Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide. This requires
either a kidney transplant or kidney dialysis treatments for survival. A research
team from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Heidelberg
has found that diabetics that have a particular type of gene involved with the
protective factor Carnosine do not develop kidney failure.
L-Carnosine is a protective factor shown to be active in the heart, liver, kidneys,
brain, eyes, skin and likely other tissues. The Carnosinase 1 gene on human
chromosome 18 is responsible for creating Carnosinase; the enzyme that degrades
the protective factor L-Carnosine. In comparing this gene in858 subjects including
diabetics with end-stage kidney failure (294 patients), diabetics without kidney
damage (258 patients) and healthy non-diabetics (306 people) it was found that
those who break down L-Carnosine inappropriately tend to develop kidney disease.
L-Carnosine appears to prevent scarring from developing in the kidneys and serves
as a scavenger of kidney damaging free radicals. The study is published in the
January 5th, 2007 issue of the journal Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation.
Carnosine may protect the lungs from scarring
Pulmonary fibrosis is a dangerous even fatal condition characterized by a build
up of scar tissue in the lungs; this makes it difficult to breath and function.
The condition puts pressure on the heart to supply more oxygen, eventually enlarging
the heart, leading to heart failure. These patients are treated with drugs and
oxygen and their treatment is often dangerous and must be managed by a lung
specialist known as a pulmonologist.
Many drugs can cause pulmonary fibrosis, so can a number of autoimmune diseases
(and so can their medical treatment), exposure to dusts from coal, asbestos,
even bird feeders can also cause the condition. Pneumonia and other lung conditions
also can cause it.
In this study a drug (the antibiotic bleomycin), was introduced into the lungs
of mice which lead to scarring. A group of the mice were supplemented daily
with L-Carnosine. A week later the mice were checked. The mice receiving L-Carnosine
(by mouth just like we would take it) had a reduced loss of body weight (a common
symptom of severe disease that contributes to dying), a lower mortality rate,
less swelling of the lungs that would have been due to a build up of fluids
in them (pulmonary edema), less lung inflammation, less lung injury and importantly,
less fibrosis. The study is published in the January 12, 2007 issue of the American
Journal of Physiology.
Nutrients in Broccoli May Help Protect the Heart, according to the
results of an animal study
Here's another reason to eat broccoli: It may help your heart.
University of Connecticut researchers report that news after studying broccoli
and heart health in rats.
The scientists brewed a broccoli-extract and fed it to rats for a month in addition
to regular rat chow. For comparison, they fed other rats water instead of the
broccoli extract in addition to their regular chow.
After feeding the rats either broccoli-extract or water for 30 days, the scientists
tested the rats' hearts. Some of those tests deprived the heart of oxygen, similar
to a heart attack.
The rats that had eaten the broccoli extract had three heart advantages over
the other rats:
- Better blood-pumping ability (the opposite of heart failure)
- Less heart damage during oxygen deprivation (the heart attack caused less
damage)
- Higher levels of heart-health chemicals during oxygen deprivation (this would
help protect the heart and reduce damage to it)
Broccoli's key nutrients include selenium and Sulforaphane, both of which may
also curb cancer, notes D. Das, PhD.
Their findings appear in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
