Team sport compensates for estrogen loss

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When women enter menopause, their estrogen levels taper. This increases their risk of cardiovascular disease. New research from University of Copenhagen shows that interval-based team sport can make up for this estrogen loss as it improves their conditions, reduces blood pressure and thereby protects the cardiovascular system.While aging and an array of physical transformations go hand in hand for all, menopause has a significant influence on physical changes in women.Estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, is an important guardian of the female vascular system. Thus, as estrogen levels fall during menopause, the risks of increased blood pressure and development of cardiovascular disease increases.A new study by the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Team Sport and Health documents and addresses the issue.Changes to the cardiovascular system occur soon after menopause”Results demonstrate that blood pressure among post-menopausal women is 10% higher immediately after menopause than in similarly-aged, pre-menopausal women. They also had higher levels of an early marker for arteriosclerosis,” explains postdoc Michael Nyberg.The new aspect of this study is that researchers have investigated the effects of estrogen in women of the same age, both before and after menopause. Previous studies didn’t look at similarly aged pre- and post-menopausal women. Instead, they investigated women with 15-20 year gaps in age. Therefore, they were unable to determine whether changes were due to age or estrogen loss.Results of the recent study have now been published in the journal, The American Journal of Physiology.Floorball prevents cardiovascular disease among womenIn a bid to prevent increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the study examined the effect of 12-week floorball training among post-menopausal women. The results were clear.”Following just 12 weeks of twice weekly practices, the women’s conditions had improved and their blood pressure was reduced by 4 mmHg, which correlates with a 40% lower risk of stroke,” explains Professor and Centre Director Jens Bangsbo.Continuing, Bangsbo asserts that, “Furthermore, there was a positive development in relation to levels of substances vital to blood vessel function, including a 20% decrease in markers associated with arteriosclerosis.”"The results demonstrate that team sports that include interval exercise are a fantastic opportunity for hormone treatment, in relation to estrogen, because one can avoid an array of undesirable side-effects,” according to postdoc, Michael Nyberg.Team sport — fun as well as healthy”Another advantage of a team sport like floorball is that participants have fun. That’s important, because when a person is engaged in a team sport, they aren’t preoccupied with the otherwise intense exercise in which they are engaged. …


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Hormone released after exercise can "predict" biological age

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Scientists from Aston University (UK) have discovered a potential molecular link between Irisin, a recently identified hormone released from muscle after bouts of exercise, and the aging process.Irisin, which is naturally present in humans, is capable of reprograming the body’s fat cells to burn energy instead of storing it. This increases the metabolic rate and is thought to have potential anti-obesity effects.The research team led by Dr James Brown have proven a significant link exists between Irisin levels in the blood and a biological marker of aging called telomere length. Telomeres are small regions found at the end of chromosomes that shorten as cells within the body replicate. Short telomere length has been linked to many age-related diseases including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.Using a population of healthy, non-obese individuals, the team has shown those individuals who had higher levels of Irisin were found to have longer telomeres. The finding provides a potential molecular link between keeping active and healthy aging with those having higher Irisin levels more ‘biological young’ than those with lower levels of the hormone.Dr James Brown from Aston’s Research Centre for Healthy Ageing, said: “Exercise is known to have wide ranging benefits, from cardiovascular protection to weight loss. Recent research has suggested that exercise can protect people from both physical and mental decline with aging. Our latest findings now provide a potential molecular link between keeping active and a healthy aging process.”Irisin itself is secreted from muscle in response to exercise and is capable of reprograming the body’s fat cells to burn energy instead of storing it. This increases the metabolic rate and is thought to have potential weight loss effects, which in turn could help with conditions such as type-2 diabetes.Story Source:The above story is based on materials provided by Aston University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


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Fish living near the equator will not thrive in the warmer oceans of the future

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According to an international team of researchers, the rapid pace of climate change is threatening the future presence of fish near the equator.”Our studies found that one species of fish could not even survive in water just three degrees Celsius warmer than what it lives in now,” says the lead author of the study, Dr Jodie Rummer from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University.Dr Rummer and her colleagues studied six common species of fish living on coral reefs near the equator. She says many species in this region only experience a very narrow range of temperatures over their entire lives, and so are likely adapted to perform best at those temperatures.This means climate change places equatorial marine species most at risk, as oceans are projected to warm by two to three degrees Celsius by the end of this century.”Such an increase in warming leads to a loss of performance,” Dr Rummer explains. “Already, we found four species of fish are living at or above the temperatures at which they function best.”The team measured the rates at which fish use oxygen, the fuel for metabolism, across different temperatures — at rest and during maximal performance. According to the results, at warmer temperatures fish lose scope for performance. In the wild, this would limit activities crucial to survival, such as evading predators, finding food, and generating sufficient energy to breed.Because many of Earth’s equatorial populations are now living close to their thermal limits, there are dire consequences ahead if these fish cannot adapt to the pace at which oceans are warming.Dr Rummer suggests there will be declines in fish populations as species may move away from the equator to find refuge in areas with more forgiving temperatures.”This will have a substantial impact on the human societies that depend on these fish,” she says.A concentration of developing countries lies in the equatorial zone, where fish are crucial to the livelihoods and survival of millions of people, including those in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.In an era of rapid climate change, understanding the link between an organism and its environment is crucial to developing management strategies for the conservation of marine biodiversity and the sustainable use of marine fisheries.”This is particularly urgent when considering food security for human communities.”Story Source:The above story is based on materials provided by ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


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Oil composition boost makes hemp a cooking contender

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Scientists at the University of York today report the development of hemp plants with a dramatically increased content of oleic acid. The new oil profile results in an attractive cooking oil that is similar to olive oil in terms of fatty acid content having a much longer shelf life as well as greater heat tolerance and potentially more industrial applications.Researchers in the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) in the Department of Biology at York say that high oleic acid varieties are a major step towards developing hemp as a commercially attractive break crop for cereal farmers. The research is published in Plant Biotechnology Journal.Using fast-track molecular plant breeding, the scientists selected hemp plants lacking the active form of an enzyme involved in making polyunsaturated fatty acids. These plants made less poly-unsaturated fatty acids and instead accumulated higher levels of the mono-unsaturated oleic acid. The research team used conventional plant breeding techniques to develop the plants into a “High Oleic Hemp” line and higher oleic acid content was demonstrated in a Yorkshire field trial.Oil from the new line was almost 80 per cent oleic acid, compared with typical values of less than 10 per cent in the standard hemp line. This high mono-unsaturated/low poly-unsaturated fatty acid profile increases the oil’s thermal stability and oil from the new line was shown to have around five times the stability of standard hemp oil. This not only makes the oil more valuable as a cooking oil but also increases its usefulness for high temperature industrial processes.As oilseed rape faces declining yields and increasing attacks from pest and disease, UK farming needs another break crop to ensure the sustainability of its agriculture and maintain cereal yields. An improved hemp crop, yielding high quality oil would provide an excellent alternative. Hemp is a low-input crop and is also dual-purpose, with the straw being used as a fibre (for bedding, composites and textiles), for biomass and as a source of high value waxes and secondary metabolites.Professor Ian Graham, from CNAP, said: “The new line represents a major improvement in hemp as an oil crop. Similar developments in soybean and oilseed rape have opened up new markets for these crops, due to the perceived healthiness and increased stability of their oil.”In 2014 field trials of the new High Oleic Hemp are being rolled out across Europe in order to establish agronomic performance and yield under a range of environmental conditions in advance of launching a commercial crop.Story Source:The above story is based on materials provided by University of York. …


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