Now there’s new hope for Parkinson’s patients. Vitamin K2, which is produced in our guts by the conversion from Vitamin K1 intake (the component of vitamin K that originates in plants), has been demonstrated to reverse a genetic defect that leads to Parkinson’s.

“It appears from our research that administering vitamin K2 could possibly help patients with Parkinson’s. However, more work needs to be done to understand this better,” says Patrik Verstreken from Northern Illinois University.

Even though the cause of Parkinson’s is still unknown, several genetic defects have been identified, and this knowledge has been instrumental in helping scientists unravel the mechanisms underlying the disease process.

Vitamin K is found abundantly in fresh fruits and vegetables and helps with blood clotting, maintaining healthy calcium levels in bones, reducing cardiac risks, and prevention of cancer.

Propolis, the honeybee hive resin used by bees to patch up holes in hives, has been used for centuries as a natural remedy for conditions ranging from sore throats and allergies to burns and cancer. But its use has not gained widespread acceptance in the clinic due to scientific questions about its effect on cells.

Now, researchers have found that caffeic acid phenethyl ester, or CAPE, the compound isolated from bee propolis, halts early-stage prostate cancer.

“If you feed CAPE to mice daily, their tumors will stop growing. After several weeks, if you stop the treatment, the tumors will begin to grow again at their original pace,” said Richard B. Jones, PhD, assistant professor in the Ben May Department for Cancer Research and Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology and senior author of the study. “So it doesn’t kill the cancer, but it basically will indefinitely stop prostate cancer proliferation.”

Once proven safe and effective, it could be used alongside other therapies used to kill the tumor cells. But, more importantly, the CAPE experiments offer a precedent to unlock the biological mechanisms of other natural remedies as well, perhaps allowing these compounds to cross over to use in a clinic setting.

“A typical problem in bringing some of these herbal remedies into the clinic is that nobody knows how they act, nobody knows the mechanism, and therefore researchers are typically very hesitant to add them to any pharmaceutical treatment strategy,” Jones said. “Now we’ll actually be able to systematically demonstrate the parts of cell physiology that are affected by these compounds.”

We all know that stress and anxiety have been clinically shown to be detrimental to one’s physical health, but what about the opposite? Can holding positive thoughts be an elixir for good health?

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers set out to find the answer to that question and came up with some enlightening discoveries that could have strong implications for the design of disease prevention and health intervention strategies.

Not only do positive emotions and optimism prevent the ravages caused by stress-related emotions, but they provide protection against cardiovascular disease (CVD) by slowing the progression of disease.

The Harvard researchers found that individuals who felt a greater sense of well-being derived from practicing optimism and holding positive emotions engaged in healthier behaviors such as exercising, eating a balanced diet, and getting sufficient sleep. Those individuals also experienced better biological function, such as lower blood pressure, healthier lipid (blood fat) profiles, and normal body weight.

“The absence of the negative is not the same thing as the presence of the positive. We found that factors such as optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness are associated with reduced risk of CVD regardless of such factors as a person’s age, socioeconomic status, smoking status, or body weight,” said lead author Julia Boehm, research fellow in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health at HSPH. “For example, the most optimistic individuals had an approximately 50% reduced risk of experiencing an initial cardiovascular event compared to their less optimistic peers,” she said.

“These findings suggest that an emphasis on bolstering psychological strengths rather than simply mitigating psychological deficits may improve cardiovascular health,” Kuzbansky said.

Is the overuse of antibiotics and antibacterial products to blame for the pandemic levels of allergic diseases? 

One group of experts seems to think so, and they set out to show that the 100 trillion individual bacterial cells within the intestine might play an important role in influencing and controlling allergic inflammation.

Researchers a the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and collaborators from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and institutions in Japan and Germany published a study in Nature Medicine which looked at how gut bacteria controls allergic diseases.

When the researchers gave mice a broad-spectrum antibiotic – one that kills a wide range of bacteria – the mice showed significantly elevated levels of basophils, a type of white blood cell, and a marked increase in the amount of basophil-mediated allergic airway inflammation. They also had elevated levels of antibodies known to be important in controlling allergies and asthma (IgE class antibodies). The mice were then subjected to common household dust and subsequently showed higher basophil responses in the blood and lymph nodes as well as a heightened allergic response with increased inflammation in the lungs.

The researchers hope to further their understanding of the intricate interplay between the immune system and beneficial, or commensal, bacteria. “It may be beneficial to identify the specific commensals and commensal-derived signals that regulate circulating basophil populations as this could lead to the development of new probiotic or other commensal-derived therapies,” David Artis, PhD says.

The results of their study emphasizes the important function that our gut bacteria provides to influence and regulate our immune system to control not only allergies and asthma, but other inflammatory conditions such as cancer and autoimmune disorders.

Listening to consumers who have aired their concerns regarding the detrimental effects of the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), the Campbell’s Soup company has decided to stop using the controversial chemical in the lining of its soup cans.

Campbell’s is in the testing stage to determine suitable replacements for BPA, which is an essential part of the can’s lining, and the company will make the switch to a safer alternative once that determination is made.

“When the world’s largest soup maker moves to remove BPA from its cans, that sends a signal to the rest of the food and beverage industry to do the same,” said Jane Houlihan, Environmental Working Group senior vice president for research. “Unlike some of its competitors, Campbell’s has listened to its customers’ concerns. It plans to remove this toxic chemical, which is associated with a very long list of serious health problems, many of which are on the rise among Americans.”

With help from the organization Healthy Child Healthy World, the Breast Cancer Fund initiated a grassroots campaign that prompted more than 70,000 letters to Campbell’s Soup, calling upon the company to halt the use of BPA and find a safer alternative.

BPA is a synthetic estrogen that disrupts the endocrine system and has been commonly used in the epoxy lining of food cans, production of plastic water and baby bottles, infant feeding cups, infant formula cans, and store receipt paper. The National Institutes of Health and FDA have expressed concern over the level of exposure to fetuses, infants, and young children, and the potential effects of BPA on their behavior and brain and prostate gland health.

Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and other berry fruits have been shown to help the brain stay healthy and may even help prevent age-related memory loss.

A recent article in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry pointed out the many benefits that berries have on brain health:

• Berry fruits have high levels of antioxidants that protect brain cells from damage by harmful free radicals

• They improve the way neurons communicate within the brain

• Berries prevent inflammation in the brain that contribute to neuronal damage and improve both motor control and cognition

• Blueberries and grapes have been shown to help improve mild mental impairment in older adults

Recent research increasingly shows that eating berry fruits can benefit the aging brain, but further research is needed to show whether these benefits are a result of individual compounds shared between berry fruits or whether the unique combinations of chemicals in each berry fruit simply have similar effects.

Questions concerning the actual benefits of multivitamin and mineral supplement use have arisen in recent times, especially whether or not supplements play a role in cancer prevention.

Now, a new study published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology (CJPP) has demonstrated that rats given regular dosing of vitamin and mineral supplements were at less risk of developing colon cancer when they were subjected to a high-fat plus low-fiber diet and exposed to carcinogens. The rats that did not receive the supplements developed pre-cancerous lesions but those that did showed a significant reduction (84%) in developing lesions and consequently none developed tumors.

“It has been unclear whether multivitamin supplementation to cancer patients is helpful, has no effect, or is even detrimental during therapy,” commented Dr. Grant Pierce, Editor of CJPP. “This study is important because it gives some direction to cancer patients in desperate need of guidance on the value of multivitamins and minerals administered during cancer.”

Multivitamin users shouldn’t assume from the results of this study that they will be automatically protected from cancer, since some past studies have suggested the use of vitamins – especially excessive intake – does not reduce the risk of cancer and may even be linked to an increased risk of certain types of cancer.

According to Heaton’s research, Shakespeare was a master at portraying profound emotional upset in the physical symptoms of his characters, and many modern-day doctors would do well to study the Bard to better understand the mind-body connection, concludes an analysis of Dr. Heaton’s works, published in Medical Humanities.

Shakespeare focused on portraying psychosomatic symptoms in characters expressing profound emotions significantly more common than in works by other authors of the time.

For instance, fatigue brought about by emotional distress was exhibited by numerous characters, most notably in “Hamlet”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “As You Like It”, “Richard II” and “Henry IV” part 2.

“Shakespeare’s perception that numbness and enhanced sensation can have a psychological origin seems not to have been shared by his contemporaries, none of whom included such phenomena in the works examined,” writes Dr. Heaton.

“Many doctors are reluctant to attribute physical symptoms to emotional disturbance, and this results in delayed diagnosis, overinvestigation, and inappropriate treatment,” he writes.

As part of a healthy weight loss diet, desserts have long been taboo. Until now, that is. In a surprising discovery, researchers from Tel Aviv University found that when dessert is incorporated into a 600-calorie breakfast, balanced with proteins and carbohydrates, dieters are able to lose more weight — and keep it off in the long run.

Prof. Daniela Jakubowicz, Dr. Julio Wainstein, and Dr. Mona Boaz of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Diabetes Unit at Wolfson Medical Center, and Prof. Oren Froy of Hebrew University Jerusalem, say that the key is to indulge in the mornings when we’re able to expend the extra calories throughout the rest of the day. Indulging early in the morning will also help control cravings, and it provides energy for the day’s tasks, aids in brain functioning, and kick-starts the body’s metabolism. Attempting to avoid sweets entirely can create a psychological addiction to these same foods in the long-term, explains Prof. Jakubowicz.

The TAU researchers conducted a 32-week study which allowed clinically obese, non-diabetic adults to add cookies, cake, and chocolate to their breakfast, and found the participants lost an average of 40 lbs., compared with a control group that abstained from sweets. The study also showed they were able to keep the weight off longer.

One of the biggest challenges that people face is keeping weight off in the long-term, says Prof. Jakubowicz. Ingesting a higher proportion of our daily calories at breakfast makes sense. It’s not only good for body function, but it also alleviates cravings. Highly restrictive diets that forbid desserts and carbohydrates are initially effective, but often cause dieters to stray from their food plans as a result of withdrawal-like symptoms. They wind up regaining much of the weight they lost during the diet proper.

Prof. Jakubowicz suggests, based on the results of the sudy, that curbing cravings is better than deprivation for weight loss success.

Excessive consumption of soft drinks – such as Coke, lemonade, flavored mineral water, Powerade, and Gatorade – are linked with an increased chance of asthma and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Zumin Shi, MD, PhD, of the University of Adelaide, and fellow researchers interviewed almost 17,000 participants in South Australia and found that one in ten adults drink more than half a liter of soft drink daily. Results showed the amount of soft drink consumption is associated with an increased chance of asthma and/or COPD. There exists a dose-response relationship, which means the more soft drink one consumes, the higher the chance of having these diseases.

The odds were derived by comparing those who consumed more than half a liter of soft drinks and those who abstained.

“Our study emphasizes the importance of healthy eating and drinking in the prevention of chronic diseases like asthma and COPD,” Zumin concludes.

Source: Association between soft drink consumption and asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among adults in Australia.