(Press-News.org) Bethesda, MD—As strange as it sounds, a new research study published in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), suggests that the "healthy" ingredient in red wine, resveratrol, may prevent the negative effects that spaceflight and sedentary lifestyles have on people. The report describes experiments in rats that simulated the weightlessness of spaceflight, during which the group fed resveratrol did not develop insulin resistance or a loss of bone mineral density, as did those who were not fed resveratrol.
According to Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal, "There are overwhelming data showing that the human body needs physical activity, but for some of us, getting that activity isn't easy. A low gravity environment makes it nearly impossible for astronauts. For the earthbound, barriers to physical activity are equally challenging, whether they be disease, injury, or a desk job. Resveratrol may not be a substitute for exercise, but it could slow deterioration until someone can get moving again."
Scientists studied rats that underwent simulated weightlessness by hindlimb tail suspension and were given a daily oral load of resveratrol. The control group showed a decrease in soleus muscle mass and strength, the development of insulin resistance, and a loss of bone mineral density and resistance to breakage. The group receiving resveratrol showed none of these complications. Study results further demonstrated some of the underlying mechanisms by which resveratrol acts to prevent the wasting adaptations to disuse-induced mechanical unloading. This study also suggests that resveratrol may be able to prevent the deleterious consequences of sedentary behaviors in humans.
"If resveratrol supplements are not your cup of tea," Weissmann added, "then there's good news. You can find it naturally in red wine, making it the toast of the Milky Way."
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Receive monthly highlights from the FASEB Journal by e-mail. Sign up at http://www.faseb.org/fjupdate.aspx. The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) is published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2011. Over the past quarter century, the journal has been recognized by the Special Libraries Association as one of the top 100 most influential biomedical journals of the past century and is the most cited biology journal worldwide according to the Institute for Scientific Information.
FASEB comprises 24 societies with more than 100,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. FASEB enhances the ability of scientists and engineers to improve—through their research—the health, well-being and productivity of all people. FASEB's mission is to advance health and welfare by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.
Details: Iman Momken, Laurence Stevens, Audrey Bergouignan, Dominique Desplanches, Floriane Rudwill, Isabelle Chery, Alexandre Zahariev, Sandrine Zahn, T. Peter Stein, Jean Louis Sebedio, Estelle Pujos-Guillot, Maurice Falempin, Chantal Simon, Véronique Coxam, Tany Andrianjafiniony, Guillemette Gauquelin-Koch, Florence Picquet, and Stéphane Blanc. Resveratrol prevents the wasting disorders of mechanical unloading by acting as a physical exercise mimetic in the rat. FASEB J. doi: 10.1096/fj.10-177295 ; http://www.fasebj.org/content/early/2011/06/29/fj.10-177295.abstract
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With July 4 fast approaching, MSNBC reports that heavy drought and wildfires burning in parts of Florida have caused many affected counties and cities to ban the use of fireworks.
Florida Division of Forestry Annaleasa Winter says, "It only takes one spark to ignite a blazing wildfire that could threaten your home and, possibly, your whole neighborhood. The risk is just too great," as News 4 Jax reports regarding similar drought and wildfires last year in Florida.
2011 is no different.
But, like every July 4 holiday, you're going to get together with ...
Cold Spring Harbor, NY – Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have identified an enzyme that appears to be a significant regulator of breast cancer development. Called PTPN23, the enzyme is a member of a family called protein tyrosine phosphatases, or PTPs, that plays a fundamental role in switching cell signaling on and off.
When the scientists suppressed the expression of PTPN23 in human mammary cells, they noted a cascade of effects that included the cells breaking away from their anchors; their scattering; and their invasion through extracellular ...
WHAT: A trio of large-scale genome-wide association studies, or GWAS, have identified more than 15 gene variants responsible for the diversity of white blood cell counts among whites, African-Americans, and Japanese. Supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, each study examined the genomes of tens of thousands of people. Combined, the studies offer the first comprehensive analysis into why some people, and some populations, have more or fewer white blood cells than others.
All three articles will be published online June 30 in PLoS Genetics.
White ...
A new study published in the American Journal of Transplantation reveals that there is a significant risk of serious skin cancers, including cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, in heart transplant patients.
When people receive heart transplants, they need immune medications to keep their body from rejecting the transplant. The changes to the immune system they experience as a result of the medications can also make them more susceptible to developing cancers.
Led by Murad Alam, MD, MSCI, of Northwestern University, researchers studied 10 years of patient information ...
11-year-old Abiah Jones recently visited Morey's Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey on a school trip. She and other students were being rewarded for having top grades in their class. However, tragedy struck when Jones fell from a ferris wheel gondola and was killed. A preliminary report indicates that she was alone on the gondola seat near the top of the wheel when she fell nearly 160 feet.
According to local police, the ride was in working order with all safety procedures in place, and that it would be impossible for a properly seated patron to fall from the ride unless ...
Restrictions on eligibility for health care reform programs will result in the potential exclusion of up to 220,000 children from affordable health care coverage in California, according to a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
The number represents approximately 20 percent of all uninsured children in California.
Of those children, up to 40,000 may be eligible for coverage but may not apply, due to confusion about new rules governing access to both the California Health Benefit Exchange and the state's expanded Medi-Cal program.
The ...
Boston, MA - For patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), choosing the appropriate treatment depends heavily on the prognosis. Those patients at the highest risk of dying from their disease are typically offered the most aggressive therapies, while patients at lower risk could live several years with MDS, needing only supportive care or other relatively side-effect free treatments. While some clinical variables are useful, current methods for predicting prognosis for individual patients are not ideal. Patients with the same clinical features can have very different ...
A work injury can disrupt a person's entire life and cause physical pain as well as emotional aggravation from dealing with medical bills and insurance bureaucracy. Filing and getting a workers' compensation claim recognized can help alleviate these issues. However, unless an employee acts within the specified time lines, he or she may lose the opportunity to receive benefits at all.
Time Limits for Initial Filing an Initial Workers' Compensation Claim
In Pennsylvania, an injured worker should report a work injury within 21 days after its occurrence to his or her ...
(Boston) – A recent study completed by researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) demonstrates that BMC conducts a high rate of thyroid function testing in pregnant women. The retrospective study, which is currently published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, showed that if BMC had not done routine thyroid testing on pregnant women, approximately 80 percent of cases of mild hypothyroidism (a condition whereby the thyroid does not produce enough thyroid hormone) would not have been detected.
It ...
VIDEO:
This movie of GOES-13 satellite imagery of Tropical Storm Arlene in 15 minute intervals from June 28 at 1415 (10:15 a.m. EDT) to the same time on June 30, shows...
Click here for more information.
Tropical Storm Arlene made landfall early today and is making its way through northeastern Mexico today as the GOES-13 satellite continues to track its movement. A movie from today's GOES satellite data shows Arlene making that landfall and moving inland.
Tropical Storm ...
