Fish oil rich in DHA and EPA is widely believed to help prevent disease by reducing inflammation, but until now, scientists were not entirely sure about its immune enhancing effects. A new report appearing in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, helps provide clarity on this by showing that DHA-rich fish oil enhances B cell activity, a white blood cell, challenging the notion that fish oil is only immunosuppressive. This discovery is important as it shows that fish oil does not necessarily reduce the overall immune response to lower inflammation, possibly opening the doors for the use of fish oil among those with compromised immune systems.
"Fish oil may have immune enhancing properties that could benefit immunocompromised individuals," said Jenifer Fenton, Ph.D., M.P.H., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
To make this discovery, researchers used two groups of mice. One group was fed a control diet, and the other was fed a diet supplemented with DHA-rich fish oil for five weeks. B cells were harvested from several tissues and then stimulated in culture. Researchers then looked for markers of B cell activation on the cell surface, B cell membrane changes, and B cell cytokine production. They found that DHA-enriched fish oil enhanced B cell activation and select antibody production, which may actually aid immune responses associated with pathogen clearance, while possibly dampening the totality of the inflammatory response.
"This work confirms similar findings on fish oil and B cells from our lab, and moves us one step closer to understanding the immune enhancing properties of EPA and DHA," said S. Raza Shaikh, Ph.D., a researcher also involved in the work from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at East Carolina University.
###
The Journal of Leukocyte Biology publishes peer-reviewed manuscripts on original investigations focusing on the cellular and molecular biology of leukocytes and on the origins, the developmental biology, biochemistry and functions of granulocytes, lymphocytes, mononuclear phagocytes and other cells involved in host defense and inflammation. The Journal of Leukocyte Biology is published by the Society for Leukocyte Biology.
Details: Eric A. Gurzell, Heather Teague, Mitchel Harris, Jonathan Clinthorne, Saame Raza Shaikh, and Jenifer I. Fenton. DHA-enriched fish oil targets B cell lipid microdomains and enhances in vivo and ex vivo B cell function. J Leukoc Biol April 2013 93:463-470; doi:10.1189/jlb.0812394;
NPI Posture Analysis-Correction and Resistance Training CEC Workshops at College/University Campuses: NPI College-University Posture CEC Workshops
"
This is the fairest way of... travelling," chief executive of Samoa Air, Chris Langton, told ABC Radio. "There are no extra fees in terms of excess baggage or anything – it is just a kilo is a kilo is a kilo."
Like many Pacific island nations, Samoa has a serious obesity problem and is often included in the top 10 countries for obesity levels. As such, Mr Langton believes his airline's new payment policy will also help promote health and obesity awareness.
"When you get into the Pacific, standard weight is substantially higher [than south-east Asia]," he said. "That's a health issue in some areas. [This payment system] has raised the awareness of weight."
Under the new system, Samoa Air passengers must type in their weight and the weight of their baggage into the online booking section of the airline's website. The rates vary depending on the distance flown: from $1 per kilogram on the airline's shortest domestic route to about $4.16 per kilogram for travel between Samoa and American Samoa. Passengers are then weighed again on scales at the airport, to check that they weren't fibbing online.
Samoa Air operates BN2A Islander and Cessna 172 aircraft.
Mr Langton said he believed it to be a system of the future, and added that "the standard width and pitch of seats are changing as people are getting a bit bigger, wider and taller than they were 40 to 50 years ago".
He also pointed out that families travelling with small children could end up paying far less with the pay-by-weight scheme.
"A family of maybe two adults and a couple of mid-sized kids ... can travel at considerably less than what they were being charged before," he said.
Public relations and marketing representative for Samoa Tourism, Peter Sereno, said he believed that the policy would also help with safety standards.
"When you're only fitting eight to 12 people in these aircraft and you've got some bigger Samoans getting on, you do need to weigh them and distribute that weight evenly throughout the aircraft, to make sure everyone's safe," he said. "At the end of the day, I don't care who they're weighing or how they're weighing them as long as it's safe."
Norwegian economist Bharat P. Bhatta proposed in a recent journal article that by implementing pay-per-kilo policies, carriers could also recoup the cost of the extra fuel required to carry larger people.
Some airlines in the United States already force obese passengers who cannot fit in a single seat to pay for two seats, but this is the first time a per-kilo rate has been used by an airline.
NPI Posture Analysis-Correction and Resistance Training CEC Workshops at College/University Campuses: NPI College-University Posture CEC Workshops
Thank you to all the staff members at FIU (Florida International University), guests and everyone who attended NPI’s Posture Workshop this weekend! We look forward to hearing from you & having you in our programs. Feel free to email or call us if you have any questions.
NPI Posture Analysis-Correction and Resistance Training CEC Workshops at College/University Campuses: NPI College-University Posture CEC Workshops
National Posture Institute News Story: Body mass index and coronary heart disease Coronary heart disease (CHD) increases with BMI, as well as with age, finds an article published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine. The research from the Million Women Study indicates that increased weight increases risk of CHD equivalent to that caused by getting older. Researchers from the University of Oxford followed the health of 1.2 million women from England and Scotland for (on average) almost a decade. Analysis of the data showed that the occurrence of CHD increases with BMI so that every 5 unit increase in BMI, calculated as weight/height2, increases incidence by 23%, which is equivalent to the risk conferred by getting older by 2.5 years. The results showed that one in eleven lean middle aged women (with an average BMI of 21) will be admitted to hospital or will have died from CHD between the ages of 55 to 74. This risk progressively increases with BMI, and it reaches one in six, for obese women (with an average BMI of 34). Dr Dexter Canoy, who led this study explained, "The risk of developing CHD increases even with small incremental increases in BMI, and this is seen not only in the heaviest but also in women who are not usually considered obese. Small changes in BMI, together with leading a healthy lifestyle by not smoking, avoiding excess alcohol consumption, and being physically active could potentially prevent the occurrence of CHD for a large number of people in the population."
NPI Posture Analysis-Correction and Resistance Training CEC Workshops at College/University Campuses: NPI College-University Posture CEC Workshops
Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were affected by the tragic events at the Boston Marathon today.
5 More Days before Sun, Beach, & Education. NPI's Resistance Training & Posture Correction CEC Workshop April 19-20 2013 at Florida International University in Miami, FL. To Register: http://www.npionline.org/workshops/fiu
NPI Posture Analysis-Correction and Resistance Training CEC Workshops at College/University Campuses: NPI College-University Posture CEC Workshops
Thank you for all the staff members at the University of Maryland and and everyone who attended NPI’s Posture Workshop this weekend! We had a great time and look forward to having you in our programs. Feel free to email or call us if you have any questions.
NPI Posture Analysis-Correction and Resistance Training CEC Workshops at College/University Campuses: NPI College-University Posture CEC Workshops
National Posture Institute Research: Meditation may make you a more compassionate person: Northeastern study
Scientists have mostly focused on the benefits of meditation for the brain and the body, but a recent study by Northeastern University’s David DeSteno, published in Psychological Science, takes a look at what impacts meditation has on interpersonal harmony and compassion.
Several religious traditions have suggested that mediation does just that, but there has been no scientific proof—until now.
In this study, a team of researchers from Northeastern University and Harvard University examined the effects meditation would have on compassion and virtuous behavior, and the results were fascinating.
THE STUDY
This study—funded by the Mind and Life Institute—invited participants to complete eight-week trainings in two types of meditation. After the sessions, they were put to the test.
Sitting in a staged waiting room with three chairs were two actors. With one empty chair left, the participant sat down and waited to be called. Another actor using crutches and appearing to be in great physical pain, would then enter the room. As she did, the actors in the chair would ignore her by fiddling with their phones or opening a book.
The question DeSteno and Paul Condon – a graduate student in DeSteno’s lab who led the study – and their team wanted to answer was whether the subjects who took part in the meditation classes would be more likely to come to the aid of the person in pain, even in the face of everyone else ignoring her. “We know meditation improves a person’s own physical and psychological wellbeing,” said Condon. “We wanted to know whether it actually increases compassionate behavior.”
MEDITATION WORKS
Among the non-meditating participants, only about 15 percent of people acted to help. But among the participants who were in the meditation sessions “we were able to boost that up to 50 percent,” said DeSteno. This result was true for both meditation groups thereby showing the effect to be consistent across different forms of meditation. “The truly surprising aspect of this finding is that meditation made people willing to act virtuous – to help another who was suffering – even in the face of a norm not to do so,” DeSteno said, “The fact that the other actors were ignoring the pain creates as ‘bystander-effect’ that normally tends to reduce helping. People often wonder ‘Why should I help someone if no one else is?’”
These results appear to prove what the Buddhist theologians have long believed—that meditation is supposed to lead you to experience more compassion and love for all sentient beings. But even for non-Buddhists, the findings offer scientific proof for meditation techniques to alter the calculus of the moral mind.
NPI Posture Analysis-Correction and Resistance Training CEC Workshops at College/University Campuses: NPI College-University Posture CEC Workshops
National Posture Institute Research: Monounsaturated fats reduce metabolic syndrome risk
Canola oil and high-oleic canola oils can lower abdominal fat when used in place of other selected oil blends, according to a team of American and Canadian researchers. The researchers also found that consuming certain vegetable oils may be a simple way of reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome, which affects about one in three U.S. adults and one in five Canadian adults.
"The monounsaturated fats in these vegetable oils appear to reduce abdominal fat, which in turn may decrease metabolic syndrome risk factors," said Penny Kris-Etherton, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Penn State.
In the randomized, controlled trial, 121 participants at risk for metabolic syndrome received a daily smoothie containing 40 grams (1.42 ounces) of one of five oils as part of a weight maintenance, heart-healthy, 2000-calorie per day diet. Members of the group had five risk factors characterized by increased belly fat, low "good" hdl cholesterol and above average blood sugar, blood pressure and triglycerides that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. The researchers repeated this process for the remaining four oils.
The results were presented at the American Heart Association's EPI/NPAM 2013 Scientific Sessions in New Orleans.
Results showed that those who consumed canola or high-oleic canola oils on a daily basis for four weeks lowered their belly fat by 1.6 percent compared to those who consumed a flax/safflower oil blend. Abdominal fat was unchanged by the other two oils, which included a corn/safflower oil blend and high-oleic canola oil enriched with an algal source of the omega-3 DHA. Both the flax/safflower and corn/safflower oil blends were low in monounsaturated fat.
According to the American Heart Association, many of the factors that contribute to metabolic syndrome can be addressed by a healthy diet, exercise and weight loss, which can significantly reduce health risks of this condition.
"It is evident that further studies are needed to determine the mechanisms that account for belly fat loss on a diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids," said Kris-Etherton. "Our study indicates that simple dietary changes, such as using vegetable oils high in monounsaturated fatty acids, may reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome and therefore heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes."
###
Other authors on the paper include Peter Jones and Shuaihua Pu of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg; Sheila West, Xiaoran Liu, Jennifer Fleming and Cindy McCrea of Penn State; Benôit Lamarche and Patrick Couture of Laval University in Quebec; and David Jenkins of the University of Toronto. The government of Canada, the Canola Council of Canada and Dow Agrosciences funded this research.
NPI Posture Analysis-Correction and Resistance Training CEC Workshops at College/University Campuses: NPI College-University Posture CEC Workshops
National Posture Institute News Story: Commonly used cholesterol calculation underestimates heart disease danger for many
Researchers suggest a different method of assessing risk after examining data on 1.3 million Americans
In what promises to be an eye-opener for many doctors and patients who routinely depend on cholesterol testing, a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that the standard formula used for decades to calculate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels is often inaccurate. Of most concern, the researchers say, is their finding that the widely used formula underestimates LDL where accuracy matters most — in the range considered desirable for high-risk patients. Results of the study are published in an online article, ahead of print, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
LDL is known as the "bad" cholesterol, with higher numbers signaling greater risk of plaque accumulating in heart arteries and having a heart attack. Since 1972, a formula called the Friedewald equation has been used to gauge LDL cholesterol. It is an estimate rather than an exact measurement. However, physicians use the number to assess their patients' risk and determine the best course of treatment.
"In our study, we compared samples assessed using the Friedewald equation with a direct calculation of the LDL cholesterol. We found that in nearly one out of four samples in the 'desirable' range for people with a higher heart disease risk, the Friedewald equation had it wrong," says Seth Martin, M.D., a clinical fellow at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease. "As a result, many patients may think they achieved their LDL cholesterol target when, in fact, they may need more aggressive treatment to reduce their heart disease risk," says Martin, who is the lead author of the study.
"In patients with heart disease, we want to get their LDL level below 70 — that is the typical goal," says Steven Jones, M.D., director of inpatient cardiology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and a faculty member at the Ciccarone Center who is the senior author of the study. Jones says based on their findings, many people — especially those with high triglyceride levels — may have a false sense of assurance that their LDL cholesterol targets have been met.
For the study, the researchers obtained detailed lipid profiles of more than 1.3 million American adults — almost one out of every 180 adults in the United States — analyzed from 2009 to 2011. The LDL cholesterol and other blood lipid components in those samples had been directly measured with a technique known as ultracentrifugation. The researchers then evaluated those samples using the Friedewald equation that is used routinely in doctors' offices worldwide. When they compared the results, the differences came to light.
The lipid profiles were from a laboratory in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a detailed analysis of samples sent in by doctors across the country. Except for the age of people on whom the samples were based (59 years on average) and the gender (52 percent of the samples were from women), the patients were not identifiable to the researchers. The researchers collaborated with the lab to develop the database they would need for the study.
The Friedewald equation was introduced into clinical practice by William Friedewald, M.D., to work around the significant time and expense of ultracentrifugation specifically to measure LDL cholesterol among about 400 people in families with genetic cholesterol abnormalities. The equation calculates LDL cholesterol with the following formula: total cholesterol minus HDL cholesterol minus triglycerides divided by five. The result is expressed in milligrams per deciliter.
"The database that we used was almost 3,000 times larger than the sample used to devise the Friedewald equation," Martin says.
As an alternative to Friedewald, Martin and his colleagues suggest that a more accurate way to assess risk for patients is to look at non-HDL, which is acquired by subtracting HDL from total cholesterol.
That non-HDL number, which includes LDL and other plaque-causing cholesterol particles called VLDL (very low density lipoprotein), would typically be about 30 points higher than when LDL cholesterol is calculated under the Friedewald method, and it could vary. But Martin says it would provide a better way to assess whether patients need to modify their medications or make more substantial lifestyle changes. "Most specialists in our field agree at this point that all of those non-HDL components are important," he says.
The non-HDL cholesterol level can be obtained easily using the same test widely available in doctors' offices today at no greater cost than the Friedewald calculation.
"Non-HDL cholesterol is a much better target for quantifying risk of plaques in coronary arteries," says Jones. "Looking at non-HDL cholesterol would make it simpler and more consistent, and would enable us to provide our patients with a better assessment," he says.
Jones, who originated the idea to use the large laboratory database to assess the Friedewald equation, says the information was provided by the lab at no cost. The lab, Atherotech, did not provide any funding for the research. The database used in the study is registered on the website http://www.clinicaltrials.gov and will be an important resource for ongoing scientific investigation.
NPI Posture Analysis-Correction and Resistance Training CEC Workshops at College/University Campuses: NPI College-University Posture CEC Workshops
