Lifestyle Changes, More Screening Could Have Big Impact
Yahoo! Health: Cancer News
March 31, 2005 12:00:00 AM PST
At least half of all cancer deaths in the United States could be prevented if Americans adopted a healthier lifestyle and made better use of available screening tests for the disease, a report from the American Cancer Society states.
The information is contained in Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Facts & Figures 2005, an annual ACS report that explores some of the risk factors for cancer that people can control and change.
The report highlights trends in tobacco use, eating habits, exercise patterns, and weight gain among adults and children. The report also discusses cancer screening and ways to help more people take advantage of these potentially life-saving tests that can often find cancer well before there are noticeable symptoms
Steps Forward, and Backward
In some areas, the report shows, the US has made progress in reducing the threat of cancer. For instance, fewer adults and children are smoking now compared to a few years ago. Tobacco use causes about 30% of all cancer deaths in the US, and about 87% of lung cancer deaths, according to the report.
Drops in smoking have been the result of many factors, including higher tobacco taxes, laws limiting smoking in public places, and anti-smoking advertising. But the report warns that many of the state programs that helped lower smoking rates have been drastically scaled back because of budget problems.
A serious and growing problem is weight gain among children and adults. An ACS study published in 2003 showed that excess weight raises the risk of dying from many types of cancer including breast cancer (in certain age groups), the most common cancer in women, and prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men.
About 35% of US adults are overweight and another 30% are considered obese. Nearly 16% of kids 6-19 are too heavy; heavy kids are more likely to become heavy adults with a higher risk of developing cancer and other serious diseases.
The obesity problem stems from a number of factors, according to the report. High-calorie foods are widely available and heavily marketed; Americans rely more than ever on cars to get around; schools have cut physical education programs; many kids favor television, video games, and computers over outdoor activities.
The report makes a number of recommendations for fighting the obesity trend. One of them is to follow ACS guidelines for nutrition and exercise. Others include encouraging restaurants to provide nutrition information so diners can make better food choices, designing communities that encourage exercise with safe sidewalks, bike lanes, and parks, and improving the quality of food served to children at school.
Make Screening a Priority
Lifestyle changes are only part of the cancer equation, though. The report says following screening recommendations is also crucial to reducing the risk of dying from cancer. Screening can find cancers at their earliest stages, when they are easier to treat. In the case of colon cancer, screening can even prevent the disease altogether, by finding polyps so they can be removed before they turn into cancer.
Rates of screening for breast cancer and cervical cancer are generally high, though women without insurance are much less likely to get these important tests. Colon cancer screening, however, remains low. The report says improving insurance coverage of these procedures is key to increasing their use.
Comment: Not only is screening important, but prevention by eating right and taking antioxidants is critical. By the time screenings find the problem, it may also be too late.
PREVENTION IS EVERYTHING HERE.
DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is likely to be a major cause of cancer.
By Bruce N. Ames, professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley
A deficiency of any of the micronutrients: folic acid, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B6, niacin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, iron, or zinc, mimics radiation in damaging DNA by causing single- and double-strand breaks, oxidative lesions, or both. For example, the percentage of the US population that has a low intake (<50% of the RDA) for each of these eight micronutrients ranges from 2 to >20%. A level of folate deficiency causing chromosome breaks was present in approximately 10% of the US population, and in a much higher percentage of the poor. Folate deficiency causes extensive incorporation of uracil into human DNA (4 million/cell), leading to chromosomal breaks. This mechanism is the likely cause of the increased colon cancer risk associated with low folate intake. Some evidence, and mechanistic considerations, suggest that Vitamin B12 (14% US elderly) and B6 (10% of US) deficiencies also cause high uracil and chromosome breaks. Micronutrient deficiency may explain, in good part, why the quarter of the population that eats the fewest fruits and vegetables (five portions a day is advised) has about double the cancer rate for most types of cancer when compared to the quarter with the highest intake. For example, 80% of American children and adolescents and 68% of adults do not eat five portions a day. Common micronutrient deficiencies are likely to damage DNA by the same mechanism as radiation and many chemicals, appear to be orders of magnitude more important, and should be compared for perspective. Remedying micronutrient deficiencies should lead to a major improvement in health and an increase in longevity at low cost.
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Thursday, March 31, 2005
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Side Effects From Pharmaceutical Drugs Reach All-Time High
March 19, 2005
Big Pharma is currently engaged in all-out offensive to divert attention from the toxic effects of its drugs and to convince compliant bureaucrats that it is in fact natural supplements that need tighter regulation. New evidence, however, confirms that it is pharmaceutical drugs, not supplements, that are in need of far closer scrutiny.
Drug side effects and other related health problems reported to the Food and Drug Administration reached an all-time high in 2004. The FDA received roughly 422,500 adverse-event reports from pharmaceutical companies, health professionals and patients, up nearly 14% from the 370,887 reports filed in 2003.
As drug company sales rise, so do adverse side effect rates
The official figure is likely to vastly underestimate the true incidence of drug side effects--the bulk of the reports comes from drug manufacturers, which the FDA requires to file details of all known adverse events involving their products. Doctors, nurses and patients also file, but their reports are voluntary. As a result, the annual totals are believed to cover only a percentage of the actual number of serious drug reactions and problems.
A top FDA official said the agency believes the rise reflects a surge in prescription drug use, not any increase in health risk. "There are more drugs on the market and more use of pharmaceuticals in general," said Paul Seligman, director of the FDA's Office of Pharmacoepidemiology and Statistical Sciences. "Clearly, when you have more products on the market, you're likely to have more side effects."
Prescription drug sales totaled $235 billion nationally in 2004, a historic high that was up 8.3% from 2003 and more than triple the 1995 volume, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical market research firm.
Anthony Colpo is an independent researcher and certified fitness consultant with 20 years' experience in the physical conditioning arena.
Comment: Every effort should be made to get off prescription drugs and replace them with natural supplements whenever possible. Why? Drugs have side effects, natural supplements tend to have side benefits.
cww
Big Pharma is currently engaged in all-out offensive to divert attention from the toxic effects of its drugs and to convince compliant bureaucrats that it is in fact natural supplements that need tighter regulation. New evidence, however, confirms that it is pharmaceutical drugs, not supplements, that are in need of far closer scrutiny.
Drug side effects and other related health problems reported to the Food and Drug Administration reached an all-time high in 2004. The FDA received roughly 422,500 adverse-event reports from pharmaceutical companies, health professionals and patients, up nearly 14% from the 370,887 reports filed in 2003.
As drug company sales rise, so do adverse side effect rates
The official figure is likely to vastly underestimate the true incidence of drug side effects--the bulk of the reports comes from drug manufacturers, which the FDA requires to file details of all known adverse events involving their products. Doctors, nurses and patients also file, but their reports are voluntary. As a result, the annual totals are believed to cover only a percentage of the actual number of serious drug reactions and problems.
A top FDA official said the agency believes the rise reflects a surge in prescription drug use, not any increase in health risk. "There are more drugs on the market and more use of pharmaceuticals in general," said Paul Seligman, director of the FDA's Office of Pharmacoepidemiology and Statistical Sciences. "Clearly, when you have more products on the market, you're likely to have more side effects."
Prescription drug sales totaled $235 billion nationally in 2004, a historic high that was up 8.3% from 2003 and more than triple the 1995 volume, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical market research firm.
Anthony Colpo is an independent researcher and certified fitness consultant with 20 years' experience in the physical conditioning arena.
Comment: Every effort should be made to get off prescription drugs and replace them with natural supplements whenever possible. Why? Drugs have side effects, natural supplements tend to have side benefits.
cww
Christopher Wiechert's Healthblogger is for educational or informational purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose or provide treatment for any condition. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a healthcare professional.
Fish Oil May Keep Alzheimer's Disease at Bay
In mouse studies, diets high in omega-3 fatty acid reduced harmful brain protein...
HealthDay News -- Diets high in the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish such as mackerel, sardines and salmon might ward off Alzheimer's disease.
That's what researchers report in the March 23 online issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
The study was conducted in mice, but senior author Greg M. Cole said it probably applies to humans as well.
"Our data show it works in animals," said Cole, associate director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. "If this works in people, it's clearly going to be one of the ways we protect ourselves from Alzheimer's disease."
An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. The disease gradually destroys a person's memory and ability to communicate.
Cole's team studied older mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer's disease. They fed one group food fortified with docosahexenoic acid (DHA), the omega-3 fatty acid found in several types of coldwater fish. They fed the other group a diet low in DHA.
Diets low in DHA have been linked to impaired mental functioning, and DHA levels are lower in the blood and brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, Cole said.
After three to five months, which translates to several years in humans, the group of mice fed the DHA-rich diet had 70 percent less buildup of amyloid protein in the brain. This sticky protein is what makes up the plaques in the brain that are the hallmark of Alzheimer's.
"The protein is markedly reduced even when we start the diet late in life," Cole said.
"To come in and intervene late, and see a 50 percent or more reduction [in plaque] is remarkable," he added.
While the worth of omega-3 fatty acids to prevent plaque buildup in humans is yet to be proven, Cole pointed out that omega-3 fatty acids are known to have protective effects on human hearts.
The American Heart Association recommends that healthy adults eat a minimum of two servings of fish a week, especially mackerel, sardines, albacore tuna, salmon, lake trout and herring.
Another Alzheimer's expert praised the study.
"I think it's a very interesting study from a quality lab that has a history of doing work similar to this," said William Thies, vice president of medical and scientific affairs for the Alzheimer's Association. "This is looking at a mechanism that is particularly important in Alzheimer's, the accumulation of amyloid."
"There clearly is less of an accumulation of amyloid in these mice given a DHA-enriched diet," he said. "Exactly why is not quite clear."
This study, he added, "fits nicely with the idea that those things good for your blood vessels are also good for Alzheimer's disease prevention."
Based on the study results, Cole said, it makes sense to increase intake of omega-3 fatty acids. He pointed out that eggs are now supplemented with DHA, and it is also available in fish oil capsules.
In another study by Cole's group, published last year in the journal Neuron, the researchers showed that DHA protected against damage to the "synaptic" areas where brain cells communicate and enabled mice to perform better on memory tests.
The findings suggest that people genetically predisposed to getting Alzheimer's disease may be able to delay its onset by increasing their DHA intake, Cole said.
David Geffen School of Medicine
Comment: What if we add this study to the one below... WOW
Vitamins C and E protect against Alzheimer's disease
cww
HealthDay News -- Diets high in the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish such as mackerel, sardines and salmon might ward off Alzheimer's disease.
That's what researchers report in the March 23 online issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
The study was conducted in mice, but senior author Greg M. Cole said it probably applies to humans as well.
"Our data show it works in animals," said Cole, associate director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. "If this works in people, it's clearly going to be one of the ways we protect ourselves from Alzheimer's disease."
An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. The disease gradually destroys a person's memory and ability to communicate.
Cole's team studied older mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer's disease. They fed one group food fortified with docosahexenoic acid (DHA), the omega-3 fatty acid found in several types of coldwater fish. They fed the other group a diet low in DHA.
Diets low in DHA have been linked to impaired mental functioning, and DHA levels are lower in the blood and brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, Cole said.
After three to five months, which translates to several years in humans, the group of mice fed the DHA-rich diet had 70 percent less buildup of amyloid protein in the brain. This sticky protein is what makes up the plaques in the brain that are the hallmark of Alzheimer's.
"The protein is markedly reduced even when we start the diet late in life," Cole said.
"To come in and intervene late, and see a 50 percent or more reduction [in plaque] is remarkable," he added.
While the worth of omega-3 fatty acids to prevent plaque buildup in humans is yet to be proven, Cole pointed out that omega-3 fatty acids are known to have protective effects on human hearts.
The American Heart Association recommends that healthy adults eat a minimum of two servings of fish a week, especially mackerel, sardines, albacore tuna, salmon, lake trout and herring.
Another Alzheimer's expert praised the study.
"I think it's a very interesting study from a quality lab that has a history of doing work similar to this," said William Thies, vice president of medical and scientific affairs for the Alzheimer's Association. "This is looking at a mechanism that is particularly important in Alzheimer's, the accumulation of amyloid."
"There clearly is less of an accumulation of amyloid in these mice given a DHA-enriched diet," he said. "Exactly why is not quite clear."
This study, he added, "fits nicely with the idea that those things good for your blood vessels are also good for Alzheimer's disease prevention."
Based on the study results, Cole said, it makes sense to increase intake of omega-3 fatty acids. He pointed out that eggs are now supplemented with DHA, and it is also available in fish oil capsules.
In another study by Cole's group, published last year in the journal Neuron, the researchers showed that DHA protected against damage to the "synaptic" areas where brain cells communicate and enabled mice to perform better on memory tests.
The findings suggest that people genetically predisposed to getting Alzheimer's disease may be able to delay its onset by increasing their DHA intake, Cole said.
David Geffen School of Medicine
Comment: What if we add this study to the one below... WOW
Vitamins C and E protect against Alzheimer's disease
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. A distinguished group of medical researchers from four US universities has concluded that supplementation with vitamins C and E in combination is associated with a reduced prevalence and incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Their study included almost 5,000 residents of Cache County aged 65 years or older. The prevalence (total number of AD cases at baseline) and the incidence (newly diagnosed cases per year of AD) over a 3-year follow-up period were determined and correlated with the reported use of multivitamins, vitamin B-complex supplements, and vitamins C and E.
The prevalence of AD in the segment of the study population not using any supplements was 4.9%. This compared to 0.9% among users of relatively high daily doses of vitamin-C (500-1000 mg/day or more) and vitamin E (up to 1000 IU/day). After adjusting for known AD risk factors, including the presence of apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 alleles, the researchers conclude that supplementation with both vitamins C and E is associated with a 78% lower prevalence of AD. The use of vitamin C containing multivitamins in combination with vitamin-E was associated with a 66% lower prevalence.
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Christopher Wiechert's Healthblogger is for educational or informational purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose or provide treatment for any condition. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a healthcare professional.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Stop taking Vitamin E now !!! Not a chance...
The great vitamin E scare.
Prior research demonstrated overwhelmingly that vitamin E provided important protection against serious diseases. In three large prospective studies, for example, it was found to reduce major coronary artery disease by 41 percent (87,000 female nurses); reduce heart disease by 37 percent in smokers and 48 percent in non-smokers (40,000 male professionals); and reduce all-cause mortality by 34 percent, heart disease by 47 percent and cancer mortality by 59 percent (11,000 patients ages 67 to 105).
A poll taken shortly after release of Dr. Miller's study found that almost 20 percent of Americans were less likely to take vitamin E based on the reports from the study. Some experts were concerned that the wholly-unsupported claims would increase the risk of serious disease.
Barbara Levine, Ph.D., and director of the Nutrition Information Center and associate professor of nutrition in medicine at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, was quoted as saying "If consumers base their lifestyles on this inconclusive meta-analysis, we could see an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancers and age-related macular degeneration in an otherwise healthy population."
Ken Baker
Author and lawyer, Ken Baker is currently writing a book on 20th-century psychiatry.
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Gadzooks! "High Doses of vitamin E Found to Raise Risk of Dying" -- a Washington Post headline. "Vitamin E may shorten your life," according to CBS and WebMD. "The more (vitamin E) you take, the more likely you are to die." claimed Edgar R. Miller III, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins, and author of the study, mindlessly parroted by much of the mainstream press.
Members of the American Heart Association present for the unveiling of the study last November joined the chorus. Dr. Raymond Gibbins, M.D., a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, said heart disease prevention guidelines say, "Vitamin E is 'not recommended.' It doesn't get any clearer than that -- don't take it."
Prior research demonstrated overwhelmingly that vitamin E provided important protection against serious diseases. In three large prospective studies, for example, it was found to reduce major coronary artery disease by 41 percent (87,000 female nurses); reduce heart disease by 37 percent in smokers and 48 percent in non-smokers (40,000 male professionals); and reduce all-cause mortality by 34 percent, heart disease by 47 percent and cancer mortality by 59 percent (11,000 patients ages 67 to 105).
A poll taken shortly after release of Dr. Miller's study found that almost 20 percent of Americans were less likely to take vitamin E based on the reports from the study. Some experts were concerned that the wholly-unsupported claims would increase the risk of serious disease.
Barbara Levine, Ph.D., and director of the Nutrition Information Center and associate professor of nutrition in medicine at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, was quoted as saying "If consumers base their lifestyles on this inconclusive meta-analysis, we could see an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancers and age-related macular degeneration in an otherwise healthy population."
Ken Baker
Author and lawyer, Ken Baker is currently writing a book on 20th-century psychiatry.
Comment: Testing a single nutrient by itself especially in a very ill likely highly depleted population is irresponsible and flawed science. This would be analogous to giving someone only one food repeatedly without any kind of balanced diet, then making global sweeping generalization about the benefits or lack of benefits of that single food.
What we also do not know, is the effect of interactions with medications the high dose E very ill subjects were taking. No doubt some were taking blood thinners or anti platelet drugs. Since Vitamin E can potentiate an increase in clotting time it would augment the effect of blood thinners which would not be a good idea. One way Vitamin E reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease is by decreasing platelet stickiness, yet we do not know how many of these subjects had reduced platelets which can occur in the elderly chronically ill, in which case they would not be good candidates for high dose Vitamin E.
The meta-analysis combined 19 studies, 18 of which showed no statistically significant increase in mortality, one which was a combination study of Vitamin E and estrogen which did . How can you decide the impact of the E verses the Estrogen? What about the study in Parkinson’s patients on Deprenyl and 2000 IU of Vitamin E showing 73 deaths per 399 in the medicated group verses 64 deaths per 401 in the control group? How do you adjust for the Deprenyl verses the vitamin E effects? You get the gist.
The studies in the meta-analysis were not designed to evaluate all- cause mortality and many actually showed positive results on the conditions for which they were designed. They evidenced reduced progression of advanced age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, reduced incidence of heart attacks, slowed progression of atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s Disease, and reduced rates of prostate, lung, colon, rectal, liver, and pancreatic cancers.
There was also no differentiation about the form of Vitamin E given, natural verses synthetic and so on. Some of the researchers used the synthetic DL-alpha tocopherol instead of the more active natural D-alpha tocopherol. There are also mixed tocopherols on the market with beta, gamma and delta forms. The activity of natural or natural source d- alpha tocopherol is about twice that of the synthetic tocopherol.
News of numerous previous positive clinical studies re vitamin E have not been widely reported. This is the case for most positive studies on any nutrients. But the research is there and available to any person searching the web.
For instance, chances are you didn’t read in the paper about the conclusions of a study released in February 2004 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. They reported “vitamin E deficiency is more closely linked to death from heart disease than such better-known risk factors as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.” The researchers found there is an “Inverse correlation between plasma vitamin E and mortality from ischemic heart disease in cross cultural epidemiology” This means the lower your vitamin E blood levels, the greater your chance of dying from heart disease. Researchers in this United Nations study said they could predict 62% of heart disease deaths by looking at blood levels of vitamin E.
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Christopher Wiechert's Healthblogger is for educational or informational purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose or provide treatment for any condition. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a healthcare professional.
Cancer experts reverse warnings about the sun and say too little can cause harm
Tuesday, 22 March 2005
CANCER SPECIALISTS around the world are rethinking their advice to cover up in the sun amid growing concern that staying in the shade may be causing harm.
Australia is revising its warnings about the risks of sun exposure because of fears about vitamin D deficiency, which increases the risk of a range of diseases from cancer to osteoporosis, in what public health doctors have described as a "revolution".
The British charity Cancer Research UK launches its annual SunSmart campaign today highlighting the dangers of too much sun. But in Australia health experts warn that some people are getting too little. In a statement this month, the Cancer Council of Australia said: "A balance is required between avoiding an increase in the risk of skin cancer and achieving enough ultraviolet radiation exposure to achieve adequate vitamin D levels."
Australia is one of the sunniest countries in the world, and vitamin D deficiency is likely to be significantly worse in Britain.
A survey in Geelong in Victoria, southern Australia, cited in the cancer council's statement, found that 43 per cent of women suffered a mild vitamin D deficiency and 11 per cent had moderately severe deficiency during winter. Geelong gets an average of 2,007 hours of sunshine a year, 60 per cent more than Glasgow which has 1,250 hours, according to the UK Meteorological Office.
Bruce Armstrong, professor of public health at Sydney University, said: "It is a revolution. I have worked in public health and been preaching sun avoidance for 25 years. But this statement says there are two sides to the story."
Vitamin D is made by the action of the sun on the skin and can be stored by the body for up to 60 days. Between October and March the sun in Britain is too weak to generate vitamin D so by the end of winter most people are deficient.
A lack of vitamin D can cause rickets in children, leaving their legs deformed. New research shows it is also linked with multiple sclerosis, diabetes and cancers including those of the colon, breast, ovary and prostate.
Some dermatologists are challenging the orthodox view that there is "no such thing as a safe tan" saying instead that the real risk is from sunburn, especially before the age of 20.
Neil Walker, chairman of the UK Skin Cancer Prevention Working Party, says that warnings to avoid the sun entirely are "draconian and unnecessary". His view was supported by Professor Brian Wharton, chairman of the British Nutrition Foundation, who said: "We do need some sensible use of the sun and we have been swinging too strongly against it."
Sara Hiom, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, said concern about vitamin D deficiency was growing, and an international conference hosted by the World Health Organisation was planned.
"We do take on board the new evidence coming through. We are seriously looking at this. We need more research on who is at risk. We are not going to tell people to go out and sunbathe, but we do need to focus on those most at risk - with fair skin or lots of moles - and tell people some sunlight is good for them."
Comment: If you have been getting my e-mail updates for a while you know my position on this. Vitamin D deficiency is rampant in America because of the fear that has been put into people about our friend the sun. In fact, last year a prominent professor of medicine was fired from a university for recommending that we get more sun and Vit D. The average multi-vitamin gives you just 400 IU's of vitamin D. The average caveman would get 10 to 30 thousand IU's each day just working outdoors. As long as you don't get burned, getting regular sun is critical to your health. If you can't get out, make sure you get enough Vit D3, many experts think we should get a minimum of 1000 IU's and some now think 2,000 to 4,000 IU's is more reasonable, we take the upper limits every day and we get plenty of sun.
cww
CANCER SPECIALISTS around the world are rethinking their advice to cover up in the sun amid growing concern that staying in the shade may be causing harm.
Australia is revising its warnings about the risks of sun exposure because of fears about vitamin D deficiency, which increases the risk of a range of diseases from cancer to osteoporosis, in what public health doctors have described as a "revolution".
The British charity Cancer Research UK launches its annual SunSmart campaign today highlighting the dangers of too much sun. But in Australia health experts warn that some people are getting too little. In a statement this month, the Cancer Council of Australia said: "A balance is required between avoiding an increase in the risk of skin cancer and achieving enough ultraviolet radiation exposure to achieve adequate vitamin D levels."
Australia is one of the sunniest countries in the world, and vitamin D deficiency is likely to be significantly worse in Britain.
A survey in Geelong in Victoria, southern Australia, cited in the cancer council's statement, found that 43 per cent of women suffered a mild vitamin D deficiency and 11 per cent had moderately severe deficiency during winter. Geelong gets an average of 2,007 hours of sunshine a year, 60 per cent more than Glasgow which has 1,250 hours, according to the UK Meteorological Office.
Bruce Armstrong, professor of public health at Sydney University, said: "It is a revolution. I have worked in public health and been preaching sun avoidance for 25 years. But this statement says there are two sides to the story."
Vitamin D is made by the action of the sun on the skin and can be stored by the body for up to 60 days. Between October and March the sun in Britain is too weak to generate vitamin D so by the end of winter most people are deficient.
A lack of vitamin D can cause rickets in children, leaving their legs deformed. New research shows it is also linked with multiple sclerosis, diabetes and cancers including those of the colon, breast, ovary and prostate.
Some dermatologists are challenging the orthodox view that there is "no such thing as a safe tan" saying instead that the real risk is from sunburn, especially before the age of 20.
Neil Walker, chairman of the UK Skin Cancer Prevention Working Party, says that warnings to avoid the sun entirely are "draconian and unnecessary". His view was supported by Professor Brian Wharton, chairman of the British Nutrition Foundation, who said: "We do need some sensible use of the sun and we have been swinging too strongly against it."
Sara Hiom, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, said concern about vitamin D deficiency was growing, and an international conference hosted by the World Health Organisation was planned.
"We do take on board the new evidence coming through. We are seriously looking at this. We need more research on who is at risk. We are not going to tell people to go out and sunbathe, but we do need to focus on those most at risk - with fair skin or lots of moles - and tell people some sunlight is good for them."
Comment: If you have been getting my e-mail updates for a while you know my position on this. Vitamin D deficiency is rampant in America because of the fear that has been put into people about our friend the sun. In fact, last year a prominent professor of medicine was fired from a university for recommending that we get more sun and Vit D. The average multi-vitamin gives you just 400 IU's of vitamin D. The average caveman would get 10 to 30 thousand IU's each day just working outdoors. As long as you don't get burned, getting regular sun is critical to your health. If you can't get out, make sure you get enough Vit D3, many experts think we should get a minimum of 1000 IU's and some now think 2,000 to 4,000 IU's is more reasonable, we take the upper limits every day and we get plenty of sun.
cww
Christopher Wiechert's Healthblogger is for educational or informational purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose or provide treatment for any condition. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a healthcare professional.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Common Heart Drugs May Cause Coenzyme Q10 Deficiency
By Alan R. Gaby, MD
Healthnotes Newswire (March 17, 2005)—Statin drugs, which are used by millions of Americans to lower cholesterol levels and prevent heart disease, can actually cause a worsening of heart function in some people. That adverse effect appears to be caused, at least in part, by a drug-induced deficiency of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and can be reversed by supplementation, reports the American Journal of Cardiology (2004;94:1306–10).
Statin drugs such as atorvastatin (Lipitor®), pravastatin (Pravachol®), and simvastatin (Zocor®) are potent cholesterol-lowering agents that work by blocking the body’s ability to produce cholesterol. Studies have shown that people with risk factors for heart disease can reduce their chances of suffering a heart attack or dying of heart disease by 30% or more if they take a statin drug. These drugs have a potential downside, however, because they also prevent the body from manufacturing CoQ10, a compound that is needed to produce the energy on which the body runs.
Previous studies have shown that people with heart failure have subnormal concentrations of CoQ10 in their heart muscle and that supplementing with CoQ10 can improve heart function and reduce the need for hospitalizations related to heart failure. Other research has shown that blood levels of CoQ10 fall when people take statin drugs. Whether or not that decline has implications for heart health has not been clear, although some doctors suspect that CoQ10 deficiency contributes to the muscle aches that often occur as a side effect of statin therapy. Thus, while statin therapy produces an overall benefit in heart disease–related mortality, it may increase the risk of developing heart failure.
The new study evaluated 14 people without a history of heart failure who had received atorvastatin for three to six months. In 10 of these people, atorvastatin treatment was associated with a worsening of at least one of three markers of heart function, and 5 people had a worsening of all three heart-function markers. Of the 10 people with worsening heart function, 9 were treated with 100 mg of CoQ10 three times a day for three months while continuing atorvastatin. Of those 9 people, 8 had an improvement in at least one of the three markers, and 5 had an improvement in all three markers of heart function.
The heart-function abnormalities seen in this study are potential precursors to heart failure. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that supplementing with CoQ10 may reduce the risk of developing heart failure in people taking atorvastatin. Since all of the statin drugs work the same way, and because other statin drugs have also been shown to lower CoQ10 levels, it is reasonable to assume that the results of this study would apply to the other statin drugs as well.
Comment: When you look at what CoQ10 does and see that a drug that is suppose to treat heart disease can potentially cause a deficiency, it makes me wonder, WHAT ARE THEY THINKING... Here is a just a few things this wonder nutrient does...
Coenzyme Q10
The Wonder Nutrient
by Hans R. Larsen, MSc ChE
What does congestive heart failure, gum disease and obesity have in common? Very often, a deficiency of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). A lack of CoQ10 has also been implicated in arrhythmias, strokes, hypertension, heart attacks, atherosclerosis, muscular dystrophy and AIDS and many of these diseases can be prevented and treated successfully with CoQ10. Since its discovery and isolation 40 years ago hundreds of clinical research studies have been done on CoQ10 and it is now abundantly clear that this nutrient is absolutely vital to health(1-5).
Coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone/ubiquinol) is a fat-soluble quinone with a structure similar to that of vitamin K. It is a powerful antioxidant both on its own and in combination with vitamin E and is vital in powering the body's energy production (ATP) cycle. CoQ10 is found throughout the body in cell membranes, especially in the mitochondrial membranes and is particularly abundant in the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas and adrenal glands. The total body content of CoQ10 is only about 500-1500 mg and decreases with age(5).
Essential to the heart
Coenzyme Q10 has received particular attention in the prevention and treatment of various forms of cardiovascular disease. It is highly effective in preventing the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) that leads to atherosclerosis(2,6-8). Several studies have shown that patients with congestive heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases have significantly lower levels of CoQ10 in their heart tissue than do healthy people and supplementation with as little as 100 mg/day has been shown to markedly improve their condition. CoQ10 is now approved in Japan for the treatment of congestive heart failure(2-5,9,10).
Heart attacks and strokes produce a burst of free radicals (ischemia-reperfusion) that can result in extensive tissue damage. Patients with high CoQ10 levels suffer less damage from these events and Japanese researchers have found that CoQ10 supplementation prior to and immediately following open-heart surgery is highly beneficial in preventing reperfusion injury - a common complication in heart surgery(2,4,5,11,12). Supplementation with CoQ10 has also been found beneficial in patients with chronic stable angina, mitral valve prolapse and irregular heart beat (arrhythmias)(2-5,13-15).
Coenzyme Q10 has also proven useful in the treatment of various cardiomyopathies (diseases of the heart muscle that reduces its pumping capacity). Studies have shown that supplementation with as little as 100 mg/day for 12 months results in better pumping capacity (increased ejection fraction), increased muscle strength and improved breathing(2-4,16).
Several studies indicate that CoQ10 may be beneficial in the treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure). A study of 109 patients with long-standing, essential hypertension, who were on antihypertensive drugs, concluded that supplementation with an average of 225 mg/day of CoQ10 improved functional status, allowed about half the patients to discontinue most of their blood pressure medications and resulted in an average decrease of systolic blood pressure from 159 to 147 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure decrease from 94 to 85 mm Hg. Smaller, more recent Japanese studies have confirmed these findings(2-5,17-19).
Studies at the University of Ancona in Italy have provided evidence that CoQ10 supplementation reduces blood levels of epinephrine (adrenalin) and other catecholamines; this is believed to be partly responsible for the drop in blood pressure and may also explain why CoQ10 is effective in reducing the incidence of certain types of arrhythmias(2,20).
cww
Healthnotes Newswire (March 17, 2005)—Statin drugs, which are used by millions of Americans to lower cholesterol levels and prevent heart disease, can actually cause a worsening of heart function in some people. That adverse effect appears to be caused, at least in part, by a drug-induced deficiency of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and can be reversed by supplementation, reports the American Journal of Cardiology (2004;94:1306–10).
Statin drugs such as atorvastatin (Lipitor®), pravastatin (Pravachol®), and simvastatin (Zocor®) are potent cholesterol-lowering agents that work by blocking the body’s ability to produce cholesterol. Studies have shown that people with risk factors for heart disease can reduce their chances of suffering a heart attack or dying of heart disease by 30% or more if they take a statin drug. These drugs have a potential downside, however, because they also prevent the body from manufacturing CoQ10, a compound that is needed to produce the energy on which the body runs.
Previous studies have shown that people with heart failure have subnormal concentrations of CoQ10 in their heart muscle and that supplementing with CoQ10 can improve heart function and reduce the need for hospitalizations related to heart failure. Other research has shown that blood levels of CoQ10 fall when people take statin drugs. Whether or not that decline has implications for heart health has not been clear, although some doctors suspect that CoQ10 deficiency contributes to the muscle aches that often occur as a side effect of statin therapy. Thus, while statin therapy produces an overall benefit in heart disease–related mortality, it may increase the risk of developing heart failure.
The new study evaluated 14 people without a history of heart failure who had received atorvastatin for three to six months. In 10 of these people, atorvastatin treatment was associated with a worsening of at least one of three markers of heart function, and 5 people had a worsening of all three heart-function markers. Of the 10 people with worsening heart function, 9 were treated with 100 mg of CoQ10 three times a day for three months while continuing atorvastatin. Of those 9 people, 8 had an improvement in at least one of the three markers, and 5 had an improvement in all three markers of heart function.
The heart-function abnormalities seen in this study are potential precursors to heart failure. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that supplementing with CoQ10 may reduce the risk of developing heart failure in people taking atorvastatin. Since all of the statin drugs work the same way, and because other statin drugs have also been shown to lower CoQ10 levels, it is reasonable to assume that the results of this study would apply to the other statin drugs as well.
Alan R. Gaby, MD, an expert in nutritional therapies, testified to the White House Commission on CAM upon request in December 2001. Dr. Gaby served as a member of the Ad-Hoc Advisory Panel of the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine. He is the author of Preventing and Reversing Osteoporosis (Prima, 1994), and co-author of The Natural Pharmacy, 2nd Edition (Healthnotes, Three Rivers Press, 1999), the A–Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions (Healthnotes, Three Rivers Press, 1999), Clinical Essentials Volume 1 and 2 (Healthnotes, 2000), and The Patient’s Book of Natural Healing (Prima, 1999). A former professor at Bastyr University of Natural Health Sciences, in Kenmore, WA, where he served as the Endowed Professor of Nutrition, Dr. Gaby is the Chief Medical Editor for Healthnotes, Inc.
Comment: When you look at what CoQ10 does and see that a drug that is suppose to treat heart disease can potentially cause a deficiency, it makes me wonder, WHAT ARE THEY THINKING... Here is a just a few things this wonder nutrient does...
Coenzyme Q10
The Wonder Nutrient
by Hans R. Larsen, MSc ChE
What does congestive heart failure, gum disease and obesity have in common? Very often, a deficiency of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). A lack of CoQ10 has also been implicated in arrhythmias, strokes, hypertension, heart attacks, atherosclerosis, muscular dystrophy and AIDS and many of these diseases can be prevented and treated successfully with CoQ10. Since its discovery and isolation 40 years ago hundreds of clinical research studies have been done on CoQ10 and it is now abundantly clear that this nutrient is absolutely vital to health(1-5).
Coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone/ubiquinol) is a fat-soluble quinone with a structure similar to that of vitamin K. It is a powerful antioxidant both on its own and in combination with vitamin E and is vital in powering the body's energy production (ATP) cycle. CoQ10 is found throughout the body in cell membranes, especially in the mitochondrial membranes and is particularly abundant in the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas and adrenal glands. The total body content of CoQ10 is only about 500-1500 mg and decreases with age(5).
Essential to the heart
Coenzyme Q10 has received particular attention in the prevention and treatment of various forms of cardiovascular disease. It is highly effective in preventing the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) that leads to atherosclerosis(2,6-8). Several studies have shown that patients with congestive heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases have significantly lower levels of CoQ10 in their heart tissue than do healthy people and supplementation with as little as 100 mg/day has been shown to markedly improve their condition. CoQ10 is now approved in Japan for the treatment of congestive heart failure(2-5,9,10).
Heart attacks and strokes produce a burst of free radicals (ischemia-reperfusion) that can result in extensive tissue damage. Patients with high CoQ10 levels suffer less damage from these events and Japanese researchers have found that CoQ10 supplementation prior to and immediately following open-heart surgery is highly beneficial in preventing reperfusion injury - a common complication in heart surgery(2,4,5,11,12). Supplementation with CoQ10 has also been found beneficial in patients with chronic stable angina, mitral valve prolapse and irregular heart beat (arrhythmias)(2-5,13-15).
Coenzyme Q10 has also proven useful in the treatment of various cardiomyopathies (diseases of the heart muscle that reduces its pumping capacity). Studies have shown that supplementation with as little as 100 mg/day for 12 months results in better pumping capacity (increased ejection fraction), increased muscle strength and improved breathing(2-4,16).
Several studies indicate that CoQ10 may be beneficial in the treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure). A study of 109 patients with long-standing, essential hypertension, who were on antihypertensive drugs, concluded that supplementation with an average of 225 mg/day of CoQ10 improved functional status, allowed about half the patients to discontinue most of their blood pressure medications and resulted in an average decrease of systolic blood pressure from 159 to 147 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure decrease from 94 to 85 mm Hg. Smaller, more recent Japanese studies have confirmed these findings(2-5,17-19).
Studies at the University of Ancona in Italy have provided evidence that CoQ10 supplementation reduces blood levels of epinephrine (adrenalin) and other catecholamines; this is believed to be partly responsible for the drop in blood pressure and may also explain why CoQ10 is effective in reducing the incidence of certain types of arrhythmias(2,20).
cww
Christopher Wiechert's Healthblogger is for educational or informational purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose or provide treatment for any condition. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a healthcare professional.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Super Size Me - The movie
The other night we finally watched the movie, Super Size Me. If you haven't seen it yet, you should. Watching it from my vantage point was fascinating. The movie showed a man who hated the fast food industry doing an experiment. He decided to see what would happen if he ate all his meals at McDonald's for a Month. He had a dietitian and an MD test his blood chemistry weekly. His body became very sick and he gained 24.5lbs in that 30 day period. In fact they told him if he didn't stop doing the experiment, he would most likely die from a cardiac event. The movie tried to link saturated fats as one of the big culprits, but I know better and so did the Doctor. The doctor was shocked at how much liver damage he was seeing, and he was quoted as saying: We never see this kind of damage from eating fats alone. Interesting. He also said the mans experiment was causing him to develop Hyperinsulinism. But the movie still gave the impression that saturated fat was one of the biggest problems here. The movie also showed that his diet consisted mostly of refined, high glycemic carbohydrates, from breads and sugar containing sodas. His cholesterol and triglycerides all went through the roof, he became very tired, he developed high blood pressure and his hunger ramped up and he found himself getting addicted to the food. From my vantage point it was clear what was going on here. The very high glycemic carbohydrate diet was raising his insulin levels to dangerously high levels and the bad fats, trans fatty acids in the fried foods, were the real enemies here in the fat catagory. Insulin increases appetite, makes you tired, elevates cholesterol, raises blood pressure, triglycerides and has been shown to cause the body to store fat. The body in this situation stores all excess sugars and starches and the fats that are consumed, as stored body fat, first in the liver and then adipose tissue, fat cells. Trans Fats clog the cells of the body and stop nutrients from getting in and out of the cells efficiently. The fatty liver, therefore was getting damaged by many factors, and it was happening very fast. Adds a new meaning to "Fast Food" doesn't it.
Here is how it all happens, from my webpage on weightloss...
According to food surveys, the most commonly eaten food in the USA is white flour in the form of bread, pasta and similar foods. The runner up is white flour and sugar combinations such as pie, cake, cookies, donuts, soft drinks etc.
All carbohydrates, both starch and sugars, are converted to sugar in the digestive process. White flour is in the form of sugar by the time it reaches the blood. Carbohydrate intake causes a rise in blood sugar. A rise in blood sugar causes a rise in insulin.
The pancreas has to put out insulin to enable blood sugar to enter cells for energy production, and to keep the blood sugar level normal. In children, the insulin receptors on the cells usually respond to insulin normally, and a fairly small amount of insulin is able to keep blood sugar in the normal range in spite of large sugar and starch consumption. Some people can eat lots of starch and sugar all their lives and stay thin. Their health is not as good as it could have been, but they do not develop obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes.
Many people do not inherit such good genes. The high intake of carbohydrates and resulting insulin production results in the cells becoming less and less responsive to insulin. It takes larger and larger amounts of insulin to enable cells to take in blood sugar and to keep the blood sugar level normal. This is insulin resistance. The first sign of this problem in most people is weight gain. Why is this? It is because insulin is a storage hormone. In excess amounts insulin causes the body to store both fat and blood sugar as fat. This weight gain may come at
age 10 or 30 or later. But it is a sign of insulin resistance and high levels of insulin in the blood. Some people do not gain weight as their insulin rises, but do develop high blood pressure or heart disease. Insulin is not a "bad" hormone (any more than LDL is "bad" cholesterol). You would be very ill and die without it. But in excess, it causes big problems.
The role of insulin:
Insulin lowers high blood sugar.
Insulin puts the metabolism in storage mode.
Insulin converts protein and blood sugar to fat.
Insulin causes fat in the diet to be stored in fat cells.
Insulin increases the production of cholesterol by the body.
Insulin causes the kidneys to retain water in the body.
Insulin stimulates the growth of artery wall cells.
Insulin stimulates the use of blood sugar for energy.
There is a second hormone involved in these processes. It is called Glucagon.
Glucagon works in opposition to insulin and has the opposite effects:
Glucagon raises low blood sugar.
Glucagon puts the metabolism in burning mode.
Glucagon converts protein and fat to glucose.
Glucagon causes dietary fat to be used for energy.
Glucagon releases fat from fat cells to be used for energy.
Glucagon reduces cholesterol production.
Glucagon causes the kidneys to release water from the body.
Glucagon causes artery wall cells to return to normal.
Glucagon stimulates the use of fat for energy.
It does not take a towering IQ to see that reducing insulin and raising Glucagon is in our best interests! The goal is the correct balance of both hormones. There is a cheap, safe, and effective way to do this. It is not a shot or pill. It is a matter of keeping protein intake at the correct level, and reducing carbohydrate intake to the level that is needed. The book gives instructions on how to calculate the lean body weight and protein needed. Until the calculation is made, women can start with three ounces of protein foods per meal and men can start with four ounces. The carbohydrate intake must be reduced to 15 grams three times a day if there is obesity, high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats, or type II diabetes.
For a person just wanting to lose a few pounds, a reduction to 60 grams a day is a good place to start.
Carbohydrate greatly raises insulin and has no effect on Glucagon.
A high carbohydrate and low protein diet has the greatest adverse effect on the insulin-glucagon ratio.
Protein slightly raises both.
Fat has no effect on either.
A diet that is moderate in protein and low in carbohydrate is the best way to have ideal levels of both insulin and Glucagon. This is good news, but when you try reducing carbohydrate intake, you will find out just how addicted you are!
"Syndrome X": What does all this have to do with major illnesses that kill people? The medical community generally views obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and hypertension as conditions that need to be diagnosed and treated.
But these conditions all have one thing in common - elevated insulin levels. Some researchers are calling insulin resistance and the resulting problems "syndrome X". These conditions caused by high insulin are generally treated with drugs that can cause even more problems. And if dietary changes are suggested, it will almost
certainly be in the direction of decreasing fat (and thus protein because protein foods usually contain fat) and increasing carbohydrates. And what did I just say about a high carbohydrate and low protein diet? It is the worst combination in that it raises insulin and reduces Glucagon. (This is why some of us have long believed that the diet suggested by the American Heart Association, television reporters, and most of the medical community is the diet most likely to CAUSE heart disease.)
Obesity:
Weight gain is often the first sign that insulin levels are rising. The cells no longer respond well to insulin, so more and more must be produced to force blood sugar into cells for energy production. Insulin forces glucose, fat and protein into storage as fat.
Diabetes:
(This mainly applies to type II diabetes, but the low carbohydrate diet also makes type I easier to treat.)
Even after insulin levels have started to rise, the blood sugar usually stays in the normal range. But as the person continues to live on a high starch and sugar diet, the insulin receptors on the cells are further damaged and eventually the pancreas can no longer make enough insulin to meet the increasing need. The blood sugar level goes up, glucose appears in the urine, and a diagnosis of "diabetes" will be made if a physician is consulted. Treatment may be oral medications to force the pancreas to make even more insulin, or injected insulin itself may be used. There may be high blood pressure, heart disease, and there will be declining health.
High blood pressure: Excess insulin causes blood pressure to go up in at least three ways: First, it causes the kidneys to retain both sodium and water in the body. Second, it causes a thickening of artery walls and makes them less elastic. And finally, excess insulin stimulates the nervous system to release other hormones which raise blood pressure.
High blood fats:
Triglycerides are a blood fat that is actually made from carbohydrates. Excess carbohydrate raises triglycerides.
Cholesterol is made in excess amounts by the liver if insulin levels are too high. You can either poison the liver into submission (my wording, not theirs) with medication, or reduce the carbohydrate intake. If you listen to the TV dietitians and try to reduce your fat and cholesterol intake, you will probably eat more carbohydrates to replace the lost calories. Things can only get worse unless your fat intake is extremely low - to a very unhealthful level.
Ancient cultures and their skeletal or mummified remains have been studied many times. Ancient Egyptians were bread eaters. Soldiers were issued five pounds of bread a day. Egyptians ate very large amounts of whole grain breads, plus fruits and vegetables. Almost no red meat. Some fish and poultry. The diet was fairly low in fat and protein, very high in complex carbohydrates. A nutritionist's dream, one might think.
It was what modern wisdom would consider the ideal. They should have been very healthy according to current thinking. But they were not. They suffered from clogged arteries, obesity, poor teeth, and other degenerative conditions. I have wondered for years why ancient Egyptians had heart disease without the benefit of factories and processed foods. Now we know. The very high starch intake produced high levels of insulin.
cww
Here is how it all happens, from my webpage on weightloss...
According to food surveys, the most commonly eaten food in the USA is white flour in the form of bread, pasta and similar foods. The runner up is white flour and sugar combinations such as pie, cake, cookies, donuts, soft drinks etc.
All carbohydrates, both starch and sugars, are converted to sugar in the digestive process. White flour is in the form of sugar by the time it reaches the blood. Carbohydrate intake causes a rise in blood sugar. A rise in blood sugar causes a rise in insulin.
The pancreas has to put out insulin to enable blood sugar to enter cells for energy production, and to keep the blood sugar level normal. In children, the insulin receptors on the cells usually respond to insulin normally, and a fairly small amount of insulin is able to keep blood sugar in the normal range in spite of large sugar and starch consumption. Some people can eat lots of starch and sugar all their lives and stay thin. Their health is not as good as it could have been, but they do not develop obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes.
Many people do not inherit such good genes. The high intake of carbohydrates and resulting insulin production results in the cells becoming less and less responsive to insulin. It takes larger and larger amounts of insulin to enable cells to take in blood sugar and to keep the blood sugar level normal. This is insulin resistance. The first sign of this problem in most people is weight gain. Why is this? It is because insulin is a storage hormone. In excess amounts insulin causes the body to store both fat and blood sugar as fat. This weight gain may come at
age 10 or 30 or later. But it is a sign of insulin resistance and high levels of insulin in the blood. Some people do not gain weight as their insulin rises, but do develop high blood pressure or heart disease. Insulin is not a "bad" hormone (any more than LDL is "bad" cholesterol). You would be very ill and die without it. But in excess, it causes big problems.
The role of insulin:
Insulin lowers high blood sugar.
Insulin puts the metabolism in storage mode.
Insulin converts protein and blood sugar to fat.
Insulin causes fat in the diet to be stored in fat cells.
Insulin increases the production of cholesterol by the body.
Insulin causes the kidneys to retain water in the body.
Insulin stimulates the growth of artery wall cells.
Insulin stimulates the use of blood sugar for energy.
There is a second hormone involved in these processes. It is called Glucagon.
Glucagon works in opposition to insulin and has the opposite effects:
Glucagon raises low blood sugar.
Glucagon puts the metabolism in burning mode.
Glucagon converts protein and fat to glucose.
Glucagon causes dietary fat to be used for energy.
Glucagon releases fat from fat cells to be used for energy.
Glucagon reduces cholesterol production.
Glucagon causes the kidneys to release water from the body.
Glucagon causes artery wall cells to return to normal.
Glucagon stimulates the use of fat for energy.
It does not take a towering IQ to see that reducing insulin and raising Glucagon is in our best interests! The goal is the correct balance of both hormones. There is a cheap, safe, and effective way to do this. It is not a shot or pill. It is a matter of keeping protein intake at the correct level, and reducing carbohydrate intake to the level that is needed. The book gives instructions on how to calculate the lean body weight and protein needed. Until the calculation is made, women can start with three ounces of protein foods per meal and men can start with four ounces. The carbohydrate intake must be reduced to 15 grams three times a day if there is obesity, high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats, or type II diabetes.
For a person just wanting to lose a few pounds, a reduction to 60 grams a day is a good place to start.
Carbohydrate greatly raises insulin and has no effect on Glucagon.
A high carbohydrate and low protein diet has the greatest adverse effect on the insulin-glucagon ratio.
Protein slightly raises both.
Fat has no effect on either.
A diet that is moderate in protein and low in carbohydrate is the best way to have ideal levels of both insulin and Glucagon. This is good news, but when you try reducing carbohydrate intake, you will find out just how addicted you are!
"Syndrome X": What does all this have to do with major illnesses that kill people? The medical community generally views obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and hypertension as conditions that need to be diagnosed and treated.
But these conditions all have one thing in common - elevated insulin levels. Some researchers are calling insulin resistance and the resulting problems "syndrome X". These conditions caused by high insulin are generally treated with drugs that can cause even more problems. And if dietary changes are suggested, it will almost
certainly be in the direction of decreasing fat (and thus protein because protein foods usually contain fat) and increasing carbohydrates. And what did I just say about a high carbohydrate and low protein diet? It is the worst combination in that it raises insulin and reduces Glucagon. (This is why some of us have long believed that the diet suggested by the American Heart Association, television reporters, and most of the medical community is the diet most likely to CAUSE heart disease.)
Obesity:
Weight gain is often the first sign that insulin levels are rising. The cells no longer respond well to insulin, so more and more must be produced to force blood sugar into cells for energy production. Insulin forces glucose, fat and protein into storage as fat.
Diabetes:
(This mainly applies to type II diabetes, but the low carbohydrate diet also makes type I easier to treat.)
Even after insulin levels have started to rise, the blood sugar usually stays in the normal range. But as the person continues to live on a high starch and sugar diet, the insulin receptors on the cells are further damaged and eventually the pancreas can no longer make enough insulin to meet the increasing need. The blood sugar level goes up, glucose appears in the urine, and a diagnosis of "diabetes" will be made if a physician is consulted. Treatment may be oral medications to force the pancreas to make even more insulin, or injected insulin itself may be used. There may be high blood pressure, heart disease, and there will be declining health.
High blood pressure: Excess insulin causes blood pressure to go up in at least three ways: First, it causes the kidneys to retain both sodium and water in the body. Second, it causes a thickening of artery walls and makes them less elastic. And finally, excess insulin stimulates the nervous system to release other hormones which raise blood pressure.
High blood fats:
Triglycerides are a blood fat that is actually made from carbohydrates. Excess carbohydrate raises triglycerides.
Cholesterol is made in excess amounts by the liver if insulin levels are too high. You can either poison the liver into submission (my wording, not theirs) with medication, or reduce the carbohydrate intake. If you listen to the TV dietitians and try to reduce your fat and cholesterol intake, you will probably eat more carbohydrates to replace the lost calories. Things can only get worse unless your fat intake is extremely low - to a very unhealthful level.
Ancient cultures and their skeletal or mummified remains have been studied many times. Ancient Egyptians were bread eaters. Soldiers were issued five pounds of bread a day. Egyptians ate very large amounts of whole grain breads, plus fruits and vegetables. Almost no red meat. Some fish and poultry. The diet was fairly low in fat and protein, very high in complex carbohydrates. A nutritionist's dream, one might think.
It was what modern wisdom would consider the ideal. They should have been very healthy according to current thinking. But they were not. They suffered from clogged arteries, obesity, poor teeth, and other degenerative conditions. I have wondered for years why ancient Egyptians had heart disease without the benefit of factories and processed foods. Now we know. The very high starch intake produced high levels of insulin.
cww
Friday, March 18, 2005
Ritalin, cancer risk linked
Ritalin, cancer risk linked
Provided by Wilkes-Barre Times Leader on 3/18/2005
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Health experts say the first human study linking Ritalin, the most popular drug used to treat attention-deficit problems, to a higher risk of cancer is raising alarms.
But they caution that more and larger studies should be conducted before pediatricians and therapists curtail prescribing Ritalin for the millions of children and adults in the United States who have benefited from its use for more than 50 years.
"This study doesn't mean that these kids are going to get cancer, but it does mean they are exposed to an additional risk factor, assuming this study holds up", said Marvin Legator, an environmental toxicologist and principal investigator on the study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Mr. Legator acknowledged this week that the study group is small. But he said it was the first such study involving results in humans.
This should raise a red flag, Legator said. There's no question we need a bigger study before we take any further major action.
The drug is now made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. In a statement, Novartis repeated the safety record of the drug, which it said has been used for years with no clinical evidence of a link to the development of cancer in humans.
Novartis continues to stand behind the safety and efficacy of Ritalin, which is an important treatment option for patients with ADHD, the statement said.
Your brain needs DHA
NEW YORK, NY. Dr. Barbara Levine, Professor of Nutrition in Medicine at Cornell University, sounds the alarm concerning a totally inadequate intake of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) by most Americans. DHA is the building block of human brain tissue and is particularly abundant in the grey matter of the brain and the retina. Low levels of DHA have recently been associated with depression, memory loss, dementia, and visual problems. DHA is particularly important for fetuses and infants; the DHA content of the infant's brain triples during the first three months of life. Optimal levels of DHA are therefore crucial for pregnant and lactating mothers. Unfortunately, the average DHA content of breast milk in the United States is the lowest in the world, most likely because Americans eat comparatively little fish. Making matters worse is the fact that the United States is the only country in the world where infant formulas are not fortified with DHA. This despite a 1995 recommendation by the World Health Organization that all baby formulas should provide 40 mg of DHA per kilogram of infant body weight. Dr. Levine believes that postpartum depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and low IQs are all linked to the dismally low DHA intake common in the United States. Dr. Levine also points out that low DHA levels have been linked to low brain serotonin levels which again are connected to an increased tendency to depression, suicide, and violence. DHA is abundant in marine phytoplankton and cold-water fish and nutritionists now recommend that people consume two to three servings of fish every week to maintain DHA levels. If this is not possible, Dr. Levine suggests supplementing with 100 mg/day of DHA.
Levine, Barbara S. Most frequently asked questions about DHA. Nutrition Today, Vol. 32, November/December 1997, pp. 248-49
Hyperactive children lack essential fatty acids
WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA. Children suffering from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive. Researchers at Purdue University now report that hyperactive children have lower levels of key fatty acids in their blood than do normal children. Their experiment involved 53 boys aged 6 to 12 years of age who suffered from ADHD, but were otherwise healthy and 43 matched controls. Analyses showed that the boys with ADHD had significantly lower levels of arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids in their blood. The hyperactive children suffered more from symptoms associated with essential fatty acid deficiency (thirst, frequent urination, and dry hair and skin) and were also much more likely to have asthma and to have had many ear infections. The researchers conclude that ADHD may be linked to a low intake of omega-3 fatty acids (linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids) or a poorer ability to convert 18-carbon fatty acids to longer more highly unsaturated acids. The researchers conclude that supplementation with the missing fatty acids may be a useful treatment for hyperactivity.
Stevens, Laura J., et al. Essential fatty acid metabolism in boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 62, No. 4, October 1995, pp. 761-68
Fish oils may help dyslexic children
GUILDFORD, UNITED KINGDOM. Dyslexia is a fairly common condition which involves difficulties in learning to read and write, mirror reversals of letters and words, and poor short-term memory. Dyslexia is closely related to dyspraxia (problems with coordination and muscle control) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is estimated that about 10% of the populations of the United States and the United Kingdom suffer from dyslexia and 4% are severely affected. There was a 3-fold increase in the prevalence of learning disorders in the USA over the period 1976 to 1993 and 80% of the new cases involved dyslexia.
Dr. Jacqueline Stordy of the University of Surrey believes that dyslexia, dyspraxia, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder have one common denominator - a deficiency of long-chain fatty acids. She points to a study which found improved dark adaptation (a problem among dyslexics) after supplementation with 480 mg/day of docosahexaenoic acid (a main constituent of fish oil) for a month. Another study involving 15 dyspractic children found that supplementation with a proprietary mixture of tuna oil, evening primrose oil, thyme oil, and vitamin E for 4 months markedly improved their motor skills. The mixture provided 480 mg of docosahexaenoic acid, 35 mg of arachidonic acid, 96 mg of alpha-linolenic acid, 80 mg of vitamin E, and 24 mg of thyme oil daily. Dr. Stordy concludes that long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplements may benefit children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and notes that large, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are already underway to verify this hypothesis.
Stordy, B. Jacqueline. Dark adaptation, motor skills, docosahexaenoic acid, and dyslexia. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 71 (suppl), January 2000, pp. 323S-26S
cww
Pass this along...
Provided by Wilkes-Barre Times Leader on 3/18/2005
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Health experts say the first human study linking Ritalin, the most popular drug used to treat attention-deficit problems, to a higher risk of cancer is raising alarms.
But they caution that more and larger studies should be conducted before pediatricians and therapists curtail prescribing Ritalin for the millions of children and adults in the United States who have benefited from its use for more than 50 years.
In a study to be published in Cancer Letters, Texas researchers found that after only three months, every one of a dozen children treated with Ritalin had a three-fold increase in chromosome abnormalities associated with increased risks of cancer.
"This study doesn't mean that these kids are going to get cancer, but it does mean they are exposed to an additional risk factor, assuming this study holds up", said Marvin Legator, an environmental toxicologist and principal investigator on the study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Mr. Legator acknowledged this week that the study group is small. But he said it was the first such study involving results in humans.
This should raise a red flag, Legator said. There's no question we need a bigger study before we take any further major action.
The drug is now made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. In a statement, Novartis repeated the safety record of the drug, which it said has been used for years with no clinical evidence of a link to the development of cancer in humans.
Novartis continues to stand behind the safety and efficacy of Ritalin, which is an important treatment option for patients with ADHD, the statement said.
Comment:
As if there were not enough problems with Ritalin already, this should make all parents think twice about using this approach to treating ADHD, when a natural approach is available.
Here are some studies that show that there are natural options to addressing a hyper active, attention deficit child, and they deal with fixing biochemical issues that are at the cause of the problem:
Your brain needs DHA
NEW YORK, NY. Dr. Barbara Levine, Professor of Nutrition in Medicine at Cornell University, sounds the alarm concerning a totally inadequate intake of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) by most Americans. DHA is the building block of human brain tissue and is particularly abundant in the grey matter of the brain and the retina. Low levels of DHA have recently been associated with depression, memory loss, dementia, and visual problems. DHA is particularly important for fetuses and infants; the DHA content of the infant's brain triples during the first three months of life. Optimal levels of DHA are therefore crucial for pregnant and lactating mothers. Unfortunately, the average DHA content of breast milk in the United States is the lowest in the world, most likely because Americans eat comparatively little fish. Making matters worse is the fact that the United States is the only country in the world where infant formulas are not fortified with DHA. This despite a 1995 recommendation by the World Health Organization that all baby formulas should provide 40 mg of DHA per kilogram of infant body weight. Dr. Levine believes that postpartum depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and low IQs are all linked to the dismally low DHA intake common in the United States. Dr. Levine also points out that low DHA levels have been linked to low brain serotonin levels which again are connected to an increased tendency to depression, suicide, and violence. DHA is abundant in marine phytoplankton and cold-water fish and nutritionists now recommend that people consume two to three servings of fish every week to maintain DHA levels. If this is not possible, Dr. Levine suggests supplementing with 100 mg/day of DHA.
Levine, Barbara S. Most frequently asked questions about DHA. Nutrition Today, Vol. 32, November/December 1997, pp. 248-49
Hyperactive children lack essential fatty acids
WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA. Children suffering from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive. Researchers at Purdue University now report that hyperactive children have lower levels of key fatty acids in their blood than do normal children. Their experiment involved 53 boys aged 6 to 12 years of age who suffered from ADHD, but were otherwise healthy and 43 matched controls. Analyses showed that the boys with ADHD had significantly lower levels of arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids in their blood. The hyperactive children suffered more from symptoms associated with essential fatty acid deficiency (thirst, frequent urination, and dry hair and skin) and were also much more likely to have asthma and to have had many ear infections. The researchers conclude that ADHD may be linked to a low intake of omega-3 fatty acids (linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids) or a poorer ability to convert 18-carbon fatty acids to longer more highly unsaturated acids. The researchers conclude that supplementation with the missing fatty acids may be a useful treatment for hyperactivity.
Stevens, Laura J., et al. Essential fatty acid metabolism in boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 62, No. 4, October 1995, pp. 761-68
Fish oils may help dyslexic children
GUILDFORD, UNITED KINGDOM. Dyslexia is a fairly common condition which involves difficulties in learning to read and write, mirror reversals of letters and words, and poor short-term memory. Dyslexia is closely related to dyspraxia (problems with coordination and muscle control) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is estimated that about 10% of the populations of the United States and the United Kingdom suffer from dyslexia and 4% are severely affected. There was a 3-fold increase in the prevalence of learning disorders in the USA over the period 1976 to 1993 and 80% of the new cases involved dyslexia.
Dr. Jacqueline Stordy of the University of Surrey believes that dyslexia, dyspraxia, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder have one common denominator - a deficiency of long-chain fatty acids. She points to a study which found improved dark adaptation (a problem among dyslexics) after supplementation with 480 mg/day of docosahexaenoic acid (a main constituent of fish oil) for a month. Another study involving 15 dyspractic children found that supplementation with a proprietary mixture of tuna oil, evening primrose oil, thyme oil, and vitamin E for 4 months markedly improved their motor skills. The mixture provided 480 mg of docosahexaenoic acid, 35 mg of arachidonic acid, 96 mg of alpha-linolenic acid, 80 mg of vitamin E, and 24 mg of thyme oil daily. Dr. Stordy concludes that long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplements may benefit children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and notes that large, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are already underway to verify this hypothesis.
Stordy, B. Jacqueline. Dark adaptation, motor skills, docosahexaenoic acid, and dyslexia. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 71 (suppl), January 2000, pp. 323S-26S
cww
Pass this along...
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Health benefits of Green tea
Publish Date : 3/16/2005 2:32:00 AM
Source : Health Section ExpressNewsline.com
Green tea has been used for centuries for its therapeutic and medicinal qualities. Asians particularly Chinese and Japanese drink one to two cups per day, as a cleanser for the body.
Benefits of green tea:
Green tea is known to be one of the strongest natural antioxidants. An antioxidant is a substance which fights disease by preventing cellular damage caused by free radicals. These free radicals can cause cancer, heart disease and many other life-threatening ailments.
Green tea takes its health benefits from its high levels of polyphenols, which neutralize free radicals in much the same way as antioxidants do. Polyphenols prevent the oxidation of cholesterol, thereby reducing blood vessel damage. This makes green tea a potent weapon against stroke and other cardiovascular ailments.
To obtain maximum benefits from green tea, four cups daily should be consumed, although even one cup daily can result in a marked improvement in general health. In cultures where green tea consumption is high, the rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease are drastically lower.
How to make green tea?
When using green tea for its health benefits, it is important to brew it properly. To brew loose green tea, drop one teaspoonful of tea into freshly-boiled water and let steep, covered, for five minutes before drinking. Timing is very important since allowing the tea to steep for a longer or shorter time will affect the antioxidant properties. Never reuse leaves or teabags, since a large part of the healthful properties will not be present.
Green tea is marketed in health food stores and in many of the larger supermarkets. There are several varieties from both Japan and China whick contain the same healthful benefits. When choosing a green tea, always purchase the highest quality available since the higher grades contain even higher polyphenol levels. Fresh green tea leaves should be a light yellow or light green. If the leaves have a brown tint, it usually means that the tea is not fresh and the potency is reduced.
Comment: Drink it daily...
Long Life Organic Green Tea
If you are getting this Healthblogger for the first time and want to subscribe, it's free, please send us your e-mail and ask us to add you to our list.
cww@cwiechert.com
Source : Health Section ExpressNewsline.com
Green tea has been used for centuries for its therapeutic and medicinal qualities. Asians particularly Chinese and Japanese drink one to two cups per day, as a cleanser for the body.
Benefits of green tea:
Green tea is known to be one of the strongest natural antioxidants. An antioxidant is a substance which fights disease by preventing cellular damage caused by free radicals. These free radicals can cause cancer, heart disease and many other life-threatening ailments.
Green tea takes its health benefits from its high levels of polyphenols, which neutralize free radicals in much the same way as antioxidants do. Polyphenols prevent the oxidation of cholesterol, thereby reducing blood vessel damage. This makes green tea a potent weapon against stroke and other cardiovascular ailments.
Green tea also acts as a mild diuretic, ridding the body of excess water.
It acts as a detoxifier for the blood.
It is good for teeth as it contains fluoride content.
Green tea is good for women experiencing menopause, as body needs more vitamins and minerals by this time and green tea is the goodrce of these nutrients.
It eases the circulation of blood in the body.
Regular consumption of green tea can reduce overall cholesterol levels as well as levels of LDL (harmful) cholesterol.
A reduction of overall blood pressure and heart disease is one of the most important benefits of green tea consumption and studies have proven that, for those who consume several cups daily, the risk for stroke and heart disease may be reduced by one-half.
Cancer risk can also be diminished by the use of green tea.
Green tea strengthens cellular DNA.
This inhibits cellular mutation and slows the growth of tumors which may already exist. Additionally, ointments prepared using green tea extracts have been shown effective in treating some types of skin cancer. For those undergoing chemotherapy, green tea serves to boost the activity of B cells, T cells and natural killer cells, which are key components of the immune system.
In countries where green tea is consumed on a regular basis, the cancer rates are significantly lower. Other benefits of green tea include being an aid to digestion and reducing dental plaque.
To obtain maximum benefits from green tea, four cups daily should be consumed, although even one cup daily can result in a marked improvement in general health. In cultures where green tea consumption is high, the rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease are drastically lower.
How to make green tea?
When using green tea for its health benefits, it is important to brew it properly. To brew loose green tea, drop one teaspoonful of tea into freshly-boiled water and let steep, covered, for five minutes before drinking. Timing is very important since allowing the tea to steep for a longer or shorter time will affect the antioxidant properties. Never reuse leaves or teabags, since a large part of the healthful properties will not be present.
Green tea is marketed in health food stores and in many of the larger supermarkets. There are several varieties from both Japan and China whick contain the same healthful benefits. When choosing a green tea, always purchase the highest quality available since the higher grades contain even higher polyphenol levels. Fresh green tea leaves should be a light yellow or light green. If the leaves have a brown tint, it usually means that the tea is not fresh and the potency is reduced.
Comment: Drink it daily...
Long Life Organic Green Tea
If you are getting this Healthblogger for the first time and want to subscribe, it's free, please send us your e-mail and ask us to add you to our list.
cww@cwiechert.com
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Obesity Higher in Some European Countries
Wed Mar 16, 2:19 PM ET
By JENNA PAYNE, Associated Press Writer
BRUSSELS, Belgium - At least seven European countries now challenge the United States in size — at least around the waistline. In a group of nations from Greece to Germany, the proportion of overweight or obese men is higher than in the U.S., experts said Tuesday in a major analysis of expanding girth on the European continent.
"The time when obesity was thought to be a problem on the other side of the Atlantic has gone by," said Mars Di Bartolomeo, Luxembourg's Minister of Health.
In Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Malta and Slovakia, a higher percentage of men are obese or overweight than the estimated 67 percent of men in the United States, according to a report from the International Obesity Task Force, a coalition of researchers and institutions.
The analysis was released as the 25-nation European Union (news - web sites) announced an initiative to enlist the food and marketing industries in the fight against fat.
In Greece, for example, 38 percent of women are obese, compared with 34 percent in the United States, the group said.
Even in countries with low rates of obesity, troubling trends are emerging. In France, obesity in women rose from 8 percent in 1997 to 11.3 percent in 2003, and from 8.4 percent to 11.4 percent in men.
The change in diets, which the obesity task force said has occurred over the past two decades, affects children most because it is reflected in school lunches.
The task force estimated that among the EU's 103 million youngsters the number of those overweight rises by 400,000 each year. More than 30 percent of children ages 7 to 11 are overweight in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Malta, it said.
The International Obesity Task Force, which is advising the European Union, had estimated in 2003 that about 200 million of the 350 million adults living in what is now the European Union may be overweight or obese.
However, a closer evaluation of the figures in the latest analysis indicated that may be an underestimate, according to the group.
To counter the worsening trend, the EU is pushing a united effort from the food and marketing industries, consumer groups and health experts.
"The industry is being challenged to demonstrate, transparently, that it is going to be part of the solution," Philip James, chairman of the IOTF said in a telephone interview after the launch of the program in Brussels.
"They have to say how much more money they will add to help solve the obesity problem. They have to put forward a plan on how exactly they are going to contribute year by year, and their contribution has to get bigger every year," he added.
The food industry says it will better inform consumers with detailed nutrition labels. The EU office also wants tastier healthy foods to compete with high-calorie, non-nutritious fare.
Studies have shown that being overweight can dramatically increase the risk of certain diseases, such as diabetes. Obesity is also linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, respiratory disease, arthritis and some types of cancer.
"We can have disastrous effects from (obesity) on health and the national economy," EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said.
Comment: A diet high in fish, vegies and fruits is very similar to the Ideal diet I describe in my website.
When our diet includes too many grains, breads and cereals, it raises our insulin levels, which causes our bodies to accumulate fat, from sugars, starches and the fats we consume...
It's called Hyperinsulinism and it causes diseases like those listed in the report.
cww
If you are getting this Healthblogger for the first time and want to subscribe, it's free, please send us your e-mail and ask us to add you to our list.
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
By JENNA PAYNE, Associated Press Writer
BRUSSELS, Belgium - At least seven European countries now challenge the United States in size — at least around the waistline. In a group of nations from Greece to Germany, the proportion of overweight or obese men is higher than in the U.S., experts said Tuesday in a major analysis of expanding girth on the European continent.
"The time when obesity was thought to be a problem on the other side of the Atlantic has gone by," said Mars Di Bartolomeo, Luxembourg's Minister of Health.
In Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Malta and Slovakia, a higher percentage of men are obese or overweight than the estimated 67 percent of men in the United States, according to a report from the International Obesity Task Force, a coalition of researchers and institutions.
The analysis was released as the 25-nation European Union (news - web sites) announced an initiative to enlist the food and marketing industries in the fight against fat.
Obesity is especially acute in Mediterranean countries, underscoring concerns that people in the southern region are turning away from the traditional diet of fish, fruits and vegetables to fast food high in fat and refined carbohydrates.
In Greece, for example, 38 percent of women are obese, compared with 34 percent in the United States, the group said.
Even in countries with low rates of obesity, troubling trends are emerging. In France, obesity in women rose from 8 percent in 1997 to 11.3 percent in 2003, and from 8.4 percent to 11.4 percent in men.
The change in diets, which the obesity task force said has occurred over the past two decades, affects children most because it is reflected in school lunches.
The task force estimated that among the EU's 103 million youngsters the number of those overweight rises by 400,000 each year. More than 30 percent of children ages 7 to 11 are overweight in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Malta, it said.
That matches estimates for American children. Among American adults, about two-thirds are overweight or obese; nearly one-third qualify as obese.
The International Obesity Task Force, which is advising the European Union, had estimated in 2003 that about 200 million of the 350 million adults living in what is now the European Union may be overweight or obese.
However, a closer evaluation of the figures in the latest analysis indicated that may be an underestimate, according to the group.
To counter the worsening trend, the EU is pushing a united effort from the food and marketing industries, consumer groups and health experts.
"The industry is being challenged to demonstrate, transparently, that it is going to be part of the solution," Philip James, chairman of the IOTF said in a telephone interview after the launch of the program in Brussels.
"They have to say how much more money they will add to help solve the obesity problem. They have to put forward a plan on how exactly they are going to contribute year by year, and their contribution has to get bigger every year," he added.
The food industry says it will better inform consumers with detailed nutrition labels. The EU office also wants tastier healthy foods to compete with high-calorie, non-nutritious fare.
Studies have shown that being overweight can dramatically increase the risk of certain diseases, such as diabetes. Obesity is also linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, respiratory disease, arthritis and some types of cancer.
"We can have disastrous effects from (obesity) on health and the national economy," EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said.
Comment: A diet high in fish, vegies and fruits is very similar to the Ideal diet I describe in my website.
When our diet includes too many grains, breads and cereals, it raises our insulin levels, which causes our bodies to accumulate fat, from sugars, starches and the fats we consume...
It's called Hyperinsulinism and it causes diseases like those listed in the report.
cww
If you are getting this Healthblogger for the first time and want to subscribe, it's free, please send us your e-mail and ask us to add you to our list.
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
AMA journal says vitamin E preventive benefit in macular degeneration outweighs possible risks...
From the Bolen Reort
Other recent headlines *
Vitamin E Supplements Produced a 90% Decrease in PSA (Prostate Cancer Marker)
Vitamin C and E Supplements Reduce Cognitive Dementia Risk 88%
Vitamin E Supplements Reduce Breast Cancer Risk 80%
Vitamin C and E Supplements Reduce Alzheimer's Risk 78%
Low Vitamin E Predicts Heart Attacks 62%
Vitamin E Supplements Reduce Bladder Cancer Risk 50%
Vitamin C and E Reduced Intensive Care Deaths 48%
Vitamin E Reduced Heart Attacks, Death in Diabetics 40%
Bottom Line: Vitamin E is a Serious Threat to the Pharmaceutical Business.
So the following should not be surprising...
That's Outrageous
NEW VITAMIN E SCARE
Vitamin E supplements may increase heart failure risk, new study..?!?
"In conjunction with its lack of efficacy, the potential for harm suggested by our findings strongly supports the view that vitamin E supplements should not be used in patients with vascular disease or diabetes mellitus," the authors write. "Our study also has wider implications. There is a tendency to accept 'natural products' (e.g., vitamins) as being safe, even if they have not been proven to be effective. However, our findings emphasize the need to thoroughly evaluate all vitamins, other natural products, and complementary medicines in appropriately designed trials before they are widely used for presumed health benefits." (JAMA. 2005;293:1338-1347. Available post-embargo at jama.com)
This totally outrageous recommendation is based on a single finding. "Although this adverse effect of vitamin E was unexpected and cannot be confirmed at this time" most conventional doctors will accept this hook, line and sinker.
Our questions: Were any subjects taking aspirin? Or prescription drugs, including statins? What form of vitamin E? How did they isolate the effect of vitamin E from other confounding factors? Why, as they admit, has this result not be seen in the thousands of other studies? Was the effect strong, or weak? What is the theory? Who benefits from this news? Who really wrote this paper? Was there another pro-vitamin E study published recently? (Hint: Today's headline.)
Do you enjoy having the world-wide 'news' manipulated by pharamaceutical interests?
See: THE VITAMIN E EVIDENCE The Tip of the Iceberg for the efficay of Vitamin E...
cww
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
Share this e-mail with anyone who may benefit.
Other recent headlines *
Vitamin E Supplements Produced a 90% Decrease in PSA (Prostate Cancer Marker)
Vitamin C and E Supplements Reduce Cognitive Dementia Risk 88%
Vitamin E Supplements Reduce Breast Cancer Risk 80%
Vitamin C and E Supplements Reduce Alzheimer's Risk 78%
Low Vitamin E Predicts Heart Attacks 62%
Vitamin E Supplements Reduce Bladder Cancer Risk 50%
Vitamin C and E Reduced Intensive Care Deaths 48%
Vitamin E Reduced Heart Attacks, Death in Diabetics 40%
Bottom Line: Vitamin E is a Serious Threat to the Pharmaceutical Business.
So the following should not be surprising...
That's Outrageous
NEW VITAMIN E SCARE
Vitamin E supplements may increase heart failure risk, new study..?!?
"In conjunction with its lack of efficacy, the potential for harm suggested by our findings strongly supports the view that vitamin E supplements should not be used in patients with vascular disease or diabetes mellitus," the authors write. "Our study also has wider implications. There is a tendency to accept 'natural products' (e.g., vitamins) as being safe, even if they have not been proven to be effective. However, our findings emphasize the need to thoroughly evaluate all vitamins, other natural products, and complementary medicines in appropriately designed trials before they are widely used for presumed health benefits." (JAMA. 2005;293:1338-1347. Available post-embargo at jama.com)
This totally outrageous recommendation is based on a single finding. "Although this adverse effect of vitamin E was unexpected and cannot be confirmed at this time" most conventional doctors will accept this hook, line and sinker.
Our questions: Were any subjects taking aspirin? Or prescription drugs, including statins? What form of vitamin E? How did they isolate the effect of vitamin E from other confounding factors? Why, as they admit, has this result not be seen in the thousands of other studies? Was the effect strong, or weak? What is the theory? Who benefits from this news? Who really wrote this paper? Was there another pro-vitamin E study published recently? (Hint: Today's headline.)
Do you enjoy having the world-wide 'news' manipulated by pharamaceutical interests?
See: THE VITAMIN E EVIDENCE The Tip of the Iceberg for the efficay of Vitamin E...
cww
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
Share this e-mail with anyone who may benefit.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Carbs fuel appetite, study concludes
A new study of obese diabetics shows why the pounds melt so quickly with low-carbohydrate diets _ carbs fuel appetite.
"We proved that people lose weight on the Atkins diet because they eat less (consume fewer calories), not because they get bored with the diet or lose body water or because the carbohydrate calories are treated differently by the body than fat or protein calories," said Dr. Guenther Boden, a professor of medicine who specializes in diabetes and metabolism at Temple University in Philadelphia.
The study, published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, used 10 volunteers who spent three weeks in hospital rooms, the first on their regular diet, the last two on the restricted-carbs diet.
All the subjects had mild type 2 diabetes (in which the body either doesn't produce enough insulin or doesn't efficiently use what it produces to break down sugar). Almost 80 percent of diabetics are overweight or obese, compounding health risks such as heart disease and stroke. Boden wanted to examine how a low-carb diet, which has been shown to produce rapid weight loss, would affect weight, appetite and blood-sugar levels in obese diabetics.
Most other recent studies of the Atkins diet have allowed patients to stay at home and self-report their diet and exercise. But in the new study, the patients stayed in the hospital to ensure exact measurements of calorie intake and expenditure.
During the first week, the patients could eat anything and as much as they wanted, and they ate an average of 3,111 calories a day, and about 300 grams of carbohydrates a day.
In the following two weeks, when restricted to 20 grams of carbs a day, and despite readily available protein and high-fat foods, the patients ate about 1,000 fewer calories a day, a calorie intake considered appropriate to their height and weight. And they lost an average of about 3.6 pounds each.
Along with the calorie reduction and weight loss, the patients experienced substantial improvement in blood glucose levels and insulin sensitivity, as well as lower triglycerides and cholesterol.
"Although they could have, they did not compensate by eating more proteins and fats, and they weren't bored by the food choices. In fact, they loved the diet. This indicates to me that it was the carbohydrates (they had been eating) that stimulated the excess appetite," Boden said.
"They spontaneously reduced their calories by about 1,000 calories a day. One gram of fat equals nine calories, so doing the math, you can determine how much fat will be lost by cutting 1,000 calories," Boden said.
He cautioned that the long-term health effects of low-carb diets are not known, and that it's uncertain whether other types of diets might have a similar impact on obese diabetics, something he hopes will be investigated.
People seeking to lose weight don't have to cut carbs as drastically as the Atkins diet calls for, Boden said, but "the message is: calories count. If you want to lose weight, you have to decrease your food intake or increase your physical activity. But it helps to know that carbohydrates make it more difficult to reduce your caloric intake, so with fewer carbs, you're going to eat fewer total calories a day."
Comment: There is no question that high glycemic carbs like grains, cereals and breads and sugar containing foods and drinks, increase appetite by increasing insulin levels. While the Atkins Diet is effective at normalizing insulin and blood sugar levels, it does so by using more fats than is necessary, and therefore is not as effective as the HealthPointe Program in losing body fat.
To learn more about the HealthPointe program see WEIGHTLOSS
Also see what else elevated insulin does to your health: SYNDROME X
CWW
www.cwiechert.com
Share this Blog with friends
"We proved that people lose weight on the Atkins diet because they eat less (consume fewer calories), not because they get bored with the diet or lose body water or because the carbohydrate calories are treated differently by the body than fat or protein calories," said Dr. Guenther Boden, a professor of medicine who specializes in diabetes and metabolism at Temple University in Philadelphia.
The study, published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, used 10 volunteers who spent three weeks in hospital rooms, the first on their regular diet, the last two on the restricted-carbs diet.
All the subjects had mild type 2 diabetes (in which the body either doesn't produce enough insulin or doesn't efficiently use what it produces to break down sugar). Almost 80 percent of diabetics are overweight or obese, compounding health risks such as heart disease and stroke. Boden wanted to examine how a low-carb diet, which has been shown to produce rapid weight loss, would affect weight, appetite and blood-sugar levels in obese diabetics.
Most other recent studies of the Atkins diet have allowed patients to stay at home and self-report their diet and exercise. But in the new study, the patients stayed in the hospital to ensure exact measurements of calorie intake and expenditure.
During the first week, the patients could eat anything and as much as they wanted, and they ate an average of 3,111 calories a day, and about 300 grams of carbohydrates a day.
In the following two weeks, when restricted to 20 grams of carbs a day, and despite readily available protein and high-fat foods, the patients ate about 1,000 fewer calories a day, a calorie intake considered appropriate to their height and weight. And they lost an average of about 3.6 pounds each.
Along with the calorie reduction and weight loss, the patients experienced substantial improvement in blood glucose levels and insulin sensitivity, as well as lower triglycerides and cholesterol.
"Although they could have, they did not compensate by eating more proteins and fats, and they weren't bored by the food choices. In fact, they loved the diet. This indicates to me that it was the carbohydrates (they had been eating) that stimulated the excess appetite," Boden said.
"They spontaneously reduced their calories by about 1,000 calories a day. One gram of fat equals nine calories, so doing the math, you can determine how much fat will be lost by cutting 1,000 calories," Boden said.
He cautioned that the long-term health effects of low-carb diets are not known, and that it's uncertain whether other types of diets might have a similar impact on obese diabetics, something he hopes will be investigated.
People seeking to lose weight don't have to cut carbs as drastically as the Atkins diet calls for, Boden said, but "the message is: calories count. If you want to lose weight, you have to decrease your food intake or increase your physical activity. But it helps to know that carbohydrates make it more difficult to reduce your caloric intake, so with fewer carbs, you're going to eat fewer total calories a day."
Comment: There is no question that high glycemic carbs like grains, cereals and breads and sugar containing foods and drinks, increase appetite by increasing insulin levels. While the Atkins Diet is effective at normalizing insulin and blood sugar levels, it does so by using more fats than is necessary, and therefore is not as effective as the HealthPointe Program in losing body fat.
To learn more about the HealthPointe program see WEIGHTLOSS
Also see what else elevated insulin does to your health: SYNDROME X
CWW
www.cwiechert.com
Share this Blog with friends
Thursday, March 10, 2005
What's the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S ?
Doctors
A Quarter-Million Doctor-Induced Deaths Annually: Iatrogenocide?
What is the meaning of the word Iatrogenic:
IATROGENIC [Gk., iatros, physician, genein, to produce], caused by treatment or diagnostic procedures. An iatrogenic disorder is a condition caused by medical personnel or procedures or through exposure to the environment of a health care facility, including fears instilled in patients by remarks or questions of examining physicians. See also: 'nosocomial', (iatrogenesis, iatrogeny, n.) ~Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 5th Edition, 1998
A generation ago, people trusted their doctors blindly and implicitly. The personal bonds people used to form with their doctors have largely been replaced with the cold hard contemporary reality that medicine has become a $multi-billion per year business with little room for compassion. The healthcare market place is not kind and people have lost trust. Iatrogeny plays a large and ugly role in this.
A recent study published in The Journal of The American Medical Association (2000:284:94) by Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, showed that in the U.S. there are:
· 12,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery
· 7,000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals
· 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals
· 80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals
· 106,000 deaths/year from adverse effects of medications
This totals 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes, placing iatrogeny as the third leading cause of death in the U.S., second only to heart disease and cancer. The scary part is that this does not include disabilities and disorders; just deaths in hospitalized patients. In any event, when one ponders that more than four times as many people die in one year from doctors' mistakes than died in the entire Vietnam War, one is aghast at why this information isn't making headlines or why huge think tanks funded by medicopolitical interests haven't formed.
In spite of the rising health care costs that provide the illusion of improving health care, the American people do not enjoy good health, compared with their counterparts in the industrialized nations. Among thirteen countries including Japan, Sweden, France and Canada, the U.S. was ranked 12th, based on the measurement of 16 health indicators such as life expectancy, low-birth-weight averages and infant mortality. In another comparison reported by the World Health Organization that used a different set of health indicators, the U.S. also fared poorly with a ranking of 15 among 25 industrialized nations.
Although many people attribute poor health to the bad habits of the American public, Starfield (2000) points out that Americans do not lead an unhealthy lifestyle compared to their counterparts. For example, only 28 percent of the male population in the U.S. smoked, thus making it the third best nation in the category of smoking among the 13 industrialized nations. The U.S. population also achieved a high ranking (5th best) for alcohol consumption. In the category of men aged 50 to 70 years, the U.S. had the third lowest mean cholesterol concentrations among 13 industrialized nations. Therefore, the perception that America's poor health is a result of smoking, alcohol or high cholesterol issues does not make any sense,.
Here is another statistic:
A new study suggests that computerized order entry systems which are implemented in part to reduce prescribing errors can actually increase the risk of medication errors in certain situations, according to a study in the March 9 issue of JAMA. Adverse drug events (ADEs) are estimated to injure or kill more than 770,000 patients in hospitals annually, according to background information on the article. Prescribing errors are the largest identified source of preventable hospital medical error. Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems are widely viewed as crucial for reducing prescribing errors and potentially saving hundreds of billions in annual costs. Published studies have indicated that CPOE reduces medication errors up to 81 percent. Few researchers, however, have focused on the existence or types of medication errors facilitated by CPOE.
Versus
COMPARATIVE CAUSES OF DEATH. ANNUAL AVERAGE IN THE U. S.
Adverse Drug Reactions 100,000 to 140,000
Automobile Accidents 39,325
Food Contamination 9,100
Boating Accidents 2,064
Household Cleaners 74
Acute Pesticide Poisoning 12
All Vitamins 0
Amino acids 0
Commercial Herbal Products 0 **
*Sources Data as of 1995 from American Association of Poison Control Centers, National Center for Health Statistics, Journal of the American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control, March of Dimes, Consumer Product Safety Commission, FDA Reports. **Before Ephedra scare, Recent problems attributed to synthetic Ephedra and are not proven.
Comment: If you read my webpage carefully, I think you will see some clues as to why we are not as healthy as we should be and you might consider taking charge of your own health, after looking at the alternative.
cww
Disclaimer
A Quarter-Million Doctor-Induced Deaths Annually: Iatrogenocide?
What is the meaning of the word Iatrogenic:
IATROGENIC [Gk., iatros, physician, genein, to produce], caused by treatment or diagnostic procedures. An iatrogenic disorder is a condition caused by medical personnel or procedures or through exposure to the environment of a health care facility, including fears instilled in patients by remarks or questions of examining physicians. See also: 'nosocomial', (iatrogenesis, iatrogeny, n.) ~Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 5th Edition, 1998
A generation ago, people trusted their doctors blindly and implicitly. The personal bonds people used to form with their doctors have largely been replaced with the cold hard contemporary reality that medicine has become a $multi-billion per year business with little room for compassion. The healthcare market place is not kind and people have lost trust. Iatrogeny plays a large and ugly role in this.
A recent study published in The Journal of The American Medical Association (2000:284:94) by Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, showed that in the U.S. there are:
· 12,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery
· 7,000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals
· 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals
· 80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals
· 106,000 deaths/year from adverse effects of medications
This totals 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes, placing iatrogeny as the third leading cause of death in the U.S., second only to heart disease and cancer. The scary part is that this does not include disabilities and disorders; just deaths in hospitalized patients. In any event, when one ponders that more than four times as many people die in one year from doctors' mistakes than died in the entire Vietnam War, one is aghast at why this information isn't making headlines or why huge think tanks funded by medicopolitical interests haven't formed.
In spite of the rising health care costs that provide the illusion of improving health care, the American people do not enjoy good health, compared with their counterparts in the industrialized nations. Among thirteen countries including Japan, Sweden, France and Canada, the U.S. was ranked 12th, based on the measurement of 16 health indicators such as life expectancy, low-birth-weight averages and infant mortality. In another comparison reported by the World Health Organization that used a different set of health indicators, the U.S. also fared poorly with a ranking of 15 among 25 industrialized nations.
Although many people attribute poor health to the bad habits of the American public, Starfield (2000) points out that Americans do not lead an unhealthy lifestyle compared to their counterparts. For example, only 28 percent of the male population in the U.S. smoked, thus making it the third best nation in the category of smoking among the 13 industrialized nations. The U.S. population also achieved a high ranking (5th best) for alcohol consumption. In the category of men aged 50 to 70 years, the U.S. had the third lowest mean cholesterol concentrations among 13 industrialized nations. Therefore, the perception that America's poor health is a result of smoking, alcohol or high cholesterol issues does not make any sense,.
Here is another statistic:
A new study suggests that computerized order entry systems which are implemented in part to reduce prescribing errors can actually increase the risk of medication errors in certain situations, according to a study in the March 9 issue of JAMA. Adverse drug events (ADEs) are estimated to injure or kill more than 770,000 patients in hospitals annually, according to background information on the article. Prescribing errors are the largest identified source of preventable hospital medical error. Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems are widely viewed as crucial for reducing prescribing errors and potentially saving hundreds of billions in annual costs. Published studies have indicated that CPOE reduces medication errors up to 81 percent. Few researchers, however, have focused on the existence or types of medication errors facilitated by CPOE.
Versus
COMPARATIVE CAUSES OF DEATH. ANNUAL AVERAGE IN THE U. S.
Adverse Drug Reactions 100,000 to 140,000
Automobile Accidents 39,325
Food Contamination 9,100
Boating Accidents 2,064
Household Cleaners 74
Acute Pesticide Poisoning 12
All Vitamins 0
Amino acids 0
Commercial Herbal Products 0 **
*Sources Data as of 1995 from American Association of Poison Control Centers, National Center for Health Statistics, Journal of the American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control, March of Dimes, Consumer Product Safety Commission, FDA Reports. **Before Ephedra scare, Recent problems attributed to synthetic Ephedra and are not proven.
Comment: If you read my webpage carefully, I think you will see some clues as to why we are not as healthy as we should be and you might consider taking charge of your own health, after looking at the alternative.
cww
Disclaimer
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Mild cognitive impairment not a normal part of aging
A study published in the March 8 2005 issue of the journal Neurology concluded that the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) often attributed to old age is caused in most cases by cerebral vascular disease or Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers at Rush Presbyterian St Luke’s Medical Center followed 180 participants in the National Institute on Aging-funded Religious Orders Study. The subjects were tested for memory, language and attention skills each year to evaluate their cognitive status. Thirty-seven men and women were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and 83 with dementia.
Upon autopsy of the brains of those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, over half were found to have Alzheimer’s disease and a third had evidence of cerebral infarcts (strokes). Fewer than one-fourth of those with MCI showed no signs of either disease.
Lead author David A Bennett MD, who is the director of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center, commented, "The study shows that mild cognitive impairment is often the earliest clinical manifestation of one or both of two common age-related neurologic diseases. From a clinical standpoint, even mild loss of cognitive function in older people should not be viewed as normal, but as an indication of a disease process."
Although 60 of the participants in the current study did not exhibit cognitive impairment, half of this group were also found to have Alzheimer’s disease pathology upon death, and one-fourth had cerebral vascular disease. Another NIA-funded study is seeking to determine what keeps these individuals from showing signs of impairment.
Dr Bennett stated, “Preventing the accumulation of disease pathology is a common approach to disease prevention. Another way to prevent loss of cognition is to identify factors that protect us from becoming forgetful despite this pathology.”
"From a public health perspective, the number of people with cognitive loss due to Alzheimer's disease and cerebral vascular disease is probably much larger than current estimates," he concluded.
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA. There is now convincing evidence that oxidative stress and free radical reactions are intimately involved in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Three main reactions, protein oxidation, DNA oxidation, and lipid peroxidation are thought to be involved in the destruction of neurons which characterizes AD. Studies have shown that the brains of Alzheimer's patients show a significantly greater degree of protein, DNA and lipid oxidation than do brains of non-demented people of similar age. One study found a three-fold increase in mitochondrial DNA oxidation in the cortex of Alzheimer's patients. It is thought that several trace elements, notably iron, aluminum, mercury and copper may all play a role in catalyzing the free radical reactions associated with AD. The neurotoxic amino acid, glutamate has also been implicated. Many studies have shown that vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) is effective in combating lipid peroxidation. Other studies have shown that vitamin E also neutralizes the toxic effects of glutamate. A two-year trial of 341 patients with moderately severe Alzheimer's showed that those supplementing with 2000 IU/day of vitamin E slowed disease progression by about 50 per cent. (Note: Large doses of vitamin E may be contra-indicated in some patients). Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center believe that antioxidants such as vitamin-A, vitamin-C and vitamin-E, ginkgo biloba, co-enzyme Q10, and chelation may all be useful in the fight against AD, but caution that large clinical trials are still required to prove this.
Pitchumoni, Suresh S. and Doraiswamy, P. Murali. Current status of antioxidant therapy for Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Vol. 46, December 1998, pp. 1566- 72
Comment: Prevention is key here. Now is the time to make sure you are taking a Multi - Vitamin supplement that has large levels of antioxidants with additional E and extra CoQ10 and Ginkgo Biloba herb. Also, not listed here are Omega 3's that should also be part of your prevention regiment.
Researchers at Rush Presbyterian St Luke’s Medical Center followed 180 participants in the National Institute on Aging-funded Religious Orders Study. The subjects were tested for memory, language and attention skills each year to evaluate their cognitive status. Thirty-seven men and women were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and 83 with dementia.
Upon autopsy of the brains of those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, over half were found to have Alzheimer’s disease and a third had evidence of cerebral infarcts (strokes). Fewer than one-fourth of those with MCI showed no signs of either disease.
Lead author David A Bennett MD, who is the director of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center, commented, "The study shows that mild cognitive impairment is often the earliest clinical manifestation of one or both of two common age-related neurologic diseases. From a clinical standpoint, even mild loss of cognitive function in older people should not be viewed as normal, but as an indication of a disease process."
Although 60 of the participants in the current study did not exhibit cognitive impairment, half of this group were also found to have Alzheimer’s disease pathology upon death, and one-fourth had cerebral vascular disease. Another NIA-funded study is seeking to determine what keeps these individuals from showing signs of impairment.
Dr Bennett stated, “Preventing the accumulation of disease pathology is a common approach to disease prevention. Another way to prevent loss of cognition is to identify factors that protect us from becoming forgetful despite this pathology.”
"From a public health perspective, the number of people with cognitive loss due to Alzheimer's disease and cerebral vascular disease is probably much larger than current estimates," he concluded.
Alzheimer's disease and antioxidants
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA. There is now convincing evidence that oxidative stress and free radical reactions are intimately involved in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Three main reactions, protein oxidation, DNA oxidation, and lipid peroxidation are thought to be involved in the destruction of neurons which characterizes AD. Studies have shown that the brains of Alzheimer's patients show a significantly greater degree of protein, DNA and lipid oxidation than do brains of non-demented people of similar age. One study found a three-fold increase in mitochondrial DNA oxidation in the cortex of Alzheimer's patients. It is thought that several trace elements, notably iron, aluminum, mercury and copper may all play a role in catalyzing the free radical reactions associated with AD. The neurotoxic amino acid, glutamate has also been implicated. Many studies have shown that vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) is effective in combating lipid peroxidation. Other studies have shown that vitamin E also neutralizes the toxic effects of glutamate. A two-year trial of 341 patients with moderately severe Alzheimer's showed that those supplementing with 2000 IU/day of vitamin E slowed disease progression by about 50 per cent. (Note: Large doses of vitamin E may be contra-indicated in some patients). Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center believe that antioxidants such as vitamin-A, vitamin-C and vitamin-E, ginkgo biloba, co-enzyme Q10, and chelation may all be useful in the fight against AD, but caution that large clinical trials are still required to prove this.
Pitchumoni, Suresh S. and Doraiswamy, P. Murali. Current status of antioxidant therapy for Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Vol. 46, December 1998, pp. 1566- 72
Comment: Prevention is key here. Now is the time to make sure you are taking a Multi - Vitamin supplement that has large levels of antioxidants with additional E and extra CoQ10 and Ginkgo Biloba herb. Also, not listed here are Omega 3's that should also be part of your prevention regiment.
NSI Mega Potency Multiviatamin
cww
Monday, March 07, 2005
Eggs: Better Than They're Cracked Up to Be
Provided by The Saturday Evening Post on 3/5/2005by Anonymous
Originally Published:20050301.
Hard-boiled nutritionists once classified all eggs as cholesterol raisers and a cardiovascular risk. Now studies show the nutritionists were only partly right. A recent research study on the effect of eating eggs showed that eggs do increase certain fractions of LDL cholesterol. But the good news is, eggs don't increase the harmful fractions. The dietary cholesterol in eggs raises the LDL-I and LDL-2 cholesterol fractions but does not alter the small, dense LDL-3 to LDL-7 particles that scientists believe pose the real heart disease risk. This limited effect of eggs on LDL cholesterol was found even in people who are genetically predisposed to be sensitive to dietary cholesterol.
Comment: Good thing I never bought into this misinformation, I left that up to dietitian's, who by the way also recommend jello while convalescing in the hospital. I am proud that we have been recommending eggs for over 28 years.
cww
Originally Published:20050301.
Hard-boiled nutritionists once classified all eggs as cholesterol raisers and a cardiovascular risk. Now studies show the nutritionists were only partly right. A recent research study on the effect of eating eggs showed that eggs do increase certain fractions of LDL cholesterol. But the good news is, eggs don't increase the harmful fractions. The dietary cholesterol in eggs raises the LDL-I and LDL-2 cholesterol fractions but does not alter the small, dense LDL-3 to LDL-7 particles that scientists believe pose the real heart disease risk. This limited effect of eggs on LDL cholesterol was found even in people who are genetically predisposed to be sensitive to dietary cholesterol.
Comment: Good thing I never bought into this misinformation, I left that up to dietitian's, who by the way also recommend jello while convalescing in the hospital. I am proud that we have been recommending eggs for over 28 years.
cww
Brazilian, 125, May Be the Oldest Woman
Fri Mar 4, 7:42 AM ET
By STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press Writer
SAO PAULO, Brazil - An elderly woman living in a small, wooden shack in rural southern Brazil could be the world's oldest living woman, according to a Brazilian record-keeping organization.
AP Photo
Maria Olivia da Silva, who recently celebrated her 125th birthday, "is definitely the oldest living woman in Brazil and possibly in the entire world," said Iolete Cadari, administrative director of RankBrasil, this country's equivalent to the Guinness World Records.
Da Silva's birth certificate shows that she was born Feb. 28, 1880 in the city of Itapetininga, Sao Paulo state, Cadari said by telephone. She currently lives in the small town of Astorga, some 370 miles west of Sao Paulo in the state of Parana.
Laura McTurk, a spokeswoman for Guinness World Records in London said by e-mail that the organization was researching its records for any information on da Silva. She said Guinness may have an official statement on Friday.
According to the Guinness World Records Web site, the world's oldest woman is 113-year-old Hendrikje Van Andel-Schipper, who was born June 29, 1890.
Da Silva, whom Cadari described as "mentally sound and rational," was married twice and has outlived all but three of her 14 children — four of them adopted.
"Her memory is impressive and she loves to talk," Cadari said, adding that Da Silva lives with her 58-year-old adopted son, Aparecido H. Silva.
Comment: Not sure if I want to live to be 125 years old, but it's nice to know that the biological potential for humans, which has been estimated to be 125 years, has been confirmed by a real person with a provable birth date. There are many examples of people like this in the Georgian region of Russia as well as the Hunza's, but birth certificates were not given out in these areas, so their ages are mostly anecdotal.
Centenarian studies
There are three major centenarian studies going on around the world. They are trying to find the variable that would confer longevity among this group of people who live to be 100 years old. Why do centenarians become centenarians? Why are they so lucky? Is it because they have low cholesterol, exercise a lot and live a healthy, clean life? Well, the oldest person ever recorded was Jean Calumet of France who died last year at 122 years of age. She smoked all of her life and drank. What researchers are finding from these major centenarian studies is that there is hardly anything in common among these people. They have high cholesterol and low cholesterol, some exercise and some don't, some smoke, some don't. Some are nasty as can be, some nice and calm and some are ornery. But, they all have relatively low sugar for their age, and they all have low triglycerides for their age. And, they all have relatively low insulin.
By STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press Writer
SAO PAULO, Brazil - An elderly woman living in a small, wooden shack in rural southern Brazil could be the world's oldest living woman, according to a Brazilian record-keeping organization.
AP Photo
Maria Olivia da Silva, who recently celebrated her 125th birthday, "is definitely the oldest living woman in Brazil and possibly in the entire world," said Iolete Cadari, administrative director of RankBrasil, this country's equivalent to the Guinness World Records.
Da Silva's birth certificate shows that she was born Feb. 28, 1880 in the city of Itapetininga, Sao Paulo state, Cadari said by telephone. She currently lives in the small town of Astorga, some 370 miles west of Sao Paulo in the state of Parana.
Laura McTurk, a spokeswoman for Guinness World Records in London said by e-mail that the organization was researching its records for any information on da Silva. She said Guinness may have an official statement on Friday.
According to the Guinness World Records Web site, the world's oldest woman is 113-year-old Hendrikje Van Andel-Schipper, who was born June 29, 1890.
Da Silva, whom Cadari described as "mentally sound and rational," was married twice and has outlived all but three of her 14 children — four of them adopted.
"Her memory is impressive and she loves to talk," Cadari said, adding that Da Silva lives with her 58-year-old adopted son, Aparecido H. Silva.
Comment: Not sure if I want to live to be 125 years old, but it's nice to know that the biological potential for humans, which has been estimated to be 125 years, has been confirmed by a real person with a provable birth date. There are many examples of people like this in the Georgian region of Russia as well as the Hunza's, but birth certificates were not given out in these areas, so their ages are mostly anecdotal.
Centenarian studies
There are three major centenarian studies going on around the world. They are trying to find the variable that would confer longevity among this group of people who live to be 100 years old. Why do centenarians become centenarians? Why are they so lucky? Is it because they have low cholesterol, exercise a lot and live a healthy, clean life? Well, the oldest person ever recorded was Jean Calumet of France who died last year at 122 years of age. She smoked all of her life and drank. What researchers are finding from these major centenarian studies is that there is hardly anything in common among these people. They have high cholesterol and low cholesterol, some exercise and some don't, some smoke, some don't. Some are nasty as can be, some nice and calm and some are ornery. But, they all have relatively low sugar for their age, and they all have low triglycerides for their age. And, they all have relatively low insulin.
Learn how to improve your longevity
cww
Friday, March 04, 2005
Nutritional Health & Website Disclaimer - A Warning
This blog is a warning to all who read my website, and or my blogger site.
I, as an Ortho-Molecular Nutritionist, do not directly or indirectly dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of supplements as a form of treatment for sickness without medical approval. Nutritionists and other experts in the field of health hold widely varying views. It is not my intent to diagnose or prescribe. My intent is only to offer health information to help you cooperate with your health professional and give you choices as to the direction you want to go. My goal is always to build health without negative side effects. In fact, generally, if we are successful, you will have side benefits with our programs. In the event you choose to use this information without your doctor’s approval, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility. Before you decide to take action on the information listed on my websites, you will want to check with your medical doctor, your friends, your politicians, your priest, your rabbi, your psychic and or anyone else you feel may be smarter than you and see if you can get permission from them, if you feel you need it, before making any nutritional changes. Everything I say on this website is simply my own opinion based on 27 + years of experience, or the opinion of other health professionals and you must know that there are many people who violently disagree with our conclusions. If you do anything we recommend without the supervision of a licensed medical doctor, you do so at your own risk. cwiechert.com and cwiechert Healthblogger presents this information for educational purposes only. cwiechert.com is not making an attempt to prescribe any medical treatment as under the laws of the United States only a licensed medical doctor, (an MD) can do so.
cww
www.cwiechert.com
I, as an Ortho-Molecular Nutritionist, do not directly or indirectly dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of supplements as a form of treatment for sickness without medical approval. Nutritionists and other experts in the field of health hold widely varying views. It is not my intent to diagnose or prescribe. My intent is only to offer health information to help you cooperate with your health professional and give you choices as to the direction you want to go. My goal is always to build health without negative side effects. In fact, generally, if we are successful, you will have side benefits with our programs. In the event you choose to use this information without your doctor’s approval, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility. Before you decide to take action on the information listed on my websites, you will want to check with your medical doctor, your friends, your politicians, your priest, your rabbi, your psychic and or anyone else you feel may be smarter than you and see if you can get permission from them, if you feel you need it, before making any nutritional changes. Everything I say on this website is simply my own opinion based on 27 + years of experience, or the opinion of other health professionals and you must know that there are many people who violently disagree with our conclusions. If you do anything we recommend without the supervision of a licensed medical doctor, you do so at your own risk. cwiechert.com and cwiechert Healthblogger presents this information for educational purposes only. cwiechert.com is not making an attempt to prescribe any medical treatment as under the laws of the United States only a licensed medical doctor, (an MD) can do so.
cww
www.cwiechert.com
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Two vitamin E forms appear to reduce prostate cancer risk
03/03/2005 - High blood levels of either alpha-tocopherol or gamma-tocopherol, both forms of vitamin E, appeared to halve the risk of prostate cancer in a new analysis of the ATBC trial, which supports earlier results showing that the vitamin protects against the cancer, writes Dominique Patton. However Professor Jarmo Virtamo, the principal investigator of the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) trial, warned that further research is needed to clarify whether taking supplements can offer the same level of protection.
Original findings from the ATBC study, which included nearly 30,000 Finnish men, showed that daily supplements of alpha-tocopherol (50mg) reduced the risk of prostate cancer by 32 per cent.
In a new analysis, Professor Virtamo, based at the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center looked at the impact of circulating vitamin E levels on 100 individuals with prostate cancer and 200 cancer-free controls participating in the trial.
Men with the highest levels of alpha-tocopherol in their blood at baseline were 51 per cent less likely to develop prostate cancer than those with the lowest levels, they reported in yesteday’s issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (vol 97, no 5, pp396-399).
Similarly, men with the highest levels of gamma-tocopherol were 43 per cent less likely to develop the disease compared with men with the lowest levels.
“Further analyses indicated that the association of high serum tocopherols with low prostate cancer risk was stronger in the alpha-tocopherol–supplemented group than in those not receiving alpha-tocopherol,” note the authors.
Vitamin E is thought to fight cancer through its antioxidant activity, which combats the oxidative stress involved in cancer development. It also has other non-antioxidant properties, such as enhancement of the immune response, which may also play a role in the benefits seen.
Professor Virtamo said that the new findings were not surprising based on the earlier results but that they offered support for the original findings.
“There are actually very few studies looking at the association of vitamins with prostate cancer. More often they have focused on lung cancer,” he told NutraIngredients.com.
But he added: “Unfortunately this study only shows an association between reduced cancer but it doesn’t show that if you start giving people supplements this will protect them against prostate cancer.”
In addition, the levels of vitamin E levels seen among the participants could be considered low and did not necessarily demonstrate support for gamma-tocopherol.
Gamma-tocopherol, found naturally in walnuts, sesame seeds and corn, was found to hold back the proliferation of lab-cultured human prostate and lung cancer cells in research at Purdue University published in December.
Previous research by the same team found that gamma-tocopherol inhibits inflammation, which had already been implicated in cancer development.
But Professor Virtamo cautioned: “Since trials have shown no benefit with alpha-tocopherol, the research world has started to look at new nutrients, such as gamma-tocopherol. But you have to remember that the intake of gamma-tocopherol in Finland is very low.”
The highest tertile of alpha-tocopherol levels in the study were 15.78mg and the highest tertile of gamma-tocopherol was 1.08mg.
“The benefit seen here probably reflects that those with higher gamma-tocopherol levels also have a more healthy lifestyle in general,” he said.
“Also the difference in tertiles is very small. We need other studies comparing levels with bigger differences.”
“It is always possible that a different form of vitamin E has different effects or that they have different effects on different organs. But we need more data,” concluded Professor Virtamo.
Vitamin E researchers are eagerly awaiting results form the Select trial, looking at whether high dose (400mg) alpha-tocopherol supplements can protect against prostate cancer. If these results fail to confirm the ATBC findings, new research will have to look at the role of dosages on cancer protection.
Comment: Most drugs today are happy to get 10% to 20% reductions in symptoms or blood test results. Here we have a study that shows a 50% reduction in Prostate Cancer using Vit E. I know what my choice would be. As other studies have shown, I bet if Vit C was added in high levels, along with Vit E, the numbers would be even more pronounced.
cww
Original findings from the ATBC study, which included nearly 30,000 Finnish men, showed that daily supplements of alpha-tocopherol (50mg) reduced the risk of prostate cancer by 32 per cent.
In a new analysis, Professor Virtamo, based at the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center looked at the impact of circulating vitamin E levels on 100 individuals with prostate cancer and 200 cancer-free controls participating in the trial.
Men with the highest levels of alpha-tocopherol in their blood at baseline were 51 per cent less likely to develop prostate cancer than those with the lowest levels, they reported in yesteday’s issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (vol 97, no 5, pp396-399).
Similarly, men with the highest levels of gamma-tocopherol were 43 per cent less likely to develop the disease compared with men with the lowest levels.
“Further analyses indicated that the association of high serum tocopherols with low prostate cancer risk was stronger in the alpha-tocopherol–supplemented group than in those not receiving alpha-tocopherol,” note the authors.
Vitamin E is thought to fight cancer through its antioxidant activity, which combats the oxidative stress involved in cancer development. It also has other non-antioxidant properties, such as enhancement of the immune response, which may also play a role in the benefits seen.
Professor Virtamo said that the new findings were not surprising based on the earlier results but that they offered support for the original findings.
“There are actually very few studies looking at the association of vitamins with prostate cancer. More often they have focused on lung cancer,” he told NutraIngredients.com.
But he added: “Unfortunately this study only shows an association between reduced cancer but it doesn’t show that if you start giving people supplements this will protect them against prostate cancer.”
In addition, the levels of vitamin E levels seen among the participants could be considered low and did not necessarily demonstrate support for gamma-tocopherol.
Gamma-tocopherol, found naturally in walnuts, sesame seeds and corn, was found to hold back the proliferation of lab-cultured human prostate and lung cancer cells in research at Purdue University published in December.
Previous research by the same team found that gamma-tocopherol inhibits inflammation, which had already been implicated in cancer development.
But Professor Virtamo cautioned: “Since trials have shown no benefit with alpha-tocopherol, the research world has started to look at new nutrients, such as gamma-tocopherol. But you have to remember that the intake of gamma-tocopherol in Finland is very low.”
The highest tertile of alpha-tocopherol levels in the study were 15.78mg and the highest tertile of gamma-tocopherol was 1.08mg.
“The benefit seen here probably reflects that those with higher gamma-tocopherol levels also have a more healthy lifestyle in general,” he said.
“Also the difference in tertiles is very small. We need other studies comparing levels with bigger differences.”
“It is always possible that a different form of vitamin E has different effects or that they have different effects on different organs. But we need more data,” concluded Professor Virtamo.
Vitamin E researchers are eagerly awaiting results form the Select trial, looking at whether high dose (400mg) alpha-tocopherol supplements can protect against prostate cancer. If these results fail to confirm the ATBC findings, new research will have to look at the role of dosages on cancer protection.
Comment: Most drugs today are happy to get 10% to 20% reductions in symptoms or blood test results. Here we have a study that shows a 50% reduction in Prostate Cancer using Vit E. I know what my choice would be. As other studies have shown, I bet if Vit C was added in high levels, along with Vit E, the numbers would be even more pronounced.
cww
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Adopt primitive eating patterns to maximize your health...
Diet-related chronic diseases represent the single largest cause of death and sickness in the United States and most Western countries. Yet while these diseases are epidemic in contemporary Westernized populations and typically afflict two-thirds of the adult population, they are rare or nonexistent in hunter-gatherers and other less Westernized cultures.
Why? There is an increasing awareness that the profound environmental changes, such as diet and other lifestyle conditions that began with the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry (the care and breeding of domestic animals), occurred too recently for the human genome to adapt to.
Thus, universal characteristics of preagricultural human diets are helpful in understanding how the recent Western diet may subject modern populations to chronic disease: Before the development of farming and the domestication of livestock practices, dietary choices would have been necessarily limited to minimally processed wild plant and animal foods.
It is important to understand that over 70 percent of the American diet now consists of foods that were unavailable to preagricultrual humans, such as:
Dairy products
Cereals
Refined sugars
Refined vegetable oils
Alcohol
Although these foods dominate the typical American diet, they would have contributed little or none of the energy in the typical preagricultural human diet. And while scientists and lay people alike typically target a single dietary element as the cause of chronic disease, evidence has indicated that virtually all so-called diseases of civilization have many contributing dietary elements, as well as other environmental agents and genetic susceptibility that underlie the cause of the disease.
Consequently, these foods negatively affect proximate nutritional factors, which collectively underlie or worsen virtually all chronic diseases of civilization, including: glycemic load, fatty acid consumption, macronutrient composition, micronutrient density, acid-base balance and sodium-potassium ratio. Yet the ultimate factor underlying diseases of civilization is the collision of our ancient genome with new conditions of life in prosperous nations.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 81, No. 2, 341-354, February 2005
Full article
Comment: We have been recommending a Paleolithic Diet for a long time, now this article in the prestigious medical journal agrees with our views. To read more about what an ideal diet looks like, check out our website:
www.cwiechert.com
cww
Why? There is an increasing awareness that the profound environmental changes, such as diet and other lifestyle conditions that began with the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry (the care and breeding of domestic animals), occurred too recently for the human genome to adapt to.
Thus, universal characteristics of preagricultural human diets are helpful in understanding how the recent Western diet may subject modern populations to chronic disease: Before the development of farming and the domestication of livestock practices, dietary choices would have been necessarily limited to minimally processed wild plant and animal foods.
It is important to understand that over 70 percent of the American diet now consists of foods that were unavailable to preagricultrual humans, such as:
Dairy products
Cereals
Refined sugars
Refined vegetable oils
Alcohol
Although these foods dominate the typical American diet, they would have contributed little or none of the energy in the typical preagricultural human diet. And while scientists and lay people alike typically target a single dietary element as the cause of chronic disease, evidence has indicated that virtually all so-called diseases of civilization have many contributing dietary elements, as well as other environmental agents and genetic susceptibility that underlie the cause of the disease.
Consequently, these foods negatively affect proximate nutritional factors, which collectively underlie or worsen virtually all chronic diseases of civilization, including: glycemic load, fatty acid consumption, macronutrient composition, micronutrient density, acid-base balance and sodium-potassium ratio. Yet the ultimate factor underlying diseases of civilization is the collision of our ancient genome with new conditions of life in prosperous nations.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 81, No. 2, 341-354, February 2005
Full article
Comment: We have been recommending a Paleolithic Diet for a long time, now this article in the prestigious medical journal agrees with our views. To read more about what an ideal diet looks like, check out our website:
www.cwiechert.com
cww
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