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Dr. Marie Gabrielle Laguna

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Medical doctor-internist

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Lack Of Sleep Can Make You Fat

Sep 22, 2017

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Adults in the UK who had lack of sleep�usually tend to be overweight and obese and have poorer metabolic health, a new study shows.

The findings showed that persons who had been sleeping around six hours a night had a waist size that was 3cm bigger than participants who are getting nine hours of sleep a night. And shorter sleepers are heavier too.

The outcome gives a boost to the proof that inadequate sleep would make contributions to the progress of metabolic ailments corresponding to diabetes — most important challenge facing the NHS.

This study, led by Dr Laura Hardie, Reader in Molecular Epidemiology on the University of Leeds examined the links between sleep duration, eating regimen and weight, and also different factors of overall metabolic well-being such as blood pressure, blood cholesterol, blood sugar, and thyroid function.

The study concerned 1,615 adults who had recorded how long they slept and kept documents of meals consumption. Individuals had blood samples taken and their weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure recorded.

The researchers examined the associations between how long individuals have been sleeping and these biologic parameters. The study was done by a group from the Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine and the School of Food Science and Nutrition and the results are published in the journal PLOS One.

Greg Potter, one of the Leeds researchers, has remarked that “The number of people with obesity worldwide has more than doubled since 1980. Obesity contributes to the development of many diseases, most notably type 2 diabetes. Understanding why people gain weight has crucial implications for public health.�

Shorter sleep was additionally linked to reduced phases of HDL cholesterol within the individuals’ blood, which is an additional element that can cause health problems. HDL cholesterol is known as good cholesterol that helps remove ‘bad’ fat from the circulation. In doing so, excessive HDL cholesterol levels defend towards conditions like heart diseases.

The study didn’t to find any relationship between shortened sleep and an unhealthy diet, which surprised the researchers. Other studies have advised that shortened sleep can lead to terrible dietary selections.

The study shows the associations between sleep duration and measurements of metabolic health. It was not done to determine the effect on of persistent poor sleep over time, and whether that results in sickness.

Gene Treatment Through Skin Would Treat Many Diseases, Even Weight Problems

Sep 21, 2017

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A research team established at the University of Chicago has overcome challenges that have confined gene treatment and have proven how their novel method with skin transplantation could enable a broad range of gene-founded remedies to deal with many human diseases.

In the present issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, the researchers provide “proof-of-concept.” They describe a new type of gene-treatment — administered through skin transplants — to deal with two associated and tremendously common human illnesses: type-2 diabetes and obesity.

According to study author Xiaoyang Wu, PhD, assistant professor in the Ben May Department for Cancer Research at the University of Chicago, We resolved some technical hurdles and designed a mouse-to-mouse skin transplantation model in animals with intact immune systems. We think this platform has the potential to lead to safe and durable gene therapy, in mice and we hope, someday, in humans, using selected and modified cells from skin.�

Starting in the Seventies, physicians discovered how to harvest skin stem cells from a sufferer with extensive burn wounds, develop them within the laboratory, then use the lab-grown tissue to close and preserve a patient’s wounds. This strategy is now standard. Nonetheless, the application of skin transplants is best developed in people than in mice.

Wu remarked, The mouse system is less mature. It took us a few years to optimize our 3D skin organoid culture system. We have a better than 80 percent success rate with skin transplantation. This is exciting for us.�

The study, “Engineered epidermal progenitor cells can correct diet-induced obesity and diabetes,” is the first to exhibit that an engineered epidermis graft can live on long run in wild-style mice with intact immune systems.

They targeted diabetes on account that it is a common non-skin disorder that may be handled using the strategic delivery of particular proteins.

The researchers inserted the gene for glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1), a hormone that stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin. This additional insulin eliminates excessive glucose from the bloodstream, preventing the complications of diabetes. GLP1 may also lengthen gastric emptying and curb the urge for food.

Making use of CRISPR, a tool for designated genetic engineering, they modified the GLP1 gene. They inserted one mutation, designed to lengthen the hormone’s half life within the blood circulation, and fused the modified gene to an antibody fragment so that it could circulate within the blood stream longer. They also attached an inducible promoter, which enabled them to activate the gene to make more GLP1, as needed, by exposing it to the antibiotic doxycycline. Then they inserted the gene into skin cells and grew those cells in culture.

When these cultured cells were exposed to an air/liquid interface within the laboratory, they stratified, producing what the authors referred to as a multi-layered, “skin-like organoid.” Next, they grafted this lab-grown gene-altered skin onto mice with intact immune techniques. There was no significant rejection of the transplanted skin grafts.

When the mice ate meals containing minute amounts of doxycycline, they launched dose-dependent stages of GLP1 into the blood. This in a timely fashion improved blood-insulin levels and lowered blood-glucose levels.

When the researchers fed normal or gene-altered mice with high-fat diets, these groups speedily gained weight. They grew to be overweight. When normal and gene-altered mice had the high fat diet along with various levels of doxycycline, to induce GLP1 unlock, the normal mice grew fat and mice expressing GLP1 had less weight gain.

According to the authors, Together, our data strongly suggest that cutaneous gene therapy with inducible expression of GLP1 can be used for the treatment and prevention of diet-induced obesity and pathologies. These results suggest that cutaneous gene therapy for GLP1 secretion could be practical and clinically relevant.�

Yoga Can Relieve Depression Symptoms

Sep 20, 2017

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People who endure depression could look to yoga as a complement to traditional remedies as this appears to minimize symptoms of the disorder, in line with reports presented at the 125^th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.

According to Lindsey Hopkins, PhD, of the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, who chaired a session highlighting research on yoga and depression, Yoga has become increasingly popular in the West, and many new yoga practitioners cite stress-reduction and other mental health concerns as their primary reason for practicing. But the empirical research on yoga lags behind its popularity as a first-line approach to mental health.�

Hopkins’ research is inquisitive about the acceptability and antidepressant results of hatha yoga, the branch of yoga that emphasizes physical workouts, along with meditative and breathing exercises, to increase well-being. In the study, 23 male veterans participated in twice-weekly yoga classes for eight weeks. On a 1-10 scale, the average enjoyment ranking for the yoga lessons for these veterans was 9.4. All contributors stated they might recommend the exercise to other veterans. Also, individuals with greater depression score before the yoga session had a big reduction in depression symptoms after eight weeks.

The other, more specified variation of hatha yoga generally practiced in the West is Bikram yoga, often referred to as heated yoga. Sarah Shallit, MA from Alliant school in San Francisco investigated Bikram yoga in 52 women, aged 25 to 45 years old. More than have of the subjects were assigned to take part in twice-weekly courses for eight weeks. The others were instructed that they had been wait-listed and used as a control. All subjects were tested for depression phases on the start of the study as well as at weeks 3, 6 and 9. Shallit and her co-author Hopkins have found that eight weeks of Bikram yoga greatly lowered signs of depression compared with the control group.

In an identical session, Maren Nyer, PhD, and Maya Nauphal, BA, of Massachusetts General Hospital, offered data from a pilot study of 29 adults that also confirmed that eight weeks of at least twice-weekly Bikram yoga significantly decreased signs of depression and increased the different secondary measures including quality of life, optimism, and cognitive and bodily functioning.

According to Nyer, The more the participants attended yoga classes, the lower their depressive symptoms at the end of the study�. Nyer has present funding from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health to conduct a randomized controlled trial of Bikram yoga for individuals with depression.

Hopkins remarked that the study on yoga as a remedy for depression continues to be preliminary. She mentioned, At this time, we can only recommend yoga as a complementary approach, likely most effective in conjunction with standard approaches delivered by a licensed therapist. Clearly, yoga is not a cure-all. However, based on empirical evidence, there seems to be a lot of potential.�

Remarkable New Device Can Heal Organs In One Touch

Sep 19, 2017

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Researchers on The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State’s College of Engineering have developed a new device, the Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT), that may generate any cell type for treatment in the body. This science may be used to restore injured tissue or fix function of aging tissue, including organs, blood vessels and nerve cells.

The outcome of this regenerative medication study is released in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

According to Dr. Chandan Sen, director of Ohio State’s Center for Regenerative Medicine & Cell Based Therapies, who co-led the study with L. James Lee, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering with Ohio State’s College of Engineering in collaboration with Ohio State’s Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, By using our novel nanochip technology, injured or compromised organs can be replaced. We have shown that skin is a fertile land where we can grow the elements of any organ that is declining�

Researchers studied mice and pigs in these experiments. In this particular study, researchers have been equipped to reprogram skin cells to be vascular cells in badly injured legs that lacked blood flow. Within one week, active blood vessels appeared in the injured leg, and by the second week, the leg was treated. In lab tests, this science was also found to reprogram skin cells in the body into nerve cells that have been injected into brain-injured mice to aid them in recuperating from stroke.

According to Sen, This is difficult to imagine, but it is achievable, successfully working about 98 percent of the time. With this technology, we can convert skin cells into elements of any organ with just one touch. This process only takes less than a second and is non-invasive, and then you’re off. The chip does not stay with you, and the reprogramming of the cell starts. Our technology keeps the cells in the body under immune surveillance, so immune suppression is not necessary.�

TNT technology has two major components: first is a nanotechnology-based chip designed to deliver to adult cells in the live body. The second is the design of biological cargo for cell conversion. This cargo, when delivered utilising the chip, converts an adult cell from one form to another. This is according to Daniel Gallego-Perez, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and general surgery who also was a postdoctoral researcher in both Sen’s and Lee’s laboratories.

TNT does not require any laboratory-founded approaches and could also be implemented at the point of care. The system can be non-invasive. The cargo is delivered by zapping the gadget with a small electrical charge that is barely felt.

Green Tea Can Improve Memory, May Prevent Obesity and Diabetes

Sep 18, 2017

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A new study has identified a new treatment for memory impairment, neuroinflammation, and brain insulin resistance triggered by high carbohydrate and fat diets.

A new study published in the FASEB Journal, involving mice, has found out that EGCG (epigallocatechin-three-gallate), the most abundant catechin and biologically active ingredient in green tea, may improve fat and high-sugar triggered insulin resistance and cognitive impairment.

Prior research has pointed out the ability of EGCG to treat diseases, but until now, EGCG’s effect on insulin resistance and cognitive deficits caused by a Western diet remained doubtful.

According to Xuebo Liu, Ph.D., a researcher at the College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, in Yangling, China, Green tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and is grown in at least 30 countries. The ancient habit of drinking green tea may be a more acceptable alternative to medicine when it comes to combatting obesity, insulin resistance, and memory impairment.�

Liu and the other researchers divided 3-month-old male C57BL/6J mice into three groups based on diet: a control group which was fed with a standard diet, a group fed with high fat and fructose diet and a group fed with high fat and fructose diet plus 2 grams of EGCG.

For sixteen weeks, researchers monitored the mice and soon found that the group fed with high fat and fructose diet had a bigger body weight than the control mice, and a vastly greater final body weight than the high fat and fructose diet +EGCG mice.

In performing a Morris water maze test, researchers have found out that mice in the high fat and fructose diet group took longer to search the platform in comparison with mice in the control group. The high fat and fructose diet + high fat and fructose diet group had a vastly lower escape latency and escape distance than the high fat and fructose diet group on each test day.

When the hidden platform was eliminated to do a probe trial, high fat and fructose diet -treated mice spent much less time within the target quadrant in comparison with control mice, with fewer platform crossings. The high fat and fructose diet +EGCG mice exhibited increase in the total time spent within the target quadrant and had higher numbers of platform crossings, showing that EGCG could fortify high fat and fructose diet -induced impairment.

According to Thoru Pederson, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, Many reports, anecdotal and to some extent research-based, are now greatly strengthened by this more penetrating study.�

Almonds Can Help Increase Good Cholesterol, Boost Functioning

Sep 14, 2017

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Are you fond of almonds? If so, you're lucky. A recent study has shown that almonds may increase good cholesterol or HDL levels while also improving the way the body eliminates cholesterol from the body.

In this study, researchers compared the levels and functioning of high-density lipoprotein (HDL cholesterol) in individuals who ate almonds every day, with the HDL phases and functions of the opposite group when they ate a muffin rather. The researchers determined that even as participants were on the almond diet, their HDL stages and functionality improved.

According to Penny Kris-Etherton, distinguished professor of nutrition at Penn State and author of the study which was published in the Journal of Nutrition, it was done based on earlier research about the effects of almonds on cholesterol-decreasing diets. There’s a lot of research out there that shows a diet that includes almonds lowers low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol, which is a major risk factor for heart disease. But not as much was known about how almonds affect HDL cholesterol, which is considered good cholesterol and helps lower your risk of heart disease.�

The researchers wanted to find out if almonds could not only increase the levels but also enhance the performance of HDL cholesterol, which works by collecting cholesterol from tissues, like the arteries, and transporting it out of the body.

According to Kris-Etherton, HDL is very small when it gets released into circulation. It’s like a garbage bag that slowly gets bigger and more spherical as it gathers cholesterol from cells and tissues before depositing them in the liver to be broken down.�

Depending on how much cholesterol it has accumulated, HDL cholesterol is then labeled into 5 “subpopulations,” which range from the very small to the higher, more mature types. The researchers hoped that consuming almonds would result in additional improved HDL functioning.

In this study, 48 males and females with increased LDL cholesterol participated in two six-week sessions. In each, their diets were equal besides the daily snack. On the almond diet, the seibjects obtained 43 grams or a few handful of almonds a day. Throughout the control interval, they had a banana muffin as an alternative.

On the end of each weight-reduction period, the researchers measured the levels and function of each participant’s HDL cholesterol. The researchers then compared the outcome to the participants’ baseline measurements which were taken on the start of the study.

The researchers observed that in comparison with the control diet, the almond program increased HDL levels when the particles are at their biggest size and most mature stage by19 percent. Moreover, the almond diet extended HDL performance by 6.4 percent, in those with normal weight.

Kris-Etherton commented, We were able to show that there were larger particles in response to consuming the almonds compared to not consuming almonds. That would translate to the smaller particles doing what they’re supposed to be doing. They’re going to tissues and pulling out cholesterol, getting bigger, and taking that cholesterol to the liver for removal from the body.�

High fat diet reduces gut bacteria, Crohn’s disease symptoms

Aug 23, 2017

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Results could lead to new anti-inflammatory probiotics

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have shown a high fat diet may lead to specific changes in gut bacteria that could fight harmful inflammation — a major discovery for patients suffering from Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease, a type of inflammatory bowel syndrome, causes debilitating intestinal swelling, cramping, and diarrhea. The disease affects half a million people in the United States, but its cause is yet unclear.

In the new study, a diet of plant-derived “good” fats, including coconut oil or cocoa butter, drastically reduced bacterial diversity in mice with Crohn’s-like disease. Mice fed beneficial fatty diets had up to thirty percent fewer kinds of gut bacteria as those fed a normal diet, collectively resulting in a very different gut microbial composition.

The study is one of the first to identify specific changes in gut bacteria — our microbiome — associated with Crohn’s disease and first to show how high fat diets can alter gut bacteria to combat inflammation. Rodriguez-Palacios presented his results at the annual Digestive Disease Week� conference in Chicago, Illinois earlier this month. The study was one of six accepted for presentation at the conference out of the laboratory of Fabio Cominelli, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pathology at Case Western Reserve University, and Division Chief of Gastroenterology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.

Results from the study could help doctors identify bacteria to use in probiotics to treat patients suffering from inflammatory bowel syndromes. “Ongoing studies are now helping us to understand which component of the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ fats make the difference in the gut microbes and make mice healthier,” Rodriguez-Palacios said.

The researchers anticipate their findings may have varying effects for patients. “Not all ‘good’ fats might be good in all patients,” Rodriguez-Palacios cautioned. “Mice indicate that each person could respond differently. But diet is something we are hopeful could help some patients without the side-effects and risks carried by drugs. The trick now is to discover what makes a fat ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for Crohn’s disease.”

Parkinson’s is partly an autoimmune disease, study finds

Aug 13, 2017

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First direct evidence that abnormal protein in Parkinson’s disease triggers immune response

Researchers have found the first direct evidence that autoimmunity — in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues — plays a role in Parkinson’s disease, the neurodegenerative movement disorder. The findings raise the possibility that the death of neurons in Parkinson’s could be prevented by therapies that dampen the immune response.

The study, led by scientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, was published in�Nature.

Scientists once thought that neurons were protected from autoimmune attacks. However, in a 2014 study, Dr. Sulzer’s lab demonstrated that dopamine neurons (those affected by Parkinson’s disease) are vulnerable because they have proteins on the cell surface that help the immune system recognize foreign substances. As a result, they concluded, T cells had the potential to mistake neurons damaged by Parkinson’s disease for foreign invaders.

The new study found that T cells can be tricked into thinking dopamine neurons are foreign by the build-up of damaged alpha-synuclein proteins, a key feature of Parkinson’s disease. Dopamine neurons become filled with structures called Lewy bodies, which are primarily composed of a misfolded form of alpha-synuclein.

In the study, the researchers exposed blood samples from 67 Parkinson’s disease patients and 36 age-matched healthy controls to fragments of alpha-synuclein and other proteins found in neurons. They analyzed the samples to determine which of the protein fragments, triggered an immune response. Little immune cell activity was seen in blood samples from the controls. In contrast, T cells in patients’ blood samples, which had been apparently primed to recognize alpha-synuclein from past exposure, showed a strong response to the protein fragments. In particular, the immune response was associated with a common form of a gene found in the immune system, which may explain why many people with Parkinson’s disease carry this gene variant.

Their findings raise the possibility that an immunotherapy approach could be used to increase the immune system’s tolerance for alpha-synuclein, which could help to ameliorate or prevent worsening symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients.

Acupuncture relieves pain in emergency patients: Study

Aug 12, 2017

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World’s largest randomized controlled trial of acupuncture in emergency departments finds it is a safe and effective alternative to pain-relieving drugs

The world’s largest randomized controlled trial of the use of acupuncture in emergency departments has found the treatment is a safe and effective alternative to pain-relieving drugs for some patients.

Led by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, the study found acupuncture was as effective as pain medicine in providing long-term relief for patients who came to emergency in considerable pain.

Lead investigator Professor Marc Cohen, from RMIT’s School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, said pain was the most common reason people came to emergency, but was often inadequately managed. While acupuncture is widely used by practitioners in community settings for treating pain, it is rarely used in hospital emergency departments. Doctors need a variety of pain-relieving options, given the concerns around opioids such as morphine, which carry the risk of addiction when used long-term.

The study published in the�Medical Journal of Australia�and funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, involved 528 patients with acute low back pain, migraine or ankle sprains who presented at the emergency departments of the Alfred Hospital, Cabrini Malvern, Epworth Hospital and Northern Hospital between January 2010 and December 2011.

Patients who identified their level of pain as at least 4 on a 10-point scale randomly received one of three types of treatment: acupuncture alone, acupuncture plus pharmacotherapy or pharmacotherapy alone.

One hour after treatment, less than 40 percent of patients across all three groups felt significant pain reduction while more than 80 percent continued to have a pain rating of at least 4.

But 48 hours later, the majority found their treatment acceptable, with 82.8 percent of acupuncture-only patients saying they would definitely repeat their treatment, compared with 80.8 percent in the combined group, and 78.2 percent in the pharmacotherapy-only group.

The author said that some Australian emergency departments already offer acupuncture by trained staff but further studies are needed on ways to improve pain management and the potential role for acupuncture in this.

Treating autism by targeting the gut

Aug 11, 2017

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Experts have called for large-scale studies into altering the make-up of bacteria in the gut, after a review showed that this might reduce the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Until now, caregivers have relied on rehabilitation, educational interventions and drugs to reduce ASD symptoms, but now researchers suggest that treating this condition could be as simple as changing their diet.

A review of more than 150 papers on ASD and gut bacteria found that since the 1960s, scientists have been reporting links between the composition of bacteria in the gut and autistic behaviour. The review highlights many studies showing that restoring a healthy balance in gut bacteria can treat ASD symptoms.

“To date, there are no effective therapies to treat this range of brain developmental disorders,” explains Dr. Qinrui Li of Peking University, China. “The number of people being diagnosed with ASD is on the rise. As well as being an expensive condition to manage, ASD has a huge emotional and social cost on families of sufferers.”

The link between the gut and ASD is well-known among sufferers: problems like diarrhea, constipation, and flatulence are commonly reported. The root of gastro-intestinal problems like these is an imbalance of “good” and “bad” bacteria in the gut.

According to the author, ASD could be a result of both genetic and environmental factors. The environmental factors include the overuse of antibiotics, maternal obesity and diabetes during pregnancy, delivery procedure and breastfeeding period. All of these can affect the balance of bacteria in an infant’s gut, so are risk factors for ASD.

However, the researchers found a significant body of evidence that reverting the gut microbiota to a healthy state can reduce ASD symptoms.

The findings could be a breakthrough in the treatment of this disorder. However, the researchers believe that the studies are too few and too small, and that new clinical trials are needed to take this research to the next level.

The authors hope that their review leads to research on the link between the gut microbiota and ASD, and eventually to affordable and effective treatment.

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