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Archive for category: North Africa economic news

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DARK CHOCOLATE MAY PREVENT HEART ATTACKS

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Men’s Fitness

It’s no surprise that scientific experts love to study chocolate: Not only does the average American eat over 10 pounds of the stuff annually, but we’re pretty sure the researchers are sneaking samples between studies. Of course, this cocoa-flavored candy has also been shown time and again to be incredibly healthy for your heart. To determine the reason, a team from San Diego State University gave people either two ounces of dark chocolate (which contains high levels of antioxidant compounds called flavanols) or white chocolate (which doesn’t have any flavanols) every day for a week.

They discovered that those in the dark chocolate group had lower blood sugar levels and LDL cholesterol (the “bad” kind) and higher HDL cholesterols (the good kind) than people who get the white chocolate. The higher the levels of cocoa in the chocolate, the better is for you, researchers believe, so be sure to grab a bar that’s contains at least 70 percent. Remember, of course, that chocolate of any kind still contains fat and calories, so do your heart—and your midsection—a favor and stick to no more than an ounce or two per day.

read more at Men’s Fitness

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Antibody Therapy Blocks Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury

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JAMA

Tracy Hampton, PhD

September 1, 2015

Treating mice with an antibody against the cis form of phosphorylated tau protein (cis P-tau) can prevent some of the pathological changes that occur after traumatic brain injury (TBI), researchers report (Kondo A et al. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature14658 [published online July 15, 2015]).

Investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and their colleagues modeled sport- and military-related TBI in mice by exposing them to impact or blast injury. After TBI was induced in mice, the researchers observed robust and persistent elevations in cis P-tau, which caused injury to axons and disrupted axonal mitochondria and microtubule scaffolding. Subsequently, cis P-tau spread in the brain over time, leading to massive apoptotic cell death. The findings add to the investigators’ previous research showing that cis P-tau has an early pathological role in Alzheimer disease (Nakamura K et al. Cell. 2012;149[1]:232-244) and suggest that “cistauosis” may be a common early disease mechanism in TBI, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and Alzheimer disease.

Treatment with the cis antibody blocked the spread of cis P-tau in mice and reversed many TBI-related structural and functional effects within the brain, as well as behavioral aspects of the condition. Further development of the antibody may lead to improved treatment outcomes for TBI.

 read more at JAMA

Multipronged Approach Helps Alleviate Poverty

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July 21, 2015

M. J. Friedrich

A holistic strategy to alleviate poverty—called the Graduation Program—can help the world’s poorest households “graduate” from extreme poverty into sustainable standards of living, according to a recent study carried out by an international consortium (Banerjee A et al. Science. 2015;348[6236]:1260799).

From 2007 to 2014 the researchers tested this program, enrolling more than 20 000 participants in 6 countries—Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, India, Pakistan, and Peru. They conducted randomized controlled trials in villages associated with extreme poverty (defined as living on US $1.25 a day or less). Within these villages, the researchers identified the poorest of the poor and assigned half the participants to the program and half to a control group. Participants in the program received a 1-time transfer of assets to generate income; skills training on how to manage the asset; food or cash support in times of emergency; coaching to reinforce skills, build confidence, and address challenges; access to a savings account; and for all but 1 site, access to health care, health education, or both.

The intervention increased income and revenues in the treatment group, benefits that were sustained 1 year after the end of the program. Based on pooled results, those enrolled in the program had more assets and savings, spent more time working, went hungry on fewer days, and had improved health and lowered stress, although the intent-to-treat effects across these measures varied by country. The estimated benefits were overall higher than the costs in 5 of the 6 sites.

  read more at JAMA

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