Grapes, Soy And Kudzu Blunt Some Menopausal Side Effects

Menopausal women are at relatively high risk for memory loss, high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes. A decade ago, the standard treatment for these problems was long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Since then, studies have shown that extensive use of HRT is associated with significant adverse effects. As a result, alternatives have been sought. Certain naturally occurring edible compounds found in plants - dietary polyphenols - have been shown to have some beneficial effects similar to HRT but without the appreciable adverse effects. Grape, soy and kudzu are dietary polyphenols. One research lab investigating them through several studies has found they can blunt cognitive loss, hypertension and insulin resistance in an experimental model.


These and related studies are being led by physiologist J. Michael Wyss, Department of Cell Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Birmingham, AL. Dr. Wyss will be discussing his work, entitled "The Role of Estrogens and Polyphenols in Hypertension and Diabetes," at the upcoming conference, Sex and Gender in Cardiovascular-Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology, being held August 9-12, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Austin on Town Lake, Austin, TX. The meeting is the second scientific event to be sponsored by the American Physiological Society (APS; The-APS) this year.


Incorporated in Dr. Wyss' presentation are results from the following studies:


Study 1: Grapes, Cognitive Enhancement and Hypertension


The research team examined whether grape polyphenols were associated with reduced cognitive dysfunction and a lower incidence of high blood pressure. They found that the effect of the polyphenols on working and reference memory errors indicated that both short-term (working memory) and long-term (reference memory) were beneficially and nearly equally enhanced by grape polyphenols.


However, a more formal test of this hypothesis, using other indices of these forms of memory, is needed before the effect can be fully interpreted.


The researchers also tested the hypothesis that grape seed polyphenols reduced salt-sensitive hypertension in young, estrogen-depleted rats. After ten weeks on specific diets, grape seed supplementation significantly reduced arterial pressure in the rats fed a high salt diet, compared to controls. The results indicate that grape seed polyphenols decrease arterial pressure in rats, probably via an antioxidant mechanism. The published results of this study are the first to demonstrate that dietary grape seed polyphenols blunt memory loss and hypertension in an animal model.















Study 2: Soy and Hypertension


Previous studies from the Wyss lab indicate that polyphenols in soy diets protect against hypertension in estrogen-depleted/ovariectomized rats. Specifically, they have found that estrogen deprivation (by surgical removal of the ovaries) only modestly increases arterial pressure in hypertensive rats. However, in estrogen depleted rats, the removal of soy polyphenols from the diet results in a large increase in arterial pressure, putting the animal at a much greater risk of stroke and other cardiovascular complications. The precise mechanism by which soy interacts with the blood to affect hypertension is not yet known.


Study 3: Kudzu and Insulin Resistance


The UAB researchers have examined kudzu, a vine growing in the southeast United States. Their research, and others', shows kudzu root extract blunts a significant percent of the blood pressure rise that occurs in rats placed on a high salt diet. Kudzu has also been shown to reduce blood glucose, insulin and leptin in this animal model of insulin resistance (a precursor to type 2 diabetes). Glucose tolerance and sensitivity are improved some 20 percent in chronic studies and about 50 percent when kudzu and glucose are administered simultaneously.


Conclusion


These studies demonstrate that three polyphenols - grape, soy and kudzu - blunt hypertension, insulin resistance and cognitive decline when estrogen is not present in female rats. According to Dr. Wyss, "It is unlikely that these polyphenols could eventually provide effective stand-alone therapy for post-menopausal women, but in the future they may provide effective adjunct therapy that complements the use of lower doses of traditional pharmaceutical compounds."


The American Physiological Society (APS; The-APS) has been an integral part of the scientific discovery process since it was established in 1887. Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create health or disease.


The APS meeting is being held August 9-12, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Austin on Town Lake, Austin, TX. Members of the media are invited to attend the sessions.


The-APS

FDA Official Calls Results Of Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch Studies 'Preliminary'; No Regulatory Action Expected

Daniel Shames, director of FDA's Division of Reproductive and Urologic Drug Products, on Friday called the results from two Ortho-McNeil-funded studies, which link the Ortho Evra birth control patch to an increased risk of blood clots, "preliminary" and said regulatory action is not expected, the Los Angeles Times reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, 2/18). One of the studies -- which was conducted by i3 Drug Safety, an Ingenix subsidiary, and released last week -- compared the combined risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots in the legs or lungs in women using Ortho Evra and women taking oral contraceptive pills containing norgestimate and estrogen. The study did not find an increased combined risk for heart attack or stroke in women taking Ortho Evra, but patch users had about double the risk of blood clots as the women taking the pills. A separate manufacturer-funded study comparing Ortho Evra users to pill users examined a database of 200,000 women and showed that the risk of blood clots was similar between the two groups. That study, which was conducted by the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program and published in the Jan. 30 online edition of the journal Contraception, also did not find an increased risk for heart attack or stroke among women using Ortho Evra, but evaluation of the data is ongoing (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy, 2/17). Shames said, "We're not sure what this means clinically, but it's information that people need to know about" (Los Angeles Times, 2/18). Shames said women should consult their doctors when deciding on a method of birth control, adding, "For some people the patch may be better because some people don't reliably take the pill or don't want to take the pill or forget the pill." He said, "On the other hand, these results are preliminary, so we can't make hard comments about it" (Schmid, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/18). Shames said FDA currently is reviewing the study results, and he expects the company to submit more data by May (Corbett Dooren, Wall Street Journal, 2/21).

CBS' "Evening News" on Friday reported on the study. The segment includes comments from Shames; a gynecologist who prescribes the patch; and a user of the patch (Bowers, "Evening News," CBS, 2/17). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.


"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Incontinence A Common Postnatal Problem

Almost a quarter of all mothers have problems with exertion incontinence one year after childbirth, according to a new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet. However, despite many physical ailments, new mothers have better self-rated health than other women in the same age group.



In her thesis, Women's health after childbirth, postgraduate student and midwife Erica Schytt takes an all-inclusive approach to the question of how childbirth affects mothers' physical health. Her survey included some 2,500 Swedish women, who were asked to complete a series of questionnaires on physical symptoms and rate their health on a scale of one to five, from the start of their pregnancy until after the delivery.



The thesis shows that most of the women were troubled by at least one symptom for their entire first year, and that a quarter of them had five or more symptoms. The most common complaint was exertion incontinence, which no less than 22% of the women suffered a year after childbirth.



"This is serious, as it's often a chronic problem," says Dr Schytt.



Women who suffer from obesity or constipation, who have already had a child, or who are older than 35 are at particular risk of developing exertion incontinence, while the chances were lower for those who had had a caesarean. However, Dr Schytt stresses that this is not to be taken as an argument for opting for a caesarean, as the operation has its own dangers.



Other common complaints after delivery were fatigue, headaches, and neck, shoulder or lower back pain. Pain from the caesarean operation, pain during intercourse and haemorrhoids were common after two months, but for most women these problems had ceased after a year.



Despite a number of physical complaints, most of the women described themselves as feeling well. To the question: "All in all, how would you describe your present state of health"", 91% responded "good" or "very good" two months after childbirth. When the question was asked again after one year, the number had dropped slightly to 86%.



According to Dr Schytt, these figures are better than for women of the same age in the normal population.



"Either giving birth makes you healthy, or healthy women have babies," she says. "It's probably the latter, but I daresay it's also the case that women experience powerful elation after giving birth that takes their mind off any ailments that they might also expect to be only temporary."



Dr Schytt thinks that her results can be of use in postnatal care.



"Most women recover after childbirth, but there are those who don't, and it's these we need to get to," she says. "The two-month postnatal check up is an important opportunity for midwives and doctors to identify and deal with women's physical problems and other risk-factors of poor self-rated health."






Thesis: "Women's health after childbirth" by Erica Schytt, Department for Neurobiology, Caring Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet



For further information, please contact:


PhD Erica Schytt



Contact: Katarina Sternudd


Karolinska Institutet

Modern Life Making Women 'Ignorant And Ill-Equipped' To Cope With Motherhood

The growing trend to move miles away from hometowns and family for work is leaving many women feeling 'ignorant and ill-equipped' to cope with pregnancy and childbirth.



According to a University of Warwick study of motherhood, many women do not have the support and advice they need when they have a baby because they live too far from close family.



The study also suggests the modern practice of encouraging new mothers to give birth in hospital means women often have no experience of childbirth until they have their own children.



Dr Angela Davis, Leverhulme Research Fellow in the Centre for the History of Medicine, interviewed more than 90 women to discuss experiences of pregnancy, childbirth and childcare.



She said: "Geographical mobility means that women today more often live further away from family, which means they are less likely to have relatives on hand. Also most births take place in hospital so that very few women have been present at childbirth before they have their own child."



The first part of the study focused on motherhood from 1930 to 1970 and Dr Davis said the results were surprising. She found there had always been ignorance surrounding sex education and childbirth, but for very different reasons.



She said: "The testimonies of the women interviewed for this research indicate how ignorant and ill-equipped many of them felt surrounding the issues of pregnancy, childbirth and infant care as late as the 1960s, and indeed this may still apply to women today."



Dr Davis said issues surrounding sex and childbirth in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were considered taboo and not often discussed in the home. She added that although women now seemed better informed about sex, there was still far too little information given to them about the development of pregnancy, childbirth and infant care.



Dr Davis said many of the women she interviewed had tried to be more open with their own children about sex education. However, she said: "They did show some level of ambivalence on the subject, and many were not sure that this increased knowledge was entirely a good thing. There was also a distinction between education about pregnancy and childbirth which they were more positive about than sex education."



The study also showed many women felt unprepared to care for their child and that motherhood was not instinctive. They agreed that they felt a natural instinct to care for their child, but had no idea how to go about it.



Source: Kelly Parkes-Harrison


University of Warwick