A Hypertension Medication That May Help Treat Alzheimer's

The miracle that is science may once again be on the verge of a possible breakthrough. Nilvadipine is a pharmaceutical drug that has been used for treating high blood pressure (also known as hypertension). However, studies are now showing that this medication may also be extremely beneficial to people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, which gradually affects cognitive function. These are two very different ailments, but they possibly have a common treatment.

 What is Alzheimer’s Disease
An increasingly common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease affects approximately 15 million people worldwide. It is caused by a progressive build-up of plaque in the brain, causing inflammation and a continuous decline in brain activity over a number of years.

If you or anyone you know are suffering from this ailment, here are some FAQs about Alzheimer’s that you may want to know.  

The miracle that is science may once again be on the verge of a possible breakthrough. Nilvadipine is a pharmaceutical drug that has been used for treating high blood pressure (also known as hypertension). However, studies are now showing that this medication may also be extremely beneficial to people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, which gradually affects cognitive function. These are two very different ailments, but they possibly have a common treatment.

While there is no cure for this ailment, there are medications to manage the condition, and some treatments are available that may slow down the progression of the disease. 

What is Hypertension? 

High Blood Pressure is also known as hypertension, and it increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. It can be caused due to any number of environmental factors, extreme stress, or an existing condition. There are even a few common habits that could be affecting your blood pressure, without you realising it. 
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also stated that there are clear links between high sodium (salt) consumption and hypertension, especially when coupled with low potassium intake.
A change in lifestyle is the best way to combat this disease, along with medications, like beta blockers, which can help reduce blood pressure and lower the risk of heart disease. 

What is Nilvadipine?
Nilvadipine is a calcium channel blocker that allows the heart muscles to relax and consequently helps reduce blood pressure. This makes it an immensely common medicine used to treat hypertension. As it turns out, this drug might also have the capability of increasing the flow of blood in the brain, which could result in increased brain function.

How does it work? 

Nilvadipine treats hypertension by increasing the blood flow in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the area of the brain linked to our ability to understand and retain information - basically, our memory and our comprehension. 
This is also an area of the brain heavily affected by Alzheimer’s Disease. In fact, a recent study showed that there are links between high blood pressure and Alzheimer's disease, as well as other forms of dementia. This is just one of many ways in which the heart and the brain are inexorably intertwined. 
This link between blood pressure and dementia gave rise to the possibility that the medication Nilvadipine could play a role in reducing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease. According to a 2007 Japanese study, patients with hypertension and early stages Alzheimer’s experienced increased blood flow in the brain. 
It was also reported that the cognitive deficits in patients experiencing lapses in memory or comprehension were stabilized and stopped declining. This study was conducted for over 20 months with 15 patients.

Enter NILVAD

In 2013, research into the effects of Nilvadipine on Alzheimer’s patients progressed significantly. NILVAD, the first large-scale Phase III investigator-driven clinical trial on the use of Nilvadipine to stabilize cognitive decline in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease was launched. 
It was an 18-month long trial, from 15th May 2013 to 13th April 2015, in which 511 participants above the age of 50 were selected out of 577 screened. 258 patients were given a placebo, while 253 were given the drug, Nilvadipine. Conducted across 9 different European countries, in 23 academic centers, this trial was to hopefully determine the effects of Nilvadipine.
Unfortunately, the conclusion of the study was that Nilvadipine was not beneficial for the treatment of moderate Alzheimer’s, though it did appear to confirm that the drug is safe and well-tolerated by people with Alzheimer’s. However, it is important to note that while the number of patients was much higher than previous studies, the time-frame for the trial along with the period utilized for follow-up and analyses was extremely limited.
It was also noted that the participants selected for the trial had some form of established dementia and it was not possible to conclusively say that all patients in the trial suffered solely or specifically from Alzheimer's related dementia. This was due to the lack of a clear physical indicator in the brain of the plaque typically believed to cause Alzheimer's. The symptoms of certain other forms of dementia can sometimes mimic the symptoms of Alzheimer's and vice-versa.   

What’s Next?
While this trial's conclusion was not the positive outcome we hoped for, it has paved the way for future trials into the use of hypertensive medications for diminishing the progress and effects of Alzheimer’s Disease.  
This study also marked the use of a ground-breaking new MRI technique, which may be instrumental in analyzing the effects of such treatments like Nilvadipine on cerebral blood flow in the future. 
Conclusions aside, there are still many that see the potential use of this drug in aiding people suffering from Alzheimer’s, which is why Archer Pharmaceuticals purchased the intellectual property rights to develop Nilvadipine as a medication for Alzheimer’s. Only further research will show how best this medicine can be utilized for a dual purpose. 

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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What To Eat To Beat Diabetes !

An estimated 4.5 million people are living with diabetes in most countries today. Some 700 are newly diagnosed each day — it’s a modern plague and a horribly common cause of early death.

But in many cases, diabetes can be eased, and even reversed, through changes in diet. In fact, by switching to a healthy diet, you can start improving your health within a matter of hours.

There are two types of diabetes, both of which are characterised by chronically elevated levels of sugar in your blood. Type 1 occurs if your pancreas stops producing insulin (the hormone that keeps your blood sugar in check), and Type 2 if your body becomes resistant to insulin’s effects.

Type 2, the most common form of diabetes, is primarily caused by a fatty build-up around our muscle and liver cells, and 90 per cent of people who get it are overweight.

Although both forms of diabetes can be controlled through drugs, it is still regarded as a life-shortening condition because of the widespread damage caused by the build-up of sugar in the blood over time.

This can ultimately lead to blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, and stroke.

A plant-based diet may even reverse Type 2 diabetes. Studies show that dietary changes can enable those who have had Type 2 diabetes for decades to get off all their insulin injections in as little as two weeks.

It seems the more plant-based your diet, the more likely you are to be able to maintain a healthy weight — an important factor in diabetes control.

You can essentially eat as much as you want without worrying about counting calories, skipping meals or portion control, because most plant foods are naturally nutrient dense and low in calories.

But beyond the weight loss aspect, there are clearly other protective benefits of a plant-based diet.

In studies, even participants who didn’t lose weight when put on a plant-based diet, or even those who gained weight, still appeared to improve their diabetes.

In fact, a study of tens of thousands of adults in the U.S. and Canada found people who cut out all animal products, including fish, dairy and eggs, appeared to have a 78 per cent reduced risk of diabetes. One key reason could be the fact that plant fats are so much better for the body than animal fats.

Saturated fats can wreak all sorts of havoc in muscle cells and may result in the accumulation of toxic compounds from being broken down.

But the unsaturated fats found mostly in nuts, olives, and avocados may protect against the detrimental effects of saturated fat.

Plant variety is important. The addition of just two different types of fruit and vegetables a week, for instance, has been associated with an 8 per cent reduction in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes.

There is an important medical warning: if you take drugs to control blood sugar or blood pressure, you should talk to your GP before adopting a plant-based diet so they can monitor the drugs as you get better naturally.

And if you take the blood- thinning drug warfarin, you should talk to your doctor before significantly increasing your greens intake. The drug works by crippling the enzyme that recycles vitamin K, which is involved in clotting your blood.

So, if your system gets an influx of fresh vitamin K, which is concentrated in greens, you can undermine the effectiveness of the drug. You should still be able to eat greens, but your doctor may have to adjust the dose of the drug to match your dietary intake.

LEGUMES

The more pulses, beans and legumes you eat, the healthier you may be. Many studies have shown that people who pack their diet with split peas, chickpeas, and lentils tend to weigh less, have slimmer waists and lower blood pressure compared with people who don’t eat many legumes.

One study asked people to eat 1 kg of pulses a week without making any other changes to their diet. A second group was asked to cut 500 calories a day from their diet. Even though the pulses group was eating far more food, these people lost the most weight.

It seems that eating chickpeas and other beans is just as effective at slimming waistlines and improving blood sugar as cutting calories. It also improves cholesterol and insulin regulation.

I knew beans were healthy, but I didn’t realise just how healthy they are until the amazing microbiome research — studying the array of bacteria that live in the gut, and how they can affect your health — started coming out.

Gut bacteria love pulses, beans and legumes, which is why they take such an important role in everyone's diet, and all should be encouraged to aim to eat three servings a day. A serving is 60 g of hummus; 130 g of cooked beans, split peas, lentils, tofu, or 150 g of fresh peas.

There are a few ways you can make it easier to get your three servings a day:

• Using dried pulses is cheaper, but it can be time consuming, so cook them in large batches, then portion and freeze.
• Instead of making one or two servings at a time, cook a large pot of a staple grain with a quick-cooking legume (such as lentils) mixed in, then portion and freeze until you need them.
• Prepare double batches of slow-cook soups and stews. You’ll save time, and flavour is enhanced, too.
• Double up on food prep such as chopping onions, refrigerating extra in a sealed container for the next meal.
• Keep an open tin of beans in the fridge as a reminder to put them in anything and everything.
• When you open a can of cooked beans, save the water. This viscous liquid, called ‘aquafaba’, is a great source of soluble fibre. It behaves like egg whites, and so it can be whipped into stiff peaks or added to recipes to be used as a binder.

The mix of starches, proteins, and other soluble plant solids which have migrated from the seeds to the water during the cooking process gives aquafaba a wide range of useful emulsifying, foaming, binding, gelatinising and thickening properties.

LIVER PROTECTION 

A condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has quietly become one of the most common cause of chronic liver disease. Obese people are particularly at risk of developing the condition.

It begins with the build-up of fat on the liver and can lead to inflammation and scarring (cirrhosis).

Just one can of a fizzy drink per day appears to raise the odds of fatty liver disease by 45 per cent.

But eating oats has the power to significantly improve liver function among overweight men and women — and help them lose weight as well.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.    

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