The power of potted plants

The idea that plants can help your health is not a new one. I can remember everyone in my office in the 1970′s bringing in spider plants as there was a theory that they would help to have near a computer. It’s not just a theory, as many users have claimed they are effective in removing potentially harmful chemicals-including those in paints, varnishes, dry cleaning fluids, car exhaust fumes and tobacco smoke-from the air in your home.

The top 9 Air Purifying Plants are:

Dragon tree
Ivy
Ficus
Philodendrons
Spider plants
Peace lilies
Ferns
Chrysanthemums
Palms

Till now this has been anecdotal evidence – the kind I most like as it means that real people have found real results with it – but now, Japanese scientists are developing genetically engineered plants that can absorb formaldehyde. This is a pungent chemical compound used as adhesive in building materials and furnishing and is seen as a major factor in what is known as sick-house syndrome. This is now more common as people experience headaches, dizziness and other health problems triggered by the chemicals now found in most homes.

Researchers expect the plants to absorb formaldehyde, along with carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, and they found that the level of toxic gas fell to around one-tenth of the original level. They are now trying to apply the technology to common foliage plants, but in the meantime I am going out to buy some more spider plants and a large bunch of chrysanthemums.

Laughter yoga

With so much doom and gloom around we need all the help we can get, and this wonderful therapy is based on something we all knew when we were children. When you laugh, you feel better but sadly although children laugh about 400 times a day that has been whittled down to a mere 15 times when we are all grown up.

Developed by Madan Kataria, a family physician from India, laughter yoga is not really about humour (or yoga), but rather exploits the natural human tendency to laugh when others laugh, so you initiate it and see who joins in. Try smiling generously when you greet someone and you will see it returned, expand a smile into a laugh and people will join in. You can feel inhibited, embarrassed or a complete loon – or you could just decide today is your day to have some fun because research shows that when a group of people forces laughter, it quickly transitions to real, spontaneous laughing.

It is also a great stress reliever and particularly works well for companies to create a positive work environment. Laughter Solutions devise Laughter Workshops, Training and Team Building sessions, and they point out the health benefits of some good hearty laughter. It will naturally increase oxygen levels in the body and releases endorphins from the brain cells, to promote a sense of well- being and raise existing energy levels.

If you are lucky enough to live in Ireland, then you have easy access to their services and they can of course travel to the UK to bring the gift of laughter to your company. Founded and run by Anne McDonald, a creative artist, coach and Laughter expert, I can’t recommend them highly enough. She certainly made me laugh – do wear waterproof mascara if you attend one of her workshops, or none at all if you don’t want to look like a panda from the tears running down your face. As two satisfied customers said, “It’s the most fun I have ever had in a business suit.” “I laughed till I cried and felt a million dollars afterward.”

You will find Anne McDonald at www.mcdonaldcoaching.com/laughter.htm

Exercise? Pop a pill

Athletics and drugs have sadly often gone hand in hand, and now a new research breakthrough which is intended to help people who cannot exercise much or at all, due to incapacity or illness, could be high on the list for cheating athletes.

Steroids boost muscle power so are misused by those needing strength in their events, but so far a drug that can build the endurance needed to run a marathon or take part in the Tour de France has not been available. Now, it could be. We have two types of muscle that move our body: bulky, fast-twitch muscles for power and speed, and slender slow-twitch muscles for endurance. Fast-twitch muscles burn sugar that must be stored in the muscle itself, while slow-twitch muscle burns fat.

A new study on mice at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California suggests that there is a drug that can trick the body into “believing” it has exercised. A drug that has been developed for the treatment of metabolic disease, when taken in combination with exercise, gives mice the ability to run farther than exercise alone can and a separate chemical gave them greater endurance, even without the exercise.

Earlier studies had found that a red wine ingredient called resveratrol could build endurance, but only at enormous doses and by uncertain means. The natural route’s success, however limited, as usual set up a search for a pharmaceutical substitute. The chemicals tested in the new study are thought to work by specifically tapping into the molecular mechanisms that normally re-programme our muscle genes in response to exercise.

Of course it might not work on people, but the research team had previously found they could genetically engineer mice to produce more of the fat-burning slow-twitch muscle fibres, giving them nearly twice the running endurance of untrained adults. The key was boosting the activity of a gene in muscle called PPARd, known to control other genes important to muscle metabolism.

The researchers gave mice an experimental drug, known only as GW1516, that increases PPARd activity and is currently being tested for the treatment of metabolic disease in humans. However, the drug had no effect on the muscles and so they tried giving it to mice who were undergoing exercise training. I have a cute but entirely unfounded vision of a Stuart Little character with mini barbells in satin running shorts – or is that just me? The same dose and duration of GW1516 that had previously failed to alter performance, when paired with four weeks of exercise training, increased the animals’ running time by 68% and their running distance by 70%. The muscles of those mice also showed a unique “endurance gene signature,” including patterns of gene activity not seen with either the drug or exercise alone, according to the investigators. They then decided to try one more thing: a chemical known as AICAR that was known to act on a protein in the body called AMPK. The results are impressive, even in sedentary mice, four weeks of AICAR treatment alone induced metabolic genes and enhanced running endurance by 44%.

THE BENEFIT?
When developed and trialled fully, this has therapeutic potential in treating certain muscle diseases such as wasting and frailty as well as cases of obesity where exercise is known to be beneficial but not physically possible. We also appear to be training mice for the 2012 Olympics, or at least increasing their fitness to levels which should help them run from the fastest cat in your home.

Lower blood pressure with grapes

Ever wondered why grapes are the most popular fruit to take to hospital? Or why the visitor ends up eating them as well as the patient? It could be because visiting someone in hospital – or being a patient – is a stressful time and it seems that grapes help lower blood pressure and improve heart function.

High blood pressure can lead to heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney failure and admittedly this study was sponsored in part by Californian grape producers, but we already know that flavonoids, the beneficial chemicals found in grapes, green tea, cocoa and tomatoes, have an effect on blood pressure and this seems to confirm that.

So buy an extra large bunch next time you are visiting, or treat yourself to one at home. Oh, and drinking a herb tea containing hibiscus may also lower blood pressure according to Diane L. McKay, Ph.D., of Tufts University in Boston, who reported the good results to the American Heart Association. Hibiscus is rich in Vitamin C and could help in reducing cholesterol. If you have difficulty finding it, Hambledon Herbs do an excellent organic one. www.hambledenherbs.com

Arthritis pain relief

Damp, cold days can set off arthritic aches and pains, and we have certainly had more than a few of those recently. Taking non steroidal anti inflammatories such as Nurofen is the conventional route, but if you want a natural solution pop down to Boots or your health store and get some Arnica cream from the Natural Remedies section. You simply rub it onto the affected area to relieve the pain, but don’t use it if your skin is raw or cut in any way.

Whatever Is Tigger Doing?

At this time of year parents and grandparents are under constant bombardment to buy for Christmas and the marketing is ruthless and clever – often using favourite cartoon and tv characters. However, I did think there was one that was safe from this persuasion by well-loved characters and that was in the drug industry. Well, not any more. Pharmaceutical reps working for the drug company AstraZeneca, have been urged to used popular Disney characters to promote psychiatric drugs to children.

What A A Milne would think is anyone’s guess, but some of Winnie the Pooh’s best-loved friends have been rebranded to promote sales of Seroquel, an antipsychotic. Tigger apparently is now described as “bipolar” and poor old Eeyore – who has quite enough to worry about – is apparently described as suffering from “depression”. Presumably the Hundred Acre Wood has also been stripped of all plant life to make new and better drugs.

Cancer risk and stress

The International Journal of Oncology has been looking at whether the stress in your life can cause you to develop cancer, and the answer lies in your diet. Particularly in vegetables such as that Christmas favourite, the brussel sprout.

These are very stressful times, so anything we can do to help our bodies deal with it will also help us avoid diseases like cancer. We know that stress impacts our immune systems and ability to fight off invading organisms so that we become more vulnerable to all kinds of diseases and illnesses. This current study goes a long way toward documenting the link between stress and cancer and stressing the importance of our own role in preventing illness.

Chronic high levels of stress result in chronic high levels of norepinephrine and adrenaline. Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter that is similar to adrenaline and these hormones act together to produce increased heart rate and blood pressure – the precursor to our ‘fight or flight’ mode. So how do you inhibit the production of norepinephrine in this stress-filled times? You increase the amount of sulforaphane in your diet. This is a compound that you get from eating cruciferous vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, turnip, radish, rocket, and watercress.

Sulforaphane has potent anticancer activity that triggers the production of enzymes that help detoxify cancer-causing chemicals and is particularly abundant in broccoli sprouts. A concentrated extract from broccoli sprouts may cut the development of bladder cancer by more than 50% and researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that eating just one ounce of broccoli sprouts provides as much sulforaphane as more than a pound of cooked broccoli. The have devised a product, called Brocco Sprouts, that is on sale in supermarkets in the USA but in the UK your choice is a bit more limited.

The healthiest option is to grow your own sprouting seeds and you can get broccoli sprouts from here www.nickys-nursery.co.uk and apparently they are good in sandwiches, mild rather like alfalfa. Personally, as a total non-broccoli fan I get my cruciferous boost by juicing with the addition of a sweet apple and carrot which is the only way I can deal with them!

If eating healthy amounts of cruciferous vegetables does not appeal to you, try adding broccoli sprouts to a sandwich or salad. Broccoli sprouts don’t have to be eaten daily to provide their full effect. A one ounce serving is good for three days worth of full spectrum antioxidant protection from sulforaphane comparable to the best antioxidant supplements on the market. A box of sprouts contains four of these servings and retails for about 4 dollars.

Juicing is another good way to consume cruciferous vegetables, particularly if you have digestive difficulties. You can add cruciferous vegetables to your vegetable juice recipes. One large stalk of broccoli makes only about an inch of power packed juice in a glass, so it doesn’t have a huge impact on the taste of the recipe.

Supplements of broccoli sprouts are available at health food stores and online health retailers such as Vitacost or Lucky Vitamin. The best known is called Broccoliv. Vitacost has a less costly house brand.

Blood test to detect early Alzheimer’s

There is no doubt that the fear of Alzheimer’s is a major concern for many people as they get older. A natural, and normal slight memory loss – those ‘senior moments’ – can develop into a genuine worry about the development of the disease. Part of the problem has been that there is no foolproof way of predicting who is vulnerable, no reliable test, or how to spot the disease in its very early stages. Now there may be a way to overcome this through a simple blood test.

Scientists at a California biotech company claim that the test is about 90% accurate and can detect Alzheimer’s two to six years before the onset of symptoms. It works through the signals the brain sends to the body’s immune system. These signals pick up changes in the blood proteins in the brain and certain changes in these proteins produce a pattern that’s characteristic to Alzheimer’s.

There are more than 100 different types of dementia, but Alzheimer’s is the most common and there are 417,000 people diagnosed with it in the UK – predicted to rise to over 1 million by 2025.

It will be a few years before this test is available for use by doctors and it would be offered first to those whose close relatives have the disease and who may be suffering memory loss themselves. It may be that you don’t want to know in advance if you have this disease, but an early diagnosis can give patients a chance to make changes to their diet and exercise more in an effort of slowing or staving off chances of getting the disease.

SELF HELP PROGRAMME
Despite common belief, heredity only plays a part in getting Alzheimer’s and it is more likely that environmental factors play a part – particularly the role of free radicals as they cause damage to cells. Cortisol, a stress hormone, may be a causative factor, particularly when produced over a long period of time and good nutrition and herbal treatments prevent and fight damage from free radicals and reduce stress. Toxins such as aluminium and mercury are also a problem since they can be taken into the body and remain in the tissues.

There are a number of things you can do to help lessen some of the symptoms, or the onset, of Alzheimer’s and these are just a few of the supplements that have been found to be effective in many cases:

*Ginkgo biloba for improved memory, attention and mood.

*B vitamins, particularly Folate, which is important to the nervous system and helps eliminate homocysteine from the blood.

*Vitamin E is a scavenger of free radicals and it is fat soluble so readily enters the brain where it is thought to slow cell damage.

*The Ayuredic herb Ashwagandha (Withania somniferum) is used as a brain tonic and reduces stress hormone levels

*DHEA is a hormone used to help cognitive function

*Chlorella aids in the detoxification process of heavy metals.

For more information on Alzheimer’s and dementia, visit www.alzheimers.org.uk

More sleep = Better health

As they get older, many people find they are sleeping less, but that could be a health risk. So to encourage you to try and improve your sleeping habits, if you are currently sleeping fewer than seven-and-a-half hours a night – and are over 60 – then you could be increasing your risk of heart disease.

If you don’t get a full 8 hours plus, then that is associated with a higher rise in overnight blood pressure which increases your risk. This is based on a Japanese study of older patients with hypertension, where they found that the combination of little sleep and elevated overnight blood pressure was associated with an increased risk as well.

Previous studies on the effect of lack of sleep have been done on younger patients and they showed a link to multiple health disorders, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease so they are not exempt either. This is the first study on older patients and shows a particular link with increased risk of heart disease.

If you have trouble sleeping, try a late night drink of chamomile tea, a lavender oil warm bath, or the excellent Bach Rescue Sleep. This is a new formulation that I tried recently and it contains the original 5 effective ingredients of “Rescue Remedy®” plus White Chestnut which is effective against restless mind. I certainly found it to be very effective, though rather too sweet for my taste, and am waiting to hear from the Bach Centre what that ‘sweet’ ingredient is!

Music on the move may not be good for your heart

Music has great power to soothe and de-stress, and is very beneficial to those recovering from illness or surgery or just needing to relax, but a new study reported at an American Heart Association meeting may mean rethinking that. It seems that an mp3 player could potentially cause interference and affect heart devices like pacemakers or implanted defibrillators. Apparently it is not the player itself that is the problem, it’s the earphones as many makes have the magnetic substance neodymium, which helps with sound reproduction. It is this that may interfere with the devices if placed directly on your chest above heart level.

It’s not about the listening, but about where you store the headphones while carrying the mp3 player around with you. Dr.William H. Maisel, director of the Medical Device Safety Institute in Boston, USA ran extensive tests and found that the biggest concern was for defibrillator patients, because the magnet can temporarily deactivate it. However, pacemakers are not exempt from concern as they are designed to boost slow heart rhythms, and when exposed to magnets, they may deliver signals that tell the heart to beat faster, whether it needs to or not.

In the new study, the researchers attached eight types of headphones to iPods and mp3 players. These were either earbuds or clip-ons, not the larger noise-cancelling varieties favoured by business travellers to also exclude external noise. Around 23% of the participants experienced electromagnetic interferencewhen the headphones were placed on the chest – directly over the heart. However, there weren’t any problems if the headphones were 3 centimetres, or about 1.2 inches, or more above the skin’s surface.

This is not a conclusive study, but if you have a pacemaker or defibrillator it is sensible advice to not tuck the headphones into the front pocket of your jacket or let them trail over your shoulders near the heart area when they are not in use.

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