Health Blog

Scientists have found a vital information about Insulin, the essence of life force. Presence of less insulin, the glucose-regulating hormone, in brain may be the cause for long life. This tremendous information is reported in the journal “Science” by a group of researchers headed by Dr. Morris White, a Howard Hughes Institute investigator at Children’s Hospital in Boston, USA. The group picked up mutant mice that over-ate, became fat and got symptoms of diabetes but yet lived 18% longer than their normal lab nice. The secret behind this is that these mice lacked a key gene that affects insulin. This new information raises question about how desirable it is to use insulin for treating type-2 diabetes. It is known to the Doctors that people doing exercise regularly live longer on average. The researchers also know that putting animals on a strict diet makes them live longer, though this has not been shown to work in human beings. So, Dr. Morris White’s group wanted to see if the two effects were linked. They had looked at Insulin because both fasting and exercise make cells more insulin-sensitive, meaning they respond more effectively to the effects of insulin.

The group made effort to look at the entire insulin pathway-a series of actions in the cell that control the body’s use of insulin. The team investigated mice that had no working copies of one of the genes involved in this pathway, called insulin receptor substrate 2 or Irs2. The group found that mice with no copies of Irs2 got defective brains and also diabetes. But mice having one working copy lived 18% longer than normal lab mice even if they could shorten their lives being overweight and having higher insulin levels in their blood. (more…)

According to a recent study by a group of scientists led by Kerry Ressler of Emory University in Atlanta, it has been found that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or more popularly known as PTSD is a result of both genetic as well as environmental influence on the patient suffering from despair.

The findings published in the Journal of The American Medical Association have re-affirmed that environmental factors coupled with genetic variants affect tremendously on mental health. The findings also states that, no single factor of genetic or environmental can result in serious stress related disorder. All people who have had unpleasant experiences like war, accidents, terrorist attacks or natural disaster might not develop PTSD. Only those with genetic background are at risk of developing the dreaded condition that might stop someone from leading a normal life. The traumatic experiences of the past leads to nightmares, flashbacks, depressions or mood swings. But everybody who experiences bad or horrific experiences suffers from PTSD. It has been found that identical twins sharing all their genes and serving the Vietnam War were likely both to suffer more than their fraternal peers. But genes alone are not the cause for such traumatic and depressive life.

The research team had studied 900 adults who grew up in deprived urban communities and faced difficulties during their growing up periods. They were asked to answer a questionnaire that detailed their life including child or sexual abuse at one stage or the other.

Dr. Ressler also examined the gene variants known as FKBP5 normally related to how a body responds to stress. The team found that the gene made little or no effect in isolation to many. But when gene and environmental factors were put together, they made big difference in either raising or reducing the risk of PTSD on people. Dr. Ressler says

“These results are early and will need to be replicated, but they support the hypothesis that combinations of genes and environmental factors affect the risk for stress-related disorders like PTSD”

Scientists of East China Normal University, Shanghai have found that the normal Asian pumpkin may someday replace insulin intake for diabetic patients. The scientists has experimented this on rats suffering from diabetes. Some sick rats were fed on pumpkin extracts for 30 days and some sick rats were fed normally. After 30 days, the rats taking pumpkin supplements had 36 percent increase in plasma insulin compared to rats on normal supplement! This has been reported in the July edition of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Scientists discovered that the Asian pumpkins contain a compound which can promote the regeneration of damaged insulin producing pancreatic beta cells resulting in the improvement of level of insulin in blood. Prof. Tao who led the research however insists that further research is needed to evaluate the usefulness of pumpkin compound on human cells. But he believes that it could promote the pancreatic B cells in human also. These pancreatic B cells generate a hormone called insulin that controls blood sugar. in type1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks those pancreatic cells that wreck the insulin making process which result in blood sugar being uncontrolled and hence regular intake of insulin shot becomes necessary.

However, scientists believe that Asian common pumpkins may  reduce the need for daily intake of insulin injections for millions of diabetes worldwide.