Ovarian Transplants May Preserve Fertility in Young Cancer Survivors

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Curry spice, omega-3 fatty acid preserve walking ability following spinal-cord injury

ScienceDaily (June 26, 2012) — UCLA researchers discovered that a diet enriched with a popular omega-3 fatty acid and an ingredient in curry spice preserved walking ability in rats with spinal-cord injury. Published June 26 in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, the findings suggest that these dietary supplements help repair nerve cells and maintain neurological function after degenerative damage to the neck.

See Also:Health & MedicineBone and SpineNutritionMind & BrainDieting and Weight ControlBrain InjuryPlants & AnimalsCell BiologyBiologyReferenceSpinal cordPeripheral nervous systemPhantom limbOily fish

"Normal aging often narrows the spinal canal, putting pressure on the spinal cord and injuring tissue," explained principal investigator Dr. Langston Holly, associate professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "While surgery can relieve the pressure and prevent further injury, it can't repair damage to the cells and nerve fibers. We wanted to explore whether dietary supplementation could help the spinal cord heal itself."

The UCLA team studied two groups of rats with a condition that simulated cervical myelopathy -- a progressive disorder that often occurs in people with spine-weakening conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. Cervical myelopathy can lead to disabling neurological symptoms, such as difficulty walking, neck and arm pain, hand numbness and weakness of the limbs. It's the most common cause of spine-related walking problems in people over 55.

The first group of animals was fed rat chow that replicated a Western diet high in saturated fats and sugar. The second group consumed a standard diet supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, and curcumin, a compound in turmeric, an Indian curry spice. A third set of rats received a standard rat diet and served as a control group.

Why these supplements? DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid shown to repair damage to cell membranes. Curcumin is a strong antioxidant that previous studies have linked to tissue repair. Both reduce inflammation.

"The brain and spinal cord work together, and years of research demonstrate that supplements like DHA and curcumin can positively influence the brain," said coauthor Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, professor of neurosurgery. "We suspected that what works in the brain may also work in the spinal cord. When we were unable to find good data to support our hypothesis, we decided to study it ourselves."

The researchers recorded a baseline of the rats walking and re-examined the animals' gait on a weekly basis. As early as three weeks, the rats eating the Western diet demonstrated measurable walking problems that worsened as the study progressed. Rats fed a diet enriched with DHA and curcumin walked significantly better than the first group even six weeks after the study's start.

Next, the scientists examined the rats' spinal cords to evaluate how diet affected their injury on a molecular level. The researchers measured levels of three markers respectively linked to cell-membrane damage, neural repair and cellular communication.

The rats that ate the Western diet showed higher levels of the marker linked to cell-membrane damage. In contrast, the DHA and curcumin appeared to offset the injury's effect in the second group, which displayed equivalent marker levels to the control group.

Levels of the markers linked to neural repair and cellular communication were significantly lower in the rats raised on the Western diet. Again, levels in the animals fed the supplemented diet appeared similar to those of the control group.

"DHA and curcumin appear to invoke several molecular mechanisms that preserved neurological function in the rats," said Gomez-Pinilla. "This is an exciting first step toward understanding the role that diet plays in protecting the body from degenerative disease."

"Our findings suggest that diet can help minimize disease-related changes and repair damage to the spinal cord," said Holly. "We next want to look at other mechanisms involved in the cascade of events leading up to chronic spinal-cord injury. Our goal is to identify which stages will respond best to medical intervention and identify effective steps for slowing the disease process."

Holly's and Gomez-Pinilla's coauthors included Dr. Donald Blaskiewicz, Aiguo Wu, Cameron Feng and Zhe Ying, all of UCLA. Their research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (RO1 NS056413) and the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation.

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DHA Helps Preserve Eyesight During Aging

Eyesight is a weak link in the aging process. Retinal function progressively declines even in healthy aging and is sped up by a variety of health issues. Loss of vision issues are at epidemic levels in older Americans. The authors of a new study conclude, “Dietary 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. could have broad preventative therapeutic applications (acting on pathologic and normal age-related ocular processes).” 

One hallmark of the aging process is accumulation of lipofuscin. Lipofuscin is an accumulation of damaged fat fragments. When these occur under your skin we call them age spots. They occur in your brain and block memory. When they occur at an accelerated rate they typify poor health and disease risk. Lipofuscin accumulation in the retina is highly associated with age-related macular degeneration.

In order to study the effect of 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. on this issue scientists used a transgenic mouse model (mutant human ELOVL4; E4), which displays extensive age-related retina dysfunction and massive lipofuscin accumulation. They measured the lipofuscin accumulation by determining the levels of one of the components of the lipofuscin called A2E. The effect of 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. was also measured in normal mice.

Supplementation for one to three months had no effect. As supplementation continued, improvement was noted in both types of mice.  The longer the mice were supplemented (up to 18 months in this study), the better the results.  In the mutant mice destined for retinal disease, problems were arrested mid-degenerative stage, preventing the onset of retinal disease.  In the normal mice the typical lipofuscin accumulation in the retina was prevented.  This study provides a specific and important mechanism demonstrating how 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. protects eyesight.

This study supports the ongoing use of 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. to preserve eyesight.  A few months of 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. is likely to do little, whereas the ongoing use of 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. started earlier in life is much more likely to have large benefits for eyesight preservation.  This is similar to the idea of looking in the mirror at age 80 and wondering what you can do about your wrinkles.  It would have been a lot better to get started at an earlier age.  Since loss or serious reduction in eyesight has such a profound impact on quality of life this is yet another example of an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure.

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Few Young Women With Cancer Take Steps to Preserve Fertility

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