Nutrition Notes, June, 2017 from Roc Nutrition Investigator

Once again sorry that I have been so busy with cancer research that I have been sending fewer newsletters. Scientific evaluation of my proposal to treat bladder cancer is expected June 28th, and I have been consulting on a strategy to cure most forms now. Please see my essay on cancer prevention here.

Many of the links in the short summaries below go to easily read abstracts.

This review suggests that exercise interventions positively influence cognitive function in patients with chronic diseases. Beneficial effect was independent of the type of disease, type of exercise, frequency, and the intensity of the exercise intervention.

Stress promotes cancer and reduces immunity. The ability of stress to induce immune suppression is widely recognized, but the mechanisms underlying the effects of stress on the adaptive immune system during tumor progression are not completely understood. Our data demonstrate that various forms of stress differentially impact adaptive immunity and tumor angiogenesis, and negatively impact survival.

Eat carotenoids (colorful fruits and veggies) to reduce Alzheimer’s risk. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, affecting approximately 33.5 million people worldwide. Aging is the main risk factor associated with AD. Drug discovery based on nutraceutical molecules for prevention and treatment of AD is a growing topic. In this sense, carotenoids are phytochemicals present mainly in fruits and vegetables with reported benefits for human health. In this research, the anti-amyloidogenic activity of three carotenoids, cryptocapsin, cryptocapsin-5,6-epoxide, and zeaxanthin, was assessed. Cryptocapsin showed the highest bioactivity, while cryptocapsin-5,6-epoxide and zeaxanthin exhibited similar activity on anti-aggregation assays.

Get exercise to reduce risk for many diseases and bone loss.  Physical activity (PA) has been identified as beneficial for many diseases and health disorders, including sarcopenia.  The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis confirm the beneficial influence of PA in general for the prevention of sarcopenia.

This study examines the effects of the selected non-pharmacological lifestyle activities on the delay of cognitive decline in normal aging (link to longer notes with activities tested). This was done by conducting a literature review in the four acknowledged databases Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE, and Springer, and consequently by evaluating the findings of the relevant studies. The findings show that physical activities, such as walking and aerobic exercises, music therapy, adherence to Mediterranean diet, or solving crosswords, seem to be very promising lifestyle intervention tools. The results indicate that non-pharmacological lifestyle intervention activities should be intense and possibly done simultaneously in order to be effective in the prevention of cognitive decline.

Short or long term lack of enough sleep has dire consequences even for healthy people of all ages.  Sleep plays a vital role in brain function and systemic physiology across many body systems. Problems with sleep are widely prevalent and include deficits in quantity and quality of sleep; sleep problems that impact the continuity of sleep are collectively referred to as sleep disruptions.  In otherwise healthy adults, short-term consequences of sleep disruption include increased stress responsivity, somatic pain, reduced quality of life, emotional distress and mood disorders, and cognitive, memory, and performance deficits. For adolescents, psychosocial health, school performance, and risk-taking behaviors are impacted by sleep disruption. Behavioral problems and cognitive functioning are associated with sleep disruption in children. Long-term consequences of sleep disruption in otherwise healthy individuals include hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, weight-related issues, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and colorectal cancer. All-cause mortality is also increased in men with sleep disturbances. For those with underlying medical conditions, sleep disruption may diminish the health-related quality of life of children and adolescents and may worsen the severity of common gastrointestinal disorders.

Valerian, hop, and jujube aid sleep reducing irritability and more.  The scope of the present study is to evaluate safety and effectiveness of a herbal compound composed of valerian, hop, and jujube on primary insomnia symptoms and sleep disturbances not related to medical or psychiatric causes. Daily symptom improvement in subjects receiving the herbal compound showed significant reduction in tension and irritability, difficulty in concentration, and fatigue intensity, if compared to placebo scores.  Botanicals dietary supplement with relaxing and soothing properties can help practitioner to treat primary insomnia, especially when the risk/benefit profile of a patient does not sustain hypnotic drugs prescription.

– Roc, Nutrition Investigator
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Research is to see what everybody else has seen and to think what nobody else has thought. -Albert Szent-Györgyi