OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012 - Parkway Pantai

04news bitessecret tostaying youngThe secret toliving a longerlife may lie inthe way thatbees think.Scientists atArizona StateUniversity discoveredthat older honeybeescould effectively reversebrain aging when they takeon responsibilities typicallyhandled by much younger bees.As bees have the same kind of brain cells ashumans, the findings suggest that people can adjust their sociallives to help their minds stay younger as they grow older.“We knew from previous research that when bees stay in thenest and take care of larvae – the bee babies – they remainmentally competent for as long as we observe them,” saidGro Amdam, who led the research that was published in thejournal of Experimental Gerontology. “However, after a periodof nursing, bees fly out gathering food and begin agingvery quickly.”The scientists found that the aging process in bees resembledthat in humans. “After just two weeks, foraging bees haveworn wings, hairless bodies, and more importantly, lost brainfunction – basically measured as the ability to learn new things.”But, once the bees were presented with the opportunity to carefor the larval babies again during an experiment, those that did“significantly improved their ability to learn new things.”When the brains of the bees that had improved were comparedto those that had not, they discovered changes to a proteincalled Prx6, which is also found in humans and is known to helpprotect against dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.“Maybe social interventions – changing how you deal with yoursurroundings – is something we can do today to help our brainsstay younger,” said Amdam.“Since the proteins being researched in people are the sameproteins bees have, these proteins may be able to spontaneouslyrespond to specific social experiences.”Bees, like humans, do not cope well under stress and willusually not survive more than about a week or 10 days inisolation as they are social beings. source: CBShow thyme helpstreat acneThyme is a tasty herb to add to a lot ofdishes. However, its ability to help treatacne is less known.Scientists at Leeds Metropolitan Universityin the UK have found that this naturalingredient could hold the answer tohealthier skin, beating even prescriptioncreams with its consistent results.Thyme, marigold and myrrh were testedon propionibacterium acnes, which is theprimary bacterium that causes acne byinfecting pores and forming spots.Antimicrobial effects of herbal solutionswere compared to the effectiveness ofchemical benzoyl peroxide, which iscommonly found in anti-acne productsand washes.The thyme tincture was found to be themost powerful, with Margarita Gomez-Escalada, Senior Lecturer in Microbiologyand Genetics at the university claiming thatit also had therapeutic benefits.Gomez-Escalada claimed that thymetreatment for acne would be very beneficialfor sufferers, as chemical ingredients tendto irritate sensitive skin.“Herbal preparations are less harsh onthe skin due to their anti-inflammatoryproperties while our results suggest theycan be just as, if not more, effective thanchemical treatments.” source: Fushi