Tag: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

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Memory Loss Does Not Wipe Out Emotions

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New research from the US suggests that emotions triggered by events can endure longer than factual recollection in patients with severe amnesia; the researchers hope their findings will increase understanding of Alzheimer’s and related diseases and also bring comfort to caregivers and families in the knowledge that their loved ones may continue to feel the warmth of visits and conversations even if they can’t remember what happened.

………..CLICK & SEE

You can read about the research by scientists at the University of Iowa (UI) in Iowa City in the 12 April early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS.

Lead author Justin Feinstein, a student in the UI graduate programs of neuroscience and psychology, told the media that:

“A simple visit or phone call from family members might have a lingering positive influence on a patient’s happiness even though the patient may quickly forget the visit or phone call.”

However, he also described the downside:

“On the other hand, routine neglect from staff at nursing homes may leave the patient feeling sad, frustrated and lonely even though the patient can’t remember why,” said Feinstein.

Feinstein and colleagues studied five patients with a rare case of memory loss due to damage to their their hippocampus that caused new memories to disappear.

The hippocampus is critical for transferring memories from short-term to long-term storage, and is one of the first regions of the brain to suffer damage in Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers showed the patients short extracts of sad and happy films; although they couldn’t remember details of the films, they retained the emotions elicited by what they had watched.

Each patient watched 20 minutes of a sad film, underwent memory and mood tests, then on another day, they watched 20 minutes of a happy film and had the same tests.

The researchers observed that the films induced the appropriate emotion in the patients, ranging from laughing out loud while watching the happy films to tears during the sad films.

About 10 minutes after watching a film clip, Feinstein and colleagues tested the patients’ factual memories to see how much they could remember about it.

A person with a non-impaired memory would be expected to remember about 30 details from each film clip, but these patients’ memories were severely imparied: one patient couldn’t recall a single detail.

Then they asked the patients another set of questions to gauge their emotional state.

Feinstein said that they still felt the emotion, explaining that “sadness tended to last a bit longer than happiness, but both emotions lasted well beyond their memory of the films”.

“With healthy people, you see feelings decay as time goes on. In two patients, the feelings didn’t decay; in fact, their sadness lingered,” he added.

The researchers concluded that the findings suggest “both positive and negative emotional experiences can persist independent of explicit memory for the inducing event,” and provide “direct evidence that a feeling of emotion can endure beyond the conscious recollection for the events that initially triggered the emotion”.

These results appear to challenge the idea that wiping out a painful memory abolishes the associated emotional suffering, and stress the importance of attending to the needs of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

According to a 2009 report from Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), 35 million people worldwide will have dementia this year, and the number is set to double every 20 years, reaching 115.4 million by 2050.

The greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s is age, and there is currently no cure, said Feinstein.

“What we’re about to face is an epidemic. We’re going to have more and more baby boomers getting older, and more and more people with Alzheimer’s disease. The burden of care for these individuals is enormous,” he added, urging that:

“… we need to start setting a scientifically-informed standard of care for patients with memory disorders. Here is clear evidence showing that the reasons for treating Alzheimer’s patients with respect and dignity go beyond simple human morals.”

The Fraternal Order of Eagles, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Kiwanis International Foundation, funded the research.

“Sustained experience of emotion after loss of memory in patients with amnesia.”

Source: Today’s Health News: 13th. April.2010

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Featured Healthy Tips

Beetroot Juice Gives Stamina a Boost


Drinking beetroot juice boosts your stamina, concludes a new study, which adds that the magical drink can help you exercise for up to 16 percent longer.

…….CLICK TO  SEE THE PICTURES

The University of Exeter led-study has for the first time shown how the nitrate contained in beetroot juice leads to a reduction in oxygen uptake, making exercise less tiring.

The study reveals that drinking beetroot juice reduces oxygen uptake to an extent that cannot be achieved by any other known means, including training.

To reach the conclusion, research team conducted their study with eight men aged between 19 and 38. They were given 500ml per day of organic beetroot juice for six consecutive days before completing a series of tests, involving cycling on an exercise bike. On another occasion, they were given a placebo of blackcurrant cordial for six consecutive days before completing the same cycling tests.

After drinking beetroot juice the group was able to cycle for an average of 11.25 minutes, which is 92 seconds longer than when they were given the placebo. This would translate into an approximate 2 percent reduction in the time taken to cover a set distance. The group that had consumed the beetroot juice also had lower resting blood pressure.

The researchers are not yet sure of the exact mechanism that causes the nitrate in the beetroot juice to boost stamina. However, they suspect it could be a result of the nitrate turning into nitric oxide in the body, reducing the oxygen cost of exercise.

Source :The research has been published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

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News on Health & Science

Early Childhood Stress Can Have a Lingering Effect on Your Health

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Stressful experiences in early childhood can have long-lasting impacts on children‘s health that can persist well beyond the resolution of the situation.
……..CLICK & SEE
A study revealed impaired immune function in adolescents who experienced either physical abuse or time in an orphanage as youngsters. Even though their environments had changed, physiologically they were still responding to stress. How the immune system develops is very much influenced by early environment.

The researchers looked for high levels of antibodies against the common and usually latent herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). While roughly two-thirds of Americans carry this virus, which causes cold sores and fever blisters, people with healthy immune systems are able to keep the virus in check and rarely if ever have symptoms. However, people with weakened immune systems can have trouble suppressing HSV-1 and produce antibodies against the activated virus.

Adolescents who had experienced physical abuse or stressful home environments as children had higher levels of HSV-1 antibodies, showing their immune systems were compromised.

Resources:

Science Daily January 28, 2009

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences February 2, 2009

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‘Brushing Teeth Prevents Preterm Birth’

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Preterm births are easier prevented than thought. Researchers in the United States have found that brushing your teeth properly and maintaining  proper oral hygiene reduces the chance of early labour by a large extent.

……………………..…CLICK & SEE

Researchers from Case Western Reserve and Yale Universities Previously undiscovered bacteria usually found in the mouth could be responsible for up to 80% of early preterm labours.

The research could help doctors prevent preterm births by encouraging oral hygiene or stop early labour from developing by prescribing targeted antibiotics, Discovery News reported on its website on Wednesday.

“The earlier the woman goes into preterm labor, the higher the chance that she will be infected,” said Yiping Han, a doctor at Case Western University and the first author on the study.

Most human pregnancies last about 40 weeks. A birth prior to 37 weeks is classified as preterm. Babies born preterm can face many hurdles: vision and hearing loss, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, even death.

Labour itself is still somewhat of a mystery to science, which makes puzzling out preterm labour even more difficult. Anything from socioeconomic status and race to bacterial infection and genetics have been linked to preterm births, but a definitive cause is still elusive.

Han and her colleagues think they have found a major cause, at least in mice. By infecting the rodents with Bergeyella, a previously unknown bacteria found in the mice, the researchers caused preterm births.

In humans, the scientists showed a strong correlation between infection and preterm births. Doctors removed amniotic fluid from 46 different women with potentially higher risk pregnancies. Of that group, 21 delivered an early preterm baby (32 weeks or earlier). Nineteen of those women, or about 85%, were positive for previously undetected bacteria.

The bacteria normally live in the mouth, but if a cut, cavity or other wound allows the bacteria to enter the blood stream, they can travel and eventually colonize the uterus. That triggers an immune response, which can inflame the uterus and eventually cause a mother to go into labour prematurely.

To identify bacteria behind preterm labour, doctors used polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Using PCR, the scientists identified the Bergeyella bacterium, as well as DNA belonging to 10 or 11 different strains of newly identified bacteria. Now that doctors know about another link to preterm labour, the next step is to treat it. Antibiotics that specifically target these new bacteria are currently being tested.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Herbs & Plants

Passionflower

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Botanical Name :Passiflora caerulea
Family: Passifloraceae
Genus: Passiflora
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales

Other Names: Apricot Vine, Corona de Cristo, Granadilla, Maypop, Passiflora, Passiflora incarnata, Passion Vine, Water Lemon

Bengali Name :Jhumko Lata
Parts Used: The above-ground parts (flowers, leaves, and stems) of the passionflower are used for medicinal purposes. (Plant – dried, collected after some of the berries have natured
Flower – dried)

Habitat:
The plant is indigenous to an area from the southeast U.S. to Argentina and Brazil.Southeast Asia…India, Bangladesh & Burma.

Description:Passion flower (Passiflora; syn. Disemma Labill.) is a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants in the family Passifloraceae. They are mostly vines, with some being shrubs, and a few species being herbaceous. For information about the fruit of the passiflora plant, see passionfruit.

click to see the pictures..>…….(01)..…..(1).…....….(2)………..(3)..…………………………………..

It has a long vine which grows for 30 feet in length and bears alternate, serrate leaves with finely toothed lobes. The flowers are white with purple centers developing in the leaf axils, blooming from May to July. The fruit is a smooth, yellow, ovate berry containing numerous seeds.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
Alkaloids……..Apigenin………Carbohydrates
Coumarins……..Flavonoids……………Fructose
Glucose……….Gum……………………..Harmaline
Harmalol……..Harman………………….Harmine
Maltol……….Plant alcohols…………..Orientin
Raffinose……Saponaretin………………Saponarin
Scopoletin…..Stigmasterol……………Sitosterol
Sterols……..Sucrose……………………..Umbelliferone
Vitexin

Medical and entheogenic uses
Passiflora incarnata leaves and roots have a long history of use among Native Americans in North America. Passiflora edulis and a few other species are used in Central and South America. The fresh or dried leaves are used to make an infusion, a tea that is used to treat insomnia, hysteria, and epilepsy, and is also valued for its painkilling properties. It has been found to contain beta-carboline harmala alkaloids which are MAOIs with anti-depressant properties. The flower has only traces of these chemicals, but the leaves and the roots of some species contain more and have been used to enhance the effects of mind-altering drugs. Once dried, the leaves can also be smoked.

Anti-anxiety:
Passion flower has a tranquilizing effect, including mild sedative and anti-anxiety effects. In studies conducted since the 1930’s, its mode of action has been found to be different than that of most sedative drugs (sleeping pills), thus making it a non-addictive herb to promote relaxation.

Insomnia:
The sedative effect of Passion flower has made it popular for treating a variety of ailments, including nervousness and insomnia. Research had indicated that passion flower has a complex activity on the central nervous system (CNS), which is responsible for its overall tranquilizing effects. Also, it apparently has an antispasmodic effect on smooth muscles within the body, including the digestive system, promoting digestion.

Oral passion flower products are most frequently used for their effects on the central nervous system (CNS). While not all of their effects are understood, certain chemicals in passion flower may act like a class of prescription drugs known as benzodiazepines. Drugs such as benzodiazepines and herbals such as passion flower increase levels of a neurotransmitter known as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry messages from nerve cells to other cells. In general, GABA decreases the activity of nerve cells in the brain, causing relaxation, possibly relieving anxiety, and potentially treating insomnia.

In addition, passion flower contains chemicals known as harmala alkaloids, which are thought to block an enzyme involved in depression. This enzyme, monoamine oxidase, breaks down other neurotransmitters–especially dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin–which affect mood stability. Blocking monoamine oxidase may increase the amounts of other neurotransmitters, which may improve mood. No large human studies have been performed to prove the effectiveness of passion flower for any CNS uses, however.

Although applying passion flower to the skin is not as common as taking it by mouth, topical forms may help to relieve minor skin conditions such as burns, cold sores, insect bites, razor burn, scrapes, and sunburn. Passion flower products also have been used to alleviate the itching and burning pain of hemorrhoids. Laboratory studies have shown that it possesses some possible mild anti-infective activity, so it may also help to prevent skin surface infections. Again, however, these uses have yet to be proven in human studies.

FOLKLORE
Passion flower has a mild sedative effect that encourages sleep. This property has been well-substantiated in numerous studies on animals and humans. Nervous symptoms and cramps that inhibit sleep are alleviated by ingestion of the herb, and leading quickly to restful uninterrupted and deep sleep. When Spanish explorers first encountered the Indians of Peru and Brazil, they found this plant used in native folk medicine as a sedative. They took it back to Spain, from whence it gradually spread throughout Europe. It was in Europe that the leaves of the plant first found use as a sedative and sleep-inducing substance. Interestingly, its sedative effect was not noted by American until lately.

Today, more than 400 species of passion flower are found throughout the world. The active constituents of passion flower can be broadly classified as alkaloids and flavonoids, supported in their actions by a variety of other constituents, including amino acids, sugars, coumarins, and alcohols (actually sterols).

A decoction of passion flower has been successfully used in bronchial asthma. It has been used in Europe and America as a topical treatment for burns; compresses of the herb have a marked effect on inflammations.

The leaves of Passiflora edulis are used in South America as a diuretic and for hemorrhoidal inflammations. In Brazil, Passiflora incarnata is used as an antispasmodic and sedative. In North America, passion flower is often used as an analgesic and anticonvulsant, with some success noticed in cases of tetanus. In Italy, a combination of passion flower, belladonna, and lobelia is used to treat asthma. In Poland, a proprietary drug for treating excitability, contains an extract of passion flower.

Numerous homeopathic drugs contain passion flower; it is possible that the main sedative activity of the plant is truly homeopathic in nature, being in that respect a function of the harman alkaloid constituents otherwise stimulant in nature.

Passion flower has been commonly used in the treatment of nervous, high-strung, easily excited children; cardiovascular neuroses; bronchial asthma; coronary illness; circulation weakness; insomnia; problems experienced during menopause; concentration problems in school children; and in geriatrics. There is some experimental support for these applications.

Passion flower appears completely nontoxic, and has been approved for food use by the FDA.

Properties and Uses
Passion flower has related analgesic, sedative, sleep-inducing, and spasmolytic effects.
The major pharmacological effect of passion flower, first observed nearly a hundred years ago and consistently reported ever since, is a sedative property. The analgesic property of this herb was also observed, and doctors had success treating the sleeplessness experienced by neurasthenic and hysteric patients, as well as that caused by nervous exhaustion. Early investigators noticed that the herb worked best when sleeplessness could be traced to an inflammation of the brain; passion flower appeared to act as an analgesic and was free from side effects. Later in this century, investigators discovered that the flavonoid fraction was more effective. However, other tests showed that the most effective sedative activity was obtained from a combination of both the flavonoids and the alkaloids.

Early research indicated that an extract of passion flower was effective against the disturbance of menopause, and as agent against the sleeplessness that occurred during convalescence from the flu. The herb had no side effects, and appeared to induce a normal peaceful sleep. Observations on the day following administration revealed no depression of body or mind, in contrast to the morning-after effects usually experienced with narcotic drugs.

Passion flower is one of the main constituents of a German sleeping pill called Vita-Dor. This product, also containing aprobarbital, valerian root, hops, mellissa, and thiamine, is highly effective in inducing and maintaining sleep throughout the night. A recent Romanian patent was issued for a sedative chewing gum that contains passion flower extract in a base of several vitamins. Many other examples of the widespread application of passion flower in Europe could be cited; however, American recognition of the sedative effects of passion flower has lagged seriously behind.

Some of passion flower’s main constituents are the harmine and harman alkaloids (passiflorine, aribine, loturine, yageine, etc.). In man small doses (about 3-6 mg) stimulate the central nervous system, much like coffee and tea (black). In larger doses (15-35 mg), these alkaloids produce a strong motoric restlessness followed by drowsiness. Still larger doses intensify the motoric activity and cause hallucinations, convulsions, and vomiting. Oral doses of 300-400 mg will produce marked psychotic symptoms, replete with hallucinations, followed by pronounced central nervous system depression. Hence, passion flower is sometimes used as a mild hallucinogen. Since large doses of pure harman alkaloids are needed to produce psychoactive symptoms of any merit, use of the whole plant probably has no such observable effect.

Pharmacological investigations in animals indicate that relatively large doses of harman derivatives excite the central nervous system, producing hallucinations and convulsions that appear to be of extrapyramidal origin. These effects do not agree with the properties of the whole plant. Harman alkaloids arrest spasms in smooth muscle, lower the blood pressure, and expand the coronary vessels, effects which have also been observed in whole herb extracts and appear occasionally in the folk literature. A centrally-depressive chemical, a gamma-pyrone derivative called maltol, has been isolated from passion flower and shown to have mild sedative properties in mice; maltol could offset the stimulant properties of harman alkaloids, but it is unlikely that it account for all sedative effects observed in humans.

Presently, the active principle in passion flower remains unknown. It has been verified that the herb’s alkaloid fraction is sedative, the flavonoid fraction (also containing some harman) is active, and a combination of the two is most active.

DRUG INTERACTIONS
Possible Interactions
Passion flower should be used with caution in conjunction with CNS-depressants or stimulants.
Specifically, this herb should not be used at all in conjunction with the potent CNS-depressant analgesic, methotrimeprazine.

Toxicity Levels
No toxicity of passion flower has been noted, although harman alkaloids have demonstrated toxic effects (as discussed in the Method of Action section).

Safety:
There are no reported side effects for passion flower and the suggested dosages. However, it is not recommended for use in pregnant women or children under the age of two. If already taking a sedative or tranquilizer, consult a health care professional before using passion flower.

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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://www.passionflower.org/
http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/DVH/HerbsWho/0,3923,4101%7CPassion%2BFlower,00.html
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/passionflower-000267.htm
http://www.springboard4health.com/notebook/herbs_passion_flower.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora

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