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The inflammation epidemic: your number one health concern 2015 (and what sugar’s got to do with it) in High 50 Health, 15 January 2015, Christine Morgan
Excerpts:
"Chronic inflammation is being described as an ‘epidemic’, and you could have it without even knowing. Tackling it is the key to staying healthy and keeping young – especially in our fifties"
"“Chronic inflammation can be common at any age, but the body can be less resilient when you’re in your 50s,” she says.
“Diseases that are obviously inflammatory in nature include asthma, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis, bursitis, laryngitis, gingivitis, gastritis, otitis, coeliac disease, diverticulitis and inflammatory bowel disease,” says Dr Carolyn Dean.
Also linked with chronic inflammation are heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis and depression. So is premature ageing and some of the visible signs of getting older, including not-so-youthful skin."
"According to dietitian Desiree Nielson, tackling chronic inflammation in your 50s is not a moment too soon. “If your lifestyle has included a poor diet, being overweight, inactivity and stress, it may well have been contributing to chronic inflammation for the past three decades. Now the effects of that may be becoming evident,” she says.
Besides diet, weight, lack of exercise and stress, other lifestyle factors thought to contribute to chronic inflammation include poor sleep, smoking, drinking too much alcohol, nutritional deficiencies and an imbalance of digestive bacteria, says Dr Roked."
"Dr Nathan Wei, a rheumatologist at the Arthritis Treatment Centre in Maryland, US, says there’s a compelling reason to use diet rather than drugs. “While inflammation can be reduced with medication, these drugs may have significant side effects,” he says.
“For example, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug group increases the incidence of gastric or peptic ulcers as well as cardiovascular events. As a result, there has been a burgeoning interest in the use of foods that help reduce inflammation.”"
"Many nutrition experts agree that where inflammation is concerned, the number one food enemy is sugar.
“Processed sugar is a major source of inflammation in the diet, and it is wreaking havoc,” says Renae Norton, a specialist in the treatment of eating disorders and obesity. “When you eat sugar, you deplete the enzymes that help you to digest protein. So the protein gets into the bloodstream as a partially digested protein, and is attacked by the immune system.”
Similarly, Nielson suggests the first thing you should do when tackling inflammation is to avoid ‘white’ foods (foods with white flour and added sugars). “These foods send your blood sugar off kilter, and frequent spikes of blood sugar promote inflammatory damage,” she explains.
“In addition, you should avoid too many animal fats; omega 6 fatty acids from soya bean, sunflower and corn oil; and trans fats (hydrogenated fats) from fast food and packaged goods. These fats drive inflammatory pathways.”"
"To reduce inflammation, eat a diet rich in natural, fresh and unprocessed foods, says Pearson. Eat fresh vegetables, low-sugar fruits, nuts, seeds and oily fish."
"Turmeric, magnesium, vitamin D3 and other remedies for inflammation
Some herbs and spices can have a strong anti-inflammatory effect. The one that is most well-known is turmeric, and there has been much research into turmeric’s effects, identifying curcumin as the anti-inflammatory ingredient in it. Buy it in capsules to take at a medicinal dose, rather than simply adding it to food."
"Dr Dean recommends magnesium, the body’s natural anti-inflammatory, as a nutritional supplement and an effective treatment for inflammation. She believes a low level of magnesium, which is common as we get older, can increase your risk of developing inflammation-related diseases. Take it in magnesium citrate powder form mixed in water and sip it throughout the day.
Other nutritional supplements include high-strength omega-3 fatty acids, high-strength probiotics, rosehip extract, boswellia, bromelian and quercetin.
“You could take a vitamin D3 supplement (of at least 2000IU),” says Nielsen. “Vitamin D supports immune function and influences inflammatory pathways in the body.
“But remember, your body is a connected system that works best when everything is optimised. You have to move your body daily to optimise metabolism and reduce inflammatory pressure.
“And if you aren’t sleeping properly, your body will break down on you, it’s as simple as that. You also have to manage stress, which itself can be a strong promoter of inflammation.”
A test that measures your blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) may help to measure levels of inflammation in your body (but not where it is or what’s causing it). Ask your GP for details. "
Article at:
http://www.high50.com/health/the-inflammation-epidemic-your-number-one-health-concern-2015
Scientists find new link between diabetes and Alzheimer's in World Pharma News, 05 MAY 2015
Excerpts:
"Researchers have uncovered a unique connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, providing further evidence that a disease that robs people of their memories may be affected by elevated blood sugar, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
While many earlier studies have pointed to diabetes as a possible contributor to Alzheimer's, the new study - in mice - shows that elevated glucose in the blood can rapidly increase levels of amyloid beta, a key component of brain plaques in Alzheimer's patients. The buildup of plaques is thought to be an early driver of the complex set of changes that Alzheimer's causes in the brain."
"Given that KATP channels are the way by which the pancreas secretes insulin in response to high blood sugar levels, it is interesting that we see a link between the activity of these channels in the brain and amyloid beta production," Macauley said. "This observation opens up a new avenue of exploration for how Alzheimer's disease develops in the brain as well as offers a new therapeutic target for the treatment of this devastating neurologic disorder.""
Article at:
http://www.worldpharmanews.com/research/3080-scientists-find-new-link-between-diabetes-and-alzheimers
Tiny cellular bubbles enable delivery of Parkinson's drugs straight to the brain in Gizmag, Nick Lavars, May 5, 2015
Excerpts:
"A natural enzyme called catalase may prove hugely significant in treating neurological disorders such as Parkinson's. These extremely potent antioxidants can tackle neuron-killing inflammation with an effectiveness unparalleled by small molecule drugs. But there's a problem, they are big. So big that getting them through the blood-brain barrier for delivery straight to the brain is nearly impossible. But researchers have now discovered that loading them into tiny, naturally occurring bubbles allows them to sneak past the brain's defenses, pointing to the possibility of improved treatments for such conditions.
Led by Dr Elena Batrakova at the University of North Carolina, scientists extracted what are called exosomes from human immune cells. These microscopic bubbles have a role to play in conditions like AIDS and cancer, as they are hijacked to facilitate the spread of diseases around the body. In this case, the researchers were able to load them with catalase with the intent of sneaking the protein into the brain to battle the destructive molecules that cause inflammation.
"Exosomes are engineered by nature to be the perfect delivery vehicles for proteins and genetic material," says Batrakova. "Catalase is a huge protein, and it is almost impossible to deliver across the blood-brain barrier alone. We use exosomes from white blood cells, which are invisible to the immune system and easily interact and fuse with the blood-brain barrier to deliver their cargo across it."
The researchers say that a single molecule of catalase can neutralize around one million destructive molecules every second. Furthermore, the effect is ongoing because the catalase doesn't disappear as a result of the reaction.
Batrakova and her team are hoping to eventually develop personalized treatments that load a patient's own exosomes with catalase to allow entry to the brain. Ultimately, she says a nasal spray is the most likely delivery mechanism."
Article at:
http://www.gizmag.com/cellular-bubbles-parkinsons-treatment-north-carolina/37317/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=48cbe249c6-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-48cbe249c6-76708937
Want A Healthy Brain? Better Avoid These 7 Habits in The Huffington Post, Carolyn Gregoire, 05/03/2015
Excerpts:
"Why are some people sharp as a tack at 95 years old, while others begin struggling with mental clarity in their 50s?
A lot of it has to do with genetics, but certain lifestyle factors also play an important role in how our brain ages. So while you can't control your genes, you can take advantage of the latest science and avoid these seven big brain mistakes:
Mistake No. 1: Eating a standard American diet
Foods high in sugar, unhealthy fats and processed foods -- i.e., the typical American diet -- can wreak havoc on your brain over time. Studies have shown that excess sugar consumption can impair learning and memory, and increase your vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. Some scientists have even referred to Alzheimer's as "Type 3 Diabetes," suggesting that diet may have some role in an individual's risk for developing the disease."
"Mistake No. 2: Living next to a highway
Living in a smoggy city might be bad news for your brain. According to research published this month in the journal Stroke, exposure to air pollution is linked with premature aging of the brain.
The researchers found that people who lived closer to a major highway had greater markers of pollution in their lungs and blood, which increased their risk for a form of brain damage known as "silent strokes," or symptomless strokes. Increased pollution volume was also linked to decreased brain volume -- a major sign of aging."
"Mistake No. 3: Drinking a few evening cocktails
Don Draper's daily cigarettes and two-martini lunches might seem glamorous on "Mad Men," but research suggests that they're a fast track to neurodegeneration.
It should come as no surprise that excessive drinking and cigarette smoking at any stage of life can have a negative effect on the brain, damaging brain tissue and leading to cognitive impairment. Alcoholism can cause or accelerate aging of the brain."
"Mistake No. 4: Giving in to stress
Living a stressful lifestyle may be the worst thing you can do for your health as you age. Chronic stress is known to shorten the length of telomeres, the sequences at the end of DNA strands that help determine how fast (or slow) the cells in our body age. By shortening telomeres, stress can accelerate the onset of age-related health problems.
What about the brain? Well, some research has suggested that high levels of stress hormones can increase an individual's risk for age-related brain damage.
"Over the course of a lifetime, the effects of chronic stress can accumulate and become a risk factor for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease," Howard Fillit, a clinical professor of geriatric medicine at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, wrote in Psychology Today. "Several studies have shown that stress, and particularly one's individual way of reacting to stress (the propensity to become 'dis-stressed' often found in neurotic people for example), increases the risk for Alzheimer's disease.""
"Mistake No. 5: Getting by on less sleep than you need
There are a number of scary health effects associated with sleep deprivation, from a higher risk of stroke and diabetes to impaired cognitive functioning. Over the years, losing shut-eye can also accelerate brain aging. In a study conducted last year, researchers from Singapore found that the less that older adults slept, the faster their brains aged."
"Mistake No. 6: Sitting all day
It's a well-established fact that sitting for long periods is terrible for your health. A growing body of research has linked a sedentary lifestyle with health risks including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and early death, even among people who get the recommended daily amount of exercise.
And it turns out that sitting is also pretty bad for your brain. Research has linked physical inactivity with cognitive decline. Moreover, weight gain in older adults -- which may result from too much sitting -- has been linked with shrinkage in brain areas associated with memory."
"Mistake No. 7: Zoning out
Use it or lose it! If you want to keep your brain sharp, keep it engaged. It doesn't have to be a challenging intellectual task or a brain-training game, either -- simply engaging in everyday activities like reading, cooking or having a conversation (as opposed to vegging out in front of the TV or computer) can make a difference.
But mental exercises like crossword puzzles and sudoku can help, too. A 2013 study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that brain exercises are more effective than drugs in preventing cognitive decline."
Article at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/brain-aging-risk-factors_n_7169912.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
Myelin Repair Foundation and NIH begin clinical studies of guanabenz to treat multiple sclerosis in PBR Drug Research, 04 May 2015
Excerpts:
"The Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF), in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today that patients are now being enrolled in a clinical trial conducted to study guanabenz, an FDA-approved drug to treat high blood pressure that was identified by MRF-funded researchers as a potential therapeutic to reduce loss of myelin, in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.
If successful, guanabenz (formerly called MRF-008) could be the first MS treatment to focus on protecting myelin from damage, which is the hallmark of MS, rather than on suppressing the immune system - as all currently available MS treatments do."
"Because loss of myelin correlates with neurodegeneration, new therapies that are designed to protect myelin or promote remyelination would be categorized as neuroprotective. MS is a chronic neurodegenerative disease, the most common disabling neurological disease of young adults, affecting 2.3 million people worldwide. The cause of MS is unknown"
"When this protective response is disrupted or overloaded - by the chronic inflammation seen in MS, for example - oligodendrocyte cell death and demyelination are significantly enhanced. Treatment with guanabenz strengthens this stress-response mechanism and helps protect oligodendrocytes from cell death. These findings point to promising avenues for the development of new therapeutics against MS."
Article at:
http://drugdiscovery.pharmaceutical-business-review.com/news/myelin-repair-foundation-and-nih-begin-clinical-studies-of-guanabenz-to-treat-multiple-sclerosis-040515-4568338
Drug intervention for brain injury, dementia link may be effective in The Columbia Chronicle, Max Green, May 4, 2015
Article:
"it is, the term “chronic traumatic encephalopathy”—a progressive degenerative brain disease associated with concussions—has become a significant talking point in the sports world in recent years. An increaseing amount of research is being published that solidifies a link between brain injury and the development of dementia-related disease.
In an April 22 paper published in The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers documented the effects of drug intervention on mice a week after they sustained traumatic brain injuries (TBI). After a three-week regimen, the experimental group no longer showed signs of mental decline, as opposed to the control group, whose memory and cognition continued to deteriorate.
The study aimed to explore the series of events that occur in the brain after an injury through the use of the drug, according to Linda Van Eldik, co-author of the study and director of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the University of Kentucky.
“It’s been known for a long time that a prior head injury can increase the risk of other kinds of neurologic conditions, including dementia, neuropsychology problems, epilepsy and cognitive impairments,” Van Eldik said. “So there’s been a great interest in trying to understand why that is.”
Van Eldik said when someone sustains a head injury, cells called glial cells, as well as other non-nerve cells such as astrocytes and microglia, are stimulated. This recruitment of cells causes inflammation in the brain, which has been shown to be an important mechanism in TBI and Alzheimer’s. Once activated, the glial cells function similarly to immune cells in that they flock to the site of the injury to begin producing molecules that, ideally, should take care of the problem and repair the damage before leaving well enough alone. However, if an injury is too damaging, sustained too many times or for too long, the balance of that inflammation can tip over and become harmful.
“If it’s not kept in check, then you have sort of runaway inflammation,” Van Eldik said. “That seems to be what’s happening in chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s where you keep having those inflammatory stimuli around as the pathology in the brain develops. In cases of TBI you have an immediate insult that causes a surge of these pro-inflammatory molecules which, if they’re not kept in check, can lead to damaging responses.”
Why this inflammation persists—overstaying its welcome to the point that it causes cognitive damage in the brain—is still unknown to researchers and is an exciting question, according to Adam Bachstetter, co-author of the paper and a scientist at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.
“One idea is that it’s because you’re recruiting cells that aren’t normally found in the brain,” Bachstetter said. “So immune cells that are in our blood, and after the injury these cells are being drawn into the brain and since they’re not normally there, they’re [contributing] to processes that are detrimental.”
Bachstetter said that MW151, the drug treatment used in the mice, was designed to suppress the overactivation of cytokines, the small proteins that signal between immune cells and are believed to promote inflammation. What sets MW151 apart is it is counted among the 2 percent of drugs that are able to cross the blood-brain barrier, enabling it to temper the overzealous cytokines but not interfere with them at their basal levels.
“When we gave the drug in a certain time window, this suppressed the inflammatory response,” Bachstetter said. “[The mice] didn’t develop the injury-induced deficits in learning and memory.”
Van Eldik said when combating chronic disease, determining when to intervene is difficult.
“When is the inflammation good and when is it bad?” she said. “You don’t want to just intervene with a strategy that dampens down all of the glial [cell activity]. You only want to be able to target the inflammation that’s driving the pathology, not that’s trying to repair things.”
Bachstetter said the team still wants to know how long the drug effect actually lasts and whether or not stopping treatment would mean the mice abandon the cognitive function that was rescued. A compound similar to MW151 has been used in a small human study and was well-tolerated, according to Van Eldik.
“We’re actually trying to move these discoveries forward,” Van Eldik said. “Not just define what’s going on, but to take that knowledge of a potential mechanism and see if we can develop a therapeutic in the future.”
Although research conducted using animal models is a far cry from being applicable to people, some of the principles at work may be promising for future treatments, according to Kristen Dams-O’Connor, an associate professor of rehabilitation medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
“[This paper] seems to suggest yet another explanation for this common finding that TBI in older adults, particularly those who already have a neurodegenerative process at play, is going to have poor outcomes,” Dams-O’Connor said in emailed statement. “What is exciting is that this paper begins to provide very preliminary evidence that at least some of these effects may be modified by anti-inflammatory medications.”
Article at:
http://www.columbiachronicle.com/health_and_tech/article_1f0d4234-f06d-11e4-b5f4-6f1cdb9897c8.html
Wasn't this the clinical trial when they were doing all kinds of testing a couple of years back? The skin cream, this Alzheimer's trial, etc. They put this on hold when they were having the FDA problems. The 'First Received' date of this trial to CT.gov was August 17, 2012. Now with their IND with the FDA in limbo, looks like they decided to stop. They may decide to start again anew with info they get from their European trials and if they get FDA approval of their IND application. (my guess)
Reducing NF-?B Activation Improves Aging in Patrick Cox's Tech Digest, March 6, 2015
Excerpt:
“It seems that with almost anything that activates NF-?B, if you reduce it, it improves aging,” says Paul Robbins of the Scripps Research Institute in this feature article “How We Age.” I’m personally glad to see this new area of research hitting a more mainstream audience, because I’ve been alone reporting these developments for too long. There have been lots of journal articles supporting this view that NF-?B accelerates aging, but for some reason, nothing in the journals seems to penetrate the public consciousness. The article in The Scientist, by the way, cites this great journal piece.
The reality is that NF-?B over-activation, which is autoimmune syndrome, is a major accelerator of the aging processes. Essentially, the body recognizes normal aging as signs of injury and invasion, prompting an emergency innate immune response. A cytokine storm ensues and aging accelerates.
One alkaloid, which I’ve talked about incessantly here, has been shown in animal as well as human studies to moderate NF-?B and the associated accelerated aging. It’s not on the market at present, but I’m confident that others will be soon simply because the gene target is now known.
My confidence is based on the increased pace of discovery resulting from Moore’s Law and its impact on biological tools. It is orders of magnitude easier today to screen potential molecules for therapeutic activities. If I were a young, smart molecular biologist, like my son, I’d be looking for molecules in nature that mimic the alkaloid known to moderate NF-?B. Another likely target for researchers, which may actually work via a similar mechanism of action, is a widely prescribed drug used to prevent transplant rejection: rapamycin. It also, however, has significant anti-aging impacts.
Pharmaceutical giant Novartis is studying rapamycin at its enormous cutting-edge Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research with an eye to applying for the first anti-aging drug. This would be historic if the company does, in fact, seek approval of rapamycin or a similar molecule for anti-aging, as opposed to a disease-specific therapy.
The rapamycin molecule, by the way, is naturally occurring in the soil of Easter Island. The name of the drug, in fact, comes from the Polynesian name of the island, Rapa Nui. I find it unlikely that other compounds similar to rapamycin, an antifungal produced by bacteria, won’t be discovered.
It’s possible, however, that rapamycin may work as a true immune suppressant, which could suppress immune reactions even when they’re needed. That’s not optimal, and it means that a compound that prevents over activation of NF-?B, preventing autoimmune inflammation but allowing proper immune responses, would actually be more effective as an anti-aging therapy. We’ll see, and probably pretty soon now that so many people are studying these molecules."
Article at:
https://www.mauldineconomics.com/tech/tech-digest/breakthroughs-in-anti-aging-science-appear-in-the-scientist
Blockbuster potential for AZ's Alzheimer's drug in Delaware Online, Jeff Mordock, May 2, 2015
Excerpts:
"AstraZeneca is currently testing a potential Alzheimer's disease treatment the company estimates could generate peak sales of $5 billion, if approved.
The demand for Alzheimer's treatments creates blockbuster potential for the drug, but AstraZeneca has conceded the medicine has just a 9 percent chance of regulatory approval in the uncertain drug development arena. A 2014 Cleveland Clinic study found that 99.6 percent of possible Alzheimer's treatments failed to reach the market between 2002 and 2012."
"AstraZeneca, a British company with its U.S. headquarters in Fairfax, is attempting to meet that demand with AZD3293. The drug is viewed as unique because it may treat the underlying cause of the disease by preventing the build up of plaque that forms in the brain creating Alzheimer's disease.
Current medicines work to lessen the disease's symptoms by boosting patients' levels of acetylcholine, a chemical messenger needed for alertness, memory and thought.
"Our approach is to change the trajectory of Alzheimer's disease by targeting the underlying illness," said Robert Alexander, vice president of Neuroscience iMed AstraZeneca. "If you block the production of the plaque to the right degree and at the right time of the illness, you can change the progression of the illness.""
Article at:
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/money/business/2015/05/02/blockbuster-potential-azs-alzheimers-drug/26729877/
Re WSJ Article published April 16, 2015 by Ed Silverman, here are the comments to his article as of today. The link to the article is at: http://blogs.wsj.com/pharmalot/2015/04/16/once-known-as-star-scientific-rock-creek-labors-to-develop-a-drug/
COMMENTS:
"4:17 pm April 16, 2015
knuts4oe wrote:
Interesting to note that no one in the national media or medical industry has ever looked into or offered an opinion on the substantial intellectual property available on Rock Creek Pharmaceutial's ( nee Star Scientific's) anatabine citrate.
For example: http://omicsgroup.org/journals/anatabine-attenuates-tau-phosphorylation-and-oligomerization-in-ps-tau-transgenic-mice-2168-975X.1000126.php?aid=26406
6:04 pm April 16, 2015
Slacker wrote:
It is odd that the naturally occurring powerful anti-inflammatory substance discovered by this company is not heralded for the medical breakthrough it represents. The oddity is increased by its side effect free history. Considering the impact inflammation has on autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular disease and even cancer, one would think that the medical and pharmaceutical worlds would champion such a beneficial development, given that the drugs currently marketed to reduce inflammation have lengthy lists of side effects.
6:08 pm April 16, 2015
Franco Garabaldi wrote:
Who paid you to write this schlock of an article? Your facts are fictitious as your knowledge of the company. Your friends are in deep trouble
7:06 pm April 16, 2015
Supporter of Anatabloc wrote:
656 supporters of Anatabloc have signed an online petition. See what they think about the product.
https://www.change.org/p/us-food-and-drug-administration-fda-reverse-course-declare-anatabloc-is-not-a-new-drug-and-allow-its-sale-and-or-fast-track-its-investigation-and-trials-to-get-it-into-the-public-marketplace-asap#
2:49 pm April 17, 2015
Not pharmalot wrote:
I've recently run out of my supply of Anatabloc and tripped on this article while search for more. Anatabloc with anatabine citrate is the only substance that has made a material difference in my arthritis and sinusitis. It's a crying shame this company was forced by the fda to remove it from GNC. It sure smells conspiratorial when every article about Rock Creek never attempts to investigate their once nutraceutical - now drug candidate. Wouldn't surprise if BIG PHARMA is behind the fda actions and this author's blog
6:43 am April 18, 2015
hmmmmmm wrote:
This actually has the flavor of a spat between McDOnnell and RCPI president and board member Chapman, both of whom were higher-up in Quintiles in the mid 1990s. McDonnell has been involved in the company for less than a year, while Chapman has been there, first as a board member, for years, starting about the time the company began developing the anatabine citrate (AC) based products.
Chapman is familiar with the thousands of us who have taken AC as a supplement for four years now, and is almost certainly one among us.
To all of those/us, the "safety concerns" raised by the FDA are a joke beyond humor. The FDA IS FULLY AWARE of the experience of those thousands of AC takers, and in fact their own database indicates the remarkable record of safety our experience indicates (as does the lack of reports to the contrary their OWN database).
As others stated, FDA's stance on this is highly suspicious.
That is true even more so in light of other, past dealings that Star Scientific had with FDA, such as the move FDA had to make to deny what was otherwise a certainty they would have been compelled to award the company (when it was Star Scientific).
As Star Scientific, the company also produced the world's safest (oral, smokeless) tobacco products, containing virtually none of the cancer-causers in such tobacco, called "TSNAs". The company applied for, and should have won, FDA's approval for those products (Ariva and Stonewall BDL) to be the world's first agency-designated "modified risk" tobacco products. Star's process made these demonstrably truly safe to use in any practical sense (aside from any effects nicotine may have).
A decade earlier, FDA (lobbied by outsiders) had fought hard to get the power to keep virtually identical products of the same names (without the "BDL" label, which means [TSNAs] "below detectable levels") off the market. At THAT time, FDA ITSELF called and labeled those products to be "smokeless tobacco products".
Yet in order to deny Star Scientific the positive publicity it would have gained as the world's first maker of an agency-described "safer tobacco product", after delaying Star's application endlessly, in their "decision" on the matter FDA came out with a pronouncement that was both unbelievable in terms of its stance in the light of all facts, but also in terms of its affront to common sense, as well as its previous labeling for these products: FDA declared that Star's smokeless tobacco products (as designated by FDA previously) were NOT smokeless tobacco products. That even though even by FDA's own definition they could be classified as nothing else.
The takeaway for me on this is that (1) McDonnell was new and not familiar with the facts of the history of AC use; (2) and/or he and Chapman had a spat perhaps due to bad feelings from the Quintile days; (3) FDA is ONE HELL OF A sore loser, re Congress' denial in 2003 to give them authority to regulate Star's (and other) tobacco products, and re other dealings Star had with FDA.
I would add (4) FDA unfortunately is and has long been highly influenced by the big players in the fields in which it plays (pharma and tobacco) and is supposed to "referee"; and (5) "FDA" stands for "Foot Dragging Administration".
7:03 am April 18, 2015
hmmmmmm wrote:
BY the way, I didn't find anything wrong with the article, other than that it is written from the stance of almost no knowledge about this "long-historied" and extremely complex saga, which, unfortunately is true of ALL of them that are anything but blatant attacks on the company or its products.
How is it that anyone, by the way, finds anything of significance in the connection of Star's products' names with the dumbfoundingly stupid move by the governor of VA, its former attorney general, in not reporting gifts to him that were clearly required to be reported by VA law. Had the ____ governor simply reported the gifts as required by law, nothing ever would have come of the matter (because clearly, as all the investigation proved,neither Star nor its former CEO got anything in return out of the deal).
The answer to that question is that it only took carefully orchestrated attacks on the company by "short interest press", based on what were demonstrated to be entirely false "accusations", to turn the trick. The rest of journalism followed dutifully, as did those other famous lemmings.
11:57 am April 18, 2015
Crohn's disease Patient wrote:
Anatabloc helps with my Crohn's disease (inflammatory bowel disease). I have three more bottles left. I hope FDA allows selling Anatabloc again before I run out. I have experienced no side effects. The symptoms go away when using it. All other currently approved drugs by FDA have long term side effects. Anatabloc does not. It seems to protect big Pharma business interests are more important than people affected by certain diseases. Otherwise FDA would allow Anatabloc to be sold.
12:54 pm April 19, 2015
UPTICK77777 wrote:
Ed Silverman, your article is very shallow on the negative side of the RCPI knowledge base.
First let me state that I agree in total with each of the comments above re: Anatabine Citrate contained in Anatabloc @ 1mg per tablet. I've taken Anatabloc for ~4years and can't imagine having to live without it. I've got a NO SIDE EFFECTS list of benefits exceeding 12 distinct items that I am aware of. I'm highly confident that at the cellular level there are many other benefits that scientists will prove/confirm in due time.
I invite you to do a restart on your research knowledge base re: RCPI and Anatabine Citrate and discovery the many, many benefits that Anatabine Citrate can provide to humans and K-9s for which there may be no other side effect free medications. Chronic inflammation is a precursor to many serious diseases and Anatabine Citrate, without side effects, reduces, or eliminates, chronic inflammation in the human body in many many instances. I am living proof of that statement.
So I invite you again to take a positive approach toward your understanding of Anatabine Citrate and write about the positives. Then question why big pharma isn't on Anatabine Citrate like a duck on a June bug or why isn't the FDA "fast tracking" clinical trials, research grants, govt. support, govt. focus, etc., etc. There in lies your significant scoop for a dramatic story. Just imagine if you will, should Anatabine Citrate do what many of us have proven that it in fact does, how many billions of dollars could be taken out of Medicare and Medicaid by patients using Anatabine Citrate rather than the exorbitantly high priced "Big Pharma" drugs many of which have black label side effects that can kill the patient.
Thanks for listening and good luck.
6:20 pm April 19, 2015
Leif Smith wrote:
Anatabine citrate works. It's use has alleviated and ended suffering. Now the FDA's ban has brought that suffering back. Why? This is the real story. Is there a journalist out there with the intelligence and courage to find out? You uncover a significant story, and there's a good chance you would be responsible for lengthening and saving lives.
1:22 pm April 20, 2015
Jos Horecny wrote:
The politics and the action of FDA continues to be a travesty. Bottom line, Anatabloc more than works with no side effects what so ever. I took it for two years for back pain and general muscle soreness, and it was
like a miracle. Since it was pulled from the market, it has been back to suffering, and having to take harmful
OTC's like Advil, Advil, and Advil......with no where near the same results. Why someone cannot take a positive spin on all this negative press and really evaluate the reality experienced by past users of the product is beyond me. This product was probably one of the most valuable and beneficial things on the
face of the earth. Another reason to pity our government and despise stock manipulators, and get only the
usual crap from the press.
8:49 am April 21, 2015
Jean Larousse wrote:
AC works that's a fact! Let's just wait from UK clinical trials.... A supporter from Europe (we are quite a few...)
8:10 pm April 21, 2015
greg booth wrote:
I feel like this story featured the juicy scandal about the company at the expense of a compound that has shown quite a bit of evidence that it is a true breakthrough in anti-inflammatory medicine. And, while anatabine IS found in tobacco and other plants, tobacco is not used to make it. My doctor has recommended the product to about 5 patients and over a dozen friends for various conditions with very positive results; and while more research is needed, a mice study partially funded by the DOD suggests than anatabine shows some possibility that it can ameliorate traumatic injury. Please look at all the studies rather than insinuating that RCPI does not have a possible viable "drug" that has been shown to be safe for years now.
8:12 pm April 21, 2015
greg booth wrote:
sorry that should have been "traumatic brain injury" in the last post. No way to edit and thought it was important enough to correct.
1:19 pm April 26, 2015
CHRIS PIERCE wrote:
I HAVE MACULAR DEGENERATION. EYE DOCTOR FOUND I HAD INFLAMATION OF MY RETINAS. I TOOK ANATABLOC--SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION OF INFLAMATION. I SAW MUCH BETTER. ALSO I JUST FELT BETTER OVERALL. NOW I FIND I CAN'T BUY MORE. HOW AWFUL, BECAUSE ANATABLOC REALLY WORKS."
Researchers Find Link Between Alzheimer’s and Heart Disease in The Guardian, APRIL 29, 2015 BY BRUCE B.Y. LEE
Excerpts:
"Researchers at UCSD School of Medicine and an international team of scientists discovered genetic overlap between Alzheimer’s disease and two high-risk factors of cardiovascular disease. The study was published on April 10, 2015, via the scientific journal, Circulation.
The two risk factors are C-reactive protein and plasma lipids. CRP is a type of substance that increases with inflammatory reaction in a body, and plasma lipids are types of fat, mostly composed of fatty acids and cholesterol."
"“This finding suggests that here you have two risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which are more controllable; you can lower cholesterol, you can lower blood lipids and inflammatory protein,” LaFee said. “And that may have an impact on prospects of people getting Alzheimer’s disease.”"
Article at:
http://ucsdguardian.org/2015/04/29/researchers-find-link-between-alzheimers-and-heart-disease/
New and Natural Anti Inflammatory Supplement Inflasil is Now Available on Amazon.com in Pharmaweb.com, 29 Apr 15, PR Newswire
MY COMMENTS: RCPI can't say 'anti-inflammatory' in it's nutraceutical form but others can?
Excerpts:
" Inflasil a new and natural anti inflammatory supplement that may help reduce internal inflammation is now available on Amazon.com. For people who are dealing with chronic pain a weakened immune system and painful arthritis natural anti inflammatories like Inflasil may provide them with the relief they are desperately looking for."
"nflasil is the number one rated natural anti-inflammatory supplement. People who are looking for a natural and effective way to deal with and reduce inflammation may visit the Inflasil Amazon page for more information at http://www.amazon.com/Rated-Inflasil-Inflammatory-Inflammation-Supplement/dp/B00UX6YXN6"
Article at:
http://www.pharmiweb.com/pressreleases/pressrel.asp?ROW_ID=113902#.VUFYSNJVhHw
High-Fructose Heart Risks in The New York Times, NICHOLAS BAKALAR APRIL 27, 2015
Excerpts;
"Only two weeks of modest consumption of high-fructose corn syrup causes cholesterol and triglycerides levels to rise, and the more consumed, the greater the increases."
"It was a surprise that adding as little as the equivalent of a half-can of soda at breakfast, lunch and dinner was enough to produce significant increases in risk for cardiovascular disease,” said the lead author, Kimber L. Stanhope, a research scientist at the University of California, Davis. “Our bodies respond to a relatively small increase in sugar, and that’s important information.”"
Article at:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/high-fructose-heart-risks/?ref=health
Air Pollution Tied to Brain Aging in The New York Times, NICHOLAS BAKALAR APRIL 28, 2015
Excerpts:
"Air pollution is known to increase the risk for stroke and other cerebrovascular disorders. But now researchers have found it is also linked to premature aging of the brain."
"After controlling for health, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors, they found that compared with people exposed to the lowest levels of PM 2.5, those with the highest exposure had a 46 percent increased risk for covert brain infarcts, the brain damage commonly called “silent strokes.”
They also found that each additional two micrograms per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 was linked to a decrease in cerebral brain volume equivalent to about one year of natural aging."
Article at:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/air-pollution-tied-to-brain-aging/?ref=health&_r=0
Qu Biologics Opens Clinical Trial Sites in Edmonton and Toronto for Crohn's Disease Clinical Trial in Market Wired, April 24, 2015
Press Release:
"Qu Biologics Inc., a biotechnology company developing Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSIs) that aim to restore the body's normal immune function in the targeted diseased organ, announced today it has opened two new clinical trial sites in Edmonton, Alberta and Toronto, Ontario to enroll participants in its Crohn's disease clinical trial.
Qu Biologics' Crohn's disease clinical trial is a randomized, placebo-controlled research trial enrolling participants living with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease. The trial involves the use of Qu Biologics' QBECO SSI, a novel immunotherapy treatment derived from components of inactivated E. coli bacteria, designed to stimulate an innate immune response in the gastrointestinal tract to reverse the underlying chronic inflammation related to Crohn's disease. The clinical trial takes place in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto.
Qu Biologics' CEO Dr. Hal Gunn commented, "Opening trial sites in Edmonton and Toronto allow participants from other provinces to access our clinical trial closer to home." He added, "These two new clinical trial sites will also help us accelerate our goal of completing trial enrollment by Q3 2015 and obtaining primary results by the end of the year."
Press release at:
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/qu-biologics-opens-clinical-trial-sites-edmonton-toronto-crohns-disease-clinical-trial-2013286.htm
Prices of MS Drugs Soaring, Study Finds in Drugs.com, April 24, 2015
Excerpts:
"The prices of multiple sclerosis drugs have skyrocketed in the past two decades, in some cases rising more than 700 percent, a new study shows.
The huge price increases have occurred even though newer drugs have been introduced, something that normally stabilizes or lowers the cost of older drugs, Oregon State University researchers noted."
"Currently, there are no MS drugs in the United States with a list price below $50,000 a year, which is two to three times higher than in Australia, Canada or the United Kingdom, the researchers added.
The cost of MS drugs in the United States is rising five to seven times faster than the normal rate of drug inflation, according to the study published April 24 in the journal Neurology.
MS is a disabling disease in which the immune system destroys the protective covering of nerve"
Article at:
http://www.drugs.com/news/prices-ms-soaring-study-finds-56550.html?utm_source=ddc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Today%27s+news+summary+-+April+24%2C+2015&utm_content=Prices+of+MS+Drugs+Soaring%2C+Study+Finds
Link between proteins points to possibilities for future Alzheimer’s treatments in University of Cambridge Research, April 23, 2015
Excerpts:
"Researchers have found that the proteins that control the progression of Alzheimer’s are linked in a pathway, and that drugs targeting this pathway may be a way of treating the disease, which affects 40 million people worldwide. The findings are published today (23 April) in the journal Cell Reports."
"Earlier research looking into the link between amyloid-beta and tau had found that once the APP gets broken down, a chunk of amyloid-beta gets outside the cell, which triggers increased production of tau. “What we’re seeing is that there’s a second pathway, and that the amyloid-beta doesn’t have to be outside the cell to change levels of tau – in essence, the cell does it to itself,” said Dr Rick Livesey of the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, who led the research.
While the researchers identified this pathway in neurons with the far rarer familial form of Alzheimer’s, they found that the same pathway exists in healthy neurons as well, pointing to the possibility that targeting the same pathway in late-onset Alzheimer’s may be a way of treating the disease."
Article at:
http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/link-between-proteins-points-to-possibilities-for-future-alzheimers-treatments
Exclusive: Dr. Oz Says ‘We’re Not Going Anywhere’ in Time.com, Dr. Mehmet Oz, 23 April, 2015
More corporate greed? Read and decide for yourself.
http://time.com/3831926/dr-oz-criticism-answers/?xid=newsletter-brief
$1bn payout plan for concussed NFL players in BBC, 22 April 2015
Article:
"A judge has approved a plan worth $1bn (£665m) to compensate former American football players with head injuries.
Multiple lawsuits filed against the National Football League (NFL) allege that it hid knowledge of concussion risks.
The average individual payout would be $190,000, with younger men receiving awards between $1m and $5m.
Players' lawyers say the money will be used to compensate families and for medical testing.
The NFL expects 6,000 of its approximately 20,000 retired players to develop Alzheimer's disease or dementia in their lives.
The deal could cost the league more than $1bn over 65 years."
Article at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32420600
10 diseases where medical marijuana could have impact in CNN, Jen Christensen, April 16, 2015
Excerpts:
"(CNN)Dr. Sue Sisley noticed an unexpected trend among her patients. The psychiatrist works with veterans who struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD. Many don't like how they feel on all the meds they take to manage their anxiety, sleeplessness, depression and the flashback"
"Some of these patients though were starting to feel better. They also seemed much more present. She wanted to know what was making a difference. They told her they found an alternative to all those medicines.
They were self-medicating with marijuana.
"I was really stunned and more and more patients were coming out of the shadows and disclosing to me that they were having some useful experiences with the marijuana plant," Sisley said."
"A bipartisan bill -- from Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York -- called the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Act of 2015 was introduced in the Senate in March that would ease some of those restrictions and make it easier to study the drug. But the legislation is in committee at the moment. If it does ever pass, and scientists can begin studying the drug in earnest, there are several areas they may target in addition to PTSD.
Here are 10 of them, based on the ailments people commonly use medical marijuana to treat. Again, because there is such limited research on this topic, these areas are based on results that CNN would typically not report on because the work is in a far too early stage to see if it really works. But that is the point some doctors and medical researchers are making.
AIDS/HIV
In a human study of 10 HIV-positive marijuana smokers, scientists found people who smoked marijuana ate better, slept better and experienced a better mood. Another small study of 50 people found patients that smoked cannabis saw less neuropathic pain.
Alzheimer's
Medical marijuana and some of the plant's chemicals have been used to help Alzheimer's patients gain weight, and research found that it lessens some of the agitated behavior that patients can exhibit. In one cell study, researchers found it slowed the progress of protein deposits in the brain. Scientists think these proteins may be part of what causes Alzheimer's, although no one knows what causes the disease.
Arthritis
A study of 58 patients using the derivatives of marijuana found they had less arthritis pain and slept better. Another review of studies concluded marijuana may help fight pain-causing inflammation.
Asthma
Studies are contradictory, but some early work suggests it reduced exercise-induced asthma. Other cell studies showed smoking marijuana could dilate human airways, but some patients experienced a tight feeling in their chests and throats. A study in mice found similar results.
Cancer
Animal studies have shown some marijuana extracts may kill certain cancer cells. Other cell studies show it may stop cancer growth, and with mice, THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, improved the impact of radiation on cancer cells. Marijuana can also prevent the nausea that often accompanies chemotherapy treatment used to treat cancer.
Chronic pain
Some animal and small human studies show that cannabinoids can have a "substantial analgesic effect." People widely used them for pain relief in the 1800s. Some medicines based on cannabis such as Sativex are being tested on multiple sclerosis patients and used to treat cancer pain. The drug has been approved in Canada and in some European countries. In another trial involving 56 human patients, scientists saw a 30% reduction in pain in those who smoked marijuana.
Crohn's disease
In a small pilot study of 13 patients watched over three months, researchers found inhaled cannabis did improve life for people suffering from ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. It helped ease people's pain, limited the frequency of diarrhea and helped with weight gain.
Epilepsy
Medical marijuana extract in early trials at the NYU Langone Medical Center showed a 50% reduction in the frequency of certain seizures in children and adults in a study of 213 patients recently.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness. Scientists have looked at THC's impact on this disease on the optic nerve and found it can lower eye pressure, but it may also lower blood pressure, which could harm the optic nerve due to a reduced blood supply. THC can also help preserve the nerves, a small study found.
Multiple sclerosis
Using marijuana or some of the chemicals in the plant may help prevent muscle spasms, pain, tremors and stiffness, according to early-stage, mostly observational studies involving animals, lab tests and a small number of human patients. The downside -- it may impair memory, according to a small study involving 20 patients."
Article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/15/health/marijuana-medical-advances/index.html
Rock Creek Pharma (NASDAQ: RCPI) triggers limit-up, limit-down trading halt. Shares are up over 9 percent.---from Charles Schwab
The Yahoo RCPI Board rumor is:
"drurnmword • Apr 2, 2015 7:56 AM
2users liked this postsusers disliked this posts0Reply
Sanofi deal article:Business Insider
Looks good. We get 1 share of Sanofi for every 2 of RCPI"
Seems like wishful thinking, Sanofi stock is quoted at $51.57 right now
Healthy eating sparks M&A on blurring frontier between food and drugs in Reuters, BEN HIRSCHLER AND MARTINNE GELLER, Apr 21, 2015
Excerpts:
"(Reuters) - A boom in "nutraceuticals" - food and drinks with potential health benefits - is paving the way for a rush of deals, as food and drug companies compete to dominate a market expected to be worth $280 billion by 2018."
"It's only a matter of time before the fight spills over into corporate takeover wars," consultancy KPMG predicted in a report released on Tuesday.
Bankers said moving into nutraceuticals was an obvious move for both food and pharma companies given the blurring line between their sectors.
"The space is ripe for M&A and I think you are going to see more," added Jeremy Johnson, managing director of North Carolina-based Bourne, which advises on deals.
Food companies are likely to take the lead, chasing healthy products to improve their profiles while drug companies, rocked by patent expiries and the rise of biotech medicines, look to divest units, forecast Bourne Partners, which estimated the market to hit $280 billion in 2018 - double that of 2011.
M&A activity so far has been relatively small, but the pace is picking up. Bourne counted 185 mergers and acquisitions involving private and public nutraceutical companies in 2014, up from 95 in 2011."
Article at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/21/us-health-food-nutraceuticals-analysis-idUSKBN0NC14020150421?feedType=nl&feedName=healthNews
New pathway reveals how immune system is regulated, gives hope for chronic diseases in Medical Express, April 20, 2015
Excerpts:
"Researchers from the University of Birmingham have identified an important new way in which our immune systems are regulated, and hope that understanding it will help tackle the debilitating effects of type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and other serious diseases."
"A healthy, efficient immune system ordinarily works to damp down inflammation and carefully regulate the magnitude of the response to infection and disease. In diseases such as diabetes and arthritis, as well as when we age, our immune system becomes less stringently regulated and this can lead to an exaggerated inflammatory response - allowing inappropriate access of immune cells to vulnerable tissues. The new study shows that beneficial effects of the new pathway are lost in these diseases, as well as during normal ageing.
The study, published in Nature Medicine, details how a key molecule regulates this aspect of our immune response. Importantly, the team were then able to show how the addition of this molecule to immune cells from patients with diabetes and arthritis could regain control of the movement of their immune cells, thereby reversing the pathogenic changes seen in these diseases."
""The fact that the new pathway is relevant to both diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, which are quite different diseases, implies a broad applicability to many chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. This is an area of research we are keen to follow, and will be working with doctors from other specialities to determine whether this is the case and whether new therapies might be more broadly applicable""
"Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "This is a superb piece of research that appears to have identified a new way to regulate chronic inflammation. It helps to explain why autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis become more common with age."
"It remains to be seen whether these findings will have any direct relevance to cardiovascular disease. However, coronary heart disease tends to be more common in people with chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, so if this research leads to better treatments for these conditions, it might be expected that this will lead to fewer heart attacks in these patients.""
Article at:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-pathway-reveals-immune-chronic-diseases.html
Cancer-inflammation 'vicious cycle' detailed in new study in Medical Exress, April 20, 2015
Excerpts:
"New findings hidden within the complex machinery behind the vicious cycle of chronic inflammation and cancer are presented today by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, partner with UPMC Cancer Center, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Philadelphia."
"Inflammation is an important immune system tool that helps the body rid itself of foreign invaders, such as bacteria. However, chronic inflammation can fuel tumor growth by facilitating formation of cancer blood vessels, supplying nutrients and setting cancerous cells free to colonize other parts of the body."
""In the last 20 years we've recognized that chronic inflammation and cancer are connected - long-term inflammation leads to the development of dysplasia and tumor progression," said lead author Sandra Cascio, Ph.D., a research associate in Pitt's Department of Immunology. "Recently, scientists have provided detailed insights into molecules and cellular pathways linking inflammation and cancer. In our study, we found a new mechanism that had previously escaped us.""
"The mechanism is driven by a complex of MUC1, a molecule long studied in the laboratory of senior author and Pitt immunologist Olivera Finn, Ph.D., and p65, a molecule belonging to a protein complex family known to be activated in inflammation.
Dr. Cascio, in collaboration with Dr. Finn, looked for MUC1/p65-mediated epigenetic modifications affecting inflammatory genes. Epigenetics refers to outside factors that modify the activity of a gene, but do not cause a more obvious genetic mutation. Sure enough, the researchers discovered that this complex, which they found specifically in cancer cells, was causing DNA to be transcribed differently than expected."
"Specifically, the researchers found that MUC1 and p65 involve an enzyme called the Enhancer of Zeste homolog 2, or EzH2, known to induce epigenetic modifications, in order to prompt chromatin remodeling on cytokine gene promoters.
"Developing drugs that could keep these genes from being improperly turned on and off could interrupt this cancer-inflammation process and stop the tumor growth and spread," said Dr. Cascio. "It's a promising avenue for future exploration.""
Article at:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-cancer-inflammation-vicious.html
Brush your teeth to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in Biotech Asia, RAVI KUMAR KOMARAVOLU ON APRIL 19, 2015
Excerpts:
"Do you know how important it is to take care of your teeth? A new study published in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism hints the prominence of oral health, particularly when it comes to heart diseases. Oral infections are strongly linked to future cardiovascular diseases, according to senior author Thomas Van Dyke of the Forsyth Institute, an affiliated institute with the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
Periodontitis and Gingivitis are the most common oral infections, which are chronic inflammatory diseases that eventually destroy the supporting structures of teeth such as soft gum tissues. These oral infections permit bacterial growth to travel through the bloodstream to the heart and arteries, increasing cholesterol and triggering inflammation. It has been established that ulcerated epithelium-lining the periodontal pockets are usually between 8 sq.cm and 20 sq.cm in generalized periodontitis patients. The pockets provide a way for bacteria to enter into a patient’s blood circulation.
“Given the high prevalence of oral infections, any risk they contribute to future cardiovascular disease is important to public health,” Thomas Van Dyke said in the press release. They found that a high dose of a cholesterol-lowering, vasoprotective medicine known as atorvastatin, which increases the anti-inflammatory molecules, lipoxins and resolvins, in the blood, was effective at controlling both periodontal and cardiovascular inflammation."
Article at:
http://biotechin.asia/2015/04/19/brush-your-teeth-to-lower-the-risk-of-cardiovascular-disease/
Supplements can halt Alzheimer’s in groundbreaking dementia prevention treatment in the Sunday Express, LUCY JONHSTON, Apr 19, 2015
Excerpts:
"THE FIRST treatment to arrest the development of Alzheimer’s disease has been revealed by University of Oxford scientists.
The groundbreaking two-year study discovered a combination of B vitamins and omega-3 found in oily fish prevented brain shrinkage, a hallmark of the devastating condition that develops in 550 people a day in the UK."
"Oxford professor David Smith, who lead the study, said: “This is a very exciting and important result. It is the first treatment to show Alzheimer’s related brain shrinkage can be prevented. It means that something so simple as keeping your omega-3 levels high and supplementing B vitamins if you are at risk could dramatically reduce a person’s risk.”
Prof Smith will meet government officials this month to discuss changing NHS practice so people with early memory loss are offered supplements. The specific B vitamins were B6, B12 and folic acid. “When people come to a memory clinic there’s nothing now that can help those showing signs of memory loss. Supplementation should be adopted across the NHS.”"
"Those with high levels of omega-3 fish oils in their blood but low levels of B vitamins at the start of the study, who were given B vitamin supplements, showed a dramatic reduction in the rate of brain atrophy compared to those given dummy pills. The study was in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and presented at the Alzheimer’s Disease International Conference in Australia.
Previous studies by the Oxford group found B vitamins could help slow brain shrinkage to a lesser degree and a link between fish oils and prevention of dementia.
However, this study examining high levels of both is the first to show brain shrinkage can be arrested altogether."
Article at:
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/385884/Supplements-halt-Alzheimer-s-groundbreaking-dementia-prevention-treatment
Resonse from Allan J. Kvasnicka in CIGX_VIPGROUP@yahoogroups.com:
12:54 pm April 19, 2015
UPTICK77777 wrote:
"Ed Silverman, your article is very shallow on the negative side of the RCPI knowledge base.
First let me state that I agree in total with each of the comments above re: Anatabine Citrate contained in Anatabloc @ 1mg per tablet. I've taken Anatabloc for ~4years and can't imagine having to live without it. I've got a NO SIDE EFFECTS list of benefits exceeding 12 distinct items that I am aware of. I'm highly confident that at the cellular level there are many other benefits that scientists will prove/confirm in due time.
I invite you to do a restart on your research knowledge base re: RCPI and Anatabine Citrate and discovery the many, many benefits that Anatabine Citrate can provide to humans and K-9s for which there may be no other side effect free medications. Chronic inflammation is a precursor to many serious diseases and Anatabine Citrate, without side effects, reduces, or eliminates, chronic inflammation in the human body in many many instances. I am living proof of that statement.
So I invite you again to take a positive approach toward your understanding of Anatabine Citrate and write about the positives. Then question why big pharma isn't on Anatabine Citrate like a duck on a June bug or why isn't the FDA "fast tracking" clinical trials, research grants, govt. support, govt. focus, etc., etc. Therein lies your significant scoop for a dramatic story. Just imagine if you will, should Anatabine Citrate do what many of us have proven that it in fact does, how many billions of dollars could be taken out of Medicare and Medicaid by patients using Anatabine Citrate rather than the exorbitantly high priced "Big Pharma" drugs many of which have black label side effects that can kill the patient.
Thanks for listening and good luck."
How tumor-causing cells are recruited in cancers linked to chronic inflammation, Dmitry Gabrilovich, M.D., Ph.D. Credit: The Wistar Institute, February 9, 2015
Excerpts:
"Chronic inflammation is directly associated with several types of cancer, yet the reasons as to why this happens at a cellular level remain unclear. Now, an international team of scientists led by researchers at The Wistar Institute has identified a multistep process showing not only how these cancers develop but also potentially discovering new therapeutic targets that could halt the formation and progression of tumor cells.
The findings were published online by the Journal of Experimental Medicine."
"Gabrilovich and his team found that the granulocytic cells arrive at the skin and stimulate the migration of lymphocytes, which in turn stimulate the abnormal growth of keratinocytes, the most common type of skin cell found in the epidermis. The granulocytic cells are able to "recruit" these lymphocytes by releasing a specific factor called chemokine CCL4. This factor then recruits CD4+ T cells that produce interleukin-17 (IL-17), a proinflammatory cytokine that has already been linked to chronic inflammation and inflammatory cancers.
Through a series of steps, this study implicates that granulocytic cells accumulate and serve as the first step of tumor formation, followed by the recruitment of CD4+ T cells that produce IL-17. The combination of these events ultimately results in the development of cancer. While this study focused on skin cancer, Gabrilovich said that the study could apply to any type of cancer linked to chronic inflammation. If proven for other conditions this mechanism could open an opportunity for potential therapeutic targeting in patients with chronic inflammation that predispose a patient to cancer."
Article at:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-02-tumor-causing-cells-cancers-linked-chronic.html
The inflammation epidemic: your number one health concern 2015 (and what sugar’s got to do with it), Christine Morgan, 15 January 2015
Excerpts:
"“Diseases that are obviously inflammatory in nature include asthma, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis, bursitis, laryngitis, gingivitis, gastritis, otitis, coeliac disease, diverticulitis and inflammatory bowel disease,” says Dr Carolyn Dean.
Also linked with chronic inflammation are heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis and depression. So is premature ageing and some of the visible signs of getting older, including not-so-youthful skin."
"According to dietitian Desiree Nielson, tackling chronic inflammation in your 50s is not a moment too soon. “If your lifestyle has included a poor diet, being overweight, inactivity and stress, it may well have been contributing to chronic inflammation for the past three decades. Now the effects of that may be becoming evident,” she says.
Besides diet, weight, lack of exercise and stress, other lifestyle factors thought to contribute to chronic inflammation include poor sleep, smoking, drinking too much alcohol, nutritional deficiencies and an imbalance of digestive bacteria, says Dr Roked."
"Dr Nathan Wei,a rheumatologist at the Arthritis Treatment Centre in Maryland, US, says there’s a compelling reason to use diet rather than drugs. “While inflammation can be reduced with medication, these drugs may have significant side effects,” he says.
“For example, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug group increases the incidence of gastric or peptic ulcers as well as cardiovascular events. As a result, there has been a burgeoning interest in the use of foods that help reduce inflammation.”"
"Many nutrition experts agree that where inflammation is concerned, the number one food enemy is sugar.
“Processed sugar is a major source of inflammation in the diet, and it is wreaking havoc,” says Renae Norton, a specialist in the treatment of eating disorders and obesity. “When you eat sugar, you deplete the enzymes that help you to digest protein. So the protein gets into the bloodstream as a partially digested protein, and is attacked by the immune system.”
Similarly, Nielson suggests the first thing you should do when tackling inflammation is to avoid ‘white’ foods (foods with white flour and added sugars). “These foods send your blood sugar off kilter, and frequent spikes of blood sugar promote inflammatory damage,” she explains.
“In addition, you should avoid too many animal fats; omega 6 fatty acids from soya bean, sunflower and corn oil; and trans fats (hydrogenated fats) from fast food and packaged goods. These fats drive inflammatory pathways."
"To reduce inflammation, eat a diet rich in natural, fresh and unprocessed foods, says Pearson. Eat fresh vegetables, low-sugar fruits, nuts, seeds and oily fish.
Nutritionist Sarah West also recommends replacing the omega-6 fats in your diet with omega-3 oils. “To do this, include plenty of fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, flaxseeds and walnuts in your diet,” she says."
"Dr Dean recommends magnesium, the body’s natural anti-inflammatory, as a nutritional supplement and an effective treatment for inflammation. She believes a low level of magnesium, which is common as we get older, can increase your risk of developing inflammation-related diseases. Take it in magnesium citrate powder form mixed in water and sip it throughout the day."
"A test that measures your blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) may help to measure levels of inflammation in your body (but not where it is or what’s causing it). Ask your GP for details. "
Article at:
http://www.high50.com/health/the-inflammation-epidemic-your-number-one-health-concern-2015
If you are interested in current'chronic inflammation' research, you might put this website on your bookmark list:
http://www.nature.com/subjects/chronic-inflammation/research
The Scary Connection Between Snoring and Dementia in Time magazine, Alice Park, April 15, 2015
Excerpts:
"Snoring is a form of sleep apnea, in which people stop breathing for a few seconds or several minutes dozens of times in an hour. Any disruption of breathing during sleep can affect the brain, say researchers of a new study published in the journal Neurology. They found that people with sleep apnea tended to develop memory problems and other signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) earlier than people without such sleep disorders."
"Those who reported having sleep apnea or snoring tended to develop signs of mild cognitive impairment, including memory lapses and slower speed on cognitive skills, about 12 years earlier on average than those who didn’t report any sleep-disordered breathing. Mild cognitive impairment often precedes Alzheimer’s dementia, but not all people who develop MCI go on to get Alzheimer’s. The connection between disrupted sleep breathing and MCI remained strong even after Osorio accounted for the effects of Alzheimer’s-related genes, gender, education, depression and heart disease risk factors, all of which have been associated with increased risk of cognitive decline."
Article at:
http://time.com/3822965/snoring-dementia-alzheimers/?xid=newsletter-brief
Breakthrough In Cancer Research in PR Newswire by Newswise, April 10, 2015
Excerpts:
" A new study by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology could hold a key to control cancer cell growth and development. In a paper published yesterday in CELL, the team reports on the discovery of two cancer-suppressing proteins."
"KPC1 an important and vital pathway in the life of the cell, which is responsible for the degradation of defective proteins that could damage the cell if not removed. The ubiquitin system tags these proteins and sends them for destruction in the cellular complex known as the proteasome. The system also removes functional and healthy proteins that are not needed anymore, thereby regulating the processes that these proteins control.
Usually, the proteins that reach the proteasome are completely broken down, but there are some exceptions, and the current line of research examined p105, a long precursor of a key regulator in the cell called NF-kB. It turns out that p105 can be broken down completely in certain cases following its tagging by ubiquitin, but in other cases it is only cut and shortened and becomes a protein called p50.
NF-kB has been identified as a link between inflammation and cancer. The hypothesis of the connection between inflammatory processes and cancer was first suggested in 1863 by German pathologist Rudolph Virchow, and has been confirmed over the years in a long series of studies. Ever since the discovery (nearly 30 years ago) of NF-kB, numerous articles have been published linking it to malignant transformation. It is involved in tumors of various organs (prostate, breast, lung, head and neck, large intestine, brain, etc.) in several parallel ways, including: inhibition of apoptosis (programmed cell death) normally eliminates transformed cells; acceleration of uncontrolled division of cancer cells; formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis), which are vital to tumor growth; and increased resistance of cancerous cells to irradiation and chemotherapy.
As noted, the precursor p105 is "handled" by the ubiquitin system in one of two parallel and equally prevalent ways. It is either destroyed completely, or shortened and transformed to p50. The current research deciphers the decision-making mechanism that determines which process will be applied to the protein: when a ubiquitin system component called KPC1 is involved in the process and attaches ubiquitin to p105, the protein is shortened to become p50. When ubiquitination is mediated by another component of the system (and without KPC1), p105 is degraded."
Article at:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/breakthrough-in-cancer-research-300064078.html
A Longer Life May Lie in Number of Anti-Inflammatory Genes in Live Science, Christopher Wanjek, April 07, 2015
Article:
"Why do some kinds of animals live longer than others? For mammals, part of the answer may lie in the number of anti-inflammatory genes.
From mouse to man — and across 12 other mammal species examined — researchers found that those with more copies of genes called CD33rSIGLEC, which is involved in fighting inflammation, have a longer life span.
Moreover, mice that researchers bred to have fewer copies of these genes experience premature aging and early death compared with normal mice, the study found."
Article at:
http://www.livescience.com/50409-longer-life-span-anti-inflammatory-genes.html
My comments:
So lacking this gene, what do the rest of us have to do to live longer? Anatabloc
'Failure Upon Failure For Alzheimer's Drugs' in Inside Science, Joel N. Shurkin, April 03, 2015
Excerpts:
"Alzheimer's is a graveyard for expensive drug tests. One study showed that between 2000 and 2012, 244 compounds were tested in 413 clinical trials. Only one was approved for use, a failure rate of 99.6 percent. Cancer drug tests fail at 81 percent. In at least one case, a potential Alzheimer's drug test was stopped because it appeared the drug could potentially kill subjects, showing how little is known about potential treatments even when testing has already begun.
Although no one knows exactly how much the pharmaceutical industry is spending on Alzheimer’s research it likely is in the billions. The National Institutes of Health will spend $586 million this year and $638 million next year,—$2 billion since 2011—and the tests have all been failures.""
Article at:
http://www.insidescience.org/content/failure-upon-failure-alzheimers-drugs/2731
New Zeland Clinical Trial. Looks like it is completed. (Asia uses day-month-year instead of month-day-year in U.S.)
https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=367664
Maybe RCPI plans to sell Anatabloc as a nutraceutical in Commonwealth countries? ie England, Canada, Australia, New Zeland, India, etc, total of 53 countries) Could this be from Dr Chapman's playbook?
http://thecommonwealth.org/member-countries
Maybe RCPI plans to sell Anatabloc in the British Commonwealth countries and bypass the FDA, ie like those buying drugs in Canada. And it doesn't look like the FDA looks at foreign nutraceuticals like prescription drugs.
http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/features/buying-drugs-online
http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/features/letter-and-spirit-of-drug-import-laws
wink, wink, I wonder if Mexico accepts British Commonwealth approved nutraceuticals?
http://www.news-medical.net/health/Nutraceutical-Regulation.aspx
3 Drinks Give You Liver Cancer, But Coffee Protects in NBC News, MAGGIE FOX, March 26, 2015
Excerpt:
"Rsearchers looking at the causes of liver cancer say they've narrowed down just how much alcohol you have to drink to risk giving yourself the disease: three drinks a day.
But coffee seems clearly to protect people from liver cancer, which killed 746,000 people globally in 2012."
Article at:
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/three-drinks-give-you-liver-cancer-coffee-protects-n330131
The spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) regulates Alzheimer amyloid-ß production and Tau hyperphosphorylation in PubMed,
Paris D1, Ait-Ghezala G2, Bachmeier C2, Laco G2, Beaulieu-Abdelahad D2, Lin Y2, Jin C2, Crawford F2, Mullan M2.
Abstract:
"We have previously shown that the L-type calcium channel (LCC) antagonist nilvadipine reduces brain amyloid-ß (Aß) accumulation by affecting both Aß production and Aß clearance across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Nilvadipine consists of a mixture of two enantiomers, (+)-nilvadipine and (-)-nilvadipine, in equal proportion. (+)-Nilvadipine is the active enantiomer responsible for the inhibition of LCC, whereas (-)-nilvadipine is considered inactive. Both nilvadipine enantiomers inhibit Aß production and improve the clearance of Aß across the BBB showing that these effects are not related to LCC inhibition. In addition, treatment of P301S mutant human Tau transgenic mice (transgenic Tau P301S) with (-)-nilvadipine reduces Tau hyperphosphorylation at several Alzheimer disease (AD) pertinent epitopes. A search for the mechanism of action of (-)-nilvadipine revealed that this compound inhibits the spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk). We further validated Syk as a target-regulating Aß by showing that pharmacological inhibition of Syk or down-regulation of Syk expression reduces Aß production and increases the clearance of Aß across the BBB mimicking (-)-nilvadipine effects. Moreover, treatment of transgenic mice overexpressing Aß and transgenic Tau P301S mice with a selective Syk inhibitor respectively decreased brain Aß accumulation and Tau hyperphosphorylation at multiple AD relevant epitopes. We show that Syk inhibition induces an increased phosphorylation of the inhibitory Ser-9 residue of glycogen synthase kinase-3ß, a primary Tau kinase involved in Tau phosphorylation, by activating protein kinase A, providing a mechanism explaining the reduction of Tau phosphorylation at GSK3ß-dependent epitopes following Syk inhibition. Altogether our data highlight Syk as a promising target for preventing both Aß accumulation and Tau hyperphosphorylation in AD.
© 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
Article at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25331948
Alzheimer’s disease: It's all in tau in Tech Times, Jim Algar, Tech Times | November 2
Article:
"Scientists researching the causes of Alzheimer's disease say it may not be plaque, long considered the prime suspect, but rather protein than steals a person's memory and interferes with behavior and thinking by killing brain cells.
Both plaque consisting of amyloid-beta protein fragments and tangles of a protein known as tau are seen in the disease, but Georgetown University Medical Center researchers say they've found evidence it's the tau rather than the plaque that accelerates neuron death.
This could be the reason why some people with significant plaque build-up within their brains don't show any signs of dementia, and the findings could also lead to new drugs that could treat Alzheimer's, the researchers report in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration.
"For a very long time, we believed, for almost 100 years, that [amyloid-beta] plaques are the main culprit in Alzheimer's disease," study senior investigator Charbel E-H Moussa says. "This study shows it's another protein -- a very, very important one, called tau, that is basically the main guilty one."
Inside a brain cell, tau provides a structure, something akin to a train track, which allows the cell to dispose of accumulations of unwanted toxic proteins.
If tau stops functioning -- possibly from aging or from errant genes -- the cell is unable to rid itself of the toxins.
Contrary to previously belief, it is the protein the cells can't dispose of and that remains inside neurons that causes them to die, not the plaques that build outside of the cells, the researchers say.
As part of their investigation, the researchers looked at the anti-cancer drug nilotinib, approved for used in adult leukemia patients, as a possible treatment to clear out such intercellular debris and control levels on nonfunctioning "bad" tau.
Nilotinib works by entering a cell to help clear it of debris, but can also reduce plaques building up outside the cell, says Moussa, who hopes to start clinical trials within weeks.
The discovery of the role of tau in Alzheimer's could lead to screening that could uncover signs of the disease at an earlier state and and help predict if a patient is likely to develop dementia, he says.
"Recent evidence suggests it appears that tau modification happens much earlier than amyloid plaques ... and because almost every patient who has tau modification has dementia, it's going to be a much more reliable and precise predictor of Alzheimer's and other dementias than [amyloid-beta]," Moussa says.
Such screening in combination with drugs that can reduce non-functioning tau in brain cells could slow down further tau breakdown and plaque buildup, helping patients avoid Alzheimer's or dementia, he adds."
Article at:
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/19280/20141102/cancer-drug-nilotinib-may-help-cure-alzheimer-s-disease-its-all-in-tau.htm
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