Thursday, April 7, 2022

Fasting Can Make You Healthier... and other 9 scientific ways to stay healthy/happy

 Happy World Health Day 2022!

Straight to the point and in a nutshell: Scientifically proven ways to stay healthy: meditate (at least 20 min per day), be grateful (and share your gratefulness with others), help others (even with small acts of kindness), eat a low calory/vegetable-fruit based diet (intermittent fasting gives you extra "low sugar brownie points"), exercise (outdoors if possible with a workout that increases your heart rate and change levels, a 10 min walk also helps), enjoy nature, enjoy meaningful relationship and healthy social life (yes, pets are included) and if you notice something is odd/painful: go to the doctor :) prevention and early treatment are the best ways to avoid complications. On more zen notes, acknowledging that bad things, negative feedback, pain and disease are part of life and will happen at some point, so zero expectations and mindfully breathing may help to manage negative events.

Believe it or not, breakthrough new research has shown that fasting could be good for you. The article was indeed featured in the Nature journal and the impact of this study relies on the conclusion that fasting promotes haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function. Stem cells are good for you because they can differentiate into specialized cells and can divide to produce more stem cells.

I personally challenged myself by fasting during Ramadan. Ramadan is one of the pillars of the Muslim religion. It consists of fasting during a month from sunrise to sunset in order to reflect the essence of piety and to be aware of the plight of the underprivileged. Other cultures include fasting in their practices. In the Jewish religion, the fasting day is named Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is described as a Jewish festival without food, but full of praying, introspection and self-judgment.

During my fasting period, my friends noticed an off-character onset of passive-aggressiveness in me, and indeed I was pretty cranky… and super hungry. One of my favorite comedians, Luis CK, once said that we incorrectly overuse the “I am starving” phrase, while people in Africa are really dying from starvation… so I won’t say I was starving, but certainly, I was in a glucose deprived state of mind, which was affecting my behavior.

The most challenging part for me was being dehydrated, as you should also fast liquids during Ramadan, fasting liquids seemed counterproductive in my experience.

Fasting is often indicated in general medical practice particularly prior to surgery or other procedures that require general anesthetics, because of the risk of pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents after induction of anesthesia (i.e., vomiting and inhaling the vomit, causing life-threatening aspiration pneumonia). One should also fast if undergoing a cholesterol or glucose test, as these measurements require a 12 hour fasting period so that a baseline can be established. These acute/short fasting periods are generally safe.

Furthermore, a study in mice published in 2008 showed that short-term fasting (less than 48 hours) is effective in protecting normal cells but not cancer cells against high dose chemotherapy. The following year another study published in Science proved that caloric restriction delays disease onset and mortality in rhesus monkeys. In a human study, including 10 cancer patients under chemotherapy, Sadfie and collaborators did not report significant side effects caused by fasting alone other than hunger and lightheadedness. In this study, all patients voluntarily fasted for a total of 48 to 140 hours prior to and/or 5 to 56 hours following chemotherapy administered by their treating oncologists. In those patients whose cancer progression could be assessed, fasting did not prevent the chemotherapy-induced reduction of tumor volume or tumor markers. Fasting was well-tolerated and was associated with a self-reported reduction in multiple chemotherapy-induced side effects, suggesting that fasting in combination with chemotherapy is feasible, safe, and has the potential to ameliorate side effects caused by chemotherapies.

In the significant article that I mentioned before, Chen and collaborators showed that prolonged fasting (PF), exceeding 48 hours, activates a metabolic switch to lipid- and ketone-based catabolism and decreases circulating insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which has been shown to reduce chemotoxicity (1) How? They couldn’t find an answer yet. However, they clearly demonstrated that the decrease of circulating IGF-1 in the blood was accompanied by a reduction in protein kinase A (PKA) pathway activity in a variety of cell types. PKA has several functions in the cell, I.e. regulation of glycogen, sugar, and lipid metabolism and it regulates other proteins with a valuable role in stem cell stress resistance, self-renewal and pluripotency maintenance.

Interestingly, when Chen and collaborators exposed mice to cycles of prolonged fasting followed by challenges with cyclophosphamide (a drug used in chemotherapy), they noticed a reduction in the mortality and apoptosis (programmed cell death) of long- and short-term HSCs as well as multipotent progenitors in the bone marrow. In addition, multi-lineage differentiation was improved in these animals compared with fed mice, in vitro and in transplantation experiments. These positive effects of prolonged fasting were independent of the chemotherapy treatment, as they were also present in aged animals, which naturally exhibit a reduction in HSC function and multi-lineage potential. The effects of prolonged fasting could be reproduced in mice lacking the growth hormone receptor, which also have low levels of IGF-1. Transplantation experiments showed that low levels of IFG-1 in animals led to a reduction in IGF-1-mediated PKA signaling, both in haematopoietic cells and in associated stromal cells. Strikingly, the researchers could restore haematopoietic function by reducing the levels of either IGF-R1 or the PKA catalytic subunit. Conversely, the benefits were abolished if exogenous IGF-1 was added.



The scientific community is excited about these findings, and we hope understanding the positive effects of fasting can have implications in improving the quality of life of cancer patients… and all humanity in general. On the other hand, I must cite one of the best Americans: “He that lives upon hope will die fasting”, Benjamin Franklin.

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Sintomas de omicron

 Los sintomas de la infeccion con COVID variante omicron pueden ser diferentes que los de las variantes anteriores.

Las vacunas pueden protejer con esta nueva variante, pero parece que la efectividad es menor si la vacuna se admistro hace mas de 6 meses.

Los test (the PCR y de antigeno) pueden identificar esta nueva variante.




Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Los casos de omicron estan aumentando, es el momento de cuidarse y ser responsable

Se ha detectado 1 caso de omicron en Argentina, es clave que todos seamos responsables y no repitamos los errores: usen barbijo/tapaboca, testeanse antes de salir, traten de mantener distancia social, completen la vacunacion, lavense las manos!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9E00Oor5TU&t=462s



Thursday, March 18, 2021

New SARS-COVID-2 variants, brief update

 Viruses mutate. Period!

Fortunately, the mutation rate of the coronavirus is lower than other types, such as flu. However, due to the high transmissibility and fast-spreading of SARS-COVID-2, new "variants of interest" that might be more dangerous are appearing around the world.

I can stress enough the fact that the virus CAN NOT reproduce by itself, it needs an animal cell, it needs to hijack the cell's mechanisms to be able to copy its genetic material and to produce the viral proteins, it even takes a part of the cell membrane with when "leaves" the cell.

So, the first variant of interest was reported back in September in Kent (UK), as a chronic case (long extended infection), and its transmissibility was higher than the "original" variant, approximately 63%. it took some time to process all the data of the genome sequences and analyze the results, but now we know that the new variant is more contagious. The main change is an amino acid (like a building block/brick) in the spike/membrane protein. This protein is responsible to bind to a protein located on the surface of the animal cell, which starts the infection process. Apparently, this change (mutation) of just one part of the spike protein gives the virus an advantage that translates to a higher infection rate.

Other variants, for example, the one reported in Brazil or the one reported in Sudafrica have additional changes in the spike protein. One of these changes has shown, in the lab, to lower the immune response competence, due to a lack of recognition of the viral proteins.

The good news is that some vaccines are already being tested and are still effective against some of the variants, and in case that a new variant appears, the vaccine's mechanisms and technology can be adapted in a relatively short period of time.

The best that you can do and avoid being used by SARS-COVID-2 as a "reproduction" hub: Stay home, limit interactions with people from other households, keep 2 meters apart (physical distance), use a mask, wash your hands, and if you get offered a vaccine, don't miss the shot!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5RZMhxfVhg

References:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(21)00005-9/fulltext

https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n579

Monday, December 28, 2020

Hay que parar la transmision lo antes posible para evitar que aprezcan mas mutaciones

  Hay que parar la transmision lo antes posible para evitar que aprezcan mas mutaciones

Los virus mutan, hay mas de 4000 variantes detectadas, la mejor forma de parar esto es evitar el contagio! Sean responsables y cuídense (usen tapaboca, mantengan distancia, respeten, coman sano, mediten, bailen, sonrían, ayuden, aprendan cosas nuevas, hagan ejercicio...) somos una gota en el océano, pero se necesita solo una gota para rebalsar un vaso lleno!




Thursday, September 10, 2020

What happened to the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID vaccine?

In the middle of the pandemic turmoil and a lot of pressure from the government and financial lobbies, AstraZeneca followed the clinical trial guidelines and paused their COVID vaccine AZD1222 trial. This phase III trial aimed to enroll up to 50,000 participants globally.

They had reported numerous low to mild adverse events during the first phases of the study, such as headaches and fever, however in this case a severe adverse event was a red flag that put the enterprise on hold. The latest information indicates that one female UK volunteer in the phase III trial suffered from transverse myelitis. Transverse myelitis is an inflammation of the spinal cord that damages the insulating material covering nerves (called myelin), interrupting the communication within the body. Some symptoms include pain, muscle weakness, paralysis, sensory problems, bladder and bowel dysfunction. Infections and immune system disorders that attack the body's tissues can cause myelitis. The woman who suffered transverse myelitis seems to be recovering and was reported that will be leaving the hospital.

However, this unexplained illness triggered a standard review process, leading to the voluntary pause of vaccination across all trials to allow an independent committee to review the safety data of this event in the UK Phase III trial.

The important thing to remember is that clinical trials take years to complete as they need to be done int the right way in order to produce safe and effective treatments, and that is not the end of it, because the treatment/therapy also has to be approved by each regional regulatory entity and this process is long and exhaustive.

In fact, there is at least a 50% failure rate for every phase of a trial, and only 13.8% of phase I clinical trials get approved.

Constant monitoring of clinical trials is a routine activity and it is a good signal that only one adverse event was picked up fast and the reaction was proper.

One of the reasons is that pharma companies know that vaccines that people can't trust are not worthy as you need people to actually get the vaccine, so having the public trust is essential.

Even if this vaccine doesn't prove to be safe and/or effective, almost 200 other candidates, with diverse modes of action are eager to jump to the leading candidate role that AZD1222 was holding so far.

Multiple pharma companies signed an agreement to honor the clinical trial process and don't "rush the science" to ensure the development of safe and effective vaccines.

To learn more about the AZD1222 vaccines click here




References

https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/09/astrazeneca-covid19-vaccine-trial-hold-patient-report/


https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/astrazeneca-s-covid-19-vaccine-hold-sparks-reassessment-race?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTkdGbU9EVTRNbUptWVROaiIsInQiOiIrVkc4QlNEdFwvNFl4VFlvamtaXC9WT1JBTzU1ZkU4Y2ZwbWszUEtoZm9SSUh1bnVPQ1wvRWRFZE5mbm5hcVppY21uZ1c0RkpcLzRBenRCNkhzek5taHQ4UktybEdvNkozbkxTUHVxWDFuaUkrU2JZSFk2NjBubXNpTGRLWGlKUUZSMU4ifQ%3D%3D&mrkid=644691