Diabetes is one of the most serious public health risks today. The United Nations declared diabetes as a global threat in 2007 in order to highlight just how widespread and destructive diabetes had become.

Diabetes is one of the oldest known diseases, and was even mentioned in the ancient Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese texts. Ancient Egyptian texts defined diabetics as “… so thirsty that if they drank all the water of the Nile, their thirst would still not be quenched.” The ancient Indian and Chinese texts mention insects and flies swarming over the urine discharged by the diabetics.

Ancient scientists Al-Razi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) made important findings about diabetes. Al-Razi linked diabetes with obesity and nutrition habits. Ibn Sina specified that no tissues or organs could survive diabetes, which additionally caused sexual dysfunctions and gangrenes.

There are two main problems that emerge in relation to diabetes:

• Type 1: Lack of adequate secretion of the insulin hormones from the pancreas
• Type 2: Non-functional and insulin-resistant tissues, regardless of adequate insulin secretion

These two types do not coexist in one patient. The first occurs mostly among children or young people. The second occurs mostly among the elderly who largely contract diabetes due to obesity. Diabetes can be detected by a surge of sugar in the blood and urine. If blood sugar exceeds a certain limit then sugar will appear in urine.

Diabetes reveals itself by a surge of sugar in the blood and the urine. It not only impairs the sugar balance of the body, but also disrupts the fat and protein metabolism. Cells fail to absorb sugar, fats, and amino acids, which in turn increases sugar, fat, and amino acid levels in the bloodstream. It can plainly be said that diabetes complications originate from an increase in fat levels, not sugar levels, in the blood. Additionally, diabetic disorders in fat metabolism cause the lethal appearance of acid levels in the blood (acidosis) and vascular stiffness (arteriosclerosis). Decrease in protein-synthesis ability among patients with long-term diabetes leads to depletion of tissues and multiple cellular dysfunctions. Consequently, diabetes originating from insulin deficiency disrupts the fat and protein metabolism along with the sugar metabolism.

The pancreatic gland is where insulin is released in our body. The surgical removal of this gland in experimental animals showed that fat levels in their bloodstreams increased faster than sugar levels. In diabetics, fat around the abdomen and hips oozes into the bloodstream, thus leading to an increase in neutral fat (triglyceride) and cholesterol levels in the blood along with an accumulation of fat in the liver.

If fats remain in the bloodstream after nutrition, then they begin to adhere to vein walls which can cause clogging and stiffness in blood vessels. That is why it is crucial to transfer fat from the bloodstream to fat storage around the abdomen and hips by means of sugar and insulin. The storage fat is called neutral oil, or triglyceride. A triglyceride molecule contains three units of oil and one unit of sugar. Therefore, almost 25% of the fat storage is sugar. Without sugar supply from bloodstream, as in the case of diabetes, the cells which by default store fat are unable to do so. Diabetes, as a serious disorder, even reverses this mechanism: fats start moving from the storage to the bloodstream, not from the bloodstream to the storage. This causes the surge of all fats including the triglycerides, cholesterol and phospholipids, and this is when the body becomes even more prone to disease.

Obesity or excessively fat-based (steatopygic) diet is one of the main causes of diabetes. People are already overweight before the disorder strikes. However, if they do not receive treatment after contracting diabetes, the diabetics start losing weight quickly and more than they should. This happens because relatively harmless fats in storage start to dissolve into the bloodstream.

The entity called metabolic acidosis, which can cause coma and death in diabetics, actually originates from the surge of fat products in the blood and the liver, not from the surge in blood sugar. In diabetics, when the cells cannot use sugar, they resort to obtaining their energy from fats. Consequently, stored fats start to dissolve and ooze into the bloodstream. Fats traveling to the liver through the bloodstream turn into acidic substances called ketone bodies (acetoacetic acid, beta hydroxy butyric acid, and acetone). These acidic substances pass from the liver to the bloodstream and are received by the cells to meet their energy needs. However, in diabetics, cells cannot convert these acidic fat products i.e. ketone bodies, into energy. Oxaloacetic acid from sugars is required for the energy production cycle called the Krebs cycle. In short, humans need sugar to burn fat. This is why it is normal for some people to feel the need to eat something sweet after a fatty meal, because they need sugar to dissolve the fats in their bloodstreams. Since the cells cannot draw sugar from the blood, they suffer from the deficiency of oxaloacetic acid to convert fats into energy. Fats and ketone bodies teem in the bloodstream and, since ketone bodies are acidic, they can cause acidity levels to surge to extremely high levels in the bloodstream which can result in a coma or even sudden death. The lethal substances here are not sugars but ketone bodies, or fat products.

The most crucial abnormality caused by diabetes is vascular stiffness (arteriosclerosis), which originates not from excess sugar but excess fat in the bloodstream. In diabetics, triglyceride, cholesterol, and phospholipid levels increase in the bloodstream due to the reasons described earlier. Fats in the bloodstream do not circulate freely; they are carried in micro-droplets called lipoprotein. The liver loads the fats onto lipoprotein “trucks” and sets them into the bloodstream to be used by the cells. However, due to insulin deficiency in diabetics, lipoproteins cannot empty their shipments of fat into fat storages. The most dangerous lipoproteins for vascular stiffness are classified as LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and HDL (high-density lipoprotein) types. HDLs are like empty trucks specially produced by the liver, which dispatches them into the bloodstream. While circulating in the bloodstream, these “trucks” collect the fat and cholesterol stuck on the vein walls like magnets and, after cleaning the inner vein walls, they return as loaded trucks back to the liver. Using the HDL “trucks,” the liver removes fat from the bloodstream. Physicians gauge the LDL and HDL levels while checking their patients for the risk of vascular stiffness. An increase or decrease in LDL rate is not good for patients, whereas high HDL rate is a positive sign.

Other causes of vascular stiffness include lack of exercise, sedentary life and work habits, smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, overconsuming foods rich in animal fat, and high blood pressure. Vascular stiffness is one of the leading causes of cardiac dilatation (enlarged heart), cardiac insufficiency (heart failure), and heart attack. In addition to these complications, vascular stiffness may also lead to high blood pressure, cerebral hemorrhage, paralysis, kidney failure, and vascular occlusion in the brain or other organs. If not treated, almost all of these disorders result in death.

Diabetics should follow an effective treatment regime to keep their blood sugar level under control. Fasting is known to be beneficial for controlling blood sugar. If blood sugar is normal, the fats in the bloodstream will move to the storage and not damage the blood vessels. Among the elderly and the obese diabetics, any damage originating from high blood sugar does not surface immediately, and this may mislead patients. It is extremely crucial to check blood sugar in order not to fall into this error. Treatment should never be neglected. If blood sugar can be effectively reduced, it is not right to give up sugar completely in the diet. As mentioned earlier, humans need sugar for storing fats or converting fats (or ketones) into energy in the Krebs cycle.

In short, high blood fat is a more serious cause of diabetes than high blood sugar.

Global Climate Report. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov). July 2019.

It’s summer, and it is hot out there; but if it feels like record-breaking temperatures are becoming more common globally, they are. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and European Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that July 2019 was the hottest month across the globe ever measured since measurements began, in 1880. Global temperatures averaged 16.73°C in July, which is 0.95 °C higher than the 20th-century average of 15.78°C . Average Antarctic sea-ice coverage was 8.5% below the 1981-2010 average. And sea ice coverage was 10.5% below the overall average, which is based on records beginning in 1979. The scientists also released geographical data, showing that the regions where temperatures varied furthest from averages, were Alaska, Central Europe, Northern and Southwestern parts of Asia, and certain regions in Africa and Australia. These findings corroborate scientific predictions regarding the effects of man-made climate change. Human activities, primarily from burning fossil fuels, emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. Increasing greenhouse gas emissions are associated with warmer global surface temperatures. The planet’s 10 hottest years on record have all fallen in the past two decades. Scientists and policymakers around the globe are also feeling this heat.

Unless significant measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions are adopted, scientists expect temperature records to keep falling. Scientists say global temperatures could increase by at least 3°C this century, which will create conditions on Earth that have not been seen in more than 2 million years. Given the notable trends in higher temperatures and natural disasters, we might be pushing the climate system toward states that we haven’t seen in our societal experience – and even in our species’ experience.

Manipulation of brain circuits using smartphone-controlled device

Qazi R et al. Wireless optofluidic brain probes for chronic neuropharmacology and photostimulation. Nature Biomedical Engineering, August 2019.

Scientists recently designed a device that can regulate brain circuits using a tiny brain implant controlled by a smartphone. This bluetooth-enabled device utilizes replaceable lego-like drug cartridges to target neurons with drugs and light. Existing methods to deliver drugs and light to the brain typically involve metal tubes and optical fibers. These tools are rigid and can substantially damage the brain’s soft tissue over time. Moreover, this bulky equipment often limits the patient’s movement because of the wired connections, making them unfit for long-term use. To achieve chronic remote-controlled drug delivery without exhaustion and evaporation of drugs, scientists invented a neural device with a replaceable drug cartridge, which could allow neuroscientists to study the same brain networks for several months without depleting the drug supply. These “plug-n-play” drug cartridges were integrated into a brain implant for mice with a soft and ultrathin probe (about the thickness of a human hair), which consisted of microfluidic channels and tiny LEDs (smaller than a grain of salt), for unlimited drug doses and light delivery. The implant is regulated via a smartphone, allowing researchers to trigger precise combinations and sequences of drug and light delivery. In animal models, these stimuli can be triggered with the target outside of the laboratory, allowing researchers to wirelessly instill changes in the animal’s brain while in its natural habitat. Using these neural devices, researchers are now able to perform fully automated animal studies where the behavior of one animal could positively or negatively affect behavior in other animals by conditional triggering of light and/or drug delivery. This device will allow researchers to better dissect the neural circuit basis of behavior and how specific neuromodulators in the brain tune behavior in various ways. In addition, the device can be utilized in complex pharmacological studies to develop potentially new therapeutics for pain, addiction, and emotional disorders.

The secret weapon of E.Coli 

Melson E. at al. The sRNA DicF integrates oxygen sensing to enhance enterohemorrhagic Escherichia colivirulence via distinctive RNA control mechanisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 2019.

Scientists have revealed how E. coli (Escherichia coli) bacteria seeks out the most oxygen-free parts of your colon to cause the worst infection possible. E. coli normally live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. Most varieties of E. coli are harmless or cause relatively brief diarrhea. But a few particularly nasty strains can cause cramps, diarrhea, vomiting – even kidney failure and death. Children are particularly at risk. A new study uncovers how this foodborne pathogen knows where and when to begin colonizing the colon on its way to making you sick. Bacterial pathogens typically colonize a specific tissue or organ in the host. Therefore, as part of their infection strategies, bacterial pathogens precisely time deployment of proteins and toxins to these specific colonization niches in the human host. This allows the pathogens to save energy and avoid detection by our immune systems and ultimately cause disease. The researchers in this study identified how E.Coli detects low oxygen levels in the large intestine and then produces proteins that allow it to attach to host cells and establish infection. Oxygen actually diffuses from the intestinal tissue into the gut, and there are comparably higher levels in the small intestine than the large. Remarkably, E. coli specifically waits until it has reached the-low oxygen large intestine before striking. E. coli controls this process via a small form of RNA that activates particular genes when oxygen levels are low. This is the point when the infection really gets established and the bacteria are able to begin to manufacture harmful Shiga toxins. The researchers predict that other bacterial pathogens, such as Shigella and Salmonella, likely utilize a similar control mechanism. Researchers suggest that if we can find a way to block oxygen sensing, we may be able to prevent the infection by allowing E. coli to pass harmlessly through the body.

MicroRNAs as tiny regulators with big roles

Tiny RNAs, known as microRNAs, have been shown to regulate many components of the body’s cellular machinery. They are called microRNAs because they are only 22 nucleotides in size (compared to the 2200 nucleotide-long messenger RNA). Amazingly, these small non-coding RNAs can turn off the translation of their target genes. They act as control switches by targeting the 3′ untranslated regions of messenger RNAs (mRNA) for translational repression or cleavage, thus resulting in a reduction of protein levels. Because each microRNAs can regulate hundreds of messenger RNAs, there are probably few cellular processes not affected by microRNAs. For instance, microRNAs have recently emerged as playing important roles in a variety of cellular processes, such as heart development, stem cells, insulin secretion, and cholesterol synthesis. MicroRNAs were first discovered in worms more than 20 years ago. For many years, scientists thought that DNA was transcribed to RNA, and then translated to protein. Those proteins are major regulators in the cell. Now, they appreciate that there are more levels of control and a number of non-coding RNAs that regulate the level of cellular components. About one thousand microRNA genes have been discovered in the human genome. This makes the microRNAs one of the most abundant classes of regulatory genes. As a result of the discovery of this new and major level of regulation in the cell, Dr. Andrew Z. Fire and Dr. Craig C. Mello were awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

MicroRNA biogenesis

Unlike other RNAs, the production of microRNAs is quite different. As depicted in figure 1, the generation and activity of microRNAs requires special microprocessors, known as RNA polymerase II, Drosha, Exportin, Dicer, and RISC complex. RNA polymerase II transcribes (reads the microRNA DNA code) primary microRNA transcripts; then the Drosha process transforms primary microRNA into precursor microRNA in the nucleus. For activity and further processing, precursor microRNA are exported into cytoplasm by Exportin. In the cytoplasm, Dicer cuts precursor microRNA and generates mature 22 nucleotide long microRNA. Then, mature microRNA are incorporated into the RNA inducible silencing complex (RISC) where they target messenger RNAs (mRNA), either for degradation or translational repression. Even though there are extensive studies on microRNAs, it is still mostly unknown how microRNAs target specificity is determined and how they target messenger RNAs for mRNA degradation or translational repression. For a functional microRNA in the cell, it is amazing that a series of microprocessors should take place. They recognize different microRNAs as substrates and do their job as they are supposed to. It seems that the existence and regulation of microRNA processing abilities cannot be by mere chance.

MicroRNAs as therapeutics

MicroRNAs are considered “fine tuners” of cellular processes because of their subtle effects on their targets. However, because microRNAs can target a number of genes and genetic pathways, the study of microRNAs and their regulation and role in diseases is highly promising in terms of developing new therapeutic approaches. Treatments by targeting microRNAs using microRNA inhibitors (antisense RNA nucleotides) are under intense study and several of them have been shown to be effective in animal models. A MicroRNA known as miR-122, for instance, has been shown to regulate cholesterol levels. Scientists targeted this liver-specific microRNA by using a microRNA inhibitor and they found that the downregulation of miR-122 resulted in a 40% decrease in cholesterol levels in the blood.

MicroRNAs in cancer therapy

With the discovery of new and better tools to detect and manipulate microRNA levels in cell cultures and tissues, researchers are now attempting to identify the specific features of each microRNA and their role in cancer and other devastating diseases. There are some microRNAs that are highly correlated with cancer formation. Cancer is cellular anarchy characterized by a proliferation of cells without control. A group of miRNAs known as the miR-17-92 family have been found to increase, and their higher levels result in cancer formation as found in some lymphomas and solid tumors. It is believed that better understanding and use of microRNAs or microRNA inhibitors could enable doctors to treat diseases like cancer. In the near future, microRNA studies are also expected to provide early detection of progressive diseases, better markers for cancer initiation, and cancer specific drug selections.

MicroRNAs as cancer drug boosters

The most straightforward application of microRNA research has been cancer chemotherapies. The potential of use of microRNA applications to increase the effectiveness of current cancer drugs seems highly likely. Companies and universities are looking for microRNA partners to increase the effects of drugs like Taxol, which is currently used in chemotherapy. Taxol, for example, currently works for about 30% of lung cancer patients. But, if we can find a microRNA partner with that drug to make it 40%, it will mean saving thousands of lives. This is a hopeful sign for the future of cancer treatment. On the other hand, it is known that in the case of any chemotherapy, there are unwanted side effects. Although use of higher dose of drug will kill more tumors, the side effects of this drug will cause other issues. Discovery of partners like microRNAs that boost the effectiveness of cancer drugs or decrease side effects can help to treat more patients or help them overcome unwanted side effects.

Taking microRNAs to the heart of the matter

Heart diseases represent the primary cause of death in developed countries. Recent studies have identified microRNAs associated with heart diseases, including cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure (inability of the heart to pump sufficient blood to the organism), and myocardial infarction (the death of the cardiac muscle resulting from interruption of the blood supply). Mir-1 expression levels, for example, are low in human heart disease and it is known to regulate Hand2, a protein required for the growth of heart muscle cells. The levels of another microRNA, called miR-21, have consistently increased through cardiac stress and have been shown to regulate cardiac growth as well. Importantly, miR-133 is believed to repress cardiac hypertrophy, thus the use of synthetic miR-133 molecules is possible as a therapeutic for patients with pathological hypertrophy. However, more studies to understand heart-associated miRNAs are needed in order to have clinical trials for the treatment of heart diseases.

Figure 2. MicroRNAs in the heart. Recent studies have identified microRNAs that are associated with heart diseases, including arrhythmic heartbeat (Arrhythmias), cardiac hypertrophy (enlarged heart), septation defect, and cardiac muscle overgrowth (myocyte hyperplasia).

Micromanaging insulin secretion

MicroRNAs are also associated with the onset of diabetes. Diabetes affects about 23.6 million people in the United States. It can lead to serious health issues and even early death. Diabetes is marked by high levels of blood glucose (also called blood sugar). Complications of the disease are due to defects in insulin production and insulin action. Insulin is among the major regulators of sugar levels in the blood. The human genome contains a number of microRNA genes, whose functions are only beginning to come to light. One such microRNA, miR-375, is already implicated in the secretion of insulin from pancreatic cells, thus it represents a novel pharmacological target for the treatment of diabetes.

The mentioned cases above are examples of the tiny RNAs which regulate cellular processes. The loss of the control in such a small component of the cellular machinery can lead to serious problems, like cancer. To use a metaphor, the regular and healthy government of a state does not allow for the presence of multiple governors. Similarly, regulatory tiny RNAs require a controller who knows how the human body works at the macro and micro levels. This forces us to consider that whomever is controlling the human body must be all sustaining and all knowing. With each new scientific breakthrough, the wisdom of creation becomes more and more apparent. The field of miRNAs is a young research area. New discoveries about microRNAs have brought us new hopes for novel therapies to human diseases. However, future discoveries are required before these therapies can be used in a clinical setting.

Resources

• Qur’an: The Family of Imran 191 and The Cow 255.
• Caldas & Brenton. “Sizing up microRNAs as cancer genes”. Nature, 2005.
• Scott M. Hammond. “MicroRNA therapeutics: a new niche for antisense nucleic acids” Trends in Molecular Medicine, 2006.
• Rooij et al. “Toward MicroRNA–Based Therapeutics for Heart Disease” Circulation Research, 2008.
• National Diabetes Statistics, 2007. Retrived from http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/DM/PUBS/statistics/
• ScienceDaily. Not ‘Junk DNA’ After All: Tiny RNAs Play Big Role Controlling Genes. 2007.
• Callis & Wang. Taking microRNAs to heart. Trends in Molecular Medicine. 2008.
• Poy et al. A pancreatic islet-specific microRNA regulates insulin secretion. Nature,2004.
• Average mRNA length: B. Lewin, Genes 5, Table 2-2. Oxford University Press.
• MicroRNA biogenesis figure: http://content.nejm.org/content/vol359/issue25/images/large/14f1.jpeg

Basal ganglia subcircuits distinctively encode the parsing and concatenation of action sequences.
Jin et al. Nature Neuroscience, Jan 2014.

When we learn to play a musical instrument – say the guitar – first, we have to learn notes, scales and chords; only then we will be able to play a song. The very same rule applies to our basic functions. For example, when we learn how to read, we first learn the alphabet and the rules of grammar, and then we start making sense of sentences. Neuroscientists have been intrigued by this process for many years and they have wanted to understand how our brains efficiently perform complex cognitive functions by connecting separate elements to produce a unique meaningful sequence. A recent study shed some light on this very important question. Scientists found that a specific area of the brain, the basal ganglia, can signal the integration of individual elements into a behavioral sequence. Scientists designed an experiment where they first trained mice to perform gradually faster sequences of lever presses. This behavioral test is very similar to a person learning to play a guitar solo at an increasingly faster pace. Then, they recorded the neural activity in the basal ganglia of mice performing the task and discovered that basal ganglia neurons treat a whole sequence of actions as a single behavior. This mechanism is called “chunking,” which allows the brain to efficiently organize memories and actions by integrating individual sequences. It seems like the basal ganglia implement the “chunking.” The basal ganglia are known to include two major pathways, the direct and the indirect. Scientists found that these two pathways show similar activities during the initiation of movement, but show differential activations during the execution of behavioral sequences. Interestingly, basal ganglia circuits are implicated in Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disorders, in which learning of sequences are compromised. Further studies will reveal a more mechanistic understanding of sequence integration in the brain and potential interventions to enhance it in neurological disorders.

Single Gene Separates Queen from Workers

Ubx promotes corbicular development in Apis mellifera
Medved V. et al. Biology Letters, Jan 2014

In a hive of honey bees, the queen and worker bees have very different jobs. A new study shows that a single gene called Ultrbithrox (Ubx) separates a queen from worker bees. The Ubx gene was previously known to control leg and hindquarter development in bees. Interestingly, researchers now identified three functions for Ubx specific to worker bees. First, Ubx promotes the development of a smooth spot on the hind legs where the “pollen baskets” are located. Second, Ubx directs the formation of eleven perfectly spaced bristles on the section of the leg called the “pollen comb.” Third, Ubx mediates the formation of the “pollen press” which is a protrusion that helps pack and transport pollen back to the hive. Essentially, the Ubx gene promotes the development of three different physical structures on worker bees so that they can collect and transport pollen. Researchers confirmed these findings by silencing the Ubx gene genetically in worker bees and found that specialized leg features, including pollen combs and pollen presses, completely disappeared in the absence of the Ubx gene. Moreover, analyses of other bee species in the region revealed that the size and complexity of pollen baskets are directly correlated with the social behaviors of the particular bee species, suggesting that pollen baskets have yet-to-be-identified roles on the social behaviors of bees. Furthermore, the pollination of 35 percent of the world’s crops (with a $216 billion market value) depends on bees carrying pollen from one flower to another. This study might help us to develop new genetic approaches to make bees better, more efficient pollinators and to ultimately combat the worldwide pollination problem.

Molecular Switch in Aging Blood Cells Discovered

A canonical to non-canonical Wnt signaling switch in haematopoietic stem-cell ageing
Florian MC et al. Nature, October2013

Every single cell in our body ages over time. The aging of a cell is typically characterized by the progressive loss of physiological function and increased vulnerability to death. The aging of our cells/tissues/organs is the primary risk factor for any human diseases. One critical cell type that dramatically changes its properties during aging are blood stem cells, aka Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs). Young HSCs have the capacity to differentiate into the diverse lineages of erythroid, lymphoid, and myeloid cells. Young HSCs are polarized (asymmetrical) cells, in which distinct cytoskeletal proteins (also called the “polarity complex”) are asymmetrically distributed within. However, the aged HSCs are mostly apolarized (symmetrical) cells and they differentiate only into lineages of myeloid cells (including, red blood cells, macrophages and monocytes) rather than lymphocytes (white blood cells in the immune system). The molecular changes in aging HSCs have largely been unknown. A recent study published in Nature shed some light onto the molecular identity of the ageing HSCs. Scientists showed that ageing HSCs have higher levels of a secreted protein called WNT5a, whereas the young HSCs have almost no WNT5a protein expressed in the cell. Moreover, the increased levels of WNT5a are found to attenuate the levels of the “polarity complex” proteins in HSCs and thus result in apolarized cells, which resemble the aging HSCs. Furthermore, transplantation studies revealed that increased WNT5a levels cause aging-related phenotypes and low Wnt5a levels promote a rejuvenation process in mice. These findings show that Wnt5a is the key molecule that controls the shift between young and old HSCs. Therapeutic approaches using antagonists of the Wnt5a molecule could potentially alleviate aging-related pathologies in the patients with a variety of blood diseases.

A sugar is a monosaccharide if it is made up of a single sugar molecule; it is disaccharide if it is built by two sugar molecules; and a polysaccharide if it is composed with multiple sugar molecules.

Sugars that we ingest are broken, in the digestive system, into monosaccharides of glucose, fructose, and galactose. Almost all of the absorbed monosaccharides are first converted into glucose in the liver. This conversion is a very important task of the liver: 80% of the sugars passing into the blood are glucose. As a result, very limited amounts of fructose and galactose are present in the blood. Therefore, when blood sugar is mentioned, normally glucose is taken into consideration and the fructose and galactose levels in the blood are ignored. Glucose, which is also called grape sugar, is most abundantly found in grapes, while fructose is called fruit sugar, as it is plentiful in fruits, and galactose is named milk sugar after its dense presence in milk. The most important characteristic of fructose is that it is sweeter compared to other simple sugars.

Insulin is secreted from the pancreas in order to lower elevated blood glucose levels after digestion. Insulin functions in the transport of glucose from the blood into cells to provide necessary energy, therefore reducing blood sugar levels; furthermore, it also plays a role in the storage of excess glucose as glycogen, which is found primarily in the liver. Once glycogen storage limits are reached in the liver and muscles, glucose is then stored as fat. Fat tissue acts as sustenance during long fasting periods.

Differences between fructose, glucose, and galactose

Glucose and galactose are absorbed actively, depending on salt. They cannot be absorbed without salt while passing through the intestines. Salt is necessary for the absorption of glucose which is present in the starches of potatoes and other foods. Thus, when potato is consumed with salt, the transport of glucose into the blood is facilitated.

However, salt is not necessary in the case of fructose absorption. The intestinal absorption of fructose contained in fruit is delayed by fruit fibers, since these fibers prevent or balance the transport of fructose into the bloodstream. However, when fructose is ingested as a fruit juice, it is absorbed and joins the bloodstream much faster because of the lower fiber content.

A person feels full after a meal when neurons in the satiety center of the hypothalamus are stimulated by elevated blood glucose. Then, hunger center neurons are repressed, eliminating the feeling of hunger. Therefore, a person reduces their food intake during a meal as their blood glucose levels increase. Increased levels of amino acids and fatty acids in the blood also suppress hunger and stimulate fullness after meal. However, one important point is that fructose does not stimulate fullness in the brain. Therefore, if the blood fructose levels are elevated instead of glucose, a person cannot generate a sensation of fullness sensation. As a result, a person desires to intake more food during consumption of fructose. It is only possible for fructose to generate fullness after it has been converted into glucose by liver.

How to consume fruits?

We should prefer direct consumption of fruits instead of drinking natural or industrial fruit juices because of the high fructose content of fruits. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, consumed fruits before meals, the wisdom of which we learn only today. Fruits should be consumed at least an hour before or two hours after a meal, for sufficient time should be given for the fructose of an ingested fruit to be absorbed by the intestines and converted to glucose by the liver. Such practices will result in a reduced appetite and food intake. If fruit is consumed after a meal, a delay occurs in the conversion of fructose into glucose since the liver will be occupied by other biochemical processes, along with a full storage of nutrients; this will increase blood fructose levels and fail to reduce appetite. Fatty liver occurs as a consequence of high fat content of the blood. Arteriosclerosis and cirrhosis of the liver may be seen in people with a habit of excessive post-meal fruit consumption.

In a research carried out on laboratory animals, it was found that glucose induces fullness in the hypothalamus and suppresses food intake, whereas fructose was found to repress this effect of glucose, stimulating food intake.¹ Insulin reduces the harms of accumulating sugar in the blood by increasing lipid synthesis. Insulin also takes place in leptin secretion from adipose (fatty) tissue. Leptin is important in the prevention of obesity; therefore, insulin helps in weight loss, too. The leptin hormone causes reduced food intake by stimulating nerve cells in certain parts of the hypothalamus.² Fructose does not cause any leptin secretion because it does not stimulate an insulin release; therefore, it is not effective in generating a sense of fullness.

Ghrelin is a hormone secreted into blood by stomach cells during hunger. This hormone, which produces stomach acids, is enacted through the hypothalamus. It induces hunger, and therefore increases appetite. Insulin secretion increases along with the blood glucose levels during satiety. This eventually causes the increase of the leptin hormone, which also leads to a decrease in ghrelin secretion. As a result, fructose gets absorbed more than glucose in the intestines. Elevated fructose in the blood leads to insufficient or reduced insulin secretion. In this case, a person continues eating.

Fructose and diseases

Free circulation of lipids in the blood damages arteries and veins. For this reason, lipids are transported in “molecular vehicles” that are called as high, low, and very low density lipoproteins (HDL, LDL and VLDL). Neutral lipids (triglycerides) that are present on VLDL (very low density) vehicles are broken down with an enzyme. These lipids are then unloaded from the vehicles by cellular uptake and stored as fats. This transfer of lipids into adipose (fatty) tissue is enhanced via the insulin hormone. In the case of fructose intake, without its insulin secretion effect, lipids accumulate in the blood and liver and eventually prepare ground for liver damage and arteriosclerosis.As the result of a fructose based diet in laboratory animals, it was discovered that lipid production shifted from adipose tissue into the liver, therefore elevating the risk of high blood and liver fat levels.

There are two reasons for this shift. The first one is that fructose acts on the fat producing enzymes of the liver whereas it does not act likewise in adipose tissue.

Secondly, fructose plays an inhibitory role in the conversion of glucose into lipids in adipose tissue. Also, fructose consumption in humans has been linked to elevated blood fat levels.

Overconsumption of fructose causes increased liver fat synthesis. Phosphofructokinase is the limiting enzyme regarding the breakdown of glucose in the liver. This enzyme is regulated by citrates and ATP produced by glucose catabolism and the Krebs cycle, limiting glucose breakdown. However, there is no such limitation in fructose breakdown. Through fructose catabolism, glucose, glycogen, pyruvate, lactate, glycerol and the acyl part of acylglycerol are synthesized. This synthesis can not be limited. As a result of this excessive output and high amounts of triglycerides, VLDL is produced.³ It has been found that persons who consume two or more boxes of fructose sweetened beverages every day carry a 35% higher risk of heart disease.⁴

This isn’t the only disease associated with fructose. In some studies on laboratory animals, it has been reported that a high fructose diet is associated with hypertension.⁵ A lot of research exists suggesting that excessive fructose consumption leads to insulin resistance in both the liver and peripheral tissues, which can often cause diabetes.⁶ In a recent study, it was claimed that excessive fructose intake poses risks for renal diseases leading to glomerular hypertension, renal damage, and inflammation and damage to renal tubules and tissues.⁷

In a study conducted on 21,483 Americans who were older than two years, daily consumption of 37 gr. of fructose (8% of total calorie need) was found to be elevated to 54.7 grams (10.2% of total calorie need) gradually between the years of 1988-1994, mostly consumed by younger people. Increased use of fructose syrup was linked to obesity during the last 35 years.⁸ Furthermore, in a study carried on 1,749 male and female children and teenagers, a positive relation was found between body mass index (BMI) and excessive consumption of carbonated beverages containing high fructose concentrations.⁹ There many studies that support this report.¹⁰ Excessive fructose consumption is known to cause “metabolic syndrome” in which many diseases like obesity, arteriosclerosis, and diabetes emerge together.

Are fruit juices harmful?

Fructose syrup is being used at increasing rates in the food industry. According to the annual report of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the year 2000, fructose syrups are sugar solutions containing approximately more than 50 % fructose. It is often synthesized by a conversion of corn starch into glucose by glucose isomerase.¹¹ There is also a third syrup type containing 90% fructose, however this has limited uses.

The sweetness of fructose syrup is similar to that of table sugar. It prevents the dehydration of food with its hydrophilic character. It is mostly used in aromatic foods, especially carbonated beverages and fruit juices. It prevents the proliferation of microbes with its high osmotic pressure property and makes food more resistant against them. Syrups containing 42 to 55% of fructose are used in baked goods, cereal products, dairy products, processed foods, both carbonated and regular beverages, ice creams, and frozen desserts. High fructose syrups are used in foods to decrease water activity and prevent spoilage.

Fructose syrups have a very low ash level due to application of intense purification processes during production and product color is water-white. Therefore colors of fructose used industrial foods are white as well. Fructose syrups have a lower viscosity and density compared to glucose syrups and therefore it is runny like water and not as sticky.

How to consume sugars after a meal?

Especially after a fatty meal, our body seeks sugar. The reason behind this is the requirement of sugar for the storage of lipids into fat tissue. However, this sugar should absolutely be glucose instead of fructose. Therefore, some amount of sugar can be consumed to facilitate the removal of lipids from blood after meals. This is recommended to lower blood lipid levels. However, this should not be done with fruits but with natural sugars like grape molasses. A baklava or a dessert made with industrial sugars (fructose) will not be beneficial but harmful.

In conclusion, the consumption of corn-derived fructose syrup is gradually increasing in recent years. Fructose syrup is used both in various carbonated or regular soft beverages, and in desserts. The reason for our fructose syrup preference is that it helps preserve foods longer and it leads to food addiction because it enhances appetite due to its strong sweetness. Fructose syrup is synthesized by the conversion of natural glucose in corn into fructose by isomerase enzymes. In this sense, today’s increased consumption of fructose is altering the existing sugar balance of natural food items. Overconsumption of fructose can pave the way to obesity, metabolic syndrome, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, and arteriosclerotic heart and kidney diseases.

Arifagaoglu is a professor of medicine in Ankara, Turkey.

References

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2. Guyton AC, Hall JE. “Dietary Balances; Regulation of Feeding; Obesity and Starvation; Vitemans and Minerals.” Textbook of Medical Physiology, Saunders, 2010, 843.
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I think about my own mom, and her mother, my grandmother. I remember the day I told my grandmother that I was applying for a Master’s degree. She looked at me as if I had lost my mind. I love her dearly but we sometimes just agree to disagree. The same is true with my mother, who always criticized my taste in jeans and junk food. Now that I come to think about it, we – my daughters, myself, my mom, and my grandmother – all have our unique preferences.

When it comes to spiritual matters, however, regardless of differences in our worldly pursuits, all of us, three generations, all read the Qur’an, which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. We all receive our own share of wisdom and spiritual nutrition. This aspect of the Qur’an is striking. It’s like a table where everybody can enjoy feeding their heart and souls.

For more than 1,400 years, for Muslims all around the world, the Qur’an has been a book for supplication and remembering God, a shelter from misfortune, a source of information and wisdom, and a reference for law-making. Since the Qur’an is a manifestation of God’s infinite knowledge, it is a miraculous book that never gets outdated, but gets ever younger by having something to offer everyone willing to listen and be its student.

Imagine a person in the library reading about the Pacific Ocean. He has finished reading all the books about the ocean.. He has so much knowledge about the ocean, and yet, he has never seen one. Now imagine these other people: the first one does not have much information about the sea, but he is standing on the beach. He knows how the sand feels, he can hear the sound of the waves, he sees the blue sky over the ocean, he enjoys the sunset on the horizon. The second one comes a little closer. His feet get wet; he can feel how cold the water is. Another one is swimming in the ocean. He can taste it, the water is salty, and he can feel the thrust of the powerful waves. Some jump into it and swim forward and fast without really knowing how deep it could get, and maybe drown.

There are also the explorers. They travel long distances, see different countries, visit distant shores, swim and dive expertly, and even find treasures hidden underneath.

The Qur’an is like a big ocean, living, breathing, growing, and supporting life. It is full of treasures and beauty, over and under. Just like each person in the above analogy enjoys and benefits from the ocean differently, the Qur’an has been enjoyed and benefitted in different methods and forms, at different levels, for hundreds of years. Some learn a lot from it, but unfortunately cannot feel its true nature and depth, like the first person in the metaphor who reads about the ocean in the library. Others illuminate both their minds and their hearts as much as they can. Individuals explore different shores of the Qur’an, doing, learning, and feeling – seeing more than others. On the other hand, there are people who also read the same Qur’an but get it wrong, or maybe partially read out of context and lose their way, much like the person who gets drowned in deep waters.

One explorer of the Qur’an, Said Nursi, in his book The Words, gives an analogy about divers plunging to depths searching for the jewels of a treasure. Their eyes are closed; they understand what is they are looking for through the use of their hands. A longish diamond comes into the hand of one of them. The diver assumes that the whole treasure consists of a long diamond like a pillar. Into the hand of another passes a round ruby, while another finds a square piece of amber, and so on. If you asked each diver to describe the treasure, they would tell you what they have in their hands, which is true, only it is their own grasp, but there is more to it than that. People studying the Qur’an all have different lenses, which are shaped and colored according to their abilities, backgrounds, past knowledge, and prejudices. If you ask two people about the treasures of the Qur’an, they might give you different interpretations of the same verse. All the interpretations might be true, and there could even be more interpretations, because the Qur’an has all the wisdom and knowledge of the past and all that we will have in the future. This is also confirmed by the Qur’an itself: “With Him are the keys to the Unseen; none knows them but He. And He knows whatever is on land and in the sea; and not a leaf falls but He knows it; and neither is there a grain in the dark layers of earth, nor anything green or dry, but is (recorded) in a Manifest Book” (6:59).

By virtue of this comprehensiveness, the Manifest Book’s verses are like monumental trees. The main stem of the tree has large branches, and then there are smaller branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. The knowledge in the Qur’an is at all of those levels. The 15th Century Ottoman Sultan Yildirim Bayezid‘s time serves as an exemplar for this phenomenon:

After the construction of Ulu Cami (The Great Mosque) was completed in Bursa, Turkey, the Sultan gave the duty of the Friday sermon to Somuncu Baba (the Baker father), by the advice of Amir Sultan, his son-in-law, a saint of his time. Everybody was surprised by this decision of giving the duty of first Friday sermon in the Great mosque to the person who supplied bread to the workers during the building of the mosque. When the day came, Somuncu Baba gave a commentary of the first Chapter, “The Opening,” (Surah Al-Fatiha) from seven different levels, using over 20 different sciences. People were astonished by his knowledge and wisdom. At the end of the sermon, Molla Fenari, another great scholar of the time, stood up in the congregation and said, “Somuncu Baba tackled our problems in the commentaries of Fatiha. The first explanation of Fatiha was known and understood by all the people in the mosque. The second commentary was understood by some, the third was understood by only the academics. The fourth and thereafter, we have never heard before. He explained, but none of us could comprehend them fully.”

Different understandings and interpretations of the Qur’an do not only arise from differences in people’s viewpoints and intellects, but also depend on the conditions of time and place. For instance, those verses that are about science and technology will be understood better with the progress made in that area. The mature and perfect understanding of the verses comes from people helping each other; it is like lifting a heavy stone together. The more hands that go under the stone, the easier it gets to move it.

Every so often many scientists, from different disciplines, come together to explain a single paradox. The acquired knowledge of a certain era shapes and strongly influences whether an individual will master the verses’ deeper meanings. A person reading this verse, “He, Who has made for you fire from the green tree, and see, you kindle fire with it…” (36:80) during the Prophet’s time could have learnt he could kindle fire from the Markh and Afar trees, which grow in the Arabian Desert. He would certainly be thankful to God for that! If he were a man in denial of the hereafter, or a man with rotten bones, he could have reflected on the fact that the One Who extracts something as luminous as fire from the dense, dark matter of a tree could easily give life and consciousness to bones which are like wood. If this very same man were not a nomad at the time of the Prophet, but a professor in the 19th century, the Markh tree might not have occurred to him. On the other hand he might have reflected more on petroleum, which is formed from rotten plants, and that Saudi Arabia, which was once lush and green, is now a country rich in petroleum. And if he were a middle school student right now, he could contemplate this verse during Science class, when learning about photosynthesis – how oxygen is produced during this process, and how you cannot burn anything in the absence of this gas that comes from trees.

All this said, the understanding of some verses about spiritual matters, like the pillars of Islam, the daily prayers, or other types of worship, do not usually change from person to person, time to time, or place to place. Unlike the improvement of existing technology, whatever has been revealed by the Qur’an has been understood and practiced first by the Prophet, and in the best possible way.

The Quran is a generous source of knowledge. Anybody knocking on its door – from innocent children, to important academics, from the contemporaries of the Prophet to the ones yet to come – will have their own share of the wisdom it carries.

Microbes, in particular bacteria, are associated with many diseases, being the deadliest pathogens along with viruses. But, this doesn’t mean that all bacteria are harmful. Indeed, most bacterial colonies that reside in our gut have mutualistic relationship with humans. Our intestines carry approximately ten times more bacteria than the total number of cells in human body. This vast number of bacteria residing in our intestines are not only harmless, but they are also beneficial for us in many ways, by digesting food to supply energy for the body, by outcompeting the disease-causing bacteria in the intestines, and by producing vitamins and hormones. This study brings a new dimension to our understanding of the interactions between the host immune system with the gut microflora. The main components of immune system are the T cells that can recognize the pathogens. Each T cell recognizes one particular pathogen and distinguishes self-cells from the pathogens. In the thymus, T cells that recognize self-molecules are either eliminated or transformed into a special category of T-cells called regulatory T cells (Tregs), whose job is to maintain tolerance towards self-antigens. Lathrop and colleagues demonstrated for the first time that naïve T cells are developed into Tregs in the gut upon encounter of commensal gut bacteria. What is striking is that these Tregs responded to the bacterial antigens, unlike the thymus originated Tregs that were generated by self-antigen recognition. These data suggest that gut bacteria train host’s immune system to be silent against themselves and act only against invading pathogens. Mechanisms involved in distinguishing harmful vs. beneficial bacteria by the immune system may provide new ways of tackling with bacterial diseases.

2- Cancer meets memory

Original Article: Odajima, J. et al., Developmental Cell 21, 655 (2011).

The recent discovery in the field of neuroscience reminded us the phrase “context is everything.” A study conducted by the scientists of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School addressed somewhat contradictive observation that why human brain has high levels of cyclin E protein, a well-known culprit in many cancers. Cyclin E protein plays an important role in cell cycle where it helps to regulate the timing and the frequency of cell division in normally growing cells. However, overexpression of cyclin E has been associated with uncontrolled cell growth in various cancer types. It is surprising that the human brain, which has a group of non-dividing cells, also express cyclin E at high levels. The study showed that when cyclin E deficient mice were analyzed, there was a serious defect in the formation of nerve connections as well as the formation of memory. “It is overexpressed in many different cancers, but it also is expressed in high levels in the human brain. We have found that cyclin E is needed for memory formation and is a very important player,” said senior author Peter Sicinski, PhD, a cancer biologist at Dana-Farber. The study showed that cyclin E achieves its functions in the brain by binding to Cdk5 enzyme whose activity is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. “There is good evidence that hyperactivity of Cdk5 contributes to Alzheimer’s disease and inhibiting this enzyme can ameliorate symptoms in animals,” said Sicinski. “Manipulating cyclin E levels might be another way to accomplish this,” he added.

3- Designing perfect plastic 

Original Article: Read, D.J. et al., Science 333, 1871 (2011).

Plastic is used everywhere in our daily lives. Up until now, production of different types of plastic was done by trial and error. Only a small fraction of these trials give rise to a usable product. After ten years of hard work, scientists have now developed a computer program that can predict properties of plastic without actually manufacturing it. The program has two parts. The first part can predict how a specific polymer will flow based on the connections between the macromolecules that make up the polymer. The second part predicts the shape of these macromolecules when they are made at a chemical level. Using this code, one can effectively construct a recipe book for plastic. This will make it possible to design plastic that can better handle a specific job. It will also be possible to make plastic out of renewable materials instead of oil based materials which will be easy to recycle.

4- The key to long life?

Original Article: Kim, E.B. et al., Nature (published online before print, 2011).

Who would want to live a long life at the cost of looking ugly? One type of rodent species, naked mole rat, seems to have said “yes” to this intricate question. While an average rodent, a house mice or a rat living on streets, can live up to 4 years, naked mole rats can live up to 30 years. Mole rats are hairless, buck-toothed and almost blind rodents that are only found in dry sections of the Horn of Africa. They live in underground colonies with a social structure similar to ant colonies. There is a queen rat that chooses to mate with only few males, and rest of the colony takes the big responsibility of maintaining and protecting the colony. Scientists have always been puzzled with the extraordinary life span of these exotic animals and they finally generated the complete gene map of these intriguing animals. A quick look of the genomic map revealed that many genes associated with vision, circadian rhythms, perception of pain and perception of bitter tastes seem to be completely turned-off. Perhaps, these specific modifications allow animals to tolerate harsh living conditions and help them to adapt a lifestyle which lacks so-called the luxuries and expectations of a normal animal. Scientists believe that comprehensive analyses of naked mole’s genetic map might shed light on fundamental cellular mechanisms that are disrupted in aging and aging-related diseases.

The world hypertension statistics

Almost a quarter (26 percent) of the world’s adult population suffers from high blood pressure. It is estimated that this number will reach 29 percent by the year 2025. These average statistics based on the adult population of the world includes people of various age groups and from different countries. The risk of hypertension increases with age. While the figure for 20–29 year old males is 13 percent, it increases to 40 percent between the ages of 50–59, and reaches over 60 percent after the age of seventy. Although there are slight variations in women, many of the figures are almost the same (Figure 1).

These figures are quite striking; one out of every two people over the age of sixty suffers from high blood pressure. As for those in their seventies, the figures have already reached almost 70 percent and are expected to increase even further as this group ages. Many diseases in the adult population remain at 1–2 percent; therefore, these figures convey just how common and serious hypertension really is.

The regional distribution of hypertension figures

In contrast with the estimated numbers given above, the figures for hypertension in the different regions present significant variations. Statistically, the number of hypertension cases increases according to the welfare status of the society. In economically developed countries, 37 percent of the adult population has high blood pressure, which is a considerably elevated number in comparison with the world average of 26 percent. Furthermore, 70 percent of the males and 80 percent of the females over the age of seventy living in economically developed countries suffer from high blood pressure. However, in economically underdeveloped countries, the number of hypertension cases is very low.

The hypertension rates in China and India are well below the world averages, with males at 17 percent and females at just 14 percent (Figure 2). In some societies, for example in the Amazon’s catchment areas, the Yanomami Red-Indians, and tribes in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, few cases of hypertension can be found, and blood pressure among these groups does not tend to increase with age.

The reasons for the increase in hypertension

There is a genetic disposition to develop hypertension. The recent studies reveal that high calorie foods, a high level of salt intake, the lack of physical activity, and alcohol intake all play a significant role in the increase of hypertension. By examining these reasons alone, we clearly see how important the prohibition of alcohol is and the Prophet’s words of wisdom advising us to eat less bear on our lives and prosperity in both this world and the hereafter.

Excess of body fat (obesity)

Another recent health phenomenon is the huge increase in people suffering from obesity, mainly due to excessive eating and the lack of exercise. Studies related to disease outbreaks (epidemiological studies) show that obesity is clearly associated with hypertension. These studies also reveal a significant increase in people suffering from both obesity and hypertension. According to these studies, 78 percent of the male and 65 percent of the female cases of hypertension are connected to obesity. Similar studies carried out in various countries confirm that a large number of people with high blood pressure were overweight and that losing weight substantially reduced their blood pressure levels. In fact, the blood pressure in some was reduced by losing weight alone, without the need of any medication.

Many studies also evaluated the connection between obesity and hypertension by measuring the level of the leptin, the hormone that controls the appetite, in the body. High levels of leptin induce stimulation in the sympathetic nervous system and shrink the veins (causing an increase in blood pressure). Another reason for the increase in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system of overweight people is the rise in insulin levels, which in most people can be controlled by diet. Finally, the kidneys of overweight people retain greater levels of salt and water, which causes an increase in blood pressure. These conditions, which on many occasions can prove to be very serious, are in fact contrary to the intended physical state of human creation, as the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, declared in these words of warning: “What I fear most for my followers is a large stomach, excessive sleep, idleness, and the lack of certainty (in faith).”

Excessive salt and alcohol

Evidence from both experiments on animals and clinical studies proves that the excessive intake of salt increases blood pressure. In animal experiments, a high intake of salt in the diet of rats showed a rise in blood pressure, which resulted in strokes. In another experiment, more than 0.50 ounces of salt was added to the diet of several chimpanzees for a period of twenty months. The studies showed an increase of 33 mmHg in the systolic blood pressure and 10 mmHg in the diastolic blood pressure, and when the salt was removed from the diet, the chimpanzees’ blood pressure returned to normal levels. Indeed, salt is an important nutrient for the human body. Sodium, potassium, and calcium salts are essential for all nerve cell activity, for muscle movement, and for the osmotic balance of body fluids. Medical science of today stresses the importance of natural foods, and bread, an important part of our diet, meets the body’s daily requirement of sodium. Thus adding salt to our food and exhausting the kidneys is not necessary.

Various clinical studies on humans have shown that excessive salt in the diet increases blood pressure levels. Salt has been used in the human diet for the past 8000 years, since the beginning of agriculture and animal farming. A human’s normal requirement of sodium is 8–10 mmol/per day. However, in economically developed countries, the daily sodium intake of most people has risen to 140–150 mmol per day (8–9 grams), almost 14–15 times more than the normal physiological requirement. In a study carried out on the subject, 10,000 blood pressure sufferers in 32 countries were closely monitored, and the results showed that as the salt intake was reduced, blood pressure levels dropped. In another study, 24 hour urine samples were analyzed, and here too, a low sodium diet showed a decline in blood pressure.

One of the many health risks of alcohol is its serious affect on blood pressure. Clinical studies have proved that the excessive intake of alcohol causes high blood pressure. The frequent cases of high blood pressure in societies of the former socialist countries and economically developed countries of the present are mainly connected to the excessive intake of alcohol.

As a result, the number of high blood pressure cases in the world has exceeded that of contagious diseases, and this is closely connected to our eating and drinking habits. If humans continue to excessively eat and drink as they are at the present, most people will be suffering from high blood pressure in the very near future.

Original Article: Wang, M. et al., PNAS (published online before print on March 1, 2010).

Periodic injections of insulin to manage blood sugar levels is critical for the treatment of diabetes patients. It requires continuous monitoring of glucose levels in the blood and multiple injections of insulin in order to mimic the natural balance of sugar-insulin levels in the human body. Yet, it is often difficult to maintain this extremely sensitive hormone balance without major side effects. These complications include blindness, leg ulcers and amputations, heart vessels problems, renal insufficiency, stroke, and nerve damage in the legs and arms. Moreover, the long-term use of insulin causes the increase of body fat and bad cholesterol. A new research study on non-obese diabetic mice shows that adding leptin- a hormone responsible for appetite control- to the insulin therapy results in better control of blood sugar levels and decreases the bad cholesterol and body fat of Type 1 diabetic mice. This is promising, as it could reduce heart and circulatory complications of Type 1 diabetes. However, the leptin therapy may not have an effect on type 2 diabetes, adult type, because in this type patients already have high levels of leptin. However, it has to be shown that leptin therapy is safe and effective on humans as well. There is a long way to go before we can use leptin in practical areas.

2- Re-teaching speech with music

Original Source: Schlaug G, Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), San Diego (2010).

Nearly 800,000 people in the U.S. are faced with strokes each year, and a quarter of those are affected by aphasia, a deficit in language. Using a new melodic intonation therapy, therapists treat patients by teaching them how to sing words and phrases consistent with the underlying melody of speech. As a result, the patients continue to speak in a more “sing-songy” way than a person with normal speech patterns, according to Dr. Schlaug, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. After 15 weeks, 1.5 hour-long daily sessions with a therapist, the patients gradually learn to piece the sung words together into organized speech. There are two separate brain networks associated with vocal output, with the one in the left hemisphere being engaged with speech and the other one in the right hemisphere strongly responding to music and melody. For the stroke patients that had damage to the left hemisphere, this therapy may help to train similar areas on the right hemisphere, helping them to initiate a speech region in the right hemisphere. Singing facilitates necessary engagement to the right hemisphere. Images of patients’ brains before and after the therapy reveal striking structural and functional changes in the right hemisphere. This study also reminds us of the brilliance of musical therapies employed in early hospitals in the Islamic world.

3- Renewable Jet-Fuels

Original Article: Bond, J.Q. et al., Science 327, 1110 (2010).

The global need for sustainable energy resources is ever increasing and the use of renewable fuels offer promising solutions. Among others, biofuels are especially important due to the presence of direct conversion routes from plant-based waste materials to conventional liquid fuels. However, high synthesis costs and complex processing steps are major hurdles to overcome before putting biofuels forward as economically viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Researchers are therefore trying to come up with more efficient methods -and one group, from the University of Wisconsin appears to have done so. Unlike commonly utilized routes involving microorganisms, they use a novel and environmentally-friendly chemical process which is easier to control and maintain. By using an inexpensive catalyst, they convert the majority of the wasted biomass to gaseous butene and carbon dioxide, with a water-based solution of gamma valerolactone as the intermediate chemical. The butene gas is then easily transformed to high-energy transportation fuels such as gasoline and jet fuel. As an added advantage, the stream of carbon dioxide can be efficiently captured, preventing the atmospheric release of this major greenhouse gas. Under optimized conditions, the system can operate uninterrupted for 90 hours with an overall efficiency of over 75%. Successful work like this will help make biofuels cheaper for mass production, pending the meticulous analysis of its economics.

4- Salt controversy: How much is too much?

Original Article: Bibbins-Domingo, K. et al., NEJM 362, 590 (2010).

Modern humans suffer from high rates of obesity (for instance, 64% of Americans are classified as either overweight or obese) and cardiovascular diseases, with the latter being the no.1 cause of all deaths. A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco suggests that reducing dietary salt by half a teaspoon a day (~ 3g) would lower the annual number of new coronary heart disease, stroke and myocardial infarction cases. Strikingly, such a modest decrease is expected to decrease deaths from any cause by 44,000 to 92,000. According to the National Salt Reduction Initiative, Americans eat at least twice as much salt as they need where 80 percent of the salt in the American diet comes from processed or restaurant-prepared foods. However, eating too much salt is not a problem for people with healthy kidneys since kidneys are designed to flush out unneeded salt. However, when people have a high salt diet, then their kidneys are over-worked. Taking into account that modest salt reduction in one’s diet won’t likely cause harm and taste buds will likely adapt to this minor change effortlessly, it seems wise to refrain from using too much salt. This would trigger bigger health benefits ranging from not overworking the kidneys to reducing the risk of deadly diseases.

5- Why don’t we get thirsty during sleep?

Original Article: Trudel, E. & Bourque, C.W., Nature Neuroscience (published online before print on February 28, 2010).

In mammals, the “internal-standard-time” is kept by a particular subset of brain cells known as “clock-neurons” which display high activity during the day and low activity during the night. A group of scientists recently reported that the clock-neurons also function as a dimmer for water regulation, allowing bodily water content to be controlled by the body. A specialized group of cells, called osmo-sensory-neurons, detect and regulate water levels in the body, through balancing the water intake via thirst and loss via urine production. When water levels are low, the sensory-neurons communicate with some hormone-releasing cells which instruct the body to store water by ceasing urine production. By using isolated brain slices from rats, the researchers showed that the clock-neurons – when active – interfere with the communication between sensory-neurons and hormone-releasing-cells to suppress the water-storage-hormone release. In contrast, when the clock-cells are inactive (i.e., ‘sleep period’) the communication is restored, resulting in an increase of hormone levels to enable water-storage. Such regulation is the reason why we are not much disturbed during sleep by neither frequent trips to the bathroom, nor excessive thirst (that would both impair the sleep quality), and reminds us the verse from the Holy Qur’an: “..and He has made the night for rest…” (Chapter Al-Anaam, 96).

6- A passage to vegetative state through fMRI

Original Article: Monti MM et al., NEJM 362, 579 (2010).

Consciousness in medicine is defined as the patient’s alertness and responsiveness to the outside world. If a patient does not respond to external stimuli, his/her medical state is considered a “vegetative state”. Researchers from Cambridge, England performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments on 54 patients who had been previously classified as either “vegetative” or “minimally conscious”. Interestingly, 5 of 54 patients exhibited distinct neuronal activities in the corresponding regions of their brains, when they are given imaginary motor and spatial tasks. For the motor task, patients are asked to imagine playing a tennis game. For the spatial task, patients are asked to imagine navigating through a familiar location. A 22 year-old man who had been in coma for five months was further evaluated by being subjected to a simple set of yes-or-no questions such as “Do you have any brothers?” and was instructed to answer these questions using one type of mental imagery, that is a motor imagery for “Yes” and a spatial imagery for “No”. He answered 5 out of 6 questions correctly. This is the first evidence that through fMRI approach one can reach the residual cognitive activity in vegetative patients and establish functional communication, raising question marks about our current handling of these so-called vegetative patients.

“… there is a stable order in the world as well as a well-established connection, constant norms and fundamental laws. In this sense, the world is analogous to a clock or a well-designed machine. Every single wheel, every single screw, every single nail not only has a role in order of a machine and an impact in its final benefit but also positive consequences for all living beings, especially for humans.” (Signs of Miraculousness, Seven Heavens, p. 186)

There is a strong parallel between the general principles to be observed for a healthy social structure in a society and the necessary conditions that enable cells to make up a healthy tissue. The laws prevalent in the universe present amazing parallels since they derive from the same divine source. In order to have healthy development in societies, it is necessary to have healthy connections, reciprocal understanding, and correct information transfer between people. Similarly, having healthy cells, which can be considered as micro-societies, also depends on the cells’ continual use of complex signal connection networks and their maintenance of connections with their environments. In order to maintain a harmonious and healthy life in the cell, there must be dense information transfer (through chemical molecules) at all levels with neighbor cells. Thanks to the connection networks that start at their membranes, cells can recognize warnings coming to them and produce responses. Through such information networks, a continuous connection is established in living organisms, starting from their lowest level mechanisms (i.e. molecules in cells and organelles) to their highest level mechanisms (i.e. organs, systems, organisms, populations, ecosystems), in order to ensure a healthy and harmonious processes of development, reproduction, differentiation and aging. Organized as a tissue (micro-society), one of the most amazing features of cells is the way they behave in accord with the society they live in, rather than acting as individualistic beings. Cells behave in a way to make micro-societies possible. In cytology (study of cells), this feature is known as “contact inhibition” (i.e. maintenance of healthy and harmonious operation and development that is based on connection), and its damage may lead to cancer. Every cell is sensitively programmed to receive all signals, coming from inside and outside, and to manage the proper responses to them. Here, the question arises whether a lack or disorder of connection is caused by pathological conditions in cells or whether the emergence of pathological conditions is caused by connection problems. It is generally assumed that, molecular changes in the cell occur first (i.e. mutation) and then this mutation leads to abnormalities and connection problems at the levels of tissue, organ, and even organism. Damage to communication or connection and disorders in this system are a very important reason for the appearance of some pathological conditions (such as an abnormal increase of cells, cancer and death). Thus, diagnosis and treatment of many diseases today depends on knowledge of how biological communication and connection are harmoniously established.

Cells are designed to control their behavior through special signal molecules that can themselves function as stimulatory. For instance, using signal molecules, cells can establish colonies or biofilms. Moreover, plant cells, through channels known as plasmodesmata, maintain their connection with neighboring cells and trade certain materials. In the state of illness, the density (among cells) of signal molecules that are transferred in the plasmodesmata changes.

Hormones, reproduction factors and neurotransmitters are charged with ensuring transportation and communication at different levels. Cell and tissue elasticity and their adaptability are increased by this diversity in signal operations. Different ways are used to transmit signals into the cell depending upon the characteristics of the signals. For example, hydrophobic (water-avoiding) molecules like steroid hormone pass directly through the cell membrane and connect to their receptors in the cell. The receptors that are responsible for decoding genes stimulate the decoding of related genes. If a problem (mutation) occurs in the molecules that are responsible for transportation and communication, the transportation and communication breaks down and the cancer process is triggered. The existence of continuously reproducing cells in inappropriate times and places is an important symptom of cancer initiation. For example, in colon and rectum cancer, if a mutation occurs on the Ras protein, which is one of the signal proteins that takes the “Reproduce!” message from the cell membrane the cutting off of the GTP molecule, which is responsible for turning the signal molecule on and off, is blocked, and since the molecule stays permanently active a signal like “Reproduce!” is permanently sent inside the cell. Thus, the benefits of the medicines that are used in cancer treatment and that show their effects by hindering signals on the cell membrane level are observed in the non-existence of this mutation on Ras proteins. If the mutation happens the medicines mentioned above cannot be effective. Today, the presence of the mutation can be determined by a biopsy taken from the patient, thus, it has become possible to choose the type of therapy that will be most helpful to that person.

Communication inside the cell can be carried out through ion channels (such as sodium, potassium, and calcium). These channels in membrane behave selectively for every different ion. For example, while voltage-gated channels open and close according to electric charge ligand, (key)-gated (receptor) channels let ions transfer when ligands are tied up. Sodium and potassium ions and the molecular channels that these two passes are responsible for organizing the changes that effect the communication of nerves in the membrane potential. The calcium channel, on the other hand, plays an important role in muscle contraction, and biological incidents like the formation and deformation of bone.

In recent years, the proteins (matrix) that fill the vacancies among cells have been shown to be the main actor in the general control of communication between cells and in the integration of signals coming from their surroundings by hundreds of proofs. It has been pointed out that CCN proteins, which are one of the adaptors, as well as proteins with multiple modules that are responsible for the connection between cell membranes and matrix proteins have a regulatory role at different levels in the control of signal transfers in ion channels, cell differentiation, adherence of cells to each other, cell collapse, programmed cell-death, cartilage formation and the synthesis of new veins. The multi-dimensional and dynamic communication and connections mentioned above related to cells also apply to people. When individuals develop a healthy connection between their inner world and other people, a healthy society emerges. Every individual is granted these potential connection points, which make the existence of an individual possible. The development of a healthy person depends upon activating these connections, organizing them dynamically and keeping them active.

If we place human beings at the center of creation, the first connection that the individuals should make between their Creator and their ego (nafs) is called worship. The ego is both a help and a hindrance to the construction of this connection. The second connection, which is between individuals and their friends, is ensured by good morals, good conduct, and personal virtue. The construction of a healthy social life depends on how many people have good morals, good conduct and virtuous character in a society. If virtue is not accompanied by knowledge, it is highly unlikely that knowledge will raise an individual to a standard of human perfection.

The third essential, the individual’s healthy connection with their surroundings is established through the “ecological dimension of ego,” which is sensitive to the external world. It is very difficult for people whose dimension of ego, which is sensitive to ecological problems and the environment, has not developed to keep the environment clean and take precautions against pollution. The fourth connection that individuals should establish is the connection with their internal world (heart-consciousness, transcendental ego, real self). “O Man! Know yourself first!” and, “The one that knows himself knows his God,” are expressions pointing out the importance of this connection.

For individuals, groups, and societies to have a healthy life as well as to maintain their health at all levels depends on activating these four connections, in other words, establishing coordination and harmony among them and then maintaining this state. When one ignores one of the connections or some of them, or when the coordination between these connections is defective, troubles and illnesses at various levels emerge. Hence, the links that a healthy individual establishes may include those in civil society organizations, and through these further networked and reciprocal communications. Like our cells, which maintain their connection with their environment and neighboring cells via the “contact inhibition” mechanism so that we feel healthy, for people to become healthy at personal and societal level, individuals should actively join civil society organizations and service-centered communities that can enable activation of these four connections and ensure harmony and coordination among them. The Islamic scholar, Bediüzzaman Said Nursi paid special attention to connection in the letters he wrote to his students (the Kastamonu letters) and highlighted it as a point of progress that should be reached:

Since, in today’s world, saving people’s belief for the sake of God is a very important mission that is above everything; since quantity is not very significant compared to quality; since transient and changing political worlds are trivial compared to everlasting, constant, stable services in the name of God-they should not be even compared; they can never be objectives; therefore, we should be satisfied with valuable positions that are granted in the circle of Risale-i Nur. Instead of having extremely well-thoughts about other people or seeing them at high positions superfluously, we need to have extreme loyalty and steadfastness, and utmost connection and sincerity. We should have progress on these points.

Hamza Aydin has a PhD in bio-medicine. He is a freelance writer from Izmir, Turkey.