Archive - Health Matters

Health Matters

Some of my thoughts on "Health Matters", especially related to nutrition.What is the same about WATERING YOUR POT PLANTS and taking any meds or supplements? Say you had a set amount of water to give your plant at the same time(s) every day. Some days it would most likely end up with too much or too little water. Plants, like our cells, are living things and depending on the air, the sun and the soil they’re growing in, the temperature and they may need more or less water on any given day. These factors, like our environments, are constantly changing. We can grow healthy plants when we water them based on their needs, and they communicate those needs to us by how much water they suck in or let pool above the soil, by the texture and color of their leaves. It’s a give and take process, depending on the plant, as opposed to a standard “prescription” or dose of a supplement.Now think about how we take meds or even supplements over a longer term.We have to "listen" to our bodies. If our muscles are aching or weak, if our skin is peeling off, if our blood runs out too fast on a minor cut..AND we are taking some meds or supplements.. then first please consider the side effects of the meds/supplemenets. Their dose may be wrong for us, usually too high as meds are NOT a basic NEED, unlike water. Drugs are designed to help but can really only be prescribed in "average" doses. We need to "watch" how they are working on us, just like watering plants.

(R)-Lipoic Acid Restores Arterial Health in Aged Animals
Breaking News
By VRP Staff
In a recent animal study, (R)-lipoic acid significantly restored the impaired, age-related decline in arterial function.

Healthy arteries are in a state of vasorelaxation, where the blood vessel walls are less stiff and experience a lower degree of tension. As arteries age, they experience a decline in vasorelaxation. This decline is thought to be due to the accumulation of excessive ceramide, a group of amides that are formed when a fatty acid links to a long-chain base.

In the current study, researchers thought that the ceramide accumulation that causes arteries to stiffen might be due to the age-related loss of glutathione in the cells lining the blood vessel walls.

Researchers gave old rats (R)-alpha-lipoic acid (LA), an agent known to induce glutathione synthesis. The scientists then measured vasorelaxation, glutathione and ceramide levels in the animal’s aortic endothelial cells.

Before the old rodents were given the (R)-lipoic acid, vasorelaxation was decreased. Prior to treatment, glutathione levels in cells lining the aorta were more than 30 percent lower and ceramide levels were three-fold higher compared to young rats. When the old animals were given (R)-lipoic acid, however, vasorelaxation improved and levels of glutathione rose. Ceramide levels also fell in the animals given (R)-lipoic acid.

The researchers concluded, “Decreased endothelial glutathione was partly responsible for the age-related loss of vascular endothelial function and lipoic acid might be therapeutically evaluated to treat endothelial dysfunction.”

Reference:

Smith AR, Visioli F, Frei B, Hagen TM. Lipoic acid significantly restores, in rats, the age-related decline in vasomotion. Br J Pharmacol. 2008 Feb 25. Published online ahead of print.

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Health Matters

R-lipoic acid restores vasorelaxation in arteries-glutathione