News Briefs

By Michael Downey

PRODUCE (NOT PROTEIN) MAINTAINS MUSCLE

While many people associate protein intake with maintaining muscle size, a newly released study by US Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists suggests that it is fruits and vegetables – not proteins or cereal grains – that preserve muscle mass in older men and women. The typical Western diet is rich in protein, cereal grains and other acid-forming foods. In general, this diet generates tiny amounts of acid each day. With aging, a mild but slowly increasing metabolic “acidosis” develops, according to the ARS researchers. Acidosis appears to trigger a muscle-wasting response.

The research team looked at links between measures of lean body mass and diets relatively high in potassium-rich, alkaline-residue producing, fruits and vegetables. Such diets could help neutralize acidosis. (Foods can be considered alkaline or acidic based on the residues they produce in the body, rather than whether they are alkaline or acidic themselves. For example, acidic grapefruits are metabolized to alkaline residues.)

The researchers conducted an analysis of a subset of nearly 400 male and female volunteers aged 65 or older. The volunteers’ physical activity, height and weight, and percentage of lean body mass were measured at the start of the study and again, after three years. Their urinary potassium was measured and their dietary data collected.

Volunteers whose diets were rich in potassium – that is, high in fruits and vegetables – showed an average of 3.6 more pounds of lean tissue mass than volunteers with half that level of potassium intake. That almost offsets the 4.4 pounds of lean tissue that is typically lost in a decade in healthy men and women aged 65 and above, according to the study authors.

Sarcopenia, which is a loss of muscle mass, often leads to poor walking ability and general muscle loss in the elderly. It frequently causes falls due to weakened leg muscles. This study is important because it suggests (for the first time) that frailty and falls in the elderly can be prevented by a long-term diet heavily invested in fruits and vegetables.

The authors encourage future studies that look into the effects of increasing overall intake of foods that metabolize to alkaline residues (alkaline-producing fruits and vegetables, instead of acid-producing proteins and grains) on muscle mass and functionality. The study was led by physician and nutrition specialist Bess Dawson-Hughes at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.

A VITAMIN D BENEFIT FOR CANCER PATIENTS?

Previous research has suggested that vitamin D may help reduce the risk of developing colon and rectal cancer, also known as colorectal cancer. Now, a new study published in the June 2008 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology has found that colorectal cancer patients with the highest blood levels of vitamin D, have (as a group) a greater survival rate than those with the lowest blood-D levels. The correlation is considered weak and, “Definitive evidence of a benefit of vitamin D in treating colon cancer would have to come from a clinical trial,” said study lead Kimmie Ng, PhD, in a telephone interview.

In addition, a study published June 9, 2008 in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine found that men with low levels of vitamin D had an elevated risk for heart attack. A number of recent studies have indicated vitamin D also may offer a variety of other health benefits, including protecting against types of cancer such as breast cancer, peripheral artery disease and tuberculosis.

The body makes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight, thus earning its nickname the “sunshine vitamin.” Milk commonly is fortified with it and it is found in fatty fish like salmon. But many people do not get enough of it, especially Canadians during the winter months (says the Canadian Cancer Society). The American Medical Association, the largest doctors group in the US, voted this week to urge the US Food and Drug Administration to re-examine recommendations for vitamin D intake in light of new scientific findings showing its benefits.

PYCNOGENOL SHORTENS PAINFUL PERIODS

A Japanese study has found that taking pycnogenol, which is bark extract from the French maritime pine tree, can reduce the number of painful days for those suffering from dysmenorrhea, a condition that causes extremely painful menstrual periods and affects millions of women each year.

The multi-centre field study, published in the June 2008 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, indicates that women with dysmenorrhea who supplemented with pycnogenol experienced a reduction in painful days from an average of 2.1 days to 1.3 days. The improvement took place at the third and fourth cycles after the commencement of treatment.

Also, test subjects reported using lower quantities of pain medications during menstruation. Discontinuation of pycnogenol did not cause an immediate relapse in pain duration; and pain medication use did not increase even after treatment stopped.

Dysmenorrhea, which affects millions of women each year and which may reach incapacitating severity, is thought to be caused by elevated levels of inflammation. Other studies reveal that pycnogenol, which has been patented for sales for menstrual pain, is a natural anti-inflammatory. (It also contains a unique combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids.)

In an interview with News Briefs, lead researcher Nobutaka Suzuki, PhD, said: “Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) like aspirin or ibuprofen provide temporary help against menstrual pain. Unfortunately, they are generally ineffective for resolving spasmodic events and commonly cause side effects, particularly gastric problems.”

NEWS NOTES

By Michael Downey

CANCER’S SECRETS REVEALED

Canadian scientists say they’ve discovered that cancer cells spread by releasing protein “bubbles,” a finding that might alter our concept of how cancer works.

Janusz Rak, PhD, and colleagues at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center in collaboration with Ab Guha, PhD, of the University of Toronto, found that cancer cells communicate with healthy cells by releasing “vesicles” – bubble-like structures containing cancer-causing proteins – that can trigger specific mechanisms when they merge into non-malignant cells. Rak said the finding demonstrates that cancer is a multi-cell process, where the cells “talk” to one another extensively.

Until now, scientists had assumed that cancer is caused by a single cell developing damage or a mutation, followed by a runaway reproduction of that cancerous cell. Instead, it appears that a cancerous cell “tricks” healthy (or healthier) cells in other areas to become cancerous.

“This goes against the traditional view that a single ‘mutated’ cell will simply multiply uncontrollably to the point of forming a tumour,” said Rak. “This discovery opens exciting new research avenues, but we also hope that it will lead to positive outcomes for patients.” The study appears in the current online edition of the journal Nature Cell Biology.

WINE A CURB FOR PANCREATIC CANCER?

Resveratrol, a compound found in the skin of red grapes and red wine, may help induce pancreatic cancer cells to malfunction and die, a lab study has found. A handful of foods, including raspberries, blueberries and peanuts, contain resveratrol, but it is most abundant in the skin of red grapes and, therefore, red wine.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York treated human pancreatic cancer cells with resveratrol – alone and in the presence of radiation – and found that, combined with radiation, resveratrol disrupted the activity of the cancer cells’ mitochondria (energy-producing centres needed for cells to function).

Readers will have heard of several previous studies on the potential antioxidant benefits of resveratrol with respect to longevity or heart disease prevention. The recent study is different in that it suggests this red wine compound may help disrupt the progress of pancreatic cancer.

Until there are further studies in animals, what the results mean for cancer patients will not be clear. It is important to note that this was a lab study and there is no evidence yet as to whether resveratrol from red wine would affect tumours in the body the same way it does cancer cells in a lab dish. Resveratrol is available in over-the-counter supplements but there is no evidence that taking them aids cancer treatment.

The study team stressed that it used a relatively high dose of resveratrol of 50 micrograms per milliliter – about twice the concentration found in red wine. The study appears in the March 2008 edition of the journal Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology.

REISHI-GREEN TEA COMBO FIGHTS SARCOMA

Both the reishi mushroom and green tea have held a place in traditional medicine, in China and other Asian countries, for the general promotion of health. Recent scientific studies have confirmed that either reishi or green tea can enhance the body’s immune functions, holding potential for prevention of many types of cancer.

Now a study by Chinese scientists has found that combining the active ingredients in the reishi mushroom and green tea creates synergetic effects that inhibit the growth of tumours and delay death in mice with sarcomas. (Sarcomas are usually-malignant tumours in connective tissue such as bone or muscle.)

By Michael Downey

Ginkgo protects memory

Taking the herbal supplement ginkgo biloba may delay the onset of cognitive impairment in elderly adults, according to a three-year Oregon study posted, ahead of print publication, on the website of the journal Neurology.