Interesting article

[Guest guest]

OH WOW it is coming. Thank the good Lord..Hope for heart, cancer, diabetes patients as scarring mystery foundToronto, Sep 22 (IANS) In a new study with profound implications for patients of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer - which involve scarring of the tissue or fibrosis - Canadian researchers have found how scarring occurs and how to stop it from becoming life-threatening.The study, conducted by the University of Ontario at Waterloo near here, in collaboration with Toronto & #39s Mount Sinai Hospital and London & #39s University College, has unravelled the origin of scarring and a possible treatment for it. Leask, who is professor at the university and led the study, said people were unaware about the prevalence of scarring diseases and the toll they exact each year. & #39It & #39s estimated about 40 percent of all deaths and health care costs in North America are related to scarring or fibrosis, & #39 he said. & #39Cardiovascular and other diseases including diabetes, cancer, and pulmonary fibrosis all involve scarring, which affects the organs & #39 ability to function. Another example is scleroderma, a progressive scarring disease affecting 300,000 people in the United States and 40,000 Canadians. & #39During tissue repair, the study says, specialised cells called myofibroblasts travel to the wound to generate connective tissue to cause healing. Once their job is done, these myofibroblasts disappear from the wound.But the problem arises when they persist and continue to make connective tissue as it can become too thick, preventing the organ from functioning properly. For instance, in the case of diabetes, this scarring could cause the kidney to shut down, requiring dialysis or a transplant.The researchers identified a protein called glycogen synthase kinase 3 that acts as a brake on myofibroblasts to terminate tissue repair after the wound has healed.But if this protein is impaired in an individual, there will be no braking on myofibroblasts which will keep producing connective tissue even after normal tissue repair, resulting in scarring after wounding.In their experiments on mice with scarring diseases, the researchers also found elevated levels of a protein called endothelin-1. They used a drug already on the market to block endothelin-1 and thus prevent scarring.Leask said though the use of this drug was still to be tested on humans, this therapy could stop fibrosis from occurring without affecting normal tissue repair.The study has been published in the current issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation. 

[Guest guest]

Well that certainly explains why I have it as I have a known connective tissue disease. It does reinforce my view that it is part of an AI, even if the other symptoms haven't shown themselves yet.

Now that they know this much, then hopefully the rest of the knowledge that we need will come thick and fast.

Thanks for that Beth

Love Ze xx>> Hope for heart, cancer, diabetes patients as scarring mystery found> Toronto, Sep 22 (IANS) In a new study with profound implications for patients of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer - which involve scarring of the tissue or fibrosis - Canadian researchers have found how scarring occurs and how to stop it from becoming life-threatening.> The study, conducted by the University of Ontario at Waterloo near here, in collaboration with Toronto & #39s Mount Sinai Hospital and London & #39s University College, has unravelled the origin of scarring and a possible treatment for it.> Leask, who is professor at the university and led the study, said people were unaware about the prevalence of scarring diseases and the toll they exact each year.> & #39It & #39s estimated about 40 percent of all deaths and health care costs in North America are related to scarring or fibrosis, & #39 he said.> & #39Cardiovascular and other diseases including diabetes, cancer, and pulmonary fibrosis all involve scarring, which affects the organs & #39 ability to function. Another example is scleroderma, a progressive scarring disease affecting 300,000 people in the United States and 40,000 Canadians. & #39> During tissue repair, the study says, specialised cells called myofibroblasts travel to the wound to generate connective tissue to cause healing. Once their job is done, these myofibroblasts disappear from the wound. > But the problem arises when they persist and continue to make connective tissue as it can become too thick, preventing the organ from functioning properly. For instance, in the case of diabetes, this scarring could cause the kidney to shut down, requiring dialysis or a transplant. > The researchers identified a protein called glycogen synthase kinase 3 that acts as a brake on myofibroblasts to terminate tissue repair after the wound has healed.> But if this protein is impaired in an individual, there will be no braking on myofibroblasts which will keep producing connective tissue even after normal tissue repair, resulting in scarring after wounding. > In their experiments on mice with scarring diseases, the researchers also found elevated levels of a protein called endothelin-1. They used a drug already on the market to block endothelin-1 and thus prevent scarring. > Leask said though the use of this drug was still to be tested on humans, this therapy could stop fibrosis from occurring without affecting normal tissue repair. > The study has been published in the current issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation.>

[Guest guest]

<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/diabetes-in-control-newsletters/627>

Issue 627

How Extended Fasting, Timed Meals Fight Obesity

Losing weight may have less to do with watching calories and more to do with

watching the clock....

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A study involving mice suggests that someone on a high-fat, high-calorie

diet can stay lean with sufficient fasting between day's end and breakfast

the next morning.

Salk researchers found that daily fasting, even for people who eat a

high-fat diet, might help keep the pounds off and help us stay metabolically

healthy too. The idea, found in mouse studies, is not to eat throughout the

day, and instead stick to regularly timed meal times when we're awake. The

finding might also show how important it is to avoid trips to the

refrigerator for a midnight snack, which extends fasting time.

What the study found - in mice - is that eating throughout the day disturbs

nutrient sensors and disrupts metabolic pathways.

When mice studied were limited to regularly timed meals during an 8 hour

period, researchers found it boosted liver enzymes that promote brown fat --

the good kind -- that helps keep blood sugar levels normal. They also found

that eating makes the body store fat, but within a few hours of fasting,

fat-burning starts and cholesterol is broken down. Eating frequently

throughout the day doesn't seem to be beneficial to health, despite

suggestions that small frequent meals can help with weight loss and prevent

weight gain.

Satchidananda Panda who is an associate professor in the Regulatory Biology

Laboratory and senior author of the paper stated in a news release, " It's a

dogma that a high-fat diet leads to obesity and that we should eat

frequently when we are awake. " " Our findings, however, suggest that regular

eating times and fasting for a significant number of hours a day might be

beneficial to our health. "

Two sets of mice were studied. One group ate the human equivalent of potato

chips and ice cream for all of their meals that comprised 60% of calories.

Another group ate whatever and whenever they wanted; consuming half of their

food at night because they are nocturnal and then they were allowed to

nibble ad lib.

The Salk scientists also used two control groups of mice that consumed a

controlled diet with 13% of calories from fat.

Just like humans, mice that ate fat throughout the day and night became

obese, developed high cholesterol and poor motor control, had elevated blood

sugar levels and liver damage. But the mice that fasted regularly stayed

healthy in every aspect and even lost weight. They also outperformed the ad

lib eaters on exercise tests.

Megumi Hatori, a postdoctoral researcher in Panda's laboratory and a first

author of the study said that, this was a surprising result. " For the last

50 years, we have been told to reduce our calories from fat and to eat

smaller meals and snacks throughout the day. " Hatorj added that, " We found,

however, that fasting time is important. By eating in a time-restricted

fashion, you can still resist the damaging effects of a high-fat diet, and

we did not find any adverse effects of time-restricted eating when eating

healthy food. "

The study isn't the first to show that eating frequently is suboptimal for

fighting obesity. Purdue University scientists suggest from their studies

that eating regularly with more protein included in a meal does more to

stave off hunger and facilitate weight loss than eating throughout the day

-- regardless of what kind of food you're consuming.

The finding is important because it shows we might be able to fight major

diseases like diabetes, heart attack, fatty liver disease and stroke by

fasting for longer intervals throughout the day and timing our meals to

allow for fat burning and increased brown fat metabolism. Targeting obesity

is a major concern of researchers as diabetes rates have soared and

anticipated to affect 51.2 million people by the year 2025.

But the authors warn that it's important not to start eating high fat foods

until the results are studied in humans. The take home message says Dr.

Panda " is that eating at regular times during the day and overnight fasting

may prove to be beneficial, but, we will have to wait for human studies to

prove this. "

Salk Institute May 17, 2012