Exercise Boosts Health by Influencing Stem Cells to Become Bone, Not Fat

Endurance exercise doesn’t just improve muscle tone and fat loss but also increases blood production giving you a better oxygen carrying capacity and a better immune system.

McMaster researchers have found that working out triggers influential stem cells to become bone instead of fat, improving overall health by boosting the body's capacity to make blood.

The body's mesenchymal stem cells are most likely to become fat or bone, depending on which path they follow.

Using treadmill-conditioned mice, a team led by the Department of Kinesiology's Prof Gianni Parise has shown that aerobic exercise triggers those cells to become bone more often than fat.

The exercising mice ran less than an hour, three times a week, enough time to have a significant impact on their blood production, said Parise, an associate professor.

In sedentary mice, the same stem cells were more likely to become fat, impairing blood production in the marrow cavities of bones.

The research appears in a new paper published by the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (1).

"The interesting thing was that a modest exercise program was able to significantly increase blood cells in the marrow and in circulation," said Parise. "What we're suggesting is that exercise is a potent stimulus - enough of a stimulus to actually trigger a switch in these mesenchymal stem cells."

The composition of cells in the bone marrow cavity has an important influence on the productivity of blood stem cells.

In ideal conditions, blood stem cells create healthy blood that boosts the immune system, permits the efficient uptake of oxygen, and improves the ability to clot wounds. Bone cells improve the climate for blood stem cells to make blood.

But when fat cells start to fill the bone marrow cavity -- a common symptom of sedentary behavior -- blood stem cells become less productive, and conditions such as anemia can result.

The findings add to the growing list of established benefits of exercise, Parise said, and suggest that novel non-medicinal treatments for blood-related disorders may be in the future.

"Some of the impact of exercise is comparable to what we see with pharmaceutical intervention," he said. "Exercise has the ability to impact stem cell biology. It has the ability to influence how they differentiate."

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by The Zestfulness Team) from materials in the McMaster University Daily News of September 6, 2011

Journal Reference:

(1) J. M. Baker, M. De Lisio, G. Parise. Endurance exercise training promotes medullary hematopoiesis. The FASEB Journal, 2011; DOI: 10.1096/fj.11-189043

25 Ways to Make Time for Fitness

Too busy to work out? Doubtful.

The truth: Finding moments to move is entirely within your grasp.

We have excuses to avoid just about anything and exercise is certainly no exception.

If you want to exercise, you’ll make the time.

Experience Life team of reporters led by Gina DeMillo Wagner, interviewed psychologists, exercise scientists, celebrity trainers, authors and busy everyday people to get a handle on the 25 most promising strategies.

1. Make a plan.
2. Subdivide your to-do list
3. Find five minutes.
4. Limit screen time.
5. Be an active watcher.
6. Delegate like crazy.
7. Be motivated by money.
8. Think positive.
9. Be a hot date.
10. Do brisk business.
11. Socialize on the move.
12. Work it in.
13. Find a cheerleader.
14. Be yourself.
15. Bring the family.
16. Take your show on the road.
17. Hit “play.”
18. Rise and shine.
19. Ditch your drive.
20. Master the micro-workout.
21. Hit it hard.
22. Wear a pedometer.
23. Adopt a DIY mentality.
24. Work while you wait.
25. Phone it in.

It is certainly challenging to read all 25 strategies in one go but you need not have to do so. Just select any one or two to get you going. Come back for another couple, if the first two can’t get you started. And when you find exercise too boring or confusing, look up these strategies again to keep you motivated.

Experience Life magazine is a health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective.

Omega-3 & Osteoarthritis

Omega-3 Fish Oil Capsules

New research has shown for the first time that omega-3 in fish oil could "substantially and significantly" reduce the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis affects is caused when the cartilage at the ends of bones wears away and the underlying bone thickens, leading to stiff, painful joints. Currently, there is no effective treatment to slow down disease progression, and treatment is limited to pain relief and ultimately joint replacement.

According to the University of Bristol study, funded by Arthritis Research UK and published in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, omega-3-rich diets fed to guinea pigs, which naturally develop osteoarthritis, reduced disease by 50 per cent compared to a standard diet.

The research is a major step forward in showing that omega-3 fatty acids, either sourced from fish oil or flax oil, may help to slow down the progression of osteoarthritis, or even prevent it occurring, confirming anecdotal reports and "old wives' tales" about the benefits of fish oil for joint health.

Lead researcher Dr John Tarlton, from the Matrix Biology Research group at the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences, said classic early signs of the condition, such as the degradation of collagen in cartilage and the loss of molecules that give it shock-absorbing properties, were both reduced with omega-3.

"Furthermore, there was strong evidence that omega-3 influences the biochemistry of the disease, and therefore not only helps prevent disease, but also slows its progression, potentially controlling established osteoarthritis," he said.

Dr Tarlton added: "The only way of being certain that the effects of omega-3 are as applicable to humans as demonstrated in guinea pigs is to apply omega-3 to humans. However, osteoarthritis in guinea pigs is perhaps the most appropriate model for spontaneous, naturally occurring osteoarthritis, and all of the evidence supports the use of omega-3 in human disease."

Medical research director of Arthritis Research UK, Professor Alan Silman, said: "The possibility that omega-3 fatty acids could prevent osteoarthritis from developing has been a tantalising one. Some limited, previous research in dogs has suggested that we were a long way away from understanding the potential use in humans. However, this current research in guinea pigs is exciting as it brings us closer to understanding how omega-3 might fundamentally interfere with the osteoarthritis process, and that it could potentially be taken as a treatment."

Fish Oil Far More Effective Than Flax Oil

On the back of the results of his study, Dr Tarlton said that following government guidelines on dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids could be effective in reducing the burden of osteoarthritis. Fish oil is far more effective than the flax oil based supplement, but for vegetarians flax oil remains a viable alternative.

"Most diets in the developed world are lacking in omega-3, with modern diets having up to 30 times too much omega-6 and too little omega-3. Taking omega-3 will help redress this imbalance and may positively contribute to a range of other health problems such as heart disease and colitis."

Further studies are needed to determine the influence of omega-3 fatty acids on established disease in guinea pigs, and to confirm the effects in human osteoarthritis, said Dr Tarlton.

Story Source:

The above story is prepared with editorial adaptations by The Zestzfulness Team from materials provided in the University of Bristol press release issued on October 17, 2011

Journal Reference

Knott L, Avery NC, Hollander AP, Tarlton JF. Regulation of osteoarthritis by omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids in a naturally occurring model of disease. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2011 Sep;19(9):1150-7.

You can read the full report HERE.

####

Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids necessary for human health. The body cannot make its own omega-3 fatty acids, they must be taken in through the diet, or in supplement form. Omega-3 fatty acids are naturally found in fish, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut, other seafood including algae and krill, some plants, and nut oils.

Also known as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function, as well as normal growth and development.

Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and may help lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease where clinical evidence is strongest.

Omega-3 fatty acids may also be used for:

High cholesterol

High blood pressure

Heart disease

Diabetes

Rheumatoid arthritis

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Osteoporosis

Depression

Bipolar disorder

Schizophrenia

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Cognitive decline

Skin disorders

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Asthma

Macular Degeneration

Menstrual pain

Coloncancer

Breast cancer

Prostate cancer

You can get more information from the University of Maryland Medical Center website HERE

Dick Smith?

If you compare the amount of my hair in this old photo with that in the recent photo below, you will realise that many years have intervened between these photos.



And that's how long it took me to find out where they make that solid thing!
















OK lah, let's stop horsing around and get intellectual:

ZEN Results Raise Early Hopes for DES in Erectile Dysfunction

PDE-5 inhibitors easily make baby boomers the lucky generation.

Unfortunately some are not so lucky and do not respond to the vasodilating effect of PDE-5 inhibitors like Cilais, Levitra and Viagra.

These include men with focal atherosclerotic narrowing of one or both internal pudendal arteries. (The internal pudendal artery in the male is a blood vessel that branches off the artery of the pelvis, providing blood to the dorsal and deep arteries of the penis)

But even among these not so lucky ones, there is hope.

50 men this group were enrolled in a ZEN trial sponsored by Medtronic to test a drug-eluting stent (DES) of the internal pudendal artery (not the penis itself, :-).

Dr Jason Rogers (UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA) unveiled the early results at the recent VIVA: Vascular InterVentional Advances, 2011 Conference in Las Vegas, which suggest that this novel use for a DES is safe and associated with significant improvement in erectile function and satisfaction.

He stressed that the "exciting" positive results nevertheless mark a very early first step toward a treatment that will never be for all men with erectile dysfunction. A lot more investigation is required

A stent is a tiny tube placed into an artery, blood vessel, or other duct (such as one that carries urine) to hold the structure open. A drug-eluting stent is coated with a medicine that helps further prevent the arteries from re-closing

Penis Itself May Be Source of Male Hormones

Here’s another good news for aging baby boomers that Dr. Kathleen Hwang, currently an assistant professor of surgery/urology at Brown University described as “actually very exciting”

Textbooks have long listed the centers of male hormone production as the testes and adrenal glands. Kathleen and colleagues harvested testes, prostate, penile and adrenal gland tissue from two 3-month old mice, subjected them to high-tech microscopic analyses and found three key proteins known to be involved in androgen production in both prostate gland and penile tissue.

Kathleen presented the findings at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. on October 19, 2011.

Dr Edward Kim, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology at the University of Tennessee's graduate school of medicine in Knoxville opined that more research with humans is required "to get a real handle on what's going on."

Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Add a Decade or More Healthy Years to the Average Lifespan

Clyde Yancy, professor of medicine and chief of cardiology at the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, suggested seven lifestyle changes to achieve optimal health potential.

Delivering the keynote lecture at the opening ceremonies of the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Vancouver on October 23, 2011, Dr Yancy told delegates that people who follow these seven simple lifestyle factors have a 90 per cent chance of living to the age of 90 or 100, free of not only heart disease and stroke but from a number of other chronic illnesses including cancer.

1. GET ACTIVE: Inactivity can shave almost four years off a person’s expected lifespan. People who are physically inactive are twice as likely to be at risk for heart disease or stroke.

2. KNOW AND CONTROL CHOLESTEROL LEVELS: Almost 40 per cent of Canadian adults have high blood cholesterol, which can lead to the buildup of fatty deposits in your arteries − increasing your risk for heart disease and stroke.

3. FOLLOW A HEALTHY DIET: Healthy eating is one of the most important things you can do to improve your health – yet about half of Canadians don’t meet the healthy eating recommendations.

4. KNOW AND CONTROL BLOOD PRESSURE: High blood pressure − often called a ‘silent killer’ because it has no warning signs or symptoms − affects one in five Canadians. By knowing and controlling your blood pressure, you can cut your risk of stroke by up to 40 per cent and the risk of heart attack by up to 25 per cent.

5. ACHIEVE AND MAINTAIN A HEALTHY WEIGHT: Almost 60 per cent of Canadian adults are either overweight or obese − major risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Being obese can reduce your life span by almost four years.

6. MANAGE DIABETES: By 2016 an estimated 2.4 million Canadians (or 7% of a projected population figure of 34.5 million) will live with diabetes. Diabetes increases the risk of high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries), coronary artery disease, and stroke, particularly if your blood sugar levels are poorly controlled.

7. BE TOBACCO FREE: More than 37,000 Canadians die prematurely each year due to tobacco use, and thousands of non-smokers die each year from exposure to second-hand smoke. As soon as you become smoke-free, your risk of heart disease and stroke begins to decrease. After 15 years, your risk will be nearly that of a non-smoker.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, every year in Canada about 250,000 potential years of life are lost due to heart disease and stroke, which are two of the three leading causes of death in Canada.

“We know how to prevent heart disease and stroke we now need to build the tools to empower our citizens to manage their risk and prevent heart disease,” says Dr. Yancy.

Sharpened focus on prevention strategies would save billions of dollars in heath costs

Dr. Yancy calls on governments to invest in steady and focused prevention strategies. He says that necessary initiatives include a change in current sodium policies, continued progress in tobacco control initiatives, increased green space, and health education.

The above story is based on materials from the news release by the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2011 in Vancouver, BC.

The Zestzfulness Team believes these seven simple lifestyle changes are just as relevant to non-Canadians!

Kylie Minogue and the Giant Teddy Bear

The Zestzfulness Team leaves it to you to figure out why DOM Wai Yin sent us this picture.

Picture credit: http://static.ctia.in/images/article/Category/Special-Features/today/diwali_5800_0.jpg



Diwali celebrates the victory of truth over falsehood, of light over darkness, of life over death, of good over evil.

The Zestzfulness Team Wishes You All A Very Happy Diwali!