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Published on Leave a comment on Good Reason To Eat Vegetables Daily

New research further confirms a link between higher lutein levels (as measured in the blood) and the preservation of "crystallized intelligence" in older adults.  Crystallized intelligence is the ability to use the skills and knowledge one has acquired over a lifetime. Lutein is in foods such as leafy green vegetables, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage) and egg yolks. Lutein is also found in small amounts in other fruits and vegetables. Bottom line: eat a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables daily. [Original study.]Medical Xpress:

Study links nutrition to brain health and intelligence in older adults

A study of older adults links consumption of a pigment found in leafy greens to the preservation of "crystallized intelligence," the ability to use the skills and knowledge one has acquired over a lifetime.

Lutein (LOO-teen) is one of several plant pigments that humans acquire through the diet, primarily by eating leafy green vegetables, cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, or egg yolks, said University of Illinois graduate student Marta Zamroziewicz, who led the study with Illinois psychology professor Aron Barbey. Lutein accumulates in the brain, embedding in cell membranes, where it likely plays "a neuroprotective role," she said. "Previous studies have found that a person's lutein status is linked to cognitive performance across the lifespan," Zamroziewicz said. 

The study enrolled 122 healthy participants aged 65 to 75 who solved problems and answered questions on a standard test of crystallized intelligence. Researchers also collected blood samples to determine blood serum levels of lutein and imaged participants' brains using MRI to measure the volume of different brain structures. The team focused on parts of the temporal cortex, a brain region that other studies suggest plays a role in the preservation of crystallized intelligence.

The researchers found that participants with higher blood serum levels of lutein tended to do better on tests of crystallized intelligence. Serum lutein levels reflect only recent dietary intakes, Zamroziewicz said, but are associated with brain concentrations of lutein in older adults, which reflect long-term dietary intake. Those with higher serum lutein levels also tended to have thicker gray matter in the parahippocampal cortex, a brain region that, like crystallized intelligence, is preserved in healthy aging, the researchers report..... "Our findings do not demonstrate causality," Zamroziewicz said. "We did find that lutein is linked to crystallized intelligence through the parahippocampal cortex."

Published on Leave a comment on Is Autism Spectrum Disorder Linked To Pregnancy Flu Shots or The Flu?

A big concern nowadays is why some children develop autism, specifically autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism spectrum disorder is considered a life-long neurodevelopmental disorder that is thought to affect 1 out of 68 American children. While the causes of ASD are unknown in most cases, some studies report an association (higher risk) between a pregnant woman's infections and fever during pregnancy and risk of ASD in the baby, while other studies don't find such an association. Some studies also looked at the timing of infections during pregnancy, but again results have been mixed. A viral infection during the first trimester is associated with increased risk in some studies, while other studies report an increased risk with a second- or third-trimester bacterial infection.  So it has been unclear whether a flu (influenza) infection or flu vaccination during pregnancy is linked to autism spectrum disorder or not. Is there a link or not?

Why are pregnant women encouraged to get a flu shot (flu vaccine)? This is because pregnant women have an increased risk of complications from the flu infection. Studies also show that getting a flu vaccine during pregnancy reduces the risk of a preterm birth, a small-for gestational-age child, and a low-birth-weight child, and prevents influenza infection in newborns for up to 6 months.

The researchers of a large study done in California found no association between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk and flu (influenza) infection during pregnancy or flu (influenza) vaccination during the second to third trimester of pregnancy. However, there was a suggestion of increased ASD risk among children whose mothers received flu vaccinations during the first trimester (though the researchers say the association was perhaps due to "chance". Bottom line: the study results were reassuring for pregnant women, but if one wanted to be ultra-cautious, then delay getting a flu shot until the second trimester of pregnancy. From Science Daily:

No association between mother's flu in pregnancy, increased child autism risk

A study of more than 196,000 children found no association between a mother having an influenza infection anytime during pregnancy and an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in children, according to a new study published online by JAMA Pediatrics. The study by Ousseny Zerbo, Ph.D., of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, and coauthors included 196,929 children born in the health system from 2000 through 2010 at a gestational age of at least 24 weeks.

Within the group, there were 1,400 mothers (0.7 percent) diagnosed with influenza and 45,231 mothers (23 percent) who received an influenza vaccination during pregnancy. There were 3,101 children (1.6 percent) diagnosed with ASD. The authors report no association between increased risk of ASD and influenza vaccination during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. There was a suggestion of increased risk of ASD with maternal vaccination in the first trimester but the authors explain the finding was likely due to chance because it was not statistically significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. The study cannot establish causality and has several limitations, including ASD status determined by diagnoses on medical records and not validated by standardized clinical assessment for all cases. [Original study.]

Published on Leave a comment on Vitamin D and Autism Spectrum Disorder?

This study found impressive results - improvement in autistic behaviors in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with four months of daily vitamin D supplementation. Children in the placebo group did not show improvement. A nice aspect of the study was that the children were randomly assigned  to a placebo or a vitamin D group (so that the groups were not self-selected) and it was double-blinded (so no one knew who was getting the vitamins - again to prevent bias). This was a preliminary study - meaning more studies are needed, but it would be amazing if these results hold up... From Science Daily:

Vitamin D supplements may benefit children with autism spectrum disorder

Studies have shown an association between the risk of autism spectrum disorder and vitamin D insufficiency. In this latest study, 109 children with autism spectrum disorder were randomized to receive four months of vitamin D3 supplementation or a placebo."Autism symptoms -- such as hyperactivity, social withdrawal, and others -- improved significantly following vitamin D3 supplementation but not after receiving placebo," said Dr. Khaled Saad, lead author of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry study.

Excerpts from the original study from  The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry: Randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation in children with autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a frequent developmental disorder characterized by pervasive deficits in social interaction, impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication, and stereotyped patterns of interests and activities. It has been previously reported that there is vitamin D deficiency in autistic children; however, there is a lack of randomized controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation in ASD children.

This study is a double-blinded, randomized clinical trial (RCT) that was conducted on 109 children with ASD (85 boys and 24 girls; aged 3–10 years). The aim of this study was to assess the effects of vitamin D supplementation on the core symptoms of autism in children. ASD patients were randomized to receive vitamin D3 or placebo for 4 months. The serum levels of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25 (OH)D) were measured at the beginning and at the end of the study. The autism severity and social maturity of the children were assessed by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), .... 
Supplementation of vitamin D was well tolerated by the ASD children. The daily doses used in the therapy group was 300 IU vitamin D3/kg/day, not to exceed 5,000 IU/day. The autism symptoms of the children improved significantly, following 4-month vitamin D3 supplementation, but not in the placebo group. This study demonstrates the efficacy and tolerability of high doses of vitamin D3 in children with ASD.   

Recently, Wang et al. (2016) performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of all studies on serum concentration of 25 (OH)D in ASD (Wang et al., 2016). Eleven studies were included, accounting for a total of 870 ASD patients and 782 healthy controls. Serum levels of 25 (OH)D in participants with ASD were significantly lower than those in controls. They concluded that low vitamin D might serve as a risk factor for autism spectrum disorder (Wang et al., 2016). 

In a recent survey, our research group measured 25 (OH)D in 122 ASD children (3–9 years old) and 100 healthy children as controls (Saad, Abdel-Rahman, et al., 2015). The ASD group showed a significantly lower level of serum 25 (OH)D compared with the control group (p < .0001). The study found highly significant inverse correlations between serum 25 (OH)D levels and autism rating scales. In the second part of the previous study (Saad, AbdelRahman, et al., 2015), an open-label trial of 83 subjects who completed a 3-month therapy with high daily doses of vitamin D (300 IU/kg/day) was performed. Collectively, 80.7% of the children with ASD had significantly improved outcome, which was mainly in the sections of the CARS and ABC subscales that measure behavior, stereotypy, eye contact, and attention span (Saad, Abdel-Rahman, et al., 2015). 

Published on Leave a comment on Probiotics Beneficial In Alzheimer’s Disease?

Interesting preliminary research that suggests that daily intake for 12 weeks of several beneficial bacteria species (Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei, L. fermentum, and Bifidobacterium bifidum) resulted in improved mental (cognitive) functioning in 52 people with Alzheimer's Disease. Could this be true - daily probiotics to improve mental functioning in those with Alzheimer's?

Many more studies need to be done, but this is definitely interesting. The nice thing in this study was that the patients were randomly assigned to the groups, and it was "double-blind" so no one knew who got just plain milk and who drank probiotic milk in the study (so no biases to distort results). There were also metabolic and inflammation improvements in those taking the probiotics. From Medical Xpress:

Probiotics improve cognition in Alzheimer's patients

For the first time, scientists have shown that probiotics—beneficial live bacteria and yeasts taken as dietary supplements—can improve cognitive function in humans. In a new clinical trial, scientists show that a daily dose of probiotic Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium bacteria taken over a period of just 12 weeks is enough to yield a moderate but significant improvement in the score of elderly Alzheimer's patients on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale, a standard measure of cognitive impairment.

Probiotics are known to give partial protection against certain infectious diarrheas, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, eczema, allergies, colds, tooth decay, and periodontal disease. But scientists have long hypothesized that probiotics might also boost cognition, as there is continuous two-way communication between the intestinal microflora, the gastrointestinal tract, and the brain through the nervous system, the immune system, and hormones (along the so-called "microbiota-gut-brain axis"). In mice, probiotics have indeed been shown to improve learning and memory, and reduce anxiety and depression- and OCD-like symptoms. But prior to the present study there was very limited evidence of any cognitive benefits in humans.

Here, the researchers, from Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, and Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, present results from a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial on a total of 52 women and men with Alzheimer's between 60 and 95 years of age. Half of the patients daily received 200 ml milk enriched with four probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei, L. fermentum, and Bifidobacterium bifidum (approximately 400 billion bacteria per species), while the other half received untreated milk.

At the beginning and the end of the 12-week experimental period, the scientists took blood samples for biochemical analyses and tested the cognitive function of the subjects with the MMSE questionnaire, which includes tasks like giving the current date, counting backwards from 100 by sevens, naming objects, repeating a phrase, and copying a picture.

Over the course of the study, the average score on the MMSE questionnaire significantly increased (from 8.7 to 10.6, out of a maximum of 30) in the group receiving probiotics, but not in the control group (from 8.5 to 8.0). Even though this increase is moderate, and all patients remained severely cognitively impaired, these results are important because they are the first to show that probiotics can improve human cognition. Future research, on more patients and over longer time-scales, is necessary to test if the beneficial effects of probiotics become stronger after longer treatment.

Treatment with probiotics also resulted in lower levels of triglycerides, Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL), high-sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP) in the blood of the Alzheimer patients, and likewise a reduction in two common measures (called "Homeostatic Model Assessment", HOMA-IR and HOMA-B) of insulin resistance and the activity of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. "These findings indicate that change in the metabolic adjustments might be a mechanism by which probiotics affect Alzheimer's and possibly other neurological disorders," says Salami. "We plan to look at these mechanisms in greater detail in our next study." [The original study.]

Published on Leave a comment on Why Eat More Than Ten Servings of Fruits and Vegetables Daily?

  Eating lots of fruits and vegetables (more than 10 servings a day!)  is linked to better cognitive functioning in both normal weight and overweight adults (both young and older adults), and may delay the onset of cognitive decline that occurs with aging and also dementia. Overweight and obese older adults with a daily fruit and vegetable consumption of less than 5 servings generally had worse cognitive functioning. Higher levels of physical activity and higher daily fruit and vegetable consumption were both associated with better cognitive functioning. Cognitive functioning generally refers to a person’s ability to reason and think, the mental processes needed to gather and process information, and all aspects of language and memory.

The York University researchers found that fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, and BMI or body mass index (normal, overweight, obese) all appear to interact in how a person mentally functions (cognitive functioning), especially as they age. The ideal goal as one ages is to preserve the mind. It appears that eating lots of fruits and vegetables daily (10 or more servings), being physically active (this includes daily walks), and being a healthy weight help with this goal. It helps to also be highly educated (or read books?) so that the brain has a "cognitive reserve",

Why is daily fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) good for cognitive functioning and the brain? Studies find that daily consumption of fruits and vegetables is strongly associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and age-related declines. They appear to be "protective" against cognitive decline. The study researchers point out that fruits and vegetables contain high quantities of vitamin C and E, fiber, micronutrients, flavonoids, beta-carotenes and other classes of phytochemicals. These are important in various ways: "they modulate detoxifying enzymes, stimulate the immune system, modulate cholesterol synthesis, and act as antibacterial, antioxidant or neuroprotective agents." NOTE: A serving of fruit is generally 1 medium fruit or 1/2 cup of fruit. A serving of vegetables is 1 cup of raw leafy greens or 1/2 cup of other vegetables. From Medical Xpress:

Healthy living linked to higher brain function, delay of dementia

It's tempting to dip into the leftover Halloween treats, but new research out of York University has found eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, combined with regular exercise, leads to better cognitive functioning for younger and older adults, and may delay the onset of dementia. York U post-doctoral fellow Alina Cohen and her team, including Professors Chris I. Ardern and Joseph Baker, looked at cross-sectional data of 45,522 participants, age 30 to 80+, from the 2012 annual component of the Canadian Community Health Survey.

What they found was that for those who are normal weight or overweight, but not obese, eating more than 10 servings of fruit and vegetable daily was linked to better cognitive functioning. When moderate exercise was added, those eating less than five servings, reported better cognitive functioning. Higher levels of physical activity were linked to the relationship between higher daily fruit and vegetable consumption and better cognitive performance. Those with higher body mass indexes, low activity levels and fruit and vegetable consumption were associated with poorer cognitive functioning.

More details from the original study in the Journal of Public Health: Physical activity mediates the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and cognitive functioning: a cross-sectional analysis

Results: Higher BMIs, lower PA [physical activity] and FVC [fruit and vegetable consumption] were associated with poorer cognitive functioning. Additionally, PA statistically mediated the relationship between FVC and cognitive function (Sobel test: t = −3.15; P < 0.002); and higher education levels and daily FVC were associated with better cognitive function (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Higher PA levels were associated with better cognitive functioning in younger and older adults. Also, higher daily FVC and education levels were associated with better cognitive scores.

Individuals who were normal weight or overweight and reported a FVC of >10 servings per day reported better cognitive functioning scores than those who reported <10 servings, as well as those individuals with obesity . As well, both active and inactive individuals who reported a FVC of >10 servings per day had better cognitive scores than those who consumed fewer servings. However, in those who were moderately active, individuals with a daily FVC of <5 or 5–10 servings reported better cognitive functioning than those with a daily FVC of 10 or more servings; this may have resulted because of underestimations of the number of servings of fruits and vegetables actually consumed... Thus, increasing FVC and PA levels as well as having a healthy BMI may aid in the delay of cognitive decline.

Results also indicated that higher education levels along with a daily FVC of five or more servings were associated with better cognitive functioning. Education may be assisting in the process of delaying cognitive decline by increasing cognitive reserve, the ability of the human brain to cope with damage by using different brain processes to retain the ability to function well. Cognitive reserve is developed through intellectual stimulation and translates into a higher volume of connections between neurons and stronger rates of cerebral blood flow.

Published on Leave a comment on Rare and Deadly Complication From Measles

Image result for measles wikipedia An always fatal measles complication appears to be occurring at higher rates than experts originally thought. New research found that the chance of a baby before age 1 getting measles and then the later deadly complication of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is 1 in 609, while if the child got measles under the age of 5, the rate of SSPE was one in 1,367 children.

SSPE is a neurological disorder that is a rare long-term complication of measles, typically appearing 4 to 8 years after the measles infection. First there are behavior changes, and later seizures, which progressively get more severe. Death usually occurs between 1 and 3 years after diagnosis. The researchers said that many of the patients studied had been vaccinated on time, but had measles in the first year of life, before the vaccine could be given. This rare disorder is a good reason to get the measles vaccine, but it was apparently too late for those that were diagnosed with measles or a "measles-like rash and illness" in the first 12 months of life.

What to do? Children should get measles vaccine at the normal time (12 to 15 months of age), but infants between 6 and 11 months should get the measles vaccine prior to travel to an area with measles. Infants younger than that should not travel to an area with measles. The researchers pointed out that SSPE demonstrates the "high human cost of “natural” measles immunity". As the researcher Dr. james Cherry said: "The new findings are "really frightening." Yup. From Live Science:

Deadly Measles Complication More Common Than Doctors Thought

A deadly complication of the measles, which can occur years after a person is infected with the virus, is more common than researchers previously thought, according to a new study. The complication, called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), is a progressive neurological disorder that involves inflammation in the brain.

People with SSPE die, on average, within one or two years of being diagnosed with the disease. Some people may live longer, but the condition is always fatal, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Previously, researchers thought the risk of post-measles SSPE was one in 100,000, according to the study. But the new analysis suggests that kids who get the measles before age 5 have a one in 1,387 chance of developing SSPE, and kids who get the measles before age 1 have a one in 609 chance. In the study, the researchers looked at all of the cases of SSPE in California that occurred between 1998 and 2015, identifying 17 cases. The children were diagnosed with SSPE, on average, at age 12, the researchers found. However, some children were diagnosed when they were as young as age 3, and others, as old as age 35.

When someone gets sick with the measles, the body usually rids itself of the virus in about 14 days. In rare cases, however, the virus can spread to the brain but go dormant. Scientists don't know why the virus becomes active again, but if it does, it leads to SSPE.  SSPE is thought to occur in three stages, study senior author Dr. James Cherry, a distinguished research professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, said at a press conference today (Oct. 28), here at IDWeek 2016, a meeting of several organizations focused on infectious diseases.

In the first stage, a person with SSPE may act a little differently, Cherry said. If the patient is a child in school, he or she may not do as well, or may act aggressively, Cherry said. The behavioral changes can be subtle, he added. In the second stage of SSPE, a person will have seizures, Cherry said. These seizures can be subtle at first; for example, a person may faint, but in fact he or she is having a seizure, Cherry said. As the disease progresses, the seizures become more common and more pronounced, he said. In the final stage, seizures occur constantly, and the person eventually becomes comatose, Cherry said. Of the 17 cases of people with SSPE identified in the new study, 16 have died and one person is receiving hospice care, Cherry said.

Indeed, the measles vaccine is the only surefire way to prevent this type of infection, Marshall said. However, because the first dose of the measles vaccine isn't given until a child is between 12 and 15 months old, children younger than 1 year are susceptible to the disease. To protect these children, as well as people who, due to medical reasons, can't be vaccinated, everyone else needs to get the vaccine, Cherry said. This would create herd immunity, he said. Herd immunity is what protects babies, Marshall said at the press conference. But there's a threshold to herd immunity, he added. If the proportion of people who are vaccinated dips below a certain rate, herd immunity no longer comes into effect, he said.

Image result for measles wikipedia An electron micrograph of the measles virus. Credit:Wikipedia

Image result for measles wikipedia Child showing a 4-day measles rash. Credit: Wikipedia

Published on Leave a comment on Youth Football Players Have Brain Changes After One Season

Another study finding brain changes from playing tackle football - this time measurable brain changes were found in boys 8 to 13 years old after just one season of playing football. None of the boys had received a concussion diagnosis during the season. The changes in the white matter of the brain (and detected with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were from the cumulative subconcussive head impacts that occur in football - the result of repetitive hits to the head during games and practices.

No one knows if the brains of football players fully recover after the football season. But these findings are worrisome. Especially because last year researchers found that NFL players who had begun playing  football before age 12 had a higher risk of altered brain development, as compared to players who started later (see post). Currently nearly 3 million students participate in youth tackle football programs across the United States. Some are calling for young players to only play flag or touch football, and to only play tackle football starting with the teenage years. From Science Daily:

Brain changes seen in youth football players without concussion

Researchers have found measurable brain changes in children after a single season of playing youth football, even without a concussion diagnosis, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

"Most investigators believe that concussions are bad for the brain, but what about the hundreds of head impacts during a season of football that don't lead to a clinically diagnosed concussion? We wanted to see if cumulative sub-concussive head impacts have any effects on the developing brain," said the study's lead author, Christopher T. Whitlow, M.D., Ph.D., M.H.A., associate professor and chief of neuroradiology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The research team studied 25 male youth football players between the ages of 8 and 13. Head impact data were recorded using the Head Impact Telemetry System (HITs), which has been used in other studies of high school and collegiate football to assess the frequency and severity of helmet impacts....The study participants underwent pre- and post-season evaluation with multimodal neuroimaging, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the brain. DTI is an advanced MRI technique, which identifies microstructural changes in the brain's white matter. 

The brain's white matter is composed of millions of nerve fibers called axons that act like communication cables connecting various regions of the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging produces a measurement, called fractional anisotropy (FA), of the movement of water molecules in the brain and along axons. In healthy white matter, the direction of water movement is fairly uniform and measures high in FA. When water movement is more random, FA values decrease, which has been associated with brain abnormalities in some studies.

The results showed a significant relationship between head impacts and decreased FA in specific white matter tracts and tract terminals, where white and gray matters meet. "We found that these young players who experienced more cumulative head impact exposure had more changes in brain white matter, specifically decreased FA, in specific parts of the brain," Dr. Whitlow said. "These decreases in FA caught our attention, because similar changes in FA have been reported in the setting of mild TBI."

It is important to note that none of the players had any signs or symptoms of concussion."We do not know if there are important functional changes related to these findings, or if these effects will be associated with any negative long-term outcomes," Dr. Whitlow said. "Football is a physical sport, and players may have many physical changes after a season of play that completely resolve. These changes in the brain may also simply resolve with little consequence. However, more research is needed to understand the meaning of these changes to the long-term health of our youngest athletes." [Original study]

Published on Leave a comment on Lower Lead Levels With Iron Fortified Foods

Lead exposure is a big problem for children throughout the United States and the rest of the world - whether lead from plumbing, lead paint, lead solder, and even from nearby mining. There are no safe levels of lead in children (best is zero) because it is a neurotoxicant - thus it can permanently lower IQ scores as well as other neurological effects. More lead gets absorbed if the person also has an iron deficiency than if the person has normal iron levels.

This study found that simply eating iron fortified biscuits daily lowered lead levels (and improved iron levels) in children during a several month period. Two types of iron supplements were tested, and it was found that sodium iron EDTA (which is commonly added to foods) worked better than iron sulphate. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommend eating foods high in calcium, iron, and vitamin C to lower iron absorption. From Science Daily:

Iron supplements in the fight against lead

Lead is a toxic heavy metal that was added to gasoline for use in cars until as recently as 25 years ago. It is particularly harmful to the developing brains of infants, children and teenagers, and the damage it does is irreversible. The situation becomes significantly worse if people are exposed to a high level of lead at the same time as they are suffering from iron deficiency. In the small intestine, lead and iron bind to the same transport protein, which absorbs the metals into the bloodstream. If someone consumes too little iron with their food, the transporter increases its activity, and can carry lead into the bloodstream instead, leading to increased levels of the toxic heavy metal in the body and brain.

A team of researchers led by ETH professor Michael B. Zimmermann from the Laboratory of Human Nutrition have now shown in a study that fortifying food with iron produces a striking reduction in blood lead concentration in children exposed to high levels of the metal. This is the result of a trial involving over 450 children carried out by Zimmermann's former doctoral student Raschida Bouhouch and colleagues in southern Morocco.....Mining in the surrounding area meant that children of preschool and school age were exposed to an increased quantity of lead. At the same time, the level of iron in their blood was relatively low, placing them in a high-risk group.

Depending on their weight, the children were given several white-flour biscuits on a daily basis for a period of four and a half months. The biscuits were fortified with different iron preparations: some received biscuits containing a specific quantity of iron sulphate, while others received biscuits with sodium iron EDTA or sodium EDTA without iron. To test the effect of the iron supplements, some children received only placebo biscuits containing no additional iron. EDTA, which stands for ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, forms stable complexes with iron, aiding its uptake into the bloodstream from the intestines, but it is not absorbed itself. EDTA can also bind to lead in the intestines, reducing its absorption....Sodium iron EDTA has already been used for iron fortification in foodstuffs for many years.

The researchers measured the children's blood lead concentration and iron status before and after the trial, as well as conducting tests to determine how well the children could solve cognitive tasks. The researchers were delighted to find that the biscuits fortified with iron did indeed reduce the level of lead in the blood -- specifically, by a third with sodium iron EDTA complexes and by a quarter with EDTA and iron sulphate.

Before the study began, the children's blood contained on average 4.3 micrograms of lead per decilitre. Biscuits with added sodium iron EDTA facilitated a reduction in blood lead concentration to 2.9 micrograms per decilitre. The biscuits also brought about an improvement in the children's iron status. On the other hand, the reduction in lead concentration had no effect on cognitive performance, as the researchers discovered during the corresponding tests. Although, contrary to the researchers' expectations, the children's blood lead concentration before supplementation with iron was in line with the worldwide average at 4.3 micrograms per decilitre of blood, it was still possible to achieve a considerable reduction by administering the biscuits.  

Published on Leave a comment on Time To End Heading Of Balls In Soccer?

Image result for soccer ball Many studies have discussed the short-term and long-term harm to the brain from playing tackle football, especially when starting the game at an early age (before the age of 12) , and from getting concussions and sub-concussions. But relatively little has been said about the possibility of similar harm from soccer (see post).

Finally a study looking at the practice of heading the ball in soccer - where yes, the person is directly hitting the soccer ball with his or her head, whether during a game or routine heading practice. Any harm from that? Yes. There were measurable brain function changes in both male and female young adults after heading a soccer ball 20 times during one practice session. While the changes ("short and long term memory function and corticomotor inhibition") were temporary, the researchers were concerned over possible long term brain effects (perhaps similar to those found in football players) when there are many practice sessions and soccer games, over many years. From Science Daily:

Heading a soccer ball causes instant changes to the brain

Researchers from the University of Stirling have explored the true impact of heading a soccer ball, identifying small but significant changes in brain function immediately after routine heading practice. The study from Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence published in EBioMedicine is the first to detect direct changes in the brain after players are exposed to everyday head impacts, as opposed to clinical brain injuries like concussion.

A group of soccer ball players headed a ball 20 times, fired from a machine designed to simulate the pace and power of a corner kick. Before and after the heading sessions, scientists tested players' brain function and memory. Increased inhibition in the brain was detected after just a single session of heading. Memory test performance was also reduced by between 41 and 67 per cent, with effects normalising within 24 hours. Whether the changes to the brain remain temporary after repeated exposure to a soccer ball and the long-term consequences of heading on brain health, are yet to be investigated.

Played by more than 250 million people worldwide, the 'beautiful game' often involves intentional and repeated bursts of heading a ball. In recent years the possible link between brain injury in sport and increased risk of dementia has focused attention on whether soccer ball heading might lead to long term consequences for brain health.

Cognitive neuroscientist Dr Magdalena Ietswaart from Psychology at the University of Stirling, said: "In light of growing concern about the effects of contact sport on brain health, we wanted to see if our brain reacts instantly to heading a soccer ball. Using a drill most amateur and professional teams would be familiar with, we found there was in fact increased inhibition in the brain immediately after heading and that performance on memory tests was reduced significantly.

"Although the changes were temporary, we believe they are significant to brain health, particularly if they happen over and over again as they do in soccer ball heading. With large numbers of people around the world participating in this sport, it is important that they are aware of what is happening inside the brain and the lasting effect this may have." In the study, scientists measured levels of brain function using a basic neuroscience technique called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).  (Original study)

Published on Leave a comment on Drinking Coffee Linked To A Reduced Risk of Dementia?

More great news about drinking coffee daily - for women. Older women (between ages of 65 to 80 at the start of the study) reporting drinking higher amounts of caffeinated beverages (about 261 mg which is about 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day) had a lower incidence of dementia and cognitive impairment over a 10 year period (as compared to the low caffeine group). The low caffeine group averaged 64 mg of caffeine per day.  Other studies also found a reduction in "cognitive decline" in older people with coffee consumption. This study, among others, is more evidence of caffeine being "neuroprotective". NOTE: an 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee contains about 95 mg of caffeine, 8-ounces of brewed black tea contains about 47 mg, a 12-ounce can of carbonated cola contains 33 mg, and 8-ounces of decaffeinated coffee has about 5 mg of caffeine. Science Daily:

For women, caffeine could be ally in warding off dementia

Among a group of older women, self-reported caffeine consumption of more than 261 mg per day was associated with a 36 percent reduction in the risk of incident dementia over 10 years of follow-up. This level is equivalent to two to three 8-oz cups of coffee per day, five to six 8-oz cups of black tea, or seven to eight 12-ounce cans of cola.

"The mounting evidence of caffeine consumption as a potentially protective factor against cognitive impairment is exciting given that caffeine is also an easily modifiable dietary factor with very few contraindications," said Ira Driscoll, PhD, the study's lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "What is unique about this study is that we had an unprecedented opportunity to examine the relationships between caffeine intake and dementia incidence in a large and well-defined, prospectively-studied cohort of women."

The findings come from participants in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study, which is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Driscoll and her research colleagues used data from 6,467 community-dwelling, postmenopausal women aged 65 and older who reported some level of caffeine consumption. Intake was estimated from questions about coffee, tea, and cola beverage intake, including frequency and serving size.

In 10 years or less of follow-up with annual assessments of cognitive function, 388 of these women received a diagnosis of probable dementia or some form of global cognitive impairment. Those who consumed above the median amount of caffeine for this group (with an average intake of 261 mg per day) were diagnosed at a lower rate than those who fell below the median (with an average intake of 64 mg per day). The researchers adjusted for risk factors such as hormone therapy, age, race, education, body mass index, sleep quality, depression, hypertension, prior cardiovascular disease, diabetes, smoking, and alcohol consumption. (The original study in the Journal of Gerontology.)