Neuroepic: Nature, Nurture, Food, Family, Brains

As a society we are becoming more aware of how daily life patterns directly affect our health and wellness. Exercise, food, and sleep not only influence our short term mental and physical states, but there is increasing evidence that there are lasting effects on our DNA and potentially our offspring’s DNA. Our DNA, or genome, is composed of a specific sequence of nucleotides that control our growth, development, and the ability to carry out biological functions needed for survival. How the DNA is packaged and changes to this packaging is referred to as the epigenome. This can be thought of as a recipe, where the genome is a set of particular directions to make a dish. However, a cook can make a recipe their own and change up the steps to better fit a desired outcome, which is like the epigenome. If more steps are added to a recipe, it becomes more difficult to use, and less people will make the dish, and it can also be simplified by taking out more in depth steps. In the epigenome, changes are made to proteins, making them more or less easily accessible to make genes that our bodies need to function.

All a pregnant woman longs for is a healthy, happy baby at the end of her pregnancy. While most women get their wish, the unfortunate reality is that some women have complications for several reasons. One potential complication is Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), which is when a mother becomes diabetic during her pregnancy. GDM occurs in 12% - 18% of all pregnancies, and the risk of developing this increases with age or a prior diagnosis of diabetes. Women diagnosed with GDM must undergo major diet and lifestyle changes to combat their increase in blood sugar levels. Multiple women discussed how they created restricted meal plans, walked or exercised more, took blood sugar measurements before and after each meal, and sometimes took insulin doses. It is important to educate people about the causes of GDM, as well as the short-term and long-term effects on the DNA of women and their children. Although GDM cannot always be prevented, it is important to understand how women can best help themselves and their children from the lasting effects of GDM.

There is a constant barrage of information about cancer-causing chemicals, damaging pollution, and other toxins making us sick. With headlines like “11 potentially cancer-causing things you might use every day” and news stories about “Environmental pollution killing more people than war”, it’s understandable that the public has become hyper-aware of the health consequences of chemicals and pollution. So, the prospect of protecting yourself and your loved ones with a simple diet change is intriguing.

The raging conflict in Ukraine is creating a humanitarian crisis through denial of food, water, and housing for those caught in the crossfire. Each day, thousands of people worldwide are added to a growing number of individuals facing food insecurity. Food insecurity is a widespread problem, even during peacetime. Families in the United States cannot afford consistent access to food. We must consider the psychological consequences of food insecurity, in addition to the physiological. The immediate victims are not the only ones affected, and their offspring will suffer from ailments tracing back to starvation.

Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that affects about 3.4 million Americans. It is characterized by abnormal or hyperactive brain cell activity. Although the cause of epilepsy is not always known, certain forms of epilepsy are linked to genetic disorders, stroke, infection, and brain injury. Epilepsy is most commonly treated with medications, which reduce the probability of having a seizure. However, anti-seizure medications don’t work for everyone. Here, we investigate the keto diet and its potential health benefits. We interview patients, families, dietitians, and researchers to uncover the connection between food and epilepsy care.

“Next to water, tea is the most consumed beverage worldwide with approximately 20 billion cups consumed daily,” which is almost 2000 olympic swimming pools. Tea has long been a staple in the diets of individuals all over the world and has been heralded for its health benefits. Lots of people have a cup of tea when they are sick, and recent studies have shown that tea might be able to prevent cancer. Much of the research about the potential anti-cancer effects of tea has focused on chemicals called polyphenols, which are the major active compounds in tea and are also responsible for the distinct flavors and aromas of tea. There are many common dietary sources of polyphenols, including berries, peppers, dark chocolate, red wine, and coffee, and they have a wide variety of health effects. These compounds are structurally diverse, but they all have multiple hexagonal, ring-like components called phenols. Different types of tea can contain different polyphenols. For instance, For instance, the major polyphenol in green tea is a catechin called (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, or EGCG. Theaflavins and thearubigins are commonly found in black tea. Polyphenols are a promising candidate for advancing numerous anti-cancer innovations due to their accessibility through common dietary sources like tea and potential ability to combat cancer through both reversing epigenetic changes and improving the efficacy of cancer treatments.

U.S. Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps told ESPN that he eats between 8,000 and 10,000 calories a day. This is 4 times the amount of calories an average adult needs. Phelps must have a calorie-dense diet because of the large amount of calories he burns during high levels of physical activity he participates in when training and competing. University of Pittsburgh Director of Sports Nutrition Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, estimated that, given his 6’4’’ height at 190lb build he would burn about 1,000 calories per hour when training. In comparison, the average adult does not do as much physical activity and therefore does not burn, or need to consume, as many calories. One’s lifestyle and body composition can inform us on what we should eat. A more specific term for this concept is personalized nutrition. Here, we investigate potential benefits and controversies regarding the use of personalized nutrition in athletic performance as well as overall health.

Many people understand that a healthy diet can contribute to good health, but people might be less aware of how their diet can impact their future child's health. Pregnancy is a very sensitive period in which the behavior and diet of a mother can leave a lasting impact on her child. For example, studies show that Israeli children have an 81% lower rate of peanut allergies than their Western counterparts. This trend might be due to the widespread consumption of a popular peanut-flavored snack called Bamba during pregnancy and early childhood. Studies also demonstrate that consumption of folate, also known as vitamin B9, is associated with positive birth outcomes. Dark leafy vegetables, whole grains, peanuts, sunflower seeds, fresh fruits, liver, and seafood naturally contain folates. Mothers with a folate-poor diet during pregnancy have an increased risk of having a child with neural tube defects (NTDs) and other cognitive impairments. NTDs are severe birth defects that can cause serious health issues. On average, about 1-2 in every 1000 pregnancies are affected by NTDs. Therefore, many pregnant women take folate supplements throughout their pregnancy.

When I was younger, I was convinced my father was lying when he swore that salads made him sick, yet he could eat a ribeye-steak with no problem. It was comical then, but with age I learned that this was his harsh reality with Crohn’s Disease. Chronic Crohn’s Disease impacts half a million US individuals and is a heritable form of inflammatory bowel disease known to cause symptoms such as abdominal pain and weight loss. These symptoms can be managed with proper dietary restrictions, but the wide variability in both personal food-triggers and tolerance levels makes full treatment difficult. With similar disruptive symptoms and heritability, Celiac’s Disease impacts about 1% of the US population and is also difficult to treat. Despite the only restriction being food containing gluten, this protein is found in wheat, barely, and rye, so many foods contain it. Additionally, an individual’s tolerance to gluten may vary. Both Crohn’s and Celiac’s diseases often feel like an invisible battle, with each dietary choice needing to be made with care. This heightened awareness is only half the battle though, as beneficial treatment is often difficult to find given each person’s variability in symptom severity, dietary options, and tolerance levels.

Many of us have heard that taking care of one’s body is vital not only for physical health, but also for mental wellbeing. The supposed connection is that if the person has a healthy body then their mental health will follow suit. And how exactly does one take care of their body? The three most commonly suggested methods of caring for one’s body are sleeping well, exercising, and eating. However, there is some natural ambiguity when trying to identify any of those three aspects of physical health as being a potential causal factor for positive mental health, or in trying to identify deficits in those areas which cause worsened mental health. Is poor sleep causing poor mental health, or does poor mental health disrupt sleep? Does a lack of exercise contribute to depressive symptoms, or does depression itself cause the lack of motivation that interferes with regular exercise? Does unhealthy food contribute to decreased mental health, or do depressed people simply tend to seek out sugary, fatty, unhealthy foods? The answer will surely not be easy to identify in conclusive terms, as either one could be causing the other, or they might be simultaneously causing each other, or there may even be other factors at play. Though sleep, exercise, and diet are assuredly all worthy of investigation, the question we will investigate is whether diet has an effect on mental health. Specifically, we want to examine the assumption that poor diets lead to an increased risk of depression and anxiety, and that good diets lead to a decreased risk of depression and anxiety.

Food is at the center of our everyday lives. We use it to fuel our bodies, to socialize and connect with others, even as a way to earn money! We all have some idea of which foods are “healthy” and which are not. The foods that make our taste buds dance when they hit our tongue and those that make our face scrunch and eyes water. What is happening on the cellular level when we eat a steak compared to when we eat broccoli? How does what we eat make us more or less susceptible to disease? The answers to these questions make us realize that food has a much greater impact on our genes than what makes it onto diet blogs and food magazines.

There’s a constant debate between nature and nurture. Is it because of my genes that I behave the way I do, or is it because of my environment, like the foods I eat and the places I live? This is a question on the minds of many reflecting on their health, especially for parents concerned for the health of their children. Nutrition is essential for child development, but not only for building strong bones. Nutrition is critical for strong brain development, particularly learning and memory, from conception to adolescence.

There are a lot of delicious foods in the world: from a hot bowl of noodle soup on a cold day to a breakfast sandwich and a coffee in the morning. You have probably thought about how what you eat impacts your predisposition to acquire various diseases. But what about your predisposition to develop cancer, specifically? All of the foods that we eat have an impact on our bodily functions, including how our genes are expressed and regulated. The means by which this happens is what the field of nutriepigentics aims to uncover.

Imagine turning off your daily alarm, and refraining from that afternoon cup of coffee to keep you awake after you start to feel tired. Imagine yourself with no ensuing assignment deadline, or 5am task awaiting you, filling you with fear or excitement. Now you may wonder, how exactly would we wake up without a blaring phone or how would we fall asleep without exhausting our bodies nearly to the breaking point every night. Our bodies are actually much more complex than we think. Imagine the instructions to build and maintain our bodies are compiled into a book – a very long and convoluted book, known as our genetic code. And one chapter in this book has instructions written for setting an internal clock, known as our central circadian rhythm. Simply put, our circadian rhythm tells our brain that it is time to be awake in the presence of light, and asleep in the presence of dark.

Alongside the green matcha lattes and swirly chai lattes, a new, trendy, favorite has been added to coffee shop menus: golden lattes. These yellow lattes feature a special ingredient that gives them their warm hue: turmeric. As daughters of Indian immigrant parents, turmeric is quite a familiar ingredient. It is a staple in the Indian kitchen that is frequently used in many home remedies. In fact, in Ayurveda (Indian natural medicine) and ancient Chinese medicine, turmeric is a popular ingredient for various remedies ranging from digestive issues to healthier skin. Recent scientific studies are now beginning to validate and recognize the clinical value of turmeric. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin, and it has been shown to have beneficial effects including altering our susceptibility to colon cancer.

When growing up, there are many new  experiences that shape your likes and dislikes long into the future. One  of the big factors is food. When you have a bad experience with a  certain food or type of food, it changes the expression of your genes.  Whether fish gave you food poisoning or you got sick with the flu after  eating lasagna, that experience can stay with you for a long time and  affect how you feel about tastes and smells. This is just one example of  the way that our day to day lives can actually make changes to our genes.

The technological advancements of the last several decades has far  outpaced that of centuries prior, nothing more so than the introduction  of the computer which has revolutionized fields the world over,  including scientific research. From this innovation, tools including the  varieties of software programs, modeling of phenomena, automation of  repetitive tasks, and ever more capabilities have sprouted. One of the  more recent additions to the researcher’s toolkit has been introduced  through the growing field of machine learning. Now it is possible to  perform concrete data analysis on what previously would have been  impossibly large datasets, that would have required painstakingly large  amounts of labor. Unlike algorithms that may simply attempt to try and  categorize data according to a strict and inadequate criterion, machine  learning models can identify patterns and form novel organizations that  in the past only humans could do. In many cases, it can actually surpass  human limitations and see patterns that could be missed by  professionals. Within machine learning though, there are as many models  as there are things to be studied. In the biological sciences, some  models are far more useful than others, and this holds even more true as  we narrow down to the fields of epigenetics, where the traits of  organisms are expressed through factors other than genetic code, and  further into neuroepigenetics, where it is focused more specifically on  the brain. The models that will be discussed are the ones most pertinent  to epigenetics in general, but examples of methodologies used  specifically in neuroepigenetic studies will also be evaluated.

Each year in the United States, there are 200,000 cases of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It’s estimated that 10-15 percent of the adult population suffers from IBS symptoms, making nearly 35 million people subject to abdominal pain with no apparent cause. The origins of IBS are still unknown, and research has yet to determine why and how a particular person may develop this syndrome. If you are not already familiar with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, it is a gastrointestinal disease commonly associated with chronic symptoms such as abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, and bloating. Flare-ups of IBS can have disastrous consequences for those affected, such as having to miss work, school, or other important responsibilities because of the pain. In addition, those with IBS usually have to restrict their diet and daily routine, because stress, alcohol, caffeine, and even some leafy vegetables can aggravate an already fickle condition. Since so many people suffer from this illness, and the symptoms can impede daily functioning, it is imperative that research examines the origins of this disease, along with new and improved therapies to help those affected.

Chad Carr, the grandson of a famous University of Michigan football coach, Lloyd Carr, died of a brain tumor at the age of 5. With a bad fall and a suspected concussion, doctors ran a CT scan to discover an inoperable brain tumor called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). As Carr fought hard, his family virtually made DIPG known internationally: #ChadTough. Through this spread of awareness, the University of Michigan Chad Carr Pediatric Brain Tumor Center was able to be established (Michigan Medicine). Another case, Senator John McCain, a war hero, a U.S. senator, and a 2008 presidential candidate, died of a brain tumor called glioblastoma (GBM) at the age of 81. A CT scan helped to connect the senator’s inexplicable symptoms of fatigue, brain fog, and double vision. After more than a year of fighting the cancer, he made the decision to stop treatment in 2017. A day later he passed away (CNN). There is a great chance that you may have heard of either of these people and their tribulations with their horrific diseases. And, despite the fact that DIPGs and GBMs are rare, they both share one commonality: they possess the ability to rapidly progress and debilitate the patient, even in the face of treatment (Johns Hopkins Medicine). So, what exactly gives these conditions their notorious reputations and what does the future of medicine hold in stopping these diseases in their tracks?

Imagine if your memory was so good, you could learn to speak a whole language fluently in a week. This is the case for Daniel Tammet, an extraordinary individual who can speak 11 languages, including Icelandic which he was challenged to learn in just seven days. Daniel is considered an autistic savant, and in addition to being exceptionally gifted with language and numbers, he suffers from Asperger Syndrome, a milder form of autism. In contrast to Daniel, some individuals who live with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) never develop any linguistic ability at all and must navigate the world unable to communicate verbally with those around them. How can two people with such drastically different abilities possibly be diagnosed with the same condition? Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning the types and severity of symptoms experienced vary widely. While some people on the autism spectrum lead largely normal lives with only slight social deficits, others have severe social and behavioral disabilities and require constant supervision. In instances of the later, ASD presents significant challenges in the lives of those affected as well as their families. But such diversity of symptoms is just one aspect of autism that makes it so mysterious. The genetic and environmental factors that lead to autism remain elusive and hundreds of genes have been linked to the disorder, though the exact genes affected vary widely from case to case.