Archive for the ‘- Parkinson’s’ Category
Message: A simple exercise based on the ideas of the Alexander Technique helps to reduce stress, look confident and relaxed, and feel better about yourself. Read about the technique first, then try the exercise below.*
Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955), an actor, the founder of the Alexander system, investigated human unconscious habits and how they interfere with learning, performance, and physical functioning. The total system has been established in 1880’s and has been very popular ever since. Among it’s early proponents were celebrities albert Einshtein and Gorge Bernard Shaw.
Two Nobel Prize-winnerss for Medicine and Physiology, Sir Charles Sherrington and Sir Nikolaas Tinbergen, mentioned the technique in their Nobel Prize acceptance speeches. Here is what they said: “Mr. Alexander has done a service to the subject by insistently treating each act as involving the whole integrated individual, the whole psychophysical man.” (Dr. Sherrington). “I noticed with growing amazement, very striking improvements in such diverse things as high blood pressure, breathing, depth of sleep, overall cheerfulness, mental alertness, resilience against outside pressures and also in such refined skills as the playing of a stringed musical instrument.” (Dr. Tinbergen)
Recently, studies showed that Alexander Technique’s efficiency in reducing pain and stress was higher than massage therapy’s efficiency (1). Alexander Technique lessons also helped individuals with Parkinson’s disease (2)
Sources
- Br J Sports Med 2008;42:965-968
- Int J Clin Pract, January 2012, 66, 1, 98–112
Exercise
- Standing in front of a mirror, lift up your shoulders, rotate them back and press them down
- Keep your shoulders as far back and down as you can for the count of 16.
- Relax your arms. Make your neck long and straight, do not tilt your head.
- Flatten the lower part of your back and contract your abdominal muscles to flatten your stomach.
- Take a minute or two to ‘memorize’ how your body feels while in this position.
Remember this feeling every time you are under stress
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* This exercise is a part of the Therapeutic Movement classes taught by T. Zilberter at the MetroSport Athletic club, Durham NC in 1992-1995
Message: Canadian hemp and Himalayan herbs can be out of your reach but vanilla is everywhere.
Apocynin (acetovanillone) is structurally related to vanillin. In 1970s, apocynin was isolated from Himalayan medicinal herb Picrorhiza kurroa but long before that, in 1880s, it was found in the root of Canadian hemp Apocynum cannabinum, thus the name. Under this name, it is currently being extensively researched. An important antioxidative effect of apocynin is discussed in connection with its potential to fight neuronal dysfunction and inflammmation in diseases ranging from stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases to psychiatric disorders (1).
Interestingly, researchers from Food Products Development Centre, Switzerland, considered vanillin more than a flavoring agent but a potent antioxidant effective in quantities as little as 0·01–0·5% added to foods (2). It showed stronger antioxidant activity than did Vitamin C (3).
Sources
- Frontiers Biosci (2012) E4, 2183-2193
- J Sci Food Agric (1989), 48, 1, 49–56
- Biochim Biophys Acta (2011) 1810, 2, 170–177
Message: “The neuroprotective efficacy of caffeinated coffee was similar to that of decaffeinated coffee, indicating that active compounds present in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, such as chlorogenic acid, may drive the effects” (1)
We wrote before that caffeine is good for your brain (2,3), now it turns out that coffee keeps working even after it’s decaffeinated.
- Neurochemistry International 60 (2012) 466–474
- Caffeine protect against neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease
- Coffee, tea, and chocolate can help to avoid Parkinson’s disease
Message: Don’t overlook common things
Oxidative stress is implicated in more than 100 diseases including neurodegenerative diseases since it damages brain cells (1). Many hawthorn species, e.g., Crataegus pinnalifida, monogyna, pinnatifida are recognized cardioprotectors and neuroprotectors including the cases of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, ischemic stroke or traumatic brain damage (2,3).
It’s a good news since hawthorn is a very common plant and its berries is widely used in cooking (4).
Sources
- Resp Physiol (2001) 128, 3, 379–391
- J Neurochem (2004) 90, 1, 211–219
- Evidence-Based Compl Alt Med (2012) 984295, 8; doi:10.1155/2012/984295
- What can I do with hawthorn berries?
Message: there are many supplements on the market believed to postpone brain aging but they are still on clinical trials. To wait until consensus is reached or to go for them since they wouldn’t hurt depends (mostly) whether you can afford them or not.
Vitamins E and C, alpha-lipoic acid, creatine, melatonin, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, CoQ10, curcumin, resveratrol, glucose, malate and other antioxidants and (and their combinations) are subjects of around 30 registered clinical trials investigating diseases blamed for the consequences of brain aging — Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Source: Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 25 (2011) 187–208
Parkinson’s disease, though having some genetic forms, is thought to be largely life style-related and since no treatments exist to prevent or slow the disease down, environmental factors are of great interest to scientists. Earlier, in Germany (1) and Sweden, (2) consumption of coffee or caffeine have been shown to lower risk of Parkinson’s disease. However, there were some problems with interpretation of the results: coffee drinking was positively associated with smoking and alcohol consumption (3).
The Harvard School of Public Health followed up 183267 healthy people (free of Parkinson’s disease, cancer or stroke) during 10 years, watching their caffein intake with coffee, tee, chocolate and adjusting the results for age since and smocking since these two were strong risk factors in themselves (3). 288 cases of Parkinson’s disease were registered during this time. Women were more active coffee drinkers: the lower quintiles of caffein intake (taken as the reference point) in their population was 7 times higher than in men’s population.
Every other quintile in men had a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease, however, in women, the highest quintile was not associated with risk decrease – women consuming the largest amounts of caffein have had the same risk as those consuming the least caffein and for some of them the risk increased up to 1.8 times. The average highest caffein intake was 1.3 times higher in women than in men but the authors hesitate contributing the U-shaped of intake/risk curve to this difference and argued that “plausible biological basis for a protective effect of caffeine” should be established before making conclusions.
Read also:
Sources
- Hellenbrand W, Seidler A, Robra B-P, et al. Smoking and Parkinson’s disease: a case control study in Germany. Int J Epidemiol 1997; 26: 328-339. Links
- Fall P-A, Frederikson M, Axelson O, Granérus A-K. Nutritional and occupational factors influencing the risk of Parkinson’s disease: a case-control study in southeastern Sweden. Mov Disord 1999; 14: 28-37. Links
- Ascherio A, Zhang SM, Hernán MA, Kawachi I, Colditz GA, Speizer FE, Willett WCProspective study of caffeine consumption and risk of Parkinson’s disease in men and women. Ann Neurol. 2001 Jul;50(1):56-63.
The study conducted by researchers at McGill University in Montreal and published in January issue of Nature Neuroscience showed that the music increased dopamine levels in certain areas of the brain. Various types of music were shown to be effective depending on individual preferences. >> More at Brainfuels.com
Logically speaking, anti-oxidants are substances that fight oxidants. Then what are oxidants? They are chemicals producing unstable form of oxygen, which make them deadly for some life forms and dangerous for the others. To name just two, chlorine and chloramines are oxidants and are used for disinfection – killing the microbes.
Now, antioxidants are chemicals (naturally occurring or synthesized) that absorb or scavenge and finally neutralize oxidants also known as free radicals. High levels of free radicals may eventually lead to damage of bodily cells and is believed are responsible for many diseases.
It is agreed upon that free radicals are to blame for diseases associated with long lasting oxidant stress: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, the most common forms of cancer, eye diseases, neurological diseases, infectious diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, drug induced lung lesions, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, asthma, emphysema, interstitial fibrosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’ s disease. (Stockholm, Swedish Council of Technology Assessment in Health Care)
(WebMD) A group of drugs used to treat epilepsy may also treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
New research shows treatment with T-type calcium channel blockers, used to treat epilepsy, protected nerve cells from the brains of mice that can be damaged by neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers say there aren’t any effective medications that protect brain cells from age-related damage and degeneration. If these findings hold up under further study in humans, they could lead to a new class of more effective treatments for age-related neurological diseases.
Calcium-signaling pathways play an important role in the survival of nerve cells (neurons) in the brain. As people age, this process can become disrupted and can lead to cognitive and functional decline.
Researchers say that opens up the possibility of using chemicals like calcium channel blockers that are involved in the calcium-signaling process to protect the nerve cells from death.
The study, published in Molecular Neurodegeneration, looked at the effects of treatment with calcium channel blockers on the brain cells of mice.
Researchers found neurons showed an increase in viability after treatment with the calcium channel blockers over both the long term and short term.
“Our data provides implications for the use of this family of anti-epileptic drugs in developing new treatments for neuronal injury, and for the need of further studies of the use of such drugs in age-related neurodegenerative disorders,” says researcher Jianxin Bao, PhD, of Washington University in St. Louis, in a news release.
(WebMD) A group of drugs used to treat epilepsy may also treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
New research shows treatment with T-type calcium channel blockers, used to treat epilepsy, protected nerve cells from the brains of mice that can be damaged by neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers say there aren’t any effective medications that protect brain cells from age-related damage and degeneration. If these findings hold up under further study in humans, they could lead to a new class of more effective treatments for age-related neurological diseases. Calcium-signaling pathways play an important role in the survival of nerve cells (neurons) in the brain. As people age, this process can become disrupted and can lead to cognitive and functional decline.
Researchers say that opens up the possibility of using chemicals like calcium channel blockers that are involved in the calcium-signaling process to protect the nerve cells from death. The study, published in Molecular Neurodegeneration, looked at the effects of treatment with calcium channel blockers on the brain cells of mice.
Researchers found neurons showed an increase in viability after treatment with the calcium channel blockers over both the long term and short term.
“Our data provides implications for the use of this family of anti-epileptic drugs in developing new treatments for neuronal injury, and for the need of further studies of the use of such drugs in age-related neurodegenerative disorders,” says researcher Jianxin Bao, PhD, of Washington University in St. Louis, in a news release.
