Herbal Bilberry, the Best Neuro-Protective Functional Remedy, According to Medical Literature

By Kyle J. Norton

Scientists may have found a herbal remedy which processes a neuron-protective effect against brain diseases, according to studies.

Neurological disorders are diseases associated with the brain, spine and nerves. In other words, they are diseases of the central nervous system.

There are many risk factors involved in the incidence of neurological disorders, including unhealthy lifestyle, infections, genetics preposition, and physical injury.

Oxidative stress is a result of an imbalance of the ratio of levels of free radicals and antioxidant caused either by overexpression of free radicals or depletion of antioxidants enzymes or both.

Free radicals can be produced internally by normal cellular metabolism or from the external sources such as the air we breathe, smoking. Free radicals are unstable molecules with unpaired electrons on the outer ring.

In order for them to maintain stable, free radicals must either donate an electron or intercept an electron from other atoms, leading to a chain reaction that can not stop[ed until the outer ring electron is paired or inhibited by antioxidants.

Oxidative stress has been found to be a major risk for the onset of the neurological disorder in the Western world, particularly in North American.

Dr. Carvalho AN, the lead scientist in the assessment of oxidative stress and antioxidants in neurological diseases, said, "Oxidative stress is a pathological feature common to a multitude of neurological diseases. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the main mechanism underlying this cellular redox imbalance".

And, "overview of the main players in oxidative stress and outline evidence of their involvement in Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and multiple sclerosis".

The results clearly suggested the impact of oxidative stress in the facilitation of the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.

Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The herbal plant has been used as foods and herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

Scientists on finding a natural ingredient which processes neuroprotective effects evaluated the activity of Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry) anthocyanoside (VMA) and/or its main anthocyanidin constituents (cyanidin, delphinidin, and malvidin) against retinal damage.

According to the assays, in the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) induced cell damage and radical activation by 3-(4-morpholinyl) sydnonimine hydrochloride (SIN-1), injection of VMA and all three anthocyanidins significantly inhibited SIN-1-induced neurotoxicity and free radical activation.

Furthermore, VMA also significantly inhibited the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA)-induced morphological retinal damage compared to other derivatives. and increased apoptosis of the damage cells in the ganglion cell layer. 

Moreover, VMA at a concentration-dependently inhibited lipid peroxidation in mouse forebrain homogenates. In other words, VMA prevented the accumulation of lipid peroxidation in the neurons, the major cause of the neuron damage.

The findings suggested that VMA and its anthocyanidins process neuroprotective effects via an anti-oxidation mechanism in vitro and in vivo models of retinal diseases.

Additionally, in order to reveal more information about bilberry neuroprotective activity, researchers examined the antioxidants richly present in bilberry fruits effects on diabetes-related brain dysfunctions.

αCaMKII in hippocampal neurons from non-diabetic, diabetic and diabetic rats before fed with an extract of bilberry fruit showed a reduction of swollen and the lengths of the neuronal fibers. 

Interestingly, diabetic rats fed with bilberry fruit showed a αCaMKII-positive nerve fiber significantly longer compared to the groups of diabetic and control rats. 

The results strongly suggested that bilberry fruits influence the morphology of and possibly exhibit beneficial and neuroprotective effects on hippocampal neurons during diabetes through the expression of antioxidants.

Taken altogether, bilberry processed abundantly bioactive compound such as anthocyanidin and its constituents cyanidin, delphinidin, and malvidin may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and treatment of neuro-diseases, pending to larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters 
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally 

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca


Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Bilberry and its main constituents have neuroprotective effects against retinal neuronal damage in vitro and in vivo by Matsunaga N1, Imai S, Inokuchi Y, Shimazawa M, Yokota S, Araki Y, Hara H. (PubMed)
(2) Effect of feeding with bilberry fruit on the expression pattern of αCaMKII in hippocampal neurons in normal and diabetic rats by Matysek M1, Mozel S1, Szalak R1, Zacharko-Siembida A1, Obszańska K1, Arciszewski MB. (PubMed)
(3) Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants in Neurological Diseases: Is There Still Hope? by Carvalho AN1, Firuzi O2, Gama MJ3, Horssen JV4, Saso L. (PubMed)