The Benefits of Exercise in Postmenopausal Women At a Glance

A new study out of Australia shows significant benefits to bone mineral density among postmenopausal women who participate in a twice-weekly exercise program.

Read more about this research below.

A February 2010 research study from the University of New South Wales examined the effect of an aerobic weight-bearing exercise program on bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women. The purpose of the study was to examine what specific role – if any – regular exercise had on BMD.

30 postmenopausal women were divided into two groups for the study. The first group (19 women, mean age 66.4 years) was assigned a two-year exercise program consisting of twice-weekly aerobic weight-bearing exercises. The second group (11 women, mean age 65.4 years) did not participate in an exercise program. Before and after the two-year study period, bone density measurements were taken at the spine and hip of each study participant.

At the end of the study, women in the exercise group experienced less than one-fourth the spinal BMD loss compared to the control group (-0.8 compared to -3.8, 95% CI 0.3-5.7% difference.) Results were even more impressive for the hip measurement, where the exercise group saw a 9.6% improvement compared to a 4.4% loss in the controls (14.0% difference, 95% CI 4.6-23.5.)

The authors of the study concluded: “this study adds strong evidence that twice-weekly weight-bearing aerobic exercise has a protective effect on bone density in postmenopausal women as well as being associated with other measurable benefits.”

Caplan GA, Ward JA, Lord SR. The benefits of exercise in postmenopausal women. 2010. Australian Journal of Public Health 17(1):23-6.

How Red Wine May Shield Brain from Stroke Damage

Newswise — Researchers at Johns Hopkins say they have discovered the way in which red wine consumption may protect the brain from damage following a stroke.

Two hours after feeding mice a single modest dose of resveratrol, a compound found in the skins and seeds of red grapes, the scientists induced an ischemic stroke by essentially cutting off blood supply to the animals’ brains. They found that the animals that had preventively ingested the resveratrol suffered significantly less brain damage than the ones that had not been given the compound.

Sylvain Doré, Ph.D., an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine and pharmacology and molecular sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says his study suggests that resveratrol increases levels of an enzyme (heme oxygenase) already known to shield nerve cells in the brain from damage. When the stroke hits, the brain is ready to protect itself because of elevated enzyme levels. In mice that lacked the enzyme, the study found, resveratrol had no significant protective effect and their brain cells died after a stroke.

“Our study adds to evidence that resveratrol can potentially build brain resistance to ischemic stroke,” says Doré, the leader of the study, which appears online in the journal Experimental Neurology.

www.functionalfoods.com

‘Epigenetic’ concepts offer new approach to degenerative disease

Public release date:
28-Apr-2010http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-04/osu-co042810.php

Contact: Rod Dashwood
rod.dashwood@oregonstate.edu
541-737-5086
Oregon State University

‘Epigenetic’ concepts offer new approach to degenerative disease

ANAHEIM, Calif. – In studies on cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders and other degenerative conditions, some scientists are moving away from the “nature-versus-nurture” debate and are finding you’re not a creature of either genetics or environment, but both – with enormous implications for a new approach to health.

The new field of “epigenetics” is rapidly revealing how people, plants and animals do start with a certain genetic code at conception. But the choice of which genes are “expressed,” or activated, is strongly affected by environmental influences. The expression of genes can change rapidly over time, they can be influenced by external factors, those changes can be passed along to offspring, and they can literally hold the key to life and death.

Some of the newest work in this field was outlined today by researchers from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, speaking at experimental Biology 2010, a professional conference in Anaheim, Calif.

According to Rod Dashwood, a professor of environmental and molecular toxicology and head of LPI’s Cancer Chemoprotection Program, epigenetics is a unifying theory in which many health problems, ranging from cancer to cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders, can all be caused at least in part by altered “histone modifications,” and their effects on the reading of DNA in cells.

“We believe that many diseases that have aberrant gene expression at their root can be linked to how DNA is packaged, and the actions of enzymes such as histone deacetylases, or HDACs,” Dashwood said. “As recently as 10 years ago we knew almost nothing about HDAC dysregulation in cancer or other diseases, but it’s now one of the most promising areas of health-related research.”

In the case of cancer, tumor suppressor genes can cause cancer cells to die by acting as a brake on unrestrained cell growth. But too much of the HDAC enzyme can “switch off” tumor suppressor genes, even though the underlying DNA sequence of the cell – its genetic structure – has not been changed or mutated. If this happens, cells continue to replicate without restraint, which is a fundamental characteristic of cancer development.

The good news – for cancer and perhaps many other health problems – is that “HDAC inhibitors” can stop this degenerative process, and some of them have already been identified in common foods. Examples include sulforaphane in broccoli, indole-3-carbinol in cruciferous vegetables, and organosulfur compounds in vegetables like garlic and onions. Butyrate, a compound produced in the intestine when dietary fiber is fermented, is an HDAC inhibitor, and it provides one possible explanation for why higher intake of dietary fiber might help prevent cancer.

“Metabolism seems to be a key factor, too, generating the active HDAC inhibitor at the site of action,” Dashwood said. “In cancer cells, tumor suppressors such as p21 and p53 often become epigenetically silenced. HDAC inhibitors can help turn them on again, and trick the cancer cell into committing suicide via apoptosis.

“We already know some of the things people can do to help prevent cancer with certain dietary or lifestyle approaches,” Dashwood said. “Now we’re hoping to more fully understand the molecular processes going on, including at the epigenetic level. This should open the door for new approaches to disease prevention or treatment through diet, as well as in complementing conventional drug therapies.”

OSU scientists recently received an $8.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to explore these issues, making the LPI program one of the leaders in the nation on diet, epigenetics, and cancer prevention. The positive findings of laboratory research are already being converted to placebo-controlled human intervention trials on such health concerns as colon and prostate cancer, which are among the most common cancers in the United States.

OSU scientists have published a number of studies on these topics in professional journals such as Cancer Research, Cancer Prevention Research, Carcinogenesis, and Seminars in Cancer Biology. Among the most recent findings is that naturally occurring organoselenium compounds in the diet might prevent the progress of human prostate and colon cancer through an HDAC inhibition mechanism.

“Some therapeutic drugs already used for cancer treatment in the clinical setting probably work, at least in part, because they are acting as HDAC inhibitors,” Dashwood said. “And what’s most intriguing is that HDAC inhibition may affect many degenerative health issues, not just cancer. Heart disease, stroke, bipolar disorder, and even aging may all have links to HDAC/histone alterations.

“In the future, a single HDAC inhibitor conceptually could have benefits for more than one degenerative disease problem.”

Whole Foods Market “Organic” food made in China

Is Your Food Making You Sick?

Is Your Food Making You Sick?
Feeling tired, bloated, achy or run down?
How about all of the above?

You may have food sensitivities and not know it. Frequent headaches, chronic digestive problems and fatigue, and a number of other common health complaints can often be caused by reactions to the foods and chemicals in our diet. For those who want to feel better, relief can now be found through the LEAP program, a simple and very effective treatment plan for food sensitivity related illness.

Symptoms provoked by food sensitivities occur when our immune system begins perceiving foods in the same way it perceives things that are truly harmful–bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc.. This mistaken identity leads to the release of toxic chemicals called “mediators” (such as histamine, cytokines, and prostaglandins) from our immune cells. It’s the inflammatory and pain-inducing effect of the mediators that give rise to symptoms making us feel sick.

Food sensitivity symptoms are often chronic. This is because the mediators are released every time you eat reactive foods. And it doesn’t matter what drugs we take to try and get better–if we have food sensitivities and don’t figure out which foods we should be eating, getting better and staying better becomes a long-term losing struggle.

LEAP or Lifestyle Eating and Performance is a program that will help you overcome any food sensitivity problems you might have. LEAP allows you to quickly identify what foods, additives, and chemicals are likely provoking your symptoms, and, more importantly, which foods have the highest probability of being safe. LEAP uses a patented, proven blood test named MRT (Mediator Release Test) to isolate a safe foods diet for you. MRT eliminates the guesswork to give you definitive answers. Once the test is performed, an eating plan is developed and tailored to the needs of each individual client. You will be assisted by Carole Farace, MS,RD a certified LEAP therapist to implement your new eating plan.

Food Sensitivities Are Linked to These Conditions and Symptoms:

• IBS, IBD, dyspepsia, diarrhea, cramping, bloating
• Migraine and other chronic headaches
• Fibromyalgia, joint pain, muscle pain, muscle weakness
• Fatigue, tiredness, insomnia, general malaise, hyperactivity, “brain fog”
• Hives, eczema
• Excess mucous production, chronic post nasal drip

The LEAP program has helped thousands of IBS, Migraine, Fibromyalgia and other food sensitive clients quickly overcome their food sensitivities and find lasting relief, even to the point of feeling completely healthy again after years of suffering. All without the ongoing cost and potential side effects of prescription medicine that never even address the underlying root of the illness. In fact, most patients see marked improvements within 1-2 weeks on the program.

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