Faith in vitamin E, β carotene, and oestrogen endures despite the evidence Throughout the 1990s there was a widespread believe that vitamin E could help prevent cardiovascular disease. Large observational studies found clear evidence of benefit. Since then. equally large and more convincing randomised trials have found the opposite.Belief in the protective properties of vitamin…
Read moreTechnorati Profile
Read morePhytosterol-stanol enriched margarines are an attractive method to reduce the blood lipids.In an extensive study in Holland groups of individuals using either cholesterol lowering drugs or phytosterol-stanol enriched margarines ,or both cholesterol lowering drugs and phytosterol-stanol enriched margarines and a control group were looked at over a 5 year period.The reduction in lipid concentrations on…
Read moreA diet that is outside the accepted norm may raise concerns for its adequacy in terms of nutrients and whether or not this diet has inbuilt deficienciesThe vegetarian diet is one such concern. . The Oxford cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition ( EPIC-Oxford ) conducted a survey of vegetarians and…
Read moreIn Nature 2007, vol 450 p 765 there is a fascinating summary of two papers describing variations in male female ratios in babies. Biol. Lett. doi:10.1O98/rsbl.2007.0482 (2007);Proc. R. Soc. B doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1401 (2007)Evolutionary theory suggests that sexual creatures increase the number of descendants if they have more sons than daughters when conditions are optimal and more…
Read moreWhen I first studied Biochemistry in RB Fisher in Edinburgh in the early 1960s I was draw into his enthusiasm for enzyme kinetics. I was so ignorant and yet had a medical degree and was entranced by this topic. He was very mathematical in his approach.I wondered at the time if there was but one…
Read moreSarcopenia that is the loss of muscle mass and strength with age, and is also a feature of type 2 diabetes in the older person .In diabetes there is a relationship between increased glucose concentration and weaker muscle strength.In the Hertfordshire cohort study impaired grip strength runs in parallel with the features of the metabolic…
Read moreSarcopenia that is the loss of muscle mass and strength with age, and is also a feature of type 2 diabetes in the older person .In diabetes there is a relationship between increased glucose concentration and weaker muscle strength.In the Hertfordshire cohort study impaired grip strength runs in parallel with the features of the metabolic…
Read moreIn a remarkable study , 88, 000 chemicals were tested to see if they could extend the life span of the worm ( caenorhabditis elegans) . This worm may normally live for up to 3 weeks. Of all the drugs tested only the anti-depressant mianserin significantly extended the worms life span by almost a third.Mianserin…
Read moreThe molecular mechanism of protein translocation, is the subject of a review by Rapoport in Nature.Proteins transported across the eukaryotic endoplasmic reticulum membrane or the prokaryotic plasma membrane include soluble proteins, such as those ultimately secreted from the cell or localized to the endoplasmic reticulum lumen, and membrane proteins, such as those in the plasma…
Read more