Study of Retired NFL Players Finds Evidence of Brain Damage

HealthDay – Fri, Jun 29, 2012 FRIDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Tests performed on a group of retired NFL players revealed that more than 40 percent suffered from problems such as depression and dementia, adding to a growing pile of evidence that repeated sports-related head traumas can lead to lasting neurological issues.

Analyzing 34 ex-professional football players (average age 62) on benchmarks such as memory, reasoning, problem-solving and behavior, researchers from the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas at Dallas found that 20 tested normal while the rest suffered from depression, various deficits in memory/thinking or a combination of these issues. Twenty-six of the players also underwent MRI scans.

"We picked up that many guys were depressed but didn't know it," added study author Dr. John Hart, medical science director at the center. "The cognitive impairments . . . were more than what's expected for their ages. A lot had damage to their brain's white matter, so for us it's a real clue or marker to look for."

Hart is scheduled to present the findings Friday at the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) annual meeting in St. Louis. Research presented at scientific meetings should be considered preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

An estimated 300,000 sports-related concussions occur in the United States each year, and mounting attention is being paid to the neurological toll of those injuries on former professional athletes. In June, a massive bundle of lawsuits representing more than 2,100 National Football League players was filed against the league, claiming that the NFL hid information linking football-related head injuries to permanent brain damage.

Hart's study involved ex-NFL athletes hailing from the North Texas region. For comparison purposes, the researchers also looked at the brains of 26 people with no signs of mental deficits, selected from the general population and matched for age, education and IQ.

Of the eight former players who were found to have depression -- the finding that most surprised Hart -- most didn't exhibit the mood issues such as sadness that are typically associated with the condition, he said.

Instead, "there was a lack of energy, initiative or sex drive and disrupted sleep, with weight gain or loss," Hart said. "They would ruminate or get anxious about stuff, but they weren't crying. They were shocked or surprised

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Too much salt may damage blood vessels and lead to high blood pressure

ScienceDaily (June 18, 2012) — Eating a high-salt diet for several years may damage blood vessels -- increasing your risk of developing high blood pressure, according to research reported in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

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People with this type of blood vessel damage who eat a high-salt diet are more likely to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure . This research hints at the presence of a "sodium amplification loop" in which eating too much salt for a long time damages blood vessels, leading to a greater chance of developing high blood pressure if the high-salt diet is continued.

Researchers didn't assess the cause-and-effect relationship between salt intake and high blood pressure. But the study's results "add to the considerable evidence that a diet heavy on salt is closely linked to high blood pressure," said John Forman, M.D., lead author of the study and a nephrologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.

"In addition, this study reinforces guidelines backed by the American Heart Association and other professional organizations that recommend reducing salt consumption to minimize the risk of developing high blood pressure," Forman said.

One gram of sodium is equal to 2.5 grams of table salt (sodium chloride).

Researchers conducted an observational study (PREVEND) in which they tracked the sodium intake of 5,556 men and women from the general population of Groningen, Netherlands. Sodium intake was assessed by collecting multiple 24-hour urine samples, which is considered the optimal method to measure sodium intake.

Researchers analyzed the association between sodium consumption and blood levels of uric acid and albumin in the urine -- both markers of blood vessel damage -- in participants not taking high blood pressure medicine.

During a median follow-up of 6.4 years, 878 new hypertension diagnoses were made.

Higher sodium intake was associated with increasing levels of uric acid and albumin over time. The higher the levels of these markers, the greater the risk of developing hypertension if dietary salt intake was high, researchers found. Compared with participants eating the least amount of sodium (about 2,200 milligrams a day), those eating the most (about 6,200 mg/d) were 21 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure. However, those who had high uric acid levels and ate the most salt were 32 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure while those with high urine albumin levels and highest salt intake were 86 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure.

A high-salt diet is believed to be responsible for 20 percent to 40 percent of all cases of high blood pressure in the United States.

Because the study involved only European Caucasians, the results should be replicated in Hispanics, African-Americans and others in the United States; however, other researchers have found a link between a high-salt diet and high blood pressure in these other populations, Forman said.

Co-authors are Lieneke Scheven, M.D.; Paul de Jong, M.D.; Stephan Bakker, Ph.D.; Gary Curhan, M.D.; and Ron Gansevoort, M.D.

The American Heart Association, the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Disease, and the Dutch Kidney Foundation funded the study.

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Sleep Apnea May Be Linked to Nerve Damage in Diabetics

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with nerve damage in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.

The severity of this type of nerve damage -- called diabetic peripheral neuropathy -- is linked with the extent of sleep apnea and the degree of low blood oxygen levels that occur while patients sleep, the researchers found.

People with obstructive sleep apnea subconsciously awaken many times a night -- even dozens of times an hour -- because their airways close, disrupting their breathing. Those with diabetic peripheral neuropathy may have numbness or tingling in their extremities, or damage to their major organs.

The study of 234 adults with type 2 diabetes found that sleep apnea was independently associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy even after the researchers accounted for a number of other possible factors, including obesity, ethnicity, gender, age at diabetes diagnosis, and the length of time a person had diabetes.

The findings were published online ahead of print in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

"Obstructive sleep apnea is known to be associated with inflammation and oxidative stress, so we hypothesized that it would be associated with peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes," lead author Dr. Abd Tahrani, a clinical lecturer in endocrinology and diabetes at the University of Birmingham in England, said in a news release from the American Thoracic Society.

However, while the study uncovered an association between obstructive sleep apnea and peripheral neuropathy in diabetic patients, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Further research is needed to determine the role of sleep apnea and low blood oxygen levels in the development and progression of nerve damage in patients with type 2 diabetes, and to assess the potential impact of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on diabetic peripheral neuropathy, the study authors said.

Continuous positive airway pressure treatment, or CPAP, keeps obstructive sleep apnea patients' airways open while they sleep.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about diabetic neuropathy.

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High Fructose Corn Syrup Injures the Brain; DHA Offsets Damage

Average Americans toss their health in the trash bin, accomplishing this feat by consuming 35 pounds of high fructose corn syrup per year. Don’t expect them to have enough intelligence on their own to figure out this behavior is wrong, as the latest animal study suggests they may be too dumb to figure it out. 

UCLA researchers trained mice to run a complex maze. Then they fed them high fructose death syrup for six weeks. A special group of mice also got to consume omega-3 fatty acids such as DHA Docosahexaenoic acid Essential omega 3 fatty acid integral to the health of all cell membranes, nerve and brain function. Must be gotten through the diet via cold water oceanic fish or some very limited plant sources or taken as a supplement.. 

The high fructose group experienced brain injury and reduction of synaptic plasticity Ability of the connection or synapse between two neurons to change in strength because of either use or lack of use., which also showed up as poor recall of what they had learned. They developed insulin resistance and their brain function could be described as rigid and dull. On the other hand, mice that also consumed DHA Docosahexaenoic acid Essential omega 3 fatty acid integral to the health of all cell membranes, nerve and brain function. Must be gotten through the diet via cold water oceanic fish or some very limited plant sources or taken as a supplement. showed little damage from the high fructose intake.

“Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Eating a high fructose diet over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage. Our findings suggest that consuming DHA Docosahexaenoic acid Essential omega 3 fatty acid integral to the health of all cell membranes, nerve and brain function. Must be gotten through the diet via cold water oceanic fish or some very limited plant sources or taken as a supplement. regularly protects the brain against fructose’s harmful effects. It’s like saving money in the bank. You want to build a reserve for your brain to tap when it requires extra fuel to fight off future diseases.”

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Obese Teens Already Have Heart Damage

Sobering news was presented at the annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology: Obese teens, without any signs or symptoms of cardiovascular disease, were found to have significant structural and functional damage to their hearts.

The researchers found that as the BMI Body Mass Index. BMI is a statistical measurement of body weight based on the person's height and weight. It does not actually measure the body fat percentage but provides an estimation of a healthy body weight. Normal BMI for adults ranges from 18.5-24.9 increased in these teens so did the thickness of the arteries of the heart.  Increased structural thickness correlated with decreased left ventricular velocity, indicating that the structural heart problems were impairing healthy heart function.

This study is a bit of a shocker as it shows adverse changes to the heart prior to the onset of a cardiovascular risk profile.  This means that parents could think their obese child is simply overweight but not in any real trouble that needs attention.

This study implies that diligent efforts to help overweight children lose weight must be a priority.  Obesity will drastically impair the health of young people, at ever-earlier ages.  Twenty years ago type 2 diabetes was virtually non existent in teens.  Now it is common.

The fact that obesity in teens is correlated with heart damage is a major wake-up call.  If nothing is done we will have a generation of citizens who have health debilitating heart disease in their 30’s. 

There are plenty of BMI Body Mass Index. BMI is a statistical measurement of body weight based on the person's height and weight. It does not actually measure the body fat percentage but provides an estimation of a healthy body weight. Normal BMI for adults ranges from 18.5-24.9 calculators on the WEB.  Another easy and highly accurate test is to measure the waistline and compare the measurement to height.  Waistline circumference in inches times two should never be more than height in inches; this measurement is appropriate for children and teens.  Once this line is crossed we know that cardiovascular disease processes have been set in motion, regardless of age.  Unfortunately, we now know that such processes include heart damage.  Such damage is reversible over time, but only if weight is lost.

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Obese adolescents have heart damage

ScienceDaily (May 21, 2012) — Obese adolescents with no symptoms of heart disease already have heart damage, according to new research.

See Also:Health & MedicineObesityHeart DiseaseStroke PreventionCholesterolDiseases and ConditionsChronic IllnessLiving WellReferenceEchocardiographyBody mass indexOverweightNutrition and pregnancy

The findings were presented at the Heart Failure Congress 2012, 19-22 May, in Belgrade, Serbia. The Congress is the main annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology.

Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and previous research has shown that obese adults have structural and functional changes to their hearts. The current study investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cardiac function in overweight and obese adolescents with no symptoms of heart disease.

For the study, 97 healthy adolescents had their weight, height, waist circumference and hip circumference measured. BMI and waist/hip ratio were calculated. Blood and biochemistry tests and an echocardiogram were performed. Based on their BMI, patients were divided into three groups: lean (L

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Researchers Repair Damage Caused by Heart Attacks in Mice

HealthDay – 29 mins ago WEDNESDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists report they were able to repair mouse hearts that were damaged by heart attacks.

Researchers from the Gladstone Institutes successfully converted scar tissue in the mice into beating heart muscle. Their findings, they said, might eventually lead to a similar treatment for people who've had heart attacks.

"The damage from a heart attack is typically permanent because heart-muscle cells -- deprived of oxygen during the attack -- die and scar tissue forms," Dr. Deepak Srivastava, who directs cardiovascular and stem cell research at Gladstone, a nonprofit biomedical research institution, said in a Gladstone news release. "But our experiments in mice are a proof of concept that we can reprogram non-beating cells directly into fully functional, beating heart cells -- offering an innovative and less invasive way to restore heart function after a heart attack."

In conducting the study, the researchers delivered three genes, known as GMT, involved in embryonic heart development directly into the damaged areas of the mouse hearts. They found the non-beating scar tissue was transformed into beating heart muscle within one month. The heart function of the mice improved even more after three months, the study added.

"These findings could have a significant impact on heart-failure patients -- whose damaged hearts make it difficult for them to engage in normal activities like walking up a flight of stairs," Li Qian, a postdoctoral scholar, who is also a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine postdoctoral scholar and a Roddenberry Fellow, said in the news release. "This research may result in a much-needed alternative to heart transplants -- for which donors are extremely limited. And because we are reprogramming cells directly in the heart, we eliminate the need to surgically implant cells that were created in a petri dish."

The next step, the study authors noted, is to duplicate their research and test its safety in larger mammals, such as pigs. This will bring the scientists one step closer to testing this type of treatment in people.

"We hope that our research will lay the foundation for initiating cardiac repair soon after a heart attack -- perhaps even when the patient arrives in the emergency room," said Srivastava, who is also a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, with which Gladstone is affiliated.

The findings were published online April 18 in the journal Nature.

In the future, the scientists say they hope this type of direct reprogramming will be used to also treat spinal cord injury and illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

While the findings of the new study are promising, scientists note that research involving animals often fails to produce similar results in humans.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute provides more information on heart attacks.

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Lipoic Acid Can Stop Retinal Damage from High Blood Sugar

Researchers from the Kresge Eye Institute of Wayne State University have found that R-alpha lipoic acid can break a vicious cycle of retinal damage associated with high blood sugar, a common and debilitating problem associated with Type 2 Diabetes.

This study is particularly interesting because once a person has high blood sugar, it triggers damage to the mitochondria Organelle found in cells that produce ATP or chemical energy. Also involved with cell signaling, cellular differentiation, cell death, cell growth, along with heme and steroid synthesis. (cell engines) within the retina, resulting in impaired energetic function and declining retinal health.  Unfortunately, even if blood sugar levels are brought down a vicious cycle of retinal damage persists. The study showed that R-alpha lipoic acid could reverse the problem in retinal mitochondria Organelle found in cells that produce ATP or chemical energy. Also involved with cell signaling, cellular differentiation, cell death, cell growth, along with heme and steroid synthesis. , restoring their energetic function to normal while arresting the progression of diabetic retinopathy. 

It is quite unfortunate that the obesity epidemic of today will result in a blindness epidemic within the next generation.  R-alpha lipoic acid shows the potential to save the eyesight of many people at risk for serious vision loss.

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