YORUBA TRADITIONAL RELIGION SITE
How curry spice, fish oil preserve walking ability, boost immune system.
Guardian. Lagos, Nigeria. 5.7.12
Can eating foods rich in curry spice, and fish and plant oils preserve walking ability following spinal cord injury and boost innate immune response to fight infection and chronic disease? CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.
THE lame can walk again! But not without some help from curry spice and fish oil replete with Omega 3 fatty acid.
Researchers have discovered how a diet enriched with a popular omega-3 fatty acid such as fish oil and an ingredient in curry spice, curcumin, preserved walking ability in rats with spinal-cord injury and boosted innate immune response to fight infection and chronic disease.
Omega 3 fatty acids are fats commonly found in marine and plant oils. Common sources of n–3 fatty acids include fish oils, algal oil, squid oil, and some plant oils such as echium oil and flaxseed oil.
Curcumin the main component in the spice turmeric used in curry. Curcumin has been consumed daily in Asian countries for centuries without reported toxic effects.
Turmeric is a spice that comes from the root of Curcuma longa, a member of the ginger family, Zingaberaceae. In traditional medicine, turmeric has been used for its medicinal properties for various indications and through different routes of administration, including topically, orally, and by inhalation.
In Nigeria, it is called atale pupa in Yoruba; gangamau in Hausa; nwandumo in Ebonyi; ohu boboch in Enugu (Nkanu East); gigir in Tiv; magina in Kaduna; turi in Niger State; onjonigho in Cross River (Meo tribe).
Turmeric, also known as curcuma, produces a root that is used to produce the vibrant yellow spice used as a culinary spice so often used in curry dishes.
Until now, curcumin has been effectively used in pain, wounds, diabetes and heart disease. But recent United States study found that eating turmeric flavoured meals could be the best way to shedding excess kilos.
The recent findings published June 26 in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine suggest that these dietary supplements help repair nerve cells and maintain neurological function after degenerative damage to the neck.
The researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), United States, studied two groups of rats with a condition that simulated cervical myelopathy - a progressive disorder that often occurs in people with spine-weakening conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.
Previous studies have shown that cervical myelopathy can lead to disabling neurological symptoms, such as difficulty walking, neck and arm pain, hand numbness and weakness of the limbs and is the most common cause of spine-related walking problems in people over 55.
According to the UCLA research team, the first group of animals was fed rat chow that replicated a Western diet high in saturated fats and sugar. The second group consumed a standard diet supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, and curcumin. A third set of rats received a standard rat diet and served as a control group.
Why these supplements? DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid shown to repair damage to cell membranes. Curcumin is a strong antioxidant that previous studies have linked to tissue repair. Both reduce inflammation.
How Music Cures Depression.
Leadership. Abuja. Nigeria. 26.6.12
When people feel depressed, it undermines their ability to live a normal and active life. There are several ways to manage or get rid of depression, but going by a recent study, it was found out that music when combined with standard care could be an effective treatment for depression. RALIAT YUSUF writes.
People listen to music for different reasons ranging from merriment to parties and relaxations etc. Most people find that music lifts their spirits.
It is thought to be the first form of art to be born, and throughout the long history of human, it has proved to play an essential part in our lives. Hardly is there anyone who has never listened to a song. Hence, we all seem to owe many things to music.
There are times when one feels depressed. Feelings of gloom and inadequacy fill one’s mind and carrying out even the daily activities becomes difficult.
Depression reduces brain activity and hampers the mind’s ability to plan and execute tasks. Listening to music might help lift more depressed people out of the dumps than common antidepressant medications do, suggests a new study.
That is however not to say that people with depression should toss out their medications and pick up a guitar. The music therapy administered to patients in the new study was in addition to regular therapy, and the patients continued their regular medication routines.
Mental depression is a serious disorder in the brain that affects the mind’s ability to execute tasks as well as living a fulfilling life. There is a type of neurotransmitter (chemicals that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse) in the brain called Serotonin.Lack of serotonin leads to depression. However, meditation music helps increase the serotonin levels of the brain, making it easier to execute the desired tasks during the day. This is just one of the many ways how meditation music soothes the mind.
Mr. Michael Monday, a psychologist says from historical perspective, music applies its relevance to every facet of human life. It is a strong basis of communicating values and keeping the society together. Its cohesion cannot be understated as it binds, disintegrates and also preserves people, he said.
He further stated that great poets cannot deny the fact that the application of music to recitation has helped sustain poetry, adding that music has a very strong medicinal inclination in it as a treatment for depression.
He also stated that Biblical records shows that Israel’s king Saul was a troubled man and David was invited, he played the Harp and sang to soothe Saul’s soul.
For modern medicine and psychiatry, the use of classic and jazz music aids significantly for mentally depressed persons. The use of ‘old school’ music helps in memory recollection for the aged and patients of memory loss, said Mr. Michael.
Music is proven to provide 56% more comfort and relief than drug because it is participatory and aligns with the nerves to soothe sorrow and pain. It helps for quicker recoveries than drugs, he said.
Dr. Emman Shehu who plays guitar as a hobby says, the power of music on human beings is an age-old fact which science is underscoring with more and more findings.
Music , he says has a direct effect on human emotions and this has made it a versatile medium of communication. Musicians have come to the realisation that music penetrates the body.
The interplay of music and various facets of human life are interesting. Religion depends a lot on music as evident in the haunting cadences of the muezzin to the enchanting melody of the choir. Music is also utilized as a medical tool for therapy. It would be difficult to imagine the value of entertainment without music, he added.
Music is known to have a strong effect on the human psyche. Learning to play an instrument boosts the brain’s auditory ability and even makes it easier to learn foreign languages, studies show. Music can also trigger memories by activating the medial prefrontal cortex, which sits in the brain just behind the forehead. This region is one of the last areas of the brain to atrophy during Alzheimer’s, explaining why many Alzheimer’s patients can recall songs from the distant past.
Music is one of the few activities that involve using the whole brain. It is intrinsic to all cultures and can have surprising benefits not only for learning language, improving memory and focusing attention, but also for physical coordination and development.
Music can be distracting if it’s too loud or if it competes for our attention with what we are trying to do. But for the most part, exposure to, listening or enjoying music has beneficial effects in which treatment of depression is one.
Garlic shows promise against antibiotic resistant diseases .
Guardian. Lagos. Nigeria. 31.5.12
Recent studies indicate that extracts of garlic could be used to beat multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis and other antibiotic resistant diseases like cystic fibrosis. CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.
RESEARCHERS have confirmed that garlic could be used to treat multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis and other antibiotic resistant diseases like cystic fibrosis (a disease passed down through families that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs, digestive tract, and other areas of the body).
Saudi and Pakistani researchers in a study titled: “Anti-mycobacterial activity of garlic (Allium sativum) against multi-drug resistant and non-multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)” concluded, “this study demonstrated that the garlic extract has showed its effectiveness against clinical isolates of MDR M. tuberculosis. It is worthwhile to utilise garlic as natural supplement with other standard anti tuberculosis treatment (ATT). It is corresponding that substitute medicines practices with plant extracts including garlic as a means of decreasing the burden of drug resistance and reducing the cost of management of diseases would be of public health importance.”
The researchers in the study Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Science investigated a total of 20 clinical isolates of MTB including 15 MDR and five non-MDR strains. Ethanolic extract of garlic was prepared by maceration method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was performed by using 7H9 middle brook broth dilution technique. MIC of garlic extract was ranged from one to three mg/ml, showing inhibitory effects of garlic against both non-MDR and MDR M tuberculosis isolates.
According to the researchers, “alternate medicine practices with plant extracts including garlic should be considered to decrease the burden of drug resistance and cost in the management of diseases. The use of garlic against MDR-TB may be of great importance regarding public health.”
In another study published in The Internet Journal of Infectious Diseases, antibacterial activity of A. sativum was tested against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial isolates from Urinary Tract of Indian patients, which were confirmed for resistant against commonly used antibiotics for urinary tract infections.
In present study titled: “Antibacterial activity of allicin from Allium sativum against antibiotic resistant uropathogens,” only five quantities (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50µg) of aqueous allicin from A. sativum cloves and leaves were used, which has antibacterial activity against test isolates by disc diffusion method. The maximum inhibitory activity of allicin against all test isolates was observed at 40µg and the quantity was found statistically significant for antibacterial activity of allicin extracted from A. sativum cloves and leaves against Urino-genital Tract (UT) bacterial isolates.
Meanwhile, Danish researchers and collaborators have pinpointed a constituent of garlic that attacks a key step in development of biofilms, in an effort they hope may offer help in particular for patients with cystic fibrosis.
A biofilm is a complex aggregation of microorganisms growing on a solid substrate. Bacterial biofilms are far more resistant than individual bacteria to the armories of antibiotics that have devised to combat them.
The research is published in the May 2012 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
In earlier work, Givskov and his colleagues showed that “crude extracts of garlic inhibit the expression of a large number of genes that are controlled by bacterial quorum sensing (communication among bacterial cells involved in biofilm development), and that extracts promote a rapid clearing of pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in mice.” “These findings encouraged us to identify and assess the efficacy of the pure active compound,” he said.
Jakobsen said that compound turned out to be ajoene, the major constituent of a multitude of sulphur-containing compounds produced when garlic is crushed. The team then showed in P. aeruginosa that ajoene inhibits expression of 11 genes that are controlled by quorum sensing. “These key genes are regarded as crucial for the ability of P. aeruginosa to cause disease,” he said.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common bacterium that can cause disease in animals, including humans. Jakobsen further explained, “we also found ajoene to reduce the production of rhamnolipid, a compound that shields the biofilm bacteria from the white blood cells that otherwise would destroy bacteria, and that by combining ajoene with the antibiotic tobramycin, it was possible to kill over 90 per cent of bacteria living in a biofilm.
“Our study is part of a series of comprehensive investigations of natural compounds targeting bacterial quorum sensing systems, and it further strengthens previous proof of concept research we conducted on the potential of compounds which block communication among pathogen cells in contrast to simply killing bacteria, as conventional antibiotics do,” says Jakobsen. Such alternative approaches “may postpone or minimise development of antibiotic resistance.”
