Newsbriefs: Fat; Produce; Dementia; Opiods; Brain Repair; Sleep

Brown Fat vs. White Fat.

Brown fat cells burn energy at a much higher rate than white fat. A new study at the Technical University of Munich shows that humans have three times more brown body fat (adipose tissue) than originally thought. As a result, there is great interest in drugs that activate brown fat to help prevent obesity and diabetes. In obesity, brown fat’s high energy level can be used to “melt away” excess weight, while increasing the activity of brown fat in diabetes may reduce excessive blood sugar levels. The study revealed, via positive emission tomography scans, that some people can activate brown fat more easily than others, or have more brown fat to start. Women have more active brown fat than men, and thinner, younger people have more brown fat than older, heavier people, previous studies showed. (Journal of Nuclear Medicine, March 2017.)

Eat More Produce for Optimal Health.

About half of cardiometabolic deaths (heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes) in the U.S. are associated with 10 dietary factors. These include: high sodium intake (9.5 percent); low nuts/seeds (8.5 percent); high processed meat intake (8.2 percent); low intake of seafood omega-3 fats (7.8 percent); low vegetables (7.6 percent); low fruits (7.5 percent) and high sugar-sweetened beverages (7.4 percent). Researchers say deaths related to insufficient healthier foods and nutrients are as substantial as those related to excess unhealthful foods and nutrients. Researchers recommend strategies for prevention to reduce the health and economic burdens of cardiometabolic disease, such as positive messaging to reinforce good food choices and products, both in schools and in the workplace. (JAMA, March 7, 2017.)

Improve Health and Well-Being with a Good Night’s Sleep.

Research conducted by Dr. Nicole Tang at the University of Warwick, UK, once again confirms the positive benefits of a good night’s sleep. Further, better quality sleep leads to optimal physical and mental well being over time, and sleep quality trumps sleep quantity. Reducing or eliminating sleep medication to achieve that good night’s rest is also important the study showed. Researchers analyzed the sleep patterns of more than 30,500 people in the UK over four years. (Sleep, Jan. 6, 2017.)

Opioids + Anti-Anxiety Drugs Linked to Greater Overdose Risk.

Taking the combination of painkillers such as Percocet, Percodan, Dilaudid, and OxyContin and a class of anti-anxiety drugs known as benzodiazepines (Librium, Ativan, Xanax, Halcion) can lead to a greater risk of drug overdose and addiction, according to a recent study from the Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA. Researchers found that nearly 30 percent of fatal opioid overdoses in the U.S. also involve benzodiazepines. Researchers warned that, while warnings and guidelines exist, it is unlikely to change providers’ behavior, however, and recommend a “multi-pronged effort from both regulators and experts” who write clinical guidelines and expanded warnings about drug interactions. (The BMJ, Mar 14, 2017.)

Lower Dementia Risk with 5 Servings Daily of Fruits and Vegetables.

World Health Organization guidelines recommend that adults consume at least 400 grams of fruits and vegetables daily to lower their risk of dementia. Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong followed 17,700 older Chinese adults, who were free of dementia at baseline, for an average six years. They found that adults who consumed three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruits daily were at lower risk of dementia developing after six years than those who did not follow the recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption. Dementia risk was even more reduced for those who ate an additional three servings of vegetables daily. (Age and Ageing, Feb. 10, 2017.)

Brain Repair Enabled by Immune System Cells.

Neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis can be repaired via certain immune cells that repair damage to the myelin sheath, a protective sheath that surrounds the nerve fibers of the central nervous system—the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. Researchers found that a protein manufacture by these cells trigger the brains’s stem cells to grow into oligodendrocytes (cells that repair myelin in the central nervous system). Researchers say this discovery will help develop a new class of medications for treatment of neurological disorders. The research was conducted at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University, Belfast,Northern Ireland. (Nature Neuroscience, online, Mar. 13, 2017.)

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