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What is Glutamate?

2010-07-13T17:59:00.000+08:00

Prolonged excitation is toxic to nerve cells. Neurobiologists recognize that the nerve cell messenger, glutamate, can cause harm when its messages are overwhelming. Normally glutamate is swiftly cleared from the nerve cell junctions to keep the messages brief. Molecules called transporters aid in keeping glutamate in proper concentrations around nerve cells. Abundant evidence points to glutamate as a destructive factor in ALS and investigators are working to find out how this can be changed. Gene therapy approaches are under investigation to deliver glutamate transporters to cells affected by ALS. Other avenues towards control of glutamate in ALS are also under active investigation.

What is Glutamate?

Nerve cells pass signals to each other and to their target organs by releasing messenger molecules, called transmitters. Many are simple amino acids such as the one called glutamate.

The message is intended to tell the recipient neuron whether to fire off its own neurotransmitters. As with all neurotransmitters, glutamate docks at specific recognition molecules on the receiving neuron. Glutamate is then swiftly cleared from the nerve cell junctions to keep the message brief. Prolonged excitation is toxic to nerve cells, and neurobiologists recognize that glutamate can cause harm when the messages are overwhelming, as in stroke or epilepsy.

Glutamate’s toxicity is apparently due to calcium flooding the cell. Calcium is supposed to briefly enter the neuron with each signal and triggers the cell to fire off its own signals and adjust its own activities accordingly. But prolonged calcium inside the cell evidently can do damage, and will even activate programmed cell death (see section on apoptosis).

Research in the early 1990s determined that ALS patients have raised levels of glutamate in the fluid bathing the brain and spinal cord. In fact, 40 percent of sporadic cases of ALS are characterized by this elevated glutamate in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Abundant evidence points to glutamate as a destructive factor in ALS. The first and so far only approved specific treatment for ALS is riluzole, a drug that modulates glutamate.

The transporter that clears glutamate is called EAAT2 (an “excitatory amino acid transporter;” as glutamate is one of the amino acids that serve as transmitters). In ALS, transport of glutamate is slowed into the glial cells that surround the junctions of motor neurons. Indeed, a mutation has been identified in an ALS patient that prevented the transporter from working properly.

Researchers are working towards gene therapy approaches to deliver the glutamate transporter molecule to cells affected by ALS. Other avenues towards control of glutamate in ALS are also under active investigation.

What is homocysteine?

2010-07-13T11:08:00.000+08:00

According to Patrick Holford, author of The New Optimum Nutrition Bible, one of the best ways to extending a healthy lifespan is by reducing overall homocysteine levels.

Homocysteine is a type of protein found in the blood which should, ideally, be present in very low quantities. First investigated by Dr. Kilmer McCully in the late 1960s, homocysteine plays a role in many normal body processes such as cell and tissue growth, bone growth, and insulin formation. The proper metabolization of homocysteine relies on the adequate supply of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folate. When these vitamins become deficient in the body, homocysteine cannot be converted into substances such as glutathione, the body's most important antioxidant, and a methyl donor called S-adenosylmethionine (or SAMe).

Important for understanding why this conversion from homocysteine to other beneficial substances in the body is the process of methylation. Methylation is how the body maintains its chemical balance through the addition or subtraction of molecules called methyl groups from one substance in order to turn it into another. For example, when stressed, the body responds by adding a methyl group to noradrenaline to produce adrenalin. In reverse, when stress is reduced, the body automatically removes a methyl group from adrenaline, converting it into noradrenaline. This type of chemical reaction occurs billions of times per second and is crucial for the proper functioning of the human body.

With this knowledge, when the body cannot convert homocysteine into these two important substances, it builds up in the blood, and these elevated homocysteine levels have now been linked with over fifty diseases including atherosclerosis, certain cancers, diabetes, depression, and Alzheimer's disease. While most Americans have homocysteine levels above 10 units, experts generally believe that a level of 6 units or below is optimal for avoiding the increased risk of diseases associated with high levels.

An article written by Dr. Siamak T. Nabili and posted on MedicineNet.com, recommends that healthy adults eat more fresh fruits and vegetable, eat less saturated fat and cholesterol, and take one multivitamin daily. Daily supplementation for the standard' homocysteine level of 10 is as follows: Folic acid (1,200 mcg) / Vitamin B12 (1,000 mcg) / Vitamin B6 (75 mg) / Vitamin B2 (20 mg).

Additional supplementation with zinc (15 mg) and trimethyl glycine, or TMG (1.5-3g), has produced even greater reductions in homocysteine levels. TMG, especially, helps to lower homocysteine levels because it can immediately donate a methyl group to homocysteine, working to immediately detoxify the protein.

Additional recommendations for reducing homocysteine levels include eating a clove of garlic every day, avoiding the addition of salt to foods, cutting back on tea and coffee, limiting alcohol consumption, and quitting smoking.

While Dr. Elson M. Hass believes that routine checks on homocysteine levels and paying close attention to the intake of the vitamins necessary for its conversion, through both diet and supplementation, can help to effectively reduce the risk of having high homocysteine in the blood, it is important to note that there is presently no consensus as to the optimal dose of folic acid and other B vitamins for the treatment of elevated blood homocysteine levels. Additionally, certain risk factors which should be brought to the attention of your healthcare professional, also contribute to varying methods of reducing homocysteine levels.

Among these risk factors are:

- Family history of heart disease, strokes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenic, or diabetes,
- Increasing age,
- Male sex,
- Estrogen deficiency,
- Lack of exercise,
- Hostility and repressed anger,
- Inflammatory bowel diseases,
- Pregnancy, and
- Being a strict vegetarian or vegan.

Ultimately, decisions regarding both testing for high homocysteine levels as well as a lifestyle program to reduce high levels should be individualized after consulting with your doctor. After consultation, testing, and doctor-advised measures are discussed and implemented, a marked reduction in homocysteine levels can usually be achieved within weeks.

References

Hass, E.M., MD, & Levin, B., PhD, RD. (2006). Staying healthy with nutrition: The complete guide to diet and nutritional medicine. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts.

Holford, P. (1999). The optimum nutrition bible. Berkeley, California: Crossing Press.

Nabili, S., MD, MPH. (2008). Homocysteine. Medicine.net: We Bring Doctors' Knowledge To You. Retrieved March 19, 2009, from http://www.medicinenet.com/hom ocysteine/article.htm.

What is Blood (Part 1)

2010-06-22T19:11:00.002+08:00

You know what blood is — it's that red stuff that oozes out if you get a paper cut. The average person has about 1 to 1½ gallons (4-6 liters) of it. But what is blood, really, and where does it come from?

How Does the Body Make Blood?

“Blood is a fluid tissue containing many suspended cells and can be found flowing through the circulatory system transporting substances. These substances may include the digested food substances like amino acids and glucose, excretory products of the body, heat from the respiring body organs and tissues and oxygen and carbon dioxide for respiration. Apart from the transportation of substances, blood also serves to protect the body against pathogens. Pathogens are disease-causing organisms able to inflict disease against the body”

It's not made in a kitchen, but blood has ingredients, just like a recipe. To make blood, your body needs to mix:

red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body
white blood cells, which fight infections
platelets, which are cells that help you stop bleeding if you get a cut
plasma, a yellowish liquid that carries nutrients, hormones, and proteins throughout the body

Your body doesn't go to the store to buy those ingredients. It makes them. Bone marrow — that goopy stuff inside your bones — makes the red blood cells, the white blood cells, and the platelets. Plasma is mostly water, which is absorbed from the intestines from what you drink and eat, with the liver supplying important proteins.

Put all these ingredients together and you have blood — an essential part of the circulatory system. Thanks to your heart (which pumps blood) and your blood vessels (which carry it), blood travels throughout your body from your head to your toes.

Let's find out more about each ingredient.

1.Red Blood Cells

Red blood cells (also called erythrocytes, say: ih-rith-ruh-sytes) look like flattened basketballs. Most of the cells in the blood are red blood cells. They carry around an important chemical called hemoglobin (say: hee-muh-glow-bin) that gives blood its red color.

Blood and breathing go hand in hand. How? The hemoglobin in blood delivers oxygen, which you get from the air you breathe, to all parts of your body. Without oxygen, your body couldn't keep working and stay alive.

2.White Blood Cells

White blood cells (also called leukocytes, say: loo-kuh-sytes) are bigger than red blood cells. There are usually not a whole lot of white blood cells floating around in your blood when you're healthy. Once you get sick, though, your body makes some more to protect you.

There are a couple types of white blood cells that do different things to keep you well:

Granulocytes

You know how your skin gets a little red and swollen around a cut or scrape? That means the granulocytes are doing their jobs. They have a lot to do with how your body cleans things up and helps wounds heal after an injury. Granulocytes also help prevent infection by surrounding and destroying things that aren't supposed to be in your body and by killing germs.

Lymphocytes

There are two types of lymphocytes, B cells and T cells. B cells help make special proteins called antibodies that recognize stuff that shouldn't be in your body, like bacteria or a virus you get from a sick friend. Antibodies are very specific, and can recognize only a certain type of germ. Once the antibody finds it, it gets rid of the germ so it can't hurt you.

The really cool part is that even after you are better, B cells can become memory cells that remember how to make the special antibody so that if the same germ infects you again, it can kill the germ even faster! T cells also battle germs that invade the body, but instead of making antibodies, they work by making special chemicals that help fight the infection.

Monocytes

Monocytes are white blood cells that fight infection by surrounding and destroying bacteria and viruses.

3.Platelets

Platelets, also called thrombocytes (say: throm-buh-sytes) are tiny round cells that help to make sure you don't bleed too much once you get a cut or scrape. Cuts and scrapes break blood vessels. If a platelet reaches a blood vessel that's been broken open, it sends out a chemical signal that makes other nearby platelets start to stick together inside the vessel.

After the platelets form this plug, they send out more chemical signals that attract clotting factors. These clotting factors work together to make a web of tiny protein threads. The platelets and this web of protein come together to make a blood clot. The clot keeps your blood inside the vessel while the break in the blood vessel heals up. Without platelets, you'd need more than a bandage to catch the blood when you scrape your knee!

4.Plasma

Plasma is a yellowish liquid that is mostly water. But it also carries important nutrients, hormones, and proteins throughout the body. Nutrients are chemicals from the food you eat that give your body energy and other things your body's cells need to do their work and keep you healthy.

Hormones carry messages throughout your body, telling it what to do and when. An example of a hormone is growth hormone. It gets your bones and muscles to grow. Many proteins in plasma are really important to your body, like the clotting factors that help you stop bleeding if you get a cut or a scrape.

Plasma also carries away cell waste — chemicals that the cell doesn't want anymore. Nutrients, hormones, proteins, and waste are dissolved in the plasma — kind of like the cocoa mix that dissolves in a cup of hot water. What are the marshmallows? The blood cells — they float in the plasma.

Blood is thicker than water and has a little bit salty taste. In an adults body there is 10.6 pints of blood circulating around. In their blood there is billions of living blood cells floating in a liquid called plasma. If you took a small sample of this blood and poured it into a test tube and then put it in a machine called a centrifuge, you would be able to see the layers of this blood. This machine spins the blood around so fast that it separates the red blood cells, from the white blood cells, from the platelets. The red blood cells sink to the bottom because they are the heavier, more solid parts, but the plasma remains at the top because it is lighter. The plasma is 95% water and the other 5% is made up of dissolved substances including salts.

Urinary System

Getting Rid of Waste

The urinary system includes the kidneys, bladder and tubes. These organs control the amount of water and salts that are absorbed back into the blood and what is taken out as waste. This system also acts as a filtering mechanism for the blood.

Kidneys

The kidneys are a filter for the blood. The body has two kidneys located in the middle of the back at about the location of your elbows. Blood is pumped from the heart to the kidneys to be cleaned. Each kidney has about 1000 nephrons that act as filters. As the blood goes into a nephron, everything that is dissolved in the blood (waste products, food) is pushed out of the blood into small tubules. As these things travel through the tubule, the water and anything else the body needs goes back into the blood. The rest of the waste products keep moving through the tubule into the urethra. The urethra is the tube that leads to the bladder. The cleaned blood leaves the kidney and travels throughout the body.

Bladder

The bladder is where urine is stored to be released from the body. It can hold between one half to two cups of urine before it needs to be emptied. Everyday about two to five cups of urine pass through the bladder. The more water you drink, the more urine is produced. If it is hot outside and you produce a lot of sweat, you will not make as much urine.

About 96% of urine is water. It also contains some waste salts and a substance called urea. Urea is made during the breakdown of proteins in your liver. Urea may also leave your body in sweat. If urea builds up in your body, it is a sign that your kidneys are not working properly. Kidney failure can be fatal if it is not treated quickly.

Hey, What's Your Blood Type?

Everybody's blood is red, but it's not all the same. There are eight blood types, described using the letters A, B, and O. Those letters stand for certain proteins found on the red blood cells. Not everyone has the same proteins.

In addition to getting a letter or two, a person's blood is either "positive" or "negative." That doesn't mean one person's blood is good and another person's blood is bad. It's a way of keeping track of whether someone's blood has a certain protein called Rh protein. This protein is called "Rh" because scientists found it while studying Rhesus monkeys. If your blood is positive, you have this protein. If it's negative, you don't. Either way is totally fine.

People have one of these eight different blood types:

A negative
A positive
B negative
B positive
O negative
O positive
AB negative
AB positive

Blood types are important if a person ever wants to donate blood or needs a blood transfusion. Getting blood of the wrong type can make a person sick. That's why hospitals and blood banks are very careful with donated blood and make sure the person gets the right type.

People might need blood transfusions when they're sick or if they lose blood. Without enough healthy blood, the body won't get the oxygen and energy it needs. Healthy blood also protects you from germs and other invaders.

Now that you know how important blood is, what can you do? Kids generally aren't allowed to donate blood, but when you're older consider giving the gift of life

Collagen

2010-06-09T14:53:00.000+08:00

Whenever you hear the word collagen, the things that would probably come to mind are beauty products. Collagen is well known to women and men who are conscious of their looks, especially when it comes to the issue of aging. Others want to have very plump lips and this is where collagen is used. But do these people really know what collagen is?

Collagen is a type of fibrous protein. It is abundantly found in mammals, which is the main protein in connective tissues and makes about 25% to 35% of the protein content in the whole body. It serves as glue that keeps the body intact.

Collagen possesses a great strength in ductility. It functions differently from any other types of proteins. Its fibers aid in the external structures of the cells and are also present inside the cells.

Collagen works together with the elastic protein called elastin. They support the tissues in the body by giving form and providing strength and firmness. Since elastin gives the tissues in the body the flexibility they need, their combination is important especially in some areas such as the bones, tendons, lungs, and even blood vessels.

Collagen is sometimes related to the skin. It works together with a strong protein called keratin. Keratin is mostly found in skin, hair, teeth, and nails. They provide resilience, strength, and flexibility to the skin. As you grow older, the collagen in the skin degrades and wrinkles occur.

Aside from being an important protein found inside the body, collagen is also associated in medical uses. Nowadays, it is used in cosmetic surgery to enhance some parts or areas of the body. There are also supplements of collagen found in supermarkets intended for joint mobility. Even burns on the skin are being treated and managed with the help of collagen in making skin substitutes.

In the food industry, collagen is also being used in the process of making gelatin. Some cosmetics like make up, lotion, facial cream, scar remover, and stretch marks remover also contain collagen. Collagen has become so popular in cosmetics that it has taken the form of creams, injectables or dermal fillers, and supplements. It has been considered as an important component in anti-aging.

Though collagen is found in many places of the body, the only types of collagen identified and described are so far only 29. Some are the type I, II, III, IV, and V. Type I collagen is mostly found in skin, ligature, vascular, tendon, and bone. Type II is the main component of cartilage. Type III is the main component of the reticular fibers found commonly together with type I. Type IV makes up most of the cell basement membrane. Type V is found on the surfaces of cells, placenta, and hair.

Collagen plays a vital part in the body, hence any deficiency could be very problematic. Genetic diseases are sometimes associated with deficiencies in collagen like the ‘asteogenesis imperfecta’ or also known as the ‘brittle bone disease’. This disease is the result of a very low level of collagen and the presence of low quality collagen.

Leptin

2010-06-07T19:08:00.001+08:00

For years, researchers have been studying what makes some people eat more than others: What makes some people eat more calories than they need? What makes us feel full? In 1994 scientists discovered a hormone called leptin. This hormone is produced mostly in the fat cells (a small amount is also produced in the stomach) and sends a signal to the brain that says “We’re full now; we can stop eating”.

What a momentous discovery! The finding of a hormone which signals to the brain we are full . . . Think of the possibilities: If we can isolate this hormone and deliver it to overweight people everywhere, we can suppress their voracious appetites, make them eat less, and eliminate the suffering from the consequences of being overweight forever!

Of course, that idea turned out just as you might suspect–too good to be true. In fact there are extremely rare cases of leptin deficiency leading to obesity that can be “cured” with administering leptin. It seems to be a congenital problem and has been found in perhaps a handful of children.

Giving leptin to people who are overweight seems to do nothing. In fact, obese people already have abnormally high levels of leptin circulating in their blood. Why? It appears they are somewhat resistant to the signals this hormone sends. “Stop eating!” the hormone says, but the brain does not respond.

Is this information the beginning of a journey to a new discovery? A road that will lead to a new drug, perhaps? One that will help suppress the appetite of overweight people and finally give them the feeling of satisfaction; the absence of the drive to eat? Who knows, for now. It could be that there is a biochemical problem making some people resistant to leptin. Their bodies produce more and more of the hormone to signal “stop eating” but somehow it is not well-received.

Could it be a conscious overriding of the signal? For instance, do you stop eating when you are no longer hungry, or do you just keep going to finish what’s on your plate? It’s entirely possible to ignore the body’s signals. We know we can ignore hunger, thirst, or the urge to empty our bladder when we are in the middle of something requiring our concentration. “Just wait” we tell our body; I’m doing something else now but I’ll get to you soon! How often are you receiving signals to stop eating that you ignore?

Next time you eat, stop and feel what your body is telling you. Think about why you continue taking more and more bites of food once you no longer feel hungry. Once your stomach is full, your belt getting tight, your plate nearly empty. Are you overriding the signals to get in a few more bites of something that tastes good? To fit in dessert? To clean your plate?

Let your body work as it is intended to. Listen to the signals. This action could be the real key to your weight loss.

Degenerative Diseases

2010-06-01T11:32:00.000+08:00

1. What are degenerative diseases?

Degenerative diseases are non infectious prevalent diseases whose incidences increase with aging.

2. What are risk factors for diseases?

Risk factors for a disease are everything that contributes to increase the risk of the disease to appear. For example, for most cardiovascular diseases, tobacco smoking and diabetes mellitus are both important risk factors; for some cancers having a genetic component a positive family history is a risk factor, etc.

3. What are the main human degenerative diseases?

The main human degenerative diseases are divided into three groups: cardiovascular diseases, neoplastic diseases and degenerative diseases of the nervous system. The main cardiovascular diseases are hypertension, the cardiopathies, including coronary disease and myocardial infarction, and the cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs, or strokes). Neoplasias are benign tumors and cancers. The main degenerative diseases of the nervous system are Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

4. What is hypertension?

Hypertension is a disease in which the arterial blood pressure, during systole or during diastole, is abnormally high.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a condition that must be diagnosed and treated since it produces irreversible injuries in arteries and, later, it causes other severe diseases in organs like the heart, brain, kidneys, retina, etc.

5. What are the main risk factors for hypertension?

The main risks factors for hypertension are tobacco smoking, stress, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and alcoholism.

6. What is the relation between the maximum and the minimum blood pressure with the phenomena of systole and diastole?

The maximum blood pressure is the pressure on the wall of the systemic arteries during systole, i.e., when the heart is pumping blood to arterial vessels. The minimum blood pressure is the pressure on the wall of the systemic arteries during diastole, i.e., when the heart ventricles are relaxing and getting blood.

7. What are the main degenerative diseases of the heart?

The main degenerative diseases of the heart are heart failure, arrhythmias, valvular heart diseases, coronary insufficiency and myocardial infarction.

8. What is coronary disease?

Coronary disease, or coronary insufficiency, is a disease in which there is total or partial obstruction of one or more of the arteries that irrigate the heart musculature, i.e., obstruction of the coronary arteries. The disease is formed by slow and gradual formation of atheroma plaques inside the coronaries. The fatty plaques grow and block the flow of blood, a process known as atherosclerosis (do not confuse with arteriosclerosis which is the hardening of the arteries generally cause by chronic high blood pressure).

The main risk factors for coronary disease are tobacco smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia (high level of bad cholesterol and low level of good cholesterol), stress, alcoholism and sedentary lifestyle.

Coronary disease may present in two manners, as angina pectoris or as myocardial infarction. If the arterial obstruction is not complete and extensive the patient often feels chest pain (angina pectoris), mainly when performing physical exercise or in any situation when the heart needs more oxygen. If the obstruction of one or more coronaries is complete or blood cannot irrigate some regions of the heart muscle (myocardium) the infarction occurs and the muscle cells of the affected area die.

9. What is myocardial infarction?

Myocardial infarction is the condition in which an area of this tissue or the entire heart muscle dies by hypoxia due to lack of blood irrigation. Myocardial infarction is a severe disease since on the dependence of its extension the heart can fail, i.e., it can no longer pump blood to the lungs or to the body or it can even stop beating (causing death).

The main cause of myocardial infarction is coronary obstruction, blocking of the arteries that carry arterial blood to the heart muscle. Other events like hemodynamic shock (circulation stoppage due to large hemorrhages, for example) can also cause myocardial infarction.

10. What is coronary bypass graft?

Coronary artery bypass graft is a kind of surgical myocardial revascularization, i.e., a way to provide blood to a myocardium whose blood supply is impaired or blocked due to coronary disease. In this surgical treatment of coronary disease one or more blood vessel grafts taken from other parts of the body are used to join the obstructed artery (in a region after the obstruction) with the aorta or other healthy coronary artery thus reestablishing the blood flow to the myocardium. Often the blood vessel grafts are part of the saphenous vein from the leg or of the mammary artery from the chest or even of the radial artery from the forearm.

11. What are cerebrovascular accidents?

Cerebrovascular accident (CVA), also known as stroke, is the generic name given to infarction (tissue and cellular death by hypoxia) of areas of the brain due to vascular obstruction or hemorrhages. CVAs are divided into ischemic and hemorrhagic. In the ischemic CVA blocking of arteries that carry blood to the brain occurs; its cause is generally atherosclerosis (atheroma formation) of these vessels. In the hemorrhagic CVA there is rupture of one or more blood vessels of the brain with blood leakage, increasing intracranial pressure and thus interruption of blood flow in some areas of the brain. The severity of the stroke depends on the function performed by the affected area of the brain, for example, motor function, visual function, vegetative function, etc., and on the size of the involved area.

The main risk factors for cerebrovascular accidents are hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, tobacco smoking and old age.

12. What are neoplasias?

Neoplasia is any abnormal and uncontrolled proliferation of cells of an organism. Neoplasias can be benign or malign. Benign neoplasias are those in which the cell proliferation is limited to a given site of the body and so neoplastic cells do not spread to other close regions or at distance through the circulation. Malign neoplasias are those in which the neoplastic cells disseminate at distance to other sites and organs of the body, a process called metastasis, where they continue to proliferate. Malign neoplasias injure tissues and if not eradicated they are fatal. Benign neoplasia can also be deadly when it forms a tumor that grows and compresses vital organs.

13. How different are the concepts of neoplasia, tumor and cancer?

Not every tumor is neoplastic and not every neoplasia creates tumor. Tumor is the generic name given to the abnormal increase in mass or volume of any area of the body (for example, the enlarged tonsils during throat infection are a kind of tumor, any inflammation creating a swelled area characterize a tumor, etc.). Neoplasias can form tumors, some of them very large, by aggregation of neoplastic cells in the region where the neoplasia began or in distant implantations. Cancer is a synonym for malign neoplasia.

14. What is cancer?

Cancers are malign neoplasias, i.e., abnormal and uncontrolled proliferation of cells that can disseminate to other sites of the body. Cancer dissemination at distance usually occurs through blood or lymphatic vessels.

15. How do malign neoplasias appear?

Neoplasias appear due to DNA mutations in genes that regulate the cellular proliferation thus making the cell lose its capacity to control and limit its division by mitosis. The cell then divides continuously and uncontrollably and this defect is transmitted to its daughter cells.

16. What are carcinogens?

Carcinogens are factors capable of producing neoplasias. Any mutagen, a substance that can induce DNA mutation, is a potential carcinogen. Examples of carcinogens are radiation, nitrous acid, many substances inhaled through tobacco smoking and the human papilloma virus (HPV).

17. How do cells of neoplastic tumors obtain oxygen and nutrients and release wastes?

In neoplastic tumors a phenomenon called angiogenesis occurs. Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels. Neoplastic cells induce the formation of new blood vessels to irrigate and drain the neoplastic tissue.

Angiogenesis is important because the tumor growth depends on it. A lot of research on cancer has tried to discover natural and synthetic substances to inhibit angiogenesis.

18. What are the main types of cancer that affect humans?

Excluding skin cancer, that are the more easily detected and so cases are registered in larger number, the main types of cancer in men are prostate cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer; in women, breast cancer, colon and rectal cancer and lung cancer are of great incidence. Other common cancers are ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer, brain cancer and the leukemias and lymphomas (blood cancers).

Epithelial cancers, of the skin as well as of the internal organs, are more common because epithelial tissues are more exposed to carcinogens.

The proportional incidence of the many types of cancers varies according to the considered population.

19. What is the main risk factor for lung cancer?

The main risk factor for lung cancer is tobacco smoking. The large number of cases of this type of cancer is due to the increased number of smokers worldwide.

20. What is the main risk factor for skin cancer?

The main risk factor for skin cancer is solar exposition of the skin without protection against ultraviolet radiation (a potential carcinogen).

The most lethal skin cancer is melanoma.

21. How is cancer usually treated?

If the cancer is in its initial stage treatment is often done by surgical removal of the neoplastic tissue. Cancers already disseminated are often treated with radiation (radiotherapy) and anti-mitotic drugs (chemotherapy).

22. What are the main degenerative diseases of the nervous system?

The main degenerative diseases of the nervous system are Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Degenerative diseases of the nervous system are caused by progressive tissue degradation or loss of neurons in some regions of the nervous system.

23. What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system in which the patient has progressive dementia and alteration of mental functions.

The disease generally appears after 40 years of age and it is more frequent in the elderly. Image studies of the brain show broad loss of brain tissue. (The Alzheimer’s disease should not be confused with other mental deteriorations common in the elderly.)

24. What is Parkinson’s disease?

Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disease of the nervous system in which the main manifestations are progressive motor disturbances, like tremors of feet, hands and mandibles (jaws) and walking and balance impairments. Parkinson’s disease is due to the degeneration of dopaminergic motor neurons, i.e., motor neurons that use dopamine as a neurotransmitter, located in a specific region of the brain, the mesencephalon. Such degeneration creates deficiency of dopamine in the nervous system. (Parkinson’s disease should not be confused with other causes of tremors, like the use of some medicines.)

Sodium in Food

2010-02-10T01:28:00.001+08:00

Sodium occurs naturally in many foods and is also added in the form of salt or other sodium-containing substances. Common salt or table salt is a chemical compound of sodium and chlorine and is called sodium chloride. The sodium content of food has important implications for health. Salt contains about 40 per cent sodium, and a teaspoon of salt, which weighs about 5 grams, contains about 2 grams of sodium.

Rock salt and sea salt are almost entirely sodium chloride, with only traces of other elements (minerals). In contrast to pepper, which loses flavour once ground, there is no advantage in freshly grinding salt prior to its use. Iodized salt contains about 0.03 milligram of iodine per gram of salt. It is intended as a supplement for people whose diet is deficient in iodine. Recent findings in the U.S.A. indicate that the level of iodine in the diet has increased and that the widespread use of this salt is unnecessary.

Varying amounts of sodium are added to food, but not always in the form of salt. Common food additives, such as baking soda, some preservatives, and monosodium glutamate (MSG), also contribute to the total amount of sodium we consume.

SALT AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

Probably one-fifth of the population, because of genetic predisposition, may be increasing their risk of high blood pressure (hypertension) by having a high intake of sodium. People who have a high intake of sodium have a high incidence of hypertension and stroke. High blood pressure is rarely seen in those who consume less than 1.2 grams (1200 milligrams) of sodium per day. In Australia, on the other hand, where the sodium intake can be in the region of 4 to 8 grams per day, about one in five adult Australians has high blood pressure. Salt is not necessarily the only important factor leading to high blood pressure, but in some cases it is. There are sound reasons why Australians should reduce their sodium intake. But sodium is an essential nutrient, and we need a certain amount for normal body function. A safe intake is considered to be between 0.9 and 2.3 grams of sodium per day, although in special circumstances, such as excessive sweating and diarrhoea, higher levels may be needed.

There is usually no need to increase salt intake in hot climates to avoid cramps, fainting and other symptoms because the body's hormones will adjust over a few days and conserve body sodium. Excessive heat presents other risks and should, in any case, be avoided.

HOW CAN WE CONTROL OUR SALT INTAKE?

Some people find it hard to reduce their intake of sodium. We all have the ability to taste salt, but the extent to which we like our food salted can be modified by experience. The amount of salt we consume cannot be wholly controlled by the moderate use of the salt shaker at the dinner table. This use only accounts for about one-third of our daily intake. Up to half of our salt intake is from processed food, with the balance occurring naturally in food and water. The amount consumed in processed food is difficult to control, although with highly salted foods, taste is a reliable guide. Some items that do not taste highly salted can contribute significant quantities of sodium to our diet because of the amounts we consume. Examples include bread, tomato sauce, and cakes and biscuits. Many 'take-away' foods, such as fish and chips, hamburgers and Chinese food, are highly salted. Bottled mineral waters can contribute a significant amount of sodium. An indication of sodium content is usually given on the label.

An increase in potassium intake seems to offset the adverse effect that sodium has on blood pressure. Foods that contain significant amounts of potassium and also low levels of sodium are fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. But there is no justification for the unrestricted use of potassium salts as substitutes for sodium, as this would present new problems. Potassium supplements and salt substitutes can be potentially hazardous to health and should only be used under medical supervision.

SODIUM INTAKE

Recommended daily dietary intake of sodium (Australia):

Infants: 6-25 millimoles 0.1-0.6 grams

Children: 14-100 millimoles 0.3-2.3 grams

Adults: 40-100 millimoles 0.9-2.3 grams

VITAMIN: Benefit and Deficiency Effects

2009-12-23T15:53:00.000+08:00

Vitamin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the organic compound. For the nutritional supplement preparation, see multivitamin.

Fruits and vegetables are often a good source of vitamins.

A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism.^[1] The term 'vitamin' first became popular in the early 1800's as a contraction of the words 'vital' and 'mineral', though the actual meaning of the word has developed somewhat since that time^[2]. A compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on the circumstances and the particular organism. For example, ascorbic acidfunctions as vitamin C for some animals but not others, and vitamins D and Kare required in the human diet only in certain circumstances.^[3] The termvitamin does not include other essential nutrients such as dietary minerals,essential fatty acids, or essential amino acids, nor does it encompass the large number of other nutrients that promote health but are otherwise required less often.^[4]

Vitamins are classified by their biological and chemical activity, not their structure. Thus, each "vitamin" may refer to several vitamer compounds that all show the biological activity associated with a particular vitamin. Such a set of chemicals are grouped under an alphabetized vitamin "generic descriptor" title, such as "vitamin A", which includes the compounds retinal,retinol, and four known carotenoids.^[5] Vitamers are often inter-converted in the body.

Vitamins have diverse biochemical functions, including function as hormones (e.g. vitamin D), antioxidants (e.g. vitamin E), and mediators of cell signaling and regulators of cell and tissue growth and differentiation (e.g. vitamin A).^[6] The largest number of vitamins (e.g. B complexvitamins) function as precursors for enzyme cofactor bio-molecules (coenzymes), that help act as catalysts and substrates in metabolism. When acting as part of a catalyst, vitamins are bound to enzymes and are called prosthetic groups. For example, biotin is part of enzymes involved in making fatty acids. Vitamins also act as coenzymes to carry chemical groups between enzymes. For example, folic acid carries various forms of carbon group – methyl, formyl and methylene - in the cell. Although these roles in assisting enzyme reactions are vitamins' best-known function, the other vitamin functions are equally important.^[7]

Until the 1900s, vitamins were obtained solely through food intake, and changes in diet (which, for example, could occur during a particular growing season) can alter the types and amounts of vitamins ingested. Vitamins have been produced as commodity chemicals and made widely available as inexpensive pills for several decades,^[8] allowing supplementation of the dietary intake.

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History

The discovery of vitamins and their sources
Year of discovery	Vitamin	Source
1909	Vitamin A (Retinol)	Cod liver oil
1912	Vitamin B₁ (Thiamine)	Rice bran
1912	Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)	Lemons
1918	Vitamin D (Calciferol)	Cod liver oil
1920	Vitamin B₂ (Riboflavin)	Eggs
1922	Vitamin E (Tocopherol)	Wheat germ oil, Cosmetics and liver
1926	Vitamin B₁₂ (Cyanocobalamin)	Liver
1929	Vitamin K (Phylloquinone)	Alfalfa
1931	Vitamin B₅ (Pantothenic acid)	Liver
1931	Vitamin B₇ (Biotin)	Liver
1934	Vitamin B₆ (Pyridoxine)	Rice bran
1936	Vitamin B₃ (Niacin)	Liver
1941	Vitamin B₉ (Folic acid)	Liver

The value of eating a certain food to maintain health was recognized long before vitamins were identified. The ancient Egyptians knew that feeding liverto a patient would help cure night blindness, an illness now known to be caused by a vitamin A deficiency.^[9] The advancement of ocean voyage during the Renaissance resulted in prolonged periods without access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and made illnesses from vitamin deficiency common among ships' crews.^[10]

In 1749, the Scottish surgeon James Lind discovered that citrus foods helped prevent scurvy, a particularly deadly disease in which collagen is not properly formed, causing poor wound healing, bleeding of the gums, severe pain, and death.^[9] In 1753, Lind published his Treatise on the Scurvy, which recommended using lemons and limes to avoid scurvy, which was adopted by the British Royal Navy. This led to the nickname Limey for sailors of that organization. Lind's discovery, however, was not widely accepted by individuals in the Royal Navy's Arctic expeditions in the 19th century, where it was widely believed that scurvy could be prevented by practicing goodhygiene, regular exercise, and by maintaining the morale of the crew while on board, rather than by a diet of fresh food.^[9] As a result, Arctic expeditions continued to be plagued by scurvy and other deficiency diseases. In the early 20th century, when Robert Falcon Scott made his two expeditions to theAntarctic, the prevailing medical theory was that scurvy was caused by "tainted" canned food.^[9]

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the use of deprivation studies allowed scientists to isolate and identify a number of vitamins. Initially, lipid from fish oil was used to cure rickets in rats, and the fat-soluble nutrient was called "antirachitic A". Thus, the first "vitamin" bioactivity ever isolated, which cured rickets, was initially called "vitamin A", although confusingly the bioactivity of this compound is now calledvitamin D.^[11] In 1881, Russian surgeon Nikolai Lunin studied the effects of scurvy while at the University of Tartu in present-day Estonia.^[12] He fed mice an artificial mixture of all the separate constituents of milk known at that time, namely the proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and salts. The mice that received only the individual constituents died, while the mice fed by milk itself developed normally. He made a conclusion that "a natural food such as milk must therefore contain, besides these known principal ingredients, small quantities of unknown substances essential to life."^[12] However, his conclusions were rejected by other researchers when they were unable to reproduce his results. One difference was that he had used table sugar (sucrose), while other researchers had used milk sugar (lactose) that still contained small amounts of vitamin B.

The Ancient Egyptians knew that feeding a patient liver (back, right) would help cure night blindness.

In east Asia, where polished white rice was the common staple food of the middle class, beriberi resulting from lack of vitamin B1 was endemic. In 1884,Takaki Kanehiro, a British trained medical doctor of the Imperial Japanese Navy, observed that beriberi was endemic among low-ranking crew who often ate nothing but rice, but not among crews of Western navies and officers who consumed a Western-style diet. With the support of the Japanese navy, he experimented using crews of two battleships; one crew was fed only white rice, while the other was fed a diet of meat, fish, barley, rice, and beans. The group that ate only white rice documented 161 crew members with beriberi and 25 deaths, while the latter group had only 14 cases of beriberi and no deaths. This convinced Kanehiro and the Japanese Navy that diet was the cause of beriberi, but mistakenly believed that sufficient amounts of protein prevented it.^[13] That diseases could result from some dietary deficiencies was further investigated by Christiaan Eijkman, who in 1897 discovered that feeding unpolished rice instead of the polished variety to chickens helped to prevent beriberi in the chickens. The following year, Frederick Hopkinspostulated that some foods contained "accessory factors"—in addition to proteins, carbohydrates, fats, et cetera—that were necessary for the functions of the human body.^[9] Hopkins and Eijkman were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1929 for their discovery of several vitamins.^[14]

In 1910, Japanese scientist Umetaro Suzuki succeeded in extracting a water-soluble complex of micronutrients from rice bran and named itaberic acid. He published this discovery in a Japanese scientific journal.^[15] When the article was translated into German, the translation failed to state that it was a newly discovered nutrient, a claim made in the original Japanese article, and hence his discovery failed to gain publicity. In 1912 Polish biochemist Kazimierz Funk isolated the same complex of micronutrients and proposed the complex be named "Vitamine" (aportmanteau of "vital amine").^[16] The name soon became synonymous with Hopkins' "accessory factors", and by the time it was shown that not all vitamins were amines, the word was already ubiquitous. In 1920, Jack Cecil Drummond proposed that the final "e" be dropped to deemphasize the "amine" reference after the discovery that vitamin C had no amine component.^[13]

In 1931, Albert Szent-Györgyi and a fellow researcher Joseph Svirbely determined that "hexuronic acid" was actually vitamin C and noted its anti-scorbutic activity. In 1937, Szent-Györgyi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery. In 1943 Edward Adelbert Doisy and Henrik Dam were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of vitamin K and its chemical structure. In 1967, George Wald was awarded the Nobel Prize (along with Ragnar Granit and Haldan Keffer Hartline) for his discovery that vitamin A could participate directly in a physiological process.^[14]

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In humans

Vitamins are classified as either water-soluble or fat soluble. In humans there are 13 vitamins: 4 fat-soluble (A, D, E and K) and 9 water-soluble (8 B vitamins and vitamin C). Water-soluble vitamins dissolve easily in water, and in general, are readily excreted from the body, to the degree that urinary output is a strong predictor of vitamin consumption.^[17] Because they are not readily stored, consistent daily intake is important.^[18]Many types of water-soluble vitamins are synthesized by bacteria.^[19] Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed through the intestinal tract with the help of lipids (fats). Because they are more likely to accumulate in the body, they are more likely to lead to hypervitaminosis than are water-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamin regulation is of particular significance in cystic fibrosis.^[20]

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List of vitamins

Each vitamin is typically used in multiple reactions and, therefore, most have multiple functions.^[21]

Vitamin generic descriptor name	Vitamer chemical name(s) (list not complete)	Solubility	Recommended dietary allowances (male, age 19–70)^[22]	Deficiency disease	Upper Intake Level (UL/day)^[22]	Overdose disease
Vitamin A	Retinol, retinal, various retinoids, and four carotenoids)	Fat	900 µg	Night-blindness and Keratomalacia^[23]	3,000 µg	Hypervitaminosis A
Vitamin B₁	Thiamine	Water	1.2 mg	Beriberi, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome	N/D^[24]	Drowsiness or muscle relaxation with large doses.^[25]
Vitamin B₂	Riboflavin	Water	1.3 mg	Ariboflavinosis	N/D
Vitamin B₃	Niacin, niacinamide	Water	16.0 mg	Pellagra	35.0 mg	Liver damage (doses > 2g/day)^[26] and other problems
Vitamin B₅	Pantothenic acid	Water	5.0 mg^[27]	Paresthesia	N/D	Diarrhea; possibly nausea and heartburn.^[28]
Vitamin B₆	Pyridoxine,pyridoxamine,pyridoxal	Water	1.3–1.7 mg	Anemia^[29] peripheral neuropathy.	100 mg	Impairment of proprioception, nerve damage (doses > 100 mg/day)
Vitamin B₇	Biotin	Water	30.0 µg	Dermatitis, enteritis	N/D
Vitamin B₉	Folic acid, folinic acid	Water	400 µg	Deficiency during pregnancy is associated with birth defects, such asneural tube defects	1,000 µg	May mask symptoms of vitamin B₁₂ deficiency; other effects.
Vitamin B₁₂	Cyanocobalamin,hydroxycobalamin,methylcobalamin	Water	2.4 µg	Megaloblastic anemia^[30]	N/D	No known toxicity^[30]
Vitamin C	Ascorbic acid	Water	90.0 mg	Scurvy	2,000 mg	Vitamin C megadosage
Vitamin D	Ergocalciferol,cholecalciferol	Fat	5.0 µg–10 µg^[31]	Rickets and Osteomalacia	50 µg	Hypervitaminosis D
Vitamin E	Tocopherols,tocotrienols	Fat	15.0 mg	Deficiency is very rare; mild hemolytic anemia in newborn infants.^[32]	1,000 mg	Increased congestive heart failure seen in one large randomized study.^[33]
Vitamin K	phylloquinone,menaquinones	Fat	120 µg	Bleeding diathesis	N/D	Increases coagulation in patients taking warfarin.^[34]

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In nutrition and diseases

Vitamins are essential for the normal growth and development of a multicellular organism. Using the genetic blueprint inherited from its parents, a fetus begins to develop, at the moment of conception, from the nutrients it absorbs. It requires certain vitamins and minerals to be present at certain times. These nutrients facilitate the chemical reactions that produce among other things, skin, bone, and muscle. If there is serious deficiency in one or more of these nutrients, a child may develop a deficiency disease. Even minor deficiencies may cause permanent damage.^[35]

For the most part, vitamins are obtained with food, but a few are obtained by other means. For example, microorganisms in the intestine—commonly known as "gut flora"—produce vitamin K and biotin, while one form of vitamin D is synthesized in the skin with the help of the naturalultraviolet wavelength of sunlight. Humans can produce some vitamins from precursors they consume. Examples include vitamin A, produced from beta carotene, and niacin, from the amino acid tryptophan.^[22]

Once growth and development are completed, vitamins remain essential nutrients for the healthy maintenance of the cells, tissues, and organs that make up a multicellular organism; they also enable a multicellular life form to efficiently use chemical energy provided by food it eats, and to help process the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats required for respiration.^[6]

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Deficiencies

Because human bodies do not store most vitamins, humans must consume them regularly to avoid deficiency. Human bodily stores for different vitamins vary widely; vitamins A, D, and B₁₂ are stored in significant amounts in the human body, mainly in the liver,^[32] and an adult human's diet may be deficient in vitamins A and B₁₂ for many months before developing a deficiency condition. Vitamin B₃ is not stored in the human body in significant amounts, so stores may only last a couple of weeks.^[23]^[32] Deficiencies of vitamins are classified as either primary or secondary. A primary deficiency occurs when an organism does not get enough of the vitamin in its food. A secondary deficiency may be due to an underlying disorder that prevents or limits the absorption or use of the vitamin, due to a “lifestyle factor”, such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or the use of medications that interfere with the absorption or use of the vitamin.^[32] People who eat a varied diet are unlikely to develop a severe primary vitamin deficiency. In contrast, restrictive diets have the potential to cause prolonged vitamin deficits, which may result in often painful and potentially deadly diseases.

Well-known human vitamin deficiencies involve thiamine (beriberi), niacin (pellagra), vitamin C (scurvy) and vitamin D (rickets). In much of the developed world, such deficiencies are rare; this is due to (1) an adequate supply of food; and (2) the addition of vitamins and minerals to common foods, often called fortification.^[22]^[32] In addition to these classical vitamin deficiency diseases, some evidence has also suggested links between vitamin deficiency and a number of different disorders.^[36]^[37]

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Side effects and overdose

In large doses, some vitamins have documented side effects that tend to be more severe with a larger dosage. The likelihood of consuming too much of any vitamin from food is remote, but overdosing from vitamin supplementation does occur. At high enough dosages some vitamins cause side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.^[23]^[38]

When side effects emerge, recovery is often accomplished by reducing the dosage. The concentrations of vitamins an individual can tolerate vary widely, and appear to be related to age and state of health.^[39] In the United States, overdose exposure to all formulations of vitamins was reported by 62,562 individuals in 2004 (nearly 80% of these exposures were in children under the age of 6), leading to 53 "major" life-threatening outcomes and 3 deaths^[40];a small number in comparison to the 19,250 people who died of unintentional poisoning of all kinds in the U.S. in the same year (2004).^[41]

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Supplements

Dietary supplements, often containing vitamins, are used to ensure that adequate amounts of nutrients are obtained on a daily basis, if optimal amounts of the nutrients cannot be obtained through a varied diet. Scientific evidence supporting the benefits of some vitamin supplements is well established for certain health conditions, but others need further study.^[42] In some cases, vitamin supplements may have unwanted effects, especially if taken before surgery, with other dietary supplements or medicines, or if the person taking them has certain health conditions.^[42] Dietary supplements may also contain levels of vitamins many times higher, and in different forms, than one may ingest through food.^[43]

A meta-analysis published in 2006 suggested that Vitamin A and E supplements not only provide no tangible health benefits for generally healthy individuals, but may actually increase mortality, although two large studies included in the analysis involved smokers, for which it was already known that beta-carotene supplements can be harmful.^[44] Another study released in May 2009 found that antioxidants such as vitamins C and E may actually curb some benefits of exercise.^[45]

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Governmental regulation of vitamin supplements

Most countries place dietary supplements in a special category under the general umbrella of foods, not drugs. This necessitates that the manufacturer, and not the government, be responsible for ensuring that its dietary supplement products are safe before they are marketed. Unlike drug products, which must explicitly be proven safe and effective for their intended use before marketing, there are often no provisions to "approve" dietary supplements for safety or effectiveness before they reach the consumer. Also unlike drug products, manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements are not generally required to report any claims of injuries or illnesses that may be related to the use of their products.^[46]^[47]^[42]

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Names in current and previous nomenclatures

Nomenclature of reclassified vitamins
Previous name	Chemical name	Reason for name change^[48]
Vitamin B₄	Adenine	DNA metabolite
Vitamin B₈	Adenylic acid	DNA metabolite
Vitamin F	Essential fatty acids	Needed in large quantities (does not fit the definition of a vitamin).
Vitamin G	Riboflavin	Reclassified as Vitamin B₂
Vitamin H	Biotin	Reclassified as Vitamin B₇
Vitamin J	Catechol, Flavin	Protein metabolite
Vitamin L₁^[49]	Anthranilic acid	Protein metabolite
Vitamin L₂^[49]	Adenylthiomethylpentose	RNA metabolite
Vitamin M	Folic acid	Reclassified as Vitamin B₉
Vitamin O	Carnitine	Protein metabolite
Vitamin P	Flavonoids	No longer classified as a vitamin
Vitamin PP	Niacin	Reclassified as Vitamin B₃
Vitamin U	S-Methylmethionine	Protein metabolite

The reason the set of vitamins seems to skip directly from E to K is that the vitamins corresponding to letters F-J were either reclassified over time, discarded as false leads, or renamed because of their relationship to vitamin B, which became a complex of vitamins.

The German-speaking scientists who isolated and described vitamin K (in addition to naming it as such) did so because the vitamin is intimately involved in the Koagulation of blood following wounding. At the time, most (but not all) of the letters from F through to J were already designated, so the use of the letter K was considered quite reasonable.^[48]^[50] The table on the right lists chemicals that had previously been classified as vitamins, as well as the earlier names of vitamins that later became part of the B-complex.

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See also

Benefit of Good Drinking Water

2009-12-10T17:17:00.003+08:00

Benefit of Good Drinking Water

Discover why Drinking Water is so important for your life and health...

The reason you need to drink water appears obvious, but do you know the details? Let's take a closer look inside your body:

Benefit of Drinking Water for the Human Body

Every part of your body is made up of cells.
Protoplasm, the basic material of living cells, is made of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, salts, and similar elements combined with water.
Water acts as a solvent, transporting, combining, and chemically breaking down these substances.

A cell exchanges elements with the rest of the body by electrolysis, and in a normal case, minerals and micro elements pass through the cell membrane to the nucleus by electro-osmosis.

The body needs electrolytes (minerals like sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate) for its basic functions.

In case of water shortage, the electrolyzes cannot happen and our cells dry out and die.

Therefore, in order to keep our cells hydrated, our body's electrochemical balance and stay alive we need water and salt.

Dr F. Batmanghelidj MD reminds us that the one of the first protocols for a patient upon hospitalization is an intravenous saline solution. Doctors are well aware that dehydration, second only to oxygen deprivation, robs life fastest.

Minor dehydration - not enough to kill- is both the result and the hidden cause of many illnesses. The inverse is also true. Good hydration i s at the foundation of good health.

- Drink up now, because the price for administrating and intravenous saline water solution in the hospital is approximately $350.

You are not sick, you're thirsty!

Based on more than twenty years of clinical and scientific research into the role of health benefit of water for the body, Dr. F. Batmanghelidj MD, a pioneering physician and acclaimed author, shows how water - yes WATER! - can relieve a stunning range of medical conditions. Simply adjusting your fluid and salt intakes can help you treat and prevent dozens of diseases, avoid costly prescriptions drugs, and enjoy vibrant new health.

In his book: "Water: For Health, for Healing, for Life: You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty! " Dr F. Batmanghelidj MD shows the crucial benefit of drinking water for our health.

From his perspective, most of so-called incurable diseases are nothing but labels given to various stages of drought. Here are only few of them:

Benefit of drinking water Rheumatoid Joint Pain and Arthritis:

Painful joints a signal of water shortage. It can affect the young as well as the old. The use of painkillers does not cure the problem, but exposes the person to further damage from pain medications. Intake of water and small amounts of salt will cure this problem.

Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Low Back Pain and Ankylosing Arthritis of the Spine are signs of water shortage in the spinal column and discs. These cushions that support the weight of the body, can be seriously damage by dehydration.

Benefit of drinking water to prevent a high level of Cholesterol

I had the occasion to advise a man in his early forties whose angiogram had revealed partial blockage of his coronary arteries. Tells Dr F. Batmanghelidj MD. I advised him not to have bypass surgery without first trying a conservative treatment for his condition. He agreed to adjust his daily water intake and to begin by taking two glasses of water exactly half an hour before every meal. I advised him to walk one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening (to start with, twenty minutes at the beginning, increasing gradually to one hour) Three months later the man went to one of the famous centers in Houston for a final checkup and an assessment of his need for bypass surgery. HIs angiogram showed no sign of previous blockage. He no longer needed surgery.

Benefit of drinking water to prevent Heart disease and stroke: hydration is essential to help prevent clogging of arteries an the heart and brain.
Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Hypertension: hydration is crucial in treating it without using diuretics or medication

Benefit of drinking water to prevent Brain Damage

On average, the human brain weights 1.4 Kilograms (about 3 pounds). It is estimated that the brain consists of 85% water. The brain is extremely sensitive to water loss. It is said that the brain cannot tolerate even a 1% loss of water. If it were to be dehydrated to the point of being only 84% water for long, the brains would not function properly. (Remember that nerve cells in the brain are one-time-living units. They don't multiply like other cells in the body and don't regenerate). Dehydration can cause damage in the blood vessels in the brain, leading to bleedings and plaques, which are at the base of most neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Alzenheimer's disease.

Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Depression: hydration helps the body naturally replenish its supply of the neurotransmitter serotonin
Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Sleep disorders: hydration is needed for the production of nature's sleep regulator, melatonin
Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Lack of energy: water generates electrical and magnetic energy in every body cell, providing a natural power boost
Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Attention Deficit: a well hydrated brain is continually energized to imprint new information in its memory banks.

Benefit of drinking water to prevent Osteoporosis

The strong bone formation is related to proper hydration and Dr F. Batmanghelidj MD believes that dehydration is responsible of the los of calcium from our bones as we age.

Benefit of drinking water to prevent Cancer

Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Leukemia and Lymphoma: water normalizes the blood-manufacturing system that can aid in the prevention of many forms of cancer

Benefit of drinking water for skin health:

Dr F. Batmanghelidj MD shows that in a dehydrated state of the body, the first site for establishing water conservation is the skin.

Skin has the ability to perspire to cool and regulate body temperature. If there is dehydration, the water reserves in the skin may be used up without being replaced at the same rate as the water lost. thus, dehydration is a primary factor in the production of dry skin:

When the skin loses moisture it becomes prune-like

There is less capillary circulation to the skin area to give it the healthy color it should have.

To promote a healthier skin, adequate water intake is essential. If water does not reach the skin from the circulation at its base, the rate of skin repair will decrease, and dehydrated cells will cover the body.

This is one of the reasons why you often see young women with their skins already aged beyond their year; why you see middle-aged women with deep fur-rows â€”crow's feetâ€” all over their faces. The face is most exposed to wind and the sub's rays, elements that enhance water loss from its surface. (Men hormones bring more circulation to the skin of the face)

The ultimate stage is scleroderma: the skin becomes atrophied and begins to resemble a crocodile's. The good news is that at its early phase, scleroderma can be reversed by increasing water intake.

* The most common irritant to the skin is the detergent residue on washed clothes that are not well rinsed. The detergent can dissolve in sweat and cause contact dermatitis and even hives. Always double rinse anything you wash! Benefit of drinking water in elimination of body wastes and toxins

Our organs are made of cells. The cells are made of and live in a water solution. Our blood also is mostly water and serves to dissolve, process and transport nutrients, and eliminate waste materials.

" In the case of dehydration, the blood becomes thick and saturated, not being able to flow properly. The excess of toxins must then be stored within the interstitial space surrounding the cells pending elimination for life to continue, and over time this space begins to resemble a toxic waste site - an acidic medium. Since the cells cannot have the proper oxygenation and nutrition they begin to change in form and function in order to survive.

The end stage of this process results in the cells not resembling normal cells at all, and they continue living by means of fermentation rather than the normal oxidative mechanisms. - This is when the oncologist will tell you that you have CANCER" - source: J.H. Tilden, Toxemia.

A major benefit of drinking water is maintaining the body Ph balance in order to prevent and cure disease...

Dr. Sang Whang, the author of the Reverse Aging book, says the aging process is basically the accumulation of acidic wastes built up within the body...

" This book is the first common sense scientific explanation of the aging process and 'how to' reverse it. The nutrients that we deliver to our cells burn with oxygen and become acidic wastes after giving energy to our body. The body tries its best to get rid of these acidic wastes through urine and perspiration. Unfortunately, our lifestyle, diet and environment prevent our body to get rid of all the wastes that it generates. Gradually, these leftover acidic wastes accumulate somewhere within our body. Since acid coagulates blood, the blood circulation near the waste areas becomes poor, causing all kinds of degenerative diseases to develop..."

Benefit of drinking water for eye health

Recently I had an eye examination. The doctor told me that our cornea is 80% water. Working long hours on the computer makes the eyes dry. Just closing the eyes for a few seconds every hour and blinking frequently allows liquid from the tear glands to moisturize and lubricate the cornea. He also recommended regular drinking of water for good eye health...

(I was happy to hear this... My optometrist is Dr. Charles Lu PhD in Vision Science-Halifax, Nova Scotia.)

The benefit of drinking water to lose weight

Water plays a key role in the metabolic breakdown of proteins and carbohydrates.

That's why neutralizing (burning) fat and assisting in weight loss is also an important benefit of drinking water.

Benefit of drinking water in reducing water retention

If your body has a tendency to retain fluids, it might seem logical to drink less water. However, the opposite is true. To lose the excess fluids, you may need to drink MORE water. Dehydration can cause the body to retain fluid that will be released as you drink more water. The goal is to keep lots of fluid flowing through your body. To do this, drink more water along with salt intake.

Other benefits of drinking water:

Transport of oxygen to cells,
Maintain muscle tone, and
Regulate of body temperature.

Turn on the tap... and reap the benefits of drinking water - one of the greatest health discoveries of all time! - says Dr. F. Batmanghelidj MD

H1N1 Conspiracy Theory

2009-11-25T10:58:00.001+08:00

Phytonutrient - Flavonoids

2009-11-05T16:09:00.003+08:00

flavonoids

What can high-flavonoid foods do for you?

Help protect blood vessels from rupture or leakage
Enhance the power of your vitamin C
Protect cells from oxygen damage
Prevent excessive inflammation throughout your body

What events can indicate a need for more high-flavonoid foods?

Easy bruising
Frequent nose bleeds
Excessive swelling after injury
Frequent colds or infections

Sources of flavonoids include: apples, apricots, blueberries, pears, raspberries, strawberries, black beans, cabbage, onions, parsley, pinto beans, and tomatoes.

Description

What are flavonoids?

Flavonoids, an amazing array of over 6,000 different substances found in virtually all plants, are responsible for many of the plant colors that dazzle us with their brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red.

Classified as plant pigments, flavonoids were discovered in 1938 when a Hungarian scientist named Albert Szent-Gyorgyi used the term "vitamin P" to describe them.

The chemistry of flavonoids is complicated, and within the non-technical term "flavonoids" can be found many different chemical groups of substances. These groups include flavonols, dihydroflavonols, flavones, isoflavones, flavanones, anthocyanins, and anthocyanidins. Within each of these groups fall hundreds, and sometimes thousands of different flavonoids.

For example, well-known flavonols include quercetin, rutin, and hesperidin, while well-known flavones include apigenin and luteolin. Flavonoids may also be named directly after the unique plant that contains them. Ginkgetin is a flavonoid from the ginkgo tree, and tangeretin is a flavonoid from the tangerine.

How it Functions

What is are the functions of flavonoids?

Protection of cell structures

Most flavonoids function in the human body as antioxidants. In this capacity, they help neutralize overly reactive oxygen-containing molecules and prevent these overly reactive molecules from damaging parts of cells. Particularly in oriental medicine, plant flavonoids have been used for centuries in conjunction with their antioxidant, protective properties. Scultellaria root, cornus fruit, licorice, and green tea are examples of flavonoid-containing foods widely used in oriental medicine. While flavonoids may exert their cell structure protection through a variety of mechanisms, one of their potent effects may be through their ability to increase levels of glutathione, a powerful antioxidant, as suggested by various research studies.

Vitamin C support

The relationship between flavonoids and vitamin C was actually discovered by mistake. Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, the Nobel Prize winning researcher who discovered flavonoids, was attempting to make a preparation of vitamin C for one of his patients with blood vessel problems. The preparation he gave the patient was not 100% pure - it contained other substances along with the vitamin C. It worked amazingly well.

Later, when Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi purchased a pure solution of vitamin C, he found it was not nearly so effective with his patient. He suspected flavonoids as the magic addition to vitamin C in his first impure preparation. Present-day research has clearly documented the synergistic (mutually beneficial) relationship between flavonoids and vitamin C. Each substance improves the antioxidant activity of the other, and many of the vitamin-related functions of vitamin C also appear to require the presence of flavonoids.

Inflammation control

Inflammation - the body's natural response to danger or damage - must always be carefully regulated to prevent overactivation of the immune system and unwanted immune response. Many types of cells involved with the immune system - including T cells, B cells, NK cells, mast cells, and neutrophils - have been shown to alter their behavior in the presence of flavonoids. Prevention of excessive inflammation appear to be a key role played by many different chemical categories of flavonoids.

Antibiotic activity

In some cases, flavonoids can act directly as antibiotics by disrupting the function of microorganisms like viruses or bacteria. The antiviral function of flavonoids has been demonstrated with the HIV virus, and also with HSV-1, a herpes simplex virus.

Deficiency Symptoms

What are deficiency symptoms for flavonoids?

Excessive bruisability, nose bleeds, swelling after injury, and hemorrhoids can be indicators of flavonoid deficiency. Generally weakened immune function, as evidenced by frequent colds or infections, can also be a sign of inadequate dietary intake of flavonoids.

Toxicity Symptoms

What are toxicity symptoms for flavonoids?

Even in very high amounts (for example, 140 grams per day), flavonoids do not appear to cause unwanted side effects. Even when raised to the level of 10% of total caloric intake, flavonoid supplementation has been shown non-toxic. Studies during pregnancy have also failed to show problems with high-level intake of flavonoids.

Impact of Cooking, Storage and Processing

How do cooking, storage, or processing affect flavonoids?

Heat, degree of acidity (pH), and degree of processing can have a dramatic impact on the flavonoid content of food. For example, in fresh cut spinach, boiling extracts 50% of the total flavonoid content.

With onions (a less delicate food), boiling still removes about 30% of the flavonoids (and specifically, a group of flavonoids called the quercitin glycosides). Overcooking of vegetables has particularly problematic effects on this category of nutrients.

Factors that Affect Function

What factors might contribute to a deficiency of flavonoids?

Poor intake of fruits and vegetables - or routine intake of high-processed fruits and vegetables - are common contributing factors to flavonoid deficiency. It is difficult to overemphasize the impact of processing and a non-whole foods diet on flavonoid intake. If the pulpy, fibrous parts of fruits are eliminated from the juice, and the vibrant natural colors of canned vegetables are lost during repeated heating, risk of flavonoid deficiency is greatly increased.

Drug-Nutrient Interactions

What medications affect flavonoids?

The impact of prescription medicines on flavonoid status is not well studied. However, in an interesting twist when looking from the other direction at the impact of flavonoids on drug status, researchers have discovered that a flavonoid in grapefruit juice called naringin can increase the absorption of certain heart-related drugs (including nifedipine, felodipine and verapamil), as well as the antihistamine terfenadine.

Nutrient Interactions

How do other nutrients interact with flavonoids?

Present-day research has clearly documented the synergistic (mutually beneficial) relationship between flavonoids and vitamin C. Each substance improves the antioxidant activity of the other, and many of the vitamin-related functions of vitamin C also appear to require the presence of flavonoids.

Health Conditions

What health conditions require special emphasis on flavonoids?

Flavonoids may play a role in the prevention and/or treatment of the following health conditions:

Allergy
Asthma
Atopic dermatitis
Candida infection
Cataracts
Diabetes
Gout
Hemorrhoids
Macular degeneration
Migraine
Periodontal disease
Stomach ulcer
Varicose veins

Form in Dietary Supplements

What forms of flavonoids are found in dietary supplements?

By far the most common supplemental form of flavonoids are the citrus flavonoids quercetin, rutin, and hesperidin. Of these three, the most common is quercetin.

Doses in commonly sold supplements usually range from 25-200 milligrams, although clinical studies using flavonoids often use much higher level interventions in the 500-3,000 milligram range.

It is not difficult to reach the 1,000-milligram range from dietary intake, if the diet contains an adequate amount of whole, properly prepared fruits and vegetables.

Food Sources

What foods provide flavonoids?

Virtually all fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices contain flavonoids. They are also found in other types of food, including dry beans (where they give red beans,black beans, and speckled beans their color) and grains (where the color provided by flavonoids is usually in the yellow family). Products made from the foods above (for example, wines made from grapes) also typically contain a wide variety of flavonoids.

While the flavonoid family is too complex to report all of its food connections, some highlights are especially important. In the fruit family, it is berries that come out highest in the chemical category of flavonoids called anthocyanins. Black raspberries, for example, may contain up to 100 milligrams of anthocyanins per ounce.

Green tea has flavonoid components called catechins that may reach 1,000 milligrams (or 1 gram) per cup. In general the more colorful components of the food - like the skins of fruits - contain the highest concentration of flavonoids. An exception to this rule, however, is the white pulpy inside of oranges. Unlike the watery orange-colored sections of this fruit, which contain virtually all of its vitamin C, the orange's flavonoids are found in the white pulpy portion inside the skin and surrounding the sections.

Public Health Recommendations

What are current public health recommendations for flavonoids?

At present there are no public health recommendations for flavonoids.

References

Divi RL, Chang HC, Doerge DR. Anti-thyroid isoflavones from soybean: isolation, characterization, and mechanisms of action. Biochem Pharmacol 1997;54(10):1087-1096 1997.

Gil MI, Ferreres F, Tomas-Barberan FA. Effect of postharvest storage and processing on the antioxidant constituents (flavonoids and vitamin C) of fresh-cut spinach. J Agric Food Chem 1999;47(6):2213-7 1999.

Groff JL, Gropper SS, Hunt SM. Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. West Publishing Company, New York, 1995 1995.

Ioku K, Aoyama Y, Tokuno A, et al. Various cooking methods and the flavonoid content in onion. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo) 2001;41(7): 78-83 2001.

Middleton E Jr, Kandaswami C. The impact of plant flavonoids on mammalian biology: implications for immunity, inflammation and cancer. Chapter 15 in: Harbourne JB (Ed). The flavonoids: advances in research since 1986. Chapman & Hall, London, 1993; 61... .

Middleton E, Kandaswami C. Effects of flavonoids on immune and inflammatory cell functions. Biochem Pharmacol 1992;43(6):1167-1179 1992.

Minato K, Miyake Y, Fukumoto S et al. Lemon flavonoid, eriocitrin, suppresses exercise-induced oxidative damage in rat liver. Life Sci 2003 Feb 21;72(14):1609-16 2003.

Myhrstad MC, Carlsen H, Nordstrom O et al. Flavonoids increase the intracellular glutathione level by transactivation of the gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase catalytical subunit promoter. Free Radic Biol Med 2002 Mar 1;32(5):386-93 2002.

Okuda T, Yoshida T, Hatano T. Antioxidant phenolics in oriental medicine. In: Yagi K. (Ed). Active oxygens, lipid peroxides, and antioxidants. Japan Sci Soc Press, Tokyo, 1993;333-346 1993.

Panthong A, Kanjanapothi D, Tuntiwachwuttikul P, et al. Antiinflammatory activity of flavonoids. Phytomedicine 1994;1:141-144 1994.

Roger CR. The nutritional incidence of flavonoids: some physiologic and metabolic considerations. Experientia 1988;44(9):725-804 1988.

Tarayre JP, Lauressergues H. Advantages of a combination of proteolytic enzymes, flavonoids, and ascorbic acid in comparison with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents. Arznein-Forsch 1977;27:1144-1149 1977.

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VITAMIN: Benefit and Deficiency Effects

Vitamin

Contents

[edit]History

[edit]In humans

[edit]List of vitamins

[edit]In nutrition and diseases

[edit]Deficiencies

[edit]Side effects and overdose

[edit]Supplements

[edit]Governmental regulation of vitamin supplements

[edit]Names in current and previous nomenclatures

[edit]See also