Optimal Being

Injections of no-longer-used growth hormone derived from cadavers may have “seeded” Alzheimer’s in some people, small study suggests. Researchers say they have uncovered more evidence to support a controversial hypothesis that sticky proteins that are a signature of Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted from person to person through certain surgical procedures. The authors and other scientists stress that the research is based on a small number of people and is related to medical practices that are no longer used. The study does not suggest that forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease can be contagious. Still, “we’d like to take precautions going forward to reduce even those rare cases occurring”, says neurologist John Collinge at University College London who led the research, which was published in  Nature Medicine  on 29 January. For the past decade, Collinge and his team have studied people in the United Kingdom who, during childhood,  received growth hormone d...

IGF-1 is perhaps the most powerful growth factor in the body when it comes to building bones and muscles. Your body manufactures more IGF-1 the more protein-rich foods are in your diet. Eggs in particular are effective IGF-1 boosters, Thai scientists discovered. Researchers from Mahidol University conducted an experiment with 3 groups of students aged 8-14 for 35 weeks. Students in the experimental group received 2 eggs every school day with their school lunch [WE]. [Thai schools provide students with lunch.] Students in another group were not given eggs for lunch, but an equivalent that provided the same amount of energy and protein [protein substitute; PE]. After all, students in the control group simply received a standard lunch and nothing else. Results Including eggs in the diet increased IGF-1 levels more than incorporating a protein substitute. Click on the figure below for a larger version.  The addition of eggs to the test subjects' diet increased the concentration of not ...