Natural Remedies of Constipation in Children

Constipation occurs commonly in children, affecting up to 10% at any given time. Still, only 3% of parents actually seek advice from the doctor for this condition. Constipation describes the infrequent passage of stools (bowel movements) or the passage of hard stools. Any definition of constipation depends upon comparison with how often the child normally passes stools and with the usual consistency of his or her stools.

Many children normally pass stools as far apart as every few days. Regardless, you should treat hard stools that are difficult to pass and those that happen only every three days as constipation.

Constipation is not a disease. It is a symptom of a poor health condition.  This is the result of eating too much processed foods that are lacking in fiber, and insufficient fresh foods that are full of live nutrients and enzymes.

Constipation in Children Causes

Infants and children with constipation are treated differently than adults, because patterns of bowel movements change from the time they are born until they reach the age of 3 or 4 years. The majority of children with constipation do not have a medical disease or disorder causing the constipation. Rarely, a disorder causes infants and children to have significant problems moving their bowels.
Many things can contribute to constipation.

• The most common cause in a child older than 18 months is their willful avoidance of the toilet (for various reasons). For example, toddlers are often so involved in their play that they lack time or patience for toilet breaks.
• At school they may be concerned with lack of privacy or the cleanliness of the bathroom.
• They may have had a prior painful or frightening experience that makes them want to avoid the bathroom. Over time, their brain learns to ignore repeated urges by the colon to visit the bathroom. As stool remains in the colon, the colon will absorb water out of the stool, making it hard and dry. This hard stool is even more difficult or painful to pass, which causes the child to continue "holding it."
• Changes in diet, or a different diet affect bowel habits. In adults, high-fiber diets have been shown to improve bowel function. In children, however, high-fiber diets have not been proven to improve constipation. Infants and children who eat well-balanced meals typically are not constipated.
• Breastfed infants will generally have more stools per day. Their stools vary more in frequency when compared to bottle-fed infants. For example, breastfed infants produce anywhere from 5-40 bowel movements per week; whereas formula-fed infants have 5-28 bowel movements per week. Switching the type of milk (or formula) can also cause constipation.
• Teenagers and toddlers who eat a lot of sugar and desserts are prone to difficult passing of their stools.
• Any intense changes in a child-such as illnesses causing fever, becoming bedridden, eating less, or dehydration may decrease the frequency of stools or may harden stools.
• A number of medical disorders can cause chronic constipation.
  
  
  Diet/Lifestyle Suggestions
• 
  
  The fiber intake should be more of the insoluble type which is abundant in vegetables, fruit, wheat bran cereals and whole grain foods. Wheatgrass provides a rich source of fiber, which is good for the colon health and detoxification. According to the Natural Health Group, wheat grass powder contains fiber that has a mildly cleansing effect in the body. Fruity wheatgrass not only containing wheatgrass, it has a variety kind of fruit from apple, orange, kiwi, peach to strawberry.  It is highly recommanded Fruity wheatgrass as a daily serving for kids as they will  enjoy vegetables and fruits by taking good taste Fruity wheatgrass.


• Reduce intake of animal protein, dairy products and processed foods. Avoid over-the-counter laxatives. Indulge instead, in natural laxatives that are abundant in fresh fruits and vegetables (Fruity Wheatgrass which is a combination of wheatgrass + fruit is highly recommanded ). Consult your doctor and work with him to cut back on drugs that may contribute to constipation.


• Caution: A high-fiber diet may produce gas, stomach cramps and other intestinal discomforts. Drink plenty of water during this time, to help the fiber eliminate old fecal matter easier.Recommendecipe s to Relieve Constipation

 References:

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/constipation_in_children/article_em.htm

http://www.juicing-for-health.com/relieve-constipation.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/279546-what-are-the-benefits-of-wheat-grass-powder/

http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/nutrition/wheatgrass.html

Read More

Enzyme Therapy in Sinusitis

Oral therapy with Proteolytic enzymes is used to reduce swelling, edema, inflammations, relive pain and help break up the mucus. Additionally, enzyme therapy influences the immune system by reducing cytokine overproduction.

In 9 clinical studies including 1151 patients with Sinusitis, Enzyme Therapy has proven to be beneficial alone or in combination with antibiotic.
In a retrolective study, including 797 patients, it is demonstrated that a higher number of patients treated with Enzyme therapy are without complain than when treated with Diclofenac or Ibuprofen (Conrad 2000)

The treatment of sinusitis with enzymes was first described by Sasaki 1965 and Yamasaki 1965. Calabria 1966 treated 13 patients with an enzyme-antibiotic combination (trypsin, chymotrypsin, cloranphenicol, streptomycin) and compared them with antibiotic treated patients. The authors described a lesser number of punctures necessary in the oral enzyme treated patients. When chronic sinusitis was classified in 4 different types of affection, it was found that types 1 and 2 were highly responsive to the treatment of enzymes, but in types 3 and 4 this treatment was ineffective in topical use (Ota 1966).

Saporiti 1966 published a successful therapy with alpha chymotrypsin (Chymoser) as local instillation by puncture of the maxillary sinus in patients with purulent chronic maxillary sinusitis.

Kaneko 1967 treated children with paranasal sinusitis successful with enzymes. In a study of patients with chronic sinusitis, Kagitomi 1972 published that ananase (bromelain) in combination with antibiotics was effective, whereas ananase used alone showed very little effect. In a double-blind clinical evaluation of bromelain in the treatment of acute sinusitis the author (Ryan 1967) described that mucosal inflammation was reduced in 83% of those receiving bromelain as compared to only 52% of those receiving placebo. Breathing difficulty was relieved in 78% of patients on bromelain therapy and in 68% of patients on placebo. In summary, good to excellent results were observed in approximately 87% of patients receiving bromelain compared to 68% of those on placebo. Seltzer 1967 comes to about the same results. In a double blind, placebo-controlled study, 49 patients with sinusitis received either bromelain or placebo, in addition to antibiotics. Good to excellent response was demonstrated in 80% of those receiving bromelain as compared to 50% of those on placebo. Complete relief of nasal mucosal edema and inflammation, nasal discomfort, breathing difficulties, headache and pain were evident in a higher percentage of patients on bromelain. The mean standard treatment time required for a therapeutic response was 10 days for those receiving bromelain in contrast to 16 days for those receiving placebo. S. Hine 1966 employed bromelain in treatment of non-operative cases of chronic rhino-sinusitis and described the affectivity as 64%.

Alpha-chymotrypsin was administered oral or by local instillation in patients with paranasal sinusitis. The authors (Sakakura 1966) observed effectiveness in 70% of the patients.

Keller and Maurer 1967 investigated the effect of a new enzyme preparation composed of Lysozym, Papain and Bactricin (LysopainEnzyme Therapy) as sublingual tablets. This preparation was very effective in different inflammations like Laryngitis, c, herpes zoster etc. The authors observed also a benefit in sinusitis in 6 of 11 patients.

In the same year, Taub 1967 published his results with enzyme therapy in a higher number of patients with acute or chronic sinusitis. He treated in a placebo controlled study 59 (30 / 29) patients with bromelain in conjunction with antibiotics. Symptoms and signs of nasal mucosal inflammation and edemas as well as those of breathing difficulties and nasal discharge were improved in a majority of the patients receiving the enzyme + antibiotic medication as compared to a minority of the 30 patients receiving placebo. No side effects were reported. A new enzyme preparation Sfericase is proposed 1983 by Yoshida. Sfericase, produced by a strain of Bacillus sphaericus, has been proven to be effective in some chronic inflammations, such as chronic sinusitis and difficult expectoration associated with bronchopulmonary diseases. Miyoshi 1984 published results with this preparation (orally Sfericase) on 40 patients with chronic sinusitis. After 4 weeks of treatment, a reduction of subjective symptoms for postnasal rhinorrhea of 81.6%, 66.7% for rhinorrhea, and 46.6% for nasal obstruction was observed. However, with respect to objective symptoms, the efficacy rate was 28.9% for redness and 30.8% for swelling of the nasal mucosa, with a somewhat lower rate than that obtained for subjective symptoms. According to the patients’ and physicians’ global assessments, Sfericase was effective in 65 and 57.5% of the cases. None of the patients showed undesirable reactions to sfericase.

Serratopeptidase, a proteolytic enzyme was investigated for the influence on the elasticity and viscosity of the nasal mucus in adult patients with chronic sinusitis. After 4 weeks treatment Serratopeptidase reduced the viscosity but not the elasticity of the nasal mucus. These findings are discussed in relation to mucociliary clearance (Majima 1988).

Wohlrab 1993 published the results from a prospective, randomized, double blind study with 40 patients suffering of sinusitis acuta. The patients were treated with a combination of different enzymes or Diclofenac. After 2 weeks there was no difference in sum-score as well as single score (headache, toothache and edema). But after 2 weeks, the side effects of Diclofenac therapy increase, whereas the side effects of Enzyme Therapy were negligible. The numbers of recidivist was smaller in the enzyme treated group.

Meletis 2000 as well as Maurer 2001 included in their publications the beneficial effect of bromelain for the treatment of sinusitis.

Summarizing, in 11 clinical studies (one of them is retrolective) including 1161 patients it is demonstrated that Enzyme therapy alone (early stages) or in combination with antibiotics (later stages) reduce healing time for more that 20%, reduce recidivists and has practically no side effect.

Read More

Four Reasons Why Wheatgrass Heals Eczema on Face

Let’s get straight to the point. You want to get rid of that unsightly eczema that covers your face either in patches or in just one particular area. It does not matter where it’s on your face. You just want to get rid of it. Well a very good place to start is by taking some wheatgrass every single day.

Make a promise to start taking this in your meals for about 4 weeks. After that period of time you should see a complete difference in your eczema skin.

Wheatgrass is a very powerful food. It contains chlorophyll which can be said to be the blood of most plants. In humans the blood is made from hemoglobin. The only difference between the 2 is that chlorophyll’s central atom is magnesium and in our blood, the central atom is iron. Grass is eaten by cows and horses as you know. When they’re ill or have an upset stomach animals tend to eat grass in the fields because of the healing and curing powers it contains.

Us humans are the only beings that are unaware of the powerful and curing factors of wheatgrass. If you want to give your eczema a head start in being cleared and healed, start to include wheatgrass in your diet.

Other reasons to include wheatgrass in your diet include:

Wheatgrass contains powerful agents that heal disease and eliminates illnesses. Wheatgrass is completely absorbed by the blood stream within moments of consumption. This means surplus energy can be used for other bodily functions such as repair and replenishment.

The Chlorophyll in wheatgrass stimulates the important production of red blood cells in the hemoglobin. This ensures the body carries plenty of oxygen. Within four to five days of use Chlorophyll can return your blood cell count back to normal.

Wheatgrass is a complete food. Therefore no need for junk or processed foods which cause harm to eczema skin

This is excellent for the colon as it contains fiber and helps with detoxification.



( source:eczemaitchyskinrash.com  Foto credit: eczemaonskin.com)

For further information about the benefits of wheatgrass, please visit:

www.miraclewheatgrass
www.facebook.com/miraclewheatgrass
www.facebook.com/premiumwheatgrass
youtube.com/naturalwheatgrass

Read More

Wheatgrass for Seborrheic Dermatitis

In a word, yes wheatgrass can work very well for seborrheic dermatitis. I would recommend applying a little wheatgrass spray to the affected area(s) twice daily.

A particular type of yeast, Malassezia, may be linked to seb derm via immune suppression, but a direct causal link has not been proven. Hormonal changes may also be a factor. There are also some medical conditions and medications associated with the condition.

Because of the immune nature of seb derm, I don't prescribe anti-fungals as they, like steroid creams, can further suppress the skin's immune status. By comparison, wheatgrass somehow stimulates the skin's immunity which may be why it can help overcome the condition by natural means.

--- by Dr. Chris Reynolds from http://drwheatgrass.com.au
    Foto credit: dermatlas.med.jhmi.edu

FYI what is Seborrheic Dermatitis?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Seborrhoeic dermatitis (also seborrheic dermatitis AmE, seborrhea, informally seb derm) (also known as "seborrheic eczema"[1]) is an inflammatory[2] skin disorder affecting the scalp, face, and torso. Typically, seborrheic dermatitis presents with scaly, flaky, itchy, and red skin. It particularly affects the sebaceous-gland-rich areas of skin. In adolescents and adults, seborrhoeic dermatitis usually presents as scalp scaling (dandruff) or as mild to marked erythema of the nasolabial fold.

For further information about the benefits of wheatgrass, please visit:

www.miraclewheatgrass
www.facebook.com/miraclewheatgrass
www.facebook.com/premiumwheatgrass
youtube.com/naturalwheatgrass

Read More

Enzymes, The Miracle Nutrient.

They are energized protein molecules and responsible for all biological activities going in our 60 trillion cells and are essential for every chemical reaction which takes place in our body. From digesting the food that we eat and unlocking the nutrient to activating our immune system and producing energy in our body.

Without them, all nutrients including vitamins, minerals and trace minerals cannot be utilized properly. A person who are deficient are prone to a myriad of health problem and accelerated age. Many will suffering chronic ailments, such as arthritis, diabetes, allergies, skin diseases, cancer and immune deficiencies and all this were cause by low enzyme levels.

You can find enzymes in a raw food, but they are more heat sensitive than the vitamins, and are destroyed when heated more than 50 degree Celsius or 122 Fahrenheit. All form of cooking such as boiling, steaming and etc, will destroy the enzymes 100 %. In fact, every time you eat them, you will use the enzymes reserve in your body. This will cause a burden to the body, when energy can be conserved for repairing our body.

Each individual is born with an "enzymes bank" or "enzymes potential", and when started to get low, we will have a health breakdown. Each time you eat you are making the enzymes to run out as digestive enzymes are being used to digest food. While eating enzymes rich raw foods is good, it still doesn't count as a "deposit" but it will only "offset" with the one used to digest them. We also lose enzymes during sweat and body waste. If you'd like to improve your health or increase your lifespan you should take more enzymes supplements.

There are various types of enzyme- digestive, metabolic and food enzyme. Each of it has a specific function. For example, amylase breaks down carbohydrates, lipase fat and protease protein. Some such like SOD function as a potent antioxidant and involved in energy production. Others enzyme such as bromelain and papain are proteolytic enzyme with anti-inflammatory properties.

Each fruit and vegetables has a unique enzyme. The best form of enzyme supplement should have multitude of source. Digestive enzyme usually contain isolated enzyme such as amylase, protease or lipase. Better get enzymes from whole food source and multiple fruits and vegetables so you can receive a wider spectrum of enzymes.

Fresh raw fruit and vegetables are rich in enzymes but it's hard to eat enough variety to get a full spectrum of enzymes and nutrient. But nutrient can be preserved through fermentation by using specific healthful microorganisms. It will increase the level of enzyme and produce more nutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace minerals and phytonutrients) and will be more bio-available to the body.

The function of your immune system is to fight off all foreign invaders inside our body such as bacteria, viruses, carcinogens and other chemical. When our body is forced to work overtime to produce digestive enzymes, it will have a dire effect on our immune function.

Your immune system demands a constant supply of enzymes, especially amylase and protease. Amylase is found in the macrophages, the white blood cell that actively seeks out and destroys diseases that causing microorganisms and toxins.Protease or proteolytic enzymes break down undigested proteins, cellular debris and toxin in the blood. Also help reduce blood levels of immune complexes that could otherwise active the immune system to attack the tissue of our body.

As we know, we all have cancer cell at any given time. But, we have specialized immune cell such as NK cells (natural killer cells) and macrophages (white blood cell) that will kill and destroy these cancer cell before they can cause any serious damage.

However, scientists have found that some cancer cells hide under a protein covering to avoid detection. NK cells and macrophages unable to kill them, allowing cancer cells to attach themselves to an organ and spread faster than before.

Enzymes dissolve this protein covering. Once it removed. NK cells and macrophages can effectively kill these cancer cells. It also have been reported that enzymes will increase the action of macrophages by 700% and NK cells by 1,300% in a short period. Enzymes play a good role in prevention of cancer cells.

Today, medical specialist used enzymes for treating arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and backaches. Many athletes are given daily enzymes to accelerate recovery from surgery, injuries and intense exercise. Enzymes will dissolve fibrin which prevents the scar tissue build up, which can cause restriction in an injured area. Proteolytic enzymes (bromelain type) reduce the body's production of "negative" prostaglandins (PGE2) that cause pain/inflammation. These enzymes also absorb amino acids to repair afflicted joints.

If you suffer from chronic physical conditions such as tunnel syndrome, tennis elcow, sciatica, strain tendon or old injuries (whiplash, stiff neck or disk problems) enzymes can offer relief. My Advice rather than used painkiller try enzymes to ease your problem.

One common cause of hardening and clogging of blood vessels is the accumulation of protein and cholesterol plaque. This plaque can become dislodge and travel to smaller vessels where it can cause heart attack or stroke.

Lipase is an enzyme that breaks down fat and removes fat from storage. Less lipase means the fat stagnates and accumulates in the arteries and increasing risk of heart diseases and high blood pressure. Lipase can help lower LDL "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides levels. Proteolytic enzymes, on other hand, are a great natural blood thinner.'

source: By: bardnurz

Read More

How Enzymes Perform: An explanation for layman

Enzymes: everyone seems to love talking about them but not everyone can explain what they are. As enzyme therapy becomes an increasingly popular choice for treating health problems ranging from cancer and MS to nervous disorders and nightmares (how cool is that?), more people are not only wondering whats behind this new enzyme craze.

But what enzymes actually are in the first place.

If you think this is another scientific article that lists a bunch of mumbo-jumbo on enzymes, youre in luck: you dont need a Ph.D. in Biochemistry to read this article. In fact, once youre done reading it, we recommend that you go out and impress your friends with your extensive new knowledge on enzymes and enzyme therapy.

So what exactly are enzymes and how do they work? The scientific definition of an enzyme is a protein that helps speed up chemical processes within the body. Think of your body as a chemistry lab at any given moment, theres a number of chemical reactions occurring to help your body properly function. Enzymes hold the key to causing these chemical reactions to occur, as they provide the catalyst that stimulates the action.

Now that you know that enzymes provide the stimulus for chemical reactions, lets take a look at how that happens. Lets pretend that an enzyme is a matchmaker that wants to fix up two friends the reactants (otherwise known as substrates). The matchmaker knows that in order for the two to meet up and connect, he has to provide them with a place to meet. That place is known as the active site, and it can be found directly on the enzyme. When the enzyme approaches the specific reactants, it binds them to its active site so they can start bonding.

In matchmaking terms, its like getting two people to meet up at a restaurant so they can start connecting. Once the substrates have arrived at the enzymes active site (or restaurant), the enzyme provides these molecules with the push they need to start bonding. This push encourages a bond to form, which permanently links the substrates so that they form an entirely new product altogether. Finally, the enzyme releases the new product, thus allowing itself to seek out new substrates.

In short, the enzyme matchmaker saw two substrates that were perfect for each other, introduced them at its restaurant, gave them a little push to start bonding, and released them back out into the world as a newly formed couple.

Not all enzymes form beneficial chemical reactions within the body; in fact, enzymes are particularly susceptible to acidic pH levels. Thanks to the excessive number of free radicals were constantly exposed to, our enzymes are kept busy neutralizing the free radicals that enter the body. For example, supereoxides dismutase are enzymes that are specifically designed to attack free radicals; once the free radicals have been neutralized, the new product thats released from the neutralization process is hydrogen peroxide. While you might think this is a relatively harmless product, excess levels of hydrogen peroxide has been linked to a number of side effects, including the early formation of gray hair.

If you want to keep premature graying away for a few more decades, then get ready to meet your new best enzyme friends: catalase and gluthione peroxidase. These helpful little enzymes enjoy turning hydrogen peroxide into nothing more than water and hydrogen and theyre good at it too. In fact, scientists have shown that one catalase molecule can convert over 40 million hydrogen peroxide molecules in just one second.

For those of us who want to keep gray hair at bay in addition to a wide assortment of diseases and ailments enzyme therapy can help keep our bodies healthy and strong. Many ailments are the direct result of enzyme, vitamin and mineral deficiencies; yet with a steady enzyme therapy regimen, many sufferers often report feeling revived and much healthier. Several case studies support the effectiveness of enzyme therapy; from constant fatigue to nighttime seizures, enzyme therapy has provided a comprehensive solution for many individuals who were failed by prescription medications.

From stopping gray hair formation to sustaining high energy levels, enzyme therapy is a recent scientific breakthrough that shouldnt be ignored. So when your girlfriend starts to complain about finding a gray hair, tell her that she needs more catalase in her body. Shell definitely think youre the next Albert Einstein.

Read More

Digestive Enzyme Therapy cure illnesses

If you are looking for new alternative medications to a lot of illnesses then this article is just right for you.

Digestive enzymes are needed in order for us to be alive. This is the first reason why we should have digestive enzyme therapy. Digestive enzymes purify our blood, cleanse the colon, maintain proper cholesterol levels and peak energy levels. Food enzymes such as digestive enzymes are not entirely new. They have already been known to exist since the time of Hippocrates. It has also been long recognized that a lot of illnesses are related to improper diet and poor nutrition. This means that the " you are what you eat" thing was already known.

Digestive enzymes naturally protect us from illnesses. This is the second reason why we should have digestive enzyme therapy. Digestive enzymes have a great effect on our entire immune function. Digestive enzymes that are contained in white blood cells such as lipase, protease, amylase, alkaline phospatase and peptidase are part of the pancreatic juices and they all increase immune function.

Digestive enzymes are used to treat various illnesses too. This is the third reason why we should have digestive enzyme therapy.

Digestive enzymes are also essential if you want to achieve and maintain healthy skin. This is the fourth reason. Digestive enzymes help improve skin, hair and nails by increasing the blood supply to the skin and body. Then better digestion also improves circulation, and circulation helps bring the right nutrients to the skin as well as clean the waste products that make skin dull and wrinkled.

And the last reason, digestive enzymes is used to treat obesity and overweight. Digestive enzymes like lipase breaks down and dissolves the fat that is stored in our bodies and transforms them into energy. Without lipase, fat accumulates and is stored in arteries, organs and capillaries.

Protease also breaks down proteins and eliminates toxins. If your body has too much toxins, your body also stores excess fat. That is why protease's function is important in losing fat.

Read More

Sex gives clues to new lung cancer treatment

Research into an enzyme that produces a hormone released after sex has inspired Australian National University chemists to create new treatments for small-cell lung cancer.

Led by Professor Chris Easton and PhD student Ms. Lucy Cao from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology at ANU, the team are working to reduce the number of small-cell lung cancer deaths by building new drugs that target the biology underlying the disease. Their work has been published in the latest edition of The Royal Society Chemistry journal, Medicinal Chemistry Communications.

“Given that one in every 28 Australians are diagnosed with lung cancer and it is the most common cause of cancer death, there is a real need to develop new pharmaceuticals to treat this disease. Although it is still early days our results are very promising,” said Professor Easton.

The team are investigating an enzyme, known as PAM, which activates a number of important peptide hormones. These include calcitonin, which promotes cell proliferation, and oxytocin, dubbed the ‘love hormone’, as it produces feelings of contentment following orgasm. Imbalances in peptide hormones have been shown to cause inflammatory diseases, asthma, and various cancers.

Read More

Enzyme could be a key to stopping the cancer

We are able to show that caloric restriction slows down aging by preventing an enzyme, peroxiredoxin, from being inactivated. This enzyme is also extremely important in counteracting damage to our genetic material," says Mikael Molin of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology.


By gradually reducing the intake of sugar and proteins, without reducing vitamins and minerals, researchers have previously shown that monkeys can live several years longer than expected. The method has also been tested on everything from fishes and rats to fungi, flies and yeasts with favourable results. Caloric restriction also has favourable effects on our health and delays the development of age-related diseases. Despite this, researchers in the field have found it difficult to explain exactly how caloric restriction produces these favourable effects.

Using yeast cells as a model, the research team at the University of Gothenburg has successfully identified one of the enzymes required. They are able to show that active peroxiredoxin 1, Prx1, an enzyme that breaks down harmful hydrogen peroxide in the cells, is required for caloric restriction to work effectively.
The results, which have been published in the journal Molecular Cell, show that Prx1 is damaged during aging and loses its activity.

Caloric restriction counteracts this by increasing the production of another enzyme, Srx1, which repairs Prx1. Interestingly, the study also shows that aging can be delayed without caloric restriction by only increasing the quantity of Srx1 in the cell. Repair of the peroxiredoxin Prx1 consequently emerges as a key process in aging.
"Impaired Prx1 function leads to various types of genetic defects and cancer. Conversely, we can now speculate whether increased repair of Prx1 during aging can counteract, or at least delay, the development of cancer."

Peroxiredoxins have also been shown to be capable of preventing proteins from being damaged and aggregating, a process that has been linked to several age-related disorders affecting the nervous system, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The researchers are accordingly also considering whether stimulation of Prx1 can reduce and delay such disease processes.

* source ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2011)

Read More

What is the difference between Tray Grown and Field Grown Wheat Grass?

Nutritionally speaking there is actually a quite a difference. First of all, any wheat grass is good for you. However, The tray-grown wheatgrass is usually grown in a warm greenhouse or indoors under fluorescent lightning. The grass will be harvested and juiced for consumption after 7-10 days of accelerated growth cycle. Because it grows so quickly in the warm conditions, the plant does not reach its full vegetative development for a maximum nutritional content. It has a relatively high level of simple sugars and simply is not given the time to convert these sugars into complex carbohydrates, vitamins, enzymes, and proteins.

Many consumers of the fresh juice do not realize that it is made of a plant that has not reached its full nutritional potential. Wheat grass grown outdoors in its natural climate has much higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and chlorophyll than tray-grown grass, due to vast differences in the growth process.

The accelerated growth in the tray-growing process also causes the plant to put most of its energy into growing leaves rather than roots. Thus very few minerals are absorbed through the roots to be utilized in producing the important complex nutrients.

Its rapid growth cycle produces simple sugars. People generally drink the tray-grown juice for therapeutic reasons and it’s purported energy boost. E-gaho winter organic Wheatgrass is grown outdoors in Australia, which has the most ideal climate for wheatgrass cultivation.

It is grown over three months through the winter. The visible grass grows very little until the spring, but the roots grow deep in our organic soil and have all winter to absorb the abundance of nutrients in the mineral rich organic soil.

There are significant differences in the nutritional profiles of the dehydrated whole plant powder and the fresh juice obtained from tray-grown wheatgrass, although highly regarded by many as high potency.

In fact, E-gaho winter organic Wheatgrass has every nutrient the human body needs to survive, except vitamin D, which is produced naturally by your skin from sunlight. It is known that a vegetables nutritional content is a direct result of the soil where they are grown.

Therefore the ideal choice is a organic cultivated whole plant powder, packed with all nutrients to support your body's antioxidant and nutritional needs.

Read More

Anti-Aging enzyme's secret revealed

Johns Hopkins researchers have determined how a tiny molecule normally squelches the activity of an enzyme that otherwise could help yeast, worms and flies live longer.The structural secrets they found, which are described in the March 18 issue of Molecular Cell, are likely to help efforts to design molecules that increase or decrease the enzyme's normal activity. 

The idea isn't to create a fountain of youth, say the researchers, but to help treat diabetes, inflammation, cancer or other conditions in which the enzyme plays a role. 

The enzyme, called Sir2 or sirtuin, turns on or off certain proteins by removing "decorations" called acetyl groups."Some of the proteins the enzyme turns on or off are already known to be involved in disease, and new ones are being identified all the time," says Cynthia Wolberger, Ph.D., professor of biophysics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in Johns Hopkins' Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. "The idea is that specifically and carefully altering the activity of sirtuins could help fix those conditions by restoring appropriate activity levels of the specific protein involved."

For example, Johns Hopkins scientist Pere Puigserver reported just last month that the human equivalent of Sir2 is intimately involved in controlling whether the liver produces sugar when food is scarce. In people with diabetes, sugar production in the liver is constant, and targeting this sirtuin might help restore control.

 One key controller of the enzyme's activity is a small, naturally occurring molecule called nicotinamide (nick-oh-TIN-ah-mid), itself a product of the enzyme's complex chemistry. Already, scientists knew that this molecule fine-tunes sirtuin's activity by reducing its ability to remove the acetyl groups from proteins.But exactly how nicotinamide interfered with sirtuin's activity was unknown. 

One idea was that there might be two places where nicotinamide could sit in the enzyme -- one spot where it's created, and another where it just blocks the enzyme from doing its job."Our structures of the protein and nicotinamide show that this is clearly not the case," says Wolberger, whose research focuses on understanding proteins' functions by determining what they look like. "Instead, nicotinamide binds in only one spot in the enzyme."Jose Avalos, then a graduate student, found the answer by determining the three-dimensional structure of the nicotinamide and sirtuin bound together. The structure literally shows the molecule sitting in a pocket of the enzyme and also reveals how its presence prevents sirtuin from doing its thing. 

Based on this picture, the researchers altered a single component of that pocket, which made the enzyme sensitive to a different molecule."Things don't usually work out so cleanly," says Wolberger. "But in this case we made a prediction based on the structure, and we were able to prove that prediction true."Wolberger and Avalos used sirtuin from bacteria to create their structures, but the human version of the enzyme responds to nicotinamide in the same way. 

Avalos's structures clearly identify which building blocks of the sirtuin protein are involved in binding nicotinamide."Understanding the interaction in such detail can help in the design of new compounds that could inhibit sirtuin's activity or increase it," says Avalos, now a postdoctoral fellow with Nobel laureate Rod MacKinnon at The Rockefeller University. "Which one you'd want to do depends on the ailment being addressed."Molecules that mimic nicotinamide and block sirtuin's activity might be useful in treating diabetes, based on Puigserver's recent discoveries. 

Or the structural clues could be used to do the opposite, to turn up sirtuin's activity, which might restart a tumor suppressor gene called p53 that is erroneously shut off in many cancers. But those are just two examples."In the last two or three years, there's been an explosion in the number of known implications of sirtuin enzymes in biology and human health," notes Avalos.

Wolberger's goal isn't developing drugs, but understanding the details of how sirtuin works and how it's controlled, in part by understanding how various inhibitors and stimulators of sirtuin activity interact with the enzyme.

 The research was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health. Authors on the paper are Avalos, Wolberger and Katherine Bever.

(Source:Johns Hopkins Medicine)

Read More

Research: Enzyme repair damaged tissues and reversed the signs of ageing

In mice, reactivating the enzyme telomerase led to the repair of damaged tissues and reversed the signs of ageing. Photograph: Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Scientists claim to be a step closer to reversing the ageing process after rejuvenating worn out organs in elderly mice. The experimental treatment developed by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, turned weak and feeble old mice into healthy animals by regenerating their aged bodies.

The surprise recovery of the animals has raised hopes among scientists that it may be possible to achieve a similar feat in humans – or at least to slow down the ageing process.

An anti-ageing therapy could have a dramatic impact on public health by reducing the burden of age-related health problems, such as dementia, stroke and heart disease, and prolonging the quality of life for an increasingly aged population.
"What we saw in these animals was not a slowing down or stabilisation of the ageing process. We saw a dramatic reversal – and that was unexpected," said Ronald DePinho, who led the study, which was published in the journal Nature.
"This could lead to strategies that enhance the regenerative potential of organs as individuals age and so increase their quality of life. Whether it serves to increase longevity is a question we are not yet in a position to answer."

The ageing process is poorly understood, but scientists know it is caused by many factors. Highly reactive particles called free radicals are made naturally in the body and cause damage to cells, while smoking, ultraviolet light and other environmental factors contribute to ageing.

The Harvard group focused on a process called telomere shortening. Most cells in the body contain 23 pairs of chromosomes, which carry our DNA. At the ends of each chromosome is a protective cap called a telomere. Each time a cell divides, the telomeres are snipped shorter, until eventually they stop working and the cell dies or goes into a suspended state called "senescence". The process is behind much of the wear and tear associated with ageing.

At Harvard, they bred genetically manipulated mice that lacked an enzyme called telomerase that stops telomeres getting shorter. Without the enzyme, the mice aged prematurely and suffered ailments, including a poor sense of smell, smaller brain size, infertility and damaged intestines and spleens. But when DePinho gave the mice injections to reactivate the enzyme, it repaired the damaged tissues and reversed the signs of ageing.

"These were severely aged animals, but after a month of treatment they showed a substantial restoration, including the growth of new neurons in their brains," said DePinho.

Repeating the trick in humans will be more difficult. Mice make telomerase throughout their lives, but the enzyme is switched off in adult humans, an evolutionary compromise that stops cells growing out of control and turning into cancer. Raising levels of telomerase in people might slow the ageing process, but it makes the risk of cancer soar.

DePinho said the treatment might be safe in humans if it were given periodically and only to younger people who do not have tiny clumps of cancer cells already living, unnoticed, in their bodies.

David Kipling, who studies ageing at Cardiff University, said: "The goal for human tissue 'rejuvenation' would be to remove senescent cells, or else compensate for the deleterious effects they have on tissues and organs. Although this is a fascinating study, it must be remembered that mice are not little men, particularly with regard to their telomeres, and it remains unclear whether a similar telomerase reactivation in adult humans would lead to the removal of senescent cells."

Lynne Cox, a biochemist at Oxford University, said the study was "extremely important" and "provides proof of principle that short-term treatment to restore telomerase in adults already showing age-related tissue degeneration can rejuvenate aged tissues and restore physiological function."

DePinho said none of Harvard's mice developed cancer after the treatment. The team is now investigating whether it extends the lifespan of mice or enables them to live healthier lives into old age.

Tom Kirkwood, director of the Institute for Ageing and Health at Newcastle University, said: "The key question is what might this mean for human therapies against age-related diseases? While there is some evidence that telomere erosion contributes to age-associated human pathology, it is surely not the only, or even dominant, cause, as it appears to be in mice engineered to lack telomerase.

Furthermore, there is the ever-present anxiety that telomerase reactivation is a hallmark of most human cancers."

Read More