This review by Hemingway et al BMJ 20th Feb 2010 pp 410 ( Ten steps towards improving prognosis research)is to my mind of paramount importance for nutritionists. They strongly criticise the science of prognosis in clinical medicine.They describe low quality,low impact prognosis research in clinical medicine which is then inflated by the Media. Are we…
Read moreFetal growth in the first trimester has far reaching implications What happens to babies in the womb has implications way beyond birth. The first trimester seems particularly important, A link has been established between poor growth in the first trimester and adverse birth outcomes in 1631 pregnant women with reliable dates. They also recorded accelerated…
Read moreRickets still occurs in dark¬skinned infants who are exclusively fed on breast milk.Cod-liver oil and sunshine exposure were recognised as the cures for rickets in the late 19th century. There are two types of physiologically important vitamin D: cholecalci¬ferol (D3) and ergocalciferol (D2). D3 is synthesised in the skin from 7-dehydrocholesterol in cell membranes upon…
Read moreThe sulfur amino acids, methionine and cysteine, are implicated in numerous biological functions and diseases, aside from their role in protein synthesis Methionine is an indispensable amino acid and is transmethylated intracellularly to homocysteine via S-adenosylmethionine, the principal biological methyl donor in mammalian cells and a precursor for polyamine synthesist. Reduced -adenosylmethionine concen¬trations, as a…
Read moreDietary restriction – reduced food intake without malnutrition prolongs life span in yeast, worms, flies, rodents, monkeys and possibly humans. But dietary restriction also often impairs fecundity, possibly because maintenance of the overall body mass (the non -germline parts of an organism), and thus long life, do not give space for reproductive activity. Biologists have…
Read moreGenetic link to obesity Obesity is a highly heritable disorder but the genetic associations reported to date account for only a small percentage of the inherited variation in body mass index, In Nature 2010 volume 463 two groups have reported deletions on chromosome16p11.2 that may explain part of the ‘missing heritability’ in terms of ,…
Read moreThis is an article which has very important long term interest for Nutrition. Good cells perform their physiological activities at the right time and place. When removed from their natural surroundings they self-destruct,called anoikis . Cancer cells: however they survive, invade other tissues and continue to grow in unfamiliar territories. Schafer et al in Nature…
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