Slashdot Mirror
New Way to Stimulate Brain to Release Antioxidants
Neopallium writes "A joint research effort between researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, CA, and a team from Japan (Iwate University, Osaka City University, Gifu University, Iwate Medical University) has discovered a novel way to treat stroke and neurodegenerative disorders. This approach works by inducing nerve cells in the brain and the spine to release natural antioxidants that protect nerve cells from stress and free radicals that lead to neurodegenerative diseases."
The research even suggests that this therapy could help in the treatment of Lou Gehrig's, and Alzheimer's disease. This is some very interesting and promising stuff. Lets hope that this is not just some press release for a pharmaceutical company trying to push a drug they are working on.
... pomegranite juice injections in my spine. Why don't they hook me up with a white wine IV and save themselves the trouble?
Stimulating the brain on its own would be a great achievement for todays couch potatoes.. let alone releasing anti oxidants.
-Sj53
According to the article, they use NEPPs (NEurite outgrowth-Promoting Prostaglandins) to activate the pathways to release the stress-reducing antioxidants. That's like how R2D2 is frequently used to run the elevators while Luke and Han are running around the Death Star.
This won't cure anyone who already has it though. It's a preventative measure. It may get rid of these diseases in 30 years once it's been used widely, but it's not going to help anyone right now.
Someone save me from this sanity.
Perhaps for treating specialized diseases, but like most drugs, if you force your brain to do things it normally shouldn't, like release more of a certain compound, you'll run into production and resistance issues, eventually requiring more and more for the same effect until bad things happen.
I remain skeptical.
This sounds like protandim. Protandim was a nutritional supplement that was being touted as a life extension drug a while back. The idea was that the human body could never swallow enough anti-oxidants to make up for the fall off with age. Besides, acids in the stomach ruin most anyways. The researcher who made protandim got the idea of restimulating the bodies natural production of anti-oxidants. I believe they claimed a 400% increase in naturally produced anti-oxidant levels. There were quite a few scientific papers that showed beneficial effects to mice suffering from strokes. Unfortunately the company seems to have wavered on what their claims are. Over time, they stepped down from that less provable statement that it could extend lifespan. Still, I don't think anyone has refuted the positive effects. They just shouldn't have targeted the I want to live forever market.
It would reverse the effects of years of smoking pot??
So what you're saying is start injecting myself now just in case I was going to have a stroke in 30 years...
Sure, you may be disappointed with your lackluster weight-loss results, but keep your chin up, as it helps to prevent th
Yeah, sometimes I releive stress with "joint research" too.
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You have to ask yourself, at what point is it time to just let it go? Is there a point to let it go? Maybe the point exists, maybe it doesn't, I expect its a relative outlook of moral perspective, but it seems that if there is a line somewhere, it can't be far away from where we are.
-Da3vid-
mad dr: IGOR! what is that I smell?!? ****BZzZzzztt!!***** (fumes)
Igor: Massstr!! Thaphts your attempt at stimulating neurological antioxidents!
mad dr: You imbasol! I told you not to use electricity! I told you to use electrolytes!!. You nimwit!
igor: but,...MASssssterr! I swwear you said electricity! ****BZzZzzztt!!*****
mad dr: this is the last time I let you help me with my experiments!
You can sir, have my place in the line, if you so think. Me on the other hand, I do not care if it is wrong morally, ethically, or whatnot, I want to avoid crossing the line as long as possible.
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It seems in this situation, such a complaint is jumping the gun a bit. First of all, this *is* talking about treating specialized diseases (as it says in the article, "stroke and neurodegenerative disorders". And in these cases, the brain is already "doing something it normally shouldn't." The drug is merely trying to restore it to a state of functioning normally.
Second, while the possibility of resistance is always looming, a stroke or Alzheimer's patient may be willing to take that risk if it means even a slightly longer period of lucidity. Would you rather risk the *possibility* of the drug eventually causing problems or losing its effectiveness, or take instead the *certainty* of a progressive and insidious neurological disease?
Certainly a new drug should not be taken lightly. For example, it may not yet be appropriate for someone who has learned of their diagnosis but have not yet degenerated very far. But once you've reached such a hopeless condition as to be completely debilitated, you (or those caring for you) may ask "What's the worst that could happen? At least with this there's hope."
"excessive levels glutamate is toxic, resulting in over stimulation of nerve cells, known as excitotoxicity, and causing excessive stress on the nerve cells eventually ending in cell death"
Who knew stress was bad for you, eh?
There is a very big difference between discovering a new technique for activating a cells stress response and developing a novel therapy for humans. Time and time again, the media (slashdot included) takes scientific reports completely out of context. The authors tested their compounds in tissue cultures, nothing more.
Sounds interesting, although I'm more interested in what this type of approach can mean for anti-aging, which is also focused around combating cell degeneration and promoting regeneration. Maybe someone with more medical knowledge can clue me in?
One really has to wait for the study to be published before making any judgements.
However, there have been quite a few promising studies (in both rats and people) showing that antioxidants dramatically reduce the extent of damage to the brain in both diseases of the brain and traumatic brain injury.
Some of the studies I have read indicate that it should be possible to dramatically boost levels of brain antioxidants simply by ingesting antioxidants that are capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier. Compounds such as alpha-lipoic acid (which is both fat- and water-soluble) and curcumin (a component of the popular curry spice turmeric) are cheap, safe, and very powerful antioxidants that have been studied.
From the press release, it sounds like the methods used in the study are pretty invasive expensive. I would like to see more long-term research using widely available antioxidant supplements. Unfortunately, since most medical research is funded by drug companies these days, we aren't likely to see lots of grants going to scientists who want to study non-patentable things like turmeric or vitamin C.
Unfortunately, the brain is induced to that state using Oxygen.
The Oxygen Channel.
...to stimulate the brain. Pr0n. Next problem, how to desensitize it.
The dangerous free radicals that antioxidants decrease are not simply oxygen, but hydroxyl ions: OH-
A great deal of biochemistry is governed not by stong covalent bonds, but by comparatively weak ionic bonds. You have dozens of different types of ions flowing through your body, all fulfilling different roles.
Unfortunately, ordinary body processes produce ionic waste, such as free radicals. If you have too many free radicals in your bloodstream, they can bond with positive ions that would otherwise interact with other negative ions.
A simple example of ions in your bloodstream is table salt. (There are many types of salt in your body, but everyone understands table salt.) When you eat salt (sodium chloride, NaCl), it dissolves in your body fluids and disassociates into its component ions, Na+ and Cl-. I'm not sure of the numbers; it's been a long time since high school biology, but different ions have different amounts of charge. I'm pretty sure Na+ and Cl- are both single-charge ions.
So antioxidants don't rob your brain of valuable oxygen; they remove a harmful ionic waste product.
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This approach works by inducing nerve cells in the brain and the spine to release natural antioxidants that protect nerve cells from stress
So technically it can be used to counter depression...?
I love humanity, it is people I hate
Because it's not fat soluble, so it will have limited effect on the brain.
I recently (4ish months ago) started smoking pot (age 18 at the time). It took awhile to get the THC flowing, or maybe my technique right, I don't know. Either way, it took a few times before I got high. That worked just fine for awhile.
Then, two months ago, I got REALLY high. I don't know why this experience was so much different, but it was, and it's been the same way all of two times I've smoked since then. The problem is that ever since that experience two months ago, I haven't felt the same. At all. For awhile I had thought I had somehow suffered some kind of minor brain damage, because of how fucked up things felt. My attention was shot. My memory was shot. I couldn't focus -- and I don't mean the usual "oh, too distracted" couldn't focus. I mean I was no longer mentally capable of zoning in. It was a very real and very scary phenomenon.
Since then I've managed to adapt to this altered state of mind, and I'm getting along decently, but I can still tell that something is distinctly amiss whenever I really focus on it. I know for a fact that others have gone through a similar transition, although most have simply adapted and forgotten about it. The thing is, either only a very small percentage of people are susceptible to this, or only a very small percentage actually notice it. I don't know which. The lack of any sort of medical documentation on such a phenomenon is the disturbing thing. I've been looking for an explanation for two months now, and I've come up blank. There are a few very rare medical papers describing cases of a "cannabis psychosis" which seems to roughly emulate what I experienced, but all of these are decades old and seem to have gone nowhere. So what's the deal? I'm not sure if I'll ever find out.
The body's closed-loop system requires that the ingredients for making the anti-oxidants be available in good quantity. Today's hospitals are not exactly outposts of healthy nutritious food, and regular "allopathic" doctors are not very knowledgeable about nutrition. Last time a relative was in the hospital (my mom), they were serving white bread, processed turkey loaf, and what had to be frozen vegetable bits - your basic CHON food, but devoid of the phytonutrients the fresh fruits and veggies we're told to consume would contain.
In other words, the same results can be obtained from the outside - the antioxidants already available in your food.
O lord, bless this thy holy hand grenade, that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.
The abstract is available and the whole article is available for purchase for those interested.
Actually, a radical does not have to be an ion.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_(chemistry):
"In chemistry, radicals (often refered to as free radicals) are atomic or molecular species with unpaired electrons or an otherwise open shell configuration. These unpaired electrons are usually highly reactive, so radicals are likely to take part in chemical reactions."
Molecular oxygen is of course required for your brain to function, but oxygen radicals are not.
What kind of foods might, ""Activate the Keap1/Nrf2 Pathway for Neuroprotection by Electrophilic Phase II Inducers." Or what kind of food has phase II inducers? What are we humans not getting enough of in our diet that inhibits us from destroying enough glutamate? Or is there something IN our diet that simply produces too much? These are more relevant and interesting questions to me.
rhY
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
dont forget NOS and related species that it pumps out. also enormously important in signaling of the brain.
Dear mod-gods, how on earth was my post flamebait? 50% insightful, 50% flamebait? No attacks on anybody? Please explain.
O lord, bless this thy holy hand grenade, that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.