The Gary Null Show - 07.06.21

Saw palmetto boosts testosterone synthesis

Kyung Hee University (South Korea), June 30 2021.

 

The June 2021 issue of the Journal of Medicinal Food reported the finding of a beneficial effect for saw palmetto against symptoms of andropause in rats. 

"Andropause, the male equivalent of menopause, is the set of symptoms caused by the age-related deficiency in male hormones that begins to occur in men in their late 40s to early 50s," Jeong Moon Yun and colleagues explained. "The symptoms of andropause include physical, psychological, and sexual problems, such as fatigue, increased body fat, decreased muscle strength and sexual function, depression, and memory loss."

Dr Yun and associates evaluated the effects of an extract of saw palmetto in Leydig cells (in which testosterone biosynthesis occurs) subjected to oxidative stress and in aged rats.

In Leydig cells, the administration of testosterone lowered 5 alpha-reductase (which converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone) and increased total testosterone. 

In rats, one of three doses of saw palmetto extract was administered for four weeks. A control group of animals received no treatment. At the end of the treatment period, saw palmetto supplemented rats had significantly less fat tissue weight gain and total weight gain compared to the controls, without a gain in other tissue weight. Serum triglycerides, total cholesterol and the LDL to VLDL cholesterol ratio were also lower in the supplemented groups. Serum total and free testosterone and sperm counts were higher, and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and 5 alpha-reductase levels were lower in all supplemented groups in comparison with the controls. In tests of muscle endurance, rats that received saw palmetto had longer swimming times compared to the control group. 

"We suggest that supplementation of saw palmetto may relieve the symptoms of andropause syndrome, including decreased spermatogenesis and muscle endurance and metabolic syndrome by increasing testosterone biosynthesis and bioavailability," the authors concluded.

 

 

 

 

Diet rich in omega 3 fatty acids may help reduce headaches

Trial provides 'grounds for optimism' for many people with persistent headaches and those who care for them

University of North Carolina, July 1, 2021

Eating a diet rich in omega 3 (n-3) fatty acids reduces the frequency of headaches compared with a diet with normal intake of omega 3 and omega 6 (n-6) fatty acids, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

Modern industrialised diets tend to be low in omega 3 fatty acids and high in omega 6 fatty acids. These fatty acids are precursors to oxylipins - molecules involved in regulating pain and inflammation.

Oxylipins derived from omega 3 fatty acids are associated with pain-reducing effects, while oxylipins derived from omega 6 fatty acids worsen pain and can provoke migraine. But previous studies evaluating omega 3 fatty acid supplements for migraine have been inconclusive.

So a team of US researchers wanted to find out whether diets rich in omega 3 fatty acids would increase levels of the pain-reducing 17-hydroxydocosahexaenoic acid (17-HDHA) and reduce the frequency and severity of headaches.

Their results are based on 182 patients at the University of North Carolina, USA (88% female; average age 38 years) with migraine headaches on 5-20 days per month who were randomly assigned to one of three diets for 16 weeks. 

The control diet included typical levels of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Both interventional diets raised omega 3 fatty acid intake. One kept omega 6 acid intake the same as the control diet, and the other concurrently lowered omega 6 acid intake.

During the trial, participants received regular dietary counseling and access to online support information. They also completed the headache impact test (HIT-6) - a questionnaire assessing headache impact on quality of life. Headache frequency was assessed daily with an electronic diary.

Over the 16 weeks, both interventional diets increased 17-HDHA levels compared with the control diet, and while HIT-6 scores improved in both interventional groups, they were not statistically significantly different from the control group. 

However, headache frequency was statistically significantly decreased in both intervention groups. 

The high omega 3 diet was associated with a reduction of 1.3 headache hours per day and two headache days per month. The high omega 3 plus low omega 6 diet group saw a reduction of 1.7 headache hours per day and four headache days per month, suggesting additional benefit from lowering dietary omega-6 fatty acid. 

Participants in the intervention groups also reported shorter and less severe headaches compared with those in the control group.

This was a high quality, well designed trial, but the researchers do point to some limitations, such as the difficulty for patients to stick to a strict diet and the fact that most participants were relatively young women so results may not apply to children, older adults, men, or other populations. 

"While the diets did not significantly improve quality of life, they produced large, robust reductions in frequency and severity of headaches relative to the control diet," they write. 

"This study provides a biologically plausible demonstration that pain can be treated through targeted dietary alterations in humans. Collective findings suggest causal mechanisms linking n-3 and n-6 fatty acids to [pain regulation], and open the door to new approaches for managing chronic pain in humans," they conclude.

These results support recommending a high omega 3 diet to patients in clinical practice, says Rebecca Burch at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, in a linked editorial.

She acknowledges that interpretation of this study's findings is complex, but points out that trials of recently approved drugs for migraine prevention reported reductions of around 2-2.5 headache days per month compared with placebo, suggesting that a dietary intervention can be comparable or better. 

What's more, many people with migraine are highly motivated and interested in dietary changes, she adds. These findings "take us one step closer to a goal long sought by headache patients and those who care for them: a migraine diet backed up by robust clinical trial results."

 

 

The Southern diet - fried foods and sugary drinks - may raise risk of sudden cardiac death

University of Alabama, June 30, 2021 

Regularly eating a Southern-style diet may increase the risk of sudden cardiac death, while routinely consuming a Mediterranean diet may reduce that risk, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

The Southern diet is characterized by added fats, fried foods, eggs, organ meats (such as liver or giblets), processed meats (such as deli meat, bacon and hotdogs) and sugar-sweetened beverages. The Mediterranean diet is high in fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains and legumes and low in meat and dairy.

"While this study was observational in nature, the results suggest that diet may be a modifiable risk factor for sudden cardiac death, and, therefore, diet is a risk factor that we have some control over," said James M. Shikany, Dr.P.H., F.A.H.A., the study's lead author and professor of medicine and associate director for research in the Division of Preventive Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

"Improving one's diet - by eating a diet abundant in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish such as the Mediterranean diet and low in fried foods, organ meats and processed meats, characteristics of the Southern-style dietary pattern, may decrease one's risk for sudden cardiac death," he said.

The study examined data from more than 21,000 people ages 45 and older enrolled in an ongoing national research project called REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS), which is examining geographic and racial differences in stroke. Participants were recruited between 2003 and 2007. Of the participants in this analysis, 56% were women; 33% were Black adults; and 56% lived in the southeastern U.S., which is noteworthy as a region recognized as the Stroke Belt because of its higher stroke death rate. The Stroke Belt states included in this study were North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.

This study is the latest research to investigate the association between cardiovascular disease and diet - which foods have a positive vs. negative impact on cardiovascular disease risk. It may be the only study to-date to examine the association between dietary patterns with the risk of sudden cardiac death, which is the abrupt loss of heart function that leads to death within an hour of symptom onset. Sudden cardiac death is a common cause of death and accounted for 1 in every 7.5 deaths in the United States in 2016, or nearly 367,000 deaths, according to 2019 American Heart Association statistics.

Researchers included participants with and without a history of coronary heart disease at the beginning of the study and assessed diets through a food frequency questionnaire completed at the beginning of the study. Participants were asked how often and in what quantities they had consumed 110 different food items in the previous year.

Researchers calculated a Mediterranean diet score based on specific food groups considered beneficial or detrimental to health. They also derived five dietary patterns. Along with the Southern-style eating pattern, the analysis included a "sweets" dietary pattern, which features foods with added sugars, such as desserts, chocolate, candy and sweetened breakfast foods; a "convenience" eating pattern which relied on easy-to-make foods like mixed dishes, pasta dishes, or items likely to be ordered as take-out such as pizza, Mexican food and Chinese food; a "plant-based" dietary pattern was classified as being high in vegetables, fruits, fruit juices, cereal, bean, fish, poultry and yogurt; and an "alcohol and salad" dietary pattern, which was highly reliant on beer, wine, liquor along with green leafy vegetables, tomatoes and salad dressing.

Shikany noted that the patterns are not mutually exclusive. "All participants had some level of adherence to each pattern, but usually adhered more to some patterns and less to others," he explained. "For example, it would not be unusual for an individual who adheres highly to the Southern pattern to also adhere to the plant-based pattern, but to a much lower degree."

After an average of nearly 10 years of follow-up every six months to check for cardiovascular disease events, more than 400 sudden cardiac deaths had occurred among the 21,000 study participants.

The study found:

Overall, participants who ate a Southern-style diet most regularly had a 46% higher risk of sudden cardiac death than people who had the least adherence to this dietary pattern. Also, participants who most closely followed the traditional Mediterranean diet had a 26% lower risk of sudden cardiac death than those with the least adherence to this eating style. The American Heart Association's Diet and Lifestyle recommendations emphasize eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein, fish, beans, legumes, nuts and non-tropical vegetable cooking oils such as olive and canola oil. Limiting saturated fats, sodium, added sugar and processed meat are also recommended. Sugary drinks are the number one source of added sugar in the U.S. diet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Heart Association supports sugary drink taxes to drive down consumption of these products.

"These findings support the notion that a healthier diet would prevent fatal cardiovascular disease and should encourage all of us to adopt a healthier diet as part of our lifestyles," said Stephen Juraschek, M.D., Ph.D., a member of the American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee of the Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Council. "To the extent that they can, people should evaluate the number of servings of fruit and vegetables they consume each day and try to increase the number to at least 5-6 servings per day, as recommended by the American Heart Association. Optimal would be 8-9 servings per day.

"This study also raises important points about health equity, food security and social determinants of health," he continued. "The authors describe the "Southern Diet" based on the U.S. geography associated with this dietary pattern, yet it would be a mistake for us to assume that this is a diet of choice. I think American society needs to look more broadly at why this type of diet is more common in the South and clusters among some racial, ethnic or socioeconomic groups to devise interventions that can improve diet quality. The gap in healthy eating between people with means and those without continues to grow in the U.S., and there is an incredible need to understand the complex societal factors that have led and continue to perpetuate these disparities."

This current research expands on earlier studies on participants from the same national stroke project, REGARDS. In a 2018 analysis, Shikany and colleagues reported that adults ages 45 and older with heart disease who had an affinity for the Southern diet had a higher risk of death from any cause, while greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause. And in a 2015 study, the Southern diet was linked to a greater risk of coronary heart disease in the same population.

The large population sample and regional diversity, including a significant number of Black participants, are considered strengths of the REGARDS research project. However, potential limitations of this study include that that dietary intake was based on one-time, self-reported questionnaires, thus, it relied on the participants' memory. Self-reported diet can include inaccuracies leading to bias that could reduce the strength of the associations observed.

One usual association that remains unexplained is that among individuals with a history of heart disease, those who most adhered to the sweets dietary pattern had a 51% lower risk of sudden cardiac death than participants who followed that pattern the least. Researchers note that they found "no viable explanation for the inverse association of the sweets dietary pattern with risk of sudden cardiac death in those with a history of coronary heart disease."

 

 

5-minute workout lowers blood pressure as much as exercise, drugs

'Strength training for breathing muscles' holds promise for host of health benefits

University of Colorado, July 2, 2021

Working out just five minutes daily via a practice described as "strength training for your breathing muscles" lowers blood pressure and improves some measures of vascular health as well as, or even more than, aerobic exercise or medication, new CU Boulder research shows.

The study, published June 29 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, provides the strongest evidence yet that the ultra-time-efficient maneuver known as High-Resistance Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training (IMST) could play a key role in helping aging adults fend off cardiovascular disease - the nation's leading killer. 

In the United States alone, 65% of adults over age 50 have above-normal blood pressure - putting them at greater risk of heart attack or stroke. Yet fewer than 40% meet recommended aerobic exercise guidelines.

"There are a lot of lifestyle strategies that we know can help people maintain cardiovascular health as they age. But the reality is, they take a lot of time and effort and can be expensive and hard for some people to access," said lead author Daniel Craighead, an assistant research professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology. "IMST can be done in five minutes in your own home while you watch TV."

Developed in the 1980s as a way to help critically ill respiratory disease patients strengthen their diaphragm and other inspiratory (breathing) muscles, IMST involves inhaling vigorously through a hand-held device which provides resistance. Imagine sucking hard through a tube that sucks back. 

Initially, when prescribing it for breathing disorders, doctors recommended a 30-minute-per-day regimen at low resistance. But in recent years, Craighead and colleagues have been testing whether a more time-efficient protocol--30 inhalations per day at high resistance, six days per week--could also reap cardiovascular, cognitive and sports performance improvements.

For the new study, they recruited 36 otherwise healthy adults ages 50 to 79 with above normal systolic blood pressure (120 millimeters of mercury or higher). Half did High-Resistance IMST for six weeks and half did a placebo protocol in which the resistance was much lower. 

After six weeks, the IMST group saw their systolic blood pressure (the top number) dip nine points on average, a reduction which generally exceeds that achieved by walking 30 minutes a day five days a week. That decline is also equal to the effects of some blood pressure-lowering drug regimens. 

Even six weeks after they quit doing IMST, the IMST group maintained most of that improvement.

"We found that not only is it more time-efficient than traditional exercise programs, the benefits may be longer lasting," Craighead said.

The treatment group also saw a 45% improvement in vascular endothelial function, or the ability for arteries to expand upon stimulation, and a significant increase in levels of nitric oxide, a molecule key for dilating arteries and preventing plaque buildup. Nitric oxide levels naturally decline with age. 

Markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, which can also boost heart attack risk, were significantly lower after people did IMST.

And, remarkably, those in the IMST group completed 95% of the sessions.

"We have identified a novel form of therapy that lowers blood pressure without giving people pharmacological compounds and with much higher adherence than aerobic exercise," said senior author Doug Seals, a Distinguished Professor of Integrative Physiology. "That's noteworthy."

The practice may be particularly helpful for postmenopausal women.

In previous research, Seals' lab showed that postmenopausal women who are not taking supplemental estrogen don't reap as much benefit from aerobic exercise programs as men do when it comes to vascular endothelial function. IMST, the new study showed, improved it just as much in these women as in men. 

"If aerobic exercise won't improve this key measure of cardiovascular health for postmenopausal women, they need another lifestyle intervention that will," said Craighead. "This could be it."

Preliminary results suggest MST also improved some measures of brain function and physical fitness. And previous studies from other researchers have shown it can be useful for improving sports performance.

"If you're running a marathon, your respiratory muscles get tired and begin to steal blood from your skeletal muscles," said Craighead, who uses IMST in his own marathon training. "The idea is that if you build up endurance of those respiratory muscles, that won't happen and your legs won't get as fatigued."

Seals said they're uncertain exactly how a maneuver to strengthen breathing muscles ends up lowering blood pressure, but they suspect it prompts the cells lining blood vessels to produce more nitric oxide, enabling them to relax.

The National Institutes of Health recently awarded Seals $4 million to launch a larger follow-up study of about 100 people, comparing a 12-week IMST protocol head-to-head with an aerobic exercise program.

Meanwhile, the research group is developing a smartphone app to enable people to do the protocol at home using already commercially available devices.

Those considering IMST should consult with their doctor first. But thus far, IMST has proven remarkably safe, they said.

"It's easy to do, it doesn't take long, and we think it has a lot of potential to help a lot of people," said Craighead.

 

Research suggests atheroprotective role for chrysin

Fu Jen Catholic University (Taiwan), July 1, 2021

According to news reporting originating from New Taipei, Taiwan, research stated, “Atherosclerosis and its related clinical complications are the leading cause of death. MicroRNA (miR)-92a in the inflammatory endothelial dysfunction leads to atherosclerosis.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Fu Jen Catholic University, “Kruppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) is required for vascular integrity and endothelial function maintenance. Flavonoids possess many biological properties. This study investigated the vascular protective effects of chrysin in balloon-injured carotid arteries. Exosomes were extracted from human coronary artery endothelial cell (HCAEC) culture media. Herb flavonoids and chrysin (found in mint, passionflower, honey and propolis) were the treatments in these atheroprotective models. Western blotting and real-time PCRs were performed. In situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence analyses were employed. MiR-92a increased after balloon injury and was present in HCAEC culture media. Chrysin was treated, and significantly attenuated the miR-92a levels after balloon injury, and similar results were obtained in HCAEC cultures in vitro. Balloon injury-induced miR-92a expression, and attenuated KLF2 expression. Chrysin increased the KLF2 but reduced exosomal miR-92a secretion. The addition of chrysin and antagomir-92a, neointimal formation was reduced by 44.8 and 49.0% compared with balloon injury after 14 days, respectively. Chrysin upregulated KLF2 expression in atheroprotection and attenuated endothelial cell-derived miR-92a-containing exosomes.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The suppressive effect of miR-92a suggests that chrysin plays an atheroprotective role.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

 

 

False-positive mammogram results linked to spike in anxiety prescriptions

Penn State University, July 2, 2021

Women who experience a false-positive mammogram result are more likely to begin medication for anxiety or depression than women who received an immediate negative result, according to a study led by Penn State researcher Joel Segel. The finding highlights the importance of swift and accurate follow-up testing to rule out a breast cancer diagnosis.

The study found that patients who receive a false-positive mammogram result are also prescribed anxiety or depression medication at a rate 10 to 20 percent higher than patients who receive an immediate negative result. These prescriptions are new and not continuations of previously prescribed medicines.

A false-positive result is one where a suspicious finding on the screening mammogram leads to additional testing that does not end up leading to a breast cancer diagnosis.

Additionally, within that group of patients who required more than one test to resolve the false-positive there was a 20 to 30 percent increase in those beginning to take anxiety or depression medications. The increase was particularly noticeable among women with commercial insurance who required multiple tests to rule out a breast cancer diagnosis.

"The results suggest that efforts to quickly resolve initially positive findings including same-day follow-up tests may help reduce anxiety and even prevent initiation of anxiety or depression medication," said Segel, assistant professor of health policy and administration at Penn State.

This study demonstrates that some women who experience a false-positive mammogram may need additional follow-up care to effectively handle the increased anxiety that may accompany the experience, Segel said.

More importantly, from a practitioner standpoint, the study identifies sub-populations who may be most at risk of increased anxiety following a false-positive mammogram, Segel said. Specifically, women whose false-positive result requires more than one follow-up test to resolve, women with commercial insurance who undergo a biopsy, women who wait longer than one week to receive a negative result, and women who are under age 50 may all be at higher risk of experiencing clinically significant anxiety or depression.

"Regular breast cancer screening is critical to early detection," Segel said. "Patients should continue to work with their providers to ensure they are receiving guideline-appropriate screening and should follow up with their providers if they experience either anxiety or depression following screening or any type of care."

Researchers studied commercial- and Medicaid-claims databases to identify women ages 40 to 64 who underwent screening mammography with no prior claims for anxiety or depression medications.

The findings recently appeared in Medical Care.

 

 

Thymoquinone in Black Seed oil increases the expression of neuroprotective proteins while decreasing expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines

Florida A&M University, June 29, 2021

 

 According to news originating from Tallahassee, Florida, research stated, "Neuroinflammation and microglial activation are pathological markers of a number of central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Chronic activation of microglia induces the release of excessive amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and pro-inflammatory cytokines."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Florida A&M University, "Additionally, chronic microglial activation has been implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Thymoquinone (TQ) has been identified as one of the major active components of the natural product Nigella sativa seed oil. TQ has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and neuroprotective effects. In this study, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon gamma (IFN gamma) activated BV-2 microglial cells were treated with TQ (12.5 mu M for 24 h). We performed quantitative proteomic analysis using Orbitrap/Q-Exactive Proteomic LC-MS/MS (Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) to globally assess changes in protein expression between the treatment groups. Furthermore, we evaluated the ability of TQ to suppress the inflammatory response using ELISArray ™ for Inflammatory Cytokines. We also assessed TQ's effect on the gene expression of NFKB signaling targets by profiling 84 key genes via real-time reverse transcription (RT2) PCR array. Our results indicated that TQ treatment of LPS/IFN gamma-activated microglial cells significantly increased the expression of 4 antioxidant, neuroprotective proteins: glutaredoxin-3 (21 fold; p< 0.001), biliverdin reductase A (15 fold; p< 0.0001), 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (11 fold; p< 0.01), and mitochondria] Ion protease (> 8 fold; p< 0.001) compared to the untreated, activated cells. Furthermore, TQ treatment significantly (P < 0.0001) reduced the expression of inflammatory cytokines, IL-2 = 38%, IL-4 = 19%, IL-6 = 83%, IL-10 = 237%, and IL-17a = 29%, in the activated microglia compared to the untreated, activated which expression levels were significantly elevated compared to the control microglia: IL-2 = 127%, IL-4 = 151%, IL-6 = 670%, IL-10 = 133%, IL-17a = 127%. Upon assessing the gene expression of NFKB signaling targets, this study also demonstrated that TQ treatment of activated microglia resulted in > 7 fold down-regulation of several NFKB signaling targets genes, including interleukin 6 (IL6), complement factor B (CFB), chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 3 (CXCL3), chemokine (C-C) motif ligand 5 (CCL5) compared to the untreated, activated microglia. This modulation in gene expression counteracts the > 10-fold upregulation of these same genes observed in the activated microglia compared to the controls. Our results show that TQ treatment of LPS/IFN gamma-activated BV-2 microglial cells induce a significant increase in expression of neuroprotective proteins, a significant decrease in expression inflammatory cytokines, and a decrease in the expression of signaling target genes of the NF kappa B pathway. Our findings are the first to show that TQ treatment increased the expression of these neuroprotective proteins (biliverdin reductase-A, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase, glutaredoxin-3, and mitochondrial Ion protease) in the activated BV-2 microglial cells. Additionally, our results indicate that TQ treatment decreased the activation of the NF kappa B signaling pathway, which plays a key role in neuroinflammation."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Our results demonstrate that TQ treatment reduces the inflammatory response and modulates the expression of specific proteins and genes and hence potentially reduce neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration driven by microglial activation."