High-protein diets could be linked to conception problems/more

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Last Update: Tuesday, June 29, 2004. 7:47pm (AEST)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200406/s1142917.htm

High-protein diets could be linked to conception problems. (AFP)

 

 

High-protein diets linked to conception troubles

Women who eat a high-protein diet may find it more difficult to conceive,

according to new research.

 

David Gardner from the Colorado Centre for Reproductive Medicine says diets

containing 25 per cent protein disrupt the development of early mice

embryos.

 

He says the diets may have a similar impact in humans.

 

" Although our investigations were conducted in mice, our data may have

implications for diet and reproduction in humans, " Dr Gardner told a

fertility meeting.

 

In mice, the high-protein diet seems to interfere with a genetic process

known as imprinting, which controls the activity of genes inherited from the

father and mother.

 

The researchers fed mice a diet of either 25 per cent or 14 per cent protein

for four weeks before mating them.

 

Afterwards, they examined 42 of the resulting early embryos, which are known

as blastocysts, to see if imprinting for an important growth gene had been

altered.

 

They also transferred 174 early embryos into the wombs of mice that were

eating a normal diet to study the impact of maternal diet before

implantation on foetal development.

 

" We found only 36 per cent of blastocysts developed in mothers on the 25 per

cent diet showed a normal imprinting pattern, compared to 70 per cent in the

control group, " Dr Gardner said.

 

Fewer embryos in the high protein group developed into foetuses - 65 per

cent compared to 81 per cent in the lower protein group.

 

" These findings, together with similar work carried out in cows means that

it would be prudent to advise couples who are trying to conceive ... to

ensure that the woman's protein intake is less than 20 per cent of their

total energy consumption, " Dr Gardner said.

 

" The available data certainly indicate that a high protein diet is not

advisable while trying to conceive. "

 

But Dr Stuart Trager, the medical director of Atkins Nutritionals which

developed the low-carbohydrate Atkins Diet, says some studies have shown a

positive correlation between controlling carbohydrates and female fertility.

 

" The differences between mice and human embryos have recently been

demonstrated by the ability to produce mice embryos from a single parent, a

process that cannot be replicated in humans, " Dr Trager said.

 

" This casts a large discrepancy on the ability to derive conclusions about

the clinical implications of this study with regard to humans. "

 

-- Reuters

 

Last Update: Tuesday, June 29, 2004. 9:14pm (AEST)

Sex-mad rats may fast-track women's aphrodisiac

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200406/s1143199.htm

 

A drug that seems to drive female rats mad for sex may offer the first real

scientific aphrodisiac for women, US and Canadian researchers say.

 

James Pfaus of Concordia University in Montreal and colleagues there and at

Palatin, tested the drug on female rats and found it affected their mating

behaviour.

 

The drug, Palatin Technologies Inc's PT-141, is being developed for use to

fight impotence in men, but the researchers said tests showed it also

aroused female rats.

 

" Accordingly, PT-141 may be the first identified pharmacological agent with

the capability to treat female sexual desire disorders, " they wrote in their

report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

The female rats flirted more when injected with the drug and Dr Pfaus and

his colleagues said: " Females treated with the highest dose of PT-141 also

attempted to mount the males. "

 

In rats, this is considered a sign of sexual impatience.

 

" Although the sexual behaviour of rats is different from that of humans, the

effects of pharmacological manipulations of appetitive and consummatory

sexual behaviours are similar in male rates and men, " the researchers wrote.

 

The same is probably true of women, they added.

 

Although the drug was injected into the rats, in human tests for impotence

it takes the form of a nasal spray.

 

PT-141 is the first of a new class of drugs called melanocortin agonists

being developed to treat sexual dysfunction.

 

It may be safer than current impotence drugs because it does not affect the

blood vessels.

 

Current drugs increase blood flow and could be dangerous to people on some

heart medications.

 

-- Reuters

 

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200406/s1140938.htm

German men told to have more sex and 'take the consequences' (Japanese and

Russians have the same problem of too many oldies, but that's because of too

many abortions, unlike Ireland where the population is mostly young. N )

Conservative politicians are urging German men to have more sex to boost

birth rates or risk being labelled " limp " abroad, a newspaper has reported.

 

Johannes Singhammer, a member of parliament and father of six, said

Germany's ageing population needed to produce more offspring to sustain its

overstretched pensions system.

 

" Germans need to work more on that again in bed, things mustn't get to the

stage where German men are scoffed at abroad for being limp, " he said.

 

His words were echoed by fellow conservative Armin Klein, who said Germans

had become too selfish.

 

" We need to have the courage to have sex and take the consequences, " said MR

Klein, who has two children.

 

" People concentrating on themselves, which has led to a life without

children for many, has gone wrong. "

 

Germany will have the world's oldest population by 2035, according to a

report in Germany's Der Spiegel weekly.

 

--Reuters

 

Last Update: Monday, June 28, 2004. 12:16pm (AEST)

Perfumer corners wacky scent market (I've heard of shoes stores spraying

fake leather smell.N)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200406/s1141899.htm

 

Ordinary air fresheners used to be British firm Dale Air's staple but

nowadays it prefers a stench like Breath of a T-Rex, Roman Soldier's Armpit,

or Football Changing Room.

 

Most of the smells, or " themed aromas " , it creates are designed to enhance

museum visits or call up long-lost memories.

 

Recreating the breath of a T-Rex for a huge model dinosaur in London's

Natural History Museum posed challenges all of their own.

 

" We spoke to palaeontologists, who gave us a description of the dinosaur.

Basically the bigger the creature the smellier they were, " said company

director Frank Knight, who is passionate about accuracy.

 

" The dinosaurs would have had open sores from fighting, and rotting meat

stuck in the gaps between their teeth.

 

" We needed all these features in the eventual odour, " he said.

 

T-Rex breath turned out so accurate and so revolting, the curators instead

opted for a milder swamp smell to evoke the creature's natural habitat.

 

Requests for nasty smells come in quite a lot, requiring some unpleasant

research.

 

" I've had otter poo on my desk, " said Mr Knight, who created the odour for a

zoo's nature trail, alongside the smell of jaguar urine and rotting flesh.

 

Some jobs are easier on the nose. Dale Air has supplied branches of British

travel agent chain Lunn Poly with the scent of coconut oil, aimed at

increasing the time customers spend in their stores.

 

Roman soldier's armpit

 

Dale Air started life as an air-freshener firm. Then founder Fred Dale, who

died earlier this year, found a lucrative sideline. He was invited to mix

familiar odours from the 1920s for use in old peoples' homes. These

triggered memories and encouraged conversation among elderly residents.

 

Mr Dale never looked back.

 

Soon museums were commissioning smells such as Dead Roman Soldier's Armpit

and Viking Loo.

 

" My mum used to say that she never knew who she would be going to bed with -

a horse, or a bear ... as the smells used to linger on my dad's skin, " said

Fred's son Robert.

 

Fred Dale's favourite project was the Jorvik Centre museum in York which

opened in 1984, boasting Viking smells as its key attraction. Authentic

historical smells have since become a much copied feature.

 

Sarah Maltby, head of visitor attractions at Jorvik, said: " Competition is

such nowadays you have to think how you can capture the imagination of your

visitors, and thinking of how to capture all the senses is one of the things

you have to do. "

 

Mixing potions

 

Dale Air's most expensive smell to date is frankincense, mixed for a Queen

of Sheba exhibition at the British museum. A kilo of the scent lasting for a

year cost 150 pounds ($AU392).

 

The firm's team of perfumers identified the chemical components of the smell

and mixed up a replica potion.

 

Most aromas are supplied as liquids and pumped out through various

dispensers. A new model still being tested can fill a 250-seat theatre. Mr

Knight thinks cinemas may also one day waft appropriate scents through the

auditorium, but said they should be cautious.

 

" You've got to give people choice. We don't like forcing aromas on people -

and you don't want people going to the cinema and not knowing what they'll

encounter. "

 

However, people can use their sense of smell to their advantage and there

are some interesting applications.

 

The firm is testing an aroma dispenser which plugs into a computer and is

controlled from the keyboard.

 

" Say you've got help desk staff who are getting tense and frustrated - they

can press a button to get an aroma to help calm them down, " Mr Knight said.

 

Most of the firm's smells, such as the " aromas of football " set, are for

pure entertainment.

 

" Footie Pitch " smells of grass, " Trophy Room " smells of wood polish, " Half

Time " smells of pies, and " Changing Room " smells of liniment, giving the

over-zealous football fan or club shop an authentic whiff of the beautiful

game.

 

-- Reuters

 

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