At a time when physicians and health experts wooing the general public with various weight reduction programmes to earn quick bucks, scientist have unveiled a personalised ‘DNA’ diet which can reduce a person’s weight up to 12 pounds in four months.
The Nordiska diet, developed with the help of experts at Newcastle University, is based on the premise that genetic testing can determine the right food and exercise regime for your body type.
Thought to be the first genetic-based diet available in the UK, it is being sold online at 99 pounds for the gene test alone, and in a 159-pound package including three months of follow-up advice from dietitians.
A trial on 7,700 people in Denmark saw nine out of ten lose weight, with some losing up to 26lb (12kg) in four months.
Dieters are asked to complete a questionnaire and send a DNA swab of their mouth in for laboratory analysis.
The diet’s creator, cell biologist Dr Carolyn Horrocks, said her firm, myGenomics, examines the swab for eight variants of seven genes. These genes relate to how quickly an individual metabolises fat and carbohydrate, appetite control and muscle activity.
A 30-page personalised report assigns the individual one of four types of diet: low in fat; low in carbohydrate; low glycaemic; or healthy balanced.
This is combined with a type of exercise: endurance or high-intensity.
All dieters are recommended three meals and three snacks a day, to a total of 1,300 to 1,800 calories.
No foods are forbidden, just restricted, and those with the 159-pound package must fill in weekly food diaries so the company’s dietitians can provide regular feedback.
Dr Horrocks teamed up with Danish GP Carl Brandt on the diet concept after she came up with the idea while researching the risk factors for Type 2 diabetes.
“Each of us has a unique genetic fingerprint which shows why some types of diet work for people and not for others,” the Daily mail quoted her as saying. “I realised genetic variants were being analysed for very technical purposes but they could be used by people in their everyday life to control their weight and help prevent the sort of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease that I was working on.
“If something is right for your body, it will be easier to stick to, less arduous and we have shown you have a greater chance of keeping the weight off,” she said.
She said the approach is intended to produce “slow and steady” weight loss, and is not related to the blood group diet, which has been criticized by experts.
“It’s not a fad diet, all our dietitians and trainers are registered and have a science background,” she added.
The Denmark trial was carried out by Newcastle University and colleagues in Copenhagen on men and women with an average age of 40 who had a BMI of 30 to 35.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
New therapy could help beat Hepatitis C virus
Toronto: Scientists have found a way to block the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and possibly benefit 170 million people worldwide.
The breakthrough opens the way for new therapies to treat HCV which targets the liver and is among the leading causes of liver cancer and liver transplant globally.
"Our approach would essentially be to block the lifecycle of the virus so that it cannot spread and cause further damage to the liver," says Francois Jean, associate professor of microbiology and immunology, University of British Columbia, who led the study.
HCV is spread by blood-to-blood contact and there is no vaccine to prevent it. Current treatments are only moderately effective but come with serious side-effects.
"As HCV infects a person, it needs fat droplets in the liver to form new virus particles and ultimately leads to chronic dysfunction of the organ," said Jean.
"HCV is constantly mutating, which makes it difficult to develop antiviral therapies that target the virus itself. So we decided to take a new approach," added Jean.
Jean and his team developed an inhibitor that decreases the size of host fat droplets in liver cells and stops HCV from "taking residence," multiplying and infecting other cells.
According to Jean, this new approach could translate into similar therapies for other related re-emerging viruses that can cause serious and life threatening infections, such as dengue virus.
Dengue is endemic in more than 100 countries, with approximately 2.5 billion people at the risk of infection globally. In some countries, dengue has become the leading cause of child mortality, reports IANS.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Latest microscopy reveals inner working of viruses
Washington: Scientists have developed a new technique which uses cutting edge technology to peer inside living viruses, the tiniest among micro-organisms, says a study.
The technique combines cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) -- cutting-edge microscopy with 3D computer imaging -- to image the internals of a virus no bigger than 15 and 200 nanometres. A nanometre is a billionth of a metre.
Cryo-EM by itself does not help visualize internal structures of the micro-organism, because radiation is used to image them. But by tweaking the process with computers, imaging is possible.
"With lower doses of radiation, it is not possible to see inside the organism," said study author Alasdair Steven of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).
"However, higher doses of radiation damage the virus, destroying the very structures that we would like to view," said Steven, the journal Science reported.
Working with researcher Lindsay Black at the University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, Steven and his team were able to turn the problem of radiation damage into an asset, according to a university statement.
They realized that proteins inside the virus are more sensitive to damage than DNA.
"We first used low doses of radiation and recorded images in which the inner structure of the virus was invisible," said Steven.
"Next, we used high doses of radiation, and found that the inner structure could be seen as a cylinder of bubbles," he added.
While the inner structure was damaged, the team was able to superimpose the images, using 3D computer reconstruction.
As a result, they were able to clearly visualize the viral structure. The investigators termed this technique as bubblegram imaging.
The technique combines cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) -- cutting-edge microscopy with 3D computer imaging -- to image the internals of a virus no bigger than 15 and 200 nanometres. A nanometre is a billionth of a metre.
Cryo-EM by itself does not help visualize internal structures of the micro-organism, because radiation is used to image them. But by tweaking the process with computers, imaging is possible.
"With lower doses of radiation, it is not possible to see inside the organism," said study author Alasdair Steven of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).
"However, higher doses of radiation damage the virus, destroying the very structures that we would like to view," said Steven, the journal Science reported.
Working with researcher Lindsay Black at the University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, Steven and his team were able to turn the problem of radiation damage into an asset, according to a university statement.
They realized that proteins inside the virus are more sensitive to damage than DNA.
"We first used low doses of radiation and recorded images in which the inner structure of the virus was invisible," said Steven.
"Next, we used high doses of radiation, and found that the inner structure could be seen as a cylinder of bubbles," he added.
While the inner structure was damaged, the team was able to superimpose the images, using 3D computer reconstruction.
As a result, they were able to clearly visualize the viral structure. The investigators termed this technique as bubblegram imaging.
Anthrax shot protects simians from lethal infection
Washington: A new vaccine designed as a bacterial capsule confers protection on monkeys against lethal anthrax infection, reveals a study.
Bacterial capsules are commonly used in licensed vaccines for other diseases, including certain types of pneumonia and meningitis.
The study represents the first successful use of a non-toxin shot to protect monkeys from the disease, caused by bacillus anthracis, which is recognized as one of the most serious bioterrorism threats.
Bacillus anthracis produces three main components that allow it to do harm - lethal toxin, oedema toxin, and capsule, the journal VACCINE reported.
During anthrax infection, the bug invades and grows to high concentrations in the host. The capsule surrounds the bug and prevents it from being ingested and destroyed by the white blood cells, thus allowing anthrax infection to progress.
The toxins are thought to act mainly by damaging the body's natural defence mechanisms. Current human vaccines for anthrax are based on the protective antigen, or PA, component of the anthrax toxins.
Scientists at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) have extensively studied protective antigen (PA), demonstrating that PA alone confers protection in animal challenge studies with both rabbits and monkeys, according to a university statement.
However, according to senior study author Arthur M. Friedlander of USAMRIID, concerns about reliance on a single antigen - as well as the issue of protecting against anthrax strains that may be vaccine resistant - have prompted the search for additional vaccine components.
"This is the first non-toxin anthrax vaccine shown to be protective in monkeys. In addition, this new capsule vaccine is expected to work against possible vaccine-resistant strains of anthrax, as well as in recipients whose immune systems may not respond to protective antigen alone," said Friedlander.
Too much or too little iron bad for brain
Washington: Iron plays a vital role in the development of the brain -- too little can result in cognitive problems, too much promotes degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide, causing poor cognitive achievement in school-aged children. Now it has been found to affect the brain's physical structure as well.
Paul Thompson, professor of neurology at the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues measured levels of transferrin, a protein that transports iron throughout the body and brain, in adolescents.
Since both a deficiency and an excess of iron can negatively impact brain function, the body's regulation of iron transport to the brain is crucial, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports.
When iron levels are low, the liver produces more transferrin for increased iron transport. The researchers wanted to know whether brain structure in healthy adults was also dependent on transferrin levels, according to a California statement.
"We found that healthy brain wiring in adults depended on having good iron levels in your teenage years," said Thompson, member of California's Lab of Neuro Imaging.
"This connection was a lot stronger than we expected, especially as we were looking at people who were young and healthy - none of them would be considered iron-deficient.
"We also found a connection with a gene that explains why this is so. The gene itself seems to affect brain wiring, which was a big surprise," he said.
Thompson's findings are based on MRI scans on 615 healthy young-adult twins and siblings, who had an average age of 23.
By averaging the subjects' transferrin levels, which had been assessed repeatedly - at 12, 14 and 16 years of age - the researchers estimated iron availability to the brain during adolescence, Thompson said.
Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide, causing poor cognitive achievement in school-aged children. Now it has been found to affect the brain's physical structure as well.
Paul Thompson, professor of neurology at the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues measured levels of transferrin, a protein that transports iron throughout the body and brain, in adolescents.
Since both a deficiency and an excess of iron can negatively impact brain function, the body's regulation of iron transport to the brain is crucial, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports.
When iron levels are low, the liver produces more transferrin for increased iron transport. The researchers wanted to know whether brain structure in healthy adults was also dependent on transferrin levels, according to a California statement.
"We found that healthy brain wiring in adults depended on having good iron levels in your teenage years," said Thompson, member of California's Lab of Neuro Imaging.
"This connection was a lot stronger than we expected, especially as we were looking at people who were young and healthy - none of them would be considered iron-deficient.
"We also found a connection with a gene that explains why this is so. The gene itself seems to affect brain wiring, which was a big surprise," he said.
Thompson's findings are based on MRI scans on 615 healthy young-adult twins and siblings, who had an average age of 23.
By averaging the subjects' transferrin levels, which had been assessed repeatedly - at 12, 14 and 16 years of age - the researchers estimated iron availability to the brain during adolescence, Thompson said.
Grapes can stave off age-related blindness
Washington: Eating grapes seem to slow or help prevent the onset of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition affecting millions of elderly people worldwide.
AMD is a progressive eye condition, leading to the deteriohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifration of the centre of the retina, called the macula, a leading cause of blindness in the elderly.
A new study suggests that antioxidant actions of grapes stave off these harmful effects, the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine reports.
"The protective effect of the grapes in this study was remarkable, offering a benefit for vision at old age even if grapes were consumed only at young age," said principal investigator Silvia Finnemann of biological sciences, Fordham University, New York.
Grapes protected the retina and prevented blindness among mice. While lutein added to the diet was also effective, grapes offererd significantly more protection, according to a Fordham statement.
Finnemann noted that results suggest that age-related vision loss is a result of cumulative, oxidative damage over time. Aging of the retina is tied with increased levels of oxidative damage, and oxidative stress is thought to play a pivotal role in the development of AMD.
Stem cell implants can heal traumatic brain injury
Washington: Implanted stem cells have substantially improved cerebral function in animals with brain trauma, but how they did it has remained a mystery. Now an important part of this puzzle has been pieced together by researchers.
In experiments with both lab rats and an apparatus that enabled them to simulate the impact of trauma on human neurons (brain and nerve cells), researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston identified key mechanisms by which implanted human neural stem cells (developing into neurons) help recovery from traumatic axonal injury.
A significant component of traumatic brain injury, traumatic axonal injury involves damage to axons and dendrites, the filaments that extend out from the bodies of the neurons, the Journal of Neurotrauma reports.
The damage continues after the initial trauma, since the axons and dendrites respond to injury by withdrawing back to the bodies of the neurons, according to a Texas statement.
"Axons and dendrites are the basis of neuron-to-neuron communication, and when they are lost, neuron function is lost," said Ping Wu, professor at UTMBG, who led the study.
"In this study, we found that our stem cell transplantation both prevents further axonal injury and promotes axonal regrowth, through a number of previously unknown molecular mechanisms."
Source: IANS
In experiments with both lab rats and an apparatus that enabled them to simulate the impact of trauma on human neurons (brain and nerve cells), researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston identified key mechanisms by which implanted human neural stem cells (developing into neurons) help recovery from traumatic axonal injury.
A significant component of traumatic brain injury, traumatic axonal injury involves damage to axons and dendrites, the filaments that extend out from the bodies of the neurons, the Journal of Neurotrauma reports.
The damage continues after the initial trauma, since the axons and dendrites respond to injury by withdrawing back to the bodies of the neurons, according to a Texas statement.
"Axons and dendrites are the basis of neuron-to-neuron communication, and when they are lost, neuron function is lost," said Ping Wu, professor at UTMBG, who led the study.
"In this study, we found that our stem cell transplantation both prevents further axonal injury and promotes axonal regrowth, through a number of previously unknown molecular mechanisms."
Source: IANS
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