Alpine ethnobotany in Italy: traditional knowledge of gastronomic and medicinal plants among the Occitans of the upper Varaita valley, Piedmont

A gastronomic and medical ethnobotanical study was conducted among the Occitan communities living in Blins/Bellino and Chianale, in the upper Val Varaita, in the Piedmontese Alps, North-Western Italy, and the traditional uses of 88 botanical taxa were recorded. Comparisons with and analysis of other ethnobotanical studies previously carried out in other Piemontese and surrounding areas, show that approximately one fourth of the botanical taxa quoted in this survey are also known in other surrounding Occitan valleys. It is also evident that traditional knowledge in the Varaita valley has been heavily eroded. This study also examined the local legal framework for the gathering of botanical taxa, and the potential utilization of the most quoted medicinal and food wild herbs in the local market, and suggests that the continuing widespread local collection from the wild of the aerial parts of Alpine wormwood for preparing liqueurs (Artemisia genipi, A. glacialis, and A. umbelliformis) should be seriously reconsidered in terms of sustainability, given the limited availability of these species, even though their collection is culturally salient in the entire study area

Food, flavouring and feed plant traditions in the Tyrrhenian sector of Basilicata, Italy

BACKGROUND: Research was carried out in the years 2002–2003 into food, flavouring and feed folk traditions of plants in the Tyrrhenian part of the Basilicata region (southern Italy). This area was colonized in ancient times by Greeks. Data was collected through field interviews, especially of farmers. METHODS: Field data were collected through structured interviews. The informants, numbered 49, belonged to families which had strong links with the traditional activities of the area. RESULTS: 61 taxa are cited, belonging to 26 botanical families, amongst which 44 used as food or flavouring and 22 for animal alimentation. Besides 7 taxa are involved in rituals especially connected with agriculture and plant growth. CONCLUSION: The preservation of some rituals especially concerning agricultural plants is noteworthy in the area, together with a certain degree of continuity in food uses. Knowledge and rediscovery of recipes in human and animal diet could represent an economic potential for the area

Exposure to traffic noise and effects on attention

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Elevation of serum copper levels in Alzheimer's disease

Objective: To determine whether serum trace metals and oxidative species are related to abnormal cognition in AD. Methods: The authors studied serum peroxides, copper, iron, transferrin, and antioxidant capacity in 79 patients with AD (mean age 74.3 years; 25 men, 54 women) and in 76 cognitively normal individuals (mean age 70.1 years; 33 men, 43 women). The relation of these oxidative and trace metals to APOE ε4 allele frequency, neuropsychological performance, and cerebrovascular or atrophic burden, as estimated by brain MRI and ultrasonography of cerebral vessels, was evaluated. Results: Copper level was higher (p < 0.001) in subjects with AD than control subjects (specificity = 95%, sensitivity = 60%) with a cutoff serum level of 16 μmol/L (1.02 mg/L). An increase of 1 μmol/L in serum copper accounted for 80% of the risk of having AD and correlated with poor neuropsychological performance and medial temporal lobe atrophy (p < 0.03). Antioxidant capacity decreased and correlated with medial temporal lobe atrophy (p < 0.009) and with APOE ε4 allele (p = 0.004). Conclusions: Copper may play a role in neurodegenerative processes in AD, and serum copper measurement may prove to be a peripheral diagnostic marker for AD

Elevation of serum copper levels in Alzheimer's disease

Objective: To determine whether serum trace metals and oxidative species are related to abnormal cognition in AD. Methods: The authors studied serum peroxides, copper, iron, transferrin, and antioxidant capacity in 79 patients with AD (mean age 74.3 years; 25 men, 54 women) and in 76 cognitively normal individuals (mean age 70.1 years; 33 men, 43 women). The relation of these oxidative and trace metals to APOE ε4 allele frequency, neuropsychological performance, and cerebrovascular or atrophic burden, as estimated by brain MRI and ultrasonography of cerebral vessels, was evaluated. Results: Copper level was higher (p < 0.001) in subjects with AD than control subjects (specificity = 95%, sensitivity = 60%) with a cutoff serum level of 16 μmol/L (1.02 mg/L). An increase of 1 μmol/L in serum copper accounted for 80% of the risk of having AD and correlated with poor neuropsychological performance and medial temporal lobe atrophy (p < 0.03). Antioxidant capacity decreased and correlated with medial temporal lobe atrophy (p < 0.009) and with APOE ε4 allele (p = 0.004). Conclusions: Copper may play a role in neurodegenerative processes in AD, and serum copper measurement may prove to be a peripheral diagnostic marker for AD