Category: Spectroscopy

“Diet is an important part of healthy living,” Jeremy Nicholson of Imperial College revealed to SpectroscopyNOW, “it is just some things that are supposed to relieve stress – and widely touted by healthfood companies as being good for you – do not metabolically ameliorate the effects of even very minor experimental stress.” He and his colleagues have used NMR spectroscopy to analyse marker compounds in blood samples from rats under stress that have had their food switched to included polyunsaturated fats. “No one has actually tested this particular health claim before and this one doesnt stand up well,” Nicholson says. Additionally, the research shows it is possible to accurately measure and quantify how changing diet impacts health. This could ultimately lead to the development of more targeted and more effective products.

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The cause of CFS, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), is not yet known and its symptoms are broad, ranging from fatigue, pain, muscle weakness, and depression to digestive disturbances, immune system weakness, and breathing problems. Moreover, there is no simple diagnostic test for the disease and patients often rely on a sympathetic physician to recognise the problem, but who, nevertheless, does not necessarily have the tools to offer a definitive answer nor an effective treatment. An objective clinical diagnostic test would make understanding and treating this disease far easier. Japanes researchers have now used a type of infra-red spectroscopy to distinguish between plasma from CFS patients and healthy volunteers. They reckon a non-invasive test will be available soon.

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Researchers in Beijing have carried out a meta-analysis of AAS and ICP-MS results published during 1994-2004 to obtain a countrywide picture of how the level of lead in children’s blood is changing and how where they live effects their exposure to this toxic element.

Perhaps predictably, the team found that those children living in urban or industrial regions had much higher levels of lead than those living in rural areas. The figures they reviewed also contrast sharply with the children’s western counterparts who have much lower lead levels on average. The issue is a matter of significant public health importance for China, the researchers say.

Exposure to lead can affect the central nervous system and affect learning ability and growth. It is ubiquitous in the environment and can be absorbed in the human body by inhalation and ingestion from a variety of sources such as contaminated water, soil, food, lead-containing products such as paint and from vehicle exhausts in areas where tetra-ethyl lead is still used as engine an anti-knocking agent.

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