When It Comes to Memory, It's All About Location

HealthDay News) -- A new report finds that where protein-destroying machines reside in the brain's nerve cells may help determine how memories are formed, a finding that may play a role in future treatments for Alzheimer's and other brain diseases.

Wake Forest University School of Medicine researchers studying mice discovered that cylinder-shaped proteasomes, which help control protein levels, play different roles in controlling synapse strength depending on where they are in the nerve cells of the hippocampus, an area of the brain linked to memory.

When humans or animals learn and store information in their memory, these connections between cells become stronger or weaker, Ashok Hegde, associate professor of neurolobiology and anatomy at Wake Forest, said in a prepared statement. For example, if people learn to do something better, such as playing softball, the synapses that control hand-eye coordination will become stronger. If they learn to ignore something, such as the barking of a neighbor's dog, then the synapses that control paying attention will become weaker.

The findings were published in the current issue of Learning & Memory.

It is known that the degradation of proteins, which are made by cells to control cell functions, plays an important role in memory function. The team found that proteasomes in the dendrites -- the branched parts of a neuron that conduct electrical stimulation -- limit the connection strength between cells. Proteasomes in the nucleus, which contains the cell's genetic material, help maintain synapse strength for long periods of time.

The researchers are now trying to learn how to block proteasome activity specifically in the dendrites of mice to increase the strength of synapses and of memory. In their ongoing studies, the mice will be analyzed on how well they can learn to navigate a maze.

"If we see a memory enhancement when we block the proteasome in dendrites, we can use this strategy to treat memory loss," Hegde said.

More information
The Alzheimer's Association has more about current treatments for Alzheimer's disease.

Metabolic Syndrome Triggered by Overeating, Not Obesity

(HealthDay News) -- Overeating, not the obesity it causes, is the actual cause of metabolic syndrome, suggests a study with mice by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

Metabolic syndrome is a collection of health factors that increase the risk of developing insulin resistance, fatty liver, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

This study was among the first to propose that weight gain is an early symptom, not a direct cause, of metabolic syndrome, the researchers said.

"Most people today think that obesity itself causes metabolic syndrome," senior author Dr. Roger Unger, professor of internal medicine, said in a prepared statement. "We're ingrained to think obesity is the cause of all health problems, when, in fact, it is the spillover of fat into organs other than fat cells that damages these organs, such as the heart and the liver. Depositing fatty molecules in fat cells where they belong actually delays that harmful spillover."

In this study, Under and his colleagues compared normal mice to mice that were genetically altered to prevent their fat cells from expanding. Both groups of mice were overfed.

The normal mice got fat but didn't develop signs of metabolic syndrome until after about seven weeks of overeating. The genetically altered mice stayed slim but became seriously ill within a few weeks and displayed evidence of severe heart problems and major increases in blood sugar levels eight weeks before minimal heart problems developed in the normal mice, the researchers said.

The genetically altered mice showed significant damage to heart cells and to the insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas. They also got sick quicker, because the extra calories they consumed weren't stored in fat cells, but rather in other tissues, the researchers said.

The study was published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The exact cause of metabolic syndrome, which affects about 50 million Americans, is unknown, but lack of exercise and obesity have been tagged as the primary underlying contributors to the development of the condition, according to background information in the study.

More information
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about metabolic syndrome.

Cure Diabetes mellitus (Madhumeha)

According to Ayurveda, the consideration of a patient’s lifestyle, age, type of work, psychosocial needs and willpower is important in a management plan.

The latter includes the necessary panchakarmas (cleansing methods), herbal formulas, a healthy meal plan, and regular blood sugar monitoring. A physician needs to evaluate the plan at each visit and make necessary […]

Relevence of Ayurveda in today’s life

The diseases pertaining to life science are neither contagious nor influenced by genetics. These diseases breed in exhausted bodies that are out-of-shape due to unhealthy and frenzied lifestyles. These diseases involve both mind and body and hence holistic approach of Ayurveda is essential in bringing about well being and good health and plays a major role in treating diseases prevalent in today’s world.

The advantages of holistic treatments for combating heart diseases, diabetes and cancer, as in Ayurvedic literature has already been proven and accepted in countries like Japan, Singapore and Finland.

Ayurveda emphasizes that an individual should adopt healthy habits like regular routine schedule for sleep, proper cleansing practices, body massage, meditation, regular physical exercises, yoga, good clothing habits, a balanced diet depending on the weather, adequate intake of fluids, avoiding anger and stress and maintaining healthy relationships, sex life that is socially permissible and self education.

The holistic approach of Ayurveda involves usage of drug, behavioral changes and diet in tackling problems of mind and body to ensure vitality and good health. In Ayurveda, an illness is treated by four main procedures; cleansing (Samshodhana), Palliation (Samshamana), rejuvenation (Rasayana) and spiritual and psychological healing (Satvavajaya). When there is an imbalance of doshas, the lifestyles and dietary managements that are based on these doshas get disturbed.

Many Women Unclear About Breast Cancer Treatments

(HealthDay News) -- Only half the women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer clearly understand the risks and benefits of a mastectomy versus a breast-conserving lumpectomy plus radiation, even after they have one of the procedures, according to a new study.

If the woman is black or Hispanic, the chances are even less likely she has adequate information, say researchers whose results appear in the latest online issue of the journal Health Services Research.

The study looked at 1,132 women from Detroit and Los Angeles who had undergone surgery for ductal carcinoma in situ or invasive but not metastatic breast cancer. The women reported their race and ethnicity, knowledge of survival and recurrence, and cancer topics they had discussed with their surgeons, who also were surveyed.

Only 51 percent of women in the study knew that patients who had a mastectomy or a lumpectomy plus radiation had the same five-year survival rate. Forty-eight percent of the women reported not knowing whether cancer recurrence rates were the same for mastectomy as they were for a lumpectomy with radiation.

The survey also revealed that black and Hispanic women were less likely to know about breast cancer survival and recurrence, as were older women and those with less education.

"Overall, women were not generally well-informed about the risks and benefits of the treatment they received," study lead author Sarah Hawley, a research assistant professor at the University of Michigan Health System and research investigator at the Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System, said in a prepared statement.

Women who said their surgeons discussed both treatment options did know more about survival and recurrence rates, but minority women still lagged in survival and recurrence knowledge, Hawley said.

"The authors' finding of racial and ethnic differences in knowledge of survival and recurrence according to surgical treatment are concerning because of their implications about possible suboptimal communication between surgeons and their ethnic minority patients," Dr. Leah Karliner, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not affiliated with the study, said in a prepared statement.

However, Karliner said the findings are only associations, and readers can't draw cause-and-effect conclusions about the results.

For women facing breast cancer treatment, they should always ask all of their questions before deciding on a treatment option and make sure they understand the reasons behind their doctors' recommendations for or against a particular treatment, Karliner said.

More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer.

Indian guru makes peace angels of Iraqi youths

MUMBAI (Reuters) - An Indian spiritual guru is teaching yoga and meditation to a group of war-weary Iraqis, whom he hopes will extend their new-found inner peace to their nation.
The 55 men and women — chosen by the Iraqi government — live on an expansive spiritual retreat in southern India and will follow an intensive meditation and rhythmic breathing regime for a month to learn about an alternative lifestyle.

Waking up at five every morning, they participate in yoga classes, meditate, help in the kitchen and take part in spiritual discussions, public speaking classes and spiritual singing as part of their physical, mental, emotional and social development.

Under the tutelage of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, one of the world’s most popular spiritual leaders, the youngsters also learn about leadership qualities so that when they go back they can lead their local communities.