Posted on 06/27/2010 10:19:52 PM PDT by CutePuppy
The amount of cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream is partly regulated by the brain, a study in mice suggests.
It counters assumptions that levels are solely controlled by what we eat and by cholesterol production in the liver.
The US study in Nature Neuroscience found that a hunger hormone in the brain acts as the "remote control" for cholesterol travelling round the body.
Too much cholesterol causes hardened fatty arteries, raising the risk of a heart attack.
The research carried out by a US team at the University of Cincinnati found that increased levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin in mice caused the animals to develop higher levels of blood-circulating cholesterol.
Levels in the blood rise because signals from the brain prompt the liver to store less cholesterol, the researchers said.
It is known that ghrelin inhibits a receptor in the brain in its role in regulating food intake and energy use.
In a separate experiment, they found that blocking this receptor in mice also increased levels of cholesterol in the blood.
Potential treatment
The researchers said the finding needs to be replicated in humans but potentially opens up a new way of treating high cholesterol.
Study leader Professor Matthias Tschoep said: "We have long thought that cholesterol is exclusively regulated through dietary absorption or synthesis and secretion by the liver.
"Our study shows for the first time that cholesterol is also under direct 'remote control' by specific neurocircuitry in the central nervous system."
Fotini Rozakeas, cardiac nurse at British Heart Foundation, said: "This interesting study on mice shows for the first time that blood cholesterol levels can be directly controlled by signals transmitted from the brain to the liver where cholesterol is formed.
"This could potentially open up new forms of treatment to control cholesterol levels..."
.....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
WHICH kind of cholesterol????
I guess they aren’t satisfied with screwing up livers and muscles, now they want some new drug that messes with our brains.
This attack on cholesterol is a giant con job.
move over brain, Obama will be regulating cholesterol in blood from now on.
diet and exercise would probably be healthier than zocor and lipitor.
Brain scans being misused as lie detectors, experts say - BBC, 2010 June 06, by Caroline Parkinson
Some research suggests the technique can show whether a person is lying if certain areas of the brain "light-up". At least one US company is offering scans to employers recruiting staff but American courts have already rejected attempts to use them in legal cases. The University of Edinburgh's Burkhard Schafer said there were issues over privacy and reliability of technology. The subject is being discussed by experts from around the world at a conference at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Glasgow. 'The next frontier' Attempts have been made to use magnetic resonance imaging scans as lie detectors or to demonstrate mental health problems in more than 90 capital punishment cases in the US, as well as in other proceedings in Europe and Asia. While they have been rejected in many cases, scan results have sometimes been accepted as evidence. Mr Schafer, co-director of the SCRIPT Centre for Research in Intellectual Property and Technology at the University of Edinburgh's school of law, said the UK had to consider how to prevent MRI scans being misused - and how to protect people's privacy. "After data mining and online profiling, brain imaging could well become the next frontier in the privacy wars. "The promise to read a person's mind is beguiling, and some applications will be greatly beneficial. "But a combination of exaggerated claims by commercial providers, inadequate legal regulation and the persuasive power of images bring very real dangers for us as citizens." He added: "As soon as public awareness increases there will be interest from everyone from daytime entertainment programmes to employers and the legal system. "It would be sensible to be prepared." 'Powerful and compelling' Mr Schafer added there was also a chance employers could seek to use scans to test the honesty of an individual's CV - or by insurance companies. "There should probably be a moratorium for insurance companies, as has happened over the use of genetic test information." But he warned MRI scans should not be used in this way: "The science isn't there." Joanna Wardlaw, professor of applied neuroimaging at the University of Edinburgh, said brain scans could show differences between groups who thought differently in a research setting. But she added: "It's very, very difficult to apply the results of an individual's scan in situations such as where there is a threat of legal action. "Images are powerful and compelling, and people are likely to accept them. But there needs to be much more understanding of what the limitations are." ..... Measures are needed to stop brain scans being misused by courts, insurers and employers, experts have warned.
Nolan Strong and The Diablos : Mind Over Matter , 1962 Fortune Records
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGko6th_7ko
Since our brains are so powerful, then probably both HDL and LDL... As long as we know what the "good" numbers are, we tell the brain, brain tells the ghrelin gremlins, and they tell HDL to increase and LDL to decrease, to shape up or ship out.
Simple... once we know "who" is responsible for "what".
“Mind over matter!”
If you don’t mind it don’t matter!
Cheers!
Beyond wisdom of "you are what you eat" - have always added that as importantly; if not moreso; we are what we 'think' we eat/lol.
So what now; diet pills for cholesterol or hypnosis!
Since I'm not a mouse I won't concern myself with this.
Dead doctors don't lie.
Is it so hard to study why the arteries get hard and crack despite low cholesterol intake, or why some folks don't get them at all, no matter what their diet is?
The cure is in the cause folks.
No wonder I've never heard of it.
This is from the same era but much, much better.
Now that we may have a "choice", I guess whatever tickles you the most. :-)
YEP...what you said....I changed my diet to primarily CAVEMAN, heavy protein....watched my bad (small, dense, non bouyant) LDL improve.....I already exercise...
It would be interesting to see the impact of a sedentary lifestyle with a diet high in processed sugars on the brain, especially the impact of repeated high/low blood sugar cycles.
I have a feeling the entire US population has become lab rats as we moved into the world of processed foods and universal car ownership.
The goal is for the entire population to be on medication....for life...
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