Category: Health

{A large analysis of current research shows that people who eat at least 20g of nuts a day have a lower risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases.}

The analysis of all current studies on nut consumption and disease risk has revealed that 20g a day — equivalent to a handful — can cut people’s risk of coronary heart disease by nearly 30 percent, their risk of cancer by 15 percent, and their risk of premature death by 22 percent.

An average of at least 20g of nut consumption was also associated with a reduced risk of dying from respiratory disease by about a half, and diabetes by nearly 40 percent, although the researchers note that there is less data about these diseases in relation to nut consumption.

The study, led by researchers from Imperial College London and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, is published in the journal BMC Medicine.

The research team analysed 29 published studies from around the world that involved up to 819,000 participants, including more than 12,000 cases of coronary heart disease, 9,000 cases of stroke, 18,000 cases of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and more than 85,000 deaths.

While there was some variation between the populations that were studied, such as between men and women, people living in different regions, or people with different risk factors, the researchers found that nut consumption was associated with a reduction in disease risk across most of them.

Study co-author Dagfinn Aune from the School of Public Health at Imperial said: “In nutritional studies, so far much of the research has been on the big killers such as heart diseases, stroke and cancer, but now we’re starting to see data for other diseases.

“We found a consistent reduction in risk across many different diseases, which is a strong indication that there is a real underlying relationship between nut consumption and different health outcomes. It’s quite a substantial effect for such a small amount of food.”

The study included all kinds of tree nuts, such as hazel nuts and walnuts, and also peanuts — which are actually legumes. The results were in general similar whether total nut intake, tree nuts or peanuts were analysed.

What makes nuts so potentially beneficial, said Aune, is their nutritional value: “Nuts and peanuts are high in fibre, magnesium, and polyunsaturated fats — nutrients that are beneficial for cutting cardiovascular disease risk and which can reduce cholesterol levels.

“Some nuts, particularly walnuts and pecan nuts are also high in antioxidants, which can fight oxidative stress and possibly reduce cancer risk. Even though nuts are quite high in fat, they are also high in fibre and protein, and there is some evidence that suggests nuts might actually reduce your risk of obesity over time.”

The study also found that if people consumed on average more than 20g of nuts per day, there was little evidence of further improvement in health outcomes.

The team are now analysing large published datasets for the effects of other recommended food groups, including fruits and vegetables, on a wider range of diseases.

{In a small double-blind study, Johns Hopkins researchers report that a substantial majority of people suffering cancer-related anxiety or depression found considerable relief for up to six months from a single large dose of psilocybin — the active compound in hallucinogenic “magic mushrooms.”}

The researchers cautioned that the drug was given in tightly controlled conditions in the presence of two clinically trained monitors and said they do not recommend use of the compound outside of such a research or patient care setting.

The Johns Hopkins team released its study results, involving 51 adult patients, concurrently with researchers from New York University Langone Medical Center, who conducted a similarly designed study on 29 participants. Both studies are published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology on Dec. 1.

The Johns Hopkins group reported that psilocybin decreased clinician- and patient-rated depressed mood, anxiety and death anxiety, and increased quality of life, life meaning and optimism. Six months after the final session of treatment, about 80 percent of participants continued to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety, with about 60 percent showing symptom remission into the normal range. Eighty-three percent reported increases in well-being or life satisfaction. Some 67 percent of participants reported the experience as one of the top five meaningful experiences in their lives, and about 70 percent reported the experience as one of the top five spiritually significant lifetime events.

“The most interesting and remarkable finding is that a single dose of psilocybin, which lasts four to six hours, produced enduring decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms, and this may represent a fascinating new model for treating some psychiatric conditions,” says Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., professor of behavioral biology in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He notes that traditional psychotherapy offered to people with cancer, including behavioral therapy and antidepressants, can take weeks or even months, isn’t always effective, and in the case of some drugs, such as benzodiazepines, may have addictive and other troubling side effects.

Griffiths says his team’s new study grew out of a decade of research at Johns Hopkins on the effects of psilocybin in healthy volunteers, which found that psilocybin can consistently produce positive changes in mood, behavior and spirituality when administered to carefully screened and prepared participants. The study was designed to see if psilocybin could produce similar results in psychologically distressed cancer patients.

“A life-threatening cancer diagnosis can be psychologically challenging, with anxiety and depression as very common symptoms,” says Griffiths. “People with this kind of existential anxiety often feel hopeless and are worried about the meaning of life and what happens upon death.”

For the study, the investigators recruited 51 participants diagnosed with life-threatening cancers, most of which were recurrent or metastatic. They were chosen from a total of 566 individuals reached through flyers, web advertisements and physician referrals. Most participants had breast, upper digestive, GI, genitourinary or blood cancer, and each had been given a formal psychiatric diagnosis, including an anxiety or depressive disorder.

Half of the participants were female with an average age of 56. Ninety-two percent were white, 4 percent were African-American and 2 percent were Asian.

Each participant had two treatment sessions scheduled five weeks apart, one with a very low psilocybin dose (1 or3 milligrams per 70 kilograms) taken in a capsule and meant to act as a “control” placebo because the dose was too low to produce effects. In the other session, participants received a capsule with what is considered a moderate or high dose (22 or 30 milligrams per 70 kilograms).

To minimize expectancy effects, the participants and the staff members supervising the sessions were told that the participants would receive psilocybin on both sessions, but they did not know that all participants would receive one high and one low dose. Blood pressure and mood were monitored throughout the sessions. Two monitors aided participants during each session, encouraging them to lie down, wear an eye mask, listen to music through headphones and direct their attention on their inner experience. If anxiety or confusion arose, the monitors provided reassurance to the participants.

In addition to experiencing changes in visual perception, emotions and thinking, most participants reported experiences of psychological insight and often profound, deeply meaningful experiences of the interconnectedness of all people.

The researchers assessed each participant’s mood, attitude about life, behaviors and spirituality with questionnaires and structured interviews before the first session, seven hours after taking the psilocybin, five weeks after each session and six months after the second session. Immediately after the sessions, participants completed questionnaires assessing changes in visual, auditory and body perceptions; feelings of transcendence; changes in mood; and more.

Structured clinical interviews, such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and patient questionnaires, like the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, assessed depression and anxiety. Other questionnaires assessed quality of life, death acceptance, meaningful existence, optimism and spirituality — generally defined as a search for the meaning of life and a connection to something bigger than one’s self. To measure the changes in attitudes, moods and behavior over time, the researchers administered a questionnaire that assessed negative or positive changes in attitudes about life, mood and behavior.

With regard to adverse effects, Griffiths says 15 percent of participants were nauseated or vomited, and one-third of participants experienced some psychological discomfort, such as anxiety or paranoia, after taking the higher dose. One-third of the participants had transient increases in blood pressure. A few participants reported headaches following the session.

“Before beginning the study, it wasn’t clear to me that this treatment would be helpful, since cancer patients may experience profound hopelessness in response to their diagnosis, which is often followed by multiple surgeries and prolonged chemotherapy,” says Griffiths. “I could imagine that cancer patients would receive psilocybin, look into the existential void and come out even more fearful. However, the positive changes in attitudes, moods and behavior that we documented in healthy volunteers were replicated in cancer patients.”

Up to 40 percent of people with cancer suffer from a mood disorder, according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Anticipating wide interest in the psilocybin research from scientists, clinicians and the public, the journal solicited 11 commentaries to be co-published with the study results written by luminaries in psychiatry, palliative care and drug regulation, including two past presidents of the American Psychiatric Association, a past president of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the former deputy director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the former head of the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority. In general, the commentaries were supportive of the research and of using these drugs in a clinical setting as tools for psychiatry.

{Little evidence supports common strategies for preventing allergic reactions, new report concludes.}

Our grasp of food allergy science is as jumbled as a can of mixed nuts. While there are tantalizing clues on how food allergies emerge and might be prevented, misconceptions are plentiful and broad conclusions are lacking, concludes a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

As a result, both the general public and medical community are confused and ill-informed about food allergies and what to do about them. Most prevention strategies and many tests used to diagnose a food allergy aren’t supported by scientific evidence and should be abandoned, the 562-page report concludes.

“We are much more in the dark than we thought,” says Virginia Stallings, a coeditor of the new report, released November 30.

While solid data are hard to come by, the report notes, estimates suggest that 12 million to 15 million Americans suffer from food allergies. Common culprits include peanuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, sesame, wheat and soy.

Food allergies should be distinguished from food intolerances; the two are often confused by the public and practitioners, says Stallings, a pediatrician and research director of the nutrition center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Strictly defined food allergies, the primary focus of the report, arise from a specific immune response to even a small amount of the allergen; they produce effects such as hives, swelling, vomiting, diarrhea and, most crucially, anaphylaxis, a severe, potentially deadly allergic reaction. These effects reliably occur within two hours after every time a person ingests that food. Allergic reactions that fall outside this strict definition and food-related intolerances, such as a gastrointestinal distress after ingesting lactose, are a legitimate public health concern. But the mechanisms behind them are probably very different than the more strictly defined food allergies, as are the outcomes, says Stallings.

Anyone suspecting a food allergy should see a specialist. If medical history and preliminary results hint at problems, then the gold standard diagnostic test should be applied: the oral food challenge. This test exposes an individual to small amounts of the potentially offending food while under supervision. Doctors and others in health care should abandon many unproven tests, such as ones that analyze gastric juices or measure skin’s electrical resistance, the report concludes.

Regarding prevention, research has borne a little fruit: The authors recommend that parents should give infants foods that contain potential allergens. This recommendation is largely based on peanut allergy research suggesting early exposure is better than late (SN: 3/21/2015, p. 15). There’s little to no evidence supporting virtually all other behaviors thought to prevent food allergies, such as taking vitamin D supplements, or women avoiding allergens while pregnant or breastfeeding.

While additional rigorous long-term studies are needed to better understand why food allergies arise, the report addresses many issues that society can confront in the meantime. Industry needs to develop a low-dose (0.075 milligrams) epinephrine injector to treat infants who experience food allergy anaphylaxis; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Department of Agriculture and the food manufacturing industry need to revamp food labeling so it reflects allergy risks; and relevant agencies should establish consistent guidelines for schools and airplanes that include first-aid training and on-site epinephrine supplies.

“This report is mammoth and very impressive,” says Anita Kozyrskyj, whose research focuses on the infant gut microbiome. Kozyrskyj, of the University of Alberta in Canada, presented research to the reports’ authors while they were gathering evidence. She says the report identifies issues that can help guide the research community. But its real value is in the recommendations for parents, schools, caregivers and health care providers who are dealing with food allergies in the here and now.

{In a small double-blind study, Johns Hopkins researchers report that a substantial majority of people suffering cancer-related anxiety or depression found considerable relief for up to six months from a single large dose of psilocybin — the active compound in hallucinogenic “magic mushrooms.”
}

The researchers cautioned that the drug was given in tightly controlled conditions in the presence of two clinically trained monitors and said they do not recommend use of the compound outside of such a research or patient care setting.

The Johns Hopkins team released its study results, involving 51 adult patients, concurrently with researchers from New York University Langone Medical Center, who conducted a similarly designed study on 29 participants. Both studies are published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology on Dec. 1.

The Johns Hopkins group reported that psilocybin decreased clinician- and patient-rated depressed mood, anxiety and death anxiety, and increased quality of life, life meaning and optimism. Six months after the final session of treatment, about 80 percent of participants continued to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety, with about 60 percent showing symptom remission into the normal range. Eighty-three percent reported increases in well-being or life satisfaction. Some 67 percent of participants reported the experience as one of the top five meaningful experiences in their lives, and about 70 percent reported the experience as one of the top five spiritually significant lifetime events.

“The most interesting and remarkable finding is that a single dose of psilocybin, which lasts four to six hours, produced enduring decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms, and this may represent a fascinating new model for treating some psychiatric conditions,” says Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., professor of behavioral biology in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He notes that traditional psychotherapy offered to people with cancer, including behavioral therapy and antidepressants, can take weeks or even months, isn’t always effective, and in the case of some drugs, such as benzodiazepines, may have addictive and other troubling side effects.

Griffiths says his team’s new study grew out of a decade of research at Johns Hopkins on the effects of psilocybin in healthy volunteers, which found that psilocybin can consistently produce positive changes in mood, behavior and spirituality when administered to carefully screened and prepared participants. The study was designed to see if psilocybin could produce similar results in psychologically distressed cancer patients.

“A life-threatening cancer diagnosis can be psychologically challenging, with anxiety and depression as very common symptoms,” says Griffiths. “People with this kind of existential anxiety often feel hopeless and are worried about the meaning of life and what happens upon death.”

For the study, the investigators recruited 51 participants diagnosed with life-threatening cancers, most of which were recurrent or metastatic. They were chosen from a total of 566 individuals reached through flyers, web advertisements and physician referrals. Most participants had breast, upper digestive, GI, genitourinary or blood cancer, and each had been given a formal psychiatric diagnosis, including an anxiety or depressive disorder.

Half of the participants were female with an average age of 56. Ninety-two percent were white, 4 percent were African-American and 2 percent were Asian.

Each participant had two treatment sessions scheduled five weeks apart, one with a very low psilocybin dose (1 or3 milligrams per 70 kilograms) taken in a capsule and meant to act as a “control” placebo because the dose was too low to produce effects. In the other session, participants received a capsule with what is considered a moderate or high dose (22 or 30 milligrams per 70 kilograms).

To minimize expectancy effects, the participants and the staff members supervising the sessions were told that the participants would receive psilocybin on both sessions, but they did not know that all participants would receive one high and one low dose. Blood pressure and mood were monitored throughout the sessions. Two monitors aided participants during each session, encouraging them to lie down, wear an eye mask, listen to music through headphones and direct their attention on their inner experience. If anxiety or confusion arose, the monitors provided reassurance to the participants.

In addition to experiencing changes in visual perception, emotions and thinking, most participants reported experiences of psychological insight and often profound, deeply meaningful experiences of the interconnectedness of all people.

The researchers assessed each participant’s mood, attitude about life, behaviors and spirituality with questionnaires and structured interviews before the first session, seven hours after taking the psilocybin, five weeks after each session and six months after the second session. Immediately after the sessions, participants completed questionnaires assessing changes in visual, auditory and body perceptions; feelings of transcendence; changes in mood; and more.

Structured clinical interviews, such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and patient questionnaires, like the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, assessed depression and anxiety. Other questionnaires assessed quality of life, death acceptance, meaningful existence, optimism and spirituality — generally defined as a search for the meaning of life and a connection to something bigger than one’s self. To measure the changes in attitudes, moods and behavior over time, the researchers administered a questionnaire that assessed negative or positive changes in attitudes about life, mood and behavior.

With regard to adverse effects, Griffiths says 15 percent of participants were nauseated or vomited, and one-third of participants experienced some psychological discomfort, such as anxiety or paranoia, after taking the higher dose. One-third of the participants had transient increases in blood pressure. A few participants reported headaches following the session.

“Before beginning the study, it wasn’t clear to me that this treatment would be helpful, since cancer patients may experience profound hopelessness in response to their diagnosis, which is often followed by multiple surgeries and prolonged chemotherapy,” says Griffiths. “I could imagine that cancer patients would receive psilocybin, look into the existential void and come out even more fearful. However, the positive changes in attitudes, moods and behavior that we documented in healthy volunteers were replicated in cancer patients.”

Up to 40 percent of people with cancer suffer from a mood disorder, according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Anticipating wide interest in the psilocybin research from scientists, clinicians and the public, the journal solicited 11 commentaries to be co-published with the study results written by luminaries in psychiatry, palliative care and drug regulation, including two past presidents of the American Psychiatric Association, a past president of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the former deputy director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the former head of the U.K.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority. In general, the commentaries were supportive of the research and of using these drugs in a clinical setting as tools for psychiatry.

{The heart is an important organ in the body which helps pump blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. Below are 11 foods which are good for the heart.}

{{1. Red wine }}

Red wine is good for the heart because it contains resveratrol and catechins, two antioxidants that protect artery walls. It should also be noted that too much alcohol isn’t good for the heart.

{{2. Salmon }}

Salmon is rich in omega-3s which are healthy fats that lower blood pressure and curb inflammation.

{{3. Black beans }}

Black beans are good for the heart because they contain folate, antioxidants and magnesium which can help lower blood pressure. Black beans are also rich in fibre which helps control cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

{{4. Walnuts }}

Walnuts are good for the heart because they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which are good for the heart. Eating walnuts regularly will help lower your cholesterol and protect your heart’s arteries against inflammation.

{{5. Sweet potatoes }}

Sweet potatoes are good for the heart because they don’t cause a quick spike in blood sugar levels due to its low glycemic index.

{{6. Oatmeal }}

Oats are good for the heart because they help lower bad cholesterol. Oats also help keep blood sugar levels stable over time.

{{7. Cherries }}

Cherries are good for the heart because they are rich in an antioxidant known as anthocyanin which is known to help protect blood vessels.

{{8. Blueberries }}

Blueberries are packed with anthocyanins which are known to help protect the blood vessels.

{{9. Oranges }}

Oranges are rich in a fibre known as pectin which helps lower your cholesterol level. Oranges are also known to help control blood pressure.

{{10. Almonds }}

Almonds are good for the heart because they help lower “bad” LDL cholesterol.

{{11. Olive oil }}

Olive oil is a healthy fat that helps protect the blood vessels. Replacing saturated fats like butter with olive oil will help lower cholesterol levels.

{There are certain practices you need to imbibe if you want to keep your skin looking young.
}
Here are 6 ways to keep wrinkles away and look young forever

{{1. Avoid excessive washing of the face
}}
Washing your face excessively can lead to wrinkles because it strips the skin of moisture and natural oils that protect against wrinkles.

{{2. Cocoa drink }}

Taking a cup of cocoa drink will help keep your skin looking young because it contains high levels of catechin and epicatechin. Catechin and epicatechin help protect the skin from sun damage, makes the skin smoother and improves blood flow to the skin cells.

{{3. Sleep on your back}}

You need to pay attention to your sleeping position if you want to reduce wrinkles. Sleeping on your back will help you reduce wrinkles. Avoid sleeping on your side or sleeping face down.

{{4. Salmon }}

If you want to keep your skin looking young, you should add salmon to your diet because salmon are rich in protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acid help nourish the skin and minimize wrinkles.

{{5. Avoid smoking }}

Smoking should be avoided if you want to reduce wrinkles and keep your skin looking young. Avoid smoking for the sake of your skin.

{{6. Protect your skin from the Sun }}

Avoid staying out in the sun for too long. Before you leave your house, ensure you use a sunscreen. Use sunglasses as they help protect the skin around the eyes from sun damage.

{Around the world, hundreds of women infected with the Zika virus have given birth to children suffering from microcephaly or other brain defects, as the virus attacks key cells responsible for generating neurons and building the brain as the embryo develops. Studies have suggested that Zika enters these cells, called neural progenitor cells or NPCs, by grabbing onto a specific protein called AXL on the cell surface. Now, scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) and Novartis have shown that this is not the only route of infection for NPCs.}

The scientists demonstrated that Zika infected NPCs even when the cells did not produce the AXL surface receptor protein that is widely thought to be the main vehicle of entry for the virus.

“Our finding really recalibrates this field of research, because it tells us we still have to go and find out how Zika is getting into these cells,” said Kevin Eggan, principal faculty member at HSCI, professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University, and co-corresponding author on a paper reporting the research in Cell Stem Cell.

“It’s very important for the research community to learn that targeting the AXL protein alone will not defend against Zika,” agreed Ajamete Kaykas, co-corresponding author and a senior investigator in neuroscience at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR).

Previous studies have shown that blocking expression of the AXL receptor protein does defend against the virus in a number of human cell types. Given that the protein is highly expressed on the surface of NPCs, many labs have been working on the hypothesis that AXL is the entry point for Zika in the developing brain.

“We were thinking that the knocked-out NPCs devoid of AXL wouldn’t get infected,” said Max Salick, a NIBR postdoctoral researcher and co-first author on the paper. “But we saw these cells getting infected just as much as normal cells.”

Working in a facility dedicated to infectious disease research, the scientists exposed two-dimensional cell cultures of AXL-knockout human NPCs to the Zika virus. They followed up by exposing three-dimensional mini-brain “organoids” containing such NPCs to the virus. In both cases, cells clearly displayed Zika infection. This finding was supported by an earlier study that knocked out AXL in the brains of mice.

“We knew that organoids are great models for microcephaly and other conditions that show up very early in development and have a very pronounced effect,” said Kaykas. “For the first few months, the organoids do a really good job in recapitulating normal brain development.”

Historically, human NPCs have been difficult to study in the lab because it would be impossible to obtain samples without damaging brain tissue. With the advancements in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS cell) technology, a cell reprogramming process that allows researchers to coax any cell in the body back into a stem cell-like state, researchers can now generate these previously inaccessible human tissues in a petri dish.

The team was able to produce human iPS cells and then, using gene-editing technology, modify the cells to knock out AXL expression, said Michael Wells, a Harvard postdoctoral researcher and co-first author. The scientists pushed the iPS cells to become NPCs, building the two-dimensional and three-dimensional models that were infected with Zika.

The Harvard/NIBR collaborators started working with the virus in mid-April 2016, only six months before they published their findings. This unusual speed of research reflects the urgency of Zika’s global challenge, as the virus has spread to more than 70 countries and territories.

“At the genesis of the project, my wife was pregnant,” Eggan remarked. “One can’t read the newspapers without being concerned.”

The collaboration grew out of interactions at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard’s Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, where Eggan directs the stem cell program. His lab already had developed cell culture systems for studying NPCs in motor neuron and psychiatric diseases. The team at Novartis had created brain organoids for research on tuberous sclerosis complex and other genetic neural disorders.

“Zika seemed to be a big issue where we could have an impact, and we all shared that interest,” Eggan said. “It’s been great to have this public, private collaboration.”

The researchers are studying other receptor proteins that may be open to Zika infection, in hopes that their basic research eventually will help in the quest to develop vaccines or other drugs that defend against the virus.

{The discovery of the shape and binding capability of epidermal cells could explain how skin maintains a barrier even when it is shedding.}

The authors of the study say their new understanding of how epidermal cells form a barrier may explain the paradox of how we can shed them without compromising our skin’s integrity. It could also help us to understand what happens when it forms incorrectly, which could lead to conditions like psoriasis and eczema.

Humans lose 200,000,000 skin cells every hour. During a 24-hour period, a person loses almost five thousand million skin cells. It has been a challenge for scientists to explain how this colossal shedding process can occur without there being a break in the skin barrier.

Scientists have previously known the epidermis consists of a thick outer barrier of dead epidermal cells, which are constantly shedding. What they’ve known less about is a secondary barrier deeper below the surface in the epidermis that is made up of only a single layer of cells, which forms a much thinner, though no less important, protective barrier.

Now, a team from Keio University in Japan, working with a researcher at Imperial College London, have discovered that the shape of the epidermal cells combined with their ability to temporarily glue together, may explain how they form this strong barrier.

The researchers suggest that a shape of an epidermal cell is actually a flattened version of a tetrakaidecahedron — a 14-sided 3D solid made out of six rectangular and eight hexagonal sides. The authors came to their conclusion after studying skin cells in mouse models using a confocal and two-photon microscopes, and developing mathematical models.

The tetrakaidecahedron shape was first proposed in 1887 by William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), a Scotch-Irish mathematical physicist and engineer. He claimed that the tetrakaidecahedron was the best shape for packing equal-sized objects together to fill space with minimal surface area.

The team in today’s study say the epidermal cells’ unique tetrakaidecahedron-like geometry means that it can always form a very tight, cohesive bond with the epidermal cells surrounding it. This is because the mix of rectangular and hexagonal sides enables the cell to always be tightly connected to the cells surrounding it.

The team also discovered that these cells manufacture proteins, which act as a temporary glue that binds the cells together in what are called ‘tight junctions’. The combination of the cells’ geometry and tight junction formation means that the skin barrier can maintain its integrity even though it is very thin.

When new cells underneath form the new tight junctions, this pushes the older cells upwards towards the surface of the skin, and the older cells lose their tight junctions. In this way, the tight junction barrier in the cell sheet is always maintained.

The team suggest that ‘malfunctions’ in the production of the tight junctions may be a contributing factor that explains why some people have conditions such as eczema, where the skin barrier is weakened, which leads to bacterial infiltration, inflammation, scratching and further infection. In other cases, fails in the interlocking barrier between cells — the tight junctions — may partly explain why in psoriasis there is an overproduction of epidermal cells, causing thick patches of skin on the surface.

Dr Reiko Tanaka, one of the study’s authors from the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London, said: “It is amazing to think that an abstract concept for a shape devised by the mathematician Lord Kelvin over a century ago may be an important shape in nature, helping our skin to maintain its effectiveness as barrier.

“Our study is also helping us to see how the cells that make up our skin can switch on a mechanism to make a kind of glue, which binds the cells together, ensuring that our skin maintains its integrity.

“Our skin is the largest organ in our body and it is vital that we completely understand how it works, so when it doesn’t work as it should, such as in eczema or psoriasis, we can understand the mechanisms that might be causing the problems.”

The study is published in the journal eLIFE.

The next steps will see the team analysing how skin thickness is determined and how the balance between cell growth and cell shedding is maintained. Faults in this process can lead to a thickening of the skin, leading to conditions like psoriasis. The team will also determine why skin thins as we get older, providing new insights into aging, or when it thins because special treatments like steroids are administered to treat eczema.

{A sedentary lifestyle is linked to poorer reading skills in the first three school years in 6-8 year old boys, according to a new study from Finland. The study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland in collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Cambridge was recently published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport.}

“Low levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and high levels of sedentary time in Grade 1 were related to better reading skills in Grades 1-3 among boys. We also observed that boys who had a combination of low levels of physical activity and high levels of sedentary time had the poorest reading skills through Grades 1-3,” explains Eero Haapala, PhD, from the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Jyväskylä.

The study, constituting part of the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children Study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland and part of the First Steps Study conducted at the University of Jyväskylä, investigated the longitudinal associations of physical activity and sedentary time with reading and arithmetic skills in 153 children aged 6-8 years old in Grades 1-3 of the primary school. Physical activity and sedentary time were measured objectively using a combined heart rate and movement sensor in Grade 1, and reading and arithmetic skills were assessed by standardised tests in Grades 1-3.

The study showed that high levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, low levels of sedentary time, and particularly their combination in Grade 1 were related to better reading skills in Grades 1-3 in boys. High levels of physical activity and low levels of sedentary time were also associated with better arithmetic skills in Grade 1 only in boys. In girls, there were no strong and consistent associations of physical activity and sedentary time with reading or arithmetic skills.

Promoting physically active lifestyle may kick-start boys’ school performance

The results of the study suggest that a combination of low levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and high levels of sedentary time might be particularly harmful for the development of academic skills in boys, and that increasing physical activity, reducing sedentary time, and especially their combination may improve academic achievement.