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The harms of alcohol

22 February 20246 January 2024 by psalari

Worldwide, 1 in 3 people consume alcoholic beverages regularly (equivalent to 2.4 billion people, of whom 1.5 billion are men and 900 million are women): this is the result of a recent study, published in August in the scientific journal Lancet, which reviewed 694 studies on alcohol consumption worldwide and assessed the health risks associated with drinking alcoholic beverages in 195 nations. The study shows that consuming 10 grams of alcohol per day increases the risk of developing health problems by 0.5 percent and by 7 percent in those who consume twice that amount.

Alcohol use is a risk factor for numerous diseases and can impair brain maturation, especially in those areas involved in impulse control. In adolescence the maturation of the brain is not complete; there are areas such as the limbic area that mature after the age of 20. That is why in some countries, for example in the United States, there is a ban on alcohol use under the age of 21. Alcohol’s damage not only affects the brain, but many other organs: in fact, it is a risk factor for many cancers (liver, oral cavity, throat). The organ most affected is the liver, but the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems are also affected by the toxic effect of alcohol. In addition, alcohol abusers are more prone to hypertension, stroke, and heart disease. Alcoholism causes malnutrition, but also impaired sexuality, decreased libido, infertility and impotence, and obesity. Bottom line:

Alcohol abuse is addictive and comparable to drugs;
Alcohol is carcinogenic and creates organ damage such as cirrhosis of the liver;
Weakens the immune system and gives increased susceptibility to infection;
It reduces the absorption of vitamins A, D and E;
It causes malnutrition and alterations in body weight;
It modifies hormone production, has a negative effect on fertility, and is not conducive to sexual performance;
In pregnancy it can create problems for the fetus and the unborn child;
May interfere with ongoing drug therapies;
It alters cognitive function and is a risk factor for cognitive impairment;
It alters attention, reduces reaction time and causes drowsiness, which is why alcohol should not be taken if you are driving.

Going to school an hour later to learn more

22 February 20246 January 2024 by rosanna.feroldi

Do sleepers catch no fish? Perhaps, but he can get better grades in school for the same amount of effort and hours spent on books during the day.

Reporting this are the results of a studio conducted by researchers at the University of Washington, which evaluated the effects of a measure introduced in high schools in the Seattle (U.S.) district for the purpose of granting children the ability to get a little more sleep in the morning and bring the average number of hours devoted to the night’s rest to the 8-10 hours per night recommended for adolescents by the American Association of Pediatricians (AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics).

Starting from the consideration that the sleep is essential not only to rest the body and mind, but also to promote the reorganization and consolidation of information assimilated during the day, U.S. experts thought that Postpone the time of entry to school by about one hour, from 7:50 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., could have favorable effects on intellectual performance and performance in study.

In fact, the outcomes recorded by comparing the grades obtained by students attending the schools involved in the trial at the same times of the year, before and after the change in the entrance time, confirmed this hypothesis.

Moreover, achieving better school results and taking advantage of a more alert and receptive mind throughout the day took very little. The 55-minute forward shift in the time of school entry was, in fact, matched by an average increase in the time children slept by 34 minutes, bringing the overall nightly sleep duration on school-attendance days from an average of 6 hours 50 minutes to 7 hours 24 minutes, with no significant changes in bedtimes or other changes in sleep-wake rhythms on weekends.

Although the average sleep duration remained below the period recommended by theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics, as well as on school performance, the measure of the Seattle district has also resulted in a significant reduction in the number of late admissions and school absenteeism, especially in favor of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The overall effects recorded by the University of Washington researchers have prompted many experts to urge the heads of educational institutions to consider postponing the start time of classes in all upper secondary schools. But wouldn’t it be less complicated to get teenagers used to going to bed earlier in the evening?

Perhaps, but in light of current knowledge it may be more difficult for children to get used to anticipating falling asleep, and the overall effects of this type of intervention may not be particularly favorable. During adolescence, in fact, the internal biological clock tends to be “shifted forward” from that of adults, making teens more likely to fall asleep a little later in the evening and wake up a little later in the morning. Keeping the time of kids’ spontaneous falling asleep constant and giving them even only 30-40 minutes more sleep in the morning would, therefore, seem to be the most “physiological” solution and characterized by the best psychophysical and intellectual outcomes.

Source

Dunster GP et al. Sleepmore in Seattle: Later school start times are associated with more sleep and better performance in high school students. Sci Adv 2018;4:eaau6200

Chronic kidney disease, genetic analysis promises better therapeutic approaches

18 February 20246 January 2024 by Renato Torlaschi

Chronic kidney disease is often clinically silent, and conventional clinical data alone do not allow differentiation of disease subtypes, but the results of a recent study supports the use of genetic analysis to improve its diagnosis and treatment.

In clinical practice, diagnosis and monitoring of chronic kidney disease are based on clinical parameters and only rarely involve renal biopsy. However, in many cases the disease occurs in a “silent” form and is difficult to discriminate using clinical data alone.

Thus, in many individuals, the precise cause of progressive damage to the kidneys remains unknown and the diagnosis is made late, reducing the opportunity for early therapeutic intervention; moreover, few of the current treatment approaches are individualized, but according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, genetic testing could help overcome these critical issues.

The authors performed exome sequencing (the set of all portions of the genome that “code” for proteins) of 3,315 patients with chronic kidney disease due to different causes and reported a 9.3 percent rate of diagnostic genetic variants, comprising 66 monogenic sites already known to be associated with kidney disorders.

“This study,” reads an editorial in Nature Reviews Nephrology. highlights the potential of genetic testing for adults with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease (Esrd). Discovering the underlying genetics of different forms of kidney disease will serve to improve diagnostic accuracy and develop new approaches according to “precision medicine.” Obtaining a genetic diagnosis for a patient with chronic kidney disease could improve clinical management, including choice of therapy, and enable targeted disease surveillance. Deepening the genetic basis could also reveal new biological mechanisms associated with the disease and lead to defining new therapeutic targets that could benefit a large number of patients.”

Groopman, EE et al. Diagnostic utility of exome sequencing for kidney disease. N Engl J Med. 2019 Jan 10;380(2):142-151.

Smelling with the tongue, taste and smell are more connected than previously thought

17 February 20246 January 2024 by Renato Torlaschi

Researchers at the Monell Center in Philadelphia have discovered that functional olfactory receptors, the sensors in the nose that are used to sense odors, are also present in the taste cells found on the tongue. The findings, published in Chemical Senses, suggest that interactions between the senses of smell and taste, the primary components of food flavor, may begin on the tongue and not in the brain, as previously thought.

“Our research,” said Mehmet Hakan Ozdener, the study’s cell biologist and senior author. can help explain how odor molecules also modulate taste perception. This may lead to the development of odor-based taste modifiers that can help combat excess salt, sugar, and fat intake associated with diet-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes.”. Ozdener’s futuristic hypothesis is supported by the fact that taste has evolved over time to enable us to assess the nutritional value and potential toxicity of what we put in our mouths.

Through the taste buds, we are able to detect the basic tastes of sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami and their countless variations; the brain combines the signals provided by taste receptors, smell and other senses to create the overall taste sensation.

Until now, taste and smell were considered as independent sensory systems that did not interact until their respective information reached the brain. Ozdener was prompted to challenge this belief after his 12-year-old son asked him if snakes extend their tongues in order to sniff.

The resulting study suggests that olfactory receptors may play a role in the system leading to taste perception by interacting with taste receptors directly on the tongue. In support of this possibility, other experiments conducted by Monell scientists have shown that a single tongue cell can contain both taste and olfactory receptors.

Lo studio opens opportunities for researchers to conduct numerous other investigations: there are many questions about the mechanisms of operation of the 400 different types of human olfactory receptors; as taste cells cultured in the laboratory respond to odors, they could be used to identify which molecules bind to specific olfactory receptors. Further research may explore the ways in which the molecules that produce different odors modify taste bud responses and ultimately human perception of tastes.

Malik B, Elkaddi N, Turkistani J, Spielman AI, Ozdener MH. Mammalian Taste Cells Express Functional Olfactory Receptors. Chemical Senses, April 24, 2019.