Dwarfs will rule the world!

Well, no, dwarfs may not rule the world. There is a good chance a certain group will outlive their contemporaries though. This recent study out of the University of Southern California studied a group of dwarfs who have Laron syndrome in Ecuador and worldwide. Laron syndrome is genetic and effects how growth is regulated in the body.

The individuals have Laron syndrome, a rare disease that causes stunted growth in about 250 people worldwide. Scientists have known the syndrome results from a mutation in a gene that regulates how cells grow and divide.

The dwarfism cause is also a barrier to cancer and diabetes. The disease limiting culprit in Laron's cases appears to be an insulin producing protein that binds with human growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor 1 or IGF1.

High levels of IGF1 have been implicated in cancer and diabetes in previous studies, and low levels have been found to cause increased longevity in everything from yeast and worms to mice.

"In worms, we don't see diabetes or cancer or anything — once we establish this potential [to extend life] in worms, we moved to mice," said Felipe Sierra, director of the Division of Aging Biology at the National Institute on Aging. "We do see similar things in this study [of humans], and it validates everything we do."

Sure enough, in the short-statured Ecuadorean group, the study revealed that deficient growth hormone receptor led to low levels of IGF1, and this was associated with the disease-resistance.

The final intention is development of a drug that will mimic reduced IGF1 in healthy individuals reducing cancer and diabetes.

Interesting concept, but I would guess other negative side effects would appear besides the positive reduction in cancer rates and diabetes. Wikipedia states one of the disease's symptoms in men puts fear in almost any healthy male,

.....a very small penis.

Flu's days are numbered

This report by the media group UPI has news on a new, universal flu vaccine being developed in England. Unlike the typical flu vaccine we are inoculated with these days which protects against certain strains of flue, this would protect against all strains. The article states,

Current flu vaccines only work against a few kinds of flu and only for a short time, as seasonal flu evolves and changes to get around immunity provided by that year's vaccine, requiring constant research and re-vaccination, NewScientist.com reported Monday.

Several research groups, including one at Oxford University, are attempting to develop a flu vaccine out of proteins that are identical in all flu viruses in the hope this will protect people from all flu once and for all.

If science has enough time and resources dedicated to certain solvable problems, inevitably, many will have solutions appear. The key is dedication. We have this idea that by putting a bunch of smart people in a group and throwing a little money at them they will solve all of the world's problems. It does not work that way. The best example I can think of as a modern marvel is modern computing. We have more computational power on our desktop now than could be housed in 10 city blocks. What people often fail to acknowledge is the 40 years of innovation and billions of dollars invested.

We need to fund research and development in the US if we are to compete with rest of the world.

Glass of wine for the brain?

Health studies are constantly being completed. The results are sometimes even surprising. This Spanish study links a delay in Alzheimer's disease to moderate drinking in women. The study took into lifestyle considerations while performing the research. Results were conclusive with the alcohol consumption benefiting nonsmoker women the most.

"Our results suggest a protective effect of alcohol consumption, mostly in non-smokers, and the need to consider interactions between tobacco and alcohol consumption, as well as interactions with gender, when assessing the effects of smoking and/or drinking on the risk of Alzheimer's disease," the study's lead author, Ana M. Garcia, from the University of Valencia's department of preventive medicine and public health, said in a news release.

This seems odd when initially thinking about the issue, but not really. Drinking effects the brain's function (ever had a conversation with a rational drunk?) and specially the chemistry. The study's authors point this out.

"Interactive effects of smoking and drinking are supported by the fact that both alcohol and tobacco affect brain neuronal receptors," Garcia explained.

The take home message from this study is scientists may know quite a few things about the human body, but a significant amount of study could still be completed on the things we don't know. The medical field has much to learn and research should be heavily funded.

Good upbringing is warm as apple pie

I occasionally cover health topics on this blog. This study that was recently published supports the nurture side of the nurture versus nature argument. The study examined the blood of 53 individuals from lower socioeconomics status (SES) and examined for genetic markers of inflammation. In layman's terms, they are trying to track potential, chronic illness later in life and correlate it with the factor how close an individual is to their mother. Apparently, chronic illness and inflammation are correlated. Correlations do not mean guarantees, but are higher probabilities. The article puts it simply.

Chronic inflammation is linked to a number of conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression and cancer. Cole compared inflammation to a "fertilizer" that feeds disease. For example, in women who have been successfully treated for breast cancer, those who show high levels of inflammation have twice the risk of a recurrence of the cancer, research has shown.

This study found that having a harsh life when young does lead to a greater number of inflammation markers. The environment is activating certain genes. The article states.

Early life experiences can lead to the release of hormones that channel the body into being more or less prone to chronic inflammation, Cole said.

Harsh family life

In another recent study, published online April 29 in Psychological Science, researchers found that adolescent girls who reported having harsh family lives growing up - abusive, neglectful or violent - had increasing markers of inflammation during the 18-month study period compared with girls who came from more stable homes.

Neither an abusive home nor a cool relationship with mom automatically translates into disease later on in life, however. Cole said early family experiences are one factor that shapes the way the body responds to stress. From his research, Cole hopes to develop a checklist of risk factors, including family upbringing, that can guide treatment decisions.

Being a good loving family not only spiritually encourages people, it physically helps. The article gives hope by also stating that coming from a low SES is not a cause for the markers if the family is loving and caring. This gives further hope for those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Wine and weight control

Many studies concerning weight gain and loss are always being published. This study recently published is about moderate alcohol consumption and weight gain by women. It hints that alcohol in the subject's diet reduced weight gain. Once again, the supposed evil things in life may help us in moderation. It may help explain the French conundrum of eating rich foods and staying thin (French drink wine). In a prior post, I discussed how cheese has the chemical compound linoleic acid that increases a person's metabolism slightly reducing weight gain. What are the exact benefits to moderate alcohol consumption?

First of all, heavy alcohol consumption is NOT good for anyone. It leads to weight gain and other various chronic health problems. Societal problems also arise with the inability to properly function among people. Alcoholism goes down all the bad paths your mother warned you about. I condemn daily drinking of 3 or more drinks in a setting. Even more damaging to a person's body is binge drinking at 5+ drinks in one setting. We as a society should find ways to reduce such drinking.

Moderation in all things. Drinking a couple of drinks a day will not hurt you. The study linked above followed 19,220 women aged 39 and older who started with a normal body mass index or healthy body weight. The study followed these women 13 years and found:

"An inverse association between alcohol intake and risk of becoming overweight or obese was noted for all four types of alcoholic beverages [red wine, white wine, beer and liquor], with the strongest association found for red wine and a weak yet significant association for white wine after multivariate adjustment," the authors write.

Very interesting. The exact reason why is not speculated in the article. It is another study that questions the dietary orthodoxy we are often hear. We need more studies like this example.

Dr. Coffee blog's updates

This post is a continuation from two past posts with new observations. Both topics are on human health and diet.

First update stems from the previous post Supplementing what? in which I warn about the dangers of long term strict veganism. This weekend, I had the luck of meeting an individual who became a Vegan within the last couple of weeks after being a practicing lacto-ovo vegetarian for about a year. It was a sight to see. She was about 10-15 pounds underweight. Her complexion was similar to a ghost, pale white. She is obviously intelligent, but the mental sharpness was not present. This on top of being sick with a cold or flu. Her friend (she was also present) who just started practicing veganism (same time) after being lacto-ovo vegetarian even longer was in the same physical state. I wish both of them would realize they are destroying their own healths'. It seems that these extreme vegetarian types have a cult like following. This trend is very disheartening in the least.

One argument that I read from a vegan propaganda publication this past week concerned the actress Alicia Silverstone. Her source of Vitamin B12 comes from Miso soup. I was not aware of this vitamin source, but I rather doubt the concentration is enough to fulfill an individual's daily requirement without eating several bowls of the soup. This is the very basic problem with veganism. Yes, you can find these necessary vitamins in certain vegan approved sources, but they will not provide enough of the vitamins to an individual for healthy living. I repeat once again, healthy, long term, strict vegan adherents do NOT exist. It is a dangerous lifestyle. One other quirky thing about the article was her description of feeling holistic (??????). I am coming to the conclusion that this general "feeling" comes from a lack of energy and mild hallucinations. Yeah, you feel holy, but what is it really?

The other update is on my own health and is a follow up to the post, Give me a D, Vitamin D, where I discuss a potential Vitamin D deficiency in my own diet during winter. I would my overall feeling as constantly tired even though I am not sick and been sleeping quite well. After taking about 2000 IUs of Vitamin D from store bought vitamins, I felt better the following day. After one week of the supplements, I felt back to normal or similar to summertime. My guess was right, I was lacking Vitamin D in my diet and it was manifesting itself as symptoms similar to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. From now on, I am going to start taking lower doses (~800 IUs) starting in November to prevent this problem from hitting me in the middle of winter again. I am sure this is a very common problem in our modern society that lives indoors during daylight winter hours because of employment.

Give me a D, Vitamin D

This blog was originally intended to cover science and technology, but it has grown to cover other topics related to this area. I have been writing several posts on nutrition and health since it is of interest to everyone. This post will be about a very important vitamin, Vitamin D. What differentiates this vitamin from the rest is the main source is not from our diets, but from sunlight exposure. It turns out the wavelength range in sunlight that produces Vitamin D in our skin, UVB radiation at 295-300 nm, is the same radiation that causes skin cancer. This supports the statement, "moderation in all things." As for dietary sources, the only concentrated natural vitamin D sources are seafood based. It appears in much lower doses within egg yolks. Vitamin D is routinely added to the US milk supply to prevent the deficiency in Americans which was first observed in the 1920's as the disease rickets in the general population. Rickets mostly vanished in the US after the fortification program started.

What inspired me to discuss this topic is evidence exists that Vitamin D deficiency may lead to chronic fatigue or even potentially Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. What I have noticed in the last few days is feeling tired with no real purpose. My diet was good. I exercised regularly. My sleep was high quality with about 7 hours on the weekdays and 8+ on the weekends. Why do I feel sluggish all of the time? Thinking about it, this is how I always feel since living in Texas from mid-January to mid-March. Going further back, it is the same sensation that I felt in the gloomy Oregon winter with no sunshine. Fast forward to the present, we have had lots of cloudy days and little sunshine in the last few weeks. Due to my indoor work environment, when it was sunny I did not get any sunlight exposure outdoors. That is when it hit me, I might have Vitamin D deficiency. To battle this affliction, I am taking a multivitamin (400 IU dose), eating tuna fish sandwiches at lunch and taking 10 minute walks in the sun at around noon when possible. The regiment might also have some Vitamin D supplements added. I will update my rehabilitation progress after about a week.

Supplementing what?

I have been at a quandary on topics to write. Today at work, we had a discussion concerning veganism. First, I will give a definition on veganism and categorize the diet as an extreme form of vegetarianism. The most common form of vegetarianism is lacto-ovovegetarianism or a vegetarian who eats eggs and consumes dairy products. Several variations of the protein loving vege types exist. If the diet is carefully planned, the egg/milk consuming vege types can live long, healthy lives. Be warned, a poor vegetarian diet is just as bad as a poor omnivorous diet though. As your momma said, "Eat your vegetables!"

Veganism takes a further step removing all forms of animal byproducts including dairy and eggs. Animal products have high concentrations of certain vitamins and minerals that may be found in plants, but the plants have low concentrations. These are iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, and B12. Removal of all animal byproducts severely limits the intake of these vital nutrients and could lead malnourishment. Supplements are often taken by vegans to fulfill their needs. The one of interest is vitamin B12. B12 is from yeast or bacterial activity, but the only source in modern diets is through animal products. Vegans do not eat any forms of animal products, thus, they will suffer vitamin B12 deficiency over a long period of time. What if they take supplements? Supplements come from a form of living animal byproduct, they are not vegan if B12 is one of them. Other deficiencies will also come into play from lack of these nutrients over a long period of time. Someone may live in good health over a few weeks or months, but any longer that is not possible. No large group of individuals is found worldwide that strictly adheres to veganism as a result. I will make the statement simple and clear. Healthy, strict, long-term vegan adherents are like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, they DO NOT EXIST.

This leads me to the second half of my post, something of interest to vegans, vitamin supplements and their benefits. In a prior post, I spoke about the value of research studies on health and continuing medical care. This study questions the beneficial value of supplemental vitamins. The multitude of vitamins individuals take for various disease preventative purposes may not have that significant of an effect on actually preventing the disease. In some cases, as with antioxidants and heart disease, it may actually be worst than not using the vitamins. (Note: Links do not work in paraphrase.)

The news on antioxidants, the darlings of the vitamin menagerie, is even more troubling. These compounds, which include Vitamins A, C, and E, selenium, beta carotene, and folate, fight free radicals, unstable compounds thought to damage cells and contribute to aging. But not only do antioxidant supplements fail to protectagainst heart disease, stroke, and cancer; they actually increase the risk of death, according to a 2007 analysis of research on more than 232,000 people, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, as well as other studies.

The article does make the statement that in cases of diets that lack certain nutrients (i.e. Vegans) vitamins are recommended and are beneficial. Vitamin supplements are not all bad. As for the preventative ideals concerning disease, this study demonstrates our basic lack of medical knowledge about the complex interactions vitamins have within our bodies. More studies are required in the future to clear our understanding.