Lyme disease is an infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, spread by a tick bite that can lead to a litany of debilitating symptoms. These include headaches, fatigue, joint and muscle pain, memory problems, confusion, difficulty sleeping, seizures, anxiety and depression. Even worse, if it isn’t caught and diagnosed early enough, it can become extremely difficult to treat or even to diagnose.
Recently, a new tick-borne disease similar to Lyme disease was discovered in Russia and Asia, including China and Japan. This disease, which has never been seen before, has been described as a substantial health threat. The tick usually found on goats can cause fever, headache and tiredness in people who are bitten.
The cases identified so far have been successfully treated with antibiotics. This is a step up from the usual Lyme disease mentioned above which is often missed and mistreated.
As this new tick-borne disease has just been discovered, it is difficult to assess how many people have been affected, says Stephen Dumler, professor of pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who helped make the discovery.
The professor was part of a Chinese team who tested 477 patients in northeast China, who had been bitten by a tick during a one-month period in the spring of 2014. Of those patients, 28 had been infected by the newly-discovered tick.
It is thought that the tick responsible for this new disease is a member of the Anaplasma family, so the new species has provisionally been named A.capra (from the Latin for ‘goat’). The tick is closely related to the deer tick, which is responsible for Lyme disease, and is found in eastern Europe and across Russia and Asia (Lancet Infect. Dis., 2015).
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer and continues to be difficult to diagnose at an early stage. Researchers from the University of California at San Diego have highlighted the significance of strong sunlight. People living near the equator have only one sixth the rate of pancreatic cancer of those living in more northerly climes. This suggests that sunshine and vitamin D play a key role in the disease. The vitamin may also help to protect against breast and colo-rectal cancers.
The researchers demonstrated the importance of vitamin D, which is made by the body from sunlight’s ultraviolet B radiation.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer and continues to be difficult to diagnose at an early stage
They point out that sunlight is by far the most important source of the vitamin. In our food, fatty fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel are rich sources, while beef, liver, cheese and egg yolks provide small amounts. The researchers examined levels of pancreatic cancer in 172 countries (J. Steroid. Biochem. Mol. Biol., 2015)
On the other hand, Vitamin E is also the vital nutrient to help avoid Alzheimer’s. It is vital to keep the brain healthy and prevent Alzheimer’s disease. It is also one of the vitamins we do not get enough of in our diet. It is found in olive oil, almonds, sunflower seeds and avocados (hence the benefits of a true Mediterranean diet). However, it is not a vitamin we get enough of. Subsequently, around 90 per cent of us have a vitamin E deficiency.
Without it, the brain is deprived of its source for maintaining neural health. People depleted of vitamin E also have lower levels of docosahexaenoic acid-containing phosphatidylcholines (DHA-PC) in the cellular membranes of every brain cell. It is interesting to note that reduced levels are a marker of Alzheimer’s, say researchers from Oregon State University.
People whose diets are deficient in vitamin E for most of their lives will have low levels of DHA. These levels could be 30 per cent lower than they should be for maintaining brain health, the researchers have estimated (J. Lipid. Res., 2015).
Another supplement that can help people with heart problems is Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). People who have suffered heart failure can dramatically reduce their chances of dying, or suffering more heart problems, if they supplement with CoQ10. This has been confirmed by a new study.
The Q-Symbio study recruited 420 patients with chronic heart failure who took a CoQ10 supplement of a placebo pill for two years. At the end of the trial, those taking the supplements were 43 per cent less likely to die or develop another major cardiovascular problem and 42 per cent less likely to die from any cause. Their heart symptoms also improved over the two years (J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., 2014).
Finally, with the scary prospect of the rise of antibiotic resistant superbugs looming, where can we turn? According to some researchers, maple syrup may be the answer. Taking maple syrup with antibiotics makes bacteria more susceptible to the drugs, say researchers from McGill University in Canada. They offer the conclusion that the syrup’s phenolic compounds are the key ingredient.
So far, they have only tested the syrup in the laboratory and used it on bacteria such as E.coli and Proteus mirabilis, which causes urinary tract infections. On its own, maple syrup extract was mildly effective against these bacteria, but it has a devastating effect when combined with antibiotics.
It was even effective for killing resistant bacteria that produce biofilms, which makes them difficult to treat infections (Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 2015).
kathryn@maltanet.net