An editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal is calling for increased surveillance of energy drinks and their effects on young people.
Published online on Monday, the editorial argues that energy drinks pose a health danger to young people because of how vulnerable they are to the effects of caffeine. All three authors that contributed to the editorial state that, unless businesses change their practices or there is a substantial change in consumer trends, the government will have no choice but to step in and regulate the increasingly popular product. Dozens of energy drink brands often contain 10 times the amount of caffeine found in a cola, and in concentrated, smaller quantities.
Guidelines instituted by Health Canada state that children aged 10 to 12 should limit caffeine intake to 85 milligrams per day, meaning consuming one energy drink could deliver several days worth at once. Adults should not exceed 400 mg per day.
The editorial calls for warning labels on drinks that exceed 100 mg of caffeine, such as what’s in place on packages of caffeine tablets. Those labels warn about the side effects of excess caffeine consumption, including irritability, sleep problems and rapid heart rate.
Energy drinks have been approved for sale in more than 100 countries, according to Refreshments Canada.
The latest recommendations for vitamin D daily dose levels printed in the Canadian Medical Association Journal online version comes courtesy of Osteoporosis Canada.
Both vitamin D and calcium are considered key elements in preventing osteoporosis. Other studies have found using more than the current recommended use of 200 imperial units (IU) per day can reduce health risks for diabetes and other immune system disorders. Vitamin D intake is especially important in Canada due to reduced exposure to sunlight during the short days of winter.
The new guidelines, which come 10 years after the last recommendation for “adequate intake” were made, state that daily supplements of 400 to 1,000 IU are ideal for individuals under the age of 50 who do not have osteoporosis or a condition that affects vitamin D absorption. Adults over 50 can take between 800 and 2,000 IU. Daily doses of 2,000 IU do not require medical supervision.
Dr. David Hanley of the University of Calgary health sciences centre writes that, “A daily supplement of 25 milligrams (800 IU) should now be regarded as a minimum dose for adults with osteoporosis. Canadians can safely take daily vitamin D supplements up to the current definition of tolerable upper intake level (2,000 IU) but doses above that require medical supervision.
What is needed, according to the authors, is more research into ideal doses and safe upper limits.
“Despite a great deal of new research in the past decade, these major clinical questions have still not been addressed to the satisfaction of most experts in the vitamin D field.”
Cranberry juice is often recommended for individuals to help fight off urinary tract infections. A team of researchers has now identified and measured the molecular process that makes it so potent.
Published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute embarked on a mechanical study of the specific form of E. coli bacteria that is the primary cause of most urinary tract infections. Previous studies have found that cranberry juice exposure causes the fimbriae — tiny hooks that latch on to cells in the urinary tract — to curl up, reducing an E. coli bacterium’s ability to latch on to a cell.
For the study, the team decided to measure how much force was needed to tear an E. coli bacterium away from a human cell. After introducing cranberry juice cocktail at different concentrations into the study, researchers found the attachment force of the E. coli weakened. In the absence of any cranberry juice, the bond between the bacterium and the skin cell was so strong that even urinating could not dislodge it.
The mechanical study will help direct future studies that can help identify better drug treatments and targets for new antibiotics. The discovery might also help engineering new medical devices, such as catheters, to make them more resistant to bacterial infection.
The latest online publication of Nature Neuroscience has narrowed down the essential genetic elements that are responsible for some aspects of the disease.
Previous studies identified having an extra copy of chromosome 21 as associated with individuals who are diagnosed with Down syndrome. Scientists at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and other research departments across North America were able to further identify two specific genes within chromosome 21 as critical to developing the condition.
In the study, which used the Down syndrome mouse model, researchers manipulated the two genes — Olig1 and Olig 2 — researchers were better able to normalize specific aspects of the inhibitory tone in brain regions involved with learning and memory. Consequently, the balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurons is regulated by extra copies of these genes and can significantly impact neurological development in Down syndrome.
The researchers believe their work, combined with future research, could help develop therapies in the future for individuals with Down syndrome.
