Resveratrol Effects On Illness and Disease
The list of resveratrol health benefits has grown significantly over the last one and a half years. They include promising effects for treating gastritis, bad backs, human alcoholic fatty liver disease, and multiple sclerosis, as well as offering protection from radiation.
Researchers at Clemson University found in 2009 that resveratrol inhibits helicobacter pylori, which is a bacteria found in the intestinal tract. It causes a chronic low-level inflammation of the stomach lining and is strongly linked to gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric cancer. Resveratrol may be used to prevent or treat these illnesses.
Researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago injected resveratrol into the spine cartilage of cattle. It was found to significantly slow down the progression of intervertebral disc degeneration. The results suggest that resveratrol may be used to treat bad backs.
In November 2008 researchers at the University of South Florida studying alcoholic mice reported that resveratrol reduced the amount of fat produced in the liver and increased the rate at which this fat is broken down. Alcoholism causes fat to accumulate and can lead to liver disease and liver failure. The findings indicate the possibility of using resveratrol in the prevention or treatment of human alcoholic fatty liver disease.
University of Utah researchers examined the effect of resveratrol on multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2008. MS is a condition in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system, leading to demyelination. Resveratrol was administered to mice with an MS-like condition and after two weeks of treatment, the mice gained weight, but no positive effect on nerve cell tissues was observed. Researchers suggested that since MS usually causes weight loss, the weight gain observed in the mice could be indicative of resveratrol’s effect in treating MS. Further research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh led by Dr. Joel Greenberger claimed that resveratrol may offer protection against radiation exposure. They discovered that mice which were administered resveratrol altered with acetyl before exposure to radiation were protected from radiation damage. The study was overseen by Pitt’s Center for Medical Countermeasures Against Radiation. Acetylated resveratrol was identified as a promising small molecule radiation protector that may be accessed and administered easily in the event of a large-scale radiological or nuclear emergency. The results of this study are consistent with those from other resveratrol studies in which resveratrol was found to kill cancer cells while protecting healthy cells from radiation treatment.
