neurological disorders Archives - Amazing Health Advances

NEW Research Links 3 More Pesticides to Parkinson’s Disease

The AHA! Team — Mon, 06 May 2024 18:41:51 +0000

Patrick Tims via NaturalHealth365 – The call to restrict or ban pesticide use is not mere alarmism; it’s grounded in substantial evidence and urgent necessity. Paraquat – a highly toxic herbicide – has long been linked to Parkinson’s disease. Now, a recent report has shed alarming light on the dire consequences associated with the use of three more pesticides. This latest analysis unequivocally demonstrates that these harmful chemicals, when applied to crops, are directly linked to the onset of Parkinson’s disease – a debilitating neurological disorder that robs individuals of their quality of life and independence. Pesticides used throughout the United States are now in the crosshairs The three pesticides currently under scrutiny are widely utilized in crop cultivation across the United States despite their potential to cause Parkinson’s disease. Despite being relatively unnoticed by many, there has been a concerning surge in the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease, mirroring the upward trend observed in several other neurological conditions. Research indicates that these toxic pesticides pose significant harm to brain neurons. While 14 pesticides have been associated with an elevated risk of Parkinson’s disease, the connection appears most pronounced with three specific pesticides. Parkinson’s disease manifests as the progressive loss of neurons in the brain, leading to debilitating immobility among patients. These neurons play a pivotal role in producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter crucial for transmitting signals throughout the brain. The decline or loss of such signaling capability profoundly compromises an individual’s motor control. Accumulation of the alpha-synuclein peptide within the neurons of Parkinson’s patients exacerbates neuron damage and impedes dopamine production, which is essential for signal transmission. Living in areas of high pesticide use increases risk of Parkinson’s disease Though the idea that chemicals might damage neurons in the brain was floated as early as the 1980s, it hasn’t been proven until recently. The research linked above will be formally presented this April at Denver’s American Academy of Neurology’s 76th annual meeting. Though the study has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal, it is only a matter of time until it reaches academic circles and mainstream society. The research, conducted by scholars from Washington University and Amherst College, sheds light on how the risk of Parkinson’s disease is closely tied to the extent of exposure to pesticides. These researchers delved into data concerning 21,549,400 individuals living in the USA and mapped the usage of pesticides across counties from 1992 to 2008. The findings showed that 14 pesticides were associated with a greater risk of Parkinson’s disease in the wide open spaces of America’s Great Plains and the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains. In particular, the pesticides atrazine, lindane, and simazine had the strongest link to heightened Parkinson’s risk. Simazine is an herbicide primarily used to control broadleaf weeds and grasses in various crops such as corn, sugarcane, citrus fruits, and ornamental plants. It can also be used to control weeds in non-crop areas such as highways, railways, and industrial sites. Lindane is an organochlorine insecticide – used to control pests in agriculture, forestry, and veterinary medicine. Lindane has also been used to treat lice and scabies infestations in humans and animals and to treat wood and seeds. Atrazine is a widely used herbicide primarily applied to control weeds in crops such as corn, sugarcane, sorghum, and other crops. It is also used in non-agricultural settings such as golf courses and residential lawns for weed control. The results of the study are deeply concerning: Those in areas with the highest atrazine use were 31% more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s Those in areas with the highest lindane use were 25% more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s Those in areas with the highest simazine use were 36% more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s Though these three pesticides have been restricted in other countries, they are allowed in the United States. Strategies to reduce your exposure to toxic pesticides It’s crucial for every American to recognize that Parkinson’s disease has doubled in prevalence over the past 25 years. This condition is now the fastest-growing brain disorder worldwide, but you have the power to prevent yourself from becoming a statistic. Avoid fruits and vegetables that have been treated with pesticides. Instead of patronizing Big Box stores and corporate supermarkets that stock produce grown with pesticides, opt to shop locally at farmers’ markets, locally owned stores, and roadside stands that sell organic produce. Simply put, our food choices have the power to make this world less toxic and better for all of us. Sources for this article include: Aanfiles.bob.core.windows.net Medicalnewstoday.com Medpagetoday.com To read the original article click here.

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The Answer to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Is All in Your Eyes

AHA Publisher — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 08:00:46 +0000

Brian Blum via Israel21c – “Look into my eyes. What do you see?” the man says to his wife. “I see Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and MS,” she replies. Not the most romantic interchange. But imagine if gazing into someone’s eyes were the key to diagnosing neurological disorders, which are the world’s leading cause of disability and cost some $800 billion a year in direct treatment expenses. The correlations between “oculometrics” (the biometric measurement of the movement and condition of the eyes) and neurological conditions is a much-researched area of study, with over 750 papers published in journals such as The Lancet, Nature and Neurology. Developing a technology that can decode the data from the eyes has proven to be challenging, however. No one has successfully made strides toward commercializing an oculometric approach. Until now. In October 2021, Tel Aviv and Austin, Texas-based startup Neuralight launched out of stealth with a $5.5 million seed investment and a goal of digitizing and even automating neurological evaluation and care. You Can Only Improve What You Can Measure Neurological exams have traditionally relied on a subjective, manual assessment of symptoms. “The physician will ask 50 questions, like how hard is it to button your shirt? Or the doctor asks the patient to walk across the room so they can assess their gait,” explains Neuralight CEO Micah Breakstone. The lack of objective criteria has prevented pharmaceutical companies from developing effective drugs. Breakstone notes that for dementia, studies have shown that two physicians looking at the same patient on the same day could have a 35 percent variable in diagnosis. “We need a statistically significant result,” Breakstone says. Neuralight’s technology is not a cure or a treatment for neurological disease. Rather, the platform is meant mainly to accelerate pharmaceutical development, with an initial focus on Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. The platform automatically extracts microscopic eye movement measurements that serve as “digital endpoints” for neurological disorders. A physician will record a short, five-minute video of a patient’s eyes. Neuralight’s imaging tools clean up the video, then artificial intelligence and machine learning get to work at deciphering what’s behind the eye movements. Once Neuralight has extracted ocular metrics on a patient, it plans to sell the data to pharma companies. As Breakstone tells ISRAEL21c, “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.” “Digital endpoints are the future of neurology,” adds Rivka Kreitman, the company’s chief innovation officer and the former head of global innovative research and development at Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva. “This technology has been the missing piece pharma has needed to make drug development for neurological diseases effective and ultimately more successful.” Privacy Compliant In Breakstone’s ideal world, all the data extracted from videos by Neuralight would be processed on the Neuralight cloud, which he says is HIPAA compliant with all data de-identified (“We don’t need to see a patient’s face, only his or her eyes”). Some organizations do want to keep the data in-house for privacy reasons; in those cases, Neuralight brings its own server. Neuralight does not require eye-trackers, making the process simpler for patients because they don’t have to sit still for a relatively long period of time. Instead, a simple iPhone or even Zoom recording is fine. A Neuralight video recording takes 10 minutes vs. 40 minutes when working with an eye-tracker. Neuralight’s AI “amplifies and augments standard video resolution so you can glean from standard video signals what you could traditionally do only with professional lab equipment,” Breakstone explains. He likens the resolution to how satellites in space can make out the numbers on a car’s license plate using a similar kind of “super-resolution.” Neuralight analyzes close to 100 parameters, including blinking rate, how quickly the patient can fix on a specific object, and the speed of pupil dilation (the latter is highly correlated with Parkinson’s). Digital Biomarkers Breakstone cofounded Neuralight with CTO Edmund Benami after Breakstone sold his previous startup, Chorus.ai, to ZoomInfo for $575 million. “I could have retired, but that would have been a little empty,” he says. His grandfather suffered from Alzheimer’s, and that led Breakstone to want “to do something to make the world a better place, something I deeply believed in,” he tells ISRAEL21c. “Digital biomarkers are very much in vogue,” he says, and investors agreed. Initial funding for Neuralight came from VSC Ventures, Operator Partners, Clover Health CEO Vivek Garipalli and Noam Solomon, the CEO of Immunai. While most of the 19-person team is in Israel, where R&D is based, Breakstone relocated to Austin to build up the company’s connections in the United States. Neuralight has a working MVP (tech speak for “minimum viable product”) and Breakstone hopes to receive initial FDA clearance by the end of 2022 with the first commercial contracts signed in 2023. Clinical trials are due to kick off in the next few months. Neuralight is in conversations with three large pharma companies. Although neurotechnology is a booming industry, Breakstone says most of Neuralight’s competition “is doing things with devices, not with the eyes.” Boston-based Beacon Biosignals, for example, uses EEG data to create biomarkers for neurological disorders, which he says “will be harder to be adopted as a universal solution.” Fortunately for the billion people suffering from neurological disorders, Breakstone feels that Neuralight is “on an urgent mission. We are building a value-driven company.” For more on Neuralight, click here. To read the original article click here.

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Slash Your Risk of Cognitive Decline with This Simple Dietary Intervention

AHA Publisher — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 07:00:46 +0000

Lori Alton via NaturalHealth365 – Mushrooms are prized by chefs for their meaty, smoky taste – and their ability to enhance recipes with the savory, rich quality known as “umami.” Nutritionists say mushrooms’ ability to evoke umami is due to their high content of an amino acid known as glutamate, which is also responsible for much of the flavor in meats, cheeses, simmering soups, and fish. But, there is a lot more to these edible fungi than their umami. In a recent cross-sectional, community-based Chinese study, researchers discovered that eating mushrooms can help reduce the risk of cognitive decline by slashing the odds of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which affects 15 to 20 percent of people aged 65 and older. Let’s take a closer look at the groundbreaking study and the remarkable benefits of mushrooms. Warning: MCI Is Often a Precursor to an Even More Severe and Deadly Disease Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) involves slight but noticeable memory loss or forgetfulness, along with mild deficits in thinking skills, language, attention, and spatial abilities. Unlike more serious forms of dementia, MCI is not disabling, and people with the condition can still carry out normal daily activities. However, the affected person is usually aware of a decline in cognitive abilities, which is often observed by family members and close friends as well. While not all people with MCI go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease, the Alzheimer’s Association reports that MCI increases the risk. In fact, many physicians view MCI as a transition between the decline of normal aging and the more serious impairments of dementia. Here Is What to Eat to Cut the Odds of MCI by 50 Percent But, there’s good news. In a six-year study involving over 600 adults over 60 and published in the highly regarded Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, a team from the Departments of Psychological Medicine and Biochemistry at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore investigated the effects of mushroom consumption on cognition. The scientists were careful to adjust for other factors that can influence MCI, including age, gender, education, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, physical activities, and social life. The study results were eye-opening. The team found that older adults who consumed more than two portions of mushrooms a week reduced their odds of mild cognitive impairment by an astonishing 50 percent. (A portion was defined as about three-quarters of a cup of cooked mushrooms). Intriguingly, even smaller amounts of mushrooms – such as a single weekly serving – conferred benefits as well. Lead author Lei Feng, an Assistant Professor at NUS Department of Psychological Medicine, called the results “surprising and encouraging” and the mushrooms’ effect on cognitive decline “dramatic.” By the way, the researchers found that it didn’t seem to matter which type of mushrooms were consumed. Golden, oyster, shiitake, and white “button” mushrooms – as well as assorted canned and dried varieties – all appeared to have the same effect. Researchers: Cognitive Benefits of Mushrooms May Be Due to Unique Compound Researchers credited ergothioneine, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound found in mushrooms, for the beneficial cognitive effects. In fact, the study was inspired by earlier research showing that ergothioneine deficiency could be a risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. And ergothioneine isn’t the only beneficial compound found in mushrooms. Scientists say that other constituents – including such tongue-twisting substances as hericenones, erinacines, scabronines, and dictyophorines – may help cut odds of cognitive impairment as well. And, another key to mushrooms’ ability to cause plunging odds of MCI is their choline content, an essential nutrient vital to learning and memory. The team noted that further studies on the cognitive benefits of mushrooms would include randomized, controlled trials on ergothioneine. Trials are also ongoing to explore the effects of other neuroprotective nutrients, include L-theanineand catechins from tea leaves. The Humble Mushroom Packs a Powerful Nutritional Punch Mushrooms are rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and disease-fighting polyphenols and carotenoids – yet low in calories and fat. They also contain potent antioxidants – including immune-boosting vitamin C and the mineral selenium– and B vitamins, such as folate, riboflavin, thiamin, and vitamin B12. (Since vitamin B12 is found almost exclusively in animal products, this makes mushrooms a particularly valuable addition to the diets of vegans and vegetarians). In addition, mushrooms are the only vegan, non-fortified source of vitamin D on the planet – although the content may vary depending on how much light is used in the growing process. Some producers expose mushrooms to ultraviolet light to enhance vitamin D levels – and often feature this fact on the label. The minerals copper, iron, potassium, and phosphorous are also found in mushrooms. In addition to their beneficial micronutrients, mushrooms contain up to a gram of dietary fiber per cup. Coupled with their satisfying, chewy consistency, the fiber in mushrooms may help create a sense of satiety or fullness that can help protect against binge eating and food cravings. And, at a minimal 20 calories per cup – about a quarter of the calories in a small apple – mushrooms won’t break the daily caloric “bank.” Incidentally, in addition to protecting against cognitive decline, the benefits of mushrooms include cardioprotective and cancer-fighting properties. According to researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, beta-glucans in mushrooms may help to lower harmful LDL cholesterol. The scientists also credit mushrooms with stimulating the activity of immune cells and macrophages that can stop the spread of tumor cells. Mushrooms have long been used for both culinary and therapeutic purposes, with medicinal mushrooms revered as a staple of Traditional Chinese Medicine. But, the Singapore study suggests that a mere two servings a week of ordinary, garden-variety mushrooms might be stronger “medicine” than anyone ever suspected. Sources for this article include: ScienceDaily.com Iospress.com MedicalNewsToday.com AlzheimersAssociation.org Harvard.edu To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

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Two Sides of a Coin: Our Own Immune Cells Damage the Integrity of the Blood-Brain Barrier

AHA Publisher — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 08:00:01 +0000

Nagoya University via EurekAlert – The blood-brain barrier is a layer of cells that covers the blood vessels in the brain and regulates the entry of molecules from the blood into the brain. Increases in blood-brain barrier “permeability,” or the extent to which molecules leak through, are observed in several neurological and psychiatric disorders; therefore, understanding the regulation of blood-brain barrier permeability is crucial for developing better therapies for such disorders. In a study recently published in Nature Communications, a research team led by Prof. Hiroaki Wake of Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine shows that microglia — the resident immune cells of the brain — initially protect the blood-brain barrier from damage due to “systemic inflammation,” a condition of chronic inflammation associated with factors like smoking, ageing, and diabetes, and leading to an increased risk of neurodegenerative disorders. However, these same microglia can change their behavior and increase the blood-brain barrier permeability, thereby damaging it. “It has long been known that microglia can become activated due to systemic inflammation,” remarks Prof. Wake, “so we became interested in the question of whether microglia can regulate blood-brain barrier permeability.” To explore this, Prof. Wake’s team worked with mice that were genetically engineered to produce fluorescent proteins in the microglia. This “fluorescent labeling” allowed the investigators to use a technique called “two-photon imaging” to study the interactions of microglia and the blood-brain barrier in living mice. The investigators also injected the mice with fluorescent molecules that can pass through the blood-brain barrier only if the barrier is damaged enough to be sufficiently permeable. By observing the locations of these fluorescent molecules and the interactions of microglia, the research team could study microglial interactions with the blood-brain barrier and the permeability of the blood-brain barrier under various conditions. A key point of interest was the systemic inflammation induced by injecting the mice with an inflammation-inducing substance. Such injections resulted in the movement of microglia to the blood vessels and increased the permeability of the blood-brain barrier within a few days. Then, the microglia initially acted to protect the blood-brain barrier and limit increases in permeability, but as inflammation progressed, the microglia reversed their behavior by attacking the components of the blood-brain barrier, thus increasing the barrier’s permeability. The subsequent leakage of molecules into the brain had the potential to cause widespread inflammation in the brain and consequent damage to neurons (cells of the nerves). These results clearly show that microglia play a dual role in regulating the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. In describing his team’s future research objectives, Prof. Wake comments, “We aim to identify therapeutic targets on the microglia for regulating blood-brain barrier permeability, because drugs designed for such targets can be used to treat neurological and psychiatric diseases by curbing inflammatory responses in the brain.” As the scientists note in their study, uncontrolled inflammatory responses in the brain can cause a range of cognitive disorders and adverse neurological effects, and drugs that target microglia may help patients avoid such problems by preserving the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. More studies are required to understand more about the processes underlying the microglial behaviors observed in this study. Nevertheless, the study’s results offer hope for the development of therapies that could “force” microglia to promote blood-brain barrier integrity and prevent microglia from transitioning to behaviors that damage the barrier. To read the original article click here.

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Molecular Switch for Repairing Central Nervous System Disorders

AHA Publisher — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 05:12:55 +0000

Mayo Clinic via ScienceDaily – A molecular switch has the ability to turn on a substance in animals that repairs neurological damage in disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS) researchers discovered. To read the original article and learn more about this molecular switch, click here.

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