Experts from University College London were able to explain why psychological trauma many times increases the risk of people developing addictions and mental pathologies.

During their work, they analyzed dopamine levels in 34 volunteers who had experienced severe stress. Moreover, one part of the participants was exposed to stress throughout their lives, while the other was exposed to minor stress. In addition, during the experiment, all respondents solved an arithmetic problem while simultaneously listening to criticism from a howling address. And two hours later, using positron emission therapy, scientists observed how dopamine was synthesized in their brains.

It turned out that people with high risks of chronic diseases had seriously elevated stress levels, and the production of dopamine was impaired. Also, many other reactions to stress were weaker in these individuals. For example, blood pressure or cortisol levels did not increase.

“We were able to establish a clear mechanism for how chronic stress can affect dopamine production and through it increase the risk of developing other mental illnesses, such as depression or schizophrenia,” says study author Michael Bloomfield.

Why Oral Hygiene Is So Important for Older People

Older people are more susceptible to oral infections, and tooth loss due to infections can greatly impair quality of life and even change appearance. Thus, the study authors found that 64% of older US residents suffer from moderate or severe periodontitis, which often leads to tooth loss.

During dental treatment, dangerous microorganisms can easily penetrate the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, causing harm to internal organs and tissues. Even simple cleaning can cause bacteria to enter the bloodstream. Therefore, oral care is extremely important to prevent such diseases.

After analyzing the findings of numerous scientific works, experts published a list of recommendations, which listed useful and harmful measures for maintaining healthy teeth and gums:

• Stop smoking and chewing tobacco
• Limit sugary foods
• If you notice signs of dry mouth, discuss it with your doctor.
• Brush your teeth thoroughly with a fluoride toothpaste twice a day.
• Eat sugar-free candies and gum with xylitol, which helps produce saliva
• Purchase a mouthwash (as recommended by your doctor)
• If you have prosthetic joints or artificial heart valves, you should be especially careful. Discuss with your dentist the full list of preventive measures for such situations.
• Have your teeth professionally cleaned by your dentist twice a year.

Remember that good oral hygiene is an important component of your health.

Scientists have found that cancer cells are not afraid of oxygen starvation

Almost 90% of people with cancer suffer from hypoxia, which has a very adverse effect on their health and further prognosis for recovery. But how oxygen starvation affects the cancer cells themselves was still not known.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimell Cancer Center have developed an experimental system that uses oxygen as a switch to illuminate tumor cells when they are exposed to low doses of oxygen.

Further experiments in mouse models demonstrated that malignant cells that were exposed to conditions of hypoxia or low oxygen were 4 times more likely to develop into viable tumor cells and even spread to neighboring, more distant tissue sites compared to cells that were exposed to normal oxygen conditions. .

We were able to prove that the ability to form metastases increased in post-hypoxic malignant cells,” says study author Daniel Gilkes.

In general, cancer cells that have adapted to survive in lower oxygen levels become much more aggressive. Experts plan to continue work in this direction and find out whether such cells are more resistant to the effects of chemotherapy.

As a rule, when the conversation turns to vitamins, we remember only the most famous and popular ones - A, B, C, D, E, although everyone has known everything about them for a long time. But this cannot be said about such rare vitamins as, for example, vitamin K, N or U. Where are they kept? What do people need?

Classification of vitamins

In general, medicine knows 13 essential substances that are directly vitamins. These are water-soluble B vitamins (, pantothenic acid, B6, B12, niacin, folate and biotin), as well as fat-soluble vitamins A, C, D and K. In addition to vitamins, there are also vitamin-like compounds such as choline, inositol, lipoic acid(vitamin N), linoleic acid (vitamin F), carnitine, bioflaphonoids ( vitamin P) and others. They have a number of vitamin properties and therapeutic effects for certain diseases, but, as a rule, do not perform any vital functions in organism. In addition, they do not have all the properties that vitamins have, and therefore are not considered “complete” vitamins. However, most often we call them “vitamins” out of habit. But even the fact that they are considered conditionally vitamins does not mean that they do not need to be given due attention, because their deficiency still affects our health. Let's look at the three vitamins we rarely remember, namely: K, N and U. What are they responsible for and how can you determine that you are lacking them?

Let's start with vitamin K

Opening. This vitamin was discovered in 1929 and named vitamin K - from the first letter of the word “coagulation”, because then it was found out that it is it that helps blood clot. Exactly 10 years later, vitamin K was first isolated from alfalfa and named phylloquinone, and in the same year a slightly different antihemorrhagic substance was isolated from fishmeal, which was called vitamin K2 or menaquinone.

Where it is kept. Many foods contain this valuable vitamin for us: all dairy products, beef and poultry, liver and kidneys, cabbage, all types of greens, and from cereals - brown rice.

• Normalizes the secretion of digestive glands
• Has an antiulcer effect - with its deficiency, aggressiveness increases gastric juice, which provokes erosions and ulcers of the gastrointestinal tract
• Participates in the metabolism of fats (in particular, in the fat metabolism of the skin) and proteins
• Neutralizes a number of toxins
• It has an antiallergic effect because... reduces the body's increased susceptibility to various

Symptoms of deficiency

• Excessive dry skin
• Digestive disorders
• With prolonged deficiency, development is possible gastritis and ulcers of the stomach and duodenum

Consumption rate. Vitamin U not synthesized in organism, and today it is believed that its daily requirement is 200 mg.

Where it is kept. First of all, in any vegetable oils, especially olive oil. Vegetables: beets, parsley, potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, celery. From animal products: eggs, fresh milk, liver, butter.