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rocmg

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Sorry ladies.. but if you ask at your local health food store there is a coffee alternative you can buy -- smells like coffee, tastes like coffee... with a little sugar, i'm sure you won't really notice the difference. I will try and get the name of it. I used to drink it back when I tried to give up all my vices!

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Washington, April 17 (ANI): A research team including an Indian-origin boffin has found that coffee may be beneficial for men with Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) but for women, it may have the opposite effect.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease that damages key neurons in the brain and spinal cord. The disease causes progressive paralysis of voluntary muscles and often death within five years of symptoms.

Although ALS was discovered over a century ago, neither the cause nor a cure has been found, but several mechanisms seem to play a role in its development, including oxidative stress.

Researchers from York University and McMaster University investigated the antioxidant effects of coffee, caffeine and chlorogenic acid on the disease, which is also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

They measured levels of oxidative stress, antioxidant enzyme protein content and cell death in male and female mice models of ALS.

The found that in males: Coffee increased food intake by 21 percent, decreased markers of oxidative stress by 39-65 percent, increased markers of antioxidant enzyme protein content by 46-139 percent, and decreased markers of cell death by 34-36 percent.

Caffeine increased food intake by 22 percent, decreased markers of oxidative stress by 45-81 percent, increased markers of antioxidant enzyme protein content by 21-99 percent, and decreased markers of cell death by 17-22 percent.

Chlorogenic acid increased food intake by 12 percent, decreased markers of oxidative stress by 25-35 percent, increased markers of antioxidant enzyme proteins by 23-44 percent, and decreased cell death by 41-44 percent.

On the other hand, in females: Coffee increased food intake by 30 percent, decreased markers of oxidative stress by 64 percent, but did not increase markers of antioxidant enzymes or decrease markers of cell death.

Caffeine increased food intake by 28 percent, decreased motor performance by 20 percent, decreased markers of oxidative stress by 58 percent, decreased markers of antioxidant enzyme protein content by 11-48 percent, and increased cell death by 23-74 percent.

Chlorogenic acid increased markers of oxidative stress by 178 percent, had equivocal effects on markers of antioxidant enzyme protein content, and decreased cell death 33-39 percent.

“If we were to extrapolate these results to human patients with ALS, then coffee appears to be beneficial for men, both reducing oxidative stress and cell death, and increasing antioxidants. But for women, caffeine appears to be harmful. Women with the disorder may want to restrict caffeine consumption, or switch to decaffeinated products which contain the antioxidants, but with little caffeine,” said study author Rajini Seevaratnam, a graduate student in York’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science.

The researchers will present their findings at the 122nd Annual Meeting of the American Physiological Society, which is part of the Experimental Biology 2009 scientific conference. (ANI)
 
Hmmmmmm....now if only someone would do a study like that with beer :)
Rick
 
.... so.... espresso is my morning-time best friend! The two of us hang out together every day without fail ~ what to do now:|
 
Rose,

Shucks, drink the coffee, lady! What's it going to do - give you ALS?

I always knew coffee was my friend! (I love a good cup of espresso, by the way!)

We should do coffee together!

Rick - It would be a blast to see researchers giving mice beer! Hey, there must be half-a-dozen pet stores in this city and I know we have at least twice as many liquor stores. Now, all I need to do is find the mice that have ALS and I can start my own research. It would be a good excuse for me to buy beer (which I haven't done in quite a long time).

Zaphoon
 
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Zaphoon,... yeah that's what I thought too. (my second cup of the morning is perched here by the keyboard).

I've got to think that men buying beer with the express purpose of "testing" mice with it has been done before :rolleyes:

.... seriously, it may be too much for me to quit, but I am going to make a conscious effort to cut back.

p.s. Is it my imagination, or do those "smilies" we have to choose from (in our posts) move around as to what position they show up in? (maybe I need more coffee)
 
Hey Rose and Zaphoon.....hmmmm....now you have me thinking.....if we do the test with ALS mice and beer....how do we tell which mice have overdone it and which have ALS?
Stumbling, footdrop, falling down, slurring (not sure how to tell a mouse is slurrring - that will probably take another study ) overactive emotions......it all looks the same!
Anyhow...this will take more thought...think I better go have a 'cold one' while I still can and contemplate the problem :)
Rick
 
I assume if a mouse is having a bulbar meltdown s/he will be throwing cheese around the cage, or attacking the researcher. (I'm rooting for the mouse to win that one. We PALS/MALS [mice with ALS] have to stick together.)
 
Re: the mice....

Once, I watched a show on what was probably the Discovery Channel (its been at least 10 years ago now) where there were researchers who were studying our ability to sense passing of time. This was one of the most fascinating shows I've ever watched. The study of the subject was originally started many years ago by a physician who's wife was ill with something (had a fever) and he would give her the thermometer and ask her to tell him when she thought 3 minutes were up. (this obviously was before the days of the digital or instant thermometers) He found that how high her fever was, and how ill she was feeling, unfailingly correlated with how slow time seemed to pass for her. The sicker she was, the sooner she'd tell him she felt the 3 minutes were up.

Re-examining the original doctor's interest was another doctor who was himself involved in a serious vehicular accident. What fascinated him, was the time from when he became aware of imminent impact with the another vehicle careening toward him, and actual impact seemed to go on and on and on, in slow mo, just like in a movie, whereas he knew that in actual real time, it was only split seconds from the moment he saw the other car, to when they collided.

Next, came examples of how we seem to instinctively, or by practice, know how much time has passed. i.e. basketball players that would stand in place holding a ball, only to begin to dribble, or shoot for a basket right before they would have been "holding".

So, the researchers wanted to know what part of the brain was responsible for this, and they had these mice (possibly rats, its been a long time since I watched this) who had learned to press a bar in a certain sequence of timing to have their food dispense. They had no problem accomplishing it once learned, never pressed the bar too slowly or too fast. It was not at all difficult for them.

Then.... they gave the critters cocaine. The poor little guys tried to press the bar for their food, but were largely unsuccessful at it. They didn't seem to mind a whole lot, due to being high on cocaine, but, nevertheless could no longer get their food.

Then.... having identified the part of the brain they felt was in charge of sense of timing, the scientists gave the mice partial lobotomies, taking out only that part of the brain. From there on out, the mice were completely clueless as to how to go about getting their food, they did not even attempt trying to press the bar repeatedly.

So, it was felt that this would help people with some brain dysfunction disorders such as Parkinson's. Certain activities involving timing, such as being able to gauge when its safe to cross a street can be particularly hard for them, and the researchers felt that a different unaffected part of the brain could be retrained to replace the area damaged by the Parkinson's. So, they'd have participants sit at a keyboard and learn to press the space bar in a certain rhythm. To keep the person from consciously or subconsciously counting to help with the timing, they were required to watch the screen of the computer which had random displays of numbers and letters for them to read as well as background noise. The participants, after practice, were able to get better at it.

The consensus of the researchers also was that we as humans absolutely perceive how quickly time is passing dependent how happy and well we are feeling. Those who are stressed, unhappy or ill, feel time just creeps by, and those who are happy and healthy feel like time flies by.

Ideally it would be the opposite.

.....Now, about those tipsy mice :cool: ... we could categorize them as MALS, and then MOBS (mice on beer):wink:
 
Red tea from South Africa

Looks like I will be starting up that one cup of coffee a day regime again. I already drink a cup of green tea everyday.

I've also heard that there is a red tea from South Africa that has even more powerful antioxidants than green tea. Anyone ever heard of it?
 
Coffee may help men with Lou Gehrig’s, but caffeine may harm women: York U study

TORONTO, April 17, 2009 -- A new study led by York University researchers finds that coffee may be beneficial for men with Lou Gehrig’s – but for women with the disease, caffeine may have the opposite effect.

Researchers from York’s Faculty of Health and McMaster University investigated the antioxidant effects of coffee, caffeine and chlorogenic acid on the disease, which is also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). They measured levels of oxidative stress, antioxidant enzyme protein content and cell death in male and female mice models of ALS.

In females, caffeine reduced motor performance by as much as 20%, decreased antioxidant enzymes by as much as 48%, and increased cell death by as much as 74%.

Males experienced a significant increase in antioxidants, along with decreased markers of cell death and oxidative stress, in response to coffee, caffeine and chlorogenic acid supplementation.

“Extrapolating these results to human ALS patients, women with the disorder should consider restricting their caffeine intake,” says study lead author Rajini Seevaratnam, a graduate student in York’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science. “However, products containing antioxidants along with caffeine, such as coffee, do not appear harmful, suggesting the harmful effect of caffeine is neutralized by the rich antioxidants.”

“For men, coffee and its constituents (caffeine and chlorogenic acid) appear to be beneficial, as they reduce both cell death and oxidative stress, and boost levels of antioxidants,” he says.

ALS damages key neurons in the brain and spinal cord, causing progressive paralysis of voluntary muscles. It is typically fatal within two to five years of onset. Though there is no cure for ALS, scientists suspect oxidative stress plays a key role in its development.

Antioxidants – vitamins and nutrients that protect cells from damage – are found in commonly- consumed beverages and foods. Coffee in particular has received attention as a potent dietary antioxidant. It also contains chlorogenic acid, a dietary polyphenol that is beneficial to the immune system.

The study, entitled, “The effects of coffee, caffeine, and chlorogenic acid supplementation on functional, disease and molecular outcome measures in male and female G93A mice, an animal model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),” was supervised by Mazen J. Hamadeh, Assistant Professor in York’s School of Kinesiology, and its new Muscle Health Research Centre. It was co-authored by Sandeep Raha and Mark A. Tarnopolsky, Department of Pediatrics and Medicine, McMaster University.

They will present their findings at the 122nd Annual Meeting of the American Physiological Society, part of the Experimental Biology 2009 scientific conference. The meeting will be held April 18-22, 2009 in New Orleans. For more information, visit www.the-aps.org/press .



York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as more than 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 26 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.


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Glen... so the Toronto version of the report (in a nut shell) says coffee is good for men with ALS, women don't reap the same benefit, but the caffeine women should steer clear of is caffeine from things like diet coke, for example, which have no antioxidants.

Am I reading this correctly?
 
Rose, thats the way I understood it.

I got a link to the same article from a lady at ALS Ontario this afternoon.

I think a daily Timmies run in the mornings is in order now !

For those who do not know , Timmies - aka Tim Hortons is a coffee house chain like Starbucks, and in my opinion the coffee is much better.

Glen
 
It should be mentioned that this is only one study and it was done with mice. I'm not sure we should gleam too much from it right now. However, it probably doesn't hurt any of us to drink a little coffee each day. I have to be careful due to my high blood pressure.
 
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I probably drink more than my fair share of coffee but my blood pressure is problem free. In the part of Spain I lived in, you could go to the bars in the early morning and get a cup of coffee (espresso) and they'd serve it to you in a glass (no handles).

Of course, there were plenty of folk that enjoyed a touch of brandy in their morning bevy.

Zaphoon
 
Love my Coffee.

Here is a link where you can read the report:
http://www.disabled-world.com/news/research/caffeine-lou-gehrigs-disease.php

I have bought special beans and ground them myself just before making coffee, really smells good. I also had self ground brewers, gourmet machines, whatever you call them that have foam on top, etc. Mind just went on vacation again. Laities, Cappuccino, all that other stuff.

Where was I , oh just thinking how many mornings I have woke up to Juan Valdez, freshly brewed. Hum Ummm Good.
Now, it is simple is better. :roll:
 
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