Protein in Aspirin May Reduce Alzheimer’s Disease Risk

Researchers have found that a key protein in aspirin may help pulverize an enzyme linked to neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases – suggesting that taking the common drug may help reduce American’s disease risk. In their research, published this week in the journal PLOS One, study authors at Johns Hopkins University and Boyce Thompson Institute discovered that salicylic acid, a byproduct of aspirin, binds to the enzyme GAPDH (Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase), preventing it from moving into a cell’s nucleus where it would cause cell death.

During oxidative stress, GAPHD is affected than enters the nucleus of neurons, where it affects protein turnover and leads to cell death, causing neurodegenerative loss. The anti-Parkinson’s drug Deprenyl [inhibits] GAPDH entry into the nucleus.

“The new study establishes that GAPDH is a target for salicylate drugs related to aspirin, and hence may be relevant to the therapeutic actions of such drugs,” co-author Solomon Synder, professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said in the release.

In the current study, scientists also observed that a natural derivative of salicylic acid from the Chinese medical herb licorice and a lab-synthesized derivative bind to GAPDH more effectively than salicylic acid.

My Take:
This study hit several news outlets on December 1st. On Facebook, many people were touting the benefits of taking aspirin. Unfortunately, the information from this study has been misconstrued.

Let’s start with some history – Bayer began making aspirin well over a 100 years ago, trying to mimic the apparent benefits of White Willow Bark. Salicylic acid (SA) is a major component of White Willow Bark, so Bayer took acetone (nail polish remover) and combined it with citric acid (from citrus fruits) to make acetyl salicylic acid.

‘Thrifty’ Metabolism Might Sabotage Weight Loss Efforts

A new study confirms what many frustrated dieters already suspect: Your metabolism might make it tougher for you to lose weight than others.

“The results corroborate the idea that some people who are obese may have to work harder to lose weight due to metabolic differences,” said lead author Dr. Martin Reinhardt, a postdoctoral fellow at the Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch of the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

“But biology is not destiny. Balanced diet and regular physical activity over a long period can be very effective for weight loss,” he added in an institute news release.

The small laboratory study included 12 obese men and women who underwent tests to assess their body’s energy use in response to a day of fasting. This was followed by six weeks of reduce calorie intake.

After accounting for factors such as age, sex and race, the researchers found that participants who lost the least amount of weight during the six weeks of reducing calorie intake were those whose metabolism decreased the most during fasting.

These people have what the researchers called a “thrifty” metabolism, as opposed to the “spendthrift” metabolism in participants who lost the most weight and whose metabolism decreased the least during fasting.

Wisdom Wednesday: Krebs’s Citric Acid Cycle (CAC)

The most common chief complaint heard in a physician’s office is fatigue. It is much more prevalent that pain, the second most common complaint. Why do so many of us lack energy? There are many possible answers, but often fatigue is caused by poor energy production in the body.

There are four macronutrients, the foods we use to generate energy. They are protein, fat, carbohydrate (sugar) and alcohol. Yes, alcohol is now officially listed as a separate food group. Regardless of which food group you ingest, it is converted to glucose if it is to be burned as fuel to create energy. That chemical process that creates all the energy in every cell of the body is called the Krebs’s Citric Acid Cycle (CAC).

Fat can be stored for later use or converted to glucose. Protein is used initially for growth and repair of tissue. However, any excess protein is either converted to fat and stored or converted to glucose. Protein is not stored in the body. Alcohol is really a carbohydrate but is also converted to glucose just like fat and protein.

Glucose is a six carbon ring. Initially, it is broken in half to create two molecules of pyruvic acid. This yields three molecules of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy molecule used by every cell in the body. However, it requires two molecules of ATP to facilitate the process, so the net is only one molecule of ATP. This process is called glycolysis or anaerobic metabolism, because it does not require oxygen to run the chemistry.


When you are at rest, most of your metabolism is anaerobic in nature. You break the glucose in half and create a little energy. However, as you begin to exercise, your heart rate increases, providing more oxygen to the tissues. Now your body takes those two molecules of pyruvic acid and strips all the hydrogen molecules off. It attaches them to B vitamins (and a few other chemicals) then sends the B vitamins into electron transport.

Electron transport (catalyzed by Co Q 10) then nets 27 molecules of ATP. This is termed aerobic metabolism because it requires the presence of oxygen. If you do the math, aerobic metabolism is 27 times as efficient as anaerobic metabolism.

This chemistry is most efficient when your heart rate is in your aerobic zone, approximately 70 to 80% of your Vmax (maximum heart rate). Your Vmax is 220 minus your age. So my Vmax is 158 and my aerobic zone is 110 to 130bpm.

The best part is that regular aerobic exercise facilitates more CAC/aerobic metabolism even when you are resting. That is, you actually burn more calories and create more energy when you are sleeping if you exercise on a daily basis.

After evaluating the nervous system, inflammation, and the immune system, I challenge the citric acid cycle to look for metabolic errors. A deficiency of one of the B vitamins is most common, but a lack of magnesium, manganese, lipoic acid, iron, Co Q 10, copper, or phosphorus can impair CAC function, resulting in low energy.

These patients find exercise very difficult or impossible and not effective for weight loss. Often subclinical hypothyroidism is an issue. Once corrected, exercise becomes an efficient mechanism for stimulating CAC. Energy levels rise and excess weight begins to drop.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
Calculate your own Vmax and aerobic zone. Invest in a heart rate monitor, about $75 from a sporting good store, and use it to stay in your zone during exercise. Orange Theory gyms use this protocol for all their workouts. Have a thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) blood test. The medical range is quite wide, about 0.4 to 4.4, depending on the lab. However, you want to be in the range of 1-2 to reflect healthy thyroid function. If you find exercise is difficult at best, or ineffective for weight loss and energy production, consider having your Krebs’s Citric Acid Cycle checked.