Stem cells may repair stroke victim’s brain

[LahoreEstate]

Monday, June 29, 2009
US scientists may have discovered a new way to use stem cells to make the brain repair itself after a stroke, which brings much hope for stroke victims.

The research, by Ronald McKay of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Maryland, was published in Nature magazine. Rats, whose brains had been starved of oxygen to simulate having a stroke, were studied by scientists. By stimulating a brain receptor known as “notch,” McKay was able to promote new stem cell growth in the brains of the rats, thus partially reversing the effect of the stroke simulation.

The discovery will raise hopes for new treatments for stroke, using the body’s own stem cells to aid healing.

Other treatments using embryonic stem cells have been restricted because implanted cells come under attack from the body’s immune system.

The researchers wrote: “New cell therapies based on embryonic stem (ES) cells are supported by work in animal models of human disease.

They are difficult to implement, however, because it is hard to grow tissue-specific precursors in the laboratory and it is difficult to deliver them to diffuse disease sites in the body without stimulating an immune response.”

Chocolate BENEFITS, RISKS: Eating chocolate may boost brain function. But stay warned: it weakens bones, as it has a chelating effect on calcium.

Chocolate contains many substances that act as stimulants. “Chocolate contains many substances that act as stimulants, such as theobromine, phenethylamine and caffeine,” Dr. Bryan Raudenbush from Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia, United States, noted in comments on the study reported by Online.

“These substances by themselves have previously been found to increase alertness and attention and what we have found is that by consuming chocolate you can get the stimulating effects, which then lead to increased mental performance.”

To study the effects of various chocolate types on brain power, Raudenbush and colleagues had a group of volunteers consume, on four separate occasions, 85 grams of milk chocolate; 85 grams of dark chocolate; 85 grams of carob; and nothing (the control condition).

After a 15-minute digestive period, participants completed a variety of computer-based neuropsychological tests designed to assess cognitive performance including memory, attention span, reaction time and problem solving. “Composite scores for verbal and visual memory were significantly higher for milk chocolate than the other conditions,” Raudenbush said.

And consumption of milk and dark chocolate was associated with improved impulse control and reaction time.


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