Neurology
Chronic stress alters our genetic immune response
Most people would agree that stress increases your risk for illness and this is particularly true for severe long-term stresses, such as caring for a family member with a chronic medical illness. However, we still have a relatively limited understanding of exactly how stress contributes to the risk for illness. In the August 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry, researchers shed new light on one link between stress and illness by describing a mechanism through which stress alters immune function.
In a very promising preliminary study, Miller and colleagues found that the pattern of gene expression differed between caregivers of family members with cancer relative to a matched group of individuals who did not have this type of life stress. They found that among the caregivers, even though they had normal cortisol levels in their blood, the pattern of gene expression in the monocytes, a type of white blood cell involved in the body’s immune response, was altered so that they were relatively less responsive to the anti-inflammatory actions of cortisol, but relatively more responsive to pro-inflammatory actions of a transcription factor called nuclear factor-kappa B, or NF-κB. Gregory Miller, Ph.D., corresponding author, explains more simply that, although “caregivers have similar cortisol levels as controls, their cells seem to be ‘hearing’ less of this signal. In other words, something goes awry in caregivers’ white blood cells so they are not able to ‘receive’ the signal from cortisol that tells them to shut down inflammation.”
Thus, the current findings might help to explain why the caregivers would seem to be in a chronic pro-inflammatory state, a condition of immunologic activation. This activated state could contribute to the risk for a number of medical illnesses, such as depression, heart disease, and diabetes. Dr. Miller remarks that part of the importance of these findings is “because people have traditionally thought that higher cortisol is the reason that stress contributes to disease, but this work shows that, at least in caregivers, it’s actually the opposite - there’s too little cortisol signal being heard by the cells, rather than too much.”
Healthy lifestyle cuts stroke risk: study
A person’s odds of suffering a stroke might be significantly reduced by maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle, which includes not smoking, exercising daily, consuming a healthy diet, drinking alcohol in moderation and maintaining a healthy weight, according to a study released today.
In the study, people with these five healthy lifestyle habits had about an 80 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke compared to people with none of the healthy habits. An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain becomes blocked; it is the most common type of stroke.
This study shows that a “low-risk” lifestyle recommended to lower the risk of multiple chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease, may also help ward off stroke, the study team notes in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Hypnosis shown to reduce symptoms of dementia
A scientist at the University of Liverpool has found that hypnosis can slow down the impacts of dementia and improve quality of life for those living with the condition.
Forensic psychologist, Dr Simon Duff, investigated the effects of hypnosis on people living with dementia and compared the treatment to mainstream health-care methods. He also looked at how hypnosis compared to a type of group therapy in which participants were encouraged to discuss news and current affairs.
They found that people living with dementia who had received hypnosis therapy showed an improvement in concentration, memory and socialisation compared to the other two treatment groups. Relaxation, motivation and daily living activities also improved with the use of hypnosis.
New study of gene evolution could lead to better understanding of neurodegenerative disease
Genetic evolution is strongly shaped by genes’ efforts to prevent or tolerate errors in the production of proteins, scientists at The University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University have found.
Their study also suggests that the cost of errors in protein production may lie in the malformed proteins themselves, rather than in the loss of functional proteins. Misfolded proteins can build up in long-lived cells, like neurons, and cause neurodegenerative diseases.
The work, by Claus Wilke at The University of Texas at Austin and D. Allan Drummond at Harvard, is described in the July 25 issue of the journal Cell.
Measuring the stress of forested areas
Plants undergo stress because of lack of water, due to the heat or the cold or to excess of light. A research team from the University of the Basque Country have analysed the substances that are triggered in plants to protect themselves, with the goal of choosing the species that is best suited to the environment during reforestation under adverse environmental conditions.
Droughts, extreme temperatures, contamination, and so on – all are harmful to plants. On occasions, the damage is caused by humans. For example, as a consequence of cutting down trees, plants used to shady conditions may be exposed to an excess of light. However, in most cases it is nature itself that causes the stress. In spring, plants have sufficient average humidity and temperatures, i.e. what scientists deem ‘optimum conditions’. But in winter they have to withstand considerable cold and in summer, on the other hand, high temperatures and droughts: adverse environmental factors that generate stress situations. Thus, in winter and in summer, the light which under normal conditions would be a source of energy becomes excessive, given that the metabolism of the plants under these conditions is not able to assimilate it. This process is known as photo-oxidative stress.
Study Links Herpes with Widespread Neuropathic Pain
Reactivation of genital herpes is linked in some cases with the emergence of widespread neuropathic pain, according to a Finnish study reported in The Journal of Pain.
In the clinic at the University of Helsinki, 17 patients were examined who presented widespread chronic pain with no visible lesions in brain magnetic imaging. Because the majority had herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections, the researchers studied a possible association between herpes and neuropathic pain.
They hypothesized that in HSV-positive patients, the active virus may alter pain processing at different levels of the central nervous system (CNS).
10,000 People in World-first Cerebral Palsy Study
Researchers from the University of Adelaide, Australia, have launched the largest study of its kind in the world in a bid to better understand the possible genetic causes of cerebral palsy.
The study – requiring cheek swabs of mothers and their children – aims to gather genetic samples from 10,000 people right across Australia.
One of the world’s most serious complications during pregnancy and birth, cerebral palsy is a disability that affects one in every 500 children worldwide, and the consequences are life long.
‘Mind’s eye’ influences visual perception
Letting your imagination run away with you may actually influence how you see the world. New research from Vanderbilt University has found that mental imagery - what we see with the “mind’s eye” - directly impacts our visual perception.
The research was published online June 26 by the journal Current Biology in a paper titled, “The Functional Impact of Mental Imagery on Conscious Perception.”
“We found that imagery leads to a short-term memory trace that can bias future perception,” says Joel Pearson, research associate in the Vanderbilt Department of Psychology. and lead author of the study. “This is the first research to definitively show that imagining something changes vision both while you are imagining it and later on.”
A Full Life Is Still Possible with Multiple Sclerosis
There are approximately 400,000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United States today with 200 new patients diagnosed every week.
“No one knows what causes MS,” said Phyllis Greenberger, M.S.W, president and CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research, a Washington, D.C. based advocacy organization. “We do know that it is at least 2-3 times more common in women than in men.”
Greenberger addressed congressional staff members on Capitol Hill at an educational briefing sponsored by the Society and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on June 24.
New oral drug curbs MS disease activity
In people with multiple sclerosis, or MS, treatment with a new immune-modulating drug called laquinimod can significantly reduce disease activity seen on brain MRI scans, a multinational team reports in The Lancet medical journal.
Currently approved drugs that target the inflammation associated with MS are all given by injection, point out Dr. Giancarlo Comi, from the University Vita-Salute in Milan, Italy, and colleagues. By contrast, laquinimod can be taken more conveniently, by mouth.
In a mid-stage clinical trial involving 306 patients with relapsing-remitting MS, Comi’s team investigated the effects of two laquinimod doses—0.3 and 0.6 milligrams daily—compared to an inactive placebo.
Neurologic Complications of Heart Surgery Detailed in Comprehensive Review Article
Possible neurologic complications of heart surgery, ranging from headaches to strokes, are detailed in a new report in the online journal MedLink Neurology.
The review article, which compiled results of previously published studies, was written by Dr. Betsy Love and Dr. Jose Biller of Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Dr. James Fleck of Indiana University School of Medicine.
In the most comprehensive and up-to-date review of its kind, researchers list possible nervous system complications of bypass surgeries, cardiac catheterizations, valve replacements, heart transplants and surgeries for congenital heart disease.
Known Genetic Risk for Alzheimer’s in Whites Also Places Blacks at Risk
A commonly recognized gene that places one at risk for Alzheimer’s disease does not discriminate between blacks and whites, according to new research led by Florida State University.
FSU Psychology Professor Natalie Sachs-Ericsson and graduate student Kathryn Sawyer have found that the gene APOE epsilon 4 allele is a risk factor for African-Americans as well as whites. Until now, it has been a mainstream belief that the gene is only a risk factor for whites.
“The results of our study have clear implications for research and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease,” Sachs-Ericsson said. “The APOE test might be used as one tool in identifying people who are at risk for Alzheimer’s. We now know that African- Americans and Caucasians alike need to be considered for such risk assessments.”
Memory loss linked to common sleep disorder
For the first time, UCLA researchers have discovered that people with sleep apnea show tissue loss in brain regions that help store memory. Reported in the June 27 edition of the journal Neuroscience Letters, the findings emphasize the importance of early detection of the disorder, which afflicts an estimated 20 million Americans.
Sleep apnea occurs when a blocked airway repeatedly halts the sleeper’s breathing, resulting in loud bursts of snoring and chronic daytime fatigue. Memory loss and difficulty focusing are also common complaints. Prior studies have linked the disorder to a higher risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes.
“Our findings demonstrate that impaired breathing during sleep can lead to a serious brain injury that disrupts memory and thinking,” said principal investigator Ronald Harper, a distinguished professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Smoking in midlife may impair memory
Middle-aged adults who smoke appear to have a higher than average risk of developing memory impairments, according to a report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
“With the aging population and the projected increases in older adults with dementia, it is important to identify modifiable risk factors,” lead author Dr. Severine Sabia told Reuters Health. “Our results suggest that smoking had an adverse effect on cognitive function in midlife. However, 10 years after smoking cessation, there is little adverse effect of smoking on cognition. Thus, public health messages should target smokers at all ages.”
In fact, long-term ex-smokers were less likely to have deficits in memory, vocabulary, and verbal fluency than those who never smoked. This “could be explained by improvement in other health behaviors among those giving up smoking in midlife,” said Sabia, a researcher with the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale in Villejuif, France.
Alzheimer’s brain plaques cleared in mice
Protein accumulations, or plaques, characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease can be eliminated from the brains of mice, researchers report, by encouraging scavenger immune cells called macrophages to do their work.
The activity of macrophages is damped down by a naturally occurring compound called TGF-beta, to stop runaway reactions, and prior research has shown that brain levels of TGF-beta are increased in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the report in the research journal Nature Medicine.
Some researchers believed that the high levels of TGF-beta were simply an attempt to quiet the inflammatory response associated with Alzheimer plaques. However, the new findings contradict that notion.
