Knowledge Update

New York, June 20 (IANS) Consuming blueberries can help in reverting age and improving vision and memory, says a new study.

"Eating blueberries can also curb risks of developing cancer as well as reduce the chances of heart diseases," Shuyang Qu, Doctoral Student at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences in the US, said in a statement.

Previous studies have shown that blueberries were rich in healthy anti-oxidant substances, which could help prevent Alzheimer's -- an increasingly common form of dementia -- effects such as decline in cognitive skills and memory.

The researchers wanted to determine the consumer's knowledge about blueberry health benefits and see if there is a knowledge gap with blueberry health benefits among demographic groups.

They found that the low-income populations tend to know less about blueberry health benefits than the high-income groups.

The researchers surveyed more than 2,000 people, over 31 states in the US -- mostly on the East Coast and in the Midwest -- to see how well informed the consumers were about the health benefits of blueberries.​

​Toronto, June 20 (IANS) Here is another reason why you should hit the gym regularly as you grow older. New research has found that regular exercise could help muscles repair themselves as quickly as possible after injury even as you age.

For many mammals, including humans, the speed of muscle repair slows as they grow older, and it was once thought that complete repair could not be achieved after a certain age. 

"Exercise-conditioning rescues delayed skeletal muscle regeneration observed in advanced age," said one of the researchers Gianni Parise, Associate Professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. 

This study, published online in The FASEB Journal, showed that after only eight weeks of exercise, old mice experienced faster muscle repair and regained more muscle mass than those of the same age that had not exercised. 

To make this discovery, the researchers used three groups of mice -- old mice that were exercise trained, old mice that were not exercise trained, and young mice that were not exercised trained. 

In the first group, old mice were trained three days/week for eight weeks. 

The effect of exercise in ageing muscle was measured by comparing the three groups of mice. 

Changes in muscle repair with ageing were determined by injecting the old mice and young mice (neither group exercised) with snake venom commonly used to induce muscle injury in rodent studies. 

These mice were compared prior to muscle injury, 10 days following injury and 28 days following injury.

"This is a clean demonstration that the physiological and metabolic benefits of exercise radiate to skeletal muscle satellite cells, the adult stem cells responsible for repair after injury, even in senescent animals," Thoru Pederson, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, said.​

​London, June 18 (IANS) A deficiency in the amount of vitamin D in the body may lead to high risk of chronic kidney diseases, especially in children, says a new study.

Vitamin D deficiency has been found common in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) -- the longstanding disease of the kidneys leading to renal failure. 

Researchers have identified certain modifiable and non-modifiable factors associated with vitamin D deficiency in children with CKD. 

According to the study, nearly two-thirds of children suffering from vitamin D deficiency were also suffering from certain abnormalities like glomerulopathy -- a set of diseases affecting the nephrons.

Vitamin D levels were found lower in winter months than at other times of the year.

"Vitamin D levels are influenced more strongly by seasonal factors, the type of disease and nutritional supplementation than by common variants in vitamin D regulating genes," said Anke Doyon, at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

Deficiency in Vitamin D may also increase the risk of osteoporosis, cancer, cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disorders, the researchers said.

Children with kidney disease who took vitamin D supplements had vitamin D levels that were two-times higher than those who did not take supplements.

"Supplementation practices should be reconsidered and intervention studies are needed to define guidelines how to monitor and treat vitamin D deficiency in children with chronic kidney disease," Doyon suggested.

The team analysed 500 children affected with kidney diseases in 12 European countries.

The findings published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN), could help physicians protect the health of these young patients, the researchers concluded.​

​New York, June 16 (IANS) Shedding new light on why extra weight is so difficult to shed permanently, researchers have found that overeating reduces levels of a hormone that signals the feeling of fullness in the brain, potentially promoting more eating.

Through earlier studies on colon cancer, Thomas Jefferson University researchers led by Scott Waldman noticed that a hormone called uroguanylin also appeared to play a role in obesity. 

Their studies had shown that in non-obese mice, uroguanylin would travel to the brain, where it produced a feeling of fullness. But it was unclear what happened to this signaling in the obese state.

In the current study, the researchers looked at mice who were overfed, and saw that the small intestines of these mice had stopped producing uroguanylin. 

The receptors for uroguanylin that reside in the brain were intact, and had even increased in number, but hormone itself was no longer being made, suggesting that overeating had caused its production to shut down. 

However, when the animals were put on a diet, the guanylin production resumed.

"What's interesting is that it didn't matter whether the mice were lean and overfed, or obese and overfed - urogaunylin production stopped in both groups of animals when they got too many calories," Waldman said.

The research was published in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes.

"Taken together, these experiments show that excess calories - either from fat or carbohydrates - stress small intestinal cells so that they stop producing uroguanylin, which helps people feel full after eating," Waldman said. 

"What we don't know is how much is too much and what molecular sensor makes that decision," he pointed out.​

New York, June 15 (IANS) Both lack or excess of sleep can lead to health risks like hypertension, obesity, diabetes and depression among children and teenagers, warns a research team led by an Indian-origin scientist.

The findings showed that insufficient hours of sleep could increase the risk of accidents and injuries as also lead to self-harm, suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts among teenagers.

Conversely, sleeping for longer hours may also be associated with adverse health outcome such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity and mental health problems.

"Sleep is essential for a healthy life, and it is important to promote healthy sleep habits in early childhood," said Shalini Paruthi from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Springfields, Illinois.

A good sleep pattern can lead to better health outcome like improved attention, behaviour, learning, memory, emotional regulation, quality of life, mental and physical health.

"Adequate sleep is essential for the children who are in the critical years of early development," added Nathaniel Watson, President at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

At least 12 to 16 hours of sleep per day is imperative for infants (four to 12 months), the researchers recommended.

For children between one to two years of age, 11 to 14 hours sleep is essential, and for those who are three to five years, 10 to 13 hours is needed.

Nine to 12 hours for children between six to 12 years and eight to 10 hours of sleep for teenagers from 13 to 18 years is good for them and their overall health. 

"Making sure there is ample time for sleep is one of the best ways to promote a healthy lifestyle for a child," Paruthi noted.

For the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the team conducted a 10-month project and reviewed 864 published scientific articles addressing the relationship between sleep duration and health in children.​

​Washington, June 15 (IANS) Drinking coffee at “normal” temperature would not increase your risk of contracting cancer, says a new report by the World Health Organisation's cancer research arm.

The WHO classified coffee as a possible carcinogen in 1991, for its potential link to bladder cancer.

Based on a review of more than 1,000 studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the WHO, said on Wednesday that coffee cannot be classified as a carcinogen.

But the agency cautioned that drinking “very hot” drinks could probably cause cancer.

Though consuming coffee at "normal serving temperatures" carries no cancer risk, drinking very hot beverages likely causes cancer of the esophagus, according to the agency, The Verge reported.

The IARC brought together 23 scientists to review studies on the cancer-related properties of both coffee and maté herbal tea, and determined that there is "inadequate evidence" that either are a carcinogen, the report said.

But the WHO cancer research arm said there is evidence to suggest that drinks consumed at temperatures above 65 degree Celsius can cause cancer of the esophagus, classifying them as "probably carcinogenic to humans." ​

​New York, June 15 (IANS) Researchers have found that injecting a hormone secreted by bones can help the ageing muscles become youthful as well as increase the capacity of exercise in the elderly, finds a new study.

Osteocalcin, a bone hormone produced during exercise, tends to decline with age in women at the age of 30 and in men at age 50.

The findings showed that during exercise in mice and humans, the level of osteocalcin in the blood increases depending on how old the organism is.

Osteocalcin increased the capacity of exercise in the older mice. 

Also, the bone-derived hormone was found powerful enough to reconstitute, in older animals, the muscle function of young animals. 

"Our bones are making a hormone called osteocalcin that provides an explanation for why we can exercise," said Gerard Karsenty, Geneticist at the Columbia University Medical Center in the US.

For the study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, the team tested mice that were genetically engineered to investigate whether osteocalcin levels were affecting exercise performance. 

In three-month-old adult mice, osteocalcin levels spiked approximately four times the amount that the levels in 12-month-old mice did when the rodents ran for 40 minutes on a treadmill. 

The three-month-old mice could run for about 1,200 meters before becoming exhausted, while the 12-month-old mice could only run half of that distance.

However, when old mice whose osteocalcin levels had naturally decreased with age were injected with osteocalcin, their running performance matched that of the healthy three-month-old mice. 

The older mice were able to run about 1,200 meters before becoming exhausted. 

"Osteocalcin is the only known bone-derived hormone that increases exercise capacity. This may be one way to treat age-related decline in muscle function in humans," Karsenty noted.​

​London, June 15 (IANS) The answer to the question is both yes and no as researchers have found that listening to sad music is associated with three types of experiences - pleasure, comfort and pain.

For the study, the musicologists looked at the emotional experiences associated with sad music of 2,436 people across three large-scale surveys in Britain and Finland.

The researchers said that the majority of people surveyed highlighted the enjoyable nature of such experiences, which in general lead to clear improvement of mood.

Listening to sad music led to feelings of pleasure related to enjoyment of the music in some people, or feelings of comfort where sad music evoked memories in others, the findings showed.

However, a significant portion of people also reported painful experiences associated with listening to sad music, which invariably related to personal loss such as the death of a loved one, divorce, breakup, or other significant adversity in life.

"Previous research in music psychology and film studies has emphasised the puzzling pleasure that people experience when engaging with tragic art,” said lead researcher Tuomas Eerola, Professor at Durham University in England. 

"However, there are people who absolutely hate sad-sounding music and avoid listening to it. In our research, we wanted to investigate this wide spectrum of experiences that people have with sad music, and find reasons for both listening to and avoiding that kind of music,” he said.

The findings were detailed in the journal PLOS ONE.

"The results help us to pinpoint the ways people regulate their mood with the help of music, as well as how music rehabilitation and music therapy might tap into these processes of comfort, relief, and enjoyment,” Eerola noted.​

​New York, June 14 (IANS) Young adults find video gaming so compelling that they often end up delaying bedtime by more than one and half hours on the nights spent gaming, reveals new research.

"These findings provide further insight into factors that influence individuals' decision making when determining if they should get sufficient sleep,” said lead author Brandy Roane, Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Centre in the US.

The study included online surveys from 963 gamers. Participants were US gamers with an average age of 28.7 years who played video games at least once the previous week. 

The analysis showed that on average, gamers delayed going to bed 36 per cent of the nights they played video games. 

Average game playing was 4.6 nights per week and the average delay in bedtime on the nights spent gaming was 101 minutes.

"Our data shows that video gaming is quite an important factor that frequently leads to missed sleep for 67 percent of gamers," Roane noted.

"Additionally, the reasons provided by gamers for their choice to delay their bedtime strongly supports the inclusion of video gaming as an addictive behavior," Roane said.

The findings were presented at SLEEP 2016, the 30th anniversary meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS), in Denver.​

New York, June 14 (IANS) Consuming nearly four servings of whole grains such as bran, oatmeal and quinoa a day can reduce the risk of premature death, says a new study.

The findings showed that the multiple bio-active compounds in the whole grains contribute to various health benefits.

Also, whole grains contain high fiber that is likely to lower cholesterol production, glucose response and increase satiety.

Further, people who consume around 70 grams of whole grains a day showed 22 per cent lower risk of total mortality, 23 per cent lower risk of heart diseases mortality as well as a 20 per cent lower risk of cancer mortality in comparison to those who ate little or no whole grains.

"These findings further support current dietary guidelines that recommend at least three daily servings (or 48 grams) of whole grains to improve long-term health and prevent premature death," said Qi Sun, Assistant Professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in the US.

The results were published online in the journal Circulation.

People should choose foods that are high in whole grain ingredients and reduce the consumption of unhealthy refined carbohydrates, the researchers suggested.

For the study, the team conducted a meta-analysis of 12 published studies and which included 786,076 people in US, Britain and the Scandinavian countries between 1970 and 2010.​