Good Nutrition Advice

February 2009

A NEW study has found the aches and pains of mild osteoarthritis can be successfully treated with pine bark extract (Pycnogenol). The supplement was tested against a placebo on 100 sufferers with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee.

After eight weeks, the Pycnogenol group reported a significant reduction in pain, and the benefits continued four and eight weeks later. They also had less stiffness in the joint, were able to carry out more daily activities and could also reduce their use of painkillers, while 10 per cent in the placebo group had to increase their dose of analgesics.

Source: Phytotherapy Research, 2008; 22: 1087-92.

TYPE II diabetes is generally diagnosed during middle age and is often a result of bad diet combined with little or no exercise. The resulting insulin insensitivity puts your health at grave risk.

Latest research confirms those same bad habits, if continued throughout middle age and beyond, may result in Type III diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease (AD).

The concept of Alzheimer's as a form of diabetes was originally put forward by German neuroscientists back in the 1990s. More recently, in 2005, two published US studies from Brown Medical School revealed that the brain produces insulin, and insulin levels tend to drop dramatically in Alzheimer's patients. Brown researcher Dr. Suzanne de la Monte said: “Many of the unexplained features of Alzheimer's, such as cell death and tangles in the brain, appear to be linked to abnormalities in insulin signalling.”

More Evidence

Current research would appear to back this up. The North-western University investigated the Alzheimer's-as-type-III-diabetes theory. In most Alzheimer's patients, memory is corrupted by a build-up of amyloid plaques in the brain. So when the researchers treated rat nerve cells with insulin, they were encouraged to find that the effects of amyloid protein plaques were blocked.

Sources:

Insulin Protects Brain from Alzheimer's, US Study; Reuters Health: 3/2/09

Alzheimer's Could Be Diabetes-Like Illness, Study Suggests; HealthDay News: 30/11/05