Longevity Pill?Scientists are closer to understanding how an enzyme helps cancer cells become immortal.Their findings could help cancer treatment, but could also help researchers create long-lived cells for research and for eventually growing tissues to treat disease.The study involved telomerase, an enzyme that is known to help cells live longer. Telomerase stops the fraying of telomeres, the caps on the end of chromosomes, which get shorter and shorter every time a cell divides.Normally, a cell divides between 50 and 80 times before its chromosomes, which carry the DNA, start getting tattered. When this occurs, the cell dies. But telomerase extends a cell's life, preventing this natural process. It is known to be involved in cancer, in which cells start an out-of-control growth that becomes a tumor. It was also hoped that telomerase could be used to grow immortal cell lines. For instance, researchers have been trying to grow stem cells, which can give rise to a number of different kinds of tissue. These cells might form various tissues for use in transplants that could treat Parkinson's disease, Alzheimers, diabetes, etc. Scientists had assumed that telomerase rebuilt telomeres, effectively giving a cell new life. But a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at the University of California San Francisco found otherwise. They infected human cells with SV40, a monkey virus known to cause cancer. They then exposed them to another human protein that activates telomerase. The telomeres continued to wear down with each cell division. But the cells did not die on cue. "Normally, cells get an alarm signal from the telomeres saying 'stop dividing, stop dividing'," Blackburn said.With exposure to telomerase, the cells seem to get a little cap on the chromosomes, protecting the telomeres and stopping that signal. The cells eventually die but much later (older) than normal cells. How useful telomerase might be to humans is unknown, because it could not only lengthen cell life, but also encourage the growth of cancer cells.
New Oral InsulinGenerex Biotechnology Corporation announced initial results for its orally administered insulin called Oralgen(TM). The company developed a method to deliver insulin through the inner cheek wall with the use of an aerosol applicator. Generex did not reveal how the insulin molecule was altered to allow bucal transport, nor what doses of insulin were required to obtain an effect. They were able to demonstrate reduced post meal readings "comparable to injected insulin," although blood sugar levels were not given. The initial trials were conducted by Dr. Marko Mihic at St. Joseph's Hospital in Toronto.
Atherosclerosis And High Blood Pressure Keep Viagra Sales HighA study in the American Journal of Hypertension has found that high blood pressure and atherosclerosis, but not the medications used in treating them, appear to cause the impotence often found in older male hypertensive patients. Dr. Jesper Jensen and colleagues at the Departments of Medicine and Urology at Glostrup University Hospital of Copenhagen in Denmark evaluated 101 hypertensive men for their study. The study found that atherosclerosis combined with blood pressure reduction are the primary cause of the problem, rather than use of medications. Atherosclerosis is where arteries become thick and narrow due to the buildup of plaque on artery walls. It is associated with aging and occurs more often in people who are overweight or have hypertension or diabetes. Fifty million Americans have high blood pressure (excess pressure within the blood vessels). It is often called a silent killer because it prematurely ages the body's arteries and leads to strokes, heart attacks and kidney failure with little or no warning. High blood pressure was also recently linked to the dementia often found in older people, which appears to be triggered by small strokes within the brain.
Childhood Habits Determine Adult HealthA new disturbing study has been published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association. It reveals that the health habits found in children entering elementary school play a major role in the health problems they encounter later in life. Heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes in later life seem to be initiated in early childhood. One study undertaken at the University of Minnesota Medical School started in 1977. The researchers followed 679 public schoolchildren from age 7 through 23. They were periodically examined to determine their weight, body mass index and blood pressure. As adults, they gave blood samples that were tested for cholesterol and insulin levels. Results showed that body weight during childhood, but especially the rate at which weight was gained, proved to be a good indicator of later development of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. This is especially true for insulin resistance syndrome which is associated with obesity. "The prevalence of overweight in youth is increasing," the report noted. "On the basis of the data from this study, it can be expected that there will be a steady increase in the number of at-risk individuals as today's children become adults."
New SweetenerA new sweetener called Lifescan's website.
New Obesity Drug Enters Clinical TrialsRegeneron and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) announced that a Phase I clinical trial of a new class of antiobesity medicines has started. In healthy people, hunger is reduced by a protein called leptin that suppresses appetite. But in the obese, leptin levels are often found to be high due to resistance to its action at the cell level. Regeneron's new drug, Axokine(R), is a second generation ciliary neurotrophic factor. It is being targeted at the treatment of obesity associated with Type 2 diabetes, but if it works in diabetes, it is likely to work elsewhere. Leptin plays a role in signaling the brain to regulate food intake.Initially it was hoped that obesity in humans could be attributed to a deficiency of leptin that could be treated with leptin replacement therapy. However, studies have shown that the majority of obese individuals have high circulating leptin levels, suggesting that it is resistance to leptin's action that is an important factor in their obesity. An alternative to using leptin to treat obesity might be to use a different molecule, such as ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) or Axokine (Regeneron's patented second generation CNTF) to activate the same intracellular signaling pathways as leptin does, thereby circumventing leptin resistance. Recent experiments in mice, who are overfed to create obesity and are leptin resistant, showed that Axokine was more effective than leptin in causing them to lose weight. Axokine, but not leptin, suppressed appetite, and interestingly the mice did not overeat after treatment was stopped. Axokine appears to cause weight loss in the presence of leptin resistance by binding to the Axokine/ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor in the hypothalamus. In doing so, it stimulates signaling pathways that suppress appetite and reduce body weight. The clinical trials now beginning are designed to determine whether similar weight loss will safely occur in humans.
Stop Smoking Video Available For KidsClick Health, Inc. announced that its smoking prevention video game, Rex Ronan, will become an interactive exhibit at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Global Health Odyssey museum at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, GA. "Tobacco use kills 450,000 Americans each year," said Alan Miller, Chairman and CEO of Click Health. "We're using video game technology, the most popular and powerful information medium for young people, to teach them about the hazards of smoking and to strengthen their resolve never to smoke. And Rex Ronan has been shown to be effective at communicating this message to children." Click Health, Inc. also develops and distributes products for asthma self management (Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus(tm)), and diabetes self management (Packy & Marlon(tm)) for Windows compatible personal computers and the Super Nintendo video game system.
Green Tea Reduces CancerDrinking tea, especially green tea, is associated with a lower incidence of cancer in humans and has also been shown to suppress tumor growth in animals. The mechanism for this protection was not clear, but a letter in the journal Nature from researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm holds an answer. A compound called epigallocatechin-3-gallate, or EGCG, found in green tea which inhibits the growth of new blood vessels in animals may explain why drinking green tea prevents cancer. Tumors require a blood supply and the growth of new blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis, to multiply and survive. In mice, researchers found that a liquid diet of only green tea suppressed new blood vessel growth and the spread of tumours in the lungs of the animals. EGCG may not be the only anticancer compound in green tea, but the researchers believe it is an important one. Drinking green tea might also lessen proliferative retinopathy where new blood vessel growth occurs into the vitreous, and bleeding from these weakened vessels can lead to blindness. Proliferative retinopathy has been linked to elevated levels of diacly glycerol, protein kinase C and especially vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF. It is not known if green tea affects the levels of these particular compounds, but another compound with antioxidant properties, vitamin E, when taken in high doses is believed to lower VEGF levels. See Complications for more information.
Sugar Fights BackThe Sugar Institute recently convened a panel of dietary experts that included Ann Coulston, MS, RD, Senior Research Dietitian, Stanford University Medical Center; Richard Surwit, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chairman for Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center; and Anne Fletcher, MS, RD, former executive editor and chief writer of Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Letter and author of Thin for Life: Ten Keys to Success from People Who Have Lost Weight and Kept It Off. The event was the first in a series of education forums to provide accurate, science-based information to the media about sugar and health. Ann Coulston discounted the myth that giving up sugar will result in fat loss, saying the total number of calories is the key factor in weight control. "All foods have a place in a healthy eatingprogram, from fruits, vegetables, and grains to salad dressing, meat and poultry, and table sugar," says Coulston. "The secret to maintaining ahealthful weight is to get regular physical exercise and to eat nothing in excess." She added, "If you like your coffee sweetened, you get 15calories from a teaspoon of sugar, which can be counted as part of your total daily calories." Dr. Richard Surwit discussed animal and human data about the effects of sucrose and fat on metabolism. His research findings counter the popular notion that simple carbohydrates cause high levels of insulin leading to obesity or diabetes, a popular belief of followers of Barry Sears and others. Surwit found that giving lab animals a high carbohydrate diet reversed diabetes. Conversely, one of his most recent studies revealed that a high fat diet induced diabetes in mice engineered with a susceptibility to the disease. Dietary fat has been estimated in some studies to cause 40% of the insulin resistance found in Type 2 diabetes. In another study, Surwit found that patients on a calorie-controlled regimen who were given a high sucrose diet lost as much weight as patients on a low sucrose diet. "There are numerous examples of highly effective, low calorie diets that consist mainly of simple carbohydrates, including sucrose," he said. Anne Fletcher, who has studied "masters" of weight control known as maintainers, those people who have lost weight and kept it off, said they have overall eating habits that are just the opposite of popular high protein, low carbohydrate diets. "Successful maintainers limit fat intake and favor carbohydrate containing foods," she said. Participants in the National Weight Control Registry, people who successfully maintain weight loss, report consuming an average of 24 percent of calories from fat, 19 percent from protein, and 56 percent from carbohydrates, similar to current dietary recommendations made by health authorities. Fletcher also said that many successful maintainers also have treats, including reduced fat desserts, at least once or twice a week and "non-diet" desserts at least once ortwice a month. "By giving themselves permission to enjoy favorite foods, maintainers avoid guilt and the need to overindulge," observed Fletcher. Maintainers also exercise regularly, according to data gathered by theWeight Control Registry, an organization that studies long-term maintainers.
New Drug Prevents GlycosylationBioStratum has a new product called Pyridorin which is designed to prevent AGEing. Pyridorin inhibits the formation of molecules referred to as advanced glycation end products or AGEs, that are one of the causes of diabetes complications and has been linked to kidney, nerve, and blood vessel damage. In animal trials, Pyridorin has successfully prevented the development of kidney disease in several animal models and is currently being tested in preclinical models of uremia and end-stage kidney disease in animals. The drug is slated to begin human testing this summer. AGEs have also been suspected to accelerate aging.
Estimates are that there will be 130 million Chinese above the age of 60 by the year 2000, and 400 million by the middle of the next century. Provided by The Diabetes Mall, (http://www.diabetesnet.com) Books, grams scales, and more: (800) 988-4772 or [011] 1-619-497-0900
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