Month: November 2009

Categories
News on Health & Science

Age No Bar

Regenerated heart valves, vein-repair patches, spare skin and replacement joints will soon allow for 50 active years after 50. T.V. Jayan reports

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That anti-wrinkle cream may look tempting — but scientists say there’s more to ageing than creased skin and greying hair. These are just the telltale signs of age. What gets eroded inside the body is the real problem.

If some scientists have their way, it won’t be a problem for long. They are trying to battle an ageing heart, hip and knees that give in to the wear and tear of passing years and blood veins that cannot keep up with the demands of round-the-clock blood circulation, leading to dead cells.

John Fisher, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Leeds, the UK, is determined to look into these problems and find solutions so that people can lead an active life beyond the age of 50. While people are living longer than ever before, the effort is to help them discard the baggage of old age.

The West is facing a crisis — of an increasing older population. There are nearly 35 pensioners for every 100 workers in European countries. The pensioners are expected to surge to 75 for every 100 workers by 2050. According to a recent study in Lancet, half the babies now born in wealthy nations are expected to live to the age of 100 years, further aggravating the problem.

The Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (iMBE), which Fisher heads at the university, will spend £50 million (Rs 375 crore) over the next year to tackle 10 challenges that will allow people “50 active years after 50”.

The project, launched in partnership with academic institutions and private industry from a number of countries, intends to develop long-lasting, better performing biomedical implants and regeneration techniques.

On the list are regenerated heart valves, vein-repair patches, new ligaments and cartilage, spare skin and replacement joints that can be bought off the shelf.

While medical advances, a better diet and changes in our lifestyle mean we are living longer, our bones, joints and cardiovascular systems continue to degenerate as we age, says Fisher.

Current technologies are good, but they are not adequate to last 50 years. For instance, the best of artificial hip joints can’t last more than 15-20 years at a stretch, “particularly if you want to cycle, play tennis, or ski,” says Fisher. “There is a crying need to improve the quality and durability of prostheses available for use currently,” adds Sanjeev Jain, a consulting orthopaedic surgeon and joint replacement expert at the Dr L.H. Hiranandani Hospital in Mumbai.

A typical replacement hip joint has a metal head in a polyethylene cup, which wears out over time. Because of its limited lifespan, many patients are advised to wait for as long as possible, often in considerable discomfort, before having an artificial hip put in place.

There is another design which is used in younger patients. Since a relatively younger person who needs a hip replacement may take 100 million steps for the rest of his or her lifetime, the artificial hip joint has to last longer. The replacement hips now available for younger patients are either made of metal or ceramics. Both are more durable than polyethylene, giving the joint a longer lifespan and reducing the need for a further surgery.

A few years ago, the Leeds university team further modified the design to create a better model. Both ceramics and metal are used in the new hip joint. The bearing includes a new type of ceramic ball, which fits inside a metal cup. The combination has led to a 10-fold reduction in metal wear than in the metal joint. The joints, in clinical trials for the last five years, were found to be 10 times more durable than the other designs. Over 10,000 people are living with these new-generation hip replacements.

Similarly, as we get older, soft tissues begin to wear out — affecting organs such as the heart. A person with damaged tissues can go for an artificial implant, a chemically treated animal tissue or use a human donor tissue. An artificial implant or animal tissue will not lead to new tissues. The human donor tissue contains foreign cells which may eventually lead to the decay of the tissue.

On the other hand, the iMBE scientists have already developed a novel technique for re-creating human tissues. Developed and patented in 2001, it employs a unique method of stripping cells from human and animal tissues to leave a “scaffold” into which the patient’s own cells can be introduced.

“We have already used this to make a range of soft tissues,” says Eileen Ingham, professor of medical immunology at Leeds. These include heart valves, membranes that can be used for surgical and vascular repair, ligaments, cartilage found in knee joints and tissues such as skin and bladder, she says.

Take the heart valve. There are, as of now, three options available to patients who require a heart valve replacement. They can go for a mechanical valve, but it will require a life-long anti-coagulation therapy, which will significantly affect their quality of life. They can also opt for an artificial valve created from an animal tissue that can be used after a chemical treatment, or they can opt for a human donor valve. These will deteriorate over time and won’t last for more than 15 years.

But when the scientists tried out their “a-cellular” scaffold on sheep, they found that it gave birth to live cells within six months. Human trials have been taking place in Brazil for the last four years and the technology is expected to be available for human use in a few years.

A technology marvel that would be of enormous use is being attempted by the scientists in dental and bone care. The scientists have identified a peptide, a polymer produced when various amino acids found in the body come together, that can fight the decay of teeth, which are constantly attacked by acids. Exposure to acids leads to cavities. The scientists have found that the peptide, when applied in a liquid form by brush or as a mouthwash, can help create tiny three-dimensional structures that can fight tooth decay. Calcium, which is available through food, is naturally attracted by the peptide, creating a natural repair to the tooth. The scientists are hoping to extend the same technique for regeneration and repair of other soft and skeletal tissues such as blood vessels, bones and cartilage.

Fisher hopes that they may be able to develop at least 10 products over the next five years and halve the time required to get these products to market.

The new interventions will eventually be of immense value to India, which is also witnessing an increase in life expectancy. “Currently, 43 per cent of the global population of 80-plus people live in four countries including India,” says K.R. Gangadharan, founder of Heritage Hospital in Hyderabad and vice-president, International Federation on Ageing, a Canada-based non-profit organisation. Once the developments reach India, the aged may have the reason — and the joint — to do a jig.

Source: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Health Problems & Solutions

Some Health Quaries & Answers

Q: My one-year-old son developed watery diarrhoea. We went to several doctors who first prescribed tests and then gave him antibiotics. Eventually I was told he had developed “milk intolerance” and was switched to soya milk. Can I give him goat or buffalo milk? Can I use a tinned product like Nan or Lactogen instead?

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A: Your son has developed an inability to digest lactose, the sugar in milk, probably as a consequence of gastroenteritis. Since he is a year old, and you do not want to give him soya milk, try keeping him on other foods (no milk) for 72 hours. Very often the intestine recovers its ability to digest milk in that time. Nan, Lactogen, goat and buffalo milk all contain lactose. Switching him to these products will not solve the problem.

Lung cancer
Q: My daughter is 24 years old and has been diagnosed with lung cancer. How is it possible? She does not smoke.

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A: The factors that contribute to the development of lung cancer in non-smoking women are postulated to be exposure to second hand smoke, high levels of the hormone estrogen, genetic factors, or abnormal embryonic remnants in the lung that mutate. None of these (except exposure to second hand smoke) can be changed.

Sugar or honey?
Q: I am diabetic, but my blood sugar level is well under control. I use Equal in my tea and coffee. Recently I read that it is bad for health. Can I use honey instead?

 

A: Honey contains fructose, glucose and sucrose. All these are sugars, so substituting honey for sugar will not help. The main constituent of Equal is aspartame (L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanyl-methyl-ester) which is about 200 times as sweet as sugar with virtually no calories. This compound breaks down in the system to:

1) Phenylalanine (50 per cent), which can be neurotoxic and in some susceptible people cause seizures

2) Aspartic acid (40 per cent), which can cause brain damage in the developing brain

3) Methanol (10 per cent), which turns into formaldehyde

The quantities taken by diabetic patients in tea and coffee are small and probably insufficient to cause these adverse reactions. People who drink large quantities of diet cola or such drinks are more likely to be affected. The reactions are idiosyncratic and vary from individual to individual.

Weight gain
Q: I gained 4 kg after I got married. This now makes me 75 kg. Also, I have not been able to conceive.
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A: Your lifestyle may have changed after marriage. The best thing to do is to stop snacking, cut out chocolates and puddings, and always refuse a second helping. You also need to exercise. An hour a day is sufficient, but you need to vigorously cross train. Run one day, swim the next and cycle the third. Combine this with yoga if you want that hourglass figure.

Bed wetting
Q: My nine-year-old son still wets his bed. This is an embarrassment to us.

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A: Bed wetting is said to be primary when bladder control has never been achieved and secondary when there is a reversion to it after six dry months. Most children achieve night time bladder control by the age of three. But around 30 per cent of children continue to wet their bed. Even without treatment, this percentage falls to 20 per cent by the age of six. However, one per cent of adolescents continue to wet their bed. Bed wetting may be familial and is commoner in boys. If urine and blood test results are normal, and there is no structural abnormality, then the outlook for such children is good. About 15 per cent gets spontaneously cured. Berating the child, punishment or humiliation is not an answer to the problem.

A few simple measures may help:

* Limit fluid intake after 7pm

* Avoid caffeinated drinks (colas, tea and coffee)

* Encourage the child to go to the toilet before bedtime

* Avoid punishment

* Encourage success

* Leave a light on in the bathroom

* Make the child wear simple underclothes without complicated bows and zippers so that they can be easily pulled up or down if required.

Gasping for air
Q: I have been diagnosed with emphysema. I am breathless most of the time. How did I get this?

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A: Emphysema usually follows lung damage as a result of long-term cigarette smoking, air pollution or occupational exposure to dust as in the case of coal miners. It runs in some families where many members have a genetically determined deficiency of an enzyme called Alpha-1-antitrypsin. It can occur in poorly controlled asthmatics. Lung function decreases with age so it can occur in older people without any of these risk factors. It is also commoner in men.

It can be treated with inhalers, nebulisers, oxygen, bronchodilators and appropriate antibiotics whenever an infection flares up. In the case of smokers, treatment will not succeed unless smoking is stopped.

Source: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Ailmemts & Remedies

Emphysema

Definition:-

Emphysema is a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) involving damage to the air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs. As a result, your body does not get the oxygen it needs. Emphysema makes it hard to catch your breath. You may also have a chronic cough and have trouble breathing during exercise.

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The most common cause is cigarette smoking. If you smoke, quitting can help prevent you from getting the disease. If you already have emphysema, not smoking might keep it from getting worse.

It is  characterized by an abnormal, permanent enlargement of air spaces distal to the terminal bronchioles. The disease is coupled with the destruction of walls, but without obvious fibrosis.  It is often caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, including long-term exposure to tobacco smoke.

As it worsens, emphysema turns the spherical air sacs — clustered like bunches of grapes — into large, irregular pockets with gaping holes in their inner walls. This reduces the number of air sacs and keeps some of the oxygen entering your lungs from reaching your bloodstream. In addition, the elastic fibers that hold open the small airways leading to the air sacs are slowly destroyed, so that they collapse when you breathe out, not letting the air in your lungs escape.

Airway obstruction, another feature of COPD, contributes to emphysema. The combination of emphysema and obstructed airways makes breathing increasingly difficult. Treatment often slows, but doesn’t reverse, the process.

Emphysema is characterized by loss of elasticity (increased pulmonary compliance) of the lung tissue caused by destruction of structures feeding the alveoli, in some cases owing to the action of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency.

Classification:-
Emphysema can be classified into primary and secondary. However, it is more commonly classified by location.

Emphysema can be subdivided into panacinary and centroacinary (or panacinar and centriacinar, or centrilobular and panlobular).

Panacinary (or panlobular) emphysema is related to the destruction of alveoli, because of an inflammation or deficiency of alpha 1-antitrypsin. It is found more in young adults who do not have chronic bronchitis.

Centroacinary (or centrilobular) emphysema is due to destruction of terminal bronchioli muchosis, due to chronic bronchitis. This is found mostly in elderly people with a long history of smoking or extreme cases of passive smoking.
Other types include distal acinar and irregular.

A special type is congenital lobar emphysema (CLE).

Congenital lobar emphysema:-
CLE is results in overexpansion of a pulmonary lobe and resultant compression of the remaining lobes of the ipsilateral lung, and possibly also the contralateral lung. There is bronchial narrowing because of weakened or absent bronchial cartilage.

There may be congenital extrinsic compression, commonly by an abnormally large pulmonary artery. This causes malformation of bronchial cartilage, making them soft and collapsible.

CLE is potentially reversible, yet possibly life-threatening, causing respiratory distress in the neonate

Symptoms:
Emphysema symptoms are mild to begin with but steadily get worse as the disease progresses. The main emphysema symptoms are:

*Shortness of breath
*Wheezing
*Chest tightness
*Reduced capacity for physical activity
*Chronic coughing, which could also indicate chronic bronchitis
*Loss of appetite and weight
*Fatigue
When to see a doctor

*You tire quickly, or you can’t easily do the things you used to do
*You can’t breathe well enough to tolerate even moderate exercise
*Your breathing difficulty worsens when you have a cold
*Your lips or fingernails are blue or gray, indicating low oxygen in your blood
*You frequently cough up yellow or greenish sputum
*You note that bending over to tie your shoes makes you short of breath
*You are losing weight.

These signs and symptoms don’t necessarily mean you have emphysema, but they do indicate that your lungs aren’t working properly and should be evaluated by your doctor as soon as possible.

Causes:
The causes of emphysema include:

1.Smoking. Cigarette smoke is by far the most common cause of emphysema. There are more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, including secondhand smoke. These chemical irritants slowly destroy the small peripheral airways, the elastic air sacs and their supporting elastic fibers.

2.Protein deficiency. Approximately 1 to 2 percent of people with emphysema have an inherited deficiency of a protein called AAt, which protects the elastic structures in the lungs. Without this protein, enzymes can cause progressive lung damage, eventually resulting in emphysema. If you’re a smoker with a lack of AAt, emphysema can begin in your 30s and 40s. The progression and severity of the disease are greatly accelerated by smoking.

Risk Factors:

Risk factors for emphysema include:

*Smoking. Emphysema is most likely to develop in cigarette smokers, but cigar and pipe smokers also are susceptible, and the risk for all types of smokers increases with the number of years and amount of tobacco smoked.

*Age. Although the lung damage that occurs in emphysema develops gradually, most people with tobacco-related emphysema begin to experience symptoms of the disease between the ages of 40 and 60.

*Exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke, also known as passive or environmental tobacco smoke, is smoke that you inadvertently inhale from someone else’s cigarette, pipe or cigar. Being around secondhand smoke increases your risk of emphysema.

*Occupational exposure to fumes or dust. If you breathe fumes from certain chemicals or dust from grain, cotton, wood or mining products, you’re more likely to develop emphysema. This risk is even greater if you smoke.

*Exposure to indoor and outdoor pollution. Breathing indoor pollutants, such as fumes from heating fuel, as well as outdoor pollutants — car exhaust, for instance — increases your risk of emphysema.

*HIV infection. Smokers living with HIV are at greater risk of emphysema than are smokers who don’t have HIV infection.

*Connective tissue disorders. Some conditions that affect connective tissue — the fibers that provide the framework and support for your body — are associated with emphysema. These conditions include cutis laxa, a rare disease that causes premature aging, and Marfan syndrome, a disorder that affects many different organs, especially the heart, eyes, skeleton and lungs.

Complications:-
Emphysema can increase the severity of other chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart failure. If you have emphysema, air pollution or a respiratory infection can lead to an acute COPD exacerbation, with extreme shortness of breath and dangerously low oxygen levels. You may need admission to an intensive care unit and temporary support from an artificial breathing machine (ventilator) until the infection clears.

Pathophysiology:-
In normal breathing, air is drawn in through the bronchi and into the alveoli, which are tiny sacs surrounded by capillaries. Alveoli absorb oxygen and then transfer it into the blood. When toxicants, such as cigarette smoke, are breathed into the lungs, the harmful particles become trapped in the alveoli, causing a localized inflammatory response. Chemicals released during the inflammatory response (e.g., elastase) can eventually cause the alveolar septum to disintegrate. This condition, known as septal rupture, leads to significant deformation of the lung architecture. These deformations result in a large decrease of alveoli surface area used for gas exchange. This results in a decreased Transfer Factor of the Lung for Carbon Monoxide (TLCO). To accommodate the decreased surface area, thoracic cage expansion (barrel chest) and diaphragm contraction (flattening) take place. Expiration increasingly depends on the thoracic cage and abdominal muscle action, particularly in the end expiratory phase. Due to decreased ventilation, the ability to exude carbon dioxide is significantly impaired. In the more serious cases, oxygen uptake is also impaired.

As the alveoli continue to break down, hyperventilation is unable to compensate for the progressively shrinking surface area, and the body is not able to maintain high enough oxygen levels in the blood. The body’s last resort is vasoconstricting appropriate vessels. This leads to pulmonary hypertension, which places increased strain on the right side of the heart, the side responsible for pumping deoxygenated blood to the lungs. The heart muscle thickens in order to pump more blood. This condition is often accompanied by the appearance of jugular venous distension. Eventually, as the heart continues to fail, it becomes larger and blood backs up in the liver.

Patients with alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency (A1AD) are more likely to suffer from emphysema. A1AD allows inflammatory enzymes (such as elastase) to destroy the alveolar tissue. Most A1AD patients do not develop clinically significant emphysema, but smoking and severely decreased A1AT levels (10-15%) can cause emphysema at a young age. The type of emphysema caused by A1AD is known as panacinar emphysema (involving the entire acinus) as opposed to centrilobular emphysema, which is caused by smoking. Panacinar emphysema typically affects the lower lungs, while centrilobular emphysema affects the upper lungs. A1AD causes about 2% of all emphysema. Smokers with A1AD are at the greatest risk for emphysema. Mild emphysema can often develop into a severe case over a short period of time (1–2 weeks).

Pathogenesis
Severe emphysemaWhile A1AD provides some insight into the pathogenesis of the disease, hereditary A1AT deficiency only accounts for a small proportion of the disease. Studies for the better part of the past century have focused mainly upon the putative role of leukocyte elastase (also neutrophil elastase), a serine protease found in neutrophils, as a primary contributor to the connective tissue damage seen in the disease. This hypothesis, a result of the observation that neutrophil elastase is the primary substrate for A1AT, and A1AT is the primary inhibitor of neutrophil elastase, together have been known as the “protease-antiprotease” theory, implicating neutrophils as an important mediator of the disease. However, more recent studies have brought into light the possibility that one of the many other numerous proteases, especially matrix metalloproteases might be equally or more relevant than neutrophil elastase in the development of non-hereditary emphysema.

The better part of the past few decades of research into the pathogenesis of emphysema involved animal experiments where various proteases were instilled into the trachea of various species of animals. These animals developed connective tissue damage, which was taken as support for the protease-antiprotease theory. However, just because these substances can destroy connective tissue in the lung, as anyone would be able to predict, doesn’t establish causality. More recent experiments have focused on more technologically advanced approaches, such as ones involving genetic manipulation. One particular development with respect to our understanding of the disease involves the production of protease “knock-out” animals, which are genetically deficient in one or more proteases, and the assessment of whether they would be less susceptible to the development of the disease. Often individuals who are unfortunate enough to contract this disease have a very short life expectancy, often 0–3 years at most.

Prognosis and treatment
Emphysema is an irreversible degenerative condition. The most important measure to slow its progression is for the patient to stop smoking and avoid all exposure to cigarette smoke and lung irritants. Pulmonary rehabilitation can be very helpful to optimize the patient’s quality of life and teach the patient how to actively manage his or her care. Patients with emphysema and chronic bronchitis can do more for themselves than patients with any other disabling disease.

Emphysema is also treated by supporting the breathing with anticholinergics, bronchodilators, steroid medication (inhaled or oral), and supplemental oxygen as required. Treating the patient’s other conditions including gastric reflux and allergies may improve lung function. Supplemental oxygen used as prescribed (usually more than 20 hours per day) is the only non-surgical treatment which has been shown to prolong life in emphysema patients. There are lightweight portable oxygen systems which allow patients increased mobility. Patients can fly, cruise, and work while using supplemental oxygen. Other medications are being researched, and herbal organic remedies are being offered by companies.

Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) can improve the quality of life for certain carefully selected patients. It can be done by different methods, some of which are minimally invasive. In July 2006 a new treatment, placing tiny valves in passages leading to diseased lung areas, was announced to have good results, but 7% of patients suffered partial lung collapse. The only known “cure” for emphysema is lung transplant, but few patients are strong enough physically to survive the surgery. The combination of a patient’s age, oxygen deprivation and the side-effects of the medications used to treat emphysema cause damage to the kidneys, heart and other organs. Transplants also require the patient to take an anti-rejection drug regimen which suppresses the immune system, and so can lead to microbial infection of the patient. Patients who think they may have contracted the disease are recommended to seek medical attention as soon as possible.

A study published by the European Respiratory Journal suggests that tretinoin (an anti-acne drug commercially available as Retin-A) derived from vitamin A can reverse the effects of emphysema in mice by returning elasticity (and regenerating lung tissue through gene mediation) to the alveoli.

While vitamin A consumption is not known to be an effective treatment or prevention for the disease, this research could in the future lead to a cure. A follow-up study done in 2006 found inconclusive results (“no definitive clinical benefits”) using Vitamin A (retinoic acid) in treatment of emphysema in humans and stated that further research is needed to reach conclusions on this treatment…..click & see

Click to see and learn more
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.This is purely for educational purpose.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emphysema
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/emphysema/DS00296

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News on Health & Science

Alternative Medicine May Help Relieve Symptoms of Menopause

Menopause in women is associated with the lowering of estrogen levels and cessation of reproductive fertility. With significant individual differences, women may experience a variety of bothersome symptoms as they go through that phase, including hot flashes, headaches, insomnia, mood swings, weight gain and fatigue.

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In the 1990s, hormone replacement therapy became popular, but new studies have largely discredited that method as they found it raises the risk of developing heart diseases and certain cancers.

Currently, women are encouraged to try more natural and holistic approaches such as exercise, meditation and nutritional supplements.

Some companies are also engaged in developing innovative products that deliver relief with all-natural and clinically proven ingredients.

One of them is Seattle-based women-owned Beveragette Ventures which has just unveiled a low-calorie beverage which may minimize the many unpleasant symptoms of the transition.

Source: Better Health Research. 2nd.Nov.’09

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Fruits & Vegetables Herbs & Plants

Paw Paw

Botanical Name: Asimina triloba,
Family: Annonaceae
Genus: Asimina
Species: A. triloba
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Magnoliales
 Names: The name, also spelled paw paw, paw-paw, and papaw, probably derives from the Spanish papaya, perhaps because of the superficial similarity of their fruit. Pawpaw has numerous other common names, often very local, such as prairie banana, Indiana (Hoosier) banana, West Virginia banana, Kansas banana, Kentucky banana, Michigan banana, Missouri Banana, the poor man’s banana, and Ozark banana.

Habitat: Native to North America.They are understory trees found in well drained deep fertile bottomland and hilly upland habitat.


Description:It is a small, tropical~looking tree, seldom taller than 25 feet. Grown in full sun, the Pawpaw tree develops a narrowly pyramidal shape with dense, drooping foliage down to the ground level. In the shade it grows tall, with a more open branching habit, horizontally held leaves, and few lower limbs. Pawpaw (Asimina) is a genus of small clustered trees with large leaves and fruit. The genus includes the largest edible fruit indigenous to the continent.  Pawpaw is in the same family (Annonaceae) as the custard-apple, cherimoya, sweetsop, ylang-ylang and soursop, and it is the only member of that family not confined to the tropics.

click to see the pictures..>…..(01)....(1)…...(2).…...(3)…..(4).…(5)...……………….
Pawpaws are shrubs or small trees, reaching heights of 2 to 12 m tall. The northern, cold-tolerant common pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is deciduous, while the southern species are often evergreen.

The leaves are alternate, simple ovate, entire, 20 to 35 cm long and 10 to 15 cm broad.

The fetid flowers are produced singly or in clusters of up to eight together; they are large, 4 to 6 cm across, perfect, with six sepals and petals (three large outer petals, three smaller inner petals). The petal color varies from white to purple or red-brown.

The fruit is a large edible berry, 5 to 16 cm long and 3 to 7 cm broad, weighing from 20 to 500 g, with numerous seeds; it is green when unripe, maturing to yellow or brown. It has a flavor somewhat similar to both banana and mango, varying significantly by cultivar, and has more protein than most fruits.

The fruits are quite popular, but the shelf life of the ripe fruit is almost non-existent, for it soon ripens to the point of fermentation. Those who wish to preserve the fruit for the future do so by dehydration, making it into jams or jellies, or pressure canning by using the numerical values for bananas. In southern West Virginia pawpaws are made into a native version of banana nut cake or fruit cake, and baked inside canning jars, the lids heat-sealed to keep the food for at least a year.

* Bark: Dark brown, blotched with gray spots, sometimes covered with small excrescences, divided by shallow fissures. Inner bark tough, fibrous. Branchlets light brown, tinged with red, marked by shallow grooves.
* Wood: Pale, greenish yellow, sapwood lighter; light, soft, coarse-grained and spongy. Sp. gr., 0.3969; weight of cu. ft. 24.74 lbs.
* Winter buds: Small, brown, acuminate, hairy.
* Leaves: Alternate, simple, feather-veined, obovate-lanceolate, ten to twelve inches long, four to five broad, wedge-shaped at base, entire, acute at apex; midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud conduplicate, green, covered with rusty tomentum beneath, hairy above; when full grown are smooth, dark green above, paler beneath. When crushed they have a scent similar to a green bell pepper. In autumn they are a rusty yellow, which make spotting pawpaw groves possible from a long distance. Petioles short and stout with a prominent adaxial groove. Stipules wanting.
* Flowers: April, with the leaves. Perfect, solitary, axi
llary, rich red purple, two inches across, borne on stout, hairy peduncles. Ill smelling. The triloba refers to the shape of the flower, which is not unlike a tricorner hat.
* Calyx: Sepals three, valvate in bud, ovate, acuminate, pale green, downy.
* Corolla: Petals six, in two rows, imbricate in the bud. Inner row acute, erect, nectariferous. Outer row broadly ovate, reflexed at maturity. Petals at first are green, then brown, and finally become dull purple and conspicuously veiny.
* Stamens: Indefinite, densely packed on the globular receptacle. Filaments short; anthers extrorse, two-celled, opening longitudinally.
* Pistils: Several, on the summit of the receptacle, projecting from the mass of stamens. Ovary one-celled; stigma sessile; ovules many.
* Fruit: September, October

Cultivation: Pollinated by scavenging fruit flies, carrion flies and beetles, the flowers emit a weak to no scent which attracts few, if any, pollinators, thus limiting fruit production.

Larger growers sometimes locate rotting fruit or roadkill meat near the trees at bloom time to increase the number of pollinators. Asimina triloba is the only larval host of the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly.

Asimina triloba is often called prairie banana because of its banana-like creamy texture and flavor.

The pawpaw is native to shady, rich bottom lands, where it often forms a dense undergrowth in the forest. Where it dominates a tract it appears as a thicket of small slender trees, whose great leaves are borne so close together at the ends of the branches, and which cover each other so symmetrically, that the effect is to give a peculiar imbricated appearance to the tree.

Although it is a delicious and nutritious fruit, it has never been cultivated on the scale of apples and peaches, primarily because only frozen fruit will store or ship well. It is also difficult to transplant because of fragile hairy root tentacles that tend to break off unless a cluster of moist soil is retained on the root mass. Cultivars are propagated by chip budding or whip grafting.
Uses:
In recent years the pawpaw has attracted renewed interest, particularly among organic growers, as a native fruit which has few to no pests, and which therefore requires no pesticide use for cultivation. The shipping and storage problem has largely been addressed by freezing. Among backyard gardeners it also is gaining in popularity because of the appeal of fresh fruit and because it is relatively low maintenance once planted. The pulp is used primarily in baked dessert recipes and for juicing fresh pawpaw drink or drink mixtures (pawpaw, pineapple, banana, lime, lemon and orange tea mix). In many recipes calling for bananas, pawpaw can be used with volumetric equivalency.

The commercial growing and harvesting of pawpaws is strong in southeast Ohio. The Ohio Pawpaw Growers’ Association annually sponsors the Ohio Pawpaw Festival at Lake Snowden near Albany, Ohio.

Because of difficult pollination, some may believe the flowers are self-incompatible. Cross pollination of at least two different varieties of the plant is recommended. The flowers produce an odor similar to that of rotting meat to attract blowflies or carrion beetles for cross pollination. Lack of pollination is the most common cause of poor fruiting, and growers resort to hand pollination, spraying fish emulsion, or to hanging chicken necks or other meat to attract pollinators.

This colonial tree has a strong tendency to form colonial thickets if left unchecked. It is ideal for creating a swift-growing habitat particularly in areas where frequent flooding can threaten erosion. The root systems are capable of holding streambanks steady, and grow well even in cold hollows with little exposure to winter sunlight.Click to learn more:...(1) ……(2).


Constituents & Uses: The leaves, twigs, and bark of the tree also contain natural insecticides known as acetogenins, which can be used to make an organic pesticide[citation needed]. Pawpaw fruit may be eaten by foxes, possums, squirrels and raccoons. However, pawpaw leaves and twigs are seldom bothered by rabbits or deer. Bears particularly enjoy the fruit.

The delicious and nutritious fruit look like short, fat bananas. They have a fragrant aroma, a custardy texture, and a tropical taste. The best ones are rich, creamy and sweet, reminding some people of banana cream pie. Compared to apples, peaches and grapes, Pawpaw is higher in food energy, and has more than double the amount of vitamin C, and is much higher in minerals. It is higher in protein, fiber, and carbohydrate. It has a much higher content of amino acids in a good balance. It has mainly unsaturated fatty acids, and is a good source of linoleic and linolenic acids. They are high in antioxidants. Pawpaws are related to the tropical Annonacae, such as the Cherimoya .

History
The earliest documentation of pawpaws is in the 1541 report of the de Soto expedition, who found Native Americans cultivating it east of the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition depended and sometimes subsisted on pawpaws during their travels. Chilled pawpaw fruit was a favorite dessert of George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson was certainly familiar with it as he planted it at Monticello. The Ohio Pawpaw Growers’ Association lobbied for the pawpaw to be the Ohio state native fruit in 2006; this was made official in 2009.

Medicinal Properities: Growers hope that potential medical use will eventually lead to increased market demand from the pharmaceutical industry.

The seeds also have insecticidal properties. Some Native American tribes dry and powder them and apply the powder to children’s heads to control lice; specialized shampoos now use compounds from pawpaw for the same purpose.

Currently, pawpaw extract is being reviewed as an alternative cancer treatment alongside conventional and approved treatments. This is not meant to replace conventional treatments, but is being examined for acetogenins and ATP production. Because acetogenin contents vary widely from tree to tree, only standardized extracts are acceptable.

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider .

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawpaw
http://www.blossomnursery.com/pawpaw_TREE_&_FRUIT.html

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