Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/Nsoul9Pe0ds

A new study from The University of Buffalo’s pharmacology department suggests that a glass of red wine may contain not one but two calming ingredients that control sress.  We all know about the alcohol, but adding to its effect is the plant compound resveratrol that’s found in the skin and seeds of the grape.

The resveratrol works to relieve stress and depressive feelings by opposing the “downer” psychological effects of corticosteroids, the fight or flight hormones.  This effect might be able to help persons with severe anxiety and depressive disorders who fail to respond to many current medications that rely on modulating the brain’s serotonin- and noradrenaline- controlled functions.

Since the alcohol in red wine can be a problem for some, a handful of good old red grapes, with seeds or seedless, might just be THE snack to help elevate your spirits at the end of a long day.

Xia Zhu, Wenhua Li, Yongkun Li, Wenhua Xu, Yirong Yuan, Victor Zheng, Hanting Zhang, James M. O'Donnell, Ying Xu, Xiaoxing Yin. The antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects of resveratrol: Involvement of phosphodiesterase-4D inhibition. Neuropharmacology, 2019; 153: 20 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.04.022

#Wine #redwine #resveratrol #anxiety #depression

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/Nsoul9Pe0ds

A new study from The University of Buffalo’s pharmacology department suggests that a glass of red wine may contain not one but two calming ingredients that control sress.  We all know about the alcohol, but adding to its effect is the plant compound resveratrol that’s found in the skin and seeds of the grape.

The resveratrol works to relieve stress and depressive feelings by opposing the “downer” psychological effects of corticosteroids, the fight or flight hormones.  This effect might be able to help persons with severe anxiety and depressive disorders who fail to respond to many current medications that rely on modulating the brain’s serotonin- and noradrenaline- controlled functions.

Since the alcohol in red wine can be a problem for some, a handful of good old red grapes, with seeds or seedless, might just be THE snack to help elevate your spirits at the end of a long day.

Xia Zhu, Wenhua Li, Yongkun Li, Wenhua Xu, Yirong Yuan, Victor Zheng, Hanting Zhang, James M. O'Donnell, Ying Xu, Xiaoxing Yin. The antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects of resveratrol: Involvement of phosphodiesterase-4D inhibition. Neuropharmacology, 2019; 153: 20 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.04.022

#Wine #redwine #resveratrol #anxiety #depression

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/-4wzkOFZ-Z4

Moms-to-be better tamp down their coffee consumption during pregnancy.  A study using a rat model bully just published in the Journal of Endocrinology showed that pregnant animals consuming the equivalent of 2-3 cups of coffee a day gave birth to babies with impaired liver development as well as low birth weights and abnormal stress hormone levels.

The fetal liver growth is slowed due to caffeine’s ability to suppress the body’s liver growth factor.  This growth factor bounces back following birth and the baby rats’ livers go through a catch up growth phase.  The bad news is that this surge of liver growth factor makes the liver vulnerable to later fatty degenerative disease.

This study supports the recommendation that pregnant women avoid coffee and caffeinated beverages.  This restriction should start at the time a woman begins trying to conceive.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/sfe-tmc072219.php

#Coffee #caffeine #liverdisease #fattyliver 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/-4wzkOFZ-Z4

Moms-to-be better tamp down their coffee consumption during pregnancy.  A study using a rat model bully just published in the Journal of Endocrinology showed that pregnant animals consuming the equivalent of 2-3 cups of coffee a day gave birth to babies with impaired liver development as well as low birth weights and abnormal stress hormone levels.

The fetal liver growth is slowed due to caffeine’s ability to suppress the body’s liver growth factor.  This growth factor bounces back following birth and the baby rats’ livers go through a catch up growth phase.  The bad news is that this surge of liver growth factor makes the liver vulnerable to later fatty degenerative disease.

This study supports the recommendation that pregnant women avoid coffee and caffeinated beverages.  This restriction should start at the time a woman begins trying to conceive.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/sfe-tmc072219.php

#Coffee #caffeine #liverdisease #fattyliver 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/eqmQvZlTNFc

Dartmouth and UC-Irvine mathematicians report that you learn faster if you picture it before you hear about it.  This universal principle of so-called object before label learning applies to everything from teaching kids their colors to learning foreign languages.

The researchers used formal testing to demonstrate that object before label learning is superior to label before object learning.  They then developed a mathematical model to both describe the phenomenon and predict the superiority of seeing rather than hearing or reading first.

The bottom line: When teaching the the alphabet, animals, or anything, show your child the object before providing its name.  A foreign language? Show the object, then present the word.  A picture is always better than a thousand words!

Timmy Ma, Natalia L. Komarova. Object‐Label‐Order Effect When Learning From an Inconsistent Source. Cognitive Science, 2019; 43 (8) DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12737

#Education #objectlabel #learningorder

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/eqmQvZlTNFc

Dartmouth and UC-Irvine mathematicians report that you learn faster if you picture it before you hear about it.  This universal principle of so-called object before label learning applies to everything from teaching kids their colors to learning foreign languages.

The researchers used formal testing to demonstrate that object before label learning is superior to label before object learning.  They then developed a mathematical model to both describe the phenomenon and predict the superiority of seeing rather than hearing or reading first.

The bottom line: When teaching the the alphabet, animals, or anything, show your child the object before providing its name.  A foreign language? Show the object, then present the word.  A picture is always better than a thousand words!

Timmy Ma, Natalia L. Komarova. Object‐Label‐Order Effect When Learning From an Inconsistent Source. Cognitive Science, 2019; 43 (8) DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12737

#Education #objectlabel #learningorder

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/xEQ36KcDWw4

If you put the blue sweetener in your coffee or regularly chug cans of Diet Coke, listen up!  A British study just published in the Archives of Public Health raises new questions about the safety of aspartame.

A meta-analysis of the 154 studies that the European Food Safety Authority used to certify aspartame as safe in 2013 questions the validity of the “it’s perfectly safe!” conclusion.  The researchers conclude that many of the studies were flawed and they question whether or not conflicts of interest and corruption may have played a role in the “thumbs up” for aspartame.

Once again, this finding should make all of us moderate our use of all artificial sweeteners.  If you use the, try to rotate your selections whether they be the Blues (Equal), the Pinks (Sweet ‘N Low), the Yellows (Splenda), or, yes, even the Greens (Truvia).

https://bit.ly/2MndqWE

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325848.php

#Aspartame #sweetener #Equal #DietCoke

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/xEQ36KcDWw4

If you put the blue sweetener in your coffee or regularly chug cans of Diet Coke, listen up!  A British study just published in the Archives of Public Health raises new questions about the safety of aspartame.

A meta-analysis of the 154 studies that the European Food Safety Authority used to certify aspartame as safe in 2013 questions the validity of the “it’s perfectly safe!” conclusion.  The researchers conclude that many of the studies were flawed and they question whether or not conflicts of interest and corruption may have played a role in the “thumbs up” for aspartame.

Once again, this finding should make all of us moderate our use of all artificial sweeteners.  If you use the, try to rotate your selections whether they be the Blues (Equal), the Pinks (Sweet ‘N Low), the Yellows (Splenda), or, yes, even the Greens (Truvia).

https://bit.ly/2MndqWE

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325848.php

#Aspartame #sweetener #Equal #DietCoke

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/0o7pEsu1LAg

When the summer heat drives air temperatures north of 100˚F, sidewalks turn into hot plates that can burn your skin in a matter of seconds.  Surgeons from the University of Las Vegas studied some 173 pavement burn cases they treated over the past 4 years.

Eighty-eight percent of the mostly second degree burns occurred when air temps were 95˚F or hotter.  On such days, the pavements are hotter than the air, reaching close to 150 ˚F then the air is 111˚F.  FYI—you can fry an egg at those temperatures.

When the temperatures rise above 90˚F, be sure that you, your kids, and your pets wear protective footwear.  Watch where you put your hands as well as your feet. Those metal handrails and your own car’s steering wheel can give you a nasty burn, so you might want to have a towel or gloves handy.

Jorge Vega, Paul Chestovich, Syed Saquib, Douglas Fraser. A 5-Year Review of Pavement Burns From a Desert Burn Center. Journal of Burn Care & Research, 2019; 40 (4): 422 DOI: 10.1093/jbcr/irz049

#Heat #pavementburns #burns

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/0o7pEsu1LAg

When the summer heat drives air temperatures north of 100˚F, sidewalks turn into hot plates that can burn your skin in a matter of seconds.  Surgeons from the University of Las Vegas studied some 173 pavement burn cases they treated over the past 4 years.

Eighty-eight percent of the mostly second degree burns occurred when air temps were 95˚F or hotter.  On such days, the pavements are hotter than the air, reaching close to 150 ˚F then the air is 111˚F.  FYI—you can fry an egg at those temperatures.

When the temperatures rise above 90˚F, be sure that you, your kids, and your pets wear protective footwear.  Watch where you put your hands as well as your feet. Those metal handrails and your own car’s steering wheel can give you a nasty burn, so you might want to have a towel or gloves handy.

Jorge Vega, Paul Chestovich, Syed Saquib, Douglas Fraser. A 5-Year Review of Pavement Burns From a Desert Burn Center. Journal of Burn Care & Research, 2019; 40 (4): 422 DOI: 10.1093/jbcr/irz049

#Heat #pavementburns #burns