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Metastatic cancer gorges on fructose in the liver


MedicalXpress
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 11:03 UTC
cancer cells
© CC0 Public Domain
Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated that metastatic cancer cells can reprogram their metabolism to thrive in new organs. Specifically, the research shows that cells originating from colorectal cancer change their dietary habits to capitalize on the high levels of fructose often found in the liver.

The finding offers both general and specific insights into new ways of fighting metastatic cancer. It appears April 26 in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Cancer becomes much more deadly once it spreads to different parts of the body, yet treatments don't take their location into account.

"Genetically speaking, colon cancer is colon cancer no matter where it goes," explained Xiling Shen, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke. "But that doesn't mean that it can't respond to a new environment. We had a hunch that such a response might not be genetic, but metabolic in nature."

In the study, Shen and his colleagues found that certain metabolic genes became more active in liver metastases than they were in the original primary tumor or lung metastases. One group of metabolic genes stood out in particular, those involved in the metabolism of fructose. This struck the researchers because many Western diets are rich in fructose, which is found in corn syrup and all types of processed foods.

Comment: Fructose can wreck your health! As explained in our SOTT Focus:

The Age of Metabolic Syndrome - Inflammatory Fat Is Worse Than Obesity
Notice how foie gras (French for fatty liver and also a French delicacy) is made by force feeding large amounts of a wet mash of corn (not fat) to geese or ducks. Their livers balloon up to about 6-10 times their normal size, all packed full of fat. This serves as a good example of the fattening effects of carbs and how this promotes fatty deposition in the liver. The excess carbohydrates drive metabolic syndrome and it should come as no surprise that fructose is commercially derived from corn.

The role of fructose and sucrose (table sugar, which is a 50/50 split of glucose and fructose) in metabolic disorders has been reviewed extensively. Dietary fructose consumption in industrialized countries has increased in parallel with the increase in fatty liver, obesity, and diabetes and there is a direct association (Rebollo et al., 2012). The increased consumption of high fructose corn syrup, primarily in the form of soft drinks, is linked with complications of metabolic syndrome and an increase in liver enzymes. Unlike glucose, fructose stimulates de novo fatty acid synthesis (creation of fat) directly and promotes weight gain. Once absorbed from the digestive tract, fructose goes to the liver to be converted either to glucose or to fat. If insulin levels are high, its going to be stored as fat, not burned as sugar. It needs to be stored somewhere, and the liver makes do, in a pinch.

Fructose is also different from glucose in its ability to induce features of metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, fatty liver, dyslipidemia, and intra-abdominal fat accumulation) both in humans and laboratory animals. The mechanism whereby fructose induces fatty liver appears to be independent of total energy intake (Lanaspa et al., 2012). So much for that low-calorie fructose meal!


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Ambulance

Brush with a venomous caterpillar sends Florida teen to the emergency room


CBS
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 12:43 UTC
southern flannel moth caterpillar

Southern Flannel Moth Caterpillar
A teen in Land O'Lakes, Florida, experienced what his mom said was "the worst pain he ever felt" after coming in contact with a venomous caterpillar. Fifteen-year-old Logan Pergola was doing volunteer landscaping work with his family on Saturday.

His mom, Andrea Pergola, said Logan was picking up tree branches when his arm brushed up against the caterpillar. It wasn't the kind of harmless little bug that kids find on playgrounds; it was a southern flannel moth caterpillar, and it was dangerous.

"He instantly felt a sharp, stinging pain and his arm went numb. Within 5 minutes he was dizzy, had lost color, was complaining of the worst pain he had ever felt & his eyes weren't super focused," Pergola wrote about her son on Facebook. "We tried to wash it off and I applied some garlic (it pulls venom out usually with bug stings)."

Comment: From Wired:
Never Touch Anything That Looks Like Donald Trump's Hair

Asp Caterpillars (Megalopyge opercularis) have a variety of nicknames: southern flannel moth, puss caterpillar, and the tree asp. They are considered the most highly venomous caterpillars in North America. The "hairs" of these caterpillars can break off and cause itching, but also hide an unpleasant surprise: sharp spines. The spines are connected to venom gland cells, and function like little hypodermic needles. The pain from injected venom is said to be intense, and lasts at least 12 hours.
Who knew caterpillars could be so dangerous?

See also:

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Health

33 children released from hospital after getting sick at 4-H camp in Florida

Andrew Krietz, Sean Streicher and Garin Flowers
WTSP
Fri, 22 Jun 2018 18:46 UTC
4-H Camp Cloverleaf
© Sean Streicher, 10News
Several children at a summer camp in Highlands County have been released from the hospital after mysteriously falling ill and being examined by doctors.

None of the 33 kids attending the Clover Leaf 4-H camp were seriously sick enough to require additional medical attention, aside from being hospitalized, according to county fire rescue. Three adults who also fell ill are under the same condition.

Highlands County Fire and EMS said the victims suffered a range of symptoms from fever to nausea and vomiting.

The medical mystery began Wednesday with kids getting sick. But emergency crews realized how bad it became among the group when a child passed out Thursday.
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Microscope 1

Viruses may play a role in Alzheimer's, new evidence shows

Lauran Neergard
AP
Fri, 22 Jun 2018 11:27 UTC
samples
Viruses that sneak into the brain just might play a role in Alzheimer's, scientists reported Thursday in a provocative study that promises to re-ignite some long-debated theories about what triggers the mind-robbing disease.

The findings don't prove viruses cause Alzheimer's, nor do they suggest it's contagious.

But a team led by researchers at New York's Mount Sinai Health System found that certain viruses - including two extremely common herpes viruses - affect the behavior of genes involved in Alzheimer's.

The idea that infections earlier in life might somehow set the stage for Alzheimer's decades later has simmered at the edge of mainstream medicine for years. It's been overshadowed by the prevailing theory that Alzheimer's stems from sticky plaques that clog the brain.

Thursday's study has even some specialists who never embraced the infection connection saying it's time for a closer look, especially as attempts to block those so-called beta-amyloid plaques have failed.

Comment: For an interesting read on the role of viruses and bacteria in diseases that are usually regarded as having a genetic cause, see:

Plague Time: The New Germ Theory of Disease by Paul Ewald

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Health

First human case of Keystone virus, spread by mosquitoes, reported in Florida

Ken Suarez
Fox News
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 07:58 UTC
mosquito keystone virus
It's mosquito season and it's almost impossible to avoid being bitten.

Concerns about mosquito-borne viruses like Zika and West Nile are renewed every year, but a mosquito-borne disease thought only to be transmitted to animals seems to have jumped the barrier to humans.

Scientists first discovered the Keystone virus in the Keystone area of Tampa 50 years ago.

Comment: Will Keystone be this year's Zika? With symptoms only as severe as rash and a mild fever, Keystone may need a lot more hype behind it before people start to get Zika-level hysterical.

See also:

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Syringe

Forget managing diabetes, reverse it

Sarah Hallberg
The Detroit News
Fri, 08 Jun 2018 15:02 UTC
insulin injection diabetes

Diabetes is reversible. That's the exciting conclusion of a study I'm leading at Indiana University Health.

Two hundred and sixty two patients with type 2 diabetes recently completed one year of a clinical trial examining the impact of a low-carbohydrate diet, which limits foods like grains and pasta while boosting consumption of healthy fats like avocados and butter. The diet didn't restrict calories.

Using smartphone technology, health coaches worked continually with participants to guide them through the changes while physicians monitored and adjusted medications.

Comment: What is amazing about low-carbohydrate intervention in diabetes (type II, in particular) is that it works so quickly. Mainstream detractors of the low carb approach are either ignoring the evidence or actively working to protect their own interests.

See also:

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Network

Distinct daily cycles in our thinking patterns revealed in study of 800 million tweets

University of Bristol
Medical Xpress
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 08:27 UTC
twitter
© AP Photo / Matt Rourke, File
Our mode of thinking changes at different times of the day and follows a 24-hour pattern, according to new findings published in PLOS ONE. University of Bristol researchers were able to study our thinking behaviour by analysing seven-billion words used in 800-million tweets.

Researchers in artificial intelligence (AI) and in medicine used AImethods to analyse aggregated and anonymised UK twitter content sampled every hour over the course of four years across 54 of the UK's largest cities to determine if our thinking modes change collectively.

The researchers revealed different emotional and cognitive modalities in our thoughts by identifying variations in language through tracking the use of specific words across the twitter sample which are associated with 73 psychometric indicators, and are used to help interpret information about our thinking style.

Comment: This would make sense because, from an evolutionary perspective, in the first part of the day we are conerned with obtaining our daily bread whereas evenings have often been a time of contemplation and imagination: Also check out SOTT radio's: The Health & Wellness Show: Sleep, Light and Circadian Rhythms

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Brain

Study: Childhood stress matures brain faster, adolescent stress delays it

Radboud University Nijmegen
Medical Xpress
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 12:00 UTC
child
Stress in early childhood leads to faster maturation of certain brain regions during adolescence. In contrast, stress experienced later in life leads to slower maturation of the adolescent brain. This is the outcome of a long-term study conducted by researchers of Radboud University in which 37 subjects have been monitored for almost 20 years. The findings will be published in Scientific Reports on 15 June.

In 1998, the group-which then comprised 129 one-year-olds and their parents-was tested for the first time. Over the past 20 years, researchers studied, inter alia, their play sessions and interactions with parents, friends and classmates. The children were also subjected to MRI scans. This wealth of data has enabled Karin Roelofs, Professor of Experimental Psychopathology, her Ph.D. student Anna Tyborowska and other colleagues of Radboud University to investigate how stress in various life stages affected the adolescent brain of these children.

More specifically, they looked at the effects on cerebral maturation. During adolescence, our brain experiences a natural pruning process in which previously made connections between brain cells are refined, allowing the creation of more useful and efficient networks.

Comment: The results of this seems to corroborate other findings that severe trauma in childhood can force a child to grow up too quickly, thus skipping formative years which can to lead to a variety of behavioral disorders later in life, and too little stress, encouraged through the phenomena of helicopter parenting, for example, prevents the maturation of the child making it incapable of handling stressors later in life:

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Wine n Glass

Scientists reveal those who drink alcohol occasionally have lower risk of dying early than those who abstain

Stephen Matthews
Mail Online
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 09:19 UTC
Alchohol 1

Mortality rates are lowest in light drinkers, who have an average up to three pints of beer or glass of wine a week across their lifetime
People who enjoy the occasional tipple are less likely to suffer a premature death than abstainers, research suggests.

Mortality rates are lowest in light drinkers, who have an average up to three pints of beer or glass of wine a week across their lifetime.

The risk soars 20 per cent for very heavy drinkers who indulge in the same amount of booze - but on a daily basis, scientists at Queen's University Belfast found.

And there is a seven per cent higher chance of an early death or being diagnosed with cancer for those who have never even touched alcohol.

The scientists have now revealed the exact risk of dying early or developing cancer for men and women in eight different brackets of drinkers.

Current UK guidelines advise a maximum of 14 units of alcohol a week - six pints of average strength beer or seven medium sized glasses of wine.


Comment: Put down that beer! Alcohol consumption guidelines may shorten your life expectancy, study says


Comment: See also: Largest observational study to date finds alcohol use biggest risk factor for dementia

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Microscope 2

CRISPR: Gene editing embryonic stem cells might increase risk of cancer

Michael Le Page
New Scientist
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 00:01 UTC
Embryonic stem cells
© BSIP SA/Alamy Stock Photo
Embryonic stem cells can become any type of cell in the body.
Emryonic stem cells could help treat all kinds of disorders, and editing the genomes of these stem cells could make the treatments far more potent. But there might be a catch.

A team at Novartis has found that genome editing kills most human embryonic stem cells - and the ones that survive are more likely to have mutations in a key anticancer gene. Cells with such mutations are, in theory, far more likely to turn cancerous.

"This is something we need to be aware of and test for," says Florian Merkle at the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute in the UK, who wasn't involved in the work.

Comment: Given the risks outlined above in editing embryonic stem cells, and considering the remarkable strides forward we're seeing in unedited stem cell therapies, the question has to be asked: Why bother editing them at all? Maybe because the scientists are trying to find ways of using their new toy CRISPR and make some serious bank in the process?

See:

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