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Saturated Fats Can Cuase Alzheimer’s Disease

Researchers from Curtin University of Technology in Perth have been studying about the scientific link between diet and Alzheimer’s disease. Now they have come up with clear explanation to why consumption of high saturated fats is more likely to cause Alzheimer’s disease. Their study is the first one to be published in British Journal of Nutrition, describing the link of saturated fats in diet and Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers found that saturated fats can damage the blood vessel lining of brain, thereby allowing inflow of a protein called amyloid. Professor John Mamo, co-author of the study and national director of the Australian Technology Network’s Centre for Metabolic Fitness said that brain consists of millions of blood vessels having a selective permeable lining to cover them, which gets damaged by high saturated fats. The lining is generally called as blood brain barrier. So when the brain blood vessel lining gets damaged it no longer regulates the flow of proteins in or out.

Amyloid, a protein that is produced in the small intestine is secreted into blood. It deposits in the brain and causes inflammation and nerve cell death. Researches in the past have confirmed that amyloid secretion is stimulated by consumption of high saturated fats. Since the blood brain barrier is damaged the deposition becomes wide spread. During the study, the researchers made tests using mouse models. They fed mice a diet of either saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats and compared them to mice which were genetically designed to develop Alzheimer’s.

Within two months the mice fed with saturated fats showed changes in blood vessel architecture and more amyloid deposits in brain. But such modifications were absent in case of mice fed with polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats. The brains of saturated fat mice were similar to those of genetically modified Alzheimer diseased mice. The researchers used antibodies with a fluorescent tag to confirm that dietary fats were also inside amyloid deposits.

Based on the research, now the Alzheimer’s drug treatment can take a new dimension to improve nerve cells and repair the damaged vessels. The announcement of this link between saturated fats and Alzheimer’s disease came along the same time when a French study two genes related to Alzheimer namely CLU and PICLAM. CLU produces a protein known as clusterin. It helps to deduce the inflammation caused by amyloid deposits. Whereas, PICLAM plays vital role in inter communication between brain and nerve cells. The study co-author believes that these discoveries will be helpful in better understanding and early detection of Alzheimer disease.

Vitamins May Lower Risk Of Heart Disease, Says Study

A recent study revealed that people who consume vitamin E and multivitamin supplements daily for a period of 10 years are likely to lower the risk of death due to dangerous heart disease. Speaking about this Dr. Gaia Pocobelli and his colleagues in Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Seattle, Washington, wrote in their note that people who take vitamin C and vitamin E supplements seem to lower the risk of dying in a span of 5 year period while people who took vitamin C may also enjoy lower risk of demise from deadly cancer.

It is a known fact that vitamin C and E are good antioxidants that are normally thought to protect our body cells fighting against the harmful radicals. However, how the use of these vitamins in lower the risk of death is still an unsolved puzzle for the scientists. The authors also added in the report in American Journal of Epidemiology that the finding of this study clearly backup earlier studies. They stated that in many cases the decreased risks are relatively small and is mostly related to the healthy behaviors and habits of the people who take these vitamin supplements.

The research team surveyed around 77, 719 women and men in Washington. All these people where between the age of 50 and 76. 67% of the people in the group had ever taken multivitamins, 47% had ever had vitamin C and 48 % had ever had vitamin E. The survey was carried on for a period of 5 years, during this period there were around 3,577 deaths. In the group who had never used vitamin supplements, 350 people died from heart diseases while there were around 519 death cases amongst the other group that used vitamins. After a bit of adjustments made for age and gender, diet, lifestyle and medical conditions the researchers saw a slight decrease in the death risks from deadly heart diseases among the people who used multivitamins frequently.

Drilling down the vitamin usage the researchers found that people who took more than 322mg of vitamin C per day seemed to decrease the risk of death due to cancer and the other diseases within the monitored 5 year period in comparison with the non-vitamin users. The study also revealed that even people with history of heart diseases seemed to reduce the risk of deaths when they took this level of vitamin C. In the case of vitamin E supplements, men and women who took more than 215mg of vitamin E per day had decreased slightly in heart related and overall risk for death compare to non-vitamin users. The researchers saw no clear association with the intake of vitamin E and cancer death risk.

Though the report has taken the lifestyle of people into account, the authors feel that the findings or the results should be interpreted carefully because the health behaviors of people may differ. The authors added that some of the health behaviors might not have been accounted and they may tend to be common in vitamin supplement users than in people who do not use it.

Swine Flu Vaccine Trial

At the age of 16 years, Will Ross is among the first participants of the pediatric study of H1N1 vaccine which started recently at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. The UI or the University of Iowa is one of the 8 sites around the nation chosen by National Institutes of Health for testing vaccine for H1N1 virus, formerly known as swine flu. Tests have been speeded up in the race against a foreseen resurgence of swine flu that the experts believe can be more serious than what has been experienced by the country so far.

Dr. Patricia Winokur, the leader of the study said that safety data from the adult trials has been analyzed before giving any shots to the children. She added that getting data from the kids is an urgent need because they are the high-risk group.

Unlike the seasonal flu that usually attacks the elderly people, H1N1 disproportionately affects young adults and children. An advisory committee of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all people from 6 months to 24 years of age to receive the vaccine, once it becomes available.

Winokur said that some of the vaccine is expected to be available in Mid-October but the quantity that will be available is not yet known. The trials will help in determining how the country will distribute the limited supply of the vaccine.

170 adults have already enrolled in another part of the study conducted at the University of Iowa. Winokur said that some adults reported tenderness at the site of the injection and low-grade fever, but nothing serious or unexpected was reported. Children at the University of Iowa will get 2 H1N1 vaccinations and a seasonal flu shot. It will be analyzed and determined by the researchers that when and how the H1N1 shot has to be given with the seasonal shots.

St. Louis University has been the leading site for pediatric study, with 650 young participants expected around the nation. Around 100 children from 6 months to 17 years of age are going to participate in the UI Children’s Hospital.

Ross had to miss his band practice and 2 classes to start his vaccine trial. He is planning to use the $370 he will receive for participating in the trial for a trip to Spain with classmates. Jill Ross from Iowa City, his mother said that both Will and she herself had to suffer with the flu 2 winters ago for a whole week. She hopes that Will and his brother, 13 years old Paul who is also participating, will get protection from the illness.

The WHO reported that last week, more than 2185 people from around the world died due to H1N1 novel influenza A, including 522 alone in US. The average age of these people was 38 years.

State Workers’ Compensation Insurance Covers Weight Loss Surgery : Court Ruled SAIF Corp To Pay For Worker’s Gastric Bypass Surgery

According to a court in Oregon, the state workers’ compensation insurance can also cover weight loss surgery, but it should be required for treating an injury related to the job of the workers.

The Supreme Court of Oregon has recently ruled that the chartered agency of the state, SAIF Corp, which is responsible for handling compensation insurance, has to pay for the gastric-bypass surgery that is required before performing a knee replacement on an injured worker.

Edward G. Sprague used to work as a mechanic and got a knee injury in the year 1976. He made a claim with SAIF through which he was compensated and was allowed to go through the surgical procedure. At that time, his weight was 225 pounds. Since then, he gained weight to 320 pounds and also developed arthritis in his knee.

In the year 1999, he injured the same knee again while carrying out his work in a bakery. The physician of Sprague suggested that he should go for a knee replacement but before that, he has to go through a weight loss surgery so that best results can be achieved. When Sprague’s claim was rejected by the bakery’s workers’ compensation plan, saying that the arthritis is the result of the previous injury, he decided to go after SAIF.

Initially, SAIF said that the weight problem of Sprague is pre-existing, for which, it is not liable. But a court of appeals, and now Supreme Court, has said that SAIF has to pay because the arthritis of Sprague was because of the initial injury and his weight loss surgery was directly essential for treatment of his arthritis.

Christopher Moore of Eugene, the lawyer of Sprague, told to a newspaper of Oregon that he was not expecting this ruling to result in such a tide of workers’ compensation claims for weight loss surgery. He said that obesity like that of Sprague is quite rare and requirement of weight loss surgery for treatment of an injury is even rarer.

Health Insurance Reform Myths

Changes have become an essential thing to be done in our health care system. Can you imagine the premiums of health insurance doubling over the next decade, Medicare trust funds going bankrupt and number of the uninsured continue to increase? These are the circumstances we will have to face if a meaningful reform in the health insurance sector is not made soon.

Special interests in protection of the status quo have employed half truths, deception and cunning tactics to make us believe that the system is still not in a critical condition. In reality, the costs of health care are consuming 16% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the increasing costs of health care are creating a problem for millions of people who are already struggling because of the present day economic downturn. As a result of this, we are not able to fix our economy unless the realm of health care is fixed.

AARP is a dynamic organization of 40 million members, one of the aims is to protect and strengthen the Medicare. With a long history of fighting for quality health care, it has become a target of those who intend to put a stop to any steps taken to reform the health care system. For a long period of time, the country has been undergoing a system which is too expensive, in which a lot of resources are wasted and yet, a large number of people are left without health care. So far, no bills passing through the Congress have yet been approved but the organization is dedicated to make reforms in the health care system.

Unfortunately, the myths are very popular among the masses today and instead of solving the issues with a positive comment, many of them are working hard on misleading the Americans. Let us take some of their distortions straight out.

No matter what happens, the AARP will never support the proposal which aims at jeopardizing Medicare. Rather, it is fighting for reforms which preserve access to the doctors and gives assurance that they will be fairly paid by the Medicare while making a reduction in fraud and waste. The association is working with the members of both the parties to close Part D coverage gap or the ‘doughnut hole’ for the prescription drugs. Reforming the health care system will help in controlling their ever-increasing prices throughout the system, including the Medicare.

There are no provisions which allow the Medicare to ask you to sign a paper, asking you to determine how you want to end your life. Asking you to do this is cruel and unforgivable. Rather, provisions will allow the physicians to get money for the time they spend on your counseling and for answering the questions of the clients about things like advance directives, durable attorney powers, hospice care and living wills. The patient has the sole right to avail this service.

Let us make things clear. May be some people are trying to scare off the senior citizens, but nothing is there in any proposal which will lead to the rationing of the care for elder Americans or any other age group. In any case, even if such a statement comes up, AARP will take the first step to ward it off.

Some of the fringe groups are making statements that the reform of the health insurance system is a back door attempt to create socialized medicine. But this is not true as it is the government which directly employs doctors and owns hospitals. Instead of this, the aim of the reform is implementing a system that will be much like one members of the Congress present today.

There is a range of affordable and good quality private health plans that the people may choose from. Some of them are offered by the employers, some by state and some by insurance exchange supervised by the federal government. The plans will not be allowed to not accept anyone based on the age or health of the individuals and will have strict cost sharing limits, making the coverage affordable for all.