Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

The Health Effects of Extreme Heat – The New York Times

When W. Larry Kenney, a professor of physiology at Pennsylvania State University, began studying how extreme heat harms humans, his research focused on workers inside the disaster-stricken Three Mile Island nuclear plant, where temperatures were as high as 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the decades that followed, Dr. Kenney has looked at how heat stress affects a range of people in intense environments: football players, soldiers in protective suits, distance runners in the Sahara.

Of late, however, his research has focused on a more mundane subject: ordinary people. Doing everyday things. As climate change broils the planet.

Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings were in effect on Monday across much of the eastern interior of the United States, following a weekend of record-smashing heat in the countrys Southwest. The heat will move farther Northeast in the next few days, according to the National Weather Service, into the upper Mississippi Valley, western Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.

With severe heat waves now affecting swaths of the globe with frightening regularity, scientists are drilling down into the ways life in a hotter world will sicken and kill us. The aim is to get a better grip on how many more people will be afflicted by heat-related ailments, and how frequent and severe their suffering will be. And to understand how to better protect the most vulnerable.

One thing is for sure, scientists say: The heat waves of the past two decades are not good predictors of the risks that will confront us in the decades to come. Already, the link between greenhouse-gas emissions and sweltering temperatures is so clear that some researchers say there may soon no longer be any point trying to determine whether todays most extreme heat waves could have happened two centuries ago, before humans started warming the planet. None of them could have.

And if global warming is not slowed, the hottest heat wave many people have ever experienced will simply be their new summertime norm, said Matthew Huber, a climate scientist at Purdue University. Its not going to be something you can escape.

Whats tougher for scientists to pin down, Dr. Huber said, is how these climatic shifts will affect human health and well-being on a large scale, particularly in the developing world, where huge numbers of people are already suffering but good data is scarce. Heat stress is the product of so many factors humidity, sun, wind, hydration, clothing, physical fitness and causes such a range of harms that projecting future effects with any precision is tricky.

There also havent been enough studies, Dr. Huber said, on living full time in a warmer world, instead of just experiencing the occasional roasting summer. We dont know what the long-term consequences of getting up every day, working for three hours in nearly deadly heat, sweating like crazy and then going back home are, he said.

The growing urgency of these issues is drawing in researchers, like Dr. Kenney, who didnt always think of themselves as climate scientists. For a recent study, he and his colleagues placed young, healthy men and women in specially designed chambers, where they pedaled an exercise bike at low intensity. Then the researchers dialed up the heat and humidity.

They found that their subjects started overheating dangerously at much lower wet-bulb temperatures a measure that accounts for both heat and mugginess than what they had expected based on previous theoretical estimates by climate scientists.

Effectively, under steam-bath conditions, our bodies absorb heat from the environment faster than we can sweat to cool ourselves down. And unfortunately for humans, we dont pump out a lot more sweat to keep up, Dr. Kenney said.

Heat is climate change at its most devastatingly intimate, ravaging not just landscapes and ecosystems and infrastructure, but the depths of individual human bodies.

Heats victims often die alone, in their own homes. Apart from heatstroke, it can cause cardiovascular collapse and kidney failure. It damages our organs and cells, even our DNA. Its harms are multiplied in the very old and very young, and in people with high blood pressure, asthma, multiple sclerosis and other conditions.

When the mercury is high, we arent as effective at work. Our thinking and motor functions are impaired. Excessive heat is also associated with greater crime, anxiety, depression and suicide.

The toll on the body can be strikingly personal. George Havenith, director of the Environmental Ergonomics Research Center at Loughborough University in England, recalled an experiment years ago with a large group of subjects. They wore the same clothes and performed the same work for an hour, in 95 degree heat and 80 percent humidity. But by the end, their body temperatures ranged from 100 degrees to 102.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

A lot of the work were doing is trying to understand why one person ends up on one side of the spectrum and the other one on the other, he said.

For years, Vidhya Venugopal, a professor of environmental health at Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai, India, has been studying what heat does to workers in Indias steel plants, car factories and brick kilns. Many of them suffer from kidney stones caused by severe dehydration.

One encounter a decade ago has stayed with her. She met a steelworker who had been working 8-to-12-hour days near a furnace for 20 years. When she asked him how old he was, he said 38 to 40.

She was sure shed misunderstood. His hair was half white. His face was shrunken. He didnt look younger than 55.

So she asked how old his child was and how old he was when he got married. The math checked out.

For us, it was a turning point, Dr. Venugopal said. Thats when we started thinking, heat ages people.

Great Salt Lake. Local politicians and scientists are warning that climate change and rapid population growth are shrinking the lake, creating a bowl of toxic dust that could poison the air around Salt Lake City. But there are no easy solutions to avert that outcome.

Carbon dioxide levels. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit its highest level ever, scientists said. Humans pumped 36 billion tons of the planet-warming gas into the atmosphere in 2021, more than in any previous year.

Poor U.S. performance. The Environmental Performance Index, published every two years by researchers at Yale and Columbia, found that the United States performance on combating climate change had declinedin relation to other countries largely as a result of Trump-era policies.

Extreme heat. Global warming has made the severe heat wave in Pakistan and Indiahotter and much more likely to occur in the future, according to scientists. The researchers said that the chances of a heat wave in South Asia like this one have increased by at least 30 times since preindustrial times.

Adelaide M. Lusambili, a researcher at the Aga Khan University in Kenya, is investigating heats effects on pregnant women and newborns in Kilifi County, on Kenyas coast. In communities there, women fetch water for their families, which can mean walking long hours in the sun, even while pregnant. Studies have linked heat exposure to preterm births and underweight babies.

The most heartbreaking stories, Dr. Lusambili said, are of women who suffered after giving birth. Some walked great distances with their 1-day-olds on their backs, causing the babies to develop blisters on their bodies and mouths, and making breastfeeding difficult.

It has all been enough, she said, to make her wonder whether climate change is reversing the progress Africa has made on reducing newborn and childhood mortality.

Given how many people have no access to air-conditioners, which are themselves making the planet hotter by consuming huge amounts of electricity, societies need to find more sustainable defenses, said Ollie Jay, a professor of heat and health at the University of Sydney.

Dr. Jay has studied the bodys responses to sitting near an electric fan, wearing wetted clothing and sponging down with water. For one project, he recreated a Bangladeshi garment factory in his lab to test low-cost ways of keeping workers safe, including green roofs, electric fans and scheduled water breaks.

Humans have some ability to acclimatize to hot environments. Our heart rate goes down; more blood is pumped with each stroke. More sweat glands are activated. But scientists primarily understand how our bodies adapt to heat in controlled laboratory settings, not in the real world, where many people can duck in and out of air-conditioned homes and cars, Dr. Jay said.

And even in the lab, inducing such changes requires exposing people to uncomfortable strain for hours a day over weeks, said Dr. Jay, who has done exactly that to his subjects.

Its not particularly pleasant, he said. Hardly a practical solution for life in a stifling future or, for people in some places, an increasingly oppressive present. More profound changes in the bodys adaptability will only occur on the time scale of human evolution.

Dr. Venugopal gets frustrated when asked, about her research on Indian workers, India is a hot country, so whats the big deal?

Nobody asks what the big deal is about having a fever, but heatstroke puts the body in a similar state.

That is human physiology, Dr. Venugopal said. You cant change that.

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The Health Effects of Extreme Heat - The New York Times

Physiology

UB-led study presents critical step forward in understanding Parkinson’s disease and how to treat it – UBNow: News and views for UB faculty and staff…

A new study led by a researcher in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB has important implications for developing future treatments for Parkinsons disease (PD), a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement and often includes tremors.

In this study, we find a method to differentiate human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to A9 dopamine neurons (A9 DA), which are lost in Parkinsons disease, says Jian Feng, professor of physiology and biophysics in the Jacobs School and senior author on the paper published May 24 in Molecular Psychiatry.

These neurons are pacemakers that continuously fire action potentials regardless of excitatory inputs from other neurons, he adds. Their pace-making property is very important to their function and underlies their vulnerability in Parkinsons disease.

This exciting breakthrough is a critical step forward in efforts to better understand Parkinsons disease and how to treat it, says Allison Brashear, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. Jian Feng and his team are to be commended for their innovation and resolve.

Feng explains there are many different types of dopamine neurons in the human brain, and each type is responsible for different brain functions.

Nigral dopamine neurons, also known as the A9 DA neurons, are responsible for controlling voluntary movements. The loss of these neurons causes the movement symptoms of Parkinsons disease, he says.

Scientists have been trying hard to generate these neurons from human pluripotent stem cells to study Parkinsons disease and develop better therapies, Feng says. We have succeeded in making A9 dopamine neurons from human induced pluripotent stem cells. It means that we can now generate these neurons from any PD patients to study their disease.

Feng notes that A9 DA neurons are probably the largest cells in the human body. Their volume is about four times the volume of a mature human egg.

Over 99% of the volume is contributed by their extremely extensive axon branches. The total length of axon branches of a single A9 DA neuron is about 4.5 meters, he says. The cell is like the water supply system in a city, with a relatively small plant and hundreds of miles of water pipes going to each building.

In addition to their unique morphology, the A9 DA neurons are pacemakers they fire action potentials continuously, regardless of synaptic input.

They depend on Ca2+ channels to maintain the pace-making activities. Thus, the cells need to deal with a lot of stress from handling Ca2+ and dopamine, Feng says. These unique features of A9 DA neurons make them vulnerable. Lots of efforts are being directed at understanding these vulnerabilities, with the hope of finding a way to arrest or prevent their loss in Parkinsons disease.

Pace-making is an important feature and vulnerability of A9 DA neurons. Now that we can generate A9 DA pacemakers from any patient, it is possible to use these neurons to screen for compounds that may protect their loss in PD, he notes. It is also possible to test whether these cells are a better candidate for transplantation therapy of PD.

To differentiate human iPSCs to A9 DA neurons, the researchers tried to mimic what happens in embryonic development, in which the cells secrete proteins called morphogens to signal to each other their correct position and destiny in the embryo.

Feng notes the A9 DA neurons are in the ventral part of the midbrain in development.

Thus, we differentiate the human iPSCs in three stages, each with different chemicals to mimic the developmental process, he says. The challenge is to identify the correct concentration, duration and treatment window of each chemical.

The combination of this painstaking work, which is based on previous work by many others in the field, makes it possible for us to generate A9 DA neurons, he adds.

Feng points out there are a number of roadblocks to studying Parkinsons disease, but that significant progress is being made.

There is no objective diagnostic test of Parkinsons disease, and when PD is diagnosed by clinical symptoms, it is already too late. The loss of nigral DA neurons has already been going on for at least a decade, he says.

There was previously no way to make human dopamine neurons from a PD patient so we could study these neurons to find out what goes wrong.

Scientists have been using animal models and human cell lines to study Parkinsons disease, but these systems are inadequate in their ability to reflect the situation in human nigral DA neurons, Feng says.

Just within the past 15 years, PD research has been transformed by the ability to make patient-specific dopamine neurons that are increasingly similar to their counterparts in the brain of a PD patient.

Houbo Jiang, research scientist in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and Hong Li, a former postdoctoral associate in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, are co first-authors on the paper.

Other co-authors are Hanqin Li, a graduate of the doctoral program in neuroscience and currently a postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley; Li Li, a trainee in UBs doctoral program in neuroscience; and Zhen Yan, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Physiology and Biophysics.

The study was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Institutes of Health and by New York State Stem Cell Science (NYSTEM).

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UB-led study presents critical step forward in understanding Parkinson's disease and how to treat it - UBNow: News and views for UB faculty and staff...

Physiology

How does your brain perceive the world around you? – KERA Think

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Neuroscientists have struggled for decades to fully understand how the brain takes in information from the outside world and makes near instantaneous decisions. Dr. Gyrgy Buzski is the Biggs Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology and professor in the Department of Neurology at NYU. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his research into the way the brain computes signals in order to better understand human decision making. His Scientific American article is called How the Brain Constructs the Outside World.

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How does your brain perceive the world around you? - KERA Think

Physiology

Study sheds light on inhibition of awn elongation in sorghum – News-Medical.Net

Over the years, the domestication of grasses like wheat, rice, barley, and sorghum for consumption has resulted in certain modifications to their morphology. One such modification is the partial or complete elimination of the 'awns', which are the bristle- or needle-like appendages extending from the tip of the lemma in grass spikelets.

The awn protects the grains from animals, promotes seed dispersal, and helps in photosynthesis in grasses like barley and wheat. However, its presence also hinders manual harvesting and reduces its value as livestock feed, explaining its elimination during domestication.

In the past, genetic studies have revealed the mechanism underlying awn development in crops such as rice and wheat. These indicate the possibility of the existence of complex and distinct genetic networks controlling awn formation in a species-specific manner.

In fact, the existence of an awn-inhibiting gene in sorghum was identified in 1921, but remained uncharacterized thereafter. Now, a group of researchers-;led by Prof. Wataru Sakamoto of Okayama University and including Prof. Hideki Takanashi of the Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Science, Tokyo University-;has finally shed light on this subject. Their research was published in Plant & Cell Physiology on 30 May 2022.

Justifying the rationale behind studying awn inhibition in sorghum.

Sorghum is an important C4 crop for high biomass and bioenergy. It has a high tolerance to drought, besides being the fifth largest cultivated cereal crop. Also, it is a morphologically diverse crop with a relatively small genome size, making it suitable for genetic studies in various agronomical traits."

Wataru Sakamoto, Professor, Okayama University

For the purpose of this study, a recombinant inbred population derived from a cross between "awnless" (BTx623) and "awned" (Takakibi NOG) sorghum varieties was created. "The prospect of gene hunting in sorghum using the population we generated for the last ten years was motivating", comments Prof. Sakamoto. Using next-generation sequencing, the researchers established a high-density genetic map of this recombinant cultivar.

Next, they performed quantitative trait loci analysis of the sorghum germplasm to identify the gene controlling awn development. They also conducted genome-wide association studies to identify the origins of the awn-inhibiting gene. Lastly, they introduced the awn-inhibiting gene in an awned rice cultivar to check its functionality in other grass species.

The researchers observed that approximately half of the recombinant cultivar population studied did not develop awns, just like their awnless parent. Moreover, they found a single locus on the cultivar chromosome to be responsible for regulating the absence as well as shortening of awns in the cultivars studied. They identified the gene corresponding to this locus as DOMINANT AWN INHIBITOR, or DAI.

The researchers found that DAI encodes a protein in the ALOG family, which negatively regulates awn formation as a transcription factor. Interestingly, when DAI was introduced into the awned rice cultivar, it suppressed awn formation. In the words of Prof. Sakamoto, "It was surprising that DAI also inhibits awn elongation in rice grains, because no such genes have been reported in rice. Thus, eliminating awns in cereal grains have occurred differently among cereal crops, but the mechanism can be shared between them."

In short, this study has established the importance of DAI for the development of modern awnless cultivars. Also, it points to the existence of a common mechanism of awn inhibition, despite the existence of species-specific inhibitors. Going ahead, further analysis is needed to understand the transcriptional regulation of DAI besides clarifying the association of DAI with sorghum domestication. As Prof. Sakamoto points out, "In the long term, the understanding of genetic traits affecting cereals can help us in making new varieties."

Source:

Journal reference:

Takanashi, H., et al. (2022) DOMINANT AWN INHIBITOR Encodes the ALOG Protein Originating from Gene Duplication and Inhibits AWN Elongation by Suppressing Cell Proliferation and Elongation in Sorghum. Plant and Cell Physiology. doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcac057

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Study sheds light on inhibition of awn elongation in sorghum - News-Medical.Net

Physiology

The Effects of Different Housing Strategies for Mice and Insights Into Animal Well-Being via PhenoTyper – News-Medical.Net

When selecting animal models for conducting scientific research, welfare should be the main priority. This article considers the effects of different housing strategies for mice and how PhenoTyper offers researchers insight into animal well-being.

There is clearly a considerable ethical argument for optimizing the well-being of animals used in research. William Russel and Rex Burch infamously made this case in their 1952 paper The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, in which they offered a blueprint for the considerations of animal welfare in science.1

The value of eliminating any unnecessary suffering and distress in animals should be readily apparent to most. But the argument for animal welfare extends much further than this.

A significant volume of research demonstrates that animals whose well-being is endangered are more likely to present physiological and behavioral abnormalities.2,3 Therefore, carefully controlling all factors that contribute to an animals well-being insofar as those that can be evaluated should be the guiding principle to guarantee experimental validity.

Image Credit: Shutterstock/unoL

Since the most frequently used animal models are mice in biomedical research, maximizing their well-being is crucial. The housing that mice are kept in plays a key role in this.

Naturally, mice are animals, so it is generally advised that when possible (and partible) they should be housed in groups.4

However, inter-male aggression is a major welfare concern for mice housed in captivity when it is not possible for them to escape each other as male mice do not naturally share territories.5 This means that paired housing or single housing is often a more feasible choice.

Other contributing factors experimental design and disease control in particular also make single housing a preferred choice in many cases. There are those that advocate for the use of cage dividers that allow sensory but not physical contact between neighboring mice to enable some level of social interaction.6

The immediate effects of housing on mices well-being, behavior and physiology are still up for debate. However, research shows that the single housing of mice is associated with various physiological ailments.

These include a reduction in growth rates and reduced lean body mass during growth, increased predisposition to obesity in adulthood and raised levels of visceral adipose tissue mass.7,8

Behavior can be influenced by housing too. Single-housed mice are known to exhibit anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors as well as broken cognitive function when compared to pair- or group-housed mice although these effects are also dependent on a range of other environmental and physiological factors.911

Separated pair housing using cage dividers seems to have some contrast in behavioral and locomotor performance when compared to single housing although it is not completely clear whether this corresponds with a difference in well-being.

Ideally, all of these changes should be considered in the research goals of experimenters using mice models.

In the long term, housing conditions tend to be at the mercy of experimental parameters. For instance, to prevent mice from damaging each others cannulas, single housing is mandatory for studies involving the cannulation of mice.12

Studies of energy balance regulation also tend to drift towards single housing so that the food intake and thermal profiles of each mouse can be carefully monitored. Single housing in individually vented cage (IVC) systems can also help prevent disease transmission between the mice.

Still, considering whether experimental parameters could permit paired (or separated pair) housing is useful if wanting to reduce stress, accomplish longer testing periods, and enhance experimental validity.

A number of experiments involve testing mice in a special environment away from their housing however, testing them in their home environment offers another chance to reduce stress levels and eradicate the confounding effects of a change in environment.13

Housing can have significant behavioral and physiological effects on mice: phenotypically, socially housed mice are not the same animal as mice that have been individually housed.

Observing animals in their home cage and comparing their behavior throughout the experiments is vital to understanding the effects of various housing paradigms.

So, whether opting for social or separate housing, it is essential to make sure everything is carefully considered and that a scoring system is in place.

PhenoTyper is a fully integrated and automated cage monitoring system. By facilitating simple monitoring of individual animals in their home cage, PhenoTyper offers researchers access to increased resolution when assessing animal model behavior within a particular housing paradigm.

Image Credit: Noldus

PhenoTyper can be customized to suit individual research needs. Each configuration is comprised of a bottom plate, four interchangeable walls, and a PhenoTyper top unit. A variety of walls are available to accommodate any configuration, with attachments for accessories such as feeding stations, drinking bottles and shelters.

The PhenoTyper top unit houses LEDs and a camera for automated tracking, with other sensor and stimuli options available. These can also be used to transmit feedback on animal behavior to EthoVision XT.

Automated tracking using EthoVision XT can provide full data integration and allow automation of experiments. EthoVision XT also offers precision tracking and good calculation of an extensive range of physiological and behavioral parameters while offering researchers access to unrivaled versatility in data processing and visualization.

As a result, EthoVision XT is considered to be the most cited video tracking system in the world.14

Image Credit: Noldus

To discover how PhenoTyper can offer deeper insight and faster results, contact Noldus today.

Noldus Information Technology was established in 1989 by Lucas Noldus, founder and CEO of the company. With a Ph.D. in animal behavior from Wageningen University, he developed the companys first software tool during his research in entomology. Noldus has strived to advance behavioral research ever since, evolving into a company that provides integrated systems including software, hardware, and services.

We now offer a wide range of solutions for research in animal and human domains, including biology, psychology, marketing, human factors, and healthcare. We work with leading suppliers and develop innovative, state-of-the art products. We also offer excellent technical support and customer care. As a result, our systems have found their way into more than 10,200 universities, research institutes, and companies in almost 100 countries.

The success of our company is determined to a large extent by the enthusiasm and creativity of our employees. We encourage each other to think outside the box, which leads to unique products and services for our customers. And we are always on the lookout for new talent!

Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments.

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The Effects of Different Housing Strategies for Mice and Insights Into Animal Well-Being via PhenoTyper - News-Medical.Net

Physiology

Gut microbiome may be the "black box" of nutrition research – News-Medical.Net

In a recent paper published in theCelljournal, researchers at the University of Alberta, Canada, and the University College Cork, Ireland, analyzed the current nutritional guidelines for gut microbiota.

Review: Rethinking healthy eating in light of the gut microbiome. Image Credit:Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

Diet is critical to human health and the pathogenesis of epidemic-level noncommunicable chronic illnesses. The constant increase of chronic diseases among non-industrialized populations who convert to a Western-style diet is a striking witness to the substantial influence of diet on human health.

Evidence-based dietary advice is critical for health promotion, considering the global epidemic of diet-associated chronic diseases. Although human gut microbiota harbor significant relevance for the physiological consequences of diet and the genesis of chronic disease, national dietary recommendations across the globe are only beginning to take advantage of scientific advancements in the microbiome sector.

Studies at the intersection of microbiome and nutrition disciplines have expanded recently. Nonetheless, diet-microbiome-host connections have received little attention in current dietary guidelines.

In the present review, the researchers addressed current nutritional guidelines from the perspective of microbiome science, concentrating on mechanistic findings that revealed host-microbe interactions as drivers of the physiological impacts of diet. The scientists constricted their discussions on food-based dietary guidelines for health promotion and illness prevention among the common public, which is the goal of these guidelines.

The team concentrated on studies that showed how the gut microbiota regulates and facilitates the physiological impacts of dietary compounds, dietary habits, and specific foods. Theyused their findings to help clarify debates on nutrition, create innovative nutritional advice, and provide an experimental paradigm for incorporating the microbiome within nutrition research.

The authors found that national food-based dietary guidelines from many countries with various dietary traditions have a high level of consistency. These guidelines were in accord with other major nutritional platforms, like the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets and sustainable food systems and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

All dietary guidelines advised whole-plant foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts instead of processed foods with added salt, saturated fats, or sugar. Dietary fibers and phytochemicals comprise two vital components of whole-plant foods.

The rapidly fermentable elements in processed foods might induce excessive growth ofbacteriain the small intestine and an undesirable microbial metabolic and compositional profile. Further, adversely impact the immune and endocrine systems. However, the colonic microbiota does not have access to them.

The evidence for the capacity of whole grains to lowerthe likelihoodof chronic diseases was strong, and the function of gut bacteria in these effects was being studied more and more. According to a study combining human research and mechanistic assessments in mice, the microbiota may have a causal role in the health impacts of whole grains.

Several dietary standards advise that plant-associatedprotein foods should be ingested frequently owingto their advantages to human and planetary health. Mounting studies indicate the gut microbiomeprobably has a role in the health benefits of legumes. Furthermore, solid proof from observational and intervention studies shows that highfatty fish consumption has a cardioprotective effect, and the gut flora might be mediating these health benefits.

The Mediterranean diet integrates many food types that have afavorable impact on host interactions. It advises fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and olive oil as dietary essentials, moderate consumption of eggs, poultry, fish, and dairy products, and limited consumption of processed and red meats and processed foods.

Multiple latest microbiome studies bolster the prominence of the Mediterranean diet in dietary guidelines. Indeed, recently updated dietary guidelines advocate eating patterns that mirror the Mediterranean diet, such as the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH).

Toxicological considerations explain the risk classification of red and processed meats by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) expert panel, as well as existing dietary guidelines, based on likely dose-response correlations. Besides, many mechanistic animal models emphasizethe potentially harmful impacts of saturated fats derived from milk on microbiota homeostasis, strengthening dietary recommendations to limit high-fat dairy consumption.

It is uncertain if the microbiota contributes causally to acute metabolic consequences of low-carbohydrate and fat diets among humans. The authors noted using microbiome-targeted techniques to enhance low-carbohydrate diets will be beneficial.

The team stated that dietary recommendations, focused nutritional approaches, and the development of food products to combat chronic disease risk might benefit from accounting for how diet-microbiome interactions influenced human physiology. It also laid the groundwork for initiatives to restore the microbiome. The microbiome restoration technique might be achieved theoretically with dietary synbiotics and probiotics.

Reformulation of processed foods, rather than eradication, has been hypothesized to enhance the population-wide quality ofdiet. Such efforts will necessitate afood engineering breakthrough that addresses diet-microbe-host interconnections.

The researchers mentioned that nutritional strategies could be used to target microbiome and health-promoting taxa once their characteristics were recognized. Microbiome assessments were a critical element of precision-nutrition methods focused onchronic illness prevention and therapy, among other individual-specificaspects, due to the highly customized reaction of gut microbiota to diet.

Data on diet-microbiome-host relationships could improve, modify, and innovate dietary guidelines. Integrating the gut microbiome into dietary recommendations must be supported by proofof the microbiome's causal and mechanistic contributions to the physiological impacts of diet.

The team referred to outstanding reviews that lay out best-practice standards for diet-microbiome studies and supplemented them with a three-pillared experimental design incorporating the gut microbiome within all phases of nutrition research. Microbiome discoveries to develop healthy eating hypotheses, microbiome integration into human intervention studies, and mechanistic understanding and causal inferences regarding the microbiome's function in diet impacts were among these pillars.

According to the authors, the convergence of fundamental concepts in the nutrition and microbiome sectors confirms current dietary recommendations. They discovered that systematically incorporating microbiome knowledge into nutrition studies can further boost and revolutionize healthy eating.

Overall, the study findings indicated that diet was linked significantly to the absence or presence of disease, which subsequently connected to the microbiome. Diet-microbiome connections were anticipated to contribute to the molecular underpinning of dietary physiological effects, making the gut microbiome the "black box" of nutrition studies. There is a compelling evolutionary and biological rationale for the two disciplines to expand their already extensive and persistent collaborations to learn more about how to improve health through diet.

The investigators stated that microbiome-centered endpoints must be incorporated into all facets of nutrition science to increase the scientific basis for dietary recommendations. In addition, nutritional microbiology research can provide comprehensive information on all elements of healthy eating. Thus, contributing to solvingthe problem of diet-linked disease prevention and control.

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Gut microbiome may be the "black box" of nutrition research - News-Medical.Net

Physiology

The earlier a chemist wins the Nobel prize the longer they are likely to live – Chemistry World

Winners of the chemistry Nobel prize may be missing out on their fair share of an unusual benefit of the premier scientific award a longer life. Nobel laureates in physics and medicine appear to live significantly longer than their chemistry counterparts.

A new study1 suggests Nobel winners in the sciences physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine live progressively longer than they might have, depending on how early they receive the prize. It shows scientists who win the Nobel prize live about one year longer than the population at large for every 10 years earlier than average they were awarded it.

But it comes after a 2019 study2 into the ages of Nobel laureates that found chemistry prize winners tend to receive the award when they are older.

Taken together, the two studies indicate winners of the chemistry Nobel tend not to live as long after they receive the prize as do laureates in other fields in fact, its a quantifiable phenomenon.

Our analysis indicates that Nobel chemists have only 3.95 extra years of longevity compared to physics (6.19 years) and physiology or medicine (5.9 years), says behavioural economist Ben Chan of the Queensland University of Technology, the lead author of the new study.

The study reports the statistical effect that winning a science Nobel had among 387 laureates between 1901 and 2000, but it cant pinpoint any reason for the increased longevity.

It seems likely, however, that receiving such an esteemed award would reduce work-related stress and promote healthier behaviour or happiness, Chan says. Any resulting increases in status and social standing could also result in a healthier and longer life.

And the earlier you receive the Nobel prize, the better. Early achievers are likely to enjoy such benefits, which accumulate through ones life, Chan says.

Physicist and numerical modeller Rasmus Bjrk of the Technical University of Denmark near Copenhagen, who led the 2019 study on the ages of Nobel winners, suggests receiving the prize leads to a less stressful work life. One has basically been set up for life, he says. No university in the world would fire a laureate, and funding for research will be plentiful for the rest of their academic career.

Both Bjrk and Chan note the pressure on academics to secure funding by winning awards, and Chan suggests that, because winning the Nobel and other awards has such a marked effect, it might be a sign the system needs reform. One might ask the question whether the current recognition system in science could be improved, he says.

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The earlier a chemist wins the Nobel prize the longer they are likely to live - Chemistry World

Physiology

Global Wellness Day #Think Magenta – Times of India

On the occasion of Global Wellness Day, which is celebrated on every second Saturday of June. Human beings have progressed extensively in the field of technology. Machines are replacing the work of human. This has resulted in less human interactions and more of virtual interactions. Even though this has its own advantages in connecting across countries, the feelings and emotions aspect in human interactions has taken a back seat.

The pandemic has changed our perspective towards life in many ways and helped us learn a lot of new things. The rapid spread of news on Covid-19 happened through media inputs. The day started for most people by looking into the statistics /data of Covid-19 infection, more so through WhatsApp groups. With the spread of Covid-19 infection, there was also spread of hopelessness, uncertainty and fear which brought in a lot of negativity.

What happens to our physiology with negative thoughts?

This input of negative thoughts had set in a cascade of reactions and many succumbed to this fear and hopelessness more than Covid-19 itself. Our thoughts impact the physiology. Positive thinking empowers one at the physiological level of the Cell. Our basic functional units are called cells that function in two modes towards its survival. One is to nourish itself through cellular rejuventation. The other mode is to protect itself from offending agents, for which it has to close its membrane and guard with sensors. At any given time, the cell can perform either of the functions.

Fear and uncertainty send a message deep down to the cells and sets them in a protective mode. If the cells are recruited mostly for protection, then vitality of the cell gets compromised as there is not much nutrition function happening.

Positive thinking helps to switch the mode of function in a balance more towards nourishing mode, thereby the cells are well nurtured and their vitality is improved.

Is it possible to have a volitional control over our thoughts?

Yes, thoughts are generated by the mind and if the mind is nurtured well through the right kind of food and activities, then one can stay positive despite challenges. Ayurveda explains moderation in food, rest and activities and lays a path to good health.

What should one eat to stay positive?

You are what you eat is a famous quote. Our ancient wisdom talks about how food plays a major role in how we act out in the world either by being reactive or by being responsive. One must have balanced nutrition with complex carbohydrates, adequate protein and fat along with vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Millets provide adequate protein, calcium. One big serving of seasonal fruits with breakfast and fresh greens and salads provides adequate vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Eating dinner early improves the quality of sleep.

Practising yoga helps one balance their energy. Breathing efficiently through pranayama practices and meditation give clarity in thinking, thereby enabling one to respond to any situation with a positive attitude.

Similarly, mindful movements like Tai-Chi channelises the flow of life energy called Chi Practising these mindful movements refines the mind to stay focussed with positivity.

Importance of recreational activities and community space for seniors to live a healthy life

With increasing lifespan, the population of seniors is on the rise. Science and technology have helped in expanding the life span and the longevity. But still a lot of work needs to be done to add quality of life to the years of longevity to bring in positive ageing.

Health is holistically defined by WHO as a state of physical, mental, social and spiritual wellbeing. Living in a community set up has proven to be one of the ways to attain this, particularly for seniors. A senior living community brings likeminded people with varied interests together. Service providers of these communities work through various activities to address health concerns in different dimensions.

Health is addressed through the important pillars as its foundation, which includes physical, emotional, mental, intellectual and spiritual well-being.

At the physical level -Nutrition through balanced and customised meals towards elder needs, timely meals with proper rhythm are provided in community set up. Movement as a group activity helps boosting the morale and joy of living together.

At the emotional level- Artistic activities such as dance, drama, art and craft, painting helps expressing emotions with creativity.

At the mental level-Board games, traditional games and memory games help maintain cognitive fluidity and this flexibility brings in cognitive reserve. Cognitive abilities can be improved by enhancing the perception through sensory integration, focussed activities, executive functions like problem solving, decision making and sequencing. These specific activities will help in maintaining cognitive reserve and thereby diminishes the risk of dementia.

At the intellectual level Organising debates, discussions on varied topics, solving puzzles and sudoku takes care of the intellectual health.

At the spiritual level Connecting with the nature through outdoor activities and outreach programs to reach out to the needy, empowers one with hope to give something to others.

Living in a senior living community helps in promoting holistic health and positive ageing.

Positive thinking promotes positive psychology and helps in adding quality to life and pave way for positive ageing.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

END OF ARTICLE

Originally posted here:
Global Wellness Day #Think Magenta - Times of India

Physiology

How does the human body respond to rising temperatures? This one-of-a-kind lab in Ottawa is trying to find out – The Globe and Mail

Research patient Lise Cloutier sits in the worlds only direct air calorimeter a machine that continuously and precisely measures how much heat is gained and lost by the human body at a University of Ottawa lab.Spencer Colby/The Globe and Mail

The cylindrical chamber at the University of Ottawa lab looks at once like a machine from the past and the future. It swings open at a seam, splitting in half to reveal its contents. Tubes and chains dangle from the ceiling and reflect off the aluminum-sheeted walls. Theres just enough room inside for a black metal chair, rigged with wires for data collection and padding for comfort.

The chamber is the labs pice de rsistance. Its the worlds only direct air calorimeter a machine that continuously and precisely measures how much heat is gained and lost by the human body.

Originally developed in the 1970s at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the calorimeter was mothballed in 1990, until Dr. Glen Kenny brought it back to life later that decade. He likened the process to finding a rare Corvette at the dump and then refurbishing it.

More than 1,000 people have sat in the chamber over the years, lending their bodies to science in pursuit of nailing down how, exactly, the body responds to heat under various scenarios. The reason we put the calorimeter back together is that its the golden key in understanding how the human system is going to react to heat exposure, Dr. Kenny said.

Glen Kenny, professor of Physiology and Research Chair in Human Environmental Physiology at the University of Ottawa.Spencer Colby/The Globe and Mail

The Ottawa lab is at the forefront of research globally when it comes to the impacts of rising temperatures on human health, particularly among vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those living with chronic illness. The U.S. military, mining industry, electric utilities and others have looked to Dr. Kenny for help developing heat-management and monitoring strategies to protect people working in hot environments.

Health Canada has also turned to Dr. Kenny for advice. In late 2018, the federal department tasked him with assessing the effects of an extreme heat event on the most vulnerable Canadians. This led to the launch of a multiphase study on prolonged heat exposure, indoor temperature limits and cooling centres.

The study has not yet been published, but the data is in. It provides clear parameters for safe indoor temperatures and it dispels some commonly held views on the efficacy of cooling centres during heat waves.

The findings will inform federal guidance for health authorities across the country as they create strategies to address the growing problem of extreme heat. According to Health Canada, roughly 80 per cent of local and regional health authorities are currently working to take a range of evidence-based action to protect health from extreme heat. The department is aiming to develop its interim guidance this year.

Time is of the essence. When the record-setting heat dome settled over B.C. and then crept eastward last June and early July, Canadians were confronted with the reality that heat is a silent and prolific killer with the power to overwhelm emergency services. It was the deadliest weather event in Canadian history, linked to at least 619 sudden deaths in B.C.

Nearly one year later, as the clock ticks toward another summer, the provinces coroners service has shed light on the circumstances of those who died. According to a death-panel report released Tuesday, people aged 70 and older accounted for two-thirds of the deaths. Almost all 98 per cent died indoors. The overwhelming majority of the victims had at least one chronic disease. Most lived in socially or economically deprived neighbourhoods. More than half lived alone.

Among other recommendations, the report calls for a co-ordinated provincial heat-alert system and the adoption of community wellness checks for the most vulnerable.

Its certainly worth looking back, because a lot went wrong last summer. People in distress couldnt get through to 9-1-1 dispatchers. Some got a busy signal or were put on hold. Some callers who did manage to get through ended up waiting several hours for an ambulance. At one point, every fire truck in Vancouver was out on medical calls.

B.C. report on last years heat wave is a grim reminder that we must better protect our most vulnerable

Cooling in new buildings, tree canopy vital during heat waves: B.C. coroner report

Several emergency-services agencies in B.C. have since upgraded their heat-response plans and increased their staffing levels. B.C.s E-Comm system, which provides dispatch services for police and fire departments, rolled out a new call-transfer process that it says has materially improved answering capacity. BC Emergency Health Services is piloting a new app that allows for on-scene video consultations between a patient and clinician at the dispatch centre. Vancouver Fire Services is training some of its staff in emergency medical response a higher level of care for many firefighters.

Its a good thing. The Pacific Northwest heat dome was a once-in-1,000-year weather event, but it wont be 1,000 years before the next one. As the world warms, episodes of extreme weather will increase in frequency, intensity and duration.

Just last month, a heat wave in India and Pakistan killed at least 90 people. And while B.C. was in heats fatal crosshairs last year, other parts of Canada arent immune. A 2010 heat wave in Ontario and Quebec killed at least 280 people. A 2018 heat wave claimed dozens of lives in Montreal.

To get ready for heat, we must first understand its assault on the body. Theres a lot we already know. We know that if a persons core body temperature reaches 40 C and continues to warm, critical systems will start shutting down. The brain will stop processing normally. The body will lose its ability to cool itself through sweating. The blood will thicken, forcing the heart to beat harder and faster. Breathing will become rapid and shallow. Organ systems will eventually fail.

The body's ideal internal temperature is 36.9 degrees Celsius. As core temperatures rise, our internal regulation turns to acute self-preservation that leaves the body vulnerable in many ways. Symptoms of heatstroke set in above 40 degrees Celsius internally; the American Physician Journal recommends rapid cooling and, if done in a timely manner, it can be 100 per cent effective.

We know that age is the single most important factor in terms of vulnerability to this sort of demise. With each decade, we lose roughly 5 per cent of our ability to thermoregulate to lose heat. We know that sweating causes evaporative cooling and is key to guarding against hyperthermia; high levels of humidity inhibit that evaporative cooling process.

We know that having certain underlying conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, puts people at a greater risk of heat-related illness and death. And we know that it can take a while before the accumulation of heat in the body starts affecting our cells and organs; its usually not until about 24 hours after the onset of a heat wave that people begin dying.

Dr. Kennys latest research takes our understanding further. By studying real people with real health conditions in really hot temperatures for long periods of time, his team is able to make nuanced recommendations that go beyond existing, often one-size-fits-all advice.

This kind of work is extremely important, said University of Washington global health professor Kristie Ebi, a lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes 2018 special report about the effects of global warming of 1.5 C above preindustrial levels. Were seeing heat waves at intensities we havent seen before. Were not prepared. We need to understand how to best protect people, particularly the most vulnerable.

Its the most vulnerable that Dr. Kenny is most concerned with. When he explains his findings, he refers to colour-coded graphs with dots representing study participants. He wants policy makers and individual Canadians to pay close attention to the dots that fall outside the clusters. You cant just look at the mean of a dataset, he said. What you need to be concerned about is the outliers. Those are real people. Theyre the ones who are going to collapse.

Roughly 100 people participated in the federally commissioned research at the Ottawa lab. The younger, control cohort ranged in age from 18 to 31, and the older, more vulnerable group ranged from 60 to 80. Among the older demographic, a subset had either Type 2 diabetes or hypertension an underresearched demographic in the area of prolonged heat exposure, Dr. Kenny said, owing to concerns around stress-testing vulnerable people in extreme conditions.

Three years in the making, the study has involved more than 2,400 lab hours.

On trial days, study participants put on shorts and a T-shirt, signed a consent form and got hooked up to some physiological recording devices. These included, among many others, a blood-pressure unit, an ECG machine, a body-temperature probe, a heart-rate monitor and a mask that measures oxygen consumption.

The subject then entered the study space, which consisted of two concentric cylinders (imagine one pop can inside another). The larger cylinder is about the size of a two-car garage, only taller. Thats the environmental chamber. It can be set to different temperatures and humidity levels to simulate various living and workplace scenarios. It regulates the conditions around and within the smaller, inner cylinder. Thats the calorimeter, where the nitty-gritty of the trials took place.

Heres how it works. Researchers measure the temperature and humidity of the air entering the chamber and coming out of it. They measure two sources of heat the heat produced by the body from simply being alive, and the dry heat the body absorbs from the hot air. Those two values, added together, equal the total amount of heat gained. Researchers then measure the moisture levels going in and out of the chamber to determine how much sweat was produced and evaporated. Thats the amount of heat lost. The difference between the heat gained and the heat lost is the amount of heat being stored in the body.

Housed at the University of Ottawa, the worlds only direct

air calorimeter is considered the key to understanding

the impact of extreme heat on the human body. Scientists

measure the temperature and humidity of the air entering

the chamber and coming out of it. They can then calculate

how much heat the body was able to shed through thermo-

regulatory processes such as sweating, and how much it

ends up storing. Storing too much heat can lead to illness or

even death.

1. The calorimeter, which is housed in an environmental

chamber (not shown), is equipped with software that

allows researchers to monitor and record the physiologi-

cal responses of a study participant exercising or at rest.

2. The temperature in the chamber is tightly controlled to

simulate hot conditions. Study subjects wear monitoring

devices, including a mask that collects expired gases and

helps determine the amount of heat produced by the

body due to metabolism.

3-4. By precisely monitoring air temperatures and humidi-

ty levels flowing into (3) and out of (4) the calorimeter,

researchers can measure the rate of heat-exchange

between the body and the environment. Using these

measurements and the rate of heat production described

in (2), the calorimeter can be used to quantify the

real-time accumulation of heat within the body.

kathryn blaze baum and john sopinski /

the globe and Mail, Source: Dr. Glen P. Kenny,

University of Ottawa, Human and Environmental

Physiology Research Unit

Housed at the University of Ottawa, the worlds only direct

air calorimeter is considered the key to understanding

the impact of extreme heat on the human body. Scientists

measure the temperature and humidity of the air entering

the chamber and coming out of it. They can then calculate

how much heat the body was able to shed through thermo-

regulatory processes such as sweating, and how much it

ends up storing. Storing too much heat can lead to illness

or even death.

1. The calorimeter, which is housed in an environmental

chamber (not shown), is equipped with software that

allows researchers to monitor and record the physiologi-

cal responses of a study participant exercising or at rest.

2. The temperature in the chamber is tightly controlled to

simulate hot conditions. Study subjects wear monitoring

devices, including a mask that collects expired gases and

helps determine the amount of heat produced by the

body due to metabolism.

3-4. By precisely monitoring air temperatures and humidi-

ty levels flowing into (3) and out of (4) the calorimeter,

researchers can measure the rate of heat-exchange

between the body and the environment. Using these

measurements and the rate of heat production described

in (2), the calorimeter can be used to quantify the

real-time accumulation of heat within the body.

kathryn blaze baum and john sopinski / the globe and Mail,

Source: Dr. Glen P. Kenny, University of Ottawa, Human

and Environmental Physiology Research Unit

Housed at the University of Ottawa, the worlds only direct air calorimeter is considered the key to

understanding the impact of extreme heat on the human body. Scientists measure the temperature and

humidity of the air entering the chamber and coming out of it. They can then calculate how much heat

the body was able to shed through thermoregulatory processes such as sweating, and how much it ends

up storing. Storing too much heat can lead to illness or even death.

1. The calorimeter, which

is housed in an environ-

mental chamber (not

shown), is equipped with

software that allows

researchers to monitor

and record the physiologi-

Follow this link:
How does the human body respond to rising temperatures? This one-of-a-kind lab in Ottawa is trying to find out - The Globe and Mail

Physiology

Be Careful of Overeating While Pregnant: Maternal Obesity Greatly Increases a Childs Risk of Heart Problems – SciTechDaily

According to a recent study in mice, maternal obesity affects the fetus heart health and function.

Obesity is defined as an abnormal or excessive buildup of fat that poses a health risk. A BMI of 30 or above is considered obese.

Obesity has become increasingly prevalent in America. Recent estimates suggest that more than 42% of adults in the United States are obese. Health risks of obesity include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and sleep apnea. New research has found it might even have an impact on your children too.

According to a recent study, maternal obesity impacts the fetus heart health and function. The research, which was published in The Journal of Physiology, discovered that maternal obesity produces molecular changes in the fetuss heart and modifies the expression of genes involved in nutrition metabolism, dramatically increasing the likelihood of cardiac problems in the child later in life.

This is the first study to demonstrate that the heart is programmed by the nutrition it receives throughout birth. Gene expression changes affect how carbs and fats are metabolized in the heart. They change the hearts nutritional preference away from sugar and toward fat. As a result, the hearts of obese female mices fetuses were bigger, heavier, had thicker walls, and displayed signs of inflammation. The hearts ability to contract and circulate blood throughout the body is impaired as a result.

A mouse model that replicates human maternal physiology and placental nutrient transfer in obese women was used by researchers from the University of Colorado, US. Female mice (n=31) were given a high-fat diet along with a sugary drink, which is roughly equal to a person eating a burger, chips, and a soft drink on a daily basis (1500kcal). Female mice were fed this diet until they became obese, gaining roughly 25% of their initial body weight. A control diet was fed to 50 female mice.

Mouse pups (n=187) were studied in utero, as well as after birth at 3, 6, 9, and 24 months using imaging techniques, including echocardiography and positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Researchers analyzed the genes, proteins, and mitochondria of the offspring.

The changes in offspring cardiac metabolism strongly depended on sex. The expression of 841 genes was altered in the hearts of female fetuses and 764 genes were altered in male fetuses, but less than 10% of genes were commonly altered in both sexes. Interestingly, although both male and female offspring from mothers with obesity had impaired cardiac function, there were differences in the progression between sexes; males were impaired from the start, whereas females cardiac function got progressively worse with age.

The sex difference in the lasting impairments of cardiovascular health and function could be due to estrogen. Higher levels in young females may protect cardiovascular health, the protection diminishes as estrogen levels deplete as the females age. The molecular cause for the sex difference is not yet understood.

Lead author, Dr. Owen Vaughan, University of Colorado, US said:

Our research indicates a mechanism linking maternal obesity with cardiometabolic illness in the next generation. This is important because obesity is increasing rapidly in the human population and affects almost one-third of women of childbearing age. By improving our understanding of the mechanisms involved, this research paves the way for treatments that could be used in early life to prevent later-life cardiometabolic illnesses, which are costly for health services and affect many peoples quality of life. For example, we could offer more tailored advice on nutrition to mothers or children based on their body mass index or sex, or develop new drugs that target metabolism in the heart of the fetus.

Mice have shorter pregnancies, more offspring, and different diets than humans so further studies on human volunteers would be required to extrapolate the findings to womens health. Loss-of-function studies also need to be carried out to prove this mechanism linking maternal obesity and offspring heart function and pinpoint the exact molecules responsible.

Reference: Maternal obesity causes fetal cardiac hypertrophy and alters adult offspring myocardial metabolism in mice by Owen R. Vaughan, Fredrick J. Rosario, Jeannie Chan, Laura A. Cox, Veronique Ferchaud-Roucher, Karin A. Zemski-Berry, Jane E. B. Reusch, Amy C. Keller, Theresa L. Powell and Thomas Jansson, 11 May 2022, The Journal of Physiology.DOI: 10.1113/JP282462

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Be Careful of Overeating While Pregnant: Maternal Obesity Greatly Increases a Childs Risk of Heart Problems - SciTechDaily