Secret mint herb may stop breast cancer patients’ hot flushes and night sweats

Researchers at the University of Manchester are testing a secret herb in a bid to stop the severe hot flushes that besiege breast cancer patients on hormone treatment.Professor Alex Molassiotis, of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, says the herb – one of the mint family, found in any kitchen – is thought to stop the hot flushes and night sweats which can be so bad that some women have to change their clothes three or four times a night.

It is traditionally used by Mediterranean women undergoing the menopause, but Professor Molassiotis cannot name it as he and his team are carrying out a double blind trial (neither the patient nor the doctor is allowed to know whether they are in the group taking the herb or a placebo).

The women are taking hormone treatment to lower oestrogen and progesterone levels as these affect the growth of some breast cancer cells. This can lead to early or revisiting menopause with symptoms such as anxiety, dry skin, bone thinning and hot flushes, with some women having up to 30 flushes a day. It is too risky for them to take Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) as this will increase the hormone levels again. Instead they are advised to cut out tea, coffee and nicotine, try alternative remedies or a certain type of anti-depressant.

Professor Molassiotis said: “It is hoped that the herbal remedy will be simpler and cheaper to take, as well as more effective, thus improving the lives of women who need all their energy to fight the disease.”

He and his team are now recruiting 170 volunteers for the randomized trial, half of whom will take the phytooestrogen herb in the form of a pill and half of whom will take a placebo, from Greater Manchester and Cheshire. Only breast cancer patients who have or are receiving hormone treatments for their cancer are allowed to take part, and only if they experience at least one hot flush a day of moderate and above severity for at least a month. The treatment will be for a total of three months, taking one pill a day. The team will assess the volunteers’ hot flushes four times over six months from starting the trial with questionnaires and a blood sample.

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Article adapted by MD Only Weblog from original press release.
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Contact: Mikaela Sitford
University of Manchester

Hope for Diabetics at risk of blindness

Brand new research launched at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester is bringing hope to hundreds of people with diabetes who lose their sight each year as a side-effect of the disease.

People with diabetes commonly experience blindness, or a reduction in sight, when a lack of oxygen at the back of the eye causes tiny blood vessels to overgrow into the vitreous humour, which is a jelly like substance. This jelly like substance is removed during surgery to treat this problem.

Pharmaceutical researchers at the University of East Anglia have revealed that they are developing an artificial form of this vitreous humour so that it can be replaced following surgery or if it has been damaged or degenerated for other reasons.

Biologist Janine Morris working with Pharmacist Susan Barker and Biologist Julie Sanderson at the School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of East Anglia, is identifying the essential characteristics of the human and pig vitreous humour so that they can be mimicked artificially.

She says: “I am currently making a gel that imitates the vitreous humour and which is non-cytotoxic to the human eye. The substance will also include anti-angiogenic drugs to prevent the blood vessels re-growing and the original damage re-occurring.”

Placing this artificial jelly into the damaged eye should certainly improve and potentially restore lost sight. Janine Morris says that the research, which is in the preliminary stages, is good news for diabetes sufferers who will be protected against recurring damage. “The idea that we can potentially improve and maintain sight for diabetes sufferers by replacing the vitreous humour is amazing,” she says.

The vitreous humour is a clear gel-like substance that fills the space between the lens and the retina of the eye. It is 99% water but also contains collagen fibres, inorganic salts, acids and sugar.

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Article adapted by MD Only Weblog from original press release.
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The University of East Anglia

Taking American Ginseng before meals reduces blood sugar

Researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto have found that taking American ginseng before a meal reduces blood sugar in people both with and without diabetes. The study appears in the April 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, a publication of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Dr. Vladimir Vuksan, lead investigator for the study, says that these findings may have important implications for the treatment and prevention of diabetes, a disease affecting approximately eight per cent of North American adults and continually rising. “Although preliminary, these findings are encouraging and indicate that American ginseng’s potential role in diabetes should be taken seriously and investigated further. Controlling after-meal blood sugar levels is recognized as a very important strategy in managing diabetes. It may also be important in the prevention of diabetes in those who have not yet developed the disease.”

Study participants, both diabetic (Type 2) and non-diabetic, consumed capsules containing three grams of ground Ontario-grown American ginseng either 40 minutes before or during a glucose test meal. Among participants with Type 2 diabetes, those who took the ginseng capsules experienced a 20 per cent reduction in blood sugar levels compared to when they took placebo capsules. Among non-diabetic participants, similar reductions were only seen when the ginseng capsules were taken before, not together, with the test meal, suggesting that the timing of administration may be important. (The trial was an acute clinical study and did not compare the diabetic participants to the non-diabetic participants.)

Although the results are encouraging, Vuksan, who associate director of the Risk Factor Modification Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital and assistant professor in the department of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, cautions that people should not use these findings as justification to start taking ginseng.

“This is an initial, short-term study that only indicates a need for more research. We don’t know what the effects of long-term consumption of ginseng will be. Because of poor standardization in the herbal industry, we also don’t know if these findings will hold true for all American ginseng products. Nor do we know whether taking different speciesof ginseng such as Chinese or Japanese will have the same outcome.”

In addition to implications for diabetes management, this study has considerable significance for broader research on herbals as potential medical treatments, an area that has generated a great deal of public controversy in recent years. “This study represents an important step in the evaluation of herbals,” says Vuksan. “A major criticism of the herbal field and past ginseng research has been the lack of scientific, placebo-controlled trials in humans. Our study applied traditional clinical trial standards to research on an alternative medical product.”

The use of herbals in North America has increased dramatically over the last decade and ginseng is one of the most widely-used herbs worldwide. There are several types, including American, Chinese, Japanese and Siberian. For the last 2000 years of Chinese traditional medicine, ginseng has been used as a tonic with supposed curative, restorative and aphrodisiac properties. Most of these claims have been based on anecdotal and other non-scientific observations. It is only recently that tests of ginseng have begun in humans, using rigorous scientific techniques.

Chai-Na-Ta, Langlay B.C., the world’s largest supplier of American ginseng, provided ginseng samples and, together with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, the funding for this study.

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Article adapted by MD Only Weblog from original press release.
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Contact: Steven de Sousa
University of Toronto

Menopause can make you fat

New research on the effects of the female sex hormone estrogen in the brain lend credence to what many women have suspected about the hormonal changes that accompany aging: Menopause can make you fat.Scientists long have sought to understand how changes in hormones during menopause could account for the increase in appetite and accompanying weight gain that often occurs among aging women.

In a series of animal experiments described today at the 234^th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, researchers showed how estrogen receptors located in the hypothalamus serve as a master switch to control food intake, energy expenditure and body fat distribution. When these receptors are destroyed, the animals immediately begin to eat more food, burn less energy and pack on pounds.

This research seems to support a link between estrogen and regulation of obesity, especially the dangerous accumulation of abdominal fat linked to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, says Deborah J. Clegg, Ph. D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, who is directing the studies.

The findings may also help scientists develop more targeted hormone replacement therapies, capable of stimulating estrogen receptors in one part of the brain or body while dampening it in the next, Clegg says.

Estrogen receptors are located on cells throughout a woman’s body. Previous studies have shown that one type of estrogen receptor, known as estrogen receptor alpha or ER-alpha, plays a role in regulating food intake and energy expenditure. But scientists have been unable to pinpoint exactly where these fat-regulating receptors reside or how they work to govern these behaviors.

To determine the effect of dwindling estrogen levels in the brain, Clegg and her colleagues are focusing on two ER-alpha rich regions located in the hypothalamus, an area of the brain that controls body temperature, hunger and thirst. The first region, called the ventromedial nucleus or VMN, is a key center for energy regulation.

Using a relatively new gene-silencing technique called RNA interference, the researchers in earlier research deactivated the alpha-receptors in the VMN. The estrogen receptors in other regions of the brain maintained their normal capacity.

When estrogen levels in the VMN dipped, the animals’ metabolic rate and energy levels also plummeted. The findings show the animals quickly developed an impaired tolerance to glucose and a sizable weight gain, even when their caloric intake remained the same. What’s more, the excess weight went straight to their middle sections, creating an increase in visceral fat.

The findings suggested that the ER-alpha in this region plays an essential role in controlling energy balance, body fat distribution and normal body weight.

Clegg now plans to perform a similar experiment to deactivate ER-alpha in the arcuate nucleus region of the hypothalamus. This region contains two populations of neurons: one puts the brake on food intake and the other stimulates food intake. Clegg anticipates that a loss of estrogen in this region may create an increase in the animals’ appetites as well as their weight.

Clegg says her studies address an area that is sorely needed given the incidence and impact of gender differences in obesity and its complications.

“The accumulation of abdominal fat puts both men and women at a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and insulin resistance,” she says. “Women are protected from these negative consequences as long as they carry their weight in their hips and saddlebags. But when they go through menopause and the body fat shifts to the abdomen, they have to start battling all of these medical complications.”

By identifying the critical brain regions that determine where body fat is distributed, Clegg says her findings may help scientists design hormone replacement therapies to better manage and manipulate estrogen levels.

“If we could target those critical regions and estrogen receptors associated with weight gain and energy expenditure, we could perhaps design therapies that help women sidestep many of the complications brought on by the onset of menopause,” she says.

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Article adapted by MD Only Weblog from original press release.
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Contact: Charmayne Marsh
American Chemical Society

The American Chemical Society — the world’s largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

—Deborah J. Clegg, Ph.D., is assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.