Amyloid plaques consist of protein strands misfolded
as beta-pleated sheets through hydrogen bonding

Alzheimer’s disease affects approximately 4.5 million Americans, according to The U.S. National Institutes of Health.  About 5 percent of people ages 65 to 74 and almost half of those ages 85 suffer the disease.  There is no cure for Alzheimer’s. People with the disease experience memory loss, difficulty remembering recent events or the names of familiar people or things.   This disease does not result from normal aging.

Autopsies of people suffering from Alzheimer’s have shown a substantial number of amyloid plaques in their brains.  Amyloids are insoluble clumps of fibrous proteins that have misfolded into beta sheet structures.  Amyloids may also accumulate in other organs and cause amyloidosis which is determined by microscopic histological examination and is characteristic of several different diseases such as inclusion body myositis, a muscle disease, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

The increase of Alzheimer’s disease and the increase of obesity in the last 20 years, have caused scientists to explore the idea that specific diets may be beneficial or harmful for brain function.  Indeed, it has been proven that obesity-related leptin levels contribute to the formation of beta amyloid plaques[1,2], and that caloric restriction prevents age-related neuronal damage.[3,4]

If you are overweight, now is the time to get back in shape.  Don’t wait until your body has been damaged beyond repair.  You should exercise regularly and adopt a nutritious, low-calorie diet to maintain your ideal body weight.  You will be a little bit hungry, but you will be healthier.

[1] Fewlass DC, Noboa K, Pi-Sunyer FX, Johnston JM, Yan SD, Tezapsidis N., Obesity-related leptin regulates Alzheimer’s Abeta. FASEB J. 2004 Dec;18(15):1870-8. PMID: 15576490

[2] Jefferson Scientists Discover Mechanism Tying Obesity to Alzheimer’s Disease

[3] Gillette-Guyonnet S, Vellas B., Caloric restriction and brain function, Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008 Nov;11(6):686-92. PMID: 18827571

[4] Qin W, Yang T, et al, Neuronal SIRT1 activation as a novel mechanism underlying the prevention of Alzheimer disease amyloid neuropathology by calorie restriction, J Biol Chem. 2006 Aug 4;281(31):21745-54. Epub 2006 Jun 2. PMID: 16751189

Kool-Aid drink, Fruit Loops cereal, jelly beans, M&M chocolates, Jell-O gelatins and many other commercial foods, candies, medicines, and cosmetics are loaded with food dyes.  At home, we use food dyes for Easter eggs, cake frostings, and cookies.  What are these dyes doing to our health and the health of our children?

In the early 1970s, scientific studies raised questions about the safety of Red Dye No. 2. The Toxicology Advisory Committee of the FDA evaluated numerous reports and decided there was no evidence of a hazard. The committee then asked FDA to conduct follow-up analyses and they concluded that FD&C Red No. 2 at a high dosage resulted in a statistically significant increase of malignant tumors in female rats.   Red Dye Number 2 was banned by the FDA in 1976.

In 1993, John E. Bailey, Ph.D., acting director of FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors said that food colors were “very” safe because by law, industry must prove the safety of the colors that it sells.  But are these dyes really safe?  For some time, evidence has been accumulating that food dyes are not really innocuous and can affect sensitive individuals.  Children seem to be more at risk.

In one experiment, forty children were given a diet free of artificial food dyes and other additives for 5 days. Twenty of the children had been classified as hyperactive and the other 20 were normal.  The children were then given doses of 100 or 150 milligrams of FD & C approved food dyes or placebo.  On the day that the hyperactive children received the dye their performance was impaired relative to their performance after they received the placebo.  The performance of the nonhyperactive children was not affected by the food dye.[1]

Another study found that 40 children out of 220 suspected of hyperactivity improved after a 6 week trial of the Feingold diet which eliminates artificial colors, artificial flavors, aspartame, and some preservatives.  Children who had shown the greatest reaction to the dyes had behavior problems that featured extreme irritability, restlessness and sleep disturbance, rather than attention deficit.[2]  A study published in 2007 also concluded that artificial colors or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the general population.[3]

Eliminate foods with artificial dyes from your home.  You may find that you and your children can think more clearly.

[1] Swanson JM, Kinsbourne M., Food dyes impair performance of hyperactive children on a laboratory learning test, Science. 1980 Mar 28;207(4438):1485-7.  PMID: 7361102

[2] Rowe KS., Synthetic food colourings and ‘hyperactivity’: a double-blind crossover study, Aust Paediatr J. 1988 Apr;24(2):143-7. PMID: 3395307

[3] McCann D, Barrett A, Cooper A, Crumpler D, Dalen L, Grimshaw K, Kitchin E, Lok K, Porteous L, Prince E, Sonuga-Barke E, Warner JO, Stevenson J., Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, Lancet. 2007 Nov 3;370(9598):1560-7.  PMID: 17825405

Scientists have found a gene that affects the way men bond to their partners.[1]  The gene codes for one of the receptors for vasopressin, a hormone found in the brains of most mammals. Men who carry one or two copies of a variant of this gene (allele 334) are more likely to have a marital or relationship problem than those who lacked the gene variant.  The research found that men without the allele had more stable relationships with their partners.  Men with two alleles were less likely to show enough commitment in their relationships.

Earlier studies had found similar results in animals.  Prairie voles form lifetime bonds with their mates and help to raise successive litters.  On the other hand, montane voles which are physically very similar, do not bond with the females and do not help to raise their offspring.  The animal experiments showed that by manipulating the vasopressin receptors, montane voles could be changed into devoted partners and prairie voles could be changed into unsupportive parents.

Vasopessin is a small peptide consisting of 9 amino acids which is very similar to oxytocin, a maternal hormone that stimulates mammary glands and helps to bond a mother to her child.  About 40 percent of men have one or two copies of allele 334.  The median duration of first marriages that end in divorce is about 7.8 years.  In the future, it may be possible to have premarital genetic tests that could be used to predict the chances of a successful marriage and avoid the chances of marrying a womanizer or a deadbeat dad.

[1] Hasse Walum, Lars Westberg, Susanne Henningsson, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, David Reiss, Wilmar Igl, Jody M. Ganiban, Erica L. Spotts, Nancy L. Pedersen, Elias Eriksson and Paul Lichtenstein, Genetic variation in the vasopressin receptor 1a gene (AVPR1A) associates with pair-bonding behavior in humans, PNAS Early Edition, 2-5 September 2008.

Last Sunday, a 19-year old driver fell asleep at the wheel as she was driving on the Chesapeake bay bridge.  The bridge has two spans which normally carry one-way traffic in different directions, but on this day, there was two-way traffic because one of the spans was closed for repairs.  The car with the sleeping driver drifted unto the oncoming traffic and a collision involving several vehicles sent an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer plunging into the Chesapeake Bay.  The driver of the truck was killed.  The sleepy driver was hospitalized and was reported to be in good condition.

Sleep deprivation may cause paranoia, hallucinations, as well as cognitive and psychomotor impairments. In one experiment, people who drove after being awake for 17-19 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent, which is the legal limit for drunk driving in many western European countries.

Always get a good night’s sleep before you drive or operate machinery.  If you feel tired while driving, stop to rest and take a nap.  Think of the consequences.  What kind of life will you have after an accident?  If you survive, you may end up disabled or feeling guilty for the rest of your life for having injured someone through your negligence.

My sunflower just started blooming.  It grew from some seeds that were thrown in a flower pot two years ago.  The sunflower is probably the highest in Maryland because it is on top of a 20-story building.

One of the trick questions when I was in elementary school was:  “Where is the highest skyscraper in the world?”  At the time, the Sears tower had not been built, so the Empire State Building was the logical answer.  WRONG!  The highest skyscraper is in Mexico City.  Since Mexico City is 2250 meters or 7400 feet above sea level (about one and-a-half miles up in the sky), the highest skyscrapers have to be there.  If the question had been “Where is the tallest skyscraper in the world?” the answer might have been different.

Exercise your mind with some puzzles

Sagittal Abdominal Diameter

Here is another reason to get rid of that pot belly. It turns out that belly fat, the “apple” body shape, increases the risk of dementia. Dr. Rachel Whitmer, an epidemiologist working for Kaiser Permanente, has found strong association between obesity in middle age and future risk of Alzheimer disease, dementia, and cognitive impairment. Obese people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher had a 74% increased risk of dementia.[1]

Although BMI has been used as a measure of corpulence, BMI reflects only the ratio of body weight to the square of the height, so it does not take into consideration the distribution of the weight. It is well known that bodybuilders with massive chest muscles and small waists have BMIs over 30 which is the range for obesity. Similarly, persons with skinny legs and a fat abdomens have BMIs in the normal range. Increasingly, BMI is being displaced or supplemented by other measures that more accurately reflect the degree of abdominal adiposity, such as the Waist-to-Height ratio and the Sagittal Abdominal Diameter.

The Sagittal Abdominal Diameter, normally measured with a caliper, is the distance from the back to the upper abdomen midway between the top of the pelvis and the bottom of the ribs. This is basically the distance between the belly button and the back, as illustrated above. The Sagittal Abdominal Diameter closely correlates with the amount of belly fat and has become a good predictor of risk of sudden death from cardiovascular disease[2] and of insulin resistance[3].

[1] Whitmer RA, et al., Obesity in middle age and future risk of dementia: a 27 year longitudinal population based study, BMJ (British Medical Journal) 2005 Jun 11;330(7504):1360. Epub 2005 Apr 29. PMID: 15863436

[2] J.P. Empana, et al., Sagittal Abdominal Diameter and Risk of Sudden Death in Asymptomatic Middle-Aged Men. The Paris Prospective Study I, Circulation, 2004;110:2781-2785.

[3] Ulf Risérus, et al., Sagittal Abdominal Diameter Is a Strong Anthropometric Marker of Insulin Resistance and Hyperproinsulinemia in Obese Men, Diabetes Care, 27:2041-2046, 2004.

Free Food Samples

The word “cheating” is frequently associated with the word “diet”. Just like we feel guilty when we do something that is immoral or unethical, we also feel guilt when we break our promise to stick to a diet. Guilt is good. It can lead us back to the true path. The real problem is when our guilt becomes indifference or apathy because then there are no mental or moral boundaries to give us strength to achieve our goal.

Temptation is everywhere, specially when you go to a Whole Foods supermarket at lunch time. In the fruit section there are pieces of papaya and pineapple that you can try. Walk over to the deli section and there you will find samples of hummus, tuna salad, and other dips that you can put on corn chips or crispy breads. A little bit further in the cheese section, there are cubes of different cheeses that you can try. Finally, as you go by the bakery section, you will find samples of cakes or other sweet goodies. If you have not passed all these displays with your mouth closed, you will have consumed at least 200 calories before you leave the store.

What can you do to stay on track with your diet? You can walk for 30 minutes to burn off the 200 calories, or you can cut 200 calories from your next meal. What if you don’t? One day of straying from your diet won’t do you great harm, but if you continually snack on 200 calories per day, you will gain one pound in less than one month. Guaranteed.

Have Fun

Every day we worry about global warming, the stock market, medical insurance coverage, falling real estate values, and the wars in various parts of the world. How depressing! Life is better when we enjoy living. Sometimes, a little amusement can distract us from our problems and improve our mood. When we are happy we tend to be more optimistic and we feel better.

In the following link you will find several classic arcade games that you can play online. Pong, Tetris, various versions of Solitaire, and Pacman are non-violent, whereas Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Donkey Kong require you to battle aliens and monsters. Play a little and unwind!

The beginning of a new year provides an opportunity to change our life in a new direction. Many people make New Year resolutions to quit smoking or to lose weight, and by February the resolutions have been broken and life continues in the same old way. Why is this? Why can’t we keep the promises that we make to ourselves? The reason is very simple: no planning or thought is given to how the promise is to be accomplished.

Keeping a promise requires the same kind of preparation that you need to go on a trip. You need to decide what kind of things you will do. You need to think about what you will wear, how much to pack, and you need to make hotel reservations and arrange transportation. Similarly, keeping a promise to stop smoking or to lose some weight requires preparation and determination. You need to understand that you are going to have nicotine withdrawal symptoms or that you are going to feel hungry. How are you going to handle that? If you don’t have a strategy for coping with the problems that you will face, you are less likely to succeed at keeping your resolution.

Here are some suggestions that will help you:

• Remind yourself of your goal every day
• Learn as much as you can about your goals
• Get help from a support group or friends
• Keep a log to monitor your progress
• Every day, try to get one step closer to your goal
• When you reach your goal, don’t fall back on old habits

Learn how to quit smoking

Bonobo - the gentle ape

I recently watched a re-run of a PBS NOVA special about bonobos.[1] For some time, scientists have known that chimpanzees and bonobos share about 98% of their DNA with humans. Current research has shown that bonobos can use and understand language.[2] Analysis of the behavior of the two apes indicates that chimpanzees are bullies, fighters, and murderers who dominate by force, whereas bonobos are peace-loving, social, and sometimes join peacefully with non-related groups of bonobos. Researchers think that unity between the high-ranking bonobo females and year-round social sexual encounters between all members of the bonobo group help to reduce conflicts.

Humans have aggressive traits as well as social traits. The NOVA program tried to imply that the personality of humans may be closer to bonobos than to chimpanzees because we aggregate into social groups, we are very sexual, and we have some altruistic traits. However, as a background to the story, the program mentioned the regional war that spread through the Congo which is the native habitat of bonobos. The researchers studying the bonobo were detained as spies and were lucky to survive the ordeal. The war brought great misery to the area when food became scarce and thousands of people lost their lives through aggression, starvation, or disease.

There is great irony in trying to find good qualities in mankind when there are so many conflicts around us. The lessons of the great world wars have been largely forgotten. Words like Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, Gaza, Sudan, and Abu Ghraib evoke images of chaos, destruction, famine, and new forms of torture like “waterboarding”. We may be closer to chimpanzees than we would like to admit.

[1] Nova Special on the Bonobo

[2] Linguistic Capabilities of the Bonobo