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#Post#: 1228--------------------------------------------------
Fasting-mimicking diet for MS?
By: agate Date: May 27, 2016, 10:49 pm
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Diets come and go, and this may very well be just another fad,
particularly since there's a product about to be marketed, but
it's getting some attention.
From Medical News Today, May 27, 2016:
[quote]Fasting-mimicking diet shows promise against MS
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
New research concludes that a diet mimicking the effects of
fasting should be further investigated as a potential treatment
for multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. It reduced
symptoms in mice, and even reversed them in some animals. Early
results of a pilot trial in human patients also suggest the
fasting-mimicking diet is safe,
The study found a fasting-mimicking diet reduced symptoms in
mouse models of MS - even reversing them in 20 percent of
animals - and suggests it holds promise for use in human
patients.
The research, led by the University of Southern California (USC)
in Los Angeles, is published in the journal Cell Reports. [NOTE:
Cell Reports is a peer-reviewed journal according to the AAAS
listing.]
Senior investigator and professor Valter Longo, who directs the
Longevity Institute at USC's Davis School of Gerontology, says
they found the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) triggers a cellular
death-and-life process that appears critical for bodily repair.
He explains:
"During the fasting-mimicking diet, cortisone is produced and
that initiates a killing of autoimmune cells. This process also
leads to the production of new healthy cells."
...
'Complete recovery in 20 percent of mice'
In earlier work, Prof. Longo and his team had tested cycles of a
similar FMD to the one in the new study with anti-cancer drugs
and found the combination protected healthy cells and weakened
cancer cells.
In 2015, they reported how an FMD increased lifespan and
healthspan of mice and reduced risk factors linked to cancer,
cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in humans.
The results from those earlier studies prompted them to
investigate the potential for the FMD to have a similar effect
in MS. Prof. Longo says they asked themselves perhaps it could
it clear out the bad cells and help generate good ones.
The new study is in two parts: tests on mice and a small pilot
trial on humans.
First, the researchers started with two groups of mice with
autoimmune disease. One group was put on a low-calorie and
low-protein FMD comprising three cycles of fasting that lasted
for 3 days out of every 7. The other group - the controls - were
put on a normal diet.
The authors note the FMD reduced symptoms in all the mice and
"caused complete recovery for 20 percent of the animals."
Further tests revealed the FMD mice had increased levels of
corticosterone, a steroid hormone released by the adrenal glands
to control metabolism.
The FMD mice also had increased levels of immune T cells and
reduced levels of inflammation-causing cytokines - proteins that
instruct other cells to repair sites of trauma, infection, or
other pain.
And last - but not least - the researchers found the FMD mice
showed signs of regeneration of myelin that had been damaged by
the autoimmunity.
'Kills bad cells, generates good and myelin-producing cells'
In people with MS, it is the T cells that attack the myelin
sheath and damage the nerves. From the results in the mice, it
appears that the cycles of fasting in the FMD may interfere with
this process, while also promoting regeneration, as Prof. Longo
explains:
"On the one hand, this fasting-mimicking diet kills bad immune
cells. Then, after the mice return to the normal diet, the good
immune cells but also the myelin-producing cells are generated,
allowing a percentage of mice to reach a disease-free state."
In the second part of the study, the researchers tested the
safety and potential efficacy of the FMD on 60 patients with
relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). RRMS is the most common form of
MS, where patients have symptom flare-ups interspersed with
periods of recovery.
The patients were randomly assigned to a control diet, a
high-fat, ketogenic diet (KD group), or a modified human FMD for
7 days, followed by a Mediterranean diet for 6 months (FMD
group).
The researchers note the FMD and KD groups "displayed clinically
meaningful improvements" in a scale that measures overall change
in health, quality of life, physical health, and mental health.
The team emphasizes the preliminary nature of the findings, and
notes the study is also limited by the fact it did not test
whether the Mediterranean diet alone would lead to similar
improvements. Plus, it did not include any imaging or immune
function analyses.
However, Prof. Longo suggests the results are promising enough
to warrant further investigation that tests the potential for
FMD to help patients with MS and other autoimmune diseases in
larger clinical trials.
Meanwhile, he notes that some FMDs have been tested and found
safe in trials, and suggests patients with autoimmune disorders
who have run out of treatment options should raise the
possibility of trying FMD or joining a clinical trial with their
doctors.
"We are optimistic. What we don't want is patients trying to do
this at home without involvement of their specialist or without
understanding that larger trials are necessary to confirm that
the diet, as a treatment, is effective against multiple
sclerosis or other autoimmunities."
___________________
University of Southern California news release, accessed 27 May
2016.
Additional source: National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Who gets
MS?, accessed 27 May 2016.
[/quote]
The entire article can be seen here
HTML http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/310597.php.
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