Sugar Can Be Addictive
In overweight people, the brain responds to sugar by releasing dopamine, in much the same way that it responds to alcohol or other addictive substances. Test it yourself: avoid all sugary foods and beverages for ten days. If you start to get headachy and irritable after a day or two, and start craving sugar, then you could be suffering from sugar withdrawal.
Bitter truth about sugar
Determination Of Optimal Nicotine Dosage
Figure 1
Nicotine treatment increases lifespan in Sph-1 expressing flies, while reduces it in control animals. Lifespan in control animals is reduced when treated with 24 µM nicotine. Flies expressing Sph-1 in dopaminergic neurons have a significantly reduced life span . However, this is rescued by chronic nicotine treatment . Data of untreated control animals are presented with black solid lines data of nicotine-treated control animals are graphed with red dotted lines. Statistical analyses were performed using Log-rank test. Asterisks are used to show statistical significance between the untreated control line and all the other genotypes and conditions, the number symbol is used to show statistical significance between the treated and untreated Sph-1 lines **** or ####P< 0.0001, n=200 animals per experimental condition. All treated animals were chronically exposed to 24 µM nicotine.
Tobacco And Nicotine Induce Suppress Sirt6 In Vitro And In Vivo
Since both tobacco and SIRT6 expression are linked to PD, we tested if tobacco smoke influences SIRT6 abundance in neurons in vitro. To do so, we prepared cigarette smoke extract and treated primary murine neurons. We found that like in human smokers, the levels of SIRT6 can be decreased by tobacco in vitro . To test if nicotine itself reduces SIRT6 levels, we treated primary neurons with various doses of nicotine and found a dose-dependent decrease of SIRT6 abundance . The decrease of sirtuin levels by nicotine seems specific to SIRT6, as we observed no changes in the levels of the functionally similar SIRT1 . The reduction of SIRT6 in response to nicotine occurred rapidly, within 90 min of application, without changes in SIRT6 mRNA levels , all of which suggested a degradation mechanism. In support of this hypothesis, nicotine is known to regulate the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in neurons , and SIRT6 has been shown to be regulated in a proteasome-dependent manner . To test this, we treated primary neurons with nicotine and the proteasome inhibitor MG132. We found that neurons with inhibited proteasome function do not decrease SIRT6 abundance in response to nicotine exposure . These data suggest that nicotine can accelerate proteasome-mediated degradation of SIRT6.
Fig. 2
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How Can The Various Stages Of Parkinsons Disease Be Identified
Parkinsons disease is a progressive disease associated by progressive symptoms in various stages. The symptoms associated with the five stages include-
Stage 1- This stage is characterized by the mildest form of Parkinsons. The symptoms are not so severe to interfere with daily tasks and overall lifestyle. Friends and family members may notice some sort of changes in the way the patient walks, his posture and some facial expression. One of the distinct symptom of Parkinsons is the tremors are other problems in movement and exclusive to one side of the body. If doctor is consulted at this stage, the prescribed medication can help ease out the symptoms at this stage.
Stage 2- This phase is considered to be the moderate form of Parkinsons because the symptoms get distinctively noticed by people. Muscle stiffness is quite common at this stage. It must be remembered that although there may be an increase of tremors and irregular posture, stage 2 does not impair the balance of the patient.
Stage 3- The patient may experience a turning point in this stage as along with the symptoms he may not be able to maintain his balance and experience decreased reflexes. Movements become slower and falls become common. Medication along with occupational therapy may be advised.
Stage 4- It becomes impossible to even stand without assistance at stage 4. Living alone may make daily tasks impossible and dangerous. Thus the patient will need a caregiver from this stage.
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What Is Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsons disease is a progressive condition that increasingly disrupts function in the brain.
It is the second most common degenerative disease of the brain after Alzheimers disease. Doctors give around 50,000 new Parkinsons diagnoses each year in the U.S., although this estimate varies.
Parkinsons disease causes degeneration in the central nervous system, disrupting movement, thought processes, and coordination.
The loss of brain cells that produce dopamine, an important neurotransmitter, causes the effects of this disease.
Symptoms develop gradually and may begin with small tremors in one hand. Parkinsons symptoms might include:
- facial, hand, arm, and leg tremors
- balance difficulties
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Marijuana Should Be Studied For Pd Pain Relief
The researchers from this latest study say recent research has indicated that the endocannabinoid system plays an important role in PD. In detail, components of this system are highly expressed in the neural circuit of basal ganglia, which is part of a complex neuronal system, they say.
The neuronal system they mention organizes activities from certain cortical regions that are active in movement control.
When we started doing this review, says Prof. Loewy, the therapies out there were basically for motor symptoms, but Parkinsons also has non-motor symptoms that greatly impact the quality of a persons life.
To dig deeper, he and his team conducted a thorough literature review on studies of marijuana.
The most compelling finding was that chemical components of marijuana yield benefits in the wake of different PD symptoms.
For example, Prof. Loewy notes that marijuana has been found to relieve pain in other diseases, adding that it should be studied for pain relief in people with PD. Pain affects nearly 50 percent of people with the condition, the researchers note.
But why is marijuana specifically promising for PD? According to the team, the cannabinoid compounds in marijuana bind to dopamine receptors to reduce the effects of reduced dopamine in the brain.
Essentially, the compounds replace the normal compounds that are adversely affected by Parkinsons, Prof. Loewy says.
Parkinsons Disease And Cancer: Whats The Connection
Researchers have long tried to understand the relationship between Parkinsons disease and cancer, with multiple studies conducted over the years. Intuitively, PD and cancer are not at all similar, and can even be thought of as biochemically opposite in one disease , cells die unexpectedly and in the other , cells divide too often and are perpetuated for too long. In fact, there have been many epidemiological studies over past decades that have shown that patients who have had cancer have a lower risk of developing PD than the general population. Other studies have shown that people with PD have lower overall cancer risks than people without PD.
Despite many papers demonstrating this inverse relationship between PD and overall cancer risk, an occasional study has been conducted which concluded that people with PD have an increased risk of cancer. It can be confusing to understand the different studies and determine how the resulting information may or may not apply to you.
Here we highlight some of the more common cancer-related topics when it comes to PD:
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Sugar Increases Cancer Risk
Cancer cells need sugar to proliferate. An international research team headed by Lewis Cantley of Harvard Medical School is researching how sugar might contribute to the growth of malignant cells. He believes that refined sugar may be what causes cancer cells to develop into tumors. Hes still testing that hypothesis but recommends that even slender people consume as little sugar as possible.
Bitter truth about sugar
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V Possible Mechanism Of Action
In light of the ETS and food studies, some researchers studying the causality suggested that the duration of exposure might be the most important neuroprotective factor against PD. Honglei Chen, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and a co-author of many smoking-PD studies, wrote that it is possible that the biological effects of nicotine or other tobacco compounds may be saturated at low concentrations. He added that since PD likely takes time to develop, sustained exposure may be needed to lower the risk . Other researchers proposed that smoking might have a protective effect not through direct action of a specific compound, but rather because chronic low dose exposure to smoke toxins can increase tolerance to acute exposures of other toxic compounds like -synuclein and A, which cause PD neurode-generation .
What The Study Found
The study was carried out across 8 countries, including the UK, in one of the largest studies of its type. It recorded the smoking status of 220,494 individuals aged 37-70 and whether they went on to develop Parkinson’s. The information collected included the duration and intensity of smoking, and exposure to second hand smoke.
The researchers found that:
- former smokers were 20% less likely to develop Parkinson’s, and this increased to 50% in current smokers
- both an increased frequency and duration of smoking was linked to a decreased risk of Parkinson’s
- passive smoking was also shown to reduce risk
Despite the link with reduced risk, the researchers were clear that they wouldn’t advise smoking due to the known adverse effects on general health.
Further research is still needed to better understand how smoking can reduce risk, with the hope that this may lead to future better treatments.
Dr Beckie Port, Research Manager at Parkinson’s UK, comments:
“While this and many previous studies have presented evidence pointing towards smoking decreasing the risk of Parkinson’s, this does not outweigh the fact that smoking increases the risk of other conditions, such as lung and mouth cancer, by a far greater extent.
“There is, however, a lack of evidence that nicotine replacement therapies, such as patches or gum, have the same effects on reducing Parkinson’s risk.”
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Other Treatments For Parkinsons
The primary goals in treating PD are to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life. Treatment may also prevent disease progression.
If taking marijuana isnt feasible, there are other options available. Numerous types and combinations of conventional medications may also be used. Examples include:
- amantadine , which is used in early stages
Sugar Weakens The Immune System
Excessive sugar consumption makes it harder for the immune system to ward off disease. After consuming sugar, the immune systems ability to kill germs is reduced by up to 40 percent. Sugar also saps the bodys store of vitamin C, which white blood cells need to fight off viruses and bacteria. Sugar also promotes the inflammatory response, and even minor inflammation can trigger numerous diseases.
Bitter truth about sugar
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How Does Medical Marijuana Affect The Body
Marijuana affects the body through neurotransmitters, which are the chemical messengers of the nervous system.
Various factors can stimulate neurotransmitter activity, initiating a set of physiological responses. In cannabis, it is mainly THC or CBD binding to endocannabinoid receptors that produce new physiological reactions in the body.
The endocannabinoid system is one of the most important neurotransmitter systems in the body. It utilizes cannabinoid receptors located throughout the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system . Cannabis works to turn on endocannabinoid neurotransmitters through activity at these receptors.
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Data on smoking habits were collected at recruitment, including whether participants were never, former or current smokers, their age when they started smoking and when they quit, and number of cigarettes per day at different ages.
The results showed that, compared with people who had never smoked, former smokers had a 20% lower risk and current smokers a halved risk for developing Parkinsons during follow-up .
Smoking more cigarettes and for a longer period of time were also associated with a lower risk of developing the disease, as the risk in people smoking 12 or more cigarettes a day or for longer than 30 years was about 55% lower compared to those who had never smoked.
Smoking correlated with reduced disease risk in both mid-age and late-onset Parkinsons, as well as in tremor-dominant and akinetic-rigid Parkinsons. Also, the risk did not vary over the follow-up period, which argues against a delaying effect of smoking on Parkinsons onset, the team observed.
Exposure to passive smoking at home or work was also linked to lower risk, as passive smokers were 30% less likely to develop the disease than non-exposed individuals.
In conclusion, the present findings are consistent with a protective effect of smoking on the risk of , scientists stated.
However, no one would ever be advised to use smoking as a preventive treatment for Parkinsons based on this research, because of the disastrous effects we know smoking has on peoples general health, Gallo added.
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Sirt6 Regulates The Pro
Fig. 5
Characterization of brain-specific SIRT6 knockout and overexpressing mice. a Graphical representation of overrepresented pathways from RNA-sequencing analysis of BSKO, BSOX, and WT brains. All pathways shown were significantly altered after Bonferroni correction . The number of genes affected from each pathway and the pathway fold enrichment is shown. See also Additional file for complete data analysis. b Pile-up reads of SIRT6 from the RNA-seq analysis. BSKO mice lack reads for exons 2 and 3, while BSOX mice have increased reads at all exons. c Representative SDS-PAGE analysis of brain cortex lysates from BSKO, BSOX, and WT animals is shown. d Bar graph quantification of the ratio of phosphorylated AKT to total AKT from SDS-PAGE analysis, such as on c, showing a higher ratio in BSKO brains . e Bar graph quantification of full TNF, such as on C, show lower abundance of full length TNF in KO brains . f Bar graph quantification of cleaved TNF, such as on C, show lower abundance of cleaved TNF in KO brains and greater abundance in OX brains . g, h Relative survival of WT, KO, and OX primary neurons assessed by PI/Annexin-V staining with AKT inhibitor or TNF receptor inhibitor , and or 24 h of MG132 stress.
Nicotine Is Typically Thought Of As Bad For You An Addictive Substance That Can Get You Hooked On Cigarettes But New Research Has Found That Nicotine Can Help Protect Brain Cells From Damage Could The Benefits Of Nicotine Be Harnessed In A New Drug To Help Parkinsons
You may have read headlines that left you puzzled with regard to smoking and Parkinsons research suggests that smoking reduces a persons risk of developing the condition.
Weve known about this protective link for a while. Most recently, at the end of 2018, Imperial College London published a study that recorded the smoking status of 220,494 people aged 3770, and then assessed whether they went onto develop Parkinsons. The researchers found that:
- former smokers were 20% less likely to develop Parkinsons, and this increased to 50% in current smokers
- smoking more often was also linked to a decreased risk of Parkinsons
- passive smoking also reduced risk.
When the protective effects of smoking were discovered, it was met with confusion. We all know that smoking has huge health consequences and cant be recommended. Smoking is one of the biggest causes of death and illness in the UK. We now know smoking increases the risk of over 50 serious health conditions, from cancer and heart disease to stroke and dementia.
So how can we explain the news that smoking actually may reduce the risk of developing Parkinsons? Researchers think the surprising results could be explained by the nicotine found in tobacco.
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Does Nicotine Prevent Sleep
While youre smoking: Nicotine disrupts sleep and smoking can also raise the risk of developing sleep conditions, such as sleep apnea. But since nicotine is a stimulant, smoking can mask your exhaustion. After all, if youre feeling sleepy, a hit of nicotine can wake you up and make you feel alert the next day.
Can Alcohol Cause Parkinsons Disease
Researches on various aspects of Parkinsons disease are still going. Due to this, although the actual causes of Parkinsons disease is still unknown, a body of research has suggested that Parkinsons disease can be caused by everything from overheating death of brain cells to extreme lifestyle choices like smoking, consumption of too much of coffee and even alcohol.
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Nicotine Promotes An Increase In Survival Even When Treatment Begins In Aged Animals
We then decided to determine whether nicotine has a long-lasting effect even if treatment is suspended when flies age. We also studied whether starting the nicotine treatment in older animals is still effective at promoting fly survival. We determined that the half-life of animals that express Sph-1 is 60 days at this age, parkinsonian phenotypes are evident and there is an important decrease in the number of dopaminergic neurons . To determine if nicotine has a long-lasting effect even if treatment is suspended, we chronically treated Sph-1 expressing flies for 60 days and then suspended the treatment in this condition, a significant lifespan extension was observed compared with animals that were never nicotine fed . Interestingly, files that were not treated with nicotine for the first 60 days of their life and then received nicotine also had a significant extension of their lifespan . These results indicate that in the PD genotype nicotine has a beneficial effect on survival even when the drug is provided at older age, when the parkinsonian symptoms are already evident. Importantly, this effect appears to be very specific as suspension of the nicotine treatment slightly decreases flies survival.
Figure 7