THE NEW VILLAGE RADIO  

Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 8/3/2009 12:56 AM UTC

  It can prevent cancer and blood clots. Now red wine could stop inflammation too
  

  ts antioxidant properties have been linked to preventing blood clots and preventing cancer but now scientists say red wine has another health benefit - fighting inflammation.

  New research shows that the drink blocks two key proteins in the body to prevent inflammation, a chief cause of chronic disease.

  Red wine contains a powerful antioxidant, resveratrol, which has already been shown to prevent blood clots and combat cancer.

  Scientists studied the effects of resveratrol on two groups of mice exposed to a strong inflammatory agent.

  Without pre-treatment with resveratrol, the mice developed a serious reaction similar to sepsis in humans, which can lead to  multiple organ failure and death.

  Those given resveratrol were protected from inflammation.

  Sepsis is a body-wide inflammatory disorder in which the immune system goes into overdrive in response to an infection.

  Dr Alirio Melendez, one of the scientists from the University of Glasgow, said: 'Strong acute inflammatory diseases such as sepsis are very difficult to treat and many die every day due to lack of treatment.

  'Moreover, many survivors of sepsis develop a very low quality of life due to the damage that inflammation causes to several internal organs. The ultimate goal of our study was to identify a potential novel therapy to help in the treatment of strong acute inflammatory diseases.'

  When the researchers examined the mice they discovered how resveratrol inhibited inflammation. The plant chemical delivered a double punch, preventing the creation of two enzymes known to trigger an inflammatory response, sphingosine kinase and phospholipase D.

  The findings are reported in the FASEB Journal, published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology.

  Harnessing the power of resveratrol could provide a new treatment for inflammatory diseases or lead to the development of even more effective drugs, say the scientists.

  Resveratrol is found naturally in the skin of grapes, and its levels in wine vary. It is much more abundant in red than white wine.

  Last year an Australian doctor, Philip Norrie, claimed to have created the 'healthiest wine in the world' by producing a red wine containing 100 times the normal amount of resveratrol.

  Dr Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the FASEB Journal, said: 'The therapeutic potential of red wine has been bottled up for thousands of years, and now that scientists have uncorked its secrets, they find that studies of how resveratrol works can lead to new treatments for life-threatening inflammation.'
  • Tags:
  • RED WINE IS GOOD ?
  • Permalink