Scientists Identify Culprit in Huntington’s Disease

Scientists have solved why a faulty protein accumulates in cells throughout the body in people with Huntington’s disease, but only kills certain brain cells. It has an accomplice. The discovery provides a potential target to treat or slow the progression of Huntington’s.
Image of yellow dots in red brain cell.
Mutant huntingtin proteins (yellow) abnormally clump in mouse brain cells. All rights to this image reserved by Wellcome Images.

Huntington’s disease is a rare neurodegenerative disorder that affects an estimated 30,000 people nationwide. Symptoms, which appear in the late 30s and 40s, include uncontrollable twitches and jerks and a deterioration of mental abilities. Death typically comes about a decade after symptoms begin.

Huntington’s is a familial disease, passed from parent to child through a mutation in the huntingtin gene. The mutant huntingtin protein abnormally accumulates and clumps in all cells throughout the body. But for reasons scientists didn’t understand, mutant huntingtin protein only destroys brain cells in the area of the brain responsible for movement, called the corpus striatum. The mutant protein causes little damage in other tissues.

A research team at Johns Hopkins led by Dr. Srinivasa Subramaniam and Dr. Solomon H. Snyder searched for proteins that interacted with mutant huntingtin protein solely in the corpus striatum. They reasoned that these unique proteins would provide clues to the huntingtin protein’s brain-specific effect. Their work was funded by NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

The researchers focused their attention on the protein Rhes, which is exclusively found in the corpus striatum. In the June 4, 2009 issue of Science, they reported that the Rhes protein interacts with both healthy and mutant versions of the huntingtin protein in human and mouse cells. But the Rhes protein binds much more strongly to mutant huntingtin.

Using a human cell line and mouse brain cells, the scientists added different combinations of normal and mutant huntingtin and Rhes. While each protein alone did not change the survival of the cells, Rhes and mutant huntingtin together caused 50% of the cells to die within 48 hours.

The researchers also found that, in the cells expressing both Rhes and mutant huntingtin, the mutant huntingtin protein no longer clumped. Rhes, they discovered, adds a small protein called SUMO to mutant huntingtin—a process called sumoylation. Sumoylation of mutant huntingtin partially dissolves the protein clumps into a soluble toxic protein. These results suggest that clumping somehow protects cells in other tissues of the body from dying. It’s still unclear why the soluble mutant huntingtin leads to cell death.

The scientists are currently testing to see if removing Rhes from mice with Huntington’s disease can slow or stop brain cells from dying. Future treatment strategies for the disease could aim to block the interaction of Rhes with mutant huntingtin or stop sumoylation.

"Now that we’ve uncovered the role of Rhes, it’s possible that drugs can be designed that specifically target Rhes to treat or even prevent the disease," Snyder says.

These findings may have implications far beyond Huntington’s disease. Understanding the underlying mechanism behind this disease could lead to insights into other neuropsychiatric diseases and conditions that involve localized damage.

—Nancy Van Prooyen
Related Links:

* Huntington's Disease:
http://health.nih.gov/result.asp?terms=huntington&disease_id=344

Source: http://www.nih.gov/news/research_matters/june2009/06222009huntingtons.htm

Glutathione - Your Body's Master Antioxidant

Did you know that your body has over 20 Trillion cells? Not one of them is random and every cell has a certain mission. Each and every one of the 20 million cells is protected by glutathione, the miracle protein.

Our cells create their own fuel (ATP). When a cell does it creates it's own oxidative flame. A fire extinguisher is then need to put out the fire. That fire extinguisher is glutathione (GSH). Antioxidants are needed to put out this fire. Glutathione is your body's major antioxidant.

When cells are attacked by free radicals, damage to the cell occurs. This is cellular inflammation. Glutathione has been shown to slow down the effects of aging, strengthen our immune system, improve and detoxify our liver function, and reduce the odds of developing cancer. Glutathione also works to help improve mental functions, give you more energy, improve concentration, enable you to exercise more, and improve heart and lung function, and more.

The bad news is as we age our glutathione levels go down 8 to 15 percent per decade. That is how we fell aging. As we lose our glutathione levels, our cells in order to stay alive, turn the thermostat down (ATP). As a result we feel less energy and lose our ability to focus. Our muscle cells can't recover as fast.

Free radicals from our environment and through the foods we eat do not go down as we age. They just keep coming! So later on the free radicals start to win. Cellular inflammation kicks in and our bodies start to "get sick". The American Medical Association states that inflammation is the driving force for most disease.

For those who understand how Free Radicals "Steal" electrons from other cells...

Vitamin E has 3 extra electrons to share
Vitamin C has 5 extra electrons to share
OPC's have 250 extra electrons to share
Glutathione has 1 million plus extra electrons to share

Glutathione (GSH) donates electrons to get rid of free radicals.

The important roles of Glutathione are: create energy production to make you feel years younger. Strengthen your immune system. Detoxify your body at the cellular level. Improve peak athletic performance and work out recovery time. Fight cellular inflammation to help your body from falling to major disease.

There has been so much said over the years as to the importance of antioxidants. Not to diminish vitamin E and C as antioxidants , but clearly our body's glutathione is the Master Antioxidant!

Learn about the glutathione breakthrough product and how you can accelerate your glutathione levelup to 276% and feel years younger, fight cellular inflammation and get your quality of life back. The former head of the American Medical Association calls it the biggest medical breakthrough we will witness in our lifetime. http://maxgxlhealthsite.com

Ovarian Cysts Causes

To fully understand ovarian cysts causes, it is important to know that there are a variety of different types of cyst that can form on the ovaries. Some are minor and clear up on their own, while others are more serious and require medical attention, perhaps resulting in surgery. There is a range of methods that can help eradicate and control ovarian cysts.

The basic type of cyst forms during menstruation. Small structures form on the ovaries called follicles, produce the hormones estrogen and progesterone and release an egg when a woman ovulates. Occasionally, these small structures continue to grow and form cysts. These are known as functional cysts, because they are due to the normal monthly cycle. The two types of functional cyst, are the follicular ovarian cyst and the corpus luteum ovarian cyst.

The first is formed if the small structure holding the egg does not release it, and it basically turns into a cyst. It is generally not painful, and disappears after a cycle or two. This is the most common type of cyst.

The latter maybe formed once the egg has left and its escape hole is somehow sealed and tissues collect and turn into a cyst. This type can be quite painful and the cyst could grow as big as 100cm and cause problems such as internal bleeding and twisting the ovary.

Another type of cyst, the dermoid cyst is formed on the ovaries. These are formed by mature skin, tissues and the like. These are almost always benign, ie non cancerous.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an increasingly diagnosed syndrome, which currently is not 100% known how this is caused. Insulin resistance, hyperglycaemia, diabetes and obesity have all been linked with it. It is interesting to note that the cases of PCOS has dramatically increased in the past 30 years, perhaps in a similar way to the amount of obesity and poor dietary foods have also increased in the same time span.

In very simple terms, because the body is so out of balance, the right hormones are not being released at the appropriate times, so the egg does not get released. This turns into a cyst and over time, more form and thickens the walls of the ovary and cause it to enlargen. This then causes infertility as one of the many symptoms of PCOS. Other symptoms include excess hair, abdomen, back & thigh pain and acne.

So you can see, there are various ovarian cysts causes, and various types of ovarian cyst too.

Stop Panic Attacks - 4 Simple Ways

Panic attacks are natural psychological reactions of a body out of anxiety or fear. It is a common attack or behavior of your body's defense system responding to stressful and possible dangerous situations. Too much stress can be the reason of you suffering from this attack.

Simple Ways to Stop Panic or Anxiety Attacks

If you often face a stressful situation and have a busy schedule then you need to be very careful. You can get panic attacks very often in near future. There are certain simple ways to avoid panic attacks;

1. Practicing Slow Deep Breathing Technique: In this you can start with slow breathing follow-up and try to relax. This helps you to calm your mind and body. Using this technique you can change your focus to more empowering images. This method also helps in reducing panic attacks if you already experiencing it.

2. Evade Caffeine And Alcohol: Caffeine, alcohol or other stimulants should be kept away as they control over the thinking power of human thus lessening the ability to concentrate. Probability of stopping panic attack increases on guarantee that you do not intake any such kind of stimulants.

3. Regular Exercise: Exercise keeps your body and mind fresh throughout the day and boosts you with new energy every now and then. This also helps to manage and lower your levels of adrenaline. The level of adrenaline increases with anxiety. Practicing regular exercise keeps your thoughts and actions under better control for better health.

4. Positive Thinking: Easy way to start with this is to focus on all positive things happened in our life whenever you feel anxious. In order to minimize the onset of anxiety, you can focus on the joyous occasions in your life and think about your loved ones. The more you practice focusing on positive things, the easier it will be to do this when you get anxious and you can stop a panic attack.

Panic attacks are difficult to deal with, but you can avoid panic attack from occurring. If you stay positive, focused and look after yourself mentally and physically you can surely stop anxiety attack from occurring. Managing anxiety is not straight forward and there is no definitive way in stopping panic attacks from happening. As anxiety attacks are natural, natural remedies do turn out to be very much effective rather than medications. Try some of the natural methods too, to help in the process of learning how to stop panic attacks.

10 Foods You Must NOT Eat

10 Foods You Must NOT Eat (no particular order, as they are all BAD for you & you should NOT eat any of them!)

1.) White Bread --- white breads are full of starch, which in turn raises your blood sugar. Elevated blood sugar triggers a release of insulin that lowers your blood sugar but signals the body to store fat. Insulin does its job good, most times to good and causes your blood sugar to crash. That's why you feel hungry very shortly after you've eaten a meal high in starches & sugars. It's a vicious cycle that has you packing on the fat!

2.) Pop, Soda --- 20 oz of pop contain 70 grams of SUGAR!!! If you don't already know, see above why that is bad. Anything that can take rust off of a nail can't be good for your body.

3.) Diet Pop, Soda --- Diet drinks contain added & artificial sweeteners, colorings, flavorings and preservatives. Studies have shown that these substances decrease your metabolism (among many other things), therefore having an adverse effect on your weight.

4.) Potato Chips (Regular or Baked) --- Besides being full of trans-fats, processed and artificial substances(see above), A recent study has found that long term ingestion of potato chips doubled their blood levels of a suspected carcinogen. Not only can chips make you fat but they may cause cancer as well!

5.) Breakfast Cereals (dry) --- Loaded with sugars and starches (see #1). Loaded with added artificial and processed substances(see all the above). Just look at the ingredient list of most cereals it's a mile long, with words you have to be a rocket scientist to pronounce.

6.) Canned Soups --- Usually have a day's worth of sodium in a single serving. High sodium diets have been linked to a host of maladies, including high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis and exercise induced asthma to name a few.

7.) Margarine --- Margarine is a soft spreadable sludge loaded with trans-fats, a dangerous fat with more concerning links to heart disease than saturated fats. Use the real stuff if you have to pick between the two. Avoid them both if you can.

8.) Dried Fruits --- The dehydrating process removes most of the volume of the fruit, so you end up eating cups of the stuff and 1000 calories later, you don't feel any fuller. Worst yet, most companies add tons of sugar to the fruit making it closer to candy than what mother nature had intended. Stick to the real stuff.

9.) Granola Bars --- What keeps a granola bar together? Most companies use High Fructose Corn syrup as their glue. Which quickly raises blood sugar and cancels out any health benefits from the oats.

10.) Quaker Instant Oatmeal --- 1 serving of this "heart healthy" hot cereal has more sugar than the same serving size of Fruit Loops. And we all know now what added sugar causes!!! Nothing that has a positive effect on your body!!!

Live by this quote: "If you can't hunt it, fish it or pick it from a tree, a bush or the ground DON'T eat it." It is that simple!

Defeats Anxiety Attack

Anxiety is a feeling of terror, nervousness, fear or worry. Essentially these fears or worries are irrational and the person who is suffering from the anxiety disorder feels uncertain worry or fear for no reason. He feels restless and the natural urge for sleep & appetite is lost. A serious amount of anxiety disorders end in hallucinations. In such a case the patient needs psychiatric assistance. Otherwise the form of anxiety is irrational fear.

There are different elements that incur anxiety on you. They may be stress at an office, home or school, financial problem, grave medical condition, side effects of drugs, intoxication. These elements affect the person's physique and psyche. These elements induce symptoms like agitation, lightheadedness, irritation, feeling of suffocation, tension, lack of focus, physical/mental fatigue, nausea, insomnia, dizziness, numbness, tingling of hands, feet, weakness, trembling, momentary blindness, teeth grinding or (in extreme cases) hallucination. If you are suffering from any of these symptoms then surely you are likely to have anxiety attacks.

With the curative methods, you can keep the anxiety attack at arm's length and defy it before it defeats you.

Physical exercise can relax you. Exercises of breathing also make a lot of good results. Deep breathing along with tai chi or yoga stimulates slow and steady breathing. This uplifts the oxygen level of your blood revives your body and freshens your mind.

Mind is a bundle of thoughts and many thoughts including real or pseudo in nature linger in your mind. With the techniques of self-hypnosis and meditation you can thwart the negative thoughts and calm your mind. Thus the stress and worries will disappear magically and you will feel at ease instantly.

Message, aromatherapy also do induce positive results on anxiety. With these therapies your tensed muscles will be freed and a proper blood flow can be generated through your nerves. This is a highly effective technique to defeat the anxiety bout.

Consumption of B-Vitamin through diet will reduce the anxiety disorder and make you at ease and you can live a normal life.

To Stop Anxiety Attack, you need to find a perfect natural technique which should help you to understand the problem and give a perfect solution to over come it.

Three Tips For Back Pain Relief

My personal tips for back pain relief are:

Tip # 1:

Stop doing whatever is causing. Many people know that playing five games of basketball, baseball or soccer every weekend is going to cause them to suffer from severe back pain or sciatica. Other people know that gardening for more than an hour or two will flare up their problem. So the simplest and easiest way to relieve your aches is to realize and understand the physical limitations of your body and therefore stop or limit the activities that you know are going to cause your symptoms.

Tip # 2:

Get an accurate diagnosis from your chiropractor, family Dr. or a physical therapist. More often than not back pain is probably from a muscle strain and muscle spasms. Doing all this activities listed above in Tip number one cause your back muscles to be overly stressed and strained. The end result is you having really bad pain. However, if the symptom does not go away in a few days you should definitely consult a healthcare provider to determine if your condition is being caused by something more than a muscle strain and muscle spasm. Disc herniations can also cause severe back pain. So if you do not feel any better in a few days definitely see your chiropractor or your family doctor.

Tip # 3:

Exercises work extremely well to provide back pain relief. I am going to share with you one of my favorite exercises for fast results. Lay your back with your legs straight out and gently bring one leg up and bring your knee to your chest and gently hold it there while bringing the other knee to your chest. Now hold both knees to your chest for approximately 60 seconds: and then relax and put your legs down. If you can repeat this exercise again for another 60 seconds and then relax. You can do this exercise throughout the day but make sure that you do it before you go to bed.

So there you have it. Three easy steps to help ease your symptoms. If you are aware of your body and know your limitations you are on your way to better back health and if this does not erase your pain you should definitely consult a health care specialist and work on stretching and exercises to strengthen your core muscles.