Are Cranberries a Better Way to Long Life? Berries’ Antioxidant Properties May Increase Longevity at Any Stage of Life
December 25, 2013 Leave a comment
Are Cranberries a Better Way to Long Life?
Berries’ Antioxidant Properties May Increase Longevity at Any Stage of Life
ANN LUKITS
Updated Dec. 23, 2013 6:36 p.m. ET
Cranberries have antioxidant properties that can prolong life when taken at any stage of life, suggests a study to be published in the February 2014 issue of Experimental Gerontology. Studies of antiaging compounds have shown that some are effective at certain stages of life but can be harmful in others, researchers said.Experiments at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore tested cranberry supplements on Drosophila, a type of fruit fly commonly used in biological research studies. Groups of 100 to 200 flies in separate vials were fed a high-sugar diet supplemented with 2% cranberry extract during the flies’ three biological stages—a health span, a transition span and a senescence span, according to the researchers. In humans, the stages correspond to young adulthood, middle and old age. Control flies didn’t receive the extract.
The flies were transferred to new vials between stages and the number of dead flies recorded at each transfer until all flies were dead.
Flies on the cranberry supplement during the health stage lived 25% longer than controls, on average. In the transition and senescence phases, the supplement extended the average life span of the remaining flies by 30% compared with controls.
Analysis of proteins from the flies’ heads found that cranberry supplementation at all three stages reduced cellular damage caused by oxidative, or environmental, stress and appeared to alter molecular pathways involved in oxidative stress responses. Researchers noted cranberries are especially rich in phytochemicals, which are healthy, plant-based compounds.
Caveat: The research hasn’t been proven in human subjects.
Needle shortcomings: Overweight and obese individuals with severe allergies may be at risk of having their self-injecting, adrenaline-delivering devices, such as EpiPens, fail during potentially life-threatening reactions, a study suggests. That’s because the retracted needles, which deploy when the device is jabbed into the outer thigh, aren’t long enough to reach the underlying muscle and enable rapid delivery of adrenaline to vital organs, researchers say.
The risk of autoinjector failure is significantly greater in women than men because of gender differences in fat distribution, according to the pilot study, published in the current issue of the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
The longest needle in autoinjectors available in the U.S. is five-eighths of an inch. Researchers suggest a needle length of 1¼ inches would successfully deliver epinephrine to underlying muscle in most people.
Researchers recruited 60 men and 60 women in their mid-30s from a hospital emergency room in Akron, Ohio. About 70% were overweight or obese. The recommended injection site on the outer thigh over the large quadriceps muscle was determined for each. Two ultrasound images were taken to measure the depth from the outer skin to the underlying muscle. One ultrasound was performed with the minimal amount of skin compression needed to obtain a clear image, while the other mimicked the compression used in an allergic reaction.
In 31% of subjects, the depth of the underlying muscle was greater than 5/8 inch when skin compression mimicked the force used in an allergic reaction, researchers said. Almost 60% of subjects had muscle depths exceeding five-eighths of an inch when only a minimal amount of pressure was used.
Caveat: The study estimated the prevalence of autoinjector failure and didn’t directly measure needle depth or drug levels in patients.
Title: Predictors of epinephrine autoinjector needle length inadequacy
Sunshine states: Living in a sunny climate is often assumed to be good for bone health, as exposure to ultraviolet rays increases the body’s production of bone-building vitamin D. That isn’t necessarily true, suggests a new study in this month’s Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma.
The study found that close to two-thirds of patients with bone disorders, such as hip fractures and joint replacements, had below-normal vitamin D levels despite living in a region of the U.S. where the sun shines 75% of the year. Younger patients were surprisingly deficient in the vitamin. Low vitamin D may be the result of spending time indoors or wearing sun block, the researchers said.
A database linking four hospitals in San Diego was used to compare vitamin D levels in 1,539 patients who suffered a hip fracture or underwent a hip or knee replacement, from 2010 to 2011. Patients ranged in age from 18 to 102 years old and about two-thirds were women. Vitamin D, analyzed from blood samples, was categorized as deficient, insufficient, sufficient or toxic, based on a range of vitamin D values used by the hospitals’ shared laboratory system.
Average vitamin D levels for both groups were in the insufficient range, though significantly lower in hip-fracture patients than those with hip and knee replacements. Vitamin D levels were insufficient in 52.9% of the patients. Sufficient vitamin D was found in 34.2% of hip-fracture patients and 45.8% of joint-replacement patients.
The subjects’ vitamin D was also tested using other standards. Under Endocrine Society standards, 58% of the participants had low vitamin D. But under Institute of Medicine standards, only 25% had low levels.
Caveat: The study didn’t account for racial differences, which have been associated with varying levels of vitamin D deficiency, researchers said.
Diaper rash remedy: Frequent topical applications of breast milk healed infant diaper rash as effectively as hydrocortisone ointment, and without side effects, according to a study in Pediatric Dermatology.
Diaper dermatitis is the most common skin ailment in infancy and tends to affect more formula-fed than breast-fed babies. An antibody in breast milk appears to protect breast-fed infants from most skin infections, the study says.
Diaper rash is often treated with a mild hydrocortisone ointment to reduce redness and inflammation, but the medication can cause burning, itching and serious health disorders.
The study of 141 Iranian infants about 4½ months old with mild to moderate diaper rash. The rashes were scored from 0, or mild, to 5, severe and blistered. (Severe cases weren’t included.) In one group of 71 infants, mothers rubbed the high-fat hind milk produced at the end of breast-feeding on the irritated area after each feeding. A second group of 70 infants was treated twice a day with ointment containing 1% hydrocortisone.
At the start of the study, about 25% of infants had diaper rash scores of 4 and 10% had scores of 1. After three days, 12.7% of the breast-milk group and 10% of the hydrocortisone group had scores of 0 and neither group had scores of 4. By the seventh day, scores of 0 were recorded in 98.6% of the breast-milk group and 100% of the hydrocortisone group.
Caveat: The study lacked a control group of untreated infants.
Title: Comparison of the Effect of Human Milk and Topical Hydrocortisone 1% on Diaper Dermatitis
Pancreatic eyes: Scientists have developed a method of monitoring the behavior of insulin-producing cells buried deep inside the pancreas. They simply moved the cells to a more convenient location: the eye.
One of the major challenges of studying pancreatic function is accessing the insulin-producing islets called beta cells, which are responsible for regulating blood-sugar levels. The eyes can provide scientists with a monitoring system that can report on the status of the pancreas and possibly measure the effects of different medications, says the study, published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists.
Researchers believe a small number of reporter islets could be transplanted in human eyes with no adverse effects on the eye’s physiology or vision.
The new technique, developed in Sweden, involved the transfer of pancreatic islets from healthy mice to the irises of lab mice lacking the appetite hormone leptin, which leads to early obesity and impaired insulin function. Healthy control mice also received islet transplants.
The transplanted cells attached to the nerves and blood vessels in the eyes of both groups of mice. But after a month, islet growth had nearly doubled and blood vessels in the islet grafts were significantly larger in the leptin-deficient mice compared with controls, probably due to leptin-induced glucose changes, researchers said.
Similar growth occurred when islet grafts from control mice were transplanted into the eyes of leptin-deficient mice, indicating the transplanted islets responded to the same signals reaching the pancreatic islets, researchers said. An analysis of pancreatic tissue from the leptin-deficient mice showed no significant difference between the transplanted and pancreatic islets.
Daily injections of leptin for one week halted islet growth in leptin-deficient mice and reduced the rodents’ appetite, weight and blood-glucose levels. These physiological effects ceased when leptin treatment ended.
Caveat: Transplanting pancreatic islets involves a small surgical procedure and hasn’t been performed in human subjects.
Title: Reporter islets in the eye reveal the plasticity of the endocrine pancreas
Child’s Bedtime According to a Circadian Clock
Syncing bedtime with the timing of a child’s circadian clock may improve physiological readiness for sleep and prevent sleep problems in later life, according to a report in Mind, Brain, and Education.
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Bedtimes based on a circadian clock may prevent adult sleep problems. Getty Images
Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder recruited 14 toddlers 30 to 36 months old with regular nap and sleep habits. For five days, the children slept on parent-selected nap and night schedules, wearing wrist monitors that recorded their sleep times. On the sixth day, the children skipped a nap and provided 12 saliva samples over six hours in their homes. The samples were analyzed for melatonin, a hormone produced in the brain that helps regulate circadian rhythm. Melatonin levels are generally low during the day and rise in the evening to prepare the body for sleep. Parents used diaries to record their children’s bedtime resistance and difficulties falling asleep.
Melatonin began rising from 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m., with an average onset of 7:40 p.m. Most children were put to bed approximately 29 minutes after the evening rise in melatonin and fell asleep about 31 minutes later. Children with later melatonin onset times tended to take longer to fall asleep. Children put to bed closer to their rise in melatonin were more resistant and took longer to fall asleep. The study findings suggest 30 minutes after melatonin onset may be an ideal time for bed, they said.
Parents can help determine the timing of their children’s circadian clocks by looking at the timing of their sleep, researchers said. If children are falling asleep late and waking up late, their clock is most likely late, they said.
Caveat: The children had stable sleep and nap schedules, which may limit the study’s findings to a broader population, researchers said.
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