Posted on 04/30/2013 10:46:12 AM PDT by neverdem
Studies revealing how the protein elastin – found in heart tissue and blood vessels – responds electrically to glucose could offer new clues to problems that arise as we get older, including loss of elasticity in major blood vessels and arteriosclerosis. The research might ultimately point to a way of slowing or even reversing the damage.
Elastin is an extracellular protein found in the connective tissues of vertebrates. As its name suggests, it can stretch and return to its original shape and size. Recently, however, biological ferroelectricity was observed in elastin present in the heart's major artery, the aorta. Ferroelectricity is a property of materials where their electric polarisation can be reversed by an electric field and is analogous to ferromagnetism.
Tracking changes in the electrical response of elastin could one day help scientists device treatments for heart problems © APSNow, US researchers at the University of Washington and Boston University, led by Jiangyu Li and Yanhang Zhang, have extended their earlier discovery using piezoresponse force microscopy to show that elastin is indeed switchable in an electrical field. Moreover, their study reveals that glucose can freeze the internal asymmetric polar structures of elastin and so prevent further switching. Further work could corroborate the importance of switching in elastin in blood vessels, the heart muscle itself, the lungs and other tissues and organs. All such tissues are exposed to physiological stresses throughout our lives, so the inhibition of ferroelectric switching by glucose could have implications for understanding the ageing process and numerous degenerative diseases.
A mechanism for how glucose switches off ferroelectricity in elastin has yet to be found. However, the data from this study hints that the glucose-initiated formation of cross-links between protein fibres might be to blame. This would tie in with theory about the hardening of the arteries, for instance, and points to an underlying explanation for problems found in the elderly with a lifetime of exposure to glucose, and to younger individuals with a high sugar diet, obesity and diabetes.
The team suggests that their findings might also explain exactly why elastin is ubiquitous in vertebrates. They hypothesise that ferroelectric switching provides a damping mechanism that reduces the potentially damaging effects of blood pulsing through arteries and into organs. By contrast, the connective protein collagen serves the same function as elastin in invertebrates, but does not have to contend with pulsing blood flow, and this protein does not appear to be ferroelectric.
Andrei Kholkin and his team at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, recently observed ferroelectricity in the simplest amino acid, glycine, signalling that ferroelectricity may be an intrinsic property of proteins. ‘Ferroelectrics are materials with strong coupling between mechanical stress or strain and electric field or polarisation,’ he explains. ‘That opens up a lot of possibilities for preventing these diseases by applying not only an electric field but also mechanically stressing elastin and other bioferroelectrics.’
Y Liu et al, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2013, 110, 168101 (DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.110.168101)
Definition
Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. Healthy arteries are flexible and elastic. Over time, however, too much pressure in your arteries can make the walls thick and stiff — sometimes restricting blood flow to your organs and tissues. This process is called arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.
Atherosclerosis is a specific type of arteriosclerosis, but the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Atherosclerosis refers to the buildup of fats and cholesterol in and on your artery walls (plaques), which can restrict blood flow.
These plaques can also burst, triggering a blood clot. Although atherosclerosis is often considered a heart problem, it can affect arteries anywhere in your body. Atherosclerosis is a preventable and treatable condition.
FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.
Your suggestions on stiffling the sweet tooth please. I have stopped using sugar in my recipies and use artificial sweetners instead. Everything purchased at the grocery store is low or no fast, sugar and salt. Would like to know if there is anything else to be done.
One suggestion: stop right now buying those low-fat foods. They taste bad so the manufacturers tend to use sweeteners to make them palatable. It’s a myth that eating fat will make you fat; it’s eating bad carbohydrates—flour, sugar, potatoes, pasta, and other white junk—that causes diabetes and makes you fat. Stick to the Wheat Belly Diet and watch your fasting glucose numbers drop. After a week or so your sweet tooth will go into hibernation and you’ll have no desire to eat sweets.
I can’t recommend artificial sweeteners. You can’t fool your physiology. If you’re a type 2, you should restrict carbohydrates to the max. Try honey, fruits and juices other than apple, if you must. Apple juice has almost nothing but calories.
Hmm...I’ve never heard of the Wheat Belly Diet. I’m gonna have to read up on that one.
Cayce Health Database
ELECTROTHERAPY
http://www.edgarcayce.org/are/holistic_health/data/thelect1.html
Thanks for the link.
I am juicing green drinks and almost always include an apple to make it palatable. Are you saying that apples are not good for you or is it purchased juice products?
Apples have fiber. Apple juice isn’t much better than a regular can of soda. Unless you’re in physically demanding jobs, training for a marathon, etc., apple juice is mostly just empty calories.
Apples are good for you. There have been studies where people who ate apples and onions daily had a decreased risk of heart attacks.
Also veggies and fruits with white flesh lower the risk of strokes. Apples, Bananas, cauliflower etc.
Thanks for your suggestions. What is the Wheat Belly Diet? Never heard of it. Recently had my 4 month check up with primary care physician. All the results were right smack in the middle of the range, which pleased both my doctor and myself. A1C down to 6.1 from 7.1! I’m following the doc’s advice, taking my meds on time. Frequently wake up in the morning with test results below 100, sometimes at the point of being hypoglycemic.
It's fascinating. Works wonders, really. I am not wheat-sensitive but this has done excellent things for my health in general. Even my doctor is on it! Check out Dr Davis's links to his TV appearances which give a quick overview of the issues.
He was eerily correct, but off by a couple of decades.
Thanks. Have you tried it?
Yes, I am on it now. I don’t get enough exercise to claim any weight loss beyond a loss of belly fat, but the biochemical changes have been amazing. I recommend it very heartily, and am very glad I found it. It has made a huge difference in my mental state and my body chemistry. Sugar cravings are GONE, and most meals are a fraction of their former size.
Great. I guess I’ll start with the book and see what happens. Since being diagnosed as ‘pre-diabetic’ a year ago, I’ve lost a little over twenty pounds; but that includes walking, yard work and riding my stationary bike. I hope the wheat belly approach can help me lose the remaining 4 or 5 while keeping glucose levels low. Thanks for the info.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.