Short Takes: Alzheimer's, PMS, Chronic Diseases

Does Alzheimer’s Disease start in the liver?

According to ScienceDaily, a recent study in The Journal of Neuroscience Research suggests the liver might be the source of beta amyloid found in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Unexpected results from a Scripps Research Institute and ModGene, LLC study could completely alter scientists' ideas about Alzheimer's disease -- pointing to the liver instead of the brain as the source of the "amyloid" that deposits as brain plaques associated with this devastating condition.

This unexpected finding holds promise for the development of new therapies to fight Alzheimer's."

(Maybe it also points the way to understading the cause. Is AD a dietary disease?)

Using a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, investigators found “significant concentrations of beta amyloid might originate in the liver, circulate in the blood, and enter the brain. If true, blocking production of beta amyloid in the liver should protect the brain.”

Source
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110303134435.htm

Dietary B vitamins help control PMS symptoms

A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is the first to show deficiencies of thiamine and riboflavin are related to symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

The researchers looked at the diets of more than 3000 women, who filled out food surveys three times over 10 years. During this time, about 1050 women developed symptoms of moderate to severe PMS such as anxiety, depression, irritability, abdominal pain, fatigue and bloating.

Women who reported eating about 1.9 milligrams of thiamine per day were less likely to come down with PMS -- about two in five developed PMS compared to three in five women who ate about 1.2 milligrams a day.

About one to two bowls of cereal provides this much riboflavin, or a three-ounce portion of cow's liver.

(Skip the cereal! You don’t need that stress on your pancreas and fat metabolism!)

The study suggests B vitamins obtained certain foods reduce PMS symptoms. According to National Institutes of Health, supplements are not effective.

Source
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42041349/ns/health/

Chronic diseases more prevalent in U.S. than England

According to a new study in American Journal of Epidemiology, ScienceDaily reports:

Americans experience higher rates of chronic disease and markers of disease than their English counterparts at all ages. Why health status differs so dramatically in these two countries, which share much in terms of history and culture, is a mystery.

(Or maybe it’s not a mystery. The respective diets should be compared.)

Health measures based on physical examinations and/or laboratory reports included the following risk factors or conditions: obesity, hypertension, diabetes, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, high cholesterol ratio, and high C-reactive protein in addition to self-reported health issues.

All but one of these chronic diseases were more prevalent in the U.S. “Differences between the two countries are statistically significant for every condition except hypertension.”

Source
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110309073721.htm