Coffee, Research, Cancer!! Health! Whatever Just sip it!!!

                                                

 

COFFEE: TO DRINK OR NOT TO DRINK

Cons

Coffee is a central nervous system stimulator that gives the adrenals a kick and causes production of the stress handling hormone adrenalin and the production of more cortisol resulting in short term benefits of heightened awareness / alertness and more energy, but long term may result in a crash after each consumption to lower levels of energy than previously thereby necessitating another cup and another cup, etc. Thus, it may be addictive and ultimately may result in adrenal exhaustion.
•Even though coffee has never been conclusively linked to cancer, it does contain acknowledged carcinogens such as caffeine and other chemicals produced by the high heat of roasting such as creosote, pymdine, tars, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
• Caffeine interferes with adenosine, a brain chemical that normally has a calming effect.
• Cortisol levels are raised which in turn results in constriction of the blood vessels, harder pumping of the heart and higher blood pressure. (Constriction of blood vessels is also a benefit, see the next section.)
• The liver in fetuses and newborns cannot metabolize caffeine, so it remains in the body for up to four days stimulating the nervous system resulting in irritability and sleeplessness.
• Coffee has been associated with low birth weight, birth defects, miscarriages, premature birth, inability to conceive, and sluggish sperm.
• Many of the chemicals in coffee and decaf irritate the stomach lining causing an increase of stomach acid leading to digestive disorders.
• Coffee, including decaf, has high amounts of vitamin K, which affects coagulability of the blood – bad for people at risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots.
• Decreases quality of sleep.
• Caffeine may cause problems with blood sugar control after meals for type 2 diabetics.
• Coffee excites more rapid peristaltic movements of the intestines resulting in shorted transit times and less absorption of nutrients.
• Coffee hampers the absorption of essential minerals and vitamins such as magnesium, zinc, iron, potassium, and B’s.
• Coffee contributes to caries in the teeth.
• Coffee stimulates more frequent urination and subsequent loss of various vitamins and minerals such as B, C, calcium, iron and zinc.
• Caffeine may aggravate osteoporosis by leaching calcium from the bones.
• Caffeine may increase intraocular pressure in persons with glaucoma.
• Coffee may interfere with proper levels of homocysteine and cholesterol by inhibiting vitamins folate, B12 or B6.
• Coffee is one of most heavily pesticide sprayed crops.
• Caffeine aggravates stress in people who drink it every day.

Pros
• There are scientific studies that refute most if not all of the above listed negative effects.
• Many of the old studies showing the bad effects of coffee may be attributed to not taking into account whether the person also smoked. In addition, coffee drinkers before 1975 used unfiltered and percolated coffee. After 1975, the filters for preparing coffee removed most of the chemicals, like terpenes, that cause elevations in homocysteine and cholesterol resulting in better results. Also, early Finnish studies when people still drank boiled coffee had higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis. Later studies using coffee preparations other than boiled did not show an associated rheumatoid arthritis risk.
• Caffeine increases intellectual activity when fatigued or bored.
• Caffeine speeds up fat metabolism during exercise while conserving glycogen and glucose thereby maintaining brain activity and reducing hunger.
• Caffeine prevents crystallization of cholesterol and reduces risk of development of gallstones.
• Coffee has a protective effect against cirrhosis of the liver.
• Coffee has shown a protective effect against colon cancer likely due to enhanced colonic activity of the colon and antimutagenic components in coffee.
• Coffee may lower the incidence of Parkinson’s disease due to high anti-oxidant activity.
• The theophylline in coffee may be protective against asthma.
• Coffee has four times the anti-oxidants of Green Tea, makes an excellent anti-depressant, and enhances performance and memory.
• Caffeine dilates the arteries of the brain and may counter migraines. (Caffeine is also a cause of migraines.)
• The FDA considers caffeine to be “Generally Recognized as Safe.”
• Coffee may reduce the incidence of kidney stones by increasing the flow of urine and decreasing its concentration.
• Coffee lessens the incidence of bladder cancer in smokers due to its diuretic effect.
• Minerals like magnesium and antioxidants may contribute to coffee being shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
• Coffee has the ability to reduce the release of histamine from mast cells thereby having anti-allergic properties. 

God!! Should i stop drinking coffee now or should drink more coffee!! Forget all science...just sip it.

Science of Land Slide

Hill Slope

Heavy Rain

Detachment of soil bed from rock bed

Land Slide

Landslides are a form of mass movement, a term used to describe any sort of gravity-induced movement of sediment down a slope. Mass movements can occur slowly over a period of years, or they can happen in a matter of minutes. A mass movement can be as small as some rocks and debris you kick down a small incline or as big as the 1980 landslide set off by the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
­There are many different kinds of mass movements categorized by the type of material involved, the way it is moved and how fast it moves­. However, with any mass movement, a soil layer is separated to some degree from the underlying bedrock. Soil is the relatively loose mixture of worn-down rock, minerals, air, water and decayed organic matter that covers the ground. Bedrock is the more stable, solid layer of rock underneath.

Can Science Measure the Process of Ageing

 

Telomeres are bits of “junk DNA” at the end of chromosomes that protect your real DNA every time a cell divides. What happens is that, due to how cells divide, the very last bit of a chromosome can’t be copied 100% - a little bit gets cut off. It was thought that, as cell divide, the telomeres get shorter each time, until, they are gone. At that point, the “real DNA” cannot be copied anymore and the cell simply ages and no longer replicates.

In population level studies, researchers have shown that older people have shorter telomeres. Eventually, the cells with shorter telomeres can no longer replicate and, taken over time and lots of cells, tissue damage and the dreaded “signs of aging” can show up. Most cells can replicate about 50 times before the telomeres are too short. Some believe that telomeres are the “secret to longevity” and there are circumstances in which the telomeres will not shorten. Cancer cells, for example, don’t die (which is the main problem) because they switch on an enzyme called telomerase, which adds to the telomeres when cells divide. Some cells in your body need to do this (stem cells and sperm cells, for example) because they need to replicate more than 50 times in your lifetime

A blood test that can show how fast someone is aging - and offers the tantalizing possibility of estimating how long they have left to live - is to go on sale to the general public in UK later this year.
The controversial test measures vital structures on the tips of a person's chromosomes, called telomeres, which scientists believe are one of the most important and accurate indicators of the speed at which a person is aging.
Scientists behind the £435 test said it will tell whether a person is biologically aging, as measured by the length of their telomeres, and is older or younger than their actual chronological age, as measured by years since birth.
The scientists, however, do not yet believe they can narrow down the prediction to calculate the exact number of months and years a person has yet to live. They do not yet believe the information could be used to calculate the exact number of years a person has left to live, but several studies have indicated that individuals with shorter-thannormal telomeres are likely to die younger than those with longer telomeres.
In addition to concerns about how people will react to a test for how old they really are, some scientists are worried that telomere testing may be hijacked by unscrupulous organizations trying to peddle unproven anti-aging remedies and other fake elixirs of life.
The results of the tests might also be of interest to companies offering life-insurance policies or medical cover that depend on a person's lifetime risk of falling ill or dying prematurely.

However, there is a growing body of respectable scientific opinion that says testing the length of a person's telomeres could provide vital insights into the risk of dying prematurely from a range of age-related disorders , from cardiovascular disease to Alzheimer's and cancer.

Malaria Parasites Protect their Territory in the Body

The malaria parasite can ensure it keeps a host body all to itself by preventing further malarial infections, according to international researchers

The parasite initially reproduces in the liver and moves into the blood. A study on mice, published in Nature Medicine, showed the parasite can trigger iron deficiency in the liver and therefore prevent more infections.
An expert said the research was "very cool and very interesting", and improved understanding of infection.
The researchers were looking at super-infections, when a patient already infected with malaria is infected with another batch of malaria parasites.



Protecting turf

In experiments on mice, researchers showed that parasites in the blood were able to stimulate the production of the hormone hepcidin, which regulates iron levels.

Hepcidin,  the 25-amino acid peptide  is secreted by the liver, which seems to be the "master regulator" of iron metabolism. Hepcidin inhibits iron transport by binding to the iron channel ferroportin, which is located on the basolateral surface of gut enterocytes and the plasma membrane of reticuloendothelial cells. Inhibiting ferroportin shuts off the iron transport out of these cells which store iron. Ferroportin is also present on enterocytes and macrophages. By inhibiting ferroportin, hepcidin prevents enterocytes of the intestines from secreting iron into the hepatic portal system, thereby functionally reducing iron absorption. The iron release from macrophages is also prevented by ferroportin inhibition, therefore the hepcidin maintains iron homeostasis
This reduced the level of iron in the liver, preventing other malaria parasites from reproducing in the organ.

Dr Hal Drakesmith, from the Weatherall Institute at Oxford University, who was part of the research team, said: "Now that we understand how malaria parasites protect their territory in the body from competitor parasites, we may be able to enhance this natural defence mechanism to combat the risk of malaria infections."
Malaria is often accompanied by anaemia, which is treated with iron supplements.
In this study, mice given iron supplements were more susceptible to additional infections.
Dr Drakesmith said: "We may need to look again at the advisability of iron supplementation programmes in malaria-endemic regions, as possible increased risk of infection may need to be weighed against benefits."
Dr Rita Tewari, a malaria researcher at the University of Nottingham, said: "It's very cool and very interesting.
"It tells us a bit more about the mechanism of malaria infection and gives us some sort of tool, this molecule hepcidin, that you can manipulate which can affect infection."

Origin of Darwin's sickness

The very travels that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and shaped modern biology may have led to one of the illnesses that plagued the British naturalist for decades and ultimately led to his death, modern researchers say.  

Darwin, who lived from 1809 to 1882, travelled the world in his 20s cataloging and observing wildlife and later published "On the Origin of Species." 

Throughout his life, Darwin sought help for multiple health problems, which included vomiting stomach acids after every meal when the symptoms were at their worst. He was diagnosed with dozens of conditions including 

• schizophrenia, 
• appendicitis
• lactose intolerance

Darwin suffered from cyclic vomiting syndrome early in his life. His weight and nutrition remained normal since he rarely vomited food, just stomach acid and other secretions. Darwin contracted Chagas disease, a parasitic illness that can lie dormant for years, during a five-year trip around the globe on the HMS Beagle in his 20s. That illness would describe the heart disease that beset Darwin later in life and eventually caused his death 

Chagas disease (Portuguese: doença de Chagas, Spanish: enfermedad de Chagas-Mazza, mal de Chagas in both languages; also called American trypanosomiasis) is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi is commonly transmitted to humans and other mammals by an insect vector, the blood-sucking insects of the subfamily Triatominae (family Reduviidae) most commonly species belonging to the Triatoma, Rhodnius, and Panstrongylus genera. The disease may also be spread through blood transfusion and organ transplantation, ingestion of food contaminated with parasites, and from a mother to her fetus.

The symptoms of Chagas disease vary over the course of an infection. In the early, acute stage, symptoms are mild and usually produce no more than local swelling at the site of infection. The initial acute phase is responsive to antiparasitic treatments, with 60-90% cure rates. After 4–8 weeks, individuals with active infections enter the chronic phase of Chagas disease that is asymptomatic for 60-80% of chronically infected individuals through their lifetime. The antiparasitic treatments also appear to delay or prevent the development of disease symptoms during the chronic phase of the disease, but 20-40% of chronically infected individuals will still eventually develop life-threatening heart and digestive system disorders. The currently available antiparasitic treatments for Chagas disease are benznidazole and nifurtimox, which can cause temporary side effects in many patients including skin disorders, brain toxicity, and digestive system irritation.

 

Chagas disease is contracted primarily in the Americas, particularly in poor, rural areas of Mexico, Central America, and South America; very rarely, the disease has originated in the Southern United States. The insects that spread the disease are known by various local names, including vinchuca in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay, barbeiro (the barber) in Brazil, pito in Colombia, chinche in Central America, chipo in Venezuela, chupança, chinchorro, and "the kissing bug". It is estimated that as many as 8 to 11 million people in Mexico, Central America, and South America have Chagas disease, most of whom do not know they are infected. Large-scale population movements from rural to urban areas of Latin America and to other regions of the world have increased the geographic distribution of Chagas disease, and cases have been noted in many countries, particularly in Europe. Control strategies have mostly focused on eliminating the triatomine insect vector and preventing transmission from other sources.

Dangerous Idea

An idea you think about that is

 DANGEROUS not because

it is assumed to be false,

but because IT MIGHT BE TRUE!!

 

 Charles Darwin tried to piece up the puzzle of existence of life on earth and came out with a idea " Natural Selection" later coined as EVOLUTION. 

Evolution is ongoing process and can be questioned in the present world to seek for answers.

For more details check out my powerpoint.

Dangerous Idea