[Stitcher]

Destination brain

Inhaled pollutants may inflame more than the lungs

By Janet Raloff
May 22nd, 2010; Vol.177 #11 (p. 16)
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feat...tination_brain

Excerpt:
Brain scans and screening for chemical biomarkers in the blood pointed to inflammation affecting all parts of the brain, says Calderón-Garcidueñas, of the National Institute of Pediatrics in Mexico City and the University of Montana in Missoula. On MRI scans, white spots showed up in the prefrontal cortex. In the elderly, she says, such brain lesions tend to denote reduced blood flow and often show up in people who are developing dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease.

In autopsies of seemingly healthy Mexico City children who had died in auto accidents or other traumatic events, Calderón-Garcidueñas uncovered brain deposits of amyloid-beta and alpha-synuclein, proteins that serve as hallmarks of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Several years earlier, she had found similar abnormalities in homeless Mexico City dogs and exaggerated versions of the abnormalities in local 20- to 50-year-olds.

[vlhperry]

Inhaling bypasses the Blood Brain Barrier. It would be benificial if the Pharmacy companies would consider producing a Inhalent with levadopa/carbadopa as it would bypass the digestive tract, easeing the nausea and competition of gastric competition of Protein. We would see a easier delivery to the brain.

My father used Propane gas in plastic bags held over my head until I passed out before he did the dirty deed to me. I believe that was the reason I developed Parkinson's (along with my gene mutations.) Components of Propane have been proven to cause anoxic brain injury (injury caused by lack of oxygen to the brain) which showed up in an MRI of my brain.

Thank you for posting this informative article.

[olsen]

Carolyn, this post reminds of of a recent NYT article, reporting the AMerican Cancer SOciety's criticism of the NIH for emphasizing environmental causes of cancer, noting genetic causes should be considered of utmost importance for study instead. What this represents to me is that the venerated cancer society thinks the government should stop investigating Monsanto and keep supporting the phama entities--I used to know how to access the amount of support given to foundations by big corporations; have lost the interest along with the ability, since foundations are so able to obscure this information now. actually, discovering corporate monetary contributions for foundations and the percentage which supported overhead was the topic of my thesis requirement for one of my study majors many yrs ago. -

".Dr. Michael Thun, an epidemiologist from the cancer society, said in an online statement that the report was “unbalanced by its implication that pollution is the major cause of cancer,” and had presented an unproven theory — that environmentally caused cases are grossly underestimated" — as if it were a fact....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/he.../07cancer.html

If anyone is interested one is able to download the entire NIH report on environmental impact on cancer all 200 pages:
http://www.healthandenvironment.org/cancerpanel

[johnt]

Researchers find "Early Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease Pathology in Urban Children". The paper is an update on the work that Stitcher, to whom my thanks, reported in 2010.

Calderon-Garciduenas et al. [1] write:

Abstract

Chronic exposure to particulate matter air pollution is known to cause inflammation leading to respiratory- and cardiovascular-related sickness and death. Mexico City Metropolitan Area children exhibit an early brain imbalance in genes involved in oxidative stress, inflammation, and innate and adaptive immune responses. Early dysregulated neuroinflammation, brain microvascular damage, production of potent vasoconstrictors, and perturbations in the integrity of the neurovascular unit likely contribute to progressive neurodegenerative processes. The accumulation of misfolded proteins coincides with the anatomical distribution observed in the early stages of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's diseases. We contend misfolding of hyperphosphorylated tau (HPπ), alpha-synuclein, and beta-amyloid could represent a compensatory early protective response to the sustained systemic and brain inflammation. However, we favor the view that the chronic systemic and brain dysregulated inflammation and the diffuse vascular damage contribute to the establishment of neurodegenerative processes with childhood clinical manifestations. Friend turns Foe early; therefore, implementation of neuroprotective measures to ameliorate or stop the inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes is warranted in exposed children. Epidemiological, cognitive, structural, and functional neuroimaging and mechanistic studies into the association between air pollution exposures and the development of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in children are of pressing importance for public health.

Reference:

[1] "Early Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease Pathology in Urban Children: Friend versus Foe Responses—It Is Time to Face the Evidence"
Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas,1 Maricela Franco-Lira,2 Antonieta Mora-Tiscareño,3 Humberto Medina-Cortina,3 Ricardo Torres-Jardón,4 and Michael Kavanaugh1
BioMed Research InternationalVolume 2013 (2013), Article ID 161687
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2013/161687/

John