5 REASONS YOU SHOULD ATTEND THE 23rd ANNUAL WORLD CONGRESS

March 31, 2015

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5 REASONS YOU SHOULD ATTEND THE 23rd ANNUAL WORLD CONGRESS

  1. Experience and connect with expert key presenters who are pioneering disease prevention
  2. Interact with 200 plus industry exhibitors who offer relevant and innovative products and services designed to enhance your practice, so you are not just managing your patients’ symptoms but transforming their lives.
  3. Exposure to world class education offering new protocols and ground-breaking research on such topics as brain health, inflammation and the autoimmune system, breakthrough approaches to gluten exposure, stress, thyroid and the hormone connection, male health and alternative therapies, lifestyle genomics and so much more!
  4. Opportunity to network with colleagues who share your passion for prevention.
  5.  Hear case study presentations from faculty who are on the front-line, in practice day to day sharing their most challenge patient cases.

For more information on this can’t-miss event, click here.

Diagnostic for Early Biomarker of Cognitive Decline

November 18, 2014

Arterial spin labeling (ASL), a promising magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that doesn’t require injection of a contrast agent, can detect signs of cognitive decline in the brain even before symptoms appear, say researchers from the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

Sven Haller, MD, and colleagues studied 48 healthy elderly participants and 65 people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The participants underwent brain MRI and a neuropsychological assessment, a common battery of tests used to determine cognitive ability. At clinical follow-up 18-months later, of the 148 healthy individuals, 75 remained stable, while 73 deteriorated cognitively.

Those who deteriorated had shown reduced perfusion at their baseline ASL MRI exams, particularly in the posterior cingulate cortex, an area in the middle of the brain that is associated with the default mode network, the neural network that is active when the brain is not concentrating on a specific task.

Declines in this network are seen in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and are more pronounced in those with Alzheimer’s disease. “There is a known close link between neural activity and brain perfusion in the posterior cingulate cortex. Less perfusion indicates decreased neural activity,” Dr. Haller said. “ASL MRI is simple to perform, doesn’t require special equipment and only adds a few minutes to the exam.”

The results suggest that the technique has the potential to serve as a biomarker in very early diagnosis of preclinical dementia. Early detection of cognitive decline is vital, as treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia, are most effective in this early phase.

Xekardaki A, Rodriguez C, Montandon ML, et al. Arterial Spin Labeling May Contribute to the Prediction of Cognitive Deterioration in Healthy Elderly Individuals. Radiology. 2014, Oct 7. 

Two Foods Boost Cell Processes For Longevity

November 7, 2014

The protein known as Nrf2 plays a key role in cell health. When Nrf2 is exposed to threats, it oscillates faster and activates an increase in the cell’s defense mechanism, including raising the levels of antioxidant.  Paul Thornalley, from the University of Warwick (United Kingdom), and colleagues have observed that sulforaphane in broccoli, and quercetin in onions, are capable of increasing Nrf2 movement.

Observing a continual movement cycle of Nrf2, which sees the protein oscillate in and out of the cell nucleus once every 129 minutes, the team found that sulforaphane and  quercetin sped the cycle up to 80 minutes.  Writing that: “We discovered cytoplasmic refresh rate of Nrf2 is important in maintaining and regulating the transcriptional response and links stress challenge to increased cytoplasmic surveillance,” the study authors aim to develop new food supplements – superfoods that stimulate Nrf2 activity.

Xue M, Momiji H, Rabbani N, Barker G, Bretschneider T, Shmygol A, Rand D, Thornalley PJ.  “Frequency modulated translocational oscillations of Nrf2 mediate the ARE cytoprotective transcriptional response.” Antioxid Redox Signal. 2014 Sep 2.