Free Republic

Findings from researchers show high blood levels of TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide) predict future risk of developing chronic kidney disease over time. The findings build on more than a decade of research related to the gut microbiome's role in cardiovascular health and disease, including the adverse effects of TMAO, a byproduct formed by the gut bacteria from nutrients abundant in red meat, eggs and other animal source foods. The large-scale study measured blood levels of TMAO over time in two large NIH populations and followed the kidney function of more than 10,000 U.S. adults with normal kidney function at baseline over...

Research provides insight into a critical issue facing surgical patients: post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). POCD is a neurological complication that some patients experience after undergoing surgical procedures that require anesthesia. Anesthesia is not without risks. Sevoflurane, a widely-used anesthetic, has been identified as a significant factor contributing to postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). While generally considered safe and effective, sevoflurane has been linked to certain neurocognitive deficits, including POCD. Resveratrol (RES) is a bioactive compound found in certain foods like grapes. RES is a known agonist for Silent Information Regulator 1 (SIRT1), a protein that has various neuroprotective roles. By binding...

Dementia is thought to occur when proteins accumulate in the brain and form oligomers. Research previously shown that the antibiotic rifampicin removes oligomers from the brain and improves cognitive function. However, the drug has been associated with side effects such as liver damage. Resveratrol, an antioxidant in plants, is used as a supplement. "To combat the negative side effects of rifampicin, we thought of combining it with the hepatoprotective effects of resveratrol," says Professor Tomiyama. This time, the research group administered a fixed dose combination of rifampicin and resveratrol intranasally five days a week for a total of four weeks...

Chromatin forms the structural basis of chromosomes in the cellular nuclei. When cells die, they release cell-free chromatin particles, or cfChPs, into the circulatory system. Emerging evidence indicates that cfChPs play an essential role in aging, sepsis, cancer development, and chemotherapy-related toxicity. Prof. Mittra explains, "Chemo-toxicity is not primarily caused by chemotherapeutic drugs, but rather by cfChPs that are released from the first cells that die after chemotherapy." Recently, a team have demonstrated the therapeutic benefits of a pro-oxidant mixture of resveratrol and copper, R-Cu, in patients undergoing chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer. Combining R with Cu (R-Cu) leads to...

Researchers earlier this year showed that the common herpes virus could induce plaques in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease. Now, researchers are working to understand what might slow progression of the disease. They have tested 21 different compounds in Alzheimer's-afflicted neural cells in the lab, measuring the compounds' effect on the growth of sticky beta amyloid plaques. These plaques develop in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. The researchers found that two common compounds—green tea catechins and resveratrol, found in red wine and other foods—reduced the formation of plaques in those neural cells. And they did so with few...

We break from presidential politics to bring you this important news from the world of medical research: Scientists are close to developing a pill that delivers the concentrated benefits of resveratrol, the component in red wine thought to be beneficial to health. Scientists on opposite sides of the globe appear to be getting closer to harnessing one of red wine’s most elusive health-giving ingredients and putting it into a pill. The ingredient, resveratrol, has been touted for years for its ostensible powers to prolong life and protect against a range of ailments including heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies...

Chemical terror plot foiled in London Fri November 21, 2003 11:43 PM ET LONDON (Reuters) - An attempt by a London-based terror group to buy half a tonne of toxic chemicals was foiled after the supplier became suspicious and alerted police, the Financial Times has reported.It said the group had attempted to buy 500 kgs (1,102 lb) of the toxin saponin from Amersham Biosciences late last year but the sale was refused after staff became concerned about the size of the order. A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police told Reuters on Saturday that police were "not prepared to discuss the...

Most seniors may suffer from some degree of vitamin D deficiency, according to a study from researchers at University of California at Davis and Rutgers University. For the study the researchers surveyed 400 men and women with an average age of 76 in either good health or with mild cognitive impairment. They found that nearly all of the participants showed low levels of vitamin D with 26 percent displaying a deficiency and 35 percent show what they classified as insufficiency. "This work, and that of others, suggests that there is enough evidence to recommend that people in their 60s and...

o you've been feeling virtuous quaffing red wine, nibbling on dark chocolate and popping grapes, thinking you're reaping the life-extending, disease-fighting, health-promoting benefits of resveratrol. You'll need to think again, suggests a new study, which finds that high levels of resveratrol consumed as part of a regular diet are not linked to lower levels of cancer, cardiovascular disease or inflammation, and do not appear to prolong life. The latest research on the promising polyphenol was conducted on the senior population of two villages in the Chianti region of Italy -- 783 men and women 65 and older whose health and...

Biologists have found a class of chemicals that they hope will make people live longer by activating an ancient survival reflex. One of the chemicals, a natural substance known as resveratrol, is found in red wines, particularly those made in cooler climates like that of New York. The finding could help explain the so-called French paradox, the fact that the French live as long as anyone else despite consuming fatty foods deemed threatening to the heart. Besides the wine connection, the finding has the attraction of stemming from fundamental research in the biology of aging. However, the new chemicals have...

BOSTON (Reuters) - Researchers have known for years that cutting calories can prolong life in everything from yeast cells to mammals. But an easier way to live longer may be as simple as turning a corkscrew. Molecules found in red wine, peanuts and other products of the plant world have for the first time been shown to mimic the life-extending effects of calorie restriction, a finding that could help researchers develop drugs that lengthen life and prevent or treat aging-related diseases. Researchers said on Sunday that one of the molecules, a compound known as resveratrol, was shown in a study...

The compound resveratrol, believed to benefit longevity and heart health for its antioxidant properties, seemed to undermine the cardiovascular benefits of exercise in a small study. When some plants (like grape vines) are under stress, they produce a polyphenol known as resveratrol, which you may have heard of as the "anti-aging" chemical. Resveratrol has been shown to improve cardiovascular performance and extend the lives of non-mammals and mice -- specifically improving the lipid profiles and longevity of mice who ate a lot of fat. We believe that's because of its work as an antioxidant. The mice in that study got...

The new drugs are synthetic versions of resveratrol which is found in red wine and is believed to have an anti-ageing effect as it boosts activity of a protein called SIRT1. Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has been testing the medications on patients suffering with medical conditions including cancer, diabetes and heart disease. The work proves that a single anti-ageing enzyme in the body can be targeted, with the potential to prevent age-related diseases and extend lifespans. The most common naturally-occurring activator is resveratrol, which is found in small quantities in red wine, but synthetic activators with much stronger activity are already...

The drugs are synthetic versions of resveratrol, found in red wine, an organic chemical believed to have an anti-aging effect, by boosting activity of a protein called SIRT1. GSK, the pharmaceutical firm, is testing them on people with particular medical conditions, namely Type II diabetes and psoriasis, a serious skin condition. David Sinclair, professor of genetics at Harvard University, said aging might not actually be an "irreversible affliction". He said: “Now we are looking at whether there are benefits for those who are already healthy. "Things there are also looking promising. We're finding that aging isn't the irreversible affliction that...

A scientist accused of faking research on the health benefits of red wine sued the University of Connecticut, claiming it violated his rights in firing him. Dipak Das sued the University of Connecticut, its president, provost and Board of Trustees, in Superior Court. He claims the two-year investigation and hearing process that lead to his dismissal was flawed and violated his civil rights. The university's Health Center Special Review Board began investigating Das on allegations of research misconduct in January 2009. Das had become famous for his research into health benefits from natural substances such as resveratrol and tocotrinols. Resveratrol...

Red-Wine Researcher Charged With 'Photoshop' Fraud Robert Lowes   January 13, 2012 — A University of Connecticut researcher known for touting the health benefits of red wine is guilty of 145 counts offabricating and falsifying data with image-editing software, according to a 3-year university investigation made public Wednesday. The researcher, Dipak K. Das, PhD, is a director of the university's Cardiovascular Research Center (CRC) and a professor in the Department of Surgery. The university stated in a press release thatit has frozen all externally funded research in Dr. Das's lab and turned down $890,000 in federal research grants awarded to him....

From Medical News Today, word of a major failure of peer review spanning years and 11 journals. Researcher Who Studied Benefits Of Red Wine Falsified Data Says UniversityAn extensive misconduct investigation that took three years to complete and produced a 60,000-page report, concludes that a researcher who has come to prominence in recent years for his investigations into the beneficial properties of resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, “is guilty of 145 counts of fabrication and falsification of data”.In a statement published on the university’s news website on Wednesday, the University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center said the investigation...

HARTFORD, Conn. – A University of Connecticut researcher known for his work on red wine's benefits to cardiovascular health falsified his data in more than 100 instances, university officials said Wednesday. UConn officials said nearly a dozen scientific journals are being warned of the potential problems after publishing his studies in recent years. The researcher, Dr. Dipak Das, did some studies of resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine that has shown potential for promoting health. But Dr. Nir Barzilai, whose research team conducts resveratrol research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, told The Associated Press that...

(Edmonton) Researchers in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta have discovered that resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant found in common foods, prevents a syndrome in some offspring that could lead to later health issues such as diabetes. Resveratrol is found in fruits, nuts and red wine, and has been shown to extend the lifespan of many species. Human offspring that have trouble growing in the womb have an increased risk of developing metabolic problems later in life. But U of A medical researchers Jason Dyck and Sandra Davidge and their teams found that administering resveratrol to...

As strange as it sounds, a new research study published in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), suggests that the "healthy" ingredient in red wine, resveratrol, may prevent the negative effects that spaceflight and sedentary lifestyles have on people. The report describes experiments in rats that simulated the weightlessness of spaceflight, during which the group fed resveratrol did not develop insulin resistance or a loss of bone mineral density, as did those who were not fed resveratrol. This study also suggests that resveratrol may be able to prevent the deleterious consequences of sedentary behaviors in humans.