Nasal insulin spray may treat
Alzheimer's disease
Nasal spray of a man-made form of
insulin, a hormone that regulates the amount of glucose in the blood, may
improve working memory in adults with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's
disease, new research has found.
The researchers administered insulin
detemir, a manufactured form of the hormone, on 60 adults diagnosed with
amnesic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild to moderate Alzheimer's
dementia (AD).
"The study provides preliminary
evidence that insulin detemir can provide effective treatment for people
diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's-related
dementia," said lead author of the study Suzanne Craft, professor of
gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in the
US.
Previous trials had shown promising
effects of nasally-administered insulin for adults with AD and MCI, but this
study was the first to use insulin detemir, the researchers noted.
The study participants who received nasally-administered 40
international unit (IU) doses of insulin detemir for 21 days showed significant
improvement in their short-term ability to retain and process verbal and visual
information compared with those who received 20 IU does or a placebo.
Additionally, the
recipients of 40 IU doses carrying the APOE-e4 gene - which is known to
increase the risk for Alzheimer's - recorded significantly higher memory scores
than those who received the loser dosage or placebo.
The non-carriers of the gene across all three groups posted
significantly lower scores.
"We are especially encouraged that we were able to
improve memory for adults with MCI who have the APOE-e4 gene, as these patients
are notoriously resistant to other therapies and interventions," Craft
noted.
The study was published online in the Journal of Alzheimer's
Disease.
Source: www.zeenews.india.com
13.01.2015
Allergic to nuts? Know how much is
too much
Researchers have identified the level of five
of the most common food allergens which would cause a reaction in the most
sensitive 10 percent of people.
The five foods they considered were --
peanut, hazelnut, celery, fish and shrimp.
Between 1.6 and 10.1 milligrams of
hazelnut, peanut and celery protein produced a reaction in the most sensitive
10 percent of those studied.
For fish, it was higher - at 27.3
milligrams - and for shrimp, a significantly higher 2.5 grams of cooked protein
produced a reaction - though the researchers did not study raw shrimp which may
have a different effect.
"What we wanted was to find a level of allergen which
would only produce a reaction in the most sensitive ten percent of
people," said lead researcher professor Clare Mills University of
Manchester in Britain.
"This sort of data
can then be used to apply a consistent level of warning to food products. What
we would like to see are warnings which tell people with allergies to avoid
certain products completely or just apply to those who are most
sensitive," Mills explained.
The researchers analysed data from 436 people across Europe
who had allergies to peanut, hazelnut, celery, fish or shrimp.
They were then given small doses of the food they were
allergic to and their reactions were monitored.
The study appeared in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical
Immunology.
Source: www.zeenews.india.com
13.01.2015
The only way of finding the
limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible
Arthur C. Clarke
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