injury. In Europe, over 100 million people have arthritis, and in America, direct costs of arthritis were $51.1 billion in 2004. In addition, it has been predicted that the number of patients with knee osteoarthritis increases by 40% by the end of 2050.

Osteoarthritis proceeds gradually, weakening the articular cartilage and ultimately wearing it off completely from the ends of articulating bones. In these cases, the patient suffers from heavy joint pain and the joint becomes stiff, often leading to incapacity for work. Joint replacement surgery is the only effective treatment for osteoarthritis, which is why the prevention of osteoarthritis would be a cost-effective alternative both for the patient and society at large.

Simulation methods developed may find use in specialised health care in the future

The study utilised a computational modelling method integrating the tissue and cellular levels of the articular cartilage in order to analyse the function of the articular cartilage during the onset and progression of osteoarthritis. The method simulated the effect of articular cartilage composition, structure and various loadings on the volume, shape and mechanical responses of cartilage cells.

Compared to healthy cartilage, the cell volume of osteoarthritic cartilage increased as a result of mechanical loading. The modelling indicated that the most important explanatory factors for the cell volume increase were the pericellular fixed charge density, i.e. the number of proteoglycan molecules, and the stiffness of the collagen fibril network.

The study also analysed the effect of menisectomy, a commonly used method in knee surgery, and simulated overweight on cell responses. Both menisectomy and simulated overweight substantially increased fluid pressures in the cell and cartilage tissue during walking, but they did not have an effect on the cell shape or volume in healthy cartilage. In osteoarthritic cartilage, however, cells were compressed and elongated more, probably due to altered cartilage integrity.

During standing, the strains were amplified more in the cell than in pericellullar tissue in healthy joint cartilages, but the opposite was observed in osteoarthritic joint cartilage. It is possible that the pericellular tissue's function is to protect cartilage cells from sudden changes and to promote cartilage health.

The study also developed computational algorithms for the degradation of the collagen fibril network in the articular cartilage and its reorganisation in order to predict the development and progression of osteoarthritis caused by overweight and cartilage damage. The estimate obtained from the degradation algorithm was well in line with the clinically observed progression of osteoarthritis during a four-year follow-up. Furthermore, the collagen fibril network structure in the mechanically injured cartilage was observed to be disorganised in the vicinity of the injury, suggesting that a cartilage injury exposes cartilage to further damage.

In-depth understanding of the effects of abnormal loading, early osteoarthritis and mechanical injuries on cellular and tissue responses in cartilage makes it possible to develop new strategies for the recognition, prevention and slowing down the progression of the disease. The methods developed in the study may become widespread in specialised health care in the future. However, rigorous clinical validation will be necessary before they can be introduced to clinical use.

See more at: http://epublications.uef.fi/pub/urn_isbn_978-952-61-2178-9/urn_isbn_978-952-61-2178-9.pdf

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Eastern Finland. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Cravings for high-calorie foods may be switched off in the brain by new supplement

Eating a type of powdered food supplement, based on a molecule produced by bacteria in the gut, reduces cravings for high-calorie foods such as chocolate, cake and pizza, a new study suggests.

Scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Glasgow asked 20 volunteers to consume a milkshake that either contained an ingredient called inulin-propionate ester, or a type of fibre called inulin.

Previous studies have shown bacteria in the gut release a compound called propionate when they digest the fibre inulin, which can signal to the brain to reduce appetite. However the inulin-propionate ester supplement releases much more propionate in the intestines than inulin alone.

After drinking the milkshakes, the participants in the current study underwent an MRI scan, where they were shown pictures of various low or high calorie foods such as salad, fish and vegetables or chocolate, cake and pizza.

The team found that when volunteers drank the milkshake containing inulin-propionate ester, they had less activity in areas of their brain linked to reward -- but only when looking at the high calorie foods. These areas, called the caudate and the nucleus accumbens, found in the centre of the brain, have previously been linked to food cravings and the motivation to want a food.

The volunteers also had to rate how appealing they found the foods. The results showed when they drank the milkshake with the inulin-propionate ester supplement they rated the high calorie foods as less appealing.

In a second part of the study, which is published in July edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the volunteers were given a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce, and asked to eat as much as they like. When participants drank the inulin-propionate ester, they ate 10 per cent less pasta than when they drank the milkshake that contained inulin alone.

In a previous research study by the same team, published in 2013, they found that overweight volunteers who added the inulin-propionate ester supplement to their food every day, gained less weight over six months compared to volunteers who added only inulin to their meals.

Professor Gary Frost, senior author of the study from the Department of Medicine at Imperial, said: "Our previous findings showed that people who ate this ingredient gained less weight -- but we did not know why. This study is filling in a missing bit of the jigsaw -- and shows that this supplement can decrease activity in brain areas associated with food reward at the same time as reducing the amount of food they eat."

He added that eating enough fibre to naturally produce similar amounts of propionate would be difficult: "The amount of inulin-propionate ester used in this study was 10g -- which previous studies show increases propionate production by 2.5 times. To get the same increase from fibre alone, we would need to eat around 60g a day. At the moment, the UK average is 15g."

Claire Byrne, a PhD researcher also from the Department of Medicine explained that using inulin-propionate ester as a food ingredient may help prevent weight gain: "If we add this to foods it could reduce the urge to consume high calorie foods." She added that some people's gut bacteria may naturally produce more propionate than others, which may be why some people seem more naturally predisposed to gain weight.

Dr Tony Goldstone, co-senior author of the study from the Department of Medicine added: "This study adds to our previous brain imaging studies in people who have had gastric bypass surgery for obesity. These show that altering how the gut works can change not only appetite in general, but also change how the brain responds when they see high-calorie foods, and how appealing they find the foods to be."

Dr Douglas Morrison, author of the paper from the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre at the University of Glasgow, commented: "We developed inulin-propionate ester to investigate the role of propionate produced by the gut microbiota in human health. This study illustrates very nicely that signals produced by the gut microbiota are important for appetite regulation and food choice. This study also sheds new light on how diet, the gut microbiome and health are inextricably linked adding to our understanding of how feeding our gut microbes with dietary fibre is important for healthy living."

The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Imperial College London. The original item was written by Kate Wighton. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. C. S. Byrne, E. S. Chambers, H. Alhabeeb, N. Chhina, D. J. Morrison, T. Preston, C. Tedford, J. Fizpatrick, C. Irani, A. Busza, I. Garcia-Perez, S. Fountana, E. Holmes, A. P. Goldstone, G. S. Frost. Increased colonic propionate reduces anticipatory reward responses in the human striatum to high-energy foods. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016; DOI: 10.3945/%u200Bajcn.115.126706

How much sodium is too much?

The answer to this question in my practice is always: it depends. Yes, there are Dietary Guidelines for Americans which are based on studies and research that state 2000 milligrams is the appropriate amount. But that is a generalization that may not be correct for everyone. Most people know that too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure and a lot of people think that’s only something you can get when you’re older so there’s time to worry about that later. But excess sodium can damage the body in other ways and it’s important to keep an eye on your sodium intake no matter how young and healthy you are.

The other reason I’m such a stickler about watching sodium is that when you have a high sodium day you are going to weigh several pounds more the next morning. Its water weight but it makes the scale go up and that can be very demotivating. You work hard all week eating well and exercising, then Friday night happy hour comes along and after 1 wine spritzer and some appetizers you wake up 3 pounds more on Saturday morning. When you don’t understand the sodium impact, it’s tempting to ditch the healthy eating because “it isn’t working”. Please don’t give up. Drink lots of water and in a day or 2 you’ll drop the extra water weight.  I know it sounds crazy to drink more when you’re retaining water, more on that later. But for now, know that you need about ½ your body weight in ounces of water. (200 lbs. = 100 oz. of water)
Here’s some important info about sodium that you should know:

• One teaspoon of salt contains about 2300 milligrams of sodium. Measure out a teaspoon of salt and pour it on a plate. That’s 2300miligrams of sodium. (Remember the recommendation is 2,000mg.)
• Foods with less than 140 mg of sodium are considered “Low Sodium”.
• Your salt palate is an acquired taste and the more you eat the more you can tolerate.
• High sodium foods won’t always taste salty to you.
• Most of the sodium we eat comes from restaurant meals. Look up your favorite entrée on any chain restaurant’s website and you’ll be amazed to see items on the menu with 2000-4000 mg of sodium per serving!
• Particularly salty foods include: Soups, cheeses, sauces, bread.
• Keep in mind that there is very little difference in the sodium content of sea salt and table salt. It may have more trace minerals but it’s still 40 percent sodium.
• There’s a big sodium bomb is lurking at the deli counter. That ham & Swiss on whole wheat with mustard will break the sodium limit and most of us will add a salty bag of “baked” chips to go with it.

So how do we get this under control?

• Start by reading the nutrition label on the back of every package. Notice the amount of sodium in your favorite foods.
• Begin to slowly replace high sodium foods with lower sodium varieties. As you begin to cut back, do it slowly to allow your palate to adjust. If you try to go too fast your food will taste very bland and you won’t be happy.
• Try low sodium turkey on a whole wheat wrap with veggies and a bit of hummus.
• Skip the chips in favor of fresh pepper strips or baby carrots.
• Have a fresh green salad instead of soup, skip the cheese and ask for sauces & dressings on the side.
• Notice how salty things begin to taste as you adjust your palate.

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About Debbie:
Debbie Lazinsky is a weight loss & life coach, health coach & personal trainer. She lost 185 lbs. on her own program and has kept it off since 2010. She was featured in PEOPLE MAGAZINE January 2014 HALF THEIR SIZE issue.

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4 SIDE EFFECTS OF DRAMATIC WEIGHT-LOSS

There really are numerous effects of excessive weight reduction, particularly in a short space of time which can be both positive and negative. For instance, you will have plenty more energy and will feel and also look much better in your clothes. You will cut the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, back pain, impotence, sleep apnea, depression, diabetes and also some cancers.

However, occasionally dropping a lot of weight will include some unusual side-effects too, according to Tricia Leahey, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School.

While the benefits of losing weight normally offset the negatives, the subsequent four possible implications might not work in your favour, or even worse, discourage you from achieving your main objective in the first place.

Below I have listed some implications of weight loss and the best way to counter them. Hopefully this will help keep you on track so that you keep on going, and for or the best results, you must follow the best diet plan.

1 – The Blues

You ought to feel optimistic with every lost pound, therefore exactly why do you feel disappointed? Shedding weight might improve your threat for depression as outlined by the study from University College London. Researchers noticed almost 2,000 obese grownups for four years. Subjects who else dropped a minimum of 5% of their weight had been 78% much more very likely to report depression than patients who else did not move the exact needle just on the scale.

Your move:

Obtain a lot of sleep and also eat healthy foods whenever you are eager, this will decrease the risk of depression, says Conason. Staying properly nourished and even relaxed can help provide you with the strength to deal with these difficulties and challenges.

In case, you turn out to be completely preoccupied with weight reduction – like abandoning strategies with close friends to move to the gym or even obsessively keeping track of calories at each and every meal-consult a psychologist for an assist. If you are looking for pills to reduce your weight, then you can take a look at Bio-x4 reviews.

2 – Loose Skin

Unfortunately, melting flab does not instantly include taught, tight abs. In case, you shed lots of weight; then you might end up with sagging folds up of extra skin. “Skin extends as time passes to support extra body mass,” says Adonis Maiquez, M.D., director of wellness and also regenerative medicine at Miami Institute just for Age Management and even Intervention

Whenever the fat is decreased, your skin might not have got sufficient elasticity just to shrink back down merely to your recent body structure, Doctor Maiquez says.

The quantity of loose skin that you end up with is dependent on just how old you are, and just how rapidly you decreased weight, and also how frequently you have gained and lost weight previously, he says.

Your move:

In the event of severe weight reduction, plastic surgery might be the just means to eliminate your additional skin, says Holly Wyatt M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Colorado.

3 – Lost Love

Teaming up just with your wife/husband/partner to shed weight might improve your possibilities of achievement. If they are not really on board, your romantic relationship might be affected, as outlined by a newly released study from the North Carolina State University.

Researchers surveyed husbands and wives in that one companion experienced dropped weight. The one-sided way of life frequently brought quarrels and even tough feelings in between spouses, says study writer says study writer Lynsey Kluever Romo, Ph.D. So be careful that weight reduction might keep your spouse feeling jealous, guilty, or neglected.

Your move:

Clarify the reason why dropping weight is essential to you with your partner so that they know your reasons and will be more prone to assist you, says Conason. Do not request they stick to your gym strategy as your insistence may be misinterpreted for nagging.

4 – Stomach Pain

A few people who shed weight quickly ended up with gallstones which are hard lumps that form inside your gallbladder, says Doctor Wyatt.

Your move:

Involve fat in your every day diet plan to keep the gallbladder working effectively, says Doctor Wyatt. Fat is usually considered as the dietary demon however studies show that the particular nutrient does not inflate your belly as well numerous calories do.

Fat could also make your meals tastier as long as you hold your portions in check. Consult your doctor in case you are going through gallstone signs like extreme fever, nausea, stomach pain.