Posts Tagged ‘Persian Dotors’

Scientists say they are closer to knowing why older women are more likely to produce abnormal eggs.

The Newcastle University team saw a fall in levels of proteins called cohesins, essential for chromosomes to divide properly for fertilisation.

Writing in Current Biology, they said understanding this process could help develop ways to prevent cohesin loss.

Abnormal eggs are linked to infertility, miscarriage and conditions including Down’s Syndrome.

It was already known that pregnancy problems in older women can be linked to eggs containing the wrong number of chromosomes, but not why this occurred.

The protein is a key factor in the ovulation process

Messy division

All the cells in the body, except for sperm and eggs, contain two copies of each chromosome.

Sperm and eggs must lose one copy in readiness for fertilisation, a complex process. Cohesins bind chromosomes together by entrapping them in a ring. This is essential for them to divide properly.

If there is too little cohesin, the structure can be too “floppy” for division to happen equally.

In eggs, the problem is compounded by the fact that the physical attachments which hold chromosomes together are established before birth and must be maintained by cohesins until the egg divides just before ovulation – which can be decades later.

The researchers looked at eggs from young and old mice – and found cohesin levels declined with age.

By tracking chromosomes during division in the egg, the Newcastle team found that the reduced cohesin in eggs from older females resulted in some chromosomes becoming trapped and unable to divide properly.

Lead researcher Dr Mary Herbert, of the Centre for Life at Newcastle University, said: “Reproductive fitness in women declines dramatically from the mid-thirties onwards. Our findings point to cohesin being a major culprit in this.

“The aged mice we used are equivalent to a woman in her early forties.

“Cohesin levels were very much reduced in eggs from older mice and the chromosomes underwent a very messy division resulting in the wrong number of chromosomes being retained in the egg.”

Mismatches

She said the next step was to look at human egg development, and work out why cohesin is lost with age.

“If we can understand this, we will be in a better position to know if there is any possibility of developing interventions to help reduce cohesin loss.”

But Dr Herbert added: “Undoubtedly, the best way for women to avoid this problem is to have their children earlier.”

Adam Balen, professor of reproductive medicine and surgery at the Leeds Centre for Reproductive Medicine, said the study was scientifically very interesting.

“This is a neat explanation as to why we see mismatches in chromosomes as women get older.”

But Professor Balen, who is also chair of the British Fertility Society’s practice and policy committee, added it was “far too early to say” if the finding would have any bearing on clinical care for older women with fertility problems.

By Caroline Parkinson Health reporter, BBC News

If you are worried about garlic breath, drink a glass of milk, say scientists who claim it can stop the lingering odour.

In tests with raw and cooked cloves, milk “significantly reduced” levels of the sulphur compounds that give garlic its flavour and pungent smell.

The authors told the Journal of Food Science it is the water and fat in milk that deodorises the breath.

For optimum effect, sip the milk as you eat the garlic, they say.

Sulphur compounds in garlic make it smelly

Mixing milk with garlic in the mouth before swallowing had a higher odour neutralising effect than drinking milk after eating the garlic in the trial.

And full-fat milk provided better results than skimmed milk or just water, according to breath samples taken from a volunteer.

One of the compounds milk counteracts is allyl methyl sulphide or AMS.

This cannot be broken down in the gut during digestion, and so it is released from the body in the breath and sweat.

Although garlic is good for you – containing several vitamins and minerals – once eaten, it can cause bad breath and body odour lasting hours or even days.

Plain water, and some foods, such as mushrooms and basil, may also help neutralise garlic smells, the study authors Sheryl Barringer and Areerat Hansanugrum say.

But it is the mixture of fat and water together that works best, the Ohio State University team say.

“The results suggest that drinking beverages or foods with higher water and/or fat content such as milk may help reduce the malodorous odour in breath after consumption of garlic and mask the garlic flavour during eating,” they say.

BBC Health News

By Clare Murphy Health reporter, BBC News

People who do puzzles and crosswords may stave off dementia longer but experience a more rapid decline once the disease sets in, a study suggests.

While there has long been speculation that “exercising” your brain could protect against Alzheimer’s, there has been little evidence to back this up.

Now US researchers who followed more than 1,000 people suggest the more mentally active may delay the disease.

Could crosswords hold the key to delaying the onset of dementia?

But once symptoms appeared, decline was quicker, the research suggested.

The team from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago recruited 1,157 people aged over 65 in the early 1990s.

They were given a maximum of five points based on how often they engaged in a variety of activities which involved processing information, including listening to the radio or watching TV, reading a book, carrying out a crossword puzzle or jigsaw, or going to a museum.

Slowing down, speeding up

They were then followed for an average of 12 years, with assessments every three years.

For each additional point those without a diagnosed cognitive impairment saw a 50% slower decline in their brain function, which was examined through a variety of tests.

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