Beta-Carotene and Vitamin E could slow down lung aging
March
24,
2006
As we age our lung function declines. In this study, researchers at the University of Medicine Bichat,
in Paris, followed 535 individuals from 1992 in a European respiratory health study known as ECRHS.
The participants were approximately an equal number of men and women, 20% were moderate smokers and
10% were heavy smokers. Blood samples were used to determine antioxidant levels and lung function
was measured by using forced expiratory volume (the amount of air the lungs can forcibly push out
in one second). Individuals with the highest blood levels of beta-carotene reduced the yearly
decline in lung function significantly (8 ml. per year) compared to those with the lowest
beta-carotene blood levels. For heavy smokers defined as those who smoked more than 20 cigarettes per
day, low blood levels of both beta-carotene and also vitamin E had a decrease in lung function by a
whopping 50ml per year (almost 2 ounces of air volume). Previous studies have shown that beta-carotene
and vitamin E are found in relatively high concentrations in lung tissue and serve to protect it
from when there is contact with harmful oxidizing elements such as soot or ozone. The researchers
state that those who continue to smoke and have low levels of these antioxidants are going to have
a very high increased risk of developing emphysema and COPD. The study is published in the current
issue of the international respiratory journal Thorax.
Studies show it is not the caffeine which helps decrease
the risk of developing diabetes but probably the polyphenols.
More evidence that Resveratrol helps prevent kidney damage
Rhabdomyolysis is a painful destruction of muscle fibers causing the
release of muscle content into the circulation. Levels of Creatine kinase
(or CCK - an enzyme that creates energy in the muscle) and myoglobin
(the oxygen carrying protein in muscle that functions like hemoglobin)
increase in the blood. These patients generally feel muscle
tenderness and muscle aching.The urine can become dark or cola colored.
Rhabdomyolysis leads to kidney damage, kidney failure, and death.
Rhabdomyolysis accounts for 10% to 40% of all cases of sudden kidney
failure (acute renal failure). Statin drugs that reduce cholesterol have caused
rhabdomyolysis and then death in some patients.
In this study a large amount of a chemical was injected into rats to cause acute
renal failure due to rhabdomyolysis. Injury to the kidney was assessed by
measuring the level of plasma creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and blood
creatinine (not the supplement creatine) in the plasma and by urea
clearance by the kidneys.Giving Resveratrol supplementation 60 minutes
before injecting the chemical markedly decreased damage to kidney tissue,
a drop in kidney function, and production of inflammatory free radicals,
while improving antioxidant enzyme levels in the kidneys (protective levels
of glutathione, glutathione reductase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase).
The study is published in the current issue of the journal Renal Failure
(2006;28[2]).