New inhaler protects lungs against effects of air pollution

An inhaler that protects the lungs against air pollution has been developed by scientists and could help the many millions of people affected by toxic air to avoid its worst effects.

The inhaler delivers a molecule, first found in bacteria in the Egyptian desert, which stabilises water on the surface of the lung cells to form a protective layer. It is expected to be available as an inexpensive, over-the-counter product.

Outdoor air pollution is a global health crisis that kills over 3 million people a year and it has long been linked to lung and heart disease and strokes. But research is also uncovering new impacts on health, including degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, mental illness and, this week, diabetes.

The impact of air pollution costs $ 5tn a year, according to a World Bank report published last week. In the UK, at least 40,000 people a year die prematurely from air pollution, with a cross-party committee of MPs calling it a “public health emergency”.

But the government’s plans to tackle the issue were heavily criticised this week, just as alerts were issued for extreme air pollution across much of northern England. A day later, it was announced that more ambitious plans for London from Mayor Sadiq Khan were overwhelmingly backed by the public.

Vehicles are a key contributor to air pollution but, a year after the VW emissions scandal broke, most new diesel cars still emit far more toxic nitrogen oxides on the road than the official lab-based limit.

Action to clean up air is urgently needed across the world, but cutting emissions for vehicles and other sources will take years, meaning ways to reduce the harm in the meantime could be vital. The new inhaler has been developed by German medical devices company Bitop and is based on a molecule called ectoine, discovered in the 1980s in a desert bacterium which uses the compound to conserve water in 60C heat.

“It is quite an inert molecule that does one main thing, which is bind water, which stabilises cell membrane tissues against physical or chemical damage,” said Dr Andreas Bilstein, at Bitop. “It supports the natural barrier.”

When inhaled, this helps prevent the damage caused by air pollution particles that can lead to asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer, Bilstein said: “Damage cannot occur as strongly and there is less inflammatory response, and so disease progression is reduced. The perfect situation is that the patient inhales in the morning and evening at home.”

The inhaler has been tested in three small groups of patients particularly at risk from air pollution, due to asthma, COPD and bronchitis, with the positive results due to be published soon, Bilstein said.

Ectoine does not interact with cell receptors, so it is classed as a medical device rather than a drug. This means large clinical trials are not required for official approval and the inhaler could be on sale soon, at an estimated cost of £17 a month, after Bitop selects a marketing partner. A version of the product for use in nebulisers will be available this year in Germany and Poland, while an ectoine-based nasal spray for allergy relief is already available.

Bilstein said the inhaler could be useful around the world, as particulate air pollution is not just a European problem: “Especially in Asia – China in particular – the demand for such a product is even higher. I was in New York last week, and the air was also not very clean.”

The protective effect of ectoine was discovered by Prof Jean Krutmann and colleagues at the Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, while investigating whether the molecule could protect skin against sun damage. Bitop funded a series of studies, now published in prominent scientific journals.

“The point that it can prevent the lung inflammation induced by ultrafine particles is established – there is no more doubt,” Krutmann said. Antioxidants can also provide some protection but there has been controversy over the effectiveness of such food supplements, he said: “Personally, I think it is much better to eat lots of vegetables and fruit rather than taking any supplements.”

Dr Richard Russell, a consultant respiratory physician in the NHS and medical advisor to the British Lung Foundation, who was not involved in the research, said the inhaler was both credible and promising: “Ectoine is a beautifully elegant molecule and it clearly works by helping water to stabilise, giving you a film of water in times of stress.”

“The work that has been published thus far, in credible, internationally recognised journals, show that this stuff has positive properties, protecting against triggered inflammation,” he told the Guardian. Russell, who also lectures at Imperial College and Oxford University, said it might also be useful for the treatment of asthma, COPD and other lung diseases, not only prevention. “It could potentially do so much more. It is actually quite exciting and there is clearly a lot more to come from this story.”

Krutmann said slashing air pollution remained paramount. “It is very nice to be able to protect people against the detrimental effects, but this should not be used as an argument that we can now stop working on reducing particulate [air pollution]. The best thing is that we have clean air because then we don’t need any prophylactic treatment. But on the other hand we have to be realistic and in many countries you cannot just switch traffic overnight to electric cars and do other drastic things.”

“It will take many more years, especially in countries like China, and I think there is an ethical need to provide something to the general population to protect them,” he said.

New inhaler protects lungs against effects of air pollution

Mediterranean diet plan improves cognition, protects brain and heart, and decreases threat of type two diabetes by 52%!

Heart condition is the variety a single lead to of death in the United States. (one) There are quite few circumstances of heart illness in countries of the Mediterranean.  Researchers feel that their healthful diet program is the principal purpose for their lower costs of heart condition.(two)

The Mediterranean diet program is higher in plants including fruits, greens, whole grains, legumes, potatoes, nuts and seeds.  They also use massive quantities of olive oil and red wine along with reasonable servings of fish, poultry, dairy and eggs.  Red meat is seldom consumed in this region.(two)

Though this diet plan has been about for centuries, it is at the moment gaining mainstream acceptance due analysis.  Numerous research have proven that the Mediterranean diet is a very good way to improve your overall health and avert condition. (two)

Mediterranean diet regime benefits in younger brains, reduction of fewer brain cells and enhanced cognition!

One review discovered that those who eat the Mediterranean diet program have much less brain atrophy, resulting in the loss of fewer brain cells and improved cognition.  The examine found that eating less meat resulted in a bigger brain volume.  Eating much more fish was linked with improved cortical thickness.  The research divided participants into two groups, people who ate Mediterranean diet regime and people who did not. The group that did not eat the Mediterranean diet’s brains had aged five many years compared to the group who consumed the Mediterranean diet plan.  In the group who consumed the Mediterranean diet, their brain volume was 13 percent larger.(3)

A 2010 study supports this data rerouted that individuals who adhere to the Mediterranean diet regime had been 36 percent significantly less probably to have damage to the brain. (three)

The diet regime is not only very good for the brain, but is also useful in preventing diabetes, metabolic syndrome and heart disease.  (2)

Mediterranean diet decreases threat of stroke by 39 %!

A 2013 examine had a complete of seven,447 participants with higher threat of cardiovascular condition.  They were divided into 3 various diet plans, a Mediterranean diet regime with extra olive oil, a Mediterranean diet regime with extra nuts and a minimal-body fat management group.  The examine concluded that the threat of stroke went down by 39 percent in the Mediterranean diet regime groups.  Those with high blood strain, lipid problems or obesity responded ideal to the Mediterranean diet plan.(2)

A 2007 examine examined the influence of the Mediterranean diet regime on 372 folks who had been at high cardiovascular risk.  After 3 months, researchers assessed changes oxidative pressure.  Researchers identified that the diet plan result in reductions in LDL cholesterol along with enhancements in other threat factors. (2)

Mediterranean diet decreases threat of creating kind two diabetes by 52 %!

A 2011 review, related to the 2013 study above, integrated 418 non-diabetic participants had been followed for 4 years.  Researchers examined their danger of building variety 2 diabetes.  The research identified that 10 and 11 percent of the men and women in the Mediterranean diet program groups became diabetic in contrast with 17.9 percent in the reduced-fat management group.  The Mediterranean diet reduced danger of establishing type two diabetes by 52 %!(2)

If you are not interested in providing up meat and dairy totally, the Mediterranean diet regime might be a excellent option that has quite a few well being positive aspects.

Sources incorporated:

(1) http://www.theheartfoundation.org/heart-condition-details/heart-illness-statistics/

(two) http://authoritynutrition.com/five-research-on-the-mediterranean-diet/

(three) http://www.sentinelsource.com/existence_and_type/lifestyles/mediterranean-diet regime-helps make-your-brain-younger/article_10f6ae0e-d7c3-5c3d-a10b-2f3ed9de2f8a.html

Mediterranean diet plan improves cognition, protects brain and heart, and decreases threat of type two diabetes by 52%!

The US supreme court"s abortion buffer zone ruling protects a gauntlet of horror | Jessica Valenti

Imagine making an attempt to stroll into a constructing, making an attempt to get a health care treatment method – and someone screams at you. Someone is two inches from your face – two feet from the front door – and that someone is videotaping you, calling you a whore. There is ketchup poured in the snowbanks around you, produced to appear like spurted blood. You try to consider a phase forward, but folks block your way, yelling that you happen to be going to be “mom to a dead infant”. They hold indicators in your faces, whisper “murderer” in your ear as you pass. Maybe they shove you.

Never believe portrayals to the contrary – from anti-choice activists and the information media – that these kinds of protestors outdoors abortion clinics are not grandmas praying, or kindly “counselors” who just want to speak fairly to women. These men and women wait outside clinics to shame and to harass they are there to scare.

Despite the horrifying experiences of ladies across the nation making an attempt to acquire abortions, the US supreme court ruled unanimously on Thursday that a Massachusetts law providing a 35-foot buffer zone outdoors of clinics is unconstitutional, and violates protesters’ first amendment proper to engage in “individual, caring, consensual conversations” with females seeking abortions.

Private, caring and consensual?

Katie Klabusich, a reproductive rights activist who has volunteered as an escort at 6 clinics across the country, tells me she is “terrified”.

Just before a buffer zone was enacted at 1 clinic exactly where she volunteered in New Jersey, Klabuish says it took six or 7 escorts to safeguard a single patient and her companion from picketers yelling racist and sexist epithets in their faces.

“You could still hear them yelling in the procedure room,” she told me on Thursday soon after the determination in McCullen v Coakley.

Klabusich says the lack of a buffer zone was particularly hard when women getting would come to the clinic soon after a health-related transport from the hospital – most with wished pregnancies that had put their wellness or life in danger:

These are ladies in obvious bodily distress, and I’ve noticed seven or eight picketers surround a medical van so a sick woman couldn’t get to a physician. This is what buffer zones support to end.

According to a statement by Dr Nancy L Stanwood of Physicians for Reproductive Well being, practically 90% of abortion companies report that sufferers in their facility have “expressed considerations about their personalized security,” and above 80% of clinics have referred to as police due to the fact of safety worries.

Abortion suppliers are not attempting to limit cost-free speech – they are making an attempt safeguard their individuals from what has turn out to be a gauntlet of terror. Thursday’s ruling might not eradicate all buffer zones overnight, but it provides safety to people who need to have it least, although ignoring the vulnerable females who are being harassed and intimidated for doing exercises a legal proper.

Let’s please not fail to remember the arson and bombings of clinics, the threats of anthrax, the shootings and – of course – the multiple murders of abortion companies and clinic workers. Abortion clinics are not secure locations – anti-choicers have ensured that – and if women are genuinely to have the appropriate to seek abortions free of charge from violence and harassment, they need to be.

The supreme court’s choice is not as unanimous as it may possibly appear, and it is not the end: pro-option activists are expressing outrage, sharing stories and organizing on the Twitter hashtag #protectthezone, and Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards says that the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts is “already working with legislature on a new bill to safeguard women from harassment”.

But for the girls searching for abortions in the days and weeks to come – and for the providers, employees and volunteers who put their lives on the line each day to make sure girls have entry to secure healthcare care – this ruling will effect them instantly. It will make females significantly less safe, medical doctors and clinic staff more fearful, and violent harassers emboldened. This is not the “cost-free speech” we’re fighting for.

The US supreme court"s abortion buffer zone ruling protects a gauntlet of horror | Jessica Valenti

Four pots of yoghurt a week "protects against diabetes"

Individuals with the highest consumption of lower-fat fermented products – yoghurt, fromage frais and low-fat cheeses – have been general 24 per cent significantly less very likely to turn into diabetic over the period.

When yoghurt was examined separately, it was linked with a 28 per cent lowered risk of Type 2 diabetes, with the most benefits identified with consumption of four and a half common pots a week.

Dr Nita Forouhi, from the university’s Health care Analysis Council Epidemiology Unit mentioned: “This study highlights that certain foods may have an critical function in the prevention of type two diabetes.”

“At a time when we have a whole lot of other proof that consuming higher amounts of certain food items, this kind of as extra sugars and sugary drinks, is poor for our well being, it is very reassuring to have messages about other foods like yoghurt and lower-excess fat fermented dairy items, that could be great for our health.”

The research published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, did not demonstrate a causal website link among consumption of yoghurt and a decrease danger of diabetes – that means it is attainable that people who eat yoghurt routinely had healtheir lifestyles in other ways.

But researchers said it was achievable that probiotic bacteria and a special kind of vitamin K, portion of the menaquinone family, connected with fermentation of dairy items, was delivering the safety against diabetes.

Dairy products are an essential supply of substantial good quality protein, vitamins and minerals.

However they are also a source of saturated body fat so men and women are recommended not to eat them in high quantities and to select reduced fat alternatives.

Four pots of yoghurt a week "protects against diabetes"