Three easy ways to fight against extra weight

Let’s face it! Obesity is a problem nowadays and, as unpleasant it is for me to say it, I deal with the same problem: I am overweight and I’m always searching for a weight loss method. Although we all know that exercising and a healthy diet is the perfect thing for a healthy, supple abdomen, it is always good to have a few quick alternatives at hand, right?

While stumbling the internet in the search for diet recipes (yes, it’s that time of the year when I MUST lose weight) I found a website offering some diet pills that seem to be really interesting. I have never tried such things so if you know anything about them, it would be great to hear.

Because from what I see, they look quite promising. For example this Xenical pill I first found – it’s a pill that helps your digestive system to filter fats faster, therefore forcing our organism to start burning that extra fat we all have round the belly. This does not appear to be one of the dangerous “faster metabolism”, so I found it really interesting.

So I kept digging through the website and found that there are more pills there – all seeming to have the same use: helping people like me lose weight fast and without problems. Reductil for example is another of their products, this time one that does not help eliminate fat faster, but gives you an overall satiety level, therefore reducing the amount of food you eat. Acomplia was another product they offered.

So now I wonder if I should start an order or go back to my exercising… pills are faster and more effective, though. Tough…

Breakthrough in treatment for E. coli toxin

Polymer binds E. coli toxin preventing kidney damage

A University of Alberta researcher has found a possible treatment for the E.coli strain that killed seven people in Walkerton, Ontario, in 2000 and has just been linked to more than 200 illnesses in North Bay, Ontario.

David Bundle, chemistry professor and director of the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Carbohydrate Science, has developed a polymeric drug that binds a naturally-occurring protein in the body with the E.coli toxin, preventing it from affecting the kidneys. The effect of E.coli 0157.H7 on the kidneys can be life-threatening.

New Finding gor Crohn's Disease and Colitis

The tonsils and lymphoid tissues in the intestinal tract that help protect the body from external pathogens are the home base of a rare immune cell newly identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers indicate that the immune cells could have a therapeutic role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

"These cells have an anti-inflammatory effect," says the article's lead author Marina Cella, M.D., research associate professor of pathology and immunology. "In the gut, we have beneficial bacteria, and it's important that the body does not recognize them as something detrimental and start an inflammatory reaction, which could ultimately promote tissue damage and inflammatory or autoimmune diseases such as IBD. The cells we've discovered are important for keeping such harmful inflammatory processes in check."

The cells are a type of natural killer (NK) cells, which are white blood cells classically known to eliminate tumor cells and cells infected by viruses. Because of their killer tendencies, NK cells are carefully controlled and don't act until they receive the right signal.

Some of the signals that activate the newly discovered cells are the same signals that turn on a different immune cell with strong inflammatory properties that can promote cell death and tissue damage if chronically active. But the anti-inflammatory cells, termed NK-22 cells, that the Washington University researchers discovered have the opposite effect — they promote cell proliferation and wound healing.

"That finding suggests that these cells play a role in maintaining a balance in the immune system between inflammatory processes and anti-inflammatory processes," says coauthor Jason Mills, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology and immunology and of developmental biology. "They make sure that factors that turn up inflammation can be counteracted by the coordinated activation of anti-inflammatory effects."

Alternative energy and exercise

Alternative energy is all the rage in major media headlines, but for the human brain, this is old news. According to a study by researchers from Denmark and The Netherlands published in the October 2008 print issue of The FASEB Journal, the brain, just like muscles, works harder during strenuous exercise and is fueled by lactate, rather than glucose. Not only does this finding help explain why the brain is able to work properly when the body's demands for fuel and oxygen are highest, but it goes a step further to show that the brain actually shifts into a higher gear in terms of activity. This opens doors to entirely new areas of brain research related to understanding lactate's specific neurological effects.

"Now that we know the brain can run on lactate, so to speak, future studies should show us when to use lactate as part of a treatment," said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "From an evolutionary perspective, the result of this study is a no-brainer. Imagine what could have or did happen to all of the organisms that lost their wits along with their glucose when running from predators. They were obviously a light snack for the animals able to use lactate."

To reach their conclusion, the researchers looked at research that compared the blood running to and from the heads of volunteers undergoing strenuous exercise. They found that the blood on its way to the brain contained considerably more lactate than blood flowing from the brain. Further investigation showed that the brain was not storing the lactate which had come from the muscles during exercise, but rather using it as fuel. In fact, the brain helped to clear lactate from the circulation, thereby leaving glucose to the muscles that need it for the hard work they were performing.

About Colon Cancer

Colon cancer ranks second of all gastrointestinal malignant tumors, it is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Until now, several molecules have been reported to play an important role in gastroenterological tumorigenesis and tumor metastasis, but the molecular mechanisms involved tumor development and progression still remain unclear in colon cancer.

A research article published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology refers. In this research, by using the combined methods of laser microdissection (LMD), P27-based RNA amplification, and polypeptide, They evaluated differentially expressed genes between early carcinoma and lymph node metastatic patients. Moreover, They further identified four differentially expressed genes in the progression of colon cancer in another group of 15 patients by means of semiquantitative reverse transcribed polymerase chain.

Their result indicated that the five gene expressions were changed in colon carcinoma cells compared with that of controls. Of the five genes, three genes were downregulated and two were upregulated in invasive submucosal colon carcinoma compared with non-invasive cases. The results were confirmed at the level of RNA and gene expression. Five genes were further identified as differentially expressed genes in the majority of cases in progression of colon cancer, and their expression patterns of which were similar to tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes. These results not only reveal the differentially expressed genes in progression of colon cancer, but also provide information that may prove useful for identifying novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets.

Small intestine can sense and react to bitter toxins in food

Toxins in food often have a bad, bitter taste that makes people want to spit them out. A new research finds that bitterness also slows the digestive process, keeping bad food in the stomach longer and increasing the chances that it will be expelled. This second line of defense in the gut against dietary toxins also triggers the production of a hormone that makes people feel full, presumably to keep them from eating more of the toxic food.

The study was performed with mice, and the results probably translate to humans, said Timothy Osborne, molecular biology and biochemistry professor and study senior author. Mammals have evolved to dislike the bitter taste of toxins in food. This response is particularly important when they eat a lot of plant material, which tends to contain more bitter-tasting, potentially toxic ingredients than meat.

Examples of bitter-tasting toxins include phenylthiourea, a compound that destroys the thyroid gland, and quinine, found in tonic water, which can be deadly in large doses. If toxins are swallowed, bitter-taste receptors in the gut sense them and trigger the production of a hormone called cholecystokinin that both suppresses appetite and slows the movement of food from the stomach to the small intestine.

Interestingly, the UCI scientists found that cholesterol regulates the activity of bitter-taste receptors in the intestine, and diets high in plant material and potential toxins naturally are low in cholesterol, compared to low-toxin, high-cholesterol, meat-based diets.

In small intestine cell cultures, low levels of cholesterol triggered a stronger receptor response – meaning they worked better – while high levels caused a weaker response.

The same response was observed in mice that were given drugs to stop the production and absorption of cholesterol. Not only were their receptors more active, their small intestine cells produced two to three times the amount of the appetite-suppressing hormone in the presence of bitter food, compared to normal mice.

In addition to the appetite-suppressing hormone, bitter-taste receptors in the gut activate the production of glucagon-like peptide 1, a protein that stimulates insulin secretion in the pancreas. Drugs currently are on the market that attempt to stabilize this protein in people with diabetes, and therapies aimed at increased production are attractive therapeutic targets.

Probiotic bacteria don't make eczema better

I truly hope that most of my readers know that probiotics or probiotic bacteria is only useful for our digestive system, colon and digestive process and shall never accept to be treated for other affection with probiotics. Probiotics are bacteria that have to stay inside our abdomen only!

Unfortunately, there are uses of probiotics on patients suffering from other problems than digestive system-related. There is no evidence probiotics can relieve the symptoms of eczema, but there is some evidence that they may occasionally cause infections and gut problems. These findings from The Cochrane Library come at a time when use of probiotics to treat eczema is increasing.

Eczema is an itchy skin condition that affects more than 1 in 20 people at some time in their lives and is especially common in children. Its cause is complex and not well understood, but sufferers do have different bacteria in their guts compared to unaffected people. Consequently, some nutritionists have suggested that eating live gut-dwelling bacteria, such as those found in probiotic yoghurts and some infant formulas, could be beneficial.

"Some doctors are recommending probiotics as a cheap treatment for eczema, but having carried out a systematic review we have found no evidence that they work for treating eczema," says lead researcher Robert Boyle of Imperial College, London, UK.

The Cochrane Researchers looked at 12 studies that together involved 781 children diagnosed with eczema. These studies compared severity of the disease in children given live bacteria to severity in those given a placebo. The researchers found that probiotics provided no significant health improvement. Similar bacteria were given across all studies, so the researchers could not rule out the possibility that other strains might be beneficial. Moreover they found that in separate studies 46 patients had been reported to suffer side effects from using probiotics, including infection and bowel damage.

"There is no evidence that probiotics are a worthwhile treatment for eczema, and they may be harmful for certain groups of people," says Boyle. "However, further studies of new probiotics are needed, because it is possible that different types of probiotics which haven't yet been studied in eczema treatment could be more effective."

Too many calories send the brain off kilter

Being fat is a worldwide spread problem and, believe it or not, things are worst than many of us can imagine. Fat is simply bad, is pure evil and we have to do something about it if we want to live a healthy, happy lifestile and have a happy life.

An overload of calories throws critical portions of the brain out of whack, reveals a study in the October 3rd issue of the journal Cell. That response in the brain's hypothalamus—the "headquarters" for maintaining energy balance—can happen even in the absence of any weight gain, according to the new studies in mice.

The brain response involves a molecular player, called IKKß/NF-?B, which is known to drive metabolic inflammation in other body tissues. The discovery suggests that treatments designed to block this pathway in the brain might fight the ever-increasing spread of obesity and related diseases, including diabetes and heart disease.

"This pathway is usually present but inactive in the brain," said Dongsheng Cai of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Cai said he isn't sure exactly why IKKß/NF-?B is there and ready to spring into action in the brain. He speculates it may have been an important element for innate immunity, the body's first line of defense against pathogenic invaders, at some time in the distant past.

" In today's society, this pathway is mobilized by a different environmental challenge—overnutrition," he said. Once activated, "the pathway leads to a number of dysfunctions, including resistance to insulin and leptin," both important metabolic hormones.

Earlier studies showed that overnutrition can spark inflammatory responses in the peripheral metabolic tissues, including the muscles and liver, and therefore cause various metabolic defects in those tissues that underlie type 2 diabetes. As a result, scientists identified IKKß as a target for an anti-inflammatory therapy that was effective against obesity-associated diabetes.

Yet whether metabolic inflammation and its mediators played a role in the central nervous system remained uncertain. Now, the researchers show that a chronic high-fat diet doubles the activity of this inflammatory pathway in the brains of mice. Its activity is also much higher in the brains of mice who are genetically predisposed to obesity, they found.

The researchers report that that increased activity of the IKKß/NF-?B pathway can be divorced from obesity itself -- infusions of either glucose or fat into the brains of mice alone led to this inflammatory brain reaction.

Further studies revealed that this activity in the brain leads to insulin and leptin resistance. Insulin lowers blood sugar by causing cells of the body to take it up from the bloodstream. Leptin is a fat hormone important for appetite control.

Moreover, the researchers found that treatments preventing the activity of IKKß/NF-?B in the animals' brains protected them from obesity.

While chronic inflammation is generally considered a consequence of obesity, the new results suggest the inflammatory reaction might also be a cause of the imbalance that leads to obesity and associated diseases, including diabetes. As Cai says, it appears that inflammation and obesity are "quite intertwined." An abundance of calories itself promotes inflammation, while obesity also feeds back to the neurons to further promote inflammation in a kind of vicious cycle.

The findings could lead to treatments that might stop this cycle before it gets started. Let's hope for the best. And, most important - stay healthy!

A new alternative in treating short bowel syndrome

SBS is a clinical condition characterized by diarrhea, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, malabsorption, and progressive malnutrition related to a wide resection of the small intestine. The most important therapeutic objectives in the management of SBS are maintenance the patient's calorie intake and nutritional status. However, some enteral nutrition (EN) products use for energy supports in order to reduce total parenteral nutrition (TPN) demand. The new treatment modalities alternate the current ones are still under research with the experimental and clinical studies. Chlorella is a species of green algae that grows in fresh water. It has been consumed as a food source for centuries in mainly Japan and other Far East countries, besides, it's healing properties has enhanced it's consumption too. Several EN products have been used for SBS.

A research article to be published on July 28, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team was led by Mustafa Kerem from Gazi University Experimental Surgery Center. In this original study, it has been seen that there's a positive effect of chlorella crude extract (CCE) on intestinal adaptation of rats which had undergone short bowel syndrome. Administration of CCE lead significant increase in intestinal villi height and villi width, intestinal protein and DNA amount, and serum citruline levels which is a sign of improved intestinal absorption. As being the first it's an important study. By this information algs which are easily found widely in salt and fresh waters and can be generated easily, can be used in clinical settings.

CCE has beneficial role in intestinal adaptation. It seems that it can be an alternative to the other commercial enteral and parenteral products.

How to diagnose and treat spontaneous colonic perforation

Spontaneous perforation of the colon is defined as a sudden perforation of the normal colon without any diseases such as tumor external injury. It is rare, often misdiagnosed and has a high mortality rate. A group led by Huai-Kun Ni from Fuding City Hospital of China investigated the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous perforation of the colon, and this will be published on July 28, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

They retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 10 cases of spontaneous perforation of the colon, observed at Fuding hospital from January 2004 to December 2007. Seven patients had a history of chronic constipation. All patients complained of sudden lower abdominal pain. The perforation occurred after coloclysis and administration of senna leaves in two patients. Nine patients had signs of peritoneal irritation. Seven cases underwent abdominal paracentesis, which was diagnostic in six. Only one case was definitely diagnosed prior to surgery. One patient underwent neoplasty of the colon, another a partial resection of colon, six a neoplasty of the colon plus sigmoid colostomy, and two underwent Hartmann surgery. All perforation sites were opposite to the mesenteric edge. The perforation sites were located on descending colon in one case, sigmoid colon in three cases, and rectosigmoid colon in six cases. In five patients, surgical pathological examination was consistent with the microscopical changes of colonic perforation caused by feces. Three patients died after surgery. This study may be helpful for the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous colonic perforation.

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Reference: Yang B, Ni HK. Diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous colonic perforation: An analysis of 10 cases

Stem cells and inflammatory bowel disease curing

Investigators from a hospital in Massachusetts have found that infusions of a particular bone marrow stem cell appeared to protect gastrointestinal tissue from autoimmune attack in a mouse model, allowing the regeneration of the gastrointestinal lining in mice with a genetic mutation leading to multiorgan autoimmune disease. In other words, this means that bowel related problems such as irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel diseases could be controlled using these stem cells.

"Our findings suggest that MSC therapy could become a useful treatment for inflammatory bowel disease," said Biju Parekkadan, PhD, according to EurekAlert. "Several previous studies have observed these cells' ability to inhibit specific subsets of T cells and relieve symptoms in particular autoimmune disorders. But this is the first demonstration of their ability to suppress a broad-based autoimmune reaction and protect gastrointestinal tissue."

Autoimmune disease occurs when the immune system loses control over lymphocytes (white blood cells) that attack an individual's own tissues. Treatments for these diseases – more than 80 conditions, ranging from type 1 diabetes to rheumatoid arthritis to gastrointestinal disorders like Crohn's disease and IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) – are primarily directed against symptoms; and even those that target the immune system do not completely suppress the out-of-control response. Found in the bone marrow, MSCs give rise to tissues supporting blood cell development and secrete factors that can modulate several immune system activities. Their use has recently received FDA approval to treat severe graft-versus-host disease in children, which means that the first step has been made and there is a huge possibility we'll see more in the future!

Analysis of the animal's lymph nodes revealed that MSC treatment produced a significant reduction in inflammation of the colon. Surprisingly, cell-tracking studies indicated that the MSCs – which were administered by infusion into the peritoneum, the membrane lining the abdominal cavity – moved into abdominal lymph nodes rather than to the intestine itself. The presence of MSCs was associated with a reduction of activated T cells and changes in other indicators of immune system activity, indicating suppression of the out-of-control immune reaction. Let's all hope for the best. Stay helathy!

Look Into the Future: Early Gene for IBS Identified!

Apparently, parents will be able in the near future (hopefully) to know if their children have the risk to develop an irritable bowel syndrome and cure it before it starts becoming a real pain! Just imagine how much would this scientific breakthrough help our kids!

It was a study of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in children that identified a gene that influences whether children get these diseases early in life, and therefore points to a potential new target for treatment. The findings of the international team that performed the study were published online this week by the journal Nature Genetics.

While several genes that influence susceptibility to the two diseases have been found previously, this study is the first to focus on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with childhood onset.

Both genetics and the environment have an effect on the risk of getting inflammatory bowel disease – that’s a fact everybody knows. For example, if one identical twin suffers from Crohn's disease, the other has a 60 percent probability of getting it too. However, the incidence of disease has drastically increased over the last half century, because the environment has changed, as well as the way people lead their life today. So, please try to understand: we are doing it to ourselves and we have to stop. Because, the way it is now, the future does not look nice…

Anyway… back to the study and its IBS/ulcerative colitis findings: it compared the DNA of more than 1,000 children diagnosed with all sorts of inflammatory bowel diseases at the average age of 11 with 4,250 disease-free children, and confirmed the findings in a larger set of patients established by the British Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium - the authors used gene chip microarray technology to scan thousands of one-letter alternative genetic "spellings" spread throughout the patients' DNA. Most of these made little difference when it came to affecting the risk of inflammatory bowel disease, but a few stood out, and two had not been seen before. Just imagine how important! Because scientists were led to a gene whose activity they found was associated with the degree of inflammation in the colon. And there is encoded a protein that lengthens the duration of an immune response by regulating the longevity of activated white blood cells, meaning that it could be the answer for our problems! Let’s just hope that the doctors and scientists and researchers are able to create a good medicine to help our kids in the future. Although IBS could certainly be controlled in a more natural way: by living a healthy life!