HALF A TABLESPOON OF OLIVE OIL DAILY CUTS DEMENTIA RATES

A study has linked 7 gm of olive oil a day to a huge reduction in dementia-related death, highlighting its benefit to not only heart health, but also brain health. Researchers from Harvard University found that people who consumed just over half a tablespoon daily have a 28 per cent lower risk of dementia-related death than those who never or rarely consumed it.

The study found that some antioxidant compounds in olive oil can cross the blood-brain barrier, potentially having a direct effect on the brain. The study examined the self-reported results of 60,000 women and 32,000 men from 1990 to 2018. From 1990, participants of a decades-old health survey run by nurses measured their dietary intake every four years.

Olive oil has been extracted and used in many cultures, with the earliest known oils being created about 4000 BC. Extra virgin is generally considered the most healthy type of olive oil, above both refined or virgin. Its anti-inflammatory properties come from a high amount of antioxidants, and olive oils also contain healthy fats that help the heart.

Source: The  New Daily

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THE POLLEN SEASON IS GETTING WORSE AND LONGER

The world’s allergy season is getting worse. When the temperatures rise, plants produce more pollen. Not only do seasons now start 20 days earlier than they did in 1990, there’s about 20% more pollen filling the air, largely thanks to climate change. In the US, a quarter of adults and nearly 20% of children are impacted by allergies, a figure that’s set to grow as the world gets hotter. An analysis of asthma patients in Maryland found that very early-onset spring led to a 17% increase in hospitalizations.

Wildfires are also causing increasing problems.  Wildfire seasons are set to start sooner and end later and potentially be more explosive than last year. Children, senior citizens and people with asthma and other underlying health issues can be harmed by relatively low concentrations of wildfire smoke, and the toxic stew of chemicals, delivered in particles small enough to enter the bloodstream are dangerous for us all.

The costs associated with climate-caused health complications are not insignificant. Sweden, for instance, found that allergies cost the country of 9.5 million people upwards of 1.3 billion euros per year, thanks to treatments, doctors’ visits and hospitalizations. And in the US, wildfire fumes could cause as many as 27,800 deaths per year by 2050 — and an annual economic cost of $244 billion.

Source: Bloomberg 

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JUST HOW BENEFICIAL IS APPLE CIDER VINEGAR?

Apple cider vinegar is a natural product made of fermented apple juice that has gone sour. The best stuff is cloudy and has sediment, known as the “mother”, where the good bacteria lives. Without the mother, there’s unlikely to be much benefit to taking apple cider vinegar.

Vinegar has a long history as a surface decontaminant. So in salad dressings, as well as adding flavour, it may kill micro-organisms on raw vegetables. That decontaminant quality could also help in the human gut. Our stomachs produce acid, which acts as a natural barrier to infection. Research suggests that apple cider vinegar delays stomach emptying. Thus, increased time in contact with stomach acid might account for the claimed protective effect against enteric infections.

There are plenty of anecdotal claims that apple cider vinegar can aid weight loss, supported by limited evidence from several small studies. A randomized controlled trial published in early 2024 showed significant reductions in weight and waist size of 120 overweight and obese young people. There were also reductions in serum triglycerides – blood fats that can raise the risk of heart disease if levels are too high – and cholesterol over the three-month follow-up period.

Another systematic review from 2021 – looking at dietary supplementation with acetic acid from all vinegar types – found evidence of significant reductions in fasting blood glucose particularly in individuals with type 2 diabetes. The study also showed benefits in reducing serum triglycerides and cholesterol.

Apple cider vinegar is thought to cause weight loss through its effect on the delay of gastric emptying. This increases a sense of fullness and reduces appetite. Reduced calorific intake will lead to weight loss. 

Blood glucose levels are controlled by insulin. In type 2 diabetes there is a reduction in sensitivity to insulin which in turn leads to a reduced uptake of glucose by cells. There is some evidence that apple cider vinegar – and other sources of acetic acid – improves insulin sensitivity. 

Raised blood lipids are a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke. But there is no scientific evidence that vinegar consumption of any kind reduces cardiovascular morbidity. 

Finally, one of the more outrageous claims of benefits of daily apple cider vinegar consumption is that it may prevent or treat cancer. A frequently quoted case-control study from China found that an increased consumption of vinegar was associated with a reduced incidence of oesophageal cancer. Mind you, the same study found that eating beans and vegetables was also found to be protective.

Source: The Conversation 

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MEASLES IS RAPIDLY SPREADING AGAIN

The World Health Organization is warning about the rapid spread of measles around the world, noting a 79% increase last year, with more than 306,000 cases reported.

“In 2022, the number of deaths increased by 43%, according to our models, to more than 130,000 deaths occurring from measles,” WHO technical adviser Natasha Crowcroft said. Given the growing case numbers, “we would anticipate an increase in deaths in 2023 as well,” she added.

While measles — a highly contagious and potentially deadly virus that causes a tell-tale rash — was officially declared eradicated in many countries more than 20 years ago, declining vaccination rates are jeopardizing herd immunity and increasing the risk of outbreaks.

Source: CBS

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SMART INSULIN COULD CUT DAILY INJECTIONS TO ONCE A WEEK

People with type 1 diabetes have to inject themselves multiple times a day with manufactured insulin to maintain healthy levels, as their bodies do not naturally produce enough. Glucose-responsive insulin, currently being researched in China, could cut injections to once a week through a form of insulin that provides control of blood-glucose levels over a longer period of time.

A team at Zhejiang University, China, has recently released a study on an improved smart insulin system tested on animals. Their insulin was able to regulate blood-glucose levels for a week in diabetic mice and minipigs after a single subcutaneous injection.

The insulin was modified with gluconic acid, which forms a complex, or cage around it, with a polymer through chemical bonds and strong electrostatic attraction. When insulin is trapped in the polymer, its signaling function is blocked, allowing a week’s worth of insulin to be given via a single injection without a risk of overdose.

Crucial to the “glucose responsive” nature of this system is the fact that the chemical structures of glucose and gluconic acid are extremely similar, meaning the two molecules bind in very similar ways. When glucose meets the insulin-polymer complex, it can displace some of the bound insulin and form its own chemical bonds to the polymer. Glucose binding also disrupts the electrostatic attraction and further promotes insulin release mimicking the body’s natural process.

Although a breakthrough, the study is limited. Only a few animals were involved – five mice and three minipigs. And of course, there’s always the risk that the results of animal studies don’t completely track over to clinical trials in humans. But this is a promising step towards breaking the tyranny of the twice daily injection.

Source: Nature Biomedical Engineering

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A HEALTH CONUNDRUM FOR THE 2050s

By 2050, the world’s over-65s will outnumber the under-15s for the first time in history. The root cause of this is simple: infant mortality has decreased. In 1910, about 15% of British babies died shortly after being born. By 1950, this had dropped to about 3%, and last year it was about 0.3%. This reduction is a global trend.

But every surviving baby is a potential pensioner and by the age of 85 nobody is disease free. Being old is not in itself a problem, but being old and ill is quite costly.

Over 40% of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) budget goes on the over-65s. Spending on a patient in their mid-80s is more than seven times higher than on someone in their mid-30s.

Source: The Conversation, WHO, The Guardian 

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LOSSES OF A QUARTER OF BODY WEIGHT WITH DIABETES DRUG MOUNJARO

The medicine in the diabetes drug Mounjaro helped people with obesity or who are overweight lose at least a quarter of their body weight, or about 60 pounds on average, when combined with intensive diet and exercise, a new study shows.

By comparison, a group of people who also dieted and exercised, but then received dummy shots, lost weight initially but then regained some, researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine.

The study was led by Dr. Thomas Wadden, a University of Pennsylvania obesity researcher and psychology professor. The results were presented at a medical conference and confirm that the drug made by Eli Lilly & Co. has the potential to be one of the most powerful medical treatments for obesity to date, outside experts said

The injected drug, tirzepatide, was approved in the U.S. in May 2022 to treat diabetes. Sold as Mounjaro, it has been used “off-label” to treat obesity, joining a frenzy of demand for diabetes and weight-loss medications including Ozempic and Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk.

All the drugs, which carry retail price tags of $900 a month or more, have been in shortage for months. Tirzepatide targets two hormones that kick in after people eat to regulate appetite and the feeling of fullness communicated between the gut and the brain. Semaglutide, the drug used in Ozempic and Wegovy, targets one of those hormones.

Side effects including nausea, diarrhea and constipation were reported more frequently in people taking the drug than those taking the placebo. They were mostly mild to moderate and occurred primarily as the dose of the drug was escalated, the study found. More than 10% of those taking the drug discontinued the study because of side effects, compared with about 2% of those on placebo.

Source: The Associated Press 

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THE SECRETS OF SLEEPING

As we age, our bodies secrete less of two important sleep hormones – melatonin and growth hormone – so we’ll naturally be getting less deep sleep compared with our young years. 

The older we get the lighter the sleep and the shorter periods of sleep tend to be. “The biggest changes are to the elements of sleep that keep us most rested – slow-wave or deep sleep, which largely happens in the first half of the night and reduces as we get older,” says John Groeger, professor of psychology at Nottingham Trent University. “While it’s natural to wake briefly several times a night, the reduction in deep sleep means we do so more often, and for longer, as we age.”

Inactivity is a “big enemy” of sleep: and while it’s possible to be inactive at any age, it may be a particular issue when you’re older. Physical exertion, especially in the morning and outside in the daylight, is a health boon on many levels, including as an excellent primer for a good night’s sleep.

Sleeping with someone else is also, generally speaking, a bonus: new research suggests that individuals in shared beds experience less severe insomnia and fatigue, and have more sleep time – it’s possible that having another adult in the bed makes people feel safer on some level.

Source: The Conversation 

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NO. WE DON’T EAT A CREDIT CARD’S WORTH OF MICROPLASTICS A WEEK

A couple of weeks ago, CNN carried a report claiming that we eat a credit card’s worth of microplastics each week. Subsequent research carried out in the Netherlands found that humans ingest less than a grain of salt of microplastics each week. This means that it would take around 4,700 years to ingest an amount of plastic equivalent to the weight of a credit card. What a relief!

Source: The Conversation 

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PLASTIC PRODUCTION CHEMICALS ARE HAZARDOUS TO HEALTH

Some 13,000 chemicals are associated with plastic production, of which only 7,000 or so have been investigated for their health and environmental impacts. Nearly half of those studied have qualities deemed hazardous to human health, but the research—spanning 50 years and thousands of publications—is difficult to navigate. 

A new research map, produced by Australia’s Minderoo Foundation, brings order to the chaos, indexing the existing research by chemical compound, health outcomes, affected population groups, and geography.

Among the most significant findings is what they didn’t find:

• There were no papers examining the health impact of micro and nano plastic exposure in humans, despite the fact that Americans eat or inhale over 70,000 plastic particles a year.
• Studies on the health impacts of alternative chemicals used to replace dangerous ones, like Bisphenol A, only ramped up years after they were introduced — and they largely demonstrated that alternatives are often just as bad.
• And the majority of the research has been done in rich countries. But the countries which are being exposed the most — low-income countries with poor waste-management infrastructure—are largely ignored.

Source: TIME

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