Increasing magnesium intake can boost brainpower - at least in rats

And I'm sure there is no place to get that type of magnesium.
http://www.gizmag.com/magnesium-boosts-brainpower/14022/

Your mother was right – eating your “greens” (which contain magnesium) is good for you. In fact, according to neuroscientists at MIT and Tsinghua University in Beijing, rats who were fed a new compound that increased their brain magnesium demonstrated enhanced learning abilities, working memory, and short- and long-term memory. The dietary supplement also boosted older rats’ ability to perform a variety of learning tests. Great, if it’s not hard enough getting rid of the rodents now, imagine trying to remove smarter rats!

Magnesium, an essential element, “hides” in dark, leafy vegetables such as spinach and some fruits. Health professionals say people who get less than 400mg a day are risking allergies, asthma and heart disease, and possibly other conditions. In 2004, Guosong Liu and colleagues at MIT discovered that magnesium might also have a positive influence on learning and memory. They developed a new magnesium compound — magnesium-L-threonate (MgT) — that they say is more effective than conventional oral supplements at boosting magnesium in the brain. They then tried it out on lab rats.

“We found that elevation of brain magnesium led to significant enhancement of spatial and associative memory in both young and aged rats,” said Liu, now director of the Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua University. “If MgT is shown to be safe and effective in humans, these results may have a significant impact on public health.” Liu is a co-founder of California-based company, Magceutics, that develops drugs for prevention and treatment of age-dependent memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Half the population of the industrialized countries has a magnesium deficit, which increases with aging. If normal or even higher levels of magnesium can be maintained, we may be able to significantly slow age-related loss of cognitive function and perhaps prevent or treat diseases that affect cognitive function,” Liu said.

The researchers found that MgT increased the plasticity in connections among neurons, called synapses, in young and old rats. They also found that after increased levels of MgT were introduced to the rats, the density of synapses increased in the hippocampus, a critical brain region for learning and memory.

This study not only highlights the importance of a diet with sufficient daily magnesium, but also suggests the usefulness of magnesium-based treatments for aging-associated memory decline, said Susumu Tonegawa at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, who helped carry out the initial behavioral experiments. Clinical studies in Beijing are now investigating the relationship between body magnesium status and cognitive functions in older humans and Alzheimer’s patients.

Activating brain protein shown to aid in stroke recovery

I know I posted this earlier but didn't know the drug involved. Cutamesine.
A pathetic 15 years to get from basic research to a clinical trial and then another 15-20 to get into widespread use. What will make this go faster? We can't wait until the baby boomers start asking about recovery. You explain why to a Type-A personality that stroke recovery help is non-existant.
http://www.gizmag.com/activating-brain-protein-shown-to-aid-in-stroke-recovery/17953/

It's certainly not a news flash to say that being in a stimulating environment, where there's plenty to perceive and think about, is good for the brain – new neural pathways are formed, and existing ones are kept from atrophying. Now, however, researchers have discovered a way of replicating and reinforcing those good effects in any environment. It is hoped that the new technology will allow strokes to be treatable up to two days after they have occurred. Most current treatments must be administered within a matter of hours after the event.

The research was carried out by scientists at Sweden's Lund University, in collaboration with American colleagues.

Lab rats were subjected to strokes, then placed in one of two environments – some went into a regular cage, while others were placed in an "enriched" cage that contained interesting things like several levels of tubes, beams and ladders. It was found that being in the enriched cage activated a gene coded for the protein sigma-1 receptor, which plays a key role in helping the brain to recover from a stroke.

The researchers then injected those rats with cutamesine, a substance that activates the sigma-1 receptor, and found that they regained their brain function more quickly than the untreated rats. Essentially, the treatment simply recreates and enhances the brain's natural response to being in an enriched environment.

Although the basic research began over 15 years ago, the treatment is only now finally being used in a clinical trial on stroke patients by a Japanese pharmaceutical company.

"This is an excellent example of how basic research can be translated into a healthcare setting and possibly lead to new and better therapies," said Lund's Prof. Tadeusz Wieloch. "It also exemplifies the fact that, within medical research, it is a long journey from experimental studies to results that benefit the patient."

DRUG REVERSES CHANGES IN AGING BRAIN CELLS

Of course this is in rats and they don't tell us what the drug is but someone out there knows.
http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=news_120711
Drugs that affect the levels of an important brain protein involved in learning and memory reverse cellular changes in the brain seen during aging, according to an animal study in the December 7 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings could one day aid in the development of new drugs that enhance cognitive function in older adults.

Aging-related memory loss is associated with the gradual deterioration of the structure and function of synapses (the connections between brain cells) in brain regions critical to learning and memory, such as the hippocampus. Recent studies suggested that histone acetylation, a chemical process that controls whether genes are turned on, affects this process. Specifically, it affects brain cells’ ability to alter the strength and structure of their connections for information storage, a process known as synaptic plasticity, which is a cellular signature of memory.

In the current study, Cui-Wei Xie, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues found that compared with younger rats, hippocampi from older rats have less brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) — a protein that promotes synaptic plasticity — and less histone acetylation of the Bdnf gene. By treating the hippocampal tissue from older animals with a drug that increased histone acetylation, they were able to restore BDNF production and synaptic plasticity to levels found in younger animals.
“These findings shed light on why synapses become less efficient and more vulnerable to impairment during aging,” said Xie, who led the study. “Such knowledge could help develop new drugs for cognitive aging and aging-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease,” she added.

The researchers also found that treating the hippocampal tissue from older animals with a different drug that activates a BDNF receptor also reversed the synaptic plasticity deficit in the older rats. Because histone acetylation is important in many functions throughout the body, these findings offer a potential pathway to treat aging-related synaptic plasticity deficits without interfering with histone acetylation.
“It appears that lifelong shifts in gene regulation steadily deprive the brain of a key growth factor and cause a collapse of the ‘machinery’ supporting memory, cognition, and the viability of neurons,” said Gary Lynch, PhD, a synaptic plasticity expert at the University of California, Irvine. “The very good news suggested by this study is that it may be possible to reverse these effects.”

The research was supported by the National Institute on Aging and UCLA Older Americans Independence Center.

The Journal of Neuroscience is published by the Society for Neuroscience, an organization of more than 40,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system. Xie can be reached at cxie@mednet.ucla.edu. More information on the science of brain plasticity and aging can be found in the Society's Brain Briefings and Research & Discoveries publications.

Low Iron Levels May Increase Blood Clot Risk

Be careful out there.
http://www.caring.com/news/low-iron-levels-may-increase-blood-clot-risk?utm_medium=email&utm_source=suggests&utm_campaign=heart&utm_content=20111222
Low levels of iron in the blood are associated with an increased risk of dangerous blood clots that form in a vein, according to the results of a new study that included patients with an inherited blood vessel disease.

The findings suggest that treating iron deficiency may help prevent the condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), according to the researchers at Imperial College London in England.

DVT typically occurs in the legs and can cause pain and swelling, and can be fatal if a blood clot dislodges and travels into the blood vessels of the lungs. Major surgery, immobility and cancer are recognized risk factors for blood clots, but there is no clear cause in many cases.

The new study included 609 patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), a genetic disease of the blood vessels that causes excessive bleeding from the nose and gut. Many HHT patients have low iron levels due to the loss of iron through bleeding.

Patients in the study with low iron levels were at increased risk for blood clots, but those who took iron supplements did not have a higher risk. This suggests that treating iron deficiency may help prevent DVT in the general population, the researchers said in a news release from the college.

"Our study shows that in people with HHT, low levels of iron in the blood is a potentially treatable risk factor for blood clots," lead author Dr. Claire Shovlin, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London and an honorary consultant at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said in the news release.

"There are small studies in the general population which would support these findings, but more studies are needed to confirm this. If the finding does apply to the general population, it would have important implications in almost every area of medicine," Shovlin added.

The study is published in the Dec. 14 issue of the journal Thorax.

About one billion people worldwide are believed to have iron deficiency anemia, according to the researchers.

New Technology for Rapidly Diagnosing Strokes

It just takes university students to come up with a better and faster way to diagnose a stroke. I'm sure they could come up with hyperacute treatments, let em at it. So which one is better, this or the hand-held brain bleed detector?
http://www.talkingscience.org/2011/12/new-technology-for-diagnosing-strokes-rapidly/
In August, the 2011 Cincinnati Innovates competition announced a group of engineering and design students from University of Cincinnati were winners of a $5,000 Northern Kentucky Vision 2015 Award and $10,000 from Taft Legal/Patent Award for creating the Ischiban Headband used for diagnosing strokes.

A stroke happens when blood flow to a part of the brain stops. If blood flow is stopped for longer than a few seconds, the brain cannot get blood and oxygen. There are two types of strokes: ischemic and hemorrhagic. Ischemic strokes occur when a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain is blocked by a blood clot. This blot clot may have formed either because the artery is already very narrow (thrombotic stroke), or a clot may break off from another place in the blood vessels of the brain and travel up to the brain (embolic stroke). A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in part of the brain becomes weak and bursts open, causing blood to leak to the brain. About 80% of all strokes are ischemic.
The correct diagnosis is vital. If drugs that are used to treat an ischemic stroke are given to a patient with a hemorrhagic stroke, it can be fatal. This is because these drugs are used to thicken or thin the blood, depending on what caused the stroke. Strokes become more dangerous as time goes on. Therefore, immediate care is crucial. Symptoms include slurred speech; a droopy eye or mouth; weakness on one side; headache; changes in alertness, hearing and taste; and confusion or loss of memory. Generally, stroke symptoms depend on what part of the brain is being damaged. Symptoms usually develop suddenly. Symptoms are usually most severe when the stroke first happens, but in some cases, they gradually get worse.
Before 2011, a brain scan was typically used to identify the type of stroke a patient had suffered. However, it takes hours to receive the result from this method -- during which time the stroke is getting increasingly more dangerous. The new device, developed by Pooja Kadambi, Joe Lovelace, and Scott Robinson, is called Ischiban. It uses a technique called impedance spectroscopy, which measures how waves of energy flow through different tissue or materials to analyze what’s going on deep inside the skull. The energy is a mild electric current produced by up to ten electrodes in the headband. Within minutes, the results are fed to a laptop connected to the headband. On the laptop, the results are in an easy-to-read chart that tells doctors what type of stroke it is. Electrical Impedance was originally invented by Oliver Heaviside in 1886. However, it was newly applied to diagnosing strokes in 2011.
The headband is not painful, but it applies slight pressure to the patient’s head when wearing it. The impedance spectroscopy device has been tested on a small group of healthy volunteers, showing that the technique can produce images of the brain rapidly. This device is not yet available for use. Clinical trials are going to be set up in the near future to examine how it performs during stroke diagnosis.

“Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

I got this one from my parents along with, 'God doesn't give you more than you can handle'. Neither one was comforting. This article discusses it by the noted atheist Chistopher Hitchens,
Read at the link.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/01/hitchens-201201
Or in the original German;
Was mich nicht umbringt macht mich stärker.

Overeating, salt, the real culprits in stroke risk

More studies, ask you doctor about all the salt ones, they should know the suggested truth.
http://www.theheart.org/article/1330409.do?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=20111221_EN_Heartwire

Perth, Australia - The overall quality of a person's diet and the balance between caloric intake and expenditure appear to be more important determinants of stroke risk than the actual foods and nutrients consumed, according to a new review published in the January 2012 Lancet Neurology special issue [1].

In general, the two biggest threats to health and risk of stroke are overeating and excess salt, author Dr Graeme J Hankey (Royal Perth Hospital, Australia) writes.

"These behaviors are a normal response by people to an abnormal environment," Hankey notes. "Our living environments have become more conducive to consumption of energy and less conducive to expenditure of energy in developed and increasingly in developing regions."

He writes that between 1970 and 2008, the incidence of stroke in high-income countries fell by 42%, probably due to increased public awareness about the dangers of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cigarette smoking.

But in poorer countries, the incidence of stroke actually increased by more than 100% during this period, and this rise coincided with food and lifestyle changes associated with industrialization and urbanization.

Small number of trials

For his analysis, Hankey reviewed trials and other studies assessing the link between nutrition or diet and the risk of stroke published between 1970 and October 2011. Collectively, he notes, the study findings were diverse and occasionally contradictory.

Hankey's review also revealed the following effects of individual foods and beverages on the risk of stroke:

• Fish—Three servings a day associated with a 6% lower risk of stroke.
• Fruits and vegetables—More than five servings a day associated with a 26% lower risk of stroke.
• Meat—Each daily serving associated with a 24% increased risk of stroke.
• Reduced-fat milk—Associated with a lower risk of stroke vs full-fat milk.
• Chocolate—High consumption associated with a 29% lower risk of stroke.
• Coffee—Three to four cups per day associated with a 17% lower risk of stroke.
• Tea—More than three cups per day associated with a 21% lower risk of stroke.
• Sugar-sweetened beverages—High intake associated with increased obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and coronary heart disease.
• Whole grains—High intake associated with a 21% lower incidence of cardiovascular events.
• Rice—Intake not associated with risk of stroke.(but what about prevention? here:

http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2011/04/alpha-tocotrienols-and-stroke.html)

"Further research is needed to improve the quality of evidence relating to the association of many nutrients, foods, and dietary patterns with stroke risk," Hankey suggests. This requires adequately powered, large randomized trials, with carefully described patient populations and interventions. The outcomes of such trials should also distinguish first-ever and recurrent stroke, as well as ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke and their different etiologies.

Hankey also suggests that populationwide salt-reduction programs led by governments and with industry cooperation could be highly cost-effective. "In the USA, modest, populationwide reductions in dietary salt of up to 3 g per day . . . are projected to reduce the annual number of new cases of stroke by 32 000 to 66 000, similar to the benefits of populationwide reductions in tobacco use, obesity, and cholesterol levels," he writes.

Hankey said in an interview that he hopes his study will stimulate conclusive studies "by means of large, randomized controlled trials of the effect of dietary nutrients, foods, and patterns on stroke and its pathological and etiological subtypes." The current evidence associating dietary nutrients, foods, and patterns with stroke is generally suboptimal for providing reliable conclusions about causality, he reiterated.

"The effect of only a few supplements on stroke risk have been studied by means of large, randomized controlled trials, and all of those have shown no benefit of antioxidant vitamins, B vitamins, and calcium supplements in preventing stroke—despite large, more suboptimal, epidemiological studies claiming they should be beneficial," he said.

Best diet still uncertain

Asked to comment on this study, Dr Eugene Storozynsky (University of Rochester Medical Center, NY) said that he agrees with Hankey's conclusions.

"This is a good review of the literature as to what role diets and their components would have on reducing stroke, and what it tells us is that there still is a lot of uncertainty about the best diet. One study suggests benefit of a certain food or strategy; the other may come to the opposite conclusion," Storozynsky said.

The take-home message here is as Hankey notes, Storozynsky continued. "We need rigorously done randomized controlled trials to really monitor the long-term effects of diets and nutrients, rather than observational studies that look at individual factors, to see whether or not there is any benefit to adopting certain strategies."

Storozynsky also noted what he considers to be an important omission from Hankey's review. "This review did not look at the effect of exercise and how it affects nutrition or stroke results. Does routine daily exercise mitigate the effect of intermittent poor eating? Exercise definitely needs to be part of the equation," he said.