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Physiology

Gut microbiome may be the "black box" of nutrition research – News-Medical.Net

In a recent paper published in theCelljournal, researchers at the University of Alberta, Canada, and the University College Cork, Ireland, analyzed the current nutritional guidelines for gut microbiota.

Review: Rethinking healthy eating in light of the gut microbiome. Image Credit:Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

Diet is critical to human health and the pathogenesis of epidemic-level noncommunicable chronic illnesses. The constant increase of chronic diseases among non-industrialized populations who convert to a Western-style diet is a striking witness to the substantial influence of diet on human health.

Evidence-based dietary advice is critical for health promotion, considering the global epidemic of diet-associated chronic diseases. Although human gut microbiota harbor significant relevance for the physiological consequences of diet and the genesis of chronic disease, national dietary recommendations across the globe are only beginning to take advantage of scientific advancements in the microbiome sector.

Studies at the intersection of microbiome and nutrition disciplines have expanded recently. Nonetheless, diet-microbiome-host connections have received little attention in current dietary guidelines.

In the present review, the researchers addressed current nutritional guidelines from the perspective of microbiome science, concentrating on mechanistic findings that revealed host-microbe interactions as drivers of the physiological impacts of diet. The scientists constricted their discussions on food-based dietary guidelines for health promotion and illness prevention among the common public, which is the goal of these guidelines.

The team concentrated on studies that showed how the gut microbiota regulates and facilitates the physiological impacts of dietary compounds, dietary habits, and specific foods. Theyused their findings to help clarify debates on nutrition, create innovative nutritional advice, and provide an experimental paradigm for incorporating the microbiome within nutrition research.

The authors found that national food-based dietary guidelines from many countries with various dietary traditions have a high level of consistency. These guidelines were in accord with other major nutritional platforms, like the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets and sustainable food systems and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

All dietary guidelines advised whole-plant foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts instead of processed foods with added salt, saturated fats, or sugar. Dietary fibers and phytochemicals comprise two vital components of whole-plant foods.

The rapidly fermentable elements in processed foods might induce excessive growth ofbacteriain the small intestine and an undesirable microbial metabolic and compositional profile. Further, adversely impact the immune and endocrine systems. However, the colonic microbiota does not have access to them.

The evidence for the capacity of whole grains to lowerthe likelihoodof chronic diseases was strong, and the function of gut bacteria in these effects was being studied more and more. According to a study combining human research and mechanistic assessments in mice, the microbiota may have a causal role in the health impacts of whole grains.

Several dietary standards advise that plant-associatedprotein foods should be ingested frequently owingto their advantages to human and planetary health. Mounting studies indicate the gut microbiomeprobably has a role in the health benefits of legumes. Furthermore, solid proof from observational and intervention studies shows that highfatty fish consumption has a cardioprotective effect, and the gut flora might be mediating these health benefits.

The Mediterranean diet integrates many food types that have afavorable impact on host interactions. It advises fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and olive oil as dietary essentials, moderate consumption of eggs, poultry, fish, and dairy products, and limited consumption of processed and red meats and processed foods.

Multiple latest microbiome studies bolster the prominence of the Mediterranean diet in dietary guidelines. Indeed, recently updated dietary guidelines advocate eating patterns that mirror the Mediterranean diet, such as the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH).

Toxicological considerations explain the risk classification of red and processed meats by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) expert panel, as well as existing dietary guidelines, based on likely dose-response correlations. Besides, many mechanistic animal models emphasizethe potentially harmful impacts of saturated fats derived from milk on microbiota homeostasis, strengthening dietary recommendations to limit high-fat dairy consumption.

It is uncertain if the microbiota contributes causally to acute metabolic consequences of low-carbohydrate and fat diets among humans. The authors noted using microbiome-targeted techniques to enhance low-carbohydrate diets will be beneficial.

The team stated that dietary recommendations, focused nutritional approaches, and the development of food products to combat chronic disease risk might benefit from accounting for how diet-microbiome interactions influenced human physiology. It also laid the groundwork for initiatives to restore the microbiome. The microbiome restoration technique might be achieved theoretically with dietary synbiotics and probiotics.

Reformulation of processed foods, rather than eradication, has been hypothesized to enhance the population-wide quality ofdiet. Such efforts will necessitate afood engineering breakthrough that addresses diet-microbe-host interconnections.

The researchers mentioned that nutritional strategies could be used to target microbiome and health-promoting taxa once their characteristics were recognized. Microbiome assessments were a critical element of precision-nutrition methods focused onchronic illness prevention and therapy, among other individual-specificaspects, due to the highly customized reaction of gut microbiota to diet.

Data on diet-microbiome-host relationships could improve, modify, and innovate dietary guidelines. Integrating the gut microbiome into dietary recommendations must be supported by proofof the microbiome's causal and mechanistic contributions to the physiological impacts of diet.

The team referred to outstanding reviews that lay out best-practice standards for diet-microbiome studies and supplemented them with a three-pillared experimental design incorporating the gut microbiome within all phases of nutrition research. Microbiome discoveries to develop healthy eating hypotheses, microbiome integration into human intervention studies, and mechanistic understanding and causal inferences regarding the microbiome's function in diet impacts were among these pillars.

According to the authors, the convergence of fundamental concepts in the nutrition and microbiome sectors confirms current dietary recommendations. They discovered that systematically incorporating microbiome knowledge into nutrition studies can further boost and revolutionize healthy eating.

Overall, the study findings indicated that diet was linked significantly to the absence or presence of disease, which subsequently connected to the microbiome. Diet-microbiome connections were anticipated to contribute to the molecular underpinning of dietary physiological effects, making the gut microbiome the "black box" of nutrition studies. There is a compelling evolutionary and biological rationale for the two disciplines to expand their already extensive and persistent collaborations to learn more about how to improve health through diet.

The investigators stated that microbiome-centered endpoints must be incorporated into all facets of nutrition science to increase the scientific basis for dietary recommendations. In addition, nutritional microbiology research can provide comprehensive information on all elements of healthy eating. Thus, contributing to solvingthe problem of diet-linked disease prevention and control.

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Gut microbiome may be the "black box" of nutrition research - News-Medical.Net

Physiology

The earlier a chemist wins the Nobel prize the longer they are likely to live – Chemistry World

Winners of the chemistry Nobel prize may be missing out on their fair share of an unusual benefit of the premier scientific award a longer life. Nobel laureates in physics and medicine appear to live significantly longer than their chemistry counterparts.

A new study1 suggests Nobel winners in the sciences physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine live progressively longer than they might have, depending on how early they receive the prize. It shows scientists who win the Nobel prize live about one year longer than the population at large for every 10 years earlier than average they were awarded it.

But it comes after a 2019 study2 into the ages of Nobel laureates that found chemistry prize winners tend to receive the award when they are older.

Taken together, the two studies indicate winners of the chemistry Nobel tend not to live as long after they receive the prize as do laureates in other fields in fact, its a quantifiable phenomenon.

Our analysis indicates that Nobel chemists have only 3.95 extra years of longevity compared to physics (6.19 years) and physiology or medicine (5.9 years), says behavioural economist Ben Chan of the Queensland University of Technology, the lead author of the new study.

The study reports the statistical effect that winning a science Nobel had among 387 laureates between 1901 and 2000, but it cant pinpoint any reason for the increased longevity.

It seems likely, however, that receiving such an esteemed award would reduce work-related stress and promote healthier behaviour or happiness, Chan says. Any resulting increases in status and social standing could also result in a healthier and longer life.

And the earlier you receive the Nobel prize, the better. Early achievers are likely to enjoy such benefits, which accumulate through ones life, Chan says.

Physicist and numerical modeller Rasmus Bjrk of the Technical University of Denmark near Copenhagen, who led the 2019 study on the ages of Nobel winners, suggests receiving the prize leads to a less stressful work life. One has basically been set up for life, he says. No university in the world would fire a laureate, and funding for research will be plentiful for the rest of their academic career.

Both Bjrk and Chan note the pressure on academics to secure funding by winning awards, and Chan suggests that, because winning the Nobel and other awards has such a marked effect, it might be a sign the system needs reform. One might ask the question whether the current recognition system in science could be improved, he says.

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The earlier a chemist wins the Nobel prize the longer they are likely to live - Chemistry World

Physiology

Global Wellness Day #Think Magenta – Times of India

On the occasion of Global Wellness Day, which is celebrated on every second Saturday of June. Human beings have progressed extensively in the field of technology. Machines are replacing the work of human. This has resulted in less human interactions and more of virtual interactions. Even though this has its own advantages in connecting across countries, the feelings and emotions aspect in human interactions has taken a back seat.

The pandemic has changed our perspective towards life in many ways and helped us learn a lot of new things. The rapid spread of news on Covid-19 happened through media inputs. The day started for most people by looking into the statistics /data of Covid-19 infection, more so through WhatsApp groups. With the spread of Covid-19 infection, there was also spread of hopelessness, uncertainty and fear which brought in a lot of negativity.

What happens to our physiology with negative thoughts?

This input of negative thoughts had set in a cascade of reactions and many succumbed to this fear and hopelessness more than Covid-19 itself. Our thoughts impact the physiology. Positive thinking empowers one at the physiological level of the Cell. Our basic functional units are called cells that function in two modes towards its survival. One is to nourish itself through cellular rejuventation. The other mode is to protect itself from offending agents, for which it has to close its membrane and guard with sensors. At any given time, the cell can perform either of the functions.

Fear and uncertainty send a message deep down to the cells and sets them in a protective mode. If the cells are recruited mostly for protection, then vitality of the cell gets compromised as there is not much nutrition function happening.

Positive thinking helps to switch the mode of function in a balance more towards nourishing mode, thereby the cells are well nurtured and their vitality is improved.

Is it possible to have a volitional control over our thoughts?

Yes, thoughts are generated by the mind and if the mind is nurtured well through the right kind of food and activities, then one can stay positive despite challenges. Ayurveda explains moderation in food, rest and activities and lays a path to good health.

What should one eat to stay positive?

You are what you eat is a famous quote. Our ancient wisdom talks about how food plays a major role in how we act out in the world either by being reactive or by being responsive. One must have balanced nutrition with complex carbohydrates, adequate protein and fat along with vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Millets provide adequate protein, calcium. One big serving of seasonal fruits with breakfast and fresh greens and salads provides adequate vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Eating dinner early improves the quality of sleep.

Practising yoga helps one balance their energy. Breathing efficiently through pranayama practices and meditation give clarity in thinking, thereby enabling one to respond to any situation with a positive attitude.

Similarly, mindful movements like Tai-Chi channelises the flow of life energy called Chi Practising these mindful movements refines the mind to stay focussed with positivity.

Importance of recreational activities and community space for seniors to live a healthy life

With increasing lifespan, the population of seniors is on the rise. Science and technology have helped in expanding the life span and the longevity. But still a lot of work needs to be done to add quality of life to the years of longevity to bring in positive ageing.

Health is holistically defined by WHO as a state of physical, mental, social and spiritual wellbeing. Living in a community set up has proven to be one of the ways to attain this, particularly for seniors. A senior living community brings likeminded people with varied interests together. Service providers of these communities work through various activities to address health concerns in different dimensions.

Health is addressed through the important pillars as its foundation, which includes physical, emotional, mental, intellectual and spiritual well-being.

At the physical level -Nutrition through balanced and customised meals towards elder needs, timely meals with proper rhythm are provided in community set up. Movement as a group activity helps boosting the morale and joy of living together.

At the emotional level- Artistic activities such as dance, drama, art and craft, painting helps expressing emotions with creativity.

At the mental level-Board games, traditional games and memory games help maintain cognitive fluidity and this flexibility brings in cognitive reserve. Cognitive abilities can be improved by enhancing the perception through sensory integration, focussed activities, executive functions like problem solving, decision making and sequencing. These specific activities will help in maintaining cognitive reserve and thereby diminishes the risk of dementia.

At the intellectual level Organising debates, discussions on varied topics, solving puzzles and sudoku takes care of the intellectual health.

At the spiritual level Connecting with the nature through outdoor activities and outreach programs to reach out to the needy, empowers one with hope to give something to others.

Living in a senior living community helps in promoting holistic health and positive ageing.

Positive thinking promotes positive psychology and helps in adding quality to life and pave way for positive ageing.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

END OF ARTICLE

Originally posted here:
Global Wellness Day #Think Magenta - Times of India

Physiology

How does the human body respond to rising temperatures? This one-of-a-kind lab in Ottawa is trying to find out – The Globe and Mail

Research patient Lise Cloutier sits in the worlds only direct air calorimeter a machine that continuously and precisely measures how much heat is gained and lost by the human body at a University of Ottawa lab.Spencer Colby/The Globe and Mail

The cylindrical chamber at the University of Ottawa lab looks at once like a machine from the past and the future. It swings open at a seam, splitting in half to reveal its contents. Tubes and chains dangle from the ceiling and reflect off the aluminum-sheeted walls. Theres just enough room inside for a black metal chair, rigged with wires for data collection and padding for comfort.

The chamber is the labs pice de rsistance. Its the worlds only direct air calorimeter a machine that continuously and precisely measures how much heat is gained and lost by the human body.

Originally developed in the 1970s at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the calorimeter was mothballed in 1990, until Dr. Glen Kenny brought it back to life later that decade. He likened the process to finding a rare Corvette at the dump and then refurbishing it.

More than 1,000 people have sat in the chamber over the years, lending their bodies to science in pursuit of nailing down how, exactly, the body responds to heat under various scenarios. The reason we put the calorimeter back together is that its the golden key in understanding how the human system is going to react to heat exposure, Dr. Kenny said.

Glen Kenny, professor of Physiology and Research Chair in Human Environmental Physiology at the University of Ottawa.Spencer Colby/The Globe and Mail

The Ottawa lab is at the forefront of research globally when it comes to the impacts of rising temperatures on human health, particularly among vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those living with chronic illness. The U.S. military, mining industry, electric utilities and others have looked to Dr. Kenny for help developing heat-management and monitoring strategies to protect people working in hot environments.

Health Canada has also turned to Dr. Kenny for advice. In late 2018, the federal department tasked him with assessing the effects of an extreme heat event on the most vulnerable Canadians. This led to the launch of a multiphase study on prolonged heat exposure, indoor temperature limits and cooling centres.

The study has not yet been published, but the data is in. It provides clear parameters for safe indoor temperatures and it dispels some commonly held views on the efficacy of cooling centres during heat waves.

The findings will inform federal guidance for health authorities across the country as they create strategies to address the growing problem of extreme heat. According to Health Canada, roughly 80 per cent of local and regional health authorities are currently working to take a range of evidence-based action to protect health from extreme heat. The department is aiming to develop its interim guidance this year.

Time is of the essence. When the record-setting heat dome settled over B.C. and then crept eastward last June and early July, Canadians were confronted with the reality that heat is a silent and prolific killer with the power to overwhelm emergency services. It was the deadliest weather event in Canadian history, linked to at least 619 sudden deaths in B.C.

Nearly one year later, as the clock ticks toward another summer, the provinces coroners service has shed light on the circumstances of those who died. According to a death-panel report released Tuesday, people aged 70 and older accounted for two-thirds of the deaths. Almost all 98 per cent died indoors. The overwhelming majority of the victims had at least one chronic disease. Most lived in socially or economically deprived neighbourhoods. More than half lived alone.

Among other recommendations, the report calls for a co-ordinated provincial heat-alert system and the adoption of community wellness checks for the most vulnerable.

Its certainly worth looking back, because a lot went wrong last summer. People in distress couldnt get through to 9-1-1 dispatchers. Some got a busy signal or were put on hold. Some callers who did manage to get through ended up waiting several hours for an ambulance. At one point, every fire truck in Vancouver was out on medical calls.

B.C. report on last years heat wave is a grim reminder that we must better protect our most vulnerable

Cooling in new buildings, tree canopy vital during heat waves: B.C. coroner report

Several emergency-services agencies in B.C. have since upgraded their heat-response plans and increased their staffing levels. B.C.s E-Comm system, which provides dispatch services for police and fire departments, rolled out a new call-transfer process that it says has materially improved answering capacity. BC Emergency Health Services is piloting a new app that allows for on-scene video consultations between a patient and clinician at the dispatch centre. Vancouver Fire Services is training some of its staff in emergency medical response a higher level of care for many firefighters.

Its a good thing. The Pacific Northwest heat dome was a once-in-1,000-year weather event, but it wont be 1,000 years before the next one. As the world warms, episodes of extreme weather will increase in frequency, intensity and duration.

Just last month, a heat wave in India and Pakistan killed at least 90 people. And while B.C. was in heats fatal crosshairs last year, other parts of Canada arent immune. A 2010 heat wave in Ontario and Quebec killed at least 280 people. A 2018 heat wave claimed dozens of lives in Montreal.

To get ready for heat, we must first understand its assault on the body. Theres a lot we already know. We know that if a persons core body temperature reaches 40 C and continues to warm, critical systems will start shutting down. The brain will stop processing normally. The body will lose its ability to cool itself through sweating. The blood will thicken, forcing the heart to beat harder and faster. Breathing will become rapid and shallow. Organ systems will eventually fail.

The body's ideal internal temperature is 36.9 degrees Celsius. As core temperatures rise, our internal regulation turns to acute self-preservation that leaves the body vulnerable in many ways. Symptoms of heatstroke set in above 40 degrees Celsius internally; the American Physician Journal recommends rapid cooling and, if done in a timely manner, it can be 100 per cent effective.

We know that age is the single most important factor in terms of vulnerability to this sort of demise. With each decade, we lose roughly 5 per cent of our ability to thermoregulate to lose heat. We know that sweating causes evaporative cooling and is key to guarding against hyperthermia; high levels of humidity inhibit that evaporative cooling process.

We know that having certain underlying conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, puts people at a greater risk of heat-related illness and death. And we know that it can take a while before the accumulation of heat in the body starts affecting our cells and organs; its usually not until about 24 hours after the onset of a heat wave that people begin dying.

Dr. Kennys latest research takes our understanding further. By studying real people with real health conditions in really hot temperatures for long periods of time, his team is able to make nuanced recommendations that go beyond existing, often one-size-fits-all advice.

This kind of work is extremely important, said University of Washington global health professor Kristie Ebi, a lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes 2018 special report about the effects of global warming of 1.5 C above preindustrial levels. Were seeing heat waves at intensities we havent seen before. Were not prepared. We need to understand how to best protect people, particularly the most vulnerable.

Its the most vulnerable that Dr. Kenny is most concerned with. When he explains his findings, he refers to colour-coded graphs with dots representing study participants. He wants policy makers and individual Canadians to pay close attention to the dots that fall outside the clusters. You cant just look at the mean of a dataset, he said. What you need to be concerned about is the outliers. Those are real people. Theyre the ones who are going to collapse.

Roughly 100 people participated in the federally commissioned research at the Ottawa lab. The younger, control cohort ranged in age from 18 to 31, and the older, more vulnerable group ranged from 60 to 80. Among the older demographic, a subset had either Type 2 diabetes or hypertension an underresearched demographic in the area of prolonged heat exposure, Dr. Kenny said, owing to concerns around stress-testing vulnerable people in extreme conditions.

Three years in the making, the study has involved more than 2,400 lab hours.

On trial days, study participants put on shorts and a T-shirt, signed a consent form and got hooked up to some physiological recording devices. These included, among many others, a blood-pressure unit, an ECG machine, a body-temperature probe, a heart-rate monitor and a mask that measures oxygen consumption.

The subject then entered the study space, which consisted of two concentric cylinders (imagine one pop can inside another). The larger cylinder is about the size of a two-car garage, only taller. Thats the environmental chamber. It can be set to different temperatures and humidity levels to simulate various living and workplace scenarios. It regulates the conditions around and within the smaller, inner cylinder. Thats the calorimeter, where the nitty-gritty of the trials took place.

Heres how it works. Researchers measure the temperature and humidity of the air entering the chamber and coming out of it. They measure two sources of heat the heat produced by the body from simply being alive, and the dry heat the body absorbs from the hot air. Those two values, added together, equal the total amount of heat gained. Researchers then measure the moisture levels going in and out of the chamber to determine how much sweat was produced and evaporated. Thats the amount of heat lost. The difference between the heat gained and the heat lost is the amount of heat being stored in the body.

Housed at the University of Ottawa, the worlds only direct

air calorimeter is considered the key to understanding

the impact of extreme heat on the human body. Scientists

measure the temperature and humidity of the air entering

the chamber and coming out of it. They can then calculate

how much heat the body was able to shed through thermo-

regulatory processes such as sweating, and how much it

ends up storing. Storing too much heat can lead to illness or

even death.

1. The calorimeter, which is housed in an environmental

chamber (not shown), is equipped with software that

allows researchers to monitor and record the physiologi-

cal responses of a study participant exercising or at rest.

2. The temperature in the chamber is tightly controlled to

simulate hot conditions. Study subjects wear monitoring

devices, including a mask that collects expired gases and

helps determine the amount of heat produced by the

body due to metabolism.

3-4. By precisely monitoring air temperatures and humidi-

ty levels flowing into (3) and out of (4) the calorimeter,

researchers can measure the rate of heat-exchange

between the body and the environment. Using these

measurements and the rate of heat production described

in (2), the calorimeter can be used to quantify the

real-time accumulation of heat within the body.

kathryn blaze baum and john sopinski /

the globe and Mail, Source: Dr. Glen P. Kenny,

University of Ottawa, Human and Environmental

Physiology Research Unit

Housed at the University of Ottawa, the worlds only direct

air calorimeter is considered the key to understanding

the impact of extreme heat on the human body. Scientists

measure the temperature and humidity of the air entering

the chamber and coming out of it. They can then calculate

how much heat the body was able to shed through thermo-

regulatory processes such as sweating, and how much it

ends up storing. Storing too much heat can lead to illness

or even death.

1. The calorimeter, which is housed in an environmental

chamber (not shown), is equipped with software that

allows researchers to monitor and record the physiologi-

cal responses of a study participant exercising or at rest.

2. The temperature in the chamber is tightly controlled to

simulate hot conditions. Study subjects wear monitoring

devices, including a mask that collects expired gases and

helps determine the amount of heat produced by the

body due to metabolism.

3-4. By precisely monitoring air temperatures and humidi-

ty levels flowing into (3) and out of (4) the calorimeter,

researchers can measure the rate of heat-exchange

between the body and the environment. Using these

measurements and the rate of heat production described

in (2), the calorimeter can be used to quantify the

real-time accumulation of heat within the body.

kathryn blaze baum and john sopinski / the globe and Mail,

Source: Dr. Glen P. Kenny, University of Ottawa, Human

and Environmental Physiology Research Unit

Housed at the University of Ottawa, the worlds only direct air calorimeter is considered the key to

understanding the impact of extreme heat on the human body. Scientists measure the temperature and

humidity of the air entering the chamber and coming out of it. They can then calculate how much heat

the body was able to shed through thermoregulatory processes such as sweating, and how much it ends

up storing. Storing too much heat can lead to illness or even death.

1. The calorimeter, which

is housed in an environ-

mental chamber (not

shown), is equipped with

software that allows

researchers to monitor

and record the physiologi-

Follow this link:
How does the human body respond to rising temperatures? This one-of-a-kind lab in Ottawa is trying to find out - The Globe and Mail

Physiology

Be Careful of Overeating While Pregnant: Maternal Obesity Greatly Increases a Childs Risk of Heart Problems – SciTechDaily

According to a recent study in mice, maternal obesity affects the fetus heart health and function.

Obesity is defined as an abnormal or excessive buildup of fat that poses a health risk. A BMI of 30 or above is considered obese.

Obesity has become increasingly prevalent in America. Recent estimates suggest that more than 42% of adults in the United States are obese. Health risks of obesity include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and sleep apnea. New research has found it might even have an impact on your children too.

According to a recent study, maternal obesity impacts the fetus heart health and function. The research, which was published in The Journal of Physiology, discovered that maternal obesity produces molecular changes in the fetuss heart and modifies the expression of genes involved in nutrition metabolism, dramatically increasing the likelihood of cardiac problems in the child later in life.

This is the first study to demonstrate that the heart is programmed by the nutrition it receives throughout birth. Gene expression changes affect how carbs and fats are metabolized in the heart. They change the hearts nutritional preference away from sugar and toward fat. As a result, the hearts of obese female mices fetuses were bigger, heavier, had thicker walls, and displayed signs of inflammation. The hearts ability to contract and circulate blood throughout the body is impaired as a result.

A mouse model that replicates human maternal physiology and placental nutrient transfer in obese women was used by researchers from the University of Colorado, US. Female mice (n=31) were given a high-fat diet along with a sugary drink, which is roughly equal to a person eating a burger, chips, and a soft drink on a daily basis (1500kcal). Female mice were fed this diet until they became obese, gaining roughly 25% of their initial body weight. A control diet was fed to 50 female mice.

Mouse pups (n=187) were studied in utero, as well as after birth at 3, 6, 9, and 24 months using imaging techniques, including echocardiography and positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Researchers analyzed the genes, proteins, and mitochondria of the offspring.

The changes in offspring cardiac metabolism strongly depended on sex. The expression of 841 genes was altered in the hearts of female fetuses and 764 genes were altered in male fetuses, but less than 10% of genes were commonly altered in both sexes. Interestingly, although both male and female offspring from mothers with obesity had impaired cardiac function, there were differences in the progression between sexes; males were impaired from the start, whereas females cardiac function got progressively worse with age.

The sex difference in the lasting impairments of cardiovascular health and function could be due to estrogen. Higher levels in young females may protect cardiovascular health, the protection diminishes as estrogen levels deplete as the females age. The molecular cause for the sex difference is not yet understood.

Lead author, Dr. Owen Vaughan, University of Colorado, US said:

Our research indicates a mechanism linking maternal obesity with cardiometabolic illness in the next generation. This is important because obesity is increasing rapidly in the human population and affects almost one-third of women of childbearing age. By improving our understanding of the mechanisms involved, this research paves the way for treatments that could be used in early life to prevent later-life cardiometabolic illnesses, which are costly for health services and affect many peoples quality of life. For example, we could offer more tailored advice on nutrition to mothers or children based on their body mass index or sex, or develop new drugs that target metabolism in the heart of the fetus.

Mice have shorter pregnancies, more offspring, and different diets than humans so further studies on human volunteers would be required to extrapolate the findings to womens health. Loss-of-function studies also need to be carried out to prove this mechanism linking maternal obesity and offspring heart function and pinpoint the exact molecules responsible.

Reference: Maternal obesity causes fetal cardiac hypertrophy and alters adult offspring myocardial metabolism in mice by Owen R. Vaughan, Fredrick J. Rosario, Jeannie Chan, Laura A. Cox, Veronique Ferchaud-Roucher, Karin A. Zemski-Berry, Jane E. B. Reusch, Amy C. Keller, Theresa L. Powell and Thomas Jansson, 11 May 2022, The Journal of Physiology.DOI: 10.1113/JP282462

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Be Careful of Overeating While Pregnant: Maternal Obesity Greatly Increases a Childs Risk of Heart Problems - SciTechDaily

Physiology

Does Stretching Cause More Harm Than Good? Yogi Aaron Transforms the Narrative in the Stop Stretching Podcast Come June 14th – PR Newswire

Ushering in a new era of stability, Yogi Aaron challenges the status quo by dismantling damaging ideologies to help others live a pain-free life

PUERTO JIMNEZ, Costa Rica, June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Whether young or old, athlete or beginner, everyone has been fed the same narrative for decades: "If your muscles are tight, just stretch it out", but what if that idea is doing more harm than good? The words yoga and stretching seem synonymous, right? But what if they preach two separate truths to either hinder or heal pain? One yogi is on a mission to pull back the curtain, uncover the truth, and dismantle the false belief that stretching helps ease pain. Yogi Aaron is proud to announce the release of the Stop Stretching podcast, come June 14th on all major streaming platforms.

Yogi Aaron is the creator of AYAMA (Applied Yoga Anatomy + Muscle Activation), and the owner and yoga director at Blue Osa Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica. During his 30 years of practicing and teaching yoga, Yogi Aaron has developed an intrinsic understanding of yogic philosophy, anatomy, and the subtle body, which spurred his passion for unveiling the truth about how much stretching causes harm.

"Let's answer the BIG question! Why is stretching hurting us? What is actually going on! Many of us have heard that we need to stretch to prevent injuries when we are doing sports, and yet there is no evidence that supports this claim."

As the only yogi in the industry breaking the norm, Yogi Aaron created the Stop Stretching podcast to help each listener understand the physiology of their body, tap into their limitless potential, and develop the confidence to embody yoga both on and off the mat. Listeners will be amazed by the mass influx of information that contradicts mainstream thinking, bringing physiology back into the equation with precision and purpose to reduce pain and implement sustainable change rooted in science.

"Inflexibility is not a sign that muscle needed to be "stretched", but rather muscle tightness is actually a sign that is a muscular instability and that a group of muscles were not contracting properlyWe are no longer focusing on stretching, but instead, activating and stabilizing."

Through proof of concept, dedication to the craft, and unwavering commitment to helping others live a pain-free life, Yogi Aaron's purpose-driven vision has come to fruition with the release of the Stop Stretching podcast, available on all major streaming platforms come June 14th.

To learn more about Yogi Aaron or the Stop Stretching Podcast, please visit:https://YogiAaron.com

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About Yogi Aaron

Yogi Aaron, the creator of AYAMA Applied Yoga Anatomy + Muscle Activation, has been teaching yoga for over 30 years, is a bestselling author, and owner and yoga director at Blue Osa Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica. A revolutionary at heart, he's on a mission to get people back in touch with the true essence of yoga, flip the script on stretching, and help humanity live pain-free! Come June 14th, Yogi Aaron will launch his purpose-driven podcast, Stop Stretching to change the conversation around stretching and usher in a new era of activation and stability. He has studied under yogic masters such as Alan Finger, Bryan Kest, Genny Kapuler, Rod Stryker, Swami Rama, and David Swenson, among others.

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AaronWhatsApp +50687047006https://YogiAaron.com

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Does Stretching Cause More Harm Than Good? Yogi Aaron Transforms the Narrative in the Stop Stretching Podcast Come June 14th - PR Newswire

Physiology

Fact check: No evidence that foot pads can detoxify the body, experts say – USA TODAY

4 simple tips to detox your home

While we may be careful about what we feed our bodies, the air in our home also affects our health. With a few simple precautions you can get rid of harmful toxins and clear the air. Krystin Goodwin (@krystingoodwin) has tips to help you detox your

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A widely shared video circulating on social mediapurports to show detox foot pads removing toxins from the bottom of the feet.

"Cleansing Foot Pads provides a healthy and fast effect to your body while you are sleeping," reads the text of aFacebook post shared April 21."From reducing inflammation, relieving the body, to detoxifying your body from all the impurities."

The video generated over 300,000 viewsand close to 500 interactionswithin two weeks. Several other Facebook users have shared similar posts.

But there is no credible evidence to support foot pads clearing the body of toxins. Experts told USA TODAY no scientific studies have been published proving detox foot pads work.

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USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared theclaim for comment.

There is no scientific evidence that proves detox foot pads are effective.

"One of the most common claims for (foot pads)is that they draw out toxins like heavy metals, and that is a claim for which there is very little evidence," said Dr. Murad Alam, vice chair of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

When the foot pad is removed, it appears dark and discolored,and that supposedlyreflects the toxinsexpelled from the body overnight, social media posts say.

But the discoloration stems from sweat reacting with chemicals in the foot pad,Alam said.

"There's some chemicals like vinegar (in the foot pad), andit's probably just a chemical reaction of moisture affecting the footpad," he said.

The Journal of Heavy Metal Toxicity and Diseases published a study in 2018 that examined whether foot pads remove metals from the body. The presence of metals in the pads before and after use was investigated in 53 participants. It concluded that"detox foot pad(s)did not induce the eliminationof studied metals through the feet."

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A 2008 National Public Radio report compared used and unused foot pads and shippedthem to a laboratory for analysis. The labfoundno significant changes between the used and unused pads.

The human body is well-equipped for filtering and eliminating unwanted substances without the use of any external device, experts say. The liver, intestines, kidneys and sweat glands in the epidermisremove toxins.

"Feet are not a detoxification organ," saidDr.Adrianne Fugh-Berman, a professor of pharmacology and physiology at Georgetown University. Fugh-Bermanadded that sweat eliminates few waste compounds compared to the kidneys and liver.

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In 2010, a federal judge, at the request of theFederal Trade Commission,banned the manufacturersof the Kinoki Foot Pads from selling their products. According to the FTC, the makers "falsely claimed to have scientific proof that the foot pads removed toxic materials from the body."

"There's no special characteristics of foot skinthat make foot skin more likely to be a way to take out toxins or other bad substances," said Alam.

Based on our research, we rate FALSEthe claim that cleansing foot padsdetoxify the body. Expertssaid there's no reliable evidence foot pads work.The pads' discoloration is primarily due to chemicals in the pads. The FTC has also charged a detox foot pad manufacturer with misleading advertising for claiming the pads detoxify the body.

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

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Fact check: No evidence that foot pads can detoxify the body, experts say - USA TODAY

Neuroscience

Age 40 Is When Busy Americans Get the Least Sleep – Neuroscience News

Summary: Sleep efficiency dips for most around age 40, increasing again at around age 50. Researchers say that for most aged 60 and older, sleep duration increases.

Source: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

A graph of how long Americans sleep forms a U-shaped pattern across our lives, with age 40 being the low point and hours of sleep starting to creep back up about age 50,Medical College of Georgiainvestigators report.

Our sleep efficiency, which basically means how much of the time we devote to sleeping that we actually sleep, tends to decrease across our lifetime, but investigators were surprised to find efficiency stabilized from ages 30 to 60, saysDr. Xiaoling Wang, genetic epidemiologist at MCGsGeorgia Prevention Instituteand corresponding author of the study in the journalScientific Reports.

True sleep time is tough to measure in a large database of individuals who provide a representative sample of the country, particularly since most assessments are self-reports of sleep, says first author,Dr. Shaoyong Su, also a genetic epidemiologist at the Georgia Prevention Institute and the studys first author.

The main innovations in the study include its representative sampling technique, broadly inclusive age and the use of accelerometers to measure movement and get a more objective idea of how much participants slept.

For this study, investigators used what is considered a representative sample of 200 million Americans: 11,279 participants age 6 and older from theNational Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, which focuses on different populations or health topics. Data on these participants was collected from 2011-14 but released in late 2020, and this is the first time that 24-hour accelerometer data was available in a nationally representative sample.

Participants wore accelerometers on their nondominant wrist 24-hours a day for seven consecutive days. While the device does not directly measure sleep time, the premise is that measuring movement gives you some indication of whether you are asleep or not, says coauthorDr. Vaughn McCall, chair of the MCGDepartment of Psychiatry and Health Behaviorand an expert in the trifecta of insomnia, depression and suicide.

We confirmed previous findings based on subjective measurement, Su says. People think children and adolescents sleep later and we found this. And, during middle age people sleep less and our findings support that objectively. Additionally, sleep duration is increased for those age 60 and older, he says.

In this more objective assessment of sleep parameters based on movement, investigators found again that generally nighttime sleep decreases as our age increases, although they saw the U shape emerge as sleep duration dropped significantly from about age 10 into the 50s and get a little longer after that. Studies of a large population of Japanese and French residents have shown a similar pattern.

The increased sleep time later in life may reflect the reality that most Americans still retire in their 60s and simply dont need to get up as early. Health problems and not feeling well may be another reason older American sleep longer, the investigators write, and more study is needed to look at those potential associations.

Sleep efficiency basically the time you actually sleep versus the time you have dedicated to sleep, with 85% considered good also tends to decrease with age, although the investigators found it stabilized from ages 30 to 60, indicating that adults maintain sleep efficiency for a long period, but may get the least sleep in their busy middle age.

Traditionally people think sleep efficiency goes straight down with age, but we did find there is a stable period, from ages 30 to 60 years old, that you have quite stable sleep efficiency, Wang says.

They found females generally sleep longer than males across their lives but tend to go to sleep later, particularly as they get older, and get interrupted more, particularly in taking care of children, but still net about four minutes more sleep than males.

The investigators were surprised to find that males and females were equally sleep efficient since females are more likely to report worse sleep quality and more sleep disturbances. While more study is needed to understand sex differences in sleep, sex differences should already be considered in studies and treatment of sleep health, the investigators write.

Females sleep onset time tended to be about five minutes later than males, but before age 20 males went to bed later.

Young American adults about age 20 had the latest CTSO, or clock time for sleep onset, which is considered the time participants actually went to sleep, and high school students had the biggest weekday/weekend differences between the time they went to sleep and awakened. Those weekday/weeknight differentials only happened in school- and work-age individuals with children ages 14-17 showing the biggest differences.

For school-age children the CTSO was 9:30 pm, which was not surprising, but that time got later though high school and hit the peak around age 21 when the average time was closer to 11:30 pm, McCall says, adding he thought it would actually be even later. The investigators note that 25% of children ages 6 to 13 had a CTSO close to 11 pm.

While there may be societal reasons, like social demands and use of electronic media right before bedtime, these patterns also may reflect biological changes that occur during adolescence, they write. But the collective impact may be fatigue, behavioral problems and less academic success, they write.

As they move into their 20s, a lot of people transition to work life and the CTSO begins to reverse, he says. You hit the years where you are raising children and you are working and then what happens around the time of retirement? Your whole schedule begins to change, McCall notes, and the CTSO gets later again.

Black Americans tended to have some of the most troublesome sleep parameters, generally going to sleep later, sleeping less hours and less efficiently, than other races including Mexican Americans, the investigators found.

In the apparent first report of its kind, Mexican Americans had the earliest sleep onset and longest sleep time but were not necessarily efficient sleepers. The findings point to the need for more research on racial disparities in sleep that take into account social and cultural factors as well as biological and genetic factors, the investigators say.

A recent editorial in the Sleep Research Society journalSleep Advanceson cardiovascular health disparities, reports that sleep disorders and insufficient sleep are emerging as contributing factors to disparities in cardiovascular outcomes in Black patients.

For example, obstructive sleep apnea, which affects about 26% of adults age 30-70 and tends to be more severe in Blacks, has been linked to an increased risk of hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure and other maladies.

The investigators, including first author MCG pulmonologist Dr. William J. Healy, hypothesize that innovative approaches to addressing disparities in sleep care delivery will reduce both sleep health disparities and potentially cardiovascular health disparities.

One thing we cannot overestimate is the impact of sleep, notes Wang. Without sufficient sleep, you overuse your body, she says, and your ability to adjust to less sleep decreases with age.

While insufficient sleep itself is a risk factor for a myriad of health problems from obesity to diabetes to cardiovascular disease, it may also be an indicator of disease, says McCall who says how we sleep is like a canary in a coal mine and that sleep complaints may be an indication of mental or physical health problems.

I think what these sleep parameters mean in terms of peoples health is that if you are a physician or other provider and patients comes in with some kind of complaint about their sleep, you need to interpret what they tell you in light of their stage in life and what their likely sleep patterns are going to be, McCall says.

For example, with a 22-year-old complaining of insomnia, some of his first questions would be what time do you go to bed and how long did it take to fall asleep.

I dont look at our findings necessarily as a benchmark of perfect health, McCall says. I look at this as a benchmark of what is happening in America.

Our more natural instincts across our lifetime likely are to go to sleep when it gets dark and wake up with the light, but life and obligations interfere with following the more natural 24-hour cycle of our internal circadian clocks, the investigators say.

Babies sleep patterns tend to follow these more natural circadian rhythms, Su notes. The frontier days, before television, the internet and mobile phones, likely had more of us sleeping like babies, McCall says.

Is it in the biology of a 20-year-old to always go to bed late or is it due to the fact that they have friends that they are engaged with and they have parties and college keg night? I think there is a lot of societal influence here, McCall says. Life gets in the way.

The Georgia Prevention Institute, which has a longstanding focus on cardiovascular disease prevention, also has been using NHANES to look at how circadian misalignment, that can result from sleeping poorly, plays a role in human disease.

TheNational Sleep Foundationsays healthy adults need seven to nine hours of sleep, those over 65 need seven to eight hours and babies, young children and teens need more sleep than healthy adults to enable growth and development. Newborns, who rarely sleep through the night, need 14 to 17 hours including naps.

Xanyan Xu, a graduate student in genomic medicine at AU studying with Wang is a coauthor of the study. Co-author Dr. Xinyue Li, a biostatistician in the School of Data Science at City University of Hong Kong, used an algorithm she developed to better assess actual sleep time using information provided by the accelerometer.

Funding: The researchers are supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.

Author: Toni BakerSource: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta UniversityContact: Toni Baker Medical College of Georgia at Augusta UniversityImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Epidemiology of accelerometer-based sleep parameters in US school-aged children and adults: NHANES 20112014 by Xiaoling Wang et al. Scientific Reports

Abstract

Epidemiology of accelerometer-based sleep parameters in US school-aged children and adults: NHANES 20112014

We aimed to provide objectively measured sleep parameters across lifespan by sex and race in a national representative sample of US population.

The study included 11,279 participants 6years and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 20112014, who had at least 3days of valid sleep parameters calculated from 7-day 24-h accelerometer recording.

Sleep duration showed a U-shaped association with age and reached the minimum at age 40 and started to increase again around age 50. The clock time for sleep onset (CTSO) delayed with age and reached the maximum at about age 20. CTSO then advanced until age 50, leveled off until age 70, then advanced again after age 70.

Sleep efficiency showed an overall decreasing trend across the lifespan but stabilized from age 30 to about age 60. US young adults in age 20s are the ones who slept at the latest around midnight, while the middle aged US residents between 40 and 50years old slept the least.

Females generally present longer sleep duration than males, while more likely to have later sleep onset, particularly at older ages. Non-Hispanic Blacks showed worse sleep characteristics, i.e. sleep later, sleep shorter, and sleep less efficiently, compared to other racial groups.

In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights on the characteristics of sleep habits of residents of the United States by using objectively measurements of sleep parameters and will help guide personalized advice on sleep hygiene.

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Age 40 Is When Busy Americans Get the Least Sleep - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

The Salk Institute promotes three faculty members in the field of neuroscience – Salk Institute

June 10, 2022 June 10, 2022

LA JOLLAThree Salk Institute faculty members have been promoted based on their outstanding scientific contributions. They are leaders who have made original, innovative and notable contributions to neuroscience. Assistant Professors Kenta Asahina and Eiman Azim were promoted to associate professor, and Associate Research Professor Margarita Behrens was promoted to research professor.

These are well-deserved promotions for an extremely talented group of scientists, says Salk President Rusty Gage. Kenta, Eiman and Marga are all innovative leaders in the field of neuroscience and bring a high level of passion and insight to the Salk community. We are elated to support their continued work at Salk.

Credit: Salk Institute

Kenta Asahina, holder of the Helen McLoraine Developmental Chair in Neurobiology, conducts research on the genetic and neural basis of social interactions as part of the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory. To study the basis of animal social behavior, Asahina uses the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism for understanding the genes and brain cells that cause behavioral responses, such as aggression, escape and courtship. His discoveries include a molecule released from brain cells associated with aggressive behavior in Drosophila. This same molecule was linked to aspects of aggressive behavior in mammalian models, which suggests it may serve as a therapeutic target for alleviating some behavioral symptoms associated with mental and psychiatric disorders.

Eiman Azim, who holds the William Scandling Development Chair, conducts research in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, where he studies how the nervous system guides movement. Understanding how movements are learned, planned, executed and corrected can teach us more about the ways our brains coordinate complex motions such as reaching, grasping and object manipulation. By dissecting the movement pathways one element at a time, Azim aims to pinpoint neural circuits and piece together the underpinnings of skilled motions. Dexterous movements of the arms and hands are critical functions often affected by neurodegenerative disease and injury, and Azims work seeks to lay the groundwork for better treatments and recovery of function.

Margarita Behrens is a member of the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, where she studies brain development and disruption. From birth to adulthood our brains activate or inhibit cells in response to our environments. However, this context-dependent regulatory mechanism may go awry in some individuals as they develop. Behrens focuses on the interplay between our environments and cellular processes to determine why some people develop brain disorders while others do not. She also investigates brain circuit formation and disruption within the regions responsible for planning, reasoning and decision-making. By charting how cells control gene activity and changes that occur during cell maturation, Behrens work could lead to a better understanding of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and autism.

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The Salk Institute promotes three faculty members in the field of neuroscience - Salk Institute

Neuroscience

Role of Lifestyle Factors in Alzheimer’s Risk and Disparities – Neuroscience News

Summary: Adopting a healthy lifestyle or adopting minor lifestyle changes helps reduce the risks of developing Alzheimers disease, especially for those from a lower socioeconomic background.

Source: American Society for Nutrition

As rates of Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia continue to rise in the U.S., new evidence suggests that lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and sleep play an important role in reducing the risk of developing dementia.

Researchers say two new studies offer particular insights into the factors that may contribute to the disproportionate burden of dementia in non-White and low-income U.S. populations.

Our findings support the beneficial role ofhealthy lifestylesin the prevention of Alzheimers disease and related dementias among senior Americans, including those with socioeconomic disadvantages and a high risk of dementia, said Danxia Yu, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Epidemiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the studys lead author.

We should recognize that it is challenging for people facing systemic and structural disadvantages to maintain healthy lifestyles or make lifestyle changes. It is critical to establish public health strategies to make lifestyle modifications achievable for all, especially disadvantaged populations.

Yu and her team will present the findings from two studies online at Nutrition 2022 Live Online, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held June 14-16.

The research was published online June 13, 2022, inNeurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The research is from the Southern Community Cohort Study, a long-term research study launched in 2001 to investigate the root causes of various diseases and health disparities.

Around 85,000 participants were recruited from community health centers in the southeastern U.S. and two-thirds of participants are Black, giving the study among the highest representation of African-Americans of any large U.S. research cohort. Researchers used Medicare claims data to track Alzheimers diagnoses among participants over age 65.

For the first study, researchers drew data from 17,209 older study participants, 1,694 of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimers or related dementias during a median follow-up of 4 years. They assessed five lifestyle factorssmoking, alcohol use, leisure-time physical activity, sleep hours and diet qualityboth individually and in combination.

The results showed that healthy choices (no smoking, high leisure-time exercise, low-to-moderate alcohol consumption, adequate sleep and a high-quality diet) were individually associated with an 11-25% reduced risk of Alzheimers disease and related dementias.

When combined, a composite score of those five lifestyle factors was associated with a 36% reduced risk in the highest versus lowest quartile. These associations were independent of participants age, sex, race, education, income and underlying chronic diseases.

For the second study, researchers drew data from 14,500 older study participants, of whom 1,402 developed Alzheimers or related dementias. In this group, they analyzed intakes of four major classes of dietary polyphenolsflavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes and lignansand their subclasses, using a validated food frequency questionnaire and polyphenol databases.

Polyphenols are a large class of compounds commonly found in tea, red wine, chocolate, berries and other foods and have been associated with a variety of health benefits.

In this study, researchers found a significant difference in intake of polyphenols amongracial groups, with White participants consuming a median of about twice the amount of total polyphenols as Black participants daily.

Overall there was no significant association between total dietary polyphenol intake and incidence of Alzheimers disease and related dementias in either race; however, certain flavonoids were associated with areduced riskamong Black participants but not White participants.

The findings showed Black participants in the top quartile for tea consumption had a 28% lower incidence of Alzheimers than Black participants in the lowest quartile for tea consumption.

While both studies are observational and did not assess the mechanisms behind the associations, researchers said that healthy lifestyles, including healthy eating, may help protect brain health by improving glucose and lipid metabolism and reducing inflammation and psychological stress.

Yu said more research is needed to further elucidate the relationship betweenlifestyle factorsand Alzheimers disease among diverse populations.

Black Americans and people withlow socioeconomic statusare disproportionately affected by the disease but have been largely underrepresented in epidemiologic studies, Yu said.

Identifying modifiable factors for the prevention of Alzheimers disease and related dementias among low-income people of different races and ethnicities is a critical public health issue.

Author: Press OfficeSource: American Society for NutritionContact: Press Office American Society for NutritionImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Closed access.Association of Healthy Lifestyles with Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias in Low-Income Black and White Americans by Jae Jeong Yang et al. Neurology

Closed access.Association of Diabetes and Hypertension With Brain Structural Integrity and Cognition in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study Cohort by Yi Guan et al. Neurology

Abstract

Association of Healthy Lifestyles with Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias in Low-Income Black and White Americans

Objective:While the importance of healthy lifestyles for preventing Alzheimers disease and related dementias (ADRD) has been recognized, epidemiologic evidence remains limited for non-White or low-income individuals who bear disproportionate burdens of ADRD.

This population-based cohort study aims to investigate associations of lifestyle factors, individually and together, with the risk of ADRD among socioeconomically disadvantaged Americans.

Methods:In the Southern Community Cohort Study, comprising two-thirds self-reported Black and primarily low-income Americans, we identified incident ADRD using claims data among participants enrolled in Medicare for at least 12 consecutive months after age 65.

Five lifestyle factorstobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), sleep hours, and diet quality were each scored 0 (unhealthy), 1 (intermediate), or 2 (healthy) based on health guidelines.

A composite lifestyle score was created by summing all scores. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs, 95% CIs) for incident ADRD, treating death as a competing risk.

Results:We identified 1,694 patients with newly diagnosed ADRD among 17,209 participants during a median follow-up of 4.0 years in claims data; the mean age at ADRD diagnosis was 74.0 years.

Healthy lifestyles were individually associated with 11%-25% reduced risk of ADRD: multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) was 0.87 (0.76-0.99) for never vs. current smoking, 0.81 (0.72-0.92) for low-to-moderate vs. no alcohol consumption, 0.89 (0.77-1.03) for 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous LTPA each week vs. none, 0.75 (0.64-0.87) for 7-9 hours vs. >9 hours of sleep, and 0.85 (0.75-0.96) for the highest vs. lowest tertiles of Healthy Eating Index.

The composite lifestyle score showed a dose-response association with up to 36% reduced risk of ADRD: multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) across quartiles were 1 (ref), 0.88 (0.77-0.99), 0.79 (0.70-0.90), and 0.64 (0.55-0.74);p-trend<0.001. The beneficial associations were observed regardless of participants sociodemographics (e.g., race, education, and income) and health conditions (e.g., history of cardiometabolic diseases and depression).

Conclusion:Our findings support significant benefits of healthy lifestyles for ADRD prevention among socioeconomically disadvantaged Americans, suggesting that promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing barriers to lifestyle changes are crucial to tackling the growing burden and disparities posed by ADRD.

Abstract

Association of Diabetes and Hypertension With Brain Structural Integrity and Cognition in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study Cohort

Background and ObjectivesThe Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (BPRHS) is a longitudinal study following self-identified Puerto Rican older adults living in the Greater Boston area. Studies have shown higher prevalence of hypertension (HTN) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) within this ethnic group compared to age-matched non-Hispanic White adults.

In this study, we investigated the associations of HTN and T2D comorbidity on brain structural integrity and cognitive capacity in community-dwelling Puerto Rican adults and compared these measures with older adult participants (non-Hispanic White and Hispanic) from the Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and National Alzheimers Coordinating Center (NACC) databases.

MethodsBPRHS participants who underwent brain MRI and cognitive testing were divided into 4 groups based on their HTN and T2D status: HTN/T2D, HTN+/T2D, HTN/T2D+, and HTN+/T2D+.

We assessed microstructural integrity of white matter (WM) pathways using diffusion MRI, brain macrostructural integrity using hippocampal volumes, and brain age using T1-weighted MRI and cognitive test scores. BPRHS results were then compared with results from non-Hispanic White and Hispanic participants from the ADNI and NACC databases.

ResultsThe prevalence of HTN was almost 2 times (66.7% vs 38.7%) and of T2D was 5 times (31.8% vs 6.6.%) higher in BPRHS than in ADNI non-Hispanic White participants. Diffusion MRI showed clear deterioration patterns in major WM tracts in the HTN+/T2D+ group and, to a lesser extent, in the HTN+/T2D group compared to the HTN/T2D group. HTN+/T2D+ participants also had the smallest hippocampal volume and larger brain aging deviations.

Trends toward lower executive function and global cognitive scores were observed in HTN+/T2D+ relative to HTN/T2D individuals. MRI measures and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores from the HTN+/T2D+ BPRHS group resembled those of ADNI White participants with progressive mild cognitive impairment (MCI), while the BPRHS HTN/T2D participants resembled participants with stable MCI.

The BPRHS was not significantly different from the ADNI + NACC Hispanic cohort on imaging or MMSE measures.

DiscussionThe effects of T2D and HTN comorbidity led to greater brain structural disruptions than HTN alone. The high prevalence of HTN and T2D in the Puerto Rican population may be a key factor contributing to health disparities in cognitive impairment in this group compared to non-Hispanic White adults in the same age range.

Trial Registration InformationClinicalTrials.gov identifier:NCT01231958.

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Role of Lifestyle Factors in Alzheimer's Risk and Disparities - Neuroscience News