Laboratory Equipment

Green Tea Not Enough of an Aid for Weight Loss

Evidence has shown that green tea extract may be an effective herbal remedy useful for weight control and helping to regulate glucose in type 2 diabetes. In order to ascertain whether green tea truly has this potential, Jae-Hyung Park and his colleagues from the Keimyung Univ. School of Medicine in the Republic of Korea conducted a study, now published in the Springer journal Naunyn-Schmedeberg’s Archives of Pharmacology.

The active constituents of green tea, which have been shown to inhibit intestinal glucose and lipid uptake, are a certain type of flavonoid called gallated catechins. The authors had previously suggested that the amount of gallated catechins necessary to reduce blood glucose concentrations can be achieved from a daily dose of green tea. However, the amount of green tea needed to decrease lipid uptake from the gut is higher and has been shown to have adverse effects in humans. Once in the bloodstream, gallated catechins can actually increase insulin resistance, which is a negative consequence especially in obese and diabetic patients.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/green-tea-not-enough-aid-weight-loss

One Can of Sugar-Laden Soda Heightens Diabetes Risk

Drinking one extra sugar-sweetened soft drink a day can increase a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 22 percent, a new study suggests.

The finding is based on data from 350,000 people in eight European countries and published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/one-can-sugar-laden-soda-heightens-diabetes-risk

Prematurity, Low Birth Weight Impact Mortality Rates

A study by Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers published today in the journal Pediatrics showed that increasing numbers of premature and other low birth weight infants are the leading cause for the leveling off of infant mortality and neonatal mortality rates in the U.S.

Infant mortality rate is defined as the number of infants who die before their first birthday. Neonatal mortality rate is defined as the number of infants who die before reaching 28 days old.

Read more: Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/prematurity-low-birth-weight-impact-mortality-rates

Early Consumption of Carbs Heightens Obesity Risk

Consumption of foods high in carbohydrates immediately after birth programs individuals for lifelong increased weight gain and obesity, a Univ. at Buffalo animal study has found, even if caloric intake is restricted in adulthood for a period of time.

“This is the first time that we have shown in our rat model of obesity that there is a resistance to the reversal of this programming effect in adult life,” explains Mulchand Patel, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and associate dean for research and biomedical education in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/03/early-consumption-carbs-heightens-obesity-risk

Losing Weight While Younger is Better for the Heart

In a study of the impact of weight loss on reversing heart damage from obesity, Johns Hopkins researchers found that poor heart function in young obese mice can be reversed when the animals lose weight from a low-calorie diet. However, older mice, who had been obese for a longer period of time, did not regain better heart function after they were on the same low-calorie diet.

“Our research indicates that the longer mice are obese, the greater the risk that their heart damage is irreversible,” says Majd AlGhatrif, the first author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/03/losing-weight-while-younger-better-heart

Heavy Loads Damage Nerves in Hands, Fingers

Trudging from place to place with heavy weights on our backs is an everyday reality, from schoolchildren toting textbooks in backpacks to firefighters and soldiers carrying occupational gear. Muscle and skeletal damage are very real concerns. Now Tel Aviv Univ. researchers say that nerve damage, specifically to the nerves that travel through the neck and shoulders to animate our hands and fingers, is also a serious risk.

Prof. Amit Gefen of TAU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and Prof. Yoram Epstein of TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, along with PhD student Amir Hadid and Nogah Shabshin of the Imaging Institute of the Assuta Medical Center, have determined that the pressure of heavy loads carried on the back have the potential to damage the soft tissues of the shoulder, causing microstructural damage to the nerves.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/02/heavy-loads-damage-nerves-hands-fingers

Gas Lets Scientists Weight Black Holes

A new way of measuring the mass of supermassive black holes could revolutionize our understanding of how they form and help to shape galaxies. The technique, developed by a team including Oxford Univ. scientists, can spot the telltale tracer of carbon monoxide within the cloud of gas (mostly hydrogen) circling a supermassive black hole at the centre of a distant galaxy. By detecting the velocity of the spinning gas they are able to “weigh” (determine the mass) of the black hole.

Detailed information on supermassive black holes, thought to be at the heart of most galaxies, is scarce: it has taken 15 years to measure the mass of just 60. The problem is that most other supermassive black holes are too far away to examine properly even with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/02/gas-lets-scientists-weight-black-holes

Obesity Study May Be Tainted by Authors’ Financial Associations

Fact or fiction? Sex burns a lot of calories. Snacking or skipping breakfast is bad. School gym classes make a big difference in kids’ weight. All are myths or at least presumptions that may not be true, say researchers who reviewed the science behind some widely held obesity beliefs and found it lacking. Their report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine says dogma and fallacies are detracting from real solutions to the nation’s weight problems.

“The evidence is what matters,” and many feel-good ideas repeated by well-meaning health experts just don’t have it, says the lead author, David Allison, a biostatistician at the Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham. Independent researchers say the authors have some valid points. But many of the report’s authors also have deep financial ties to food, beverage and weight-loss product makers — the disclosures take up half a page of fine print in the journal.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/01/obesity-study-may-be-tainted-authors%E2%80%99-financial-associations

Coca-Cola to Address Obesity

Coca-Cola became one of the world’s most powerful brands by equating its soft drinks with happiness. Now it’s taking to the airwaves for the first time to address a growing cloud over the industry: obesity.

The Atlanta-based company will today begin airing a two-minute spot during the highest-rated shows on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC in hopes of becoming a stronger voice in the intensifying debate over sodas and their impact on public health. The ad lays out Coca-Cola’s record of providing drinks with fewer calories over the years and notes that weight gain is the result of consuming too many calories of any kind — not just soda.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/01/coca-cola-address-obesity

Few Americans Know All Obesity Risks

Heart disease and diabetes get all the attention, but what about the many other ways obesity can damage your health?

Carrying too many pounds may lead to or worsen some types of cancer, arthritis, sleep apnea, even infertility. But a new poll suggests few Americans realize the links. Only about one-quarter of people think it’s possible for someone to be very overweight and still healthy, according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/01/few-americans-know-all-obesity-risks

The Kilogram Has Gained Weight

Post-Christmas and most of us are feeling the over-indulgence. But take heart - experts at Newcastle Univ. have shown even the kilogram itself has put on weight.

Using a state-of-the-art Theta-probe XPS machine – the only one of its kind in the world – the team has shown the original kilogram is likely to be tens of micrograms heavier than it was when the first standard was set in 1875. And they say a suntan could be the key to helping it lose weight.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/01/kilogram-has-gained-weight

Obesity Linked to Sleep Deprivation

Evidence linking partial sleep deprivation to energy imbalance is relevant to weight gain prevention and weight loss promotion. A new study published today in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, published by Elsevier, bases this finding on an extensive review of literature published over a fifteen-year period.

More than 35 percent of American adults are obese and more than 28 percent sleep less than six hours a night. While weight-loss strategies incorporate lifestyle changes focusing on diet and exercise, modifications in an individual’s daily routine, including sleep behaviors, can help manage weight.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/10/obesity-linked-sleep-deprivation