Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and EGCG from green tea
ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease is currently irreversible and fatal. Beginning in the extremities (usually the hands or feet), the motor nerves of all the muscles begin to die. Muscles become weaker until paralysis sets in. The nerve degeneration usually moves from the outside to the center of the body, eventually affecting the diaphragm muscle. Once this muscle is paralyzed, people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cannot breathe and they die.
Most people die within 5 years of diagnosis.
Almost 20 years of green tea research has shown that EGCG green tea extract can protect nerve cells from oxidative stress damage and iron dysregulation that lead to their death.
While many studies have shown the neuroprotective effects of EGCG with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, now a new study examines amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and EGCG.
In an animal model of Lou Gehrig’s disease, mice were given EGCG in their drinking water daily beginning at age 2 months.
At higher amounts (above 2.9 micrograms of EGCG per gram of body weight), animals given the green tea antioxidant EGCG had a significantly longer lifespan and significantly longer time before the onset of symptoms (Koh SH, The effect of epigallocatechin gallate on suppressing disease progression of ALS model mice, Neuroscience Letters, March 2006).
This research is considered preliminary.
Also of note is the history of Dr. Roy Walford. While most people die from ALS within 5 years, he survived ALS for approximately 12 years, dying at age 79. He believed he acquired the disease in Biosphere II. Dr. Walford was the primary scientist to develop the massive information about the benefits of calorie restriction with optimal nutrition.
About 5000 new cases of ALS are diagnosed in the United States each year. It affects all ethnic groups, but only 10% is considered familial.
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