How Representative is the UK Cabinet Feb 2020

 In February 2020 Boris Johnson had a substantial Commons majority, which allowed him to reshuffle his Cabinet. While it had been rumoured that it would promote talented women and bring in MPs from the north, in reality this has not happened.

Diversity: Rishi Sunak replaced Sajid Javid as Chancellor of the Exchequer, so keeping the diversity level.

Education: But whereas Javid, a bus driver's son went to a state school, Sunak was head boy at elite public school Winchester. Across the Cabinet, state-school educated numbers dropped from 7 to just 5 out of 22 seats. In the real world, 93% of Britons go to state schools.

Gender: The new Cabinet has proportionally fewer women than his first, with less than a quarter of the seats.

Geography: Although 15 of 21 members sit for areas outside the home counties, only three have seats in the north of England, while Sunak's Richmond seat has been Conservative since 1910.

Source: Article How representative is Boris Johnson's new cabinet? in the Guardian, 14 Feb 2020

Testing Baking Powder and Bicarbonate of Soda

Over the last few days my bakes haven't risen properly. Soda bread, sponge pudding and new mini cake recipe all flat. Then I looked at the best before dates of my raising agents - out of date!

Searched the internet and found that these products do in fact lose their effectiveness over time. If you want to check if they are still good here's how.

Baking Powder
Put a few tablespoons of warm water into a small bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. Should fizz moderately if fresh enough to use. No reaction - buy a new canister.

Bicarbonate of Soda
Put a few tablespoons of white distilled vinegar into a small bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. If fresh enough to use, should fizz and bubble furiously. Not a strong reaction - replace for cooking purposes, but you can still use it for cleaning pots and pans.

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Eating for Health

A new book advises (among other facts) that you:

1. Don't skip breakfast.
There is no evidence that this helps weight loss.

2. It's not just what we eat, but when we eat.
Our body metabolism is more active in the morning, so we burn more calories early in the day.

3. Eat porridge
Eating porridge for breakfast keeps you feeling fuller for longer, so you'll eat less at lunch (for some it could be a lot less).

4. Activate your 'BAT' signal.
The white fat in our belly stores fat. But brown fat (brown adipose tissue - BAT) found high in our chests, in the neck and shoulder areas, burns fat. The more active it is, the thinner you tend to be. One way to activate it is to feel a bit chilly - so turn down your heating thermostat a bit.

5. Drink tea or coffee without milk.
It's thought that tea without milk activates the BAT signal and coffee without milk raises metabolic rate slightly (having milk stops this).

6. Eat a tomato before every meal.
Tomatoes are anti-inflammatory, helpful for artery function. Eating a large ripe, tomato before lunch means you are filling up a fist sized portion of your stomach with something that is 95% water and only about 15 calories right before a meal.

7. Nuts
Nuts are high in calories but eaten in moderation they lessen the appetite. So a mid-morning snack of nuts means you are likely to eat less at lunch. They also have health benefits.

8. Use Black Cumin (nigella seeds).
Add some nigella seeds to your pepper grinder along with the peppercorns. It seems to be helpful in reducing bad cholesterol as well as helping with weight loss.

9. Use vinegar in salad dressing.
Vinegar acts as a wake-up call to the body to switch from storing fat to burning fat. Don't drink it straight (it can damage your oesophogus), but use in salad dressings (and pickled onions and gherkins, etc.)

10. Eat boiled potatoes.
This is the most filling food - so including in a meal means you'll eat less of the other items.

11. Everyday activity is better than exercise regimes.
It takes five minutes of snacking to wipe out a whole hour of exercise. Concentrate on regular activities like standing, moving and fidgeting. Take the stairs, get laughing, singing, cleaning, cooking and gardening.

12. Embrace the scales.
The best device for monitoring weight loss remains the bathroom scales. Doing it twice a day (on waking and right before bed) seems to have the best effect.

Source: Article in Daily Mail, featuring How Not To Diet: the groundbreaking science of healthy, permanent weight loss, by Dr Michael Gregor (£20, Bluebird).

MS Nerve damage repair drug trial

 Multiple sclerosis is an immune system condition where the myelin sheath of nerve cells is damaged. This means that nerves carry messages less efficiently, and need more energy to compensate.

New research has shown that nerves have a natural ability to boost energy supplies after being damaged by moving mitochondria to the damaged part of the nerve, in a process called ARMD (axonal response of mitochondria to demyelination). 

While this natural ability is not enough alone to compensate, it has been found that an existing drug - pioglitazone - can further increase the number of mitochondria. Using this drug for MS treatment is now in clinical trial.

Source: feature in MS News, Sept. 2020

Gum Disease Possible Link to Dementia

 Gingipains. A bacteria that causes gum disease has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. Gingipains is an enzyme which is given off by the Porphyromonas gingivalis bacteria, which causes periodontitis. 

Around half of adults have periodontitis, with around 10% having a severe version, which erodes the gums and the bones that keep our teeth in place.

A small study of 53 patients with Alzheimer's found that 96% had a form of the gingipains enzyme known as arginine-gingipain in their brain tissue, and 91% had lysine-gingipain. These levels were significantly higher than control samples. It has not yet been determined if different strains of P.gingivalis are more virulent than others in causing brain infection.

Trials of COR388 (which blocks gingipains) on people with mild to moderate Alzheimer symptoms have begun, with first results expected in late 2021.

Other scientists remain cautious about the finding, and work continues on other factors such as genetic make-up.

Sources: Various.

How To Help Young Drivers Stay Safe

Got a teenager wanting to learn to drive? First of all, young drivers amount to just 1.5% of all UK licence holders, but are involved in almost one in ten accidents. And a quarter of drivers under the age of 24 will have an accident within two years of passing their test.

Research in Scandinavia shows that pre-17 driving instruction could reduce accident rates by as much as 40%. It seems that it is important for young people to get as much experience and confidence as they can before they are ready to go solo on the roads. Other research shows that extending the time period over which youngsters learn creates neural pathways in the brain to help the mechanical elements of driving become more automatic; this then gives them more head space to consider the wide dangers and risks when they are on the road. Here are some ways to do this.

 Try indoor carting as a way to improve their reactions and understand changing conditions.

Children as young as 10 can have a driving lesson at Young Driver, the UK's largest pre-17 driving school. This operates at more than 70 sites across the UK, offering youngsters the chance to drive a dual-controlled Vauxhall Corsa with a fully qualified driver. Realistic raod systems are set up at each venue to allow drivers to experience everything from roundabouts to traffic lights and junctions, as well as special areas where they can practice manoeuvres such as parking and steering.

Source: Feature in Good Housekeeping, March 2020.