Posts Tagged ‘Conditions and Diseases’

Gardenia fruit compound starting point for diabetes therapy

Schwartz Posted in Chinese Medicine, Herbs，Tags: , , , , , , , ,
04 November 2010
2

A Gardenia fruit extract traditionally used in Chinese medicine to treat the symptoms of type 2 diabetes does indeed contain a chemical that reverses some of the pancreatic dysfunctions that underlie the disease, researchers report in the June 7, 2006, Cell Metabolism. The chemical therefore represents a useful starting point for new diabetes therapies, they said.

Such a drug could offer a big advance, the group added, as no currently available therapy for diabetes actually targets the underlying causes of disease in insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. Insulin controls blood levels of glucose, the body’s main energy source. In those with diabetes, insulin deficiency or insulin resistance causes blood sugar concentrations to rise.

The team discovered that Gardenia extract contains the chemical “genipin.” Previously known for its ability to cross-link proteins, they now find that the chemical also blocks the function of the enzyme called uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) through another mechanism. In both animals and humans, high concentrations of UCP2 appear to inhibit insulin secretion from the pancreas and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

“We think the increase in UCP2 activity is an important component of the pathogenesis of diabetes,” said Bradford Lowell of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. “Our goal therefore was to discover a UCP2 inhibitor capable of working in intact cells, as such an inhibitor could theoretically represent a lead compound for agents aimed at improving beta cell function in type 2 diabetes.”

Study coauthor Chen-Yu Zhang’s familiarity with traditional Chinese medicine led the team to consider the extract of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis fruits. Pancreas cells taken from normal mice secreted insulin when treated with the extract, they found, whereas the cells of mice lacking UCP2 did not. The results suggested that the extract worked through its effects on the UCP2 enzyme.

“When I first saw the results, I was in disbelief,” Lowell said. “I didn’t think we could ever be that lucky.” However, blinded repetition of the initial experiments confirmed the results every time, he said.

Through a series of chemical analyses, the researchers then zeroed in on genipin as the active compound. Genipin, like the extract, stimulated insulin secretion in control but not UCP2-deficient pancreas cells.

They further found that acute addition of genipin to isolated pancreatic tissue reversed high glucose- and obesity-induced dysfunction of insulin-producing beta cells. A derivative of genipin that lacked the chemical’s cross-linking activity continued to inhibit UCP2, they reported.

That’s a good sign for the therapeutic potential of genipin-related compounds, according to Lowell, as such indiscriminate cross-linking would likely have adverse effects. However, further work will need to examine whether inhibition of UCP2 itself might also have some negative consequences.

In addition to the possibility of new drugs, the findings might also prove a boon to the use of Gardenia extract itself for the treatment of disease, particularly in eastern Asia, Zhang said.

Irrespective of genipin’s potential for clinical applications, its benefits within the scientific community are already clear, Lowell added.

“Genipin represents an extremely useful investigational tool for studying a number of aspects of UCP2 biology,” Lowell added. UCP2 plays a role in the process by which food is converted into energy storage molecules by cellular powerhouses called mitochondria in cells throughout the body.

Source: Eurekalert

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A ton of bitter melon produces sweet results for diabetes

Schwartz Posted in Herbs，Tags: , , , , , , ,
01 November 2010
0

Scientists have uncovered the therapeutic properties of bitter melon, a vegetable and traditional Chinese medicine, that make it a powerful treatment for Type 2 diabetes.

Teams from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica pulped roughly a tonne of fresh bitter melon and extracted four very promising bioactive components. These four compounds all appear to activate the enzyme AMPK, a protein well known for regulating fuel metabolism and enabling glucose uptake. The results are published online today in the international journal Chemistry & Biology.

“We can now understand at a molecular level why bitter melon works as a treatment for diabetes,” said Professor David James, Director of the Diabetes and Obesity Program at Garvan. “By isolating the compounds we believe to be therapeutic, we can investigate how they work together in our cells.”

People with Type 2 diabetes have an impaired ability to convert the sugar in their blood into energy in their muscles. This is partly because they don’t produce enough insulin, and partly because their fat and muscle cells don’t use insulin effectively, a phenomenon known as ‘insulin resistance’.

Exercise activates AMPK in muscle, which in turn mediates the movement of glucose transporters to the cell surface, a very important step in the uptake of glucose from the circulation into tissues in the body. This is a major reason that exercise is recommended as part of the normal treatment program for someone with Type 2 diabetes.

The four compounds isolated in bitter melon perform a very similar action to that of exercise, in that they activate AMPK.

Garvan scientists involved in the project, Drs Jiming Ye and Nigel Turner, both stress that while there are well known diabetes drugs on the market that also activate AMPK, they can have side effects.

“The advantage of bitter melon is that there are no known side effects,” said Dr Ye. “Practitioners of Chinese medicine have used it for hundreds of years to good effect.”

Garvan has a formal collaborative arrangement with the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. In addition to continuing to work together on the therapeutic potential of bitter melon, we will be exploring other Chinese medicines.

Professor Yang Ye, from the Shanghai Institute and a specialist in natural products chemistry, isolated the different fractions from bitter melon and identified the compounds of interest.

“Bitter melon was described as “bitter in taste, non-toxic, expelling evil heat, relieving fatigue and illuminating” in the famous Compendium of Materia Medica by Li Shizhen (1518-1593), one of the greatest physicians, pharmacologists and naturalists in China’s history,” said Professor Ye. “It is interesting, now that we have the technology, to analyse why it has been so effective.”

“Some of the compounds we have identified are completely novel. We have elucidated the molecular structures of these compounds and will be working with our colleagues at Garvan to decipher their actions at a molecular level. We assume it’s working through a novel pathway inside cells, and finding that pathway is going to be very interesting.”

Source: Eurekalert

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Scientists develop new cancer-killing compound from salad plant

Schwartz Posted in Herbs, Oncology，Tags: , , , , , , ,
29 October 2010
0

Researchers at the University of Washington have updated a traditional Chinese medicine to create a compound that is more than 1,200 times more specific in killing certain kinds of cancer cells than currently available drugs, heralding the possibility of a more effective chemotherapy drug with minimal side effects.

The new compound puts a novel twist on the common anti-malarial drug artemisinin, which is derived from the sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua L). Sweet wormwood has been used in herbal Chinese medicine for at least 2,000 years, and is eaten in salads in some Asian countries.

The scientists attached a chemical homing device to artemisinin that targets the drug selectively to cancer cells, sparing healthy cells. The results were published online Oct. 5 in the journal Cancer Letters.

“The compound is like a special agent planting a bomb inside the cell,” said Tomikazu Sasaki, chemistry professor at UW and senior author of the study.

In the study, the UW researchers tested their artemisinin-based compound on human leukemia cells. It was highly selective at killing the cancer cells. The researchers also have preliminary results showing that the compound is similarly selective and effective for human breast and prostate cancer cells, and that it effectively and safely kills breast cancer in rats, Sasaki said.

Cancer drug designers are faced with the unique challenge that cancer cells develop from our own normal cells, meaning that most ways to poison cancer cells also kill healthy cells. Most available chemotherapies are very toxic, destroying one normal cell for every five to 10 cancer cells killed, Sasaki said. This is why chemotherapy’s side effects are so devastating, he said.

“Side effects are a major limitation to current chemotherapies,” Sasaki said. “Some patients even die from them.”

The compound Sasaki and his colleagues developed kills 12,000 cancer cells for every healthy cell, meaning it could be turned into a drug with minimal side effects. A cancer drug with low side effects would be more effective than currently available drugs, since it could be safely taken in higher amounts.

The artemisinin compound takes advantage of cancer cell’s high iron levels. Artemisinin is highly toxic in the presence of iron, but harmless otherwise. Cancer cells need a lot of iron to maintain the rapid division necessary for tumor growth.

Since too much free-floating iron is toxic, when cells need iron they construct a special protein signal on their surfaces. The body’s machinery then delivers iron, shielded with a protein package, to these signals proteins. The cell then swallows this bundle of iron and proteins.

Artemisinin alone is fairly effective at killing cancer cells. It kills approximately 100 cancer cells for every healthy cell, about ten times better than current chemotherapies. To improve those odds, the researchers added a small chemical tag to artemisinin that sticks to the “iron needed here” protein signal. The cancer cell, unaware of the toxic compound lurking on its surface, waits for the protein machinery to deliver iron molecules and engulfs everything – iron, proteins and toxic compound.

Once inside the cell, the iron reacts with artemisinin to release poisonous molecules called free radicals. When enough of these free radicals accumulate, the cell dies.

“The compound is like a little bomb-carrying monkey riding on the back of a Trojan horse,” said Henry Lai, UW bioengineering professor and co-author of the study.

The compound is so selective for cancer cells partly due to their rapid multiplication, which requires high amounts of iron, and partly because cancer cells are not as good as healthy cells at cleaning up free-floating iron.

“Cancer cells get sloppy at maintaining free iron, so they are more sensitive to artemisinin,” Sasaki said.

Cancer cells are already under significant stress from their high iron contents and other imbalances, Sasaki said. Artemisinin tips them over the edge. The compound’s modus operandi also means it should be general for almost any cancer, the researchers said.

“Most currently available drugs are targeted to specific cancers,” Lai said. “This compound works on a general property of cancer cells, their high iron content.”

The compound is currently being licensed by the University of Washington to Artemisia Biomedical Inc., a company Lai, Sasaki and Narendra Singh, UW associate professor of bioengineering, founded in Newcastle, Wash. for development and commercialization. Human trials are at least several years away. Artemisinin is readily available, Sasaki said, and he hopes their compound can eventually be cheaply manufactured to help cancer patients in developing countries.

Source: Eurekalert

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Ancient Chinese remedy for ulcers and heartburn

Schwartz Posted in Chinese Medicine, Herbs，Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
26 October 2010
1

An ancient Chinese medicine extracted from pine trees may be effective against ulcers, heartburn, reflux oesophagitis and other digestive disorders common in the Western world, say scientists.

Dr Jeff Pearson and colleagues at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, have found that ecabet sodium, a white powder derived from the resin of pine trees, has a range of protective effects on the digestive system.

In laboratory tests on gastric juices taken from patients, ecabet sodium reduced pepsin activity — a known cause of ulcers — by up to 78 per cent and caused the mucus lining the stomach to thicken, providing extra protection from the gastric juices.

The powder also proved to be a natural antiseptic, reducing the survival time of ulcer-causing bacteria in the stomach, said Dr Pearson, of the Department of Physiological Sciences in the university’s medical school.

Reflux oesophagitis occurs when gastric juices leave the stomach and travel up the oesophagus, attacking the sensitive lining. While most people suffer occasionally, there are many acute suffers who need drugs to control the disorder.

Reflux oesophagitis is common among people suffering from peptic ulcers or who have a high level of pepsin activity. It can also be caused by a malfunction of the valve between the stomach and the oesophagus.

Dr Pearson believes that ecabet sodium may be very useful for long-term treatment of reflux oesophagitis in patients whose condition has been stabilised by conventional drugs.

Doctors often prescribe drugs which stop acid production by the stomach to control reflux oesophagitis. However, some medical experts are worried there may be side-effects on patients who take the drug daily for many years.

Dr Pearson believes that many small children have reflux oesophagitis in their sleep, but their parents are unaware so it goes untreated. He suspects that the gastric juices can travel so far up the child’s ‘tubes’ that it is a common cause of asthma (by irritating the lining of the respiratory system), and possibly glue ear.

Dr Pearson has an interest in natural medicines from the Far East, many of which seem to be effective but have never been adopted by western medicine because of the language barrier.

Source: Eurekalert

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Ancient Chinese folk remedy packs anti-cancer punch

Schwartz Posted in Chinese Medicine, Herbs，Tags: , , , , , , ,
23 October 2010
0

A group of promising cancer-fighting compounds derived from a substance used in ancient Chinese medicine will be developed for potential use in humans, the University of Washington announced today.

The UW TechTransfer Office has signed a licensing agreement with Chongqing Holley Holdings, a Chinese company, and Holley Pharmaceuticals, its U.S. subsidiary.

The compounds, all developed through the research of UW scientists Henry Lai and Narendra Singh of the Department of Bioengineering and Tomikazu Sasaki of the Department of Chemistry, make use of a substance known as artemisinin, found in the wormwood plant and used throughout Asia since ancient times to treat malaria.

Although the compounds are promising, potential medical applications are still years away, officials say.

“We are very excited about the UW’s discovery and an opportunity to develop an artemisinin-based cancer drug,” Kevin Mak, chief scientist at Holley, said. “The technology is very promising, but it’s in its early stages. Further research and clinical trials are needed.”

The company, located in Chongqing, China, has been in the artemisinin business for more than 30 years, and is a world leader in farming, extracting and manufacturing artemisinin, its derivatives and artemisinin-based anti-malaria drugs, officials say.

Lai said he became interested in artemisinin about 10 years ago. The chemical helps control malaria because it reacts with the high iron concentrations found in the single-cell malaria parasite. When artemisinin comes into contact with iron, a chemical reaction ensues, spawning charged atoms that chemists call “free radicals.” The free radicals attack the cell membrane and other molecules, breaking it apart and killing the parasite.

Lai said he began to wonder if the process might work with cancer, too.

“Cancer cells need a lot of iron to replicate DNA when they divide,” Lai explained. “As a result, cancer cells have much higher iron concentrations than normal cells. When we began to understand how artemisinin worked, I started wondering if we could use that knowledge to target cancer cells.”

Perhaps the most promising of the methods licensed involves the use of transferrin, to which the researchers bind artemisinin at the molecular level. Transferrin is an iron-carrying protein found in blood, and is transported into cells via transferrin receptors on a cell’s surface.

Iron-hungry cancer cells typically have significantly more transferrin receptors on their surface than normal cells, which allows them to take in more of the iron-carrying protein. That, according to Lai, is what seems to make the compound so effective.

“We call it a Trojan horse because a cancer cell recognizes transferrin as a natural, harmless protein and picks up the tagged compound without knowing that a bomb – artemisinin – is hidden inside.”

Once inside the cancer cell, the iron is released and reacts with the artemisinin. That makes the compound both highly toxic and, because of cancer’s rapacious need for iron, highly selective. Surrounding, healthy cells are essentially undamaged.

“Our research in the lab indicated that the artemisinin-tagged transferrin was 34,000 times more effective in selecting and killing the cancer cells than normal cells,” Lai said. “Artemisinin alone is 100 times more effective, so we’ve greatly enhanced the selectivity.”

Source: Eurekalert

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Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers find
ginseng may improve breast cancer outcomes

Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture, Herbs, Oncology，Tags: , , , , , , ,
17 October 2010
5

Ginseng, one of the most widely used herbs in traditional Chinese medicine, may improve survival and quality of life after a diagnosis of breast cancer, according to a recent study by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers.

The large epidemiological study, led by Xiao-Ou Shu, M.D., Ph.D., was published online recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Ginseng is a slow-growing perennial herb whose roots have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years. The two main classes of ginseng – red and white – have different biological effects, according to traditional Chinese medicine theory. White, or unprocessed, ginseng is used over long periods to promote general health, vitality and longevity. Red, or processed, ginseng provides a much stronger effect and is used for short periods to aid in disease recovery.

Both varieties of ginseng contain more than 30 chemicals, called ginsenosides, which have anti-tumor effects in cell culture and animal studies, suggesting that the herbs may provide specific benefits to cancer patients. In fact, ginseng use has been increasing among cancer patients in recent years, particularly in women diagnosed with breast cancer.

However, despite the encouraging laboratory findings, scientific analysis of ginseng’s health benefits in patient populations has been lacking. “There is a lot of skepticism about herbal medicine,” said Shu. “That is why we are taking the observational approach at this time to see whether there is any efficacy. If so, we can go to the next phase. … and eventually go to clinical trials.”

Shu and colleagues assessed the effects of ginseng use in breast cancer survivors as part of a large epidemiological study, the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study, which has followed 1,455 breast cancer patients in Shanghai since 1996. For the current study, Shu and colleagues evaluated breast cancer patients for ginseng use both before and after their diagnosis of breast cancer. All patients who used ginseng had received at least one type of conventional cancer therapy (e.g., surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy).

Information on ginseng use prior to cancer diagnosis, which was available for every subject, was used to determine whether prior ginseng use predicted survival. At follow up – about three to four years after diagnosis – the researchers asked about ginseng use since diagnosis. That information, which was available only for survivors, was used to look at quality of life measurements – i.e., physical, psychological, social and material well-being.

Before diagnosis, about a quarter of patients (27.4 percent) reported using ginseng regularly. After diagnosis, that percentage jumped to 62.8 percent, the researchers found. They also found significant improvements in both survival and quality of life measures in patients who used ginseng. “When patients used ginseng prior to diagnosis, they tended to have higher survival,” Shu explained. “Ginseng use after cancer diagnosis was related to improved quality of life.”

The findings suggest that ginseng may provide tangible benefits to breast cancer survivors, but there are limitations to the study. The varieties and the methods of ginseng use and the use of other complementary and alternative therapies could not be fully accounted for in the analysis. Also, the quality of life measures exclusively relied on patient self-reporting.

Although side effects of ginseng use were not recorded in this study, Shu warned that the seemingly innocuous root can create problems when improperly used and should be taken with caution. “It’s not a ‘drug’ in terms of being managed by the FDA, but it was used as a drug in traditional Chinese medicine,” she said. “Any drug may have some side effects and may interact with other drugs. So, discuss with your primary care doctor before you decide to take ginseng roots or products.”

Shu hopes to confirm and expand the current findings through continued collection of data in this patient population, from another ongoing study of 4,000 breast cancer patients, and eventually, in randomized clinical trials. Scientific study of complementary and alternative medicines is tricky though, said Shu. “Chinese traditional medicine is very individualized. It gives you different drugs based on your symptoms and your overall health. There is much to be learnt.”

Source: Eurekalert

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Compound from Chinese medicine shows promise in head and neck cancer

Schwartz Posted in Chinese Medicine, Oncology，Tags: , , , , , , ,
10 October 2010
1

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A compound derived from cottonseed could help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy at treating head and neck cancer, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.

The findings, which appear in the July issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, could lead to a treatment that provides an effective option to surgically removing the cancer, helping patients preserve vital organs involved in speech and swallowing.

While new treatments in head and neck cancer have allowed some patients to undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy instead of surgery, this form of cancer is often resistant to chemotherapy. When the cancer does not respond to these powerful drugs, patients must resort to surgery.

“Patients really benefit long-term by avoiding surgery because the side effects of surgery for head and neck cancer can be particularly difficult for patients. It affects how you talk, how you swallow and how you breathe,” says study author Carol Bradford, M.D., professor of otolaryngology at the U-M Medical School and co-director of the Head and Neck Oncology Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The compound, (-)-gossypol, works to regulate a protein called Bcl-xL that’s overexpressed in cancer cells and makes these cells survive when they shouldn’t. Shaomeng Wang, Ph.D., co-director of the Molecular Therapeutics Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, discovered (-)-gossypol, a compound derived from a component of Chinese medicine.

Gossypol comes from cottonseed and was once used in China as a male contraceptive. More recently, it’s been tested as a cancer treatment. Wang found the negative isomer of gossypol binds at a site to block the active Bcl-xL protein. A prior study conducted by researchers in the U-M Head and Neck Oncology Program showed Bcl-xL protein is often highly expressed in head and neck cancers.

In this study, researchers developed head and neck cancer cell cultures resistant to the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, a platinum-based drug frequently used to treat this type of cancer. They found cisplatin killed cells with a mutant form of the protein p53, but cells with normal p53 and high levels of Bcl-xL were resistant. The researchers then treated these cisplatin-resistant cell lines with (-)-gossypol and found that (-)-gossypol induced the drug resistant tumor cells to undergo programmed cell death.

“These cisplatin resistant cells are exquisitely sensitive to (-)-gossypol. We can induce cell death in 70 percent to 90 percent of cells. This is a very impressive induction of cell death. It’s because we are targeting the pathways these cells need to survive,” says study author Thomas Carey, Ph.D., co-director of the Head and Neck Oncology Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center and a professor in the U-M School of Dentistry and the U-M Medical School.

To test the principle that Bcl-xL and non-mutant p53 determine resistance to cisplatin in head and neck cancer cells, lead study author Joshua Bauer, a U-M graduate student in pharmacology, overexpressed Bcl-xL in tumor cells with mutant or non-mutant p53. Only cells with non-mutant p53 and high Bcl-xL became resistant to cisplatin. Bauer then treated these cells with (-)-gossypol and induced cell death.

To further confirm the importance of Bcl-xL in cisplatin resistance, the researchers used a technique called inhibitory RNA to shut off expression of Bcl-xL in the drug-resistant cells. These cells became sensitive to cisplatin when Bcl-xL was turned off, confirming its role in drug resistance.

“We believe novel agents that target Bcl-xL can improve survival for our patients,” Carey says.

In a previous study published in November 2004 in Clinical Cancer Research, Bradford, Carey and their team treated cell cultures of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with the (-)-gossypol compound and found it inhibited tumor cell growth. Additional testing in animals was also positive and showed (-)-gossypol did not harm surrounding healthy tissue.

Researchers hope to begin a clinical trial in head and neck cancer patients within a year, testing whether (-)-gossypol can be used along with chemotherapy to create a better response and avoid surgery.

More than 29,000 people will be diagnosed in 2005 with head and neck cancers, which include cancer of the tongue, mouth, throat and voice box.

University of Michigan holds a patent on the negative isomer, (-)-gossypol, and has licensed the technology to Ascenta Therapeutics of San Diego, Calif., for commercial development. Wang is one of three U-M Medical School faculty members who founded the company and has significant financial interest.

Source: Eurekalert

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Acupuncture and exercise may bring relief for women with PCOS

Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture，Tags: , , , , , , ,
01 October 2010
0

BETHESDA, Md. (June 29, 2009) Exercise and electro-acupuncture treatments can reduce sympathetic nerve activity in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), according to a new study. The finding is important because women with PCOS often have elevated sympathetic nerve activity, which plays a role in hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, obesity and cardiovascular disease

The study also found that the electro-acupuncture treatments led to more regular menstrual cycles, reduced testosterone levels and reduced waist circumference.

Exercise had no effect on the irregular or non-existent menstrual cycles that are common among women with PCOS, nor did it reduce waist circumference. However, exercise did lead to reductions in weight and body mass index.

“The findings that low-frequency electro-acupuncture and exercise decrease sympathetic nerve activity in women with PCOS indicates a possible alternative non-pharmacologic approach to reduce cardiovascular risk in these patients,” said one of the researchers, Dr. Elisabet Stener-Victorin of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The findings regarding menstrual cycles and decrease in testosterone levels in the low-frequency electro-acupuncture are also of interest, according to the researcher.

The study, “Low-frequency electro-acupuncture and physical exercise decrease high muscle sympathetic nerve activity in polycystic ovary syndrome” was conducted by Elisabet Stener-Victorin, Elizabeth Jedel, Per Olof Janson and Vrsa Bergmann Sverrisdottir, all of the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden and the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. The study is in the online edition of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, published by The American Physiological Society.

Common endocrine disorder

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders, affecting an estimated 10% of women of reproductive age. Among the problems associated with the condition are elevated levels of androgens (such as testosterone, the ‘male’ hormone found in both sexes), ovarian cysts, irregular menstrual cycles and infertility.

PCOS is associated with increased sympathetic nerve activity in the blood vessels, part of the ‘fight or flight’ response that results in blood vessel constriction. Chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system increases the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.

The Swedish researchers had previously found that PCOS is associated with increased sympathetic nerve activity and said it may arise from the elevated testosterone level that is characteristic of PCOS.

Three groups

The researchers wanted to find a long-lasting treatment for PCOS that would have no adverse side effects, and so they looked at whether acupuncture or exercise could decrease the sympathetic nerve activity in women with PCOS. The study included 20 women, average age of 30 years, divided into the following groups:

  • low-frequency electro-acupuncture (9)
  • exercise (5)
  • untreated controls, (6)

The acupuncture group underwent 14 treatments during the 16-week study. Acupuncture points were located in abdominal muscles and back of the knee, points thought to be associated with the ovaries. The needles in the abdomen and leg were stimulated with a low-frequency electrical charge, enough to produce muscle contraction but not enough to produce pain or discomfort.

The exercise group received pulse watches and were told to take up regular exercise: brisk walking, cycling or any other aerobic exercise that was faster than walking but that they could sustain for at least 30 minutes. They exercised at least three days per week for 30-45 minutes, maintaining a pulse frequency above 120 beats per minute.

The researchers instructed the control group in the importance of exercise and a healthy diet, the same instructions the experimental groups received, but were not specifically assigned to do anything differently.

Key Findings

The researchers measured the muscle sympathetic nerve activity before and after the 16-week study. Following treatment, the study found the following:

  • Both the acupuncture and exercise groups significantly decreased muscle sympathetic nerve activity compared to the control group.
  • The acupuncture group experienced a drop in waist size, but not a drop in body mass index or weight.
  • The exercise group experienced a drop in weight and body mass index but not in waist size.
  • The acupuncture group experienced fewer menstrual irregularities but the exercise group’s irregularities did not change.
  • In the acupuncture group, there was a significant drop in testosterone. This is an important indicator because the strongest independent predictor of high sympathetic nerve activity in women is the level of testosterone.

“This is the first study to demonstrate that repeated low-frequency electro-acupuncture and physical exercise can reduce high sympathetic nerve activity seen in women with PCOS,” according to the authors. “Furthermore, both therapies decreased measures of obesity while only low-frequency electro-acupuncture improved menstrual bleeding pattern.”

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-06/aps-fww062609.php

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Acupuncture Helps Chemo Patients: More Evidence

Schwartz Posted in Acupuncture, Oncology，Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
19 September 2010
1

A recent study from Brazil finds that visualization and acupuncture have a positive effect on patients undergoing chemotherapy. The study was conducted at the College of Nursing at Ribeirão Preto-University of São Paulo, Brazil, by the following researchers:  Sawada NO, Zago MM, Galvão CM, Cardozo FM, Zandonai AP, Okino L, Nicolussi AC.

Below is the abstract for the study.

“Abstract

BACKGROUND: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to treat cancer patients has increased around the world, and its benefits have been described. These therapies represent an important theme in oncology and have been used in parallel with conventional therapies.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the outcomes of using relaxation with visualization and acupuncture on the quality of life of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment and to compare these outcomes with patients who did not choose to receive the intervention.

METHODS: Participants chose to be in either the intervention group (IG) or control group (CG). They completed the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 at the start and end of chemotherapy. The IG was chosen by 38 patients with different types of cancer who completed weekly relaxation with visualization and acupuncture sessions, whereas the CG was composed of 37 patients who did not receive the intervention.

RESULTS: Statistically significant results evidenced an increase in global health and emotional and social functions and a decrease in fatigue and loss of appetite for the IG, and an increase in global health for the CG (P< or =.05). A highly significant difference was found when comparing the post-chemotherapy scores of the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 in the global health domain between the CG and the IG (P< or =.001), indicating positive outcomes of the CAM intervention.

CONCLUSION: Adults with cancer are able to choose between involvement or not with this kind of CAM intervention. Global health could be improved by participating in this type of intervention.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20562622

The results are not very surprising. There are many studies that have come to similar conclusions and the acceptance of acupuncture for chemotherapy patients is gaining traction around the world, partly because of studies like this one.

We have worked with chemotherapy patients and specialize in providing the proper acupuncture treatments to ease pain, discomfort, and other symptoms that result from chemotherapy. Please contact us to schedule a personal consultation with our specialists.

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Metametrix Laboratory Tests

Schwartz Posted in Functional Medicine, Gastrointestinal，Tags: , , , , , , ,
06 September 2010
0

In order to successfully diagnose patients, we utilize a variety of techniques. One of the most important tools we use is laboratory tests utilizing urine and stool samples. These can be particularly useful for diagnosing GI problems, including parasite infections and other abnormalities.

The best company that we have found to perform these tests is Metametrix and they are located here in Atlanta. They provide a wide variety of tests as you can see on their website, but the real power of their testing comes from actual DNA analysis. For example, if they are screening a stool sample for Giardia infection, they look for the exact genetic signature of Giardia by DNA. This is the most accurate way of looking for infections and is far superior to the old-fashioned way of a technician peering through a microscope manually scanning for what could be Giardia. With the GI tests provided by Metametrix, you can finally rest assured that you either have an infection or not. If you do have an infection, we will provide you with a custom solution to address the problem.

Another common test we utilize is the IgG4 Food Allergy panels. This is what Metametrix says about the Bloodspot 30 test on their website:

“From a simple finger stick, the Bloodspot IgG4 Food Antibodies Profile offers a non-invasive alternative to a blood draw in determining IgG food reactions. Responses to 30 different foods are tested, and responses are categorized by severity from borderline to mild, moderate, or severe on the report.”

Food allergies are quite common and can manifest themselves in a variety of ways, from very specific to very general. Using one of these tests, we can help you determine which foods are reacting negatively with your body and help you with nutritious alternatives that can aid in your overall health.

Please contact us today to schedule a consultation to determine which tests you would like to get as well as tests we recommend for everyone. The first step to better health is determining the underlying problems. Let us help you today.

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