Waist-to-Hip Ratio, Omega-3s, and ADD

The University of Pittsburgh and University of California @ Santa Barbara published a study suggesting that fat stored in the hips and butt are a privileged source of nuerodevelopmental resources. The study asserts that upper body fat particularly abdominal fat has negative effects and lower body fat (hips, butt) have positive effects on long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) that are essential for brain development. They used waist to hip ratio(WHR) as a marker for how much fat is located around a woman’s waist compared to how much is around a her hips, thighs and butt. They used the WHR to predict cognitive ability in women and their children. They used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey which included data on body fat, body mass index (BMI), waist & hip circumference, results of cognitive tests of adults & children, demographics such as education levels, income, age, race and etc.
They analyzed the data controlling for factors that correlate with higher intelligence and found that women with lower WHR and their kids have significantly higher cognitive test scores and teenage mothers with lower WHR and their kids are protected from cognitive decrements associated with teen births.
mega-3 fatty acids are the main LCPUSFA involved in brain development. Omega-3’s contain DHA and ALA and are essential fatty acids because they can not be made from the body. They have to come from food or supplements. ALA can be converted to DHA by the body. ALA mainly comes from flax seed, walnuts, olive oils etc, while DHA is primarily found in fatty fish. LCPUSFA’s make up 20% of the dry weight of the human brain. DHA is critical for fetal and infant brain development which is one of the reasons they add it to infant formula while it is found naturally in breast milk. A recent meta-analysis report estimates that a child’s IQ increases by 0.13 point for every 100mg increase in daily maternal prenatal intake of DHA. A study in England showed a positive relationship between a mother’s prenatal consumption of seafood (high in DHA) and her child’s verbal IQ.

Gluteofemoral(hips/butt) fat has higher amounts of LCPUFA’s than abdominal and visceral fat. In comparison, abdominal fat decreases the amount of a desaturase enzyme that is involved in the synthesis of important LCPUFA’s from dietary precursers. Other studies showed that 60-80% of LCPUFA’s in human breast milk come from maternal fat stores, rather than from the mother’s current dietary intake, presumably because of the rapid rate of infant brain development relative to limited dietary supplies of LCPUFA’s.
The most important points of this study is that Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial for the brain development of fetuses, infants and in adults as well and also that having excessive abdominal fat reduces the availability of those fatty acids and raise health risks in general. Low levels of Omega-3 fatty acids have been implicated in contributing to ADD, depression, anxiety disorders, aggression, hypertension and etc. So make sure that you are taking in enough omega-3’s especially if you are pregnant. Mommies, some children’s vitamins now contain DHA.

Simultaneous Imaging of the Brain by MRI and PET

The simultaneous MRI and PET scanning of the brain can now be performed, saysSiemens. Thanks to a new, world’s first fully-functioning device capable of performing both Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET), the breakthrough development will likely further improve the diagnostic power of these imaging modalities, according to the company:

The first in-vivo human brain simultaneous MR-PET images were acquired in the Siemens facilities in USA. Testing of this new prototype MR-PET will start before the end of 2007.

MR-PET presents a tremendous leap forward in imaging capabilities. Siemens is the first company to have realized an MR-PET prototype, which brings the exceptional soft tissue contrast and high specificity of MR together with PET’s excellent sensitivity in assessing physiological and metabolic state. The first MR-PET images were acquired with support of Dr. David Townsend and Dr. Claude Nahmias, both from the University of Tennessee, USA, and Dr. Heinz-Peter Schlemmer, Dr. Claus Claussen and Dr. Bernd Pichler, all from the University Tübingen in Germany. MR-PET has the potential to become the imaging modality of choice for neurological studies, certain forms of cancer, stroke, and the emerging study of stem cell therapy.

Researchers expect that MR-PET will open new doors in understanding the pathologies and progression of various neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, depression and schizophrenia. For example, PET can currently differentiate mild cognitive impairment from early-stage Alzheimer’s, but cannot determine reduced brain volume caused by atrophy. By combining MR and PET, clinicians may be able to make a more sound determination of both cognitive impairment and atrophy. Furthermore, combining MR-PET and the new emerging neurological biomarkers, has the great potential to strengthen the assessment of the condition.

Similarly, in stroke patients, the technology holds the promise of allowing physicians to study which brain tissues might be salvageable after a stroke. In other rehabilitation settings, such as for patients with traumatic brain injury, the Siemens MR-PET approach would improve care and workflow. In that case, patients would be only scanned once instead of having to go to two different locations and get two subsequent scans. “The ability to determine in great detail the loss of neurological function puts us on the path to better care,” said Maerzendorfer.