Vitamin D may be the single most important factor in preventing cold's and flu's: Reprinted from the Vitamin D Council - Dr. John Cannell M.D.
When you think about it, the flu and cold season is indistinguishable from the vitamin D deficiency season. Every autumn, as vitamin D levels plummet, the incidence of colds and flu skyrocket. After vitamin D levels bottom out during the darkest days of the cold and flu season, vitamin D levels rise again in the spring and the incidence of colds and flu steadily decrease until they virtually disappear during the vitamin D rich summer. It may be that simple. Your body's innate immunity, especially the production of innate natural antibiotics called antimicrobial peptides, goes up and down every year with your vitamin D levels. (Acquired immunity is quite different, those are the antibodies you slowly develop after an infection or a flu shot.) Maintaining summer-time vitamin D levels in the winter - by taking adequate amounts of vitamin D (5,000 IU) in the winter - may help prevent colds or the flu by stimulating innate immunity. Preventing some of the one million deaths in the world every year from flu related illnesses is exciting enough; an equally exciting possibility is that large doses of vitamin D may be useful in treating the flu - as well as other infections.
Vitamin D, Sunshine, and Your Health — Fast Facts
If you totally avoid the sun, recent research indicates you need about 4,000 units of vitamin D a day! Which means you can't get enough vitamin D from milk (unless you drink 40 glasses a day) or from a multivitamin (unless you take about 10 tablets a day), neither of which is recommended.
Most of us make about 20,000 units of vitamin D after about 20 minutes of summer sun. This is about 100 times more vitamin D than the government says you need every day.
The only way to be sure you have adequate levels of vitamin D in your blood is to regularly go into the sun, use a sun bed (avoiding sunburn), or, have your physician administer a 25-hydroxy-vitamin D blood test. Optimal levels are around 50 ng/ml (125 nm/L).
If you don't get vitamin D the way Mother Nature intended, from sunshine, you need to take supplemental vitamin D3 Cholecalciferol. Since most of us get a lot more vitamin D from sunshine than we realize, most of us need about 2,000 units a day extra.
Selenium boost could slash rates of bladder cancer by 70 percent:
Originally published September 29 2006
(NewsTarget) The mineral selenium, when taken from daily dietary sources such as nuts, whole wheat and wheat pasta, can cut the risk of bladder cancer by up to 70 percent according to new research from Belgium.
The researchers and authors of the study, led by Eliane Kellen from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, used post-study blood samples to assess selenium concentrations in the blood of study subjects. The study contained 178 selenium case-controlled subjects along with 362 control subjects.
The researchers accounted for variables such as sex, age, smoking and occupational exposure in regards to possible bladder cancer onset. At the conclusion of the selenium study, the researchers calculated that the risk of bladder cancer had been reduced by 70 percent in the case-controlled subjects. The actual bladder cancer reduction occurred in subjects that had 96 micrograms per liter or more of selenium in their systems, while those with serum levels of less than 82.4 micrograms per liter did not show the reduction.
"Virtually everyone living in modern society is chronically deficient in minerals like selenium, zinc and magnesium," said Mike Adams, a health journalist and author of "The Seven Laws of Nutrition." "Boosting intake of these important minerals can have a significant effect on preventing diseases like bladder cancer, breast cancer, depression and diabetes," he added.
The best sources for such minerals, Adams said, are from plants grown in mineral-rich soils. "That means buying organic, because conventionally grown crops are almost always grown in mineral-depleted soils."
Selenium supplement products are generally available as an isolated mineral as well as being combined with other nutrients in combination supplements.
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: http://www.cwiechert.com/
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
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Friday, September 29, 2006
Reverse Cardiovascular Disease Now...
Dr. Rath’s Scientific Discovery in Heart Disease:
Coronary Heart Disease Is an Early Form of Scurvy. Dr. Rath’s research reveals that coronary heart disease occurs exactly for the same reason that clinical (early) scurvy does – a deficiency of vitamin C in the cells composing the artery wall. Humans, unlike animals, develop heart disease because their bodies cannot produce vitamin C. The average diet provides enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy, but not enough to guarantee stable artery walls. As a consequence of vitamin C deficiency, millions of tiny cracks and lesions develop in the artery walls. Subsequently, cholesterol, lipoproteins and other blood risk factors enter the damaged artery walls to repair these lesions.
In the case of chronic vitamin deficiency, this repair process becomes continuous. Over the course of many years, atherosclerotic deposits develop. Deposits in the arteries of the heart eventually lead to heart attack; deposits in the arteries of the brain lead to stroke.
Dr. Rath identified and our research has proven that atherosclerosis is nature’s plaster cast for weak and cracked arterial walls that are chronically deficient in vitamin C and other essential nutrients. One of these nutrients is the amino acid lysine. Lysine is called an essential amino acid because, similar to vitamin C, it cannot be produced in the human body. Lysine, together with another amino acid, proline, is the main component of collagen. These two amino acids comprise about 25% of all amino acids in the collagen molecule. A deficiency of lysine and proline can also trigger blood vessel wall weakness and instability.
Research and clinical studies conducted by Dr. Rath confirm that the most important function of vitamin C in preventing heart attacks and strokes is its ability to increase the production of collagen, elastin, and other reinforcement molecules in the body. This groundbreaking discovery in heart disease should be taught in every medical textbook and school and explains why other cardiovascular conditions, including heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and circulatory problems in diabetes, occur in the case of long-term vitamin deficiencies.
Atherosclerosis:
The coronary arteries provide the primary blood supply to the heart muscle, and coronary heart disease occurs when the arteries become blocked by a buildup of, calcium, cholesterol, and other blood factors. This fatty buildup is medically referred to as atherosclerosis, and these deposits cause the arteries to narrow and stiffen. A sudden block of the blood supply to any area of the heart muscle can cause heart attack and death.
A Study was conducted to see if the process could be reversed with natural supplements. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of a defined nutritional supplement program and specific nutrient synergy on the natural progression of coronary artery disease in 55 patients (50 men and 5 women) between the ages of 44-67 with coronary artery disease as documented by Ultrafast Computed Tomography.
The study focused directly on the key problem - the atherosclerotic deposit inside the walls of the coronary arteries. For this study, Ultrafast Computed Tomography (UCT) was used. UCT is a modern technique that allows the measurement of the size of coronary deposits non-invasively. The computer automatically calculates a deposit’s size by determining the Coronary Artery Scan (CAS) score. The higher the CAS score, the more calcium has accumulated, which indicates more advanced coronary heart disease. Changes in the size of the coronary artery calcifications in each patient were measured over an average period of one year without vitamin supplementation followed by one year with the vitamin program. In this way, the heart scans of the same person was compared before and after the vitamin program. This study design had the advantage of the patients serving as their own controls.
During the course of the 12-month nutritional supplement program, the fast growth of coronary deposits was slowed during the first six months of the study and essentially stopped during the second six months. After one year of using the specific supplement program, the coronary deposits entirely disappeared, indicating a natural healing process of the artery wall.
For the first time in medical history, the reversal of atherosclerotic deposits without bypass surgery, angioplasty, and medication was documented. The results of this remarkable discovery were published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition in 1996.
About Dr. Rath
Matthias Rath, M.D. is an internationally respected physician, researcher, author and humanitarian. Dr. Rath’s scientific discoveries in the areas of cardiovascular disease and cancer are reshaping medicine.
Dr. Rath is the founder of Cellular Medicine, a groundbreaking concept that identifies nutritional deficiencies at the cellular level as a root cause of many chronic diseases. His research has been presented at scientific meetings around the world and his findings published in prestigious medical journals.
Dr. Rath established the Matthias Rath Research Institute in Cellular Medicine to further conduct innovative research based on his scientific discoveries in cardiovascular disease and cancer. Scientists at the Institute utilize the principle of nutrient synergy and investigate the role of nutrients in preventing and treating a host of chronic diseases.
Dr. Rath is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Heart Association and other scientific organizations. His popular health books Why Animals Don’t Get Heart Attacks…But People Do! and Cancer have sold millions of copies and have been translated into ten languages.
Over ten years ago, the two-time Nobel prize Laureate, Dr Linus Pauling and his associate Dr Matthias Rath, advocated and published a definitive thesis on the root cause, treatment, and actual cure for all forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD), including congestive heart failure, heart disease, and stroke. Today, cardiovascular related health problems together comprise fully one half of all causes of death in the US. Pauling and Rath's brilliant analysis of CVD is absolutely compelling and amply supported by numerous epidemiological and clinical studies. His unified theory of CVD constitutes one of the greatest breakthroughs in modern science, and yet has been almost completely ignored by the mainstream medical establishment, and received almost no press.
This study adds a credible piece to the puzzle:
Richard T. Lee, M.D., senior author of a study published by the American Heart Association says: "We have been taught for decades that when your heart cells are dead, they are dead and there is nothing we can do about it.We are excited about anything suggesting that we can grow more heart cells."Lee and his colleagues tested 880 bioactive substances – including drugs and vitamins – approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to see if they stimulated the mouse stem cells to become heart muscle cells. The cells were genetically altered to give off a fluorescent bright green color when viewed under a microscope if they had become heart muscle cells. "We only got 1 out of the 880 to light up, and that was from ascorbic acid, the chemical commonly known as vitamin C," says Lee, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and a lecturer in biological engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.
NSI Vitamin C with Bioflavonoids, Quercetin, Green Tea, L-Lysine and L-Proline
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: http://www.cwiechert.com/
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.
Please pass these on to anyone you want.
E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Coronary Heart Disease Is an Early Form of Scurvy. Dr. Rath’s research reveals that coronary heart disease occurs exactly for the same reason that clinical (early) scurvy does – a deficiency of vitamin C in the cells composing the artery wall. Humans, unlike animals, develop heart disease because their bodies cannot produce vitamin C. The average diet provides enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy, but not enough to guarantee stable artery walls. As a consequence of vitamin C deficiency, millions of tiny cracks and lesions develop in the artery walls. Subsequently, cholesterol, lipoproteins and other blood risk factors enter the damaged artery walls to repair these lesions.
In the case of chronic vitamin deficiency, this repair process becomes continuous. Over the course of many years, atherosclerotic deposits develop. Deposits in the arteries of the heart eventually lead to heart attack; deposits in the arteries of the brain lead to stroke.
Dr. Rath identified and our research has proven that atherosclerosis is nature’s plaster cast for weak and cracked arterial walls that are chronically deficient in vitamin C and other essential nutrients. One of these nutrients is the amino acid lysine. Lysine is called an essential amino acid because, similar to vitamin C, it cannot be produced in the human body. Lysine, together with another amino acid, proline, is the main component of collagen. These two amino acids comprise about 25% of all amino acids in the collagen molecule. A deficiency of lysine and proline can also trigger blood vessel wall weakness and instability.
Research and clinical studies conducted by Dr. Rath confirm that the most important function of vitamin C in preventing heart attacks and strokes is its ability to increase the production of collagen, elastin, and other reinforcement molecules in the body. This groundbreaking discovery in heart disease should be taught in every medical textbook and school and explains why other cardiovascular conditions, including heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and circulatory problems in diabetes, occur in the case of long-term vitamin deficiencies.
Atherosclerosis:
The coronary arteries provide the primary blood supply to the heart muscle, and coronary heart disease occurs when the arteries become blocked by a buildup of, calcium, cholesterol, and other blood factors. This fatty buildup is medically referred to as atherosclerosis, and these deposits cause the arteries to narrow and stiffen. A sudden block of the blood supply to any area of the heart muscle can cause heart attack and death.
A Study was conducted to see if the process could be reversed with natural supplements. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of a defined nutritional supplement program and specific nutrient synergy on the natural progression of coronary artery disease in 55 patients (50 men and 5 women) between the ages of 44-67 with coronary artery disease as documented by Ultrafast Computed Tomography.
The study focused directly on the key problem - the atherosclerotic deposit inside the walls of the coronary arteries. For this study, Ultrafast Computed Tomography (UCT) was used. UCT is a modern technique that allows the measurement of the size of coronary deposits non-invasively. The computer automatically calculates a deposit’s size by determining the Coronary Artery Scan (CAS) score. The higher the CAS score, the more calcium has accumulated, which indicates more advanced coronary heart disease. Changes in the size of the coronary artery calcifications in each patient were measured over an average period of one year without vitamin supplementation followed by one year with the vitamin program. In this way, the heart scans of the same person was compared before and after the vitamin program. This study design had the advantage of the patients serving as their own controls.
During the course of the 12-month nutritional supplement program, the fast growth of coronary deposits was slowed during the first six months of the study and essentially stopped during the second six months. After one year of using the specific supplement program, the coronary deposits entirely disappeared, indicating a natural healing process of the artery wall.
For the first time in medical history, the reversal of atherosclerotic deposits without bypass surgery, angioplasty, and medication was documented. The results of this remarkable discovery were published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition in 1996.
About Dr. Rath
Matthias Rath, M.D. is an internationally respected physician, researcher, author and humanitarian. Dr. Rath’s scientific discoveries in the areas of cardiovascular disease and cancer are reshaping medicine.
Dr. Rath is the founder of Cellular Medicine, a groundbreaking concept that identifies nutritional deficiencies at the cellular level as a root cause of many chronic diseases. His research has been presented at scientific meetings around the world and his findings published in prestigious medical journals.
Dr. Rath established the Matthias Rath Research Institute in Cellular Medicine to further conduct innovative research based on his scientific discoveries in cardiovascular disease and cancer. Scientists at the Institute utilize the principle of nutrient synergy and investigate the role of nutrients in preventing and treating a host of chronic diseases.
Dr. Rath is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Heart Association and other scientific organizations. His popular health books Why Animals Don’t Get Heart Attacks…But People Do! and Cancer have sold millions of copies and have been translated into ten languages.
Over ten years ago, the two-time Nobel prize Laureate, Dr Linus Pauling and his associate Dr Matthias Rath, advocated and published a definitive thesis on the root cause, treatment, and actual cure for all forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD), including congestive heart failure, heart disease, and stroke. Today, cardiovascular related health problems together comprise fully one half of all causes of death in the US. Pauling and Rath's brilliant analysis of CVD is absolutely compelling and amply supported by numerous epidemiological and clinical studies. His unified theory of CVD constitutes one of the greatest breakthroughs in modern science, and yet has been almost completely ignored by the mainstream medical establishment, and received almost no press.
This study adds a credible piece to the puzzle:
Richard T. Lee, M.D., senior author of a study published by the American Heart Association says: "We have been taught for decades that when your heart cells are dead, they are dead and there is nothing we can do about it.We are excited about anything suggesting that we can grow more heart cells."Lee and his colleagues tested 880 bioactive substances – including drugs and vitamins – approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to see if they stimulated the mouse stem cells to become heart muscle cells. The cells were genetically altered to give off a fluorescent bright green color when viewed under a microscope if they had become heart muscle cells. "We only got 1 out of the 880 to light up, and that was from ascorbic acid, the chemical commonly known as vitamin C," says Lee, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and a lecturer in biological engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.
NSI Vitamin C with Bioflavonoids, Quercetin, Green Tea, L-Lysine and L-Proline
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: http://www.cwiechert.com/
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.
Please pass these on to anyone you want.
E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Curry and it's main component Curcumin - powerful anti cancer compound...
(NewsTarget) A new study published in the current issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research reveals that curcumin -- the yellow pigment in turmeric, a major spice in curry -- can stop the growth and spread of colorectal and breast cancers.
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) found that curcumin inhibits the production of an inflammatory protein that promotes cancer cell growth by dampening the signals of the hormone neurotensin, which spur production of the protein.
"We found that in colon cancer cells, neurotensin increases not just the rate of growth but also other critical things, including cell migration and metastasis," says the study's lead author, professor B. Mark Evers, director of the Sealy Center for Cancer Cell Biology at UTMB.
Researchers believe that because the incidence of cancer is so low in India -- where curry is widely used as a cooking spice and a traditional medicine -- curcumin can be used as a potent anti-cancer medication. Previous lab studies have found the pigment to be effective against skin and breast cancers, in addition to colorectal cancer.
A study published in the Oct. 15, 2005 issue of Clinical Cancer Research found that curcumin prevents the progression of breast cancer cells, and also reverses the negative effects of Taxol, a breast cancer drug that can cause breast cancer cells to spread.
A peer-reviewed study by University of Texas researchers appearing in the Aug. 15, 2005 issue of the journal Cancer -- the journal of the American Cancer Society -- reveals that curcumin treatments can induce cancer cell death in lines of melanoma.
NSI Turmeric Extract (standardized for 95% curcuminoids) with BioPerine -- 900 mg - 120 Capsules
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: http://www.cwiechert.com/Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.
Please pass these on to anyone you want.
E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) found that curcumin inhibits the production of an inflammatory protein that promotes cancer cell growth by dampening the signals of the hormone neurotensin, which spur production of the protein.
"We found that in colon cancer cells, neurotensin increases not just the rate of growth but also other critical things, including cell migration and metastasis," says the study's lead author, professor B. Mark Evers, director of the Sealy Center for Cancer Cell Biology at UTMB.
Researchers believe that because the incidence of cancer is so low in India -- where curry is widely used as a cooking spice and a traditional medicine -- curcumin can be used as a potent anti-cancer medication. Previous lab studies have found the pigment to be effective against skin and breast cancers, in addition to colorectal cancer.
A study published in the Oct. 15, 2005 issue of Clinical Cancer Research found that curcumin prevents the progression of breast cancer cells, and also reverses the negative effects of Taxol, a breast cancer drug that can cause breast cancer cells to spread.
A peer-reviewed study by University of Texas researchers appearing in the Aug. 15, 2005 issue of the journal Cancer -- the journal of the American Cancer Society -- reveals that curcumin treatments can induce cancer cell death in lines of melanoma.
NSI Turmeric Extract (standardized for 95% curcuminoids) with BioPerine -- 900 mg - 120 Capsules
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: http://www.cwiechert.com/Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.
Please pass these on to anyone you want.
E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Fish oil & vitamin D, powerful anti cancer nutrients
Life Extension Update Exclusive
Fatty fish consumption associated with reduced kidney cancer risk
A report published in the September 20, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) revealed that women who ate more fatty fish had a lower risk of the common form of kidney cancer known as renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Renal cell carcinoma affects the functional tissue of the kidney, and comprises over 80 percent of kidney cancers. Previous studies that looked at total fish consumption, but not fatty fish consumption, had failed to find a significant association with a reduced risk of major cancers or renal cell carcinoma.
Alicja Wolk, DMSc, of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden and colleagues utilized data from 61,433 women participating in the Swedish Mammography Cohort who had no history of a cancer diagnosis upon enrollment. Food questionnaires administered between 1987 and 1990, and again in 1997 were analyzed for fatty fish (salmon, herring, sardines, and mackerel), lean fish, and seafood intake.
Over an average 15.3 years of follow-up, 150 cases of renal cell carcinoma were diagnosed. While no association was found between renal cell carcinoma risk and lean fish or seafood consumption, women who initially reported eating fatty fish at least once per week had a 44 percent lower risk of the disease than those who ate no fatty fish. When the 36,664 women who completed the second questionnaire were examined, consistent consumption of fish, defined as at least one to three times per month, was associated with a 74 percent lower risk of renal cell carcinoma compared to those who consistently did not eat fatty fish.
"Our results support the hypothesis that frequent consumption of fatty fish may lower the risk of RCC possibly due to increased intake of fish oil rich in eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaneoic acid as well as vitamin D," the authors write. "Our results, however, require confirmation because this is the first epidemiological study addressing this issue," they conclude.
And in another study, published online on September 15, 2006 in the International Journal of Cancer, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego demonstrated an association between latitudes with reduced sunlight exposure and an increased risk of kidney cancer. Because ultraviolet B radiation triggers the synthesis of vitamin D3 in the body, a deficiency of the vitamin could be a culprit in increased kidney cancer risk.
"Kidney cancer is a mysterious cancer for which no widely accepted cause or means of prevention exists, so we wanted to build on research by one of the co-authors, William Grant, and see if it might be related to deficiency of vitamin D," stated professor of Family and Preventive Medicine in the UCSD School of Medicine and coauthor Cedric Garland, Dr PH.
In addition to reduced sunlight, greater intake of calories from animal sources was also found to be independently associated with increased kidney cancer risk in this study.
The need for more vitamin D
Dr. Reinhold Vieth, MD of the University of Toronto provides convincing evidence that vitamin D deficiency is widespread particularly in northern countries. He is also adamant that currently accepted RDAs (Recommended Daily Allowances) are totally inadequate to prevent osteoporosis and osteomalacia. He points out that total-body sun exposure easily provides the equivalent of 10,000 IU of vitamin D a day and that this amount is what the human race originating in Africa was originally accustomed to. With our current, officially-sanctioned phobia about sun exposure most people expose only their face and hands to the sun on a regular basis and as a result become woefully deficient. The use of sunscreens prevents the formation of any vitamin D at all and makes matters even worse. A vitamin D deficiency is not only heavily implicated in osteoporosis, but has also been linked to breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer. Recent research has shown that a vitamin D intake of 1300 to 3800 IU/day helps prevent multiple sclerosis and that MS is more prevalent among people deficient in vitamin-D. Dr. Vieth recommends a minimum vitamin D intake from supplements of 800-1000 IU/day and feels that a more optimum intake from sunlight and diet would be 4000 IU/day. He also states that numerous studies have shown that daily intakes as high as 10,000 IU are safe (in the absence of sunshine).
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: www.cwiechert.com
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.Please pass these on to anyone you want.
E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Fatty fish consumption associated with reduced kidney cancer risk
A report published in the September 20, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) revealed that women who ate more fatty fish had a lower risk of the common form of kidney cancer known as renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Renal cell carcinoma affects the functional tissue of the kidney, and comprises over 80 percent of kidney cancers. Previous studies that looked at total fish consumption, but not fatty fish consumption, had failed to find a significant association with a reduced risk of major cancers or renal cell carcinoma.
Alicja Wolk, DMSc, of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden and colleagues utilized data from 61,433 women participating in the Swedish Mammography Cohort who had no history of a cancer diagnosis upon enrollment. Food questionnaires administered between 1987 and 1990, and again in 1997 were analyzed for fatty fish (salmon, herring, sardines, and mackerel), lean fish, and seafood intake.
Over an average 15.3 years of follow-up, 150 cases of renal cell carcinoma were diagnosed. While no association was found between renal cell carcinoma risk and lean fish or seafood consumption, women who initially reported eating fatty fish at least once per week had a 44 percent lower risk of the disease than those who ate no fatty fish. When the 36,664 women who completed the second questionnaire were examined, consistent consumption of fish, defined as at least one to three times per month, was associated with a 74 percent lower risk of renal cell carcinoma compared to those who consistently did not eat fatty fish.
"Our results support the hypothesis that frequent consumption of fatty fish may lower the risk of RCC possibly due to increased intake of fish oil rich in eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaneoic acid as well as vitamin D," the authors write. "Our results, however, require confirmation because this is the first epidemiological study addressing this issue," they conclude.
And in another study, published online on September 15, 2006 in the International Journal of Cancer, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego demonstrated an association between latitudes with reduced sunlight exposure and an increased risk of kidney cancer. Because ultraviolet B radiation triggers the synthesis of vitamin D3 in the body, a deficiency of the vitamin could be a culprit in increased kidney cancer risk.
"Kidney cancer is a mysterious cancer for which no widely accepted cause or means of prevention exists, so we wanted to build on research by one of the co-authors, William Grant, and see if it might be related to deficiency of vitamin D," stated professor of Family and Preventive Medicine in the UCSD School of Medicine and coauthor Cedric Garland, Dr PH.
In addition to reduced sunlight, greater intake of calories from animal sources was also found to be independently associated with increased kidney cancer risk in this study.
The need for more vitamin D
Dr. Reinhold Vieth, MD of the University of Toronto provides convincing evidence that vitamin D deficiency is widespread particularly in northern countries. He is also adamant that currently accepted RDAs (Recommended Daily Allowances) are totally inadequate to prevent osteoporosis and osteomalacia. He points out that total-body sun exposure easily provides the equivalent of 10,000 IU of vitamin D a day and that this amount is what the human race originating in Africa was originally accustomed to. With our current, officially-sanctioned phobia about sun exposure most people expose only their face and hands to the sun on a regular basis and as a result become woefully deficient. The use of sunscreens prevents the formation of any vitamin D at all and makes matters even worse. A vitamin D deficiency is not only heavily implicated in osteoporosis, but has also been linked to breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer. Recent research has shown that a vitamin D intake of 1300 to 3800 IU/day helps prevent multiple sclerosis and that MS is more prevalent among people deficient in vitamin-D. Dr. Vieth recommends a minimum vitamin D intake from supplements of 800-1000 IU/day and feels that a more optimum intake from sunlight and diet would be 4000 IU/day. He also states that numerous studies have shown that daily intakes as high as 10,000 IU are safe (in the absence of sunshine).
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: www.cwiechert.com
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.Please pass these on to anyone you want.
E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Monday, September 18, 2006
Fish Oil and Garlic in the news this week...
Fish oil reduces heart disease risk in arthritis patients ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA. August 1, 2006
The potential benefit of fish oils on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been the subject of many previous studies. Overall, the results suggest that fish oil supplements containing the omega 3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can reduce stiffness and pain. But could these supplements also help reduce the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in RA patients? A team from the Royal Adelaide Hospital investigated the effects of fish oil supplementation on several cardiovascular risk factors. They recruited 31 early RA patients all taking drug treatment for the condition, of whom 18 also chose to take fish oil. The dose was considered by the researchers to be sufficiently high to have an antiinflammatory action. After three years of supplementation, data from the patients who did not take fish oil was compared with data from those did and reached a level of EPA greater than 5 per cent of total plasma fatty acids. Arachidonic acid, an omega 6 fatty acid which competes with omega 3 FAs, was lower in participants who reached the required level of EPA. It was 30 per cent lower in platelets and 40 per cent lower in peripheral blood cells. Serum thromboxane B2, a cardiovascular risk factor, was 35 per cent lower. Prostaglandin E2, a compound which RA drug treatment seeks to
reduce, was 41 per cent lower. International Health News October 2006 Page 5 Fish oil was also linked to positive changes in blood lipids, and a greater rate of remission after the 3 years - 72 per cent compared to 31 per cent in the non-fish oil group. The authors conclude that fish oil reduces cardiovascular risk in RA patients, and that this takes places via several biological pathways.
They suggest that fish oil could potentially replace drug treatment for many RA patients. In this study, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use was reduced by 75 per cent in the fish oil group between the start and finish of the study, compared with 37 per cent in the non-fish oil group. Added to which, RA drugs may themselves contribute to cardiovascular risk. Fish oil is a cheaper, safer treatment option and could also serve as a preventative measure against RA, the authors conclude. Cleland, LG, et al. Reduction of cardiovascular risk factors with longterm fish oil treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Rheumatology, published online.
Garlic compounds may stop liver cancer growth...
By Stephen Daniells 5/4/2006
Water-soluble compounds from garlic reduced the size of liver cancer cells by a factor of three, research that adds to other anti-cancer studies with garlic, says a new laboratory study from Italy. Consumer awareness of the health benefits of garlic, mostly in terms of cardiovascular and immune system health, has benefited the supplements industry, particularly since consumers seek the benefits of garlic without the odours that accompany the fresh bulb. Several compounds from garlic have already been reported to have anti-cancer activity, including allicin, the substance that gives garlic its distinctive aroma and flavour, and its derivative, diallyl disulfide (DADS). However, both have been shown to kill not only cancer cells, but also healthy human body cells. The compounds are highly unstable and break down quickly once ingested, and are not likely to be the active compounds in ingested garlic. "Water-soluble compounds, less odorous than the oil-soluble compounds, besides being more stable, appear to have a higher bioavailability and appear to be able to enter the blood and reach target organs," explained lead author Angelo De Martino in the Journal of Nutrition Biochemistry (doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2005.12.005). The researchers, from the University of Rome, obtained extracts from fresh garlic bulbs from two different geographical locations, and added these extracts to human liver cancer cells. The potential inhibition of the cancer cells was compared with a control batch of cancer cells (no intervention) and cancer cells exposed to DADS. After 48 hours the researchers found that the control liver cancer cells had multiplied by over 300 per cent. Similar results were observed for the DADS-exposed cancer cells. A one per cent solution of each garlic extracts appeared to inhibit the growth of the tumour completely. The garlic extracts, said the researchers, "showed a dose- and time-dependent effect on cell proliferation, with a significant reduction of viable cell number at 24 hours with a less pronounced recovery of cell proliferation at 48 hours." The researchers admitted that they had not identified the specific compound or compounds responsible for the anti-cancer effects of the water-soluble garlic extracts, nor could they be sure if the compounds were modified during their metabolic processing. "Metabolomic studies should be performed in the future to investigate which are the molecules... that promote cell death upon administration of water-soluble garlic extracts," suggested De Martino. Importantly, the researchers reported that the induction of apoptosis (programmed cell death) by the garlic extracts appeared to be selective to cancer cells. De Martino said that, since the liver is where nutraceuticals are metabolised and that the cancer cells used in this experiment are known to be resistant to several anticancer therapies, that the results suggest the water-soluble garlic extracts may be effective against other forms of cancer. It should be stressed that inhibition of cancer cell growth in a laboratory experiment may not be transferable to actual inhibition in humans. This study does however add to other research reporting that garlic and its extracts may protect against certain types of cancer. Liver cancer is the sixth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world, and third most common cause of death from cancer, according to Cancer Research UK. Despite these figures, the cancer remains relatively rare, with 18,500 new cases in the US every year, and about 3,000 in the UK. The highest incidences of the disease are in east and Southeast Asia, and middle and eastern Africa. South Central Asia and Northern Europe have the lowest incidence of the disease.
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: www.cwiechert.com
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.Please pass these on to anyone you want.E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
The potential benefit of fish oils on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been the subject of many previous studies. Overall, the results suggest that fish oil supplements containing the omega 3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can reduce stiffness and pain. But could these supplements also help reduce the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in RA patients? A team from the Royal Adelaide Hospital investigated the effects of fish oil supplementation on several cardiovascular risk factors. They recruited 31 early RA patients all taking drug treatment for the condition, of whom 18 also chose to take fish oil. The dose was considered by the researchers to be sufficiently high to have an antiinflammatory action. After three years of supplementation, data from the patients who did not take fish oil was compared with data from those did and reached a level of EPA greater than 5 per cent of total plasma fatty acids. Arachidonic acid, an omega 6 fatty acid which competes with omega 3 FAs, was lower in participants who reached the required level of EPA. It was 30 per cent lower in platelets and 40 per cent lower in peripheral blood cells. Serum thromboxane B2, a cardiovascular risk factor, was 35 per cent lower. Prostaglandin E2, a compound which RA drug treatment seeks to
reduce, was 41 per cent lower. International Health News October 2006 Page 5 Fish oil was also linked to positive changes in blood lipids, and a greater rate of remission after the 3 years - 72 per cent compared to 31 per cent in the non-fish oil group. The authors conclude that fish oil reduces cardiovascular risk in RA patients, and that this takes places via several biological pathways.
They suggest that fish oil could potentially replace drug treatment for many RA patients. In this study, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use was reduced by 75 per cent in the fish oil group between the start and finish of the study, compared with 37 per cent in the non-fish oil group. Added to which, RA drugs may themselves contribute to cardiovascular risk. Fish oil is a cheaper, safer treatment option and could also serve as a preventative measure against RA, the authors conclude. Cleland, LG, et al. Reduction of cardiovascular risk factors with longterm fish oil treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Rheumatology, published online.
Garlic compounds may stop liver cancer growth...
By Stephen Daniells 5/4/2006
Water-soluble compounds from garlic reduced the size of liver cancer cells by a factor of three, research that adds to other anti-cancer studies with garlic, says a new laboratory study from Italy. Consumer awareness of the health benefits of garlic, mostly in terms of cardiovascular and immune system health, has benefited the supplements industry, particularly since consumers seek the benefits of garlic without the odours that accompany the fresh bulb. Several compounds from garlic have already been reported to have anti-cancer activity, including allicin, the substance that gives garlic its distinctive aroma and flavour, and its derivative, diallyl disulfide (DADS). However, both have been shown to kill not only cancer cells, but also healthy human body cells. The compounds are highly unstable and break down quickly once ingested, and are not likely to be the active compounds in ingested garlic. "Water-soluble compounds, less odorous than the oil-soluble compounds, besides being more stable, appear to have a higher bioavailability and appear to be able to enter the blood and reach target organs," explained lead author Angelo De Martino in the Journal of Nutrition Biochemistry (doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2005.12.005). The researchers, from the University of Rome, obtained extracts from fresh garlic bulbs from two different geographical locations, and added these extracts to human liver cancer cells. The potential inhibition of the cancer cells was compared with a control batch of cancer cells (no intervention) and cancer cells exposed to DADS. After 48 hours the researchers found that the control liver cancer cells had multiplied by over 300 per cent. Similar results were observed for the DADS-exposed cancer cells. A one per cent solution of each garlic extracts appeared to inhibit the growth of the tumour completely. The garlic extracts, said the researchers, "showed a dose- and time-dependent effect on cell proliferation, with a significant reduction of viable cell number at 24 hours with a less pronounced recovery of cell proliferation at 48 hours." The researchers admitted that they had not identified the specific compound or compounds responsible for the anti-cancer effects of the water-soluble garlic extracts, nor could they be sure if the compounds were modified during their metabolic processing. "Metabolomic studies should be performed in the future to investigate which are the molecules... that promote cell death upon administration of water-soluble garlic extracts," suggested De Martino. Importantly, the researchers reported that the induction of apoptosis (programmed cell death) by the garlic extracts appeared to be selective to cancer cells. De Martino said that, since the liver is where nutraceuticals are metabolised and that the cancer cells used in this experiment are known to be resistant to several anticancer therapies, that the results suggest the water-soluble garlic extracts may be effective against other forms of cancer. It should be stressed that inhibition of cancer cell growth in a laboratory experiment may not be transferable to actual inhibition in humans. This study does however add to other research reporting that garlic and its extracts may protect against certain types of cancer. Liver cancer is the sixth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world, and third most common cause of death from cancer, according to Cancer Research UK. Despite these figures, the cancer remains relatively rare, with 18,500 new cases in the US every year, and about 3,000 in the UK. The highest incidences of the disease are in east and Southeast Asia, and middle and eastern Africa. South Central Asia and Northern Europe have the lowest incidence of the disease.
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: www.cwiechert.com
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.Please pass these on to anyone you want.E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Nutrients in the news this week...
We have 3 great articles this week that confirm the real cause of the obesity epidemic, tell us why we should eat Mandarin Oranges and why we need more vitamin D. CW
Life Extension Update Exclusive
Vitamin D slashes pancreatic cancer risk...
A report published in the September, 2006 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention concluded that consuming the US Recommended Daily Allowance of 400 (IU) of vitamin D each day was associated a 43 percent lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared to individuals who consume less than 150 IU. Pancreatic cancer is estimated to be diagnosed in 32,000 individuals in the U.S. this year, and an equal number of people are expected to die from it.
Halcyon Skinner, PhD, of Northwestern University, and his colleagues at Harvard evaluated data from 46,771 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and 75,427 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study. Vitamin D from diet and supplements and diet alone was calculated for each subject from food frequency questionnaire responses. Over 16 years of follow-up, 365 cases of pancreatic cancer were diagnosed.
The researchers found that consuming between 300 and 449 IU vitamin D per day from diet and supplements was associated with a 43 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer compared to the risk experienced by those whose vitamin D intake was lowest at less than 150 IU per day. Even those subjects whose intake was between 150 and 299 IU per day experienced a 22 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer compared to the lowest intake category. When food alone was analyzed, having an intake greater than or equal to 300 IU per day was associated with a 33 percent reduced risk of pancreatic cancer compared to the risk associated with an intake of less than 100 IU vitamin D per day.
Dr Skinner, who is currently with the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, stated, “Because there is no effective screening for pancreatic cancer, identifying controllable risk factors for the disease is essential for developing strategies that can prevent cancer. Vitamin D has shown strong potential for preventing and treating prostate cancer, and areas with greater sunlight exposure have lower incidence and mortality for prostate, breast, and colon cancers, leading us to investigate a role for Vitamin D in pancreatic cancer risk. Few studies have examined this association, and we did observe a reduced risk for pancreatic cancer with higher intake of Vitamin D."
"In concert with laboratory results suggesting antitumor effects of Vitamin D, our results point to a possible role for Vitamin D in the prevention and possible reduction in mortality of pancreatic cancer,” he concluded. “Since no other environmental or dietary factor showed this risk relationship, more study of Vitamin D's role is warranted.”
Eat those Mandarin Oranges...
Mandarin oranges may reduce risk of liver cancer, other diseases -- A pair of studies from Japan suggests that eating mandarin oranges may cut your risk of developing liver cancer as well as other serious diseases:
In one study, researchers at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine found that drinking mandarin orange juice may reduce the risk of developing liver cancer in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. After a one-year study period, no liver cancer was detected among a group of 30 patients with viral hepatitis who were given one cup daily of a specially prepared beverage containing mandarin orange juice, whereas an 8.9 percent rate of liver cancer was found among a group of 45 patients who did not drink the juice supplements, according to Hoyoku Nishino, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher at the university.
In an epidemiological study by scientists at the National Institute of Fruit Tree Science in Japan, scientists surveyed 1,073 people in a Japanese town noted for its high consumption of mandarin oranges. The researchers found certain chemical markers in the subjects' blood that are associated with a lower risk of several health problems, including liver disease, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and insulin resistance (a condition associated with diabetes), according to study leader Minoru Sugiura, Ph.D.
Childhood obesity: What’s really triggering this epidemic?
"The higher your insulin, the more your brain thinks you're starving. The more your brain thinks you're starving, the less you want to exercise and the more you want to eat. This only drives more food intake, which drives your insulin even higher, which interferes with your leptin even more, which makes you think you're starving even more. It's a vicious cycle."
http://www.abc7-ucsf.com/feature/0806/epidemictrigger.htm
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: www.cwiechert.com
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.
Please pass these on to anyone you want.E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Life Extension Update Exclusive
Vitamin D slashes pancreatic cancer risk...
A report published in the September, 2006 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention concluded that consuming the US Recommended Daily Allowance of 400 (IU) of vitamin D each day was associated a 43 percent lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared to individuals who consume less than 150 IU. Pancreatic cancer is estimated to be diagnosed in 32,000 individuals in the U.S. this year, and an equal number of people are expected to die from it.
Halcyon Skinner, PhD, of Northwestern University, and his colleagues at Harvard evaluated data from 46,771 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and 75,427 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study. Vitamin D from diet and supplements and diet alone was calculated for each subject from food frequency questionnaire responses. Over 16 years of follow-up, 365 cases of pancreatic cancer were diagnosed.
The researchers found that consuming between 300 and 449 IU vitamin D per day from diet and supplements was associated with a 43 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer compared to the risk experienced by those whose vitamin D intake was lowest at less than 150 IU per day. Even those subjects whose intake was between 150 and 299 IU per day experienced a 22 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer compared to the lowest intake category. When food alone was analyzed, having an intake greater than or equal to 300 IU per day was associated with a 33 percent reduced risk of pancreatic cancer compared to the risk associated with an intake of less than 100 IU vitamin D per day.
Dr Skinner, who is currently with the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, stated, “Because there is no effective screening for pancreatic cancer, identifying controllable risk factors for the disease is essential for developing strategies that can prevent cancer. Vitamin D has shown strong potential for preventing and treating prostate cancer, and areas with greater sunlight exposure have lower incidence and mortality for prostate, breast, and colon cancers, leading us to investigate a role for Vitamin D in pancreatic cancer risk. Few studies have examined this association, and we did observe a reduced risk for pancreatic cancer with higher intake of Vitamin D."
"In concert with laboratory results suggesting antitumor effects of Vitamin D, our results point to a possible role for Vitamin D in the prevention and possible reduction in mortality of pancreatic cancer,” he concluded. “Since no other environmental or dietary factor showed this risk relationship, more study of Vitamin D's role is warranted.”
Eat those Mandarin Oranges...
Mandarin oranges may reduce risk of liver cancer, other diseases -- A pair of studies from Japan suggests that eating mandarin oranges may cut your risk of developing liver cancer as well as other serious diseases:
In one study, researchers at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine found that drinking mandarin orange juice may reduce the risk of developing liver cancer in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. After a one-year study period, no liver cancer was detected among a group of 30 patients with viral hepatitis who were given one cup daily of a specially prepared beverage containing mandarin orange juice, whereas an 8.9 percent rate of liver cancer was found among a group of 45 patients who did not drink the juice supplements, according to Hoyoku Nishino, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher at the university.
In an epidemiological study by scientists at the National Institute of Fruit Tree Science in Japan, scientists surveyed 1,073 people in a Japanese town noted for its high consumption of mandarin oranges. The researchers found certain chemical markers in the subjects' blood that are associated with a lower risk of several health problems, including liver disease, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and insulin resistance (a condition associated with diabetes), according to study leader Minoru Sugiura, Ph.D.
Childhood obesity: What’s really triggering this epidemic?
"The higher your insulin, the more your brain thinks you're starving. The more your brain thinks you're starving, the less you want to exercise and the more you want to eat. This only drives more food intake, which drives your insulin even higher, which interferes with your leptin even more, which makes you think you're starving even more. It's a vicious cycle."
http://www.abc7-ucsf.com/feature/0806/epidemictrigger.htm
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: www.cwiechert.com
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.
Please pass these on to anyone you want.E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Nutrients in the news this week...
First, lets start with even more proof, that we need more vitamin D to make sure we retire healthy with independence.
Life Extension Update Exclusive
Low vitamin D levels predict nursing home admission
The results of study conducted in the Netherlands, published in the September, 2006 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that having a low level of serum vitamin D is associated with a greater risk of being admitted to a nursing home within six years, and may increase the risk of dying within a similar amount of time.
Marjolein Visser and colleagues at Vrije University in Amsterdam used data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a prospective study of 3,107 men and women aged 55 to 85 upon enrollment between 1992 and 1993, who were examined after 3, 6 and 9 years of follow up. The current study included 1,260 participants over the age of 65 who participated in the first follow up.
Stored serum samples analyzed for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) between 1997 and 1998 were classified as deficient (under 25 nanomoles per liter), insufficient, borderline, or normal (greater than or equal to 75 nanomoles per liter). Over the six year period, 138 participants were admitted to nursing homes. Between the beginning of the study and April, 2003, there were 380 deaths.
There were 58 nursing home admissions among participants with deficient levels of vitamin D compared to 5 among those whose vitamin D levels were normal. Adjusted analysis found that vitamin D deficiency increased the risk of nursing home admission by more than three times the risk experienced by those with normal levels. Vitamin D insufficient and borderline patients also experienced greater risk. Additionally, the risk of dying during the designated period was increased by vitamin D deficiency. After adjustment for age, gender, and education, vitamin D deficiency was associated with a 61 percent greater risk of death compared to that of participants whose vitamin levels were normal, however, this risk did not appear to be significant after further adjustment for health, lifestyle, and frailty.
The authors suggest that the greater risk of nursing home admission among individuals with deficient and insufficient vitamin D levels could be due to their increased muscle weakness and risk of falls, as well as a greater risk of osteoporosis. “Lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations in older men and women are associated with a greater risk of future nursing home admission and may be associated with a greater mortality risk,” the authors conclude. “These results could indicate that lower vitamin D concentrations may specifically affect the level of independence in old age.”
Next health experts say we could be the first generation who's kids will die before their parents. This article makes some silly statements, but the part about evolution and what were programed to eat, is right on.
Evolution, not just gluttony, led to obesity pandemic
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Evolution and the environment, not just gluttony, has led to a global obesity pandemic, with an estimated 1.5 billion people overweight -- more than the number of undernourished people -- an obesity conference was told on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060904/hl_nm/obesity_dc
This next article explains that evolution may explain why protein is the most satiating of the macronutrients, since the hunter-gatherer diets contained much more protein than most modern meals.
Scientists find 'proof' for high protein diets
07/09/2006 - A key hormone in the human gut could be the reason why high protein diets enhance satiety and promote weight loss, British scientists have reported.
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=70379&m=1NIE907&c=wcrclzgqdhtlgsk
To protect your hearts, pay the extra price for E V O...
Virgin olive oil best for heart health
07/09/2006 - Virgin olive oil, a rich source of polyphenols, is the best vegetable oil for heart health, says a European study.
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=70395&m=1NIE907&c=wcrclzgqdhtlgsk
Obesity is already recognized as one of the leading preventable causes of death from heart disease and diabetes but this RNIB report said it was also a key factor in sight loss.
Obesity doubles risk of blindness, says report
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's increasing number of obese adults and children face twice the risk of losing their sight from a range of degenerative eye conditions, a report from the Royal National Institute of the Blind said on Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060906/hl_nm/obesity_blindness_dc
The last article is not to be believed, I have seen too much proof to the contrary, I agree with Charles Brown here...
Study finds silver fillings not harmful
WASHINGTON - Silver fillings used to patch cavities aren't dangerous even though they expose dental patients to the toxic metal mercury, federal health researchers said Friday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060902/ap_on_he_me/dental_mercury_3
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: www.cwiechert.com
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.Please pass these on to anyone you want.
E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Life Extension Update Exclusive
Low vitamin D levels predict nursing home admission
The results of study conducted in the Netherlands, published in the September, 2006 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that having a low level of serum vitamin D is associated with a greater risk of being admitted to a nursing home within six years, and may increase the risk of dying within a similar amount of time.
Marjolein Visser and colleagues at Vrije University in Amsterdam used data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a prospective study of 3,107 men and women aged 55 to 85 upon enrollment between 1992 and 1993, who were examined after 3, 6 and 9 years of follow up. The current study included 1,260 participants over the age of 65 who participated in the first follow up.
Stored serum samples analyzed for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) between 1997 and 1998 were classified as deficient (under 25 nanomoles per liter), insufficient, borderline, or normal (greater than or equal to 75 nanomoles per liter). Over the six year period, 138 participants were admitted to nursing homes. Between the beginning of the study and April, 2003, there were 380 deaths.
There were 58 nursing home admissions among participants with deficient levels of vitamin D compared to 5 among those whose vitamin D levels were normal. Adjusted analysis found that vitamin D deficiency increased the risk of nursing home admission by more than three times the risk experienced by those with normal levels. Vitamin D insufficient and borderline patients also experienced greater risk. Additionally, the risk of dying during the designated period was increased by vitamin D deficiency. After adjustment for age, gender, and education, vitamin D deficiency was associated with a 61 percent greater risk of death compared to that of participants whose vitamin levels were normal, however, this risk did not appear to be significant after further adjustment for health, lifestyle, and frailty.
The authors suggest that the greater risk of nursing home admission among individuals with deficient and insufficient vitamin D levels could be due to their increased muscle weakness and risk of falls, as well as a greater risk of osteoporosis. “Lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations in older men and women are associated with a greater risk of future nursing home admission and may be associated with a greater mortality risk,” the authors conclude. “These results could indicate that lower vitamin D concentrations may specifically affect the level of independence in old age.”
Next health experts say we could be the first generation who's kids will die before their parents. This article makes some silly statements, but the part about evolution and what were programed to eat, is right on.
Evolution, not just gluttony, led to obesity pandemic
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Evolution and the environment, not just gluttony, has led to a global obesity pandemic, with an estimated 1.5 billion people overweight -- more than the number of undernourished people -- an obesity conference was told on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060904/hl_nm/obesity_dc
This next article explains that evolution may explain why protein is the most satiating of the macronutrients, since the hunter-gatherer diets contained much more protein than most modern meals.
Scientists find 'proof' for high protein diets
07/09/2006 - A key hormone in the human gut could be the reason why high protein diets enhance satiety and promote weight loss, British scientists have reported.
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=70379&m=1NIE907&c=wcrclzgqdhtlgsk
To protect your hearts, pay the extra price for E V O...
Virgin olive oil best for heart health
07/09/2006 - Virgin olive oil, a rich source of polyphenols, is the best vegetable oil for heart health, says a European study.
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=70395&m=1NIE907&c=wcrclzgqdhtlgsk
Obesity is already recognized as one of the leading preventable causes of death from heart disease and diabetes but this RNIB report said it was also a key factor in sight loss.
Obesity doubles risk of blindness, says report
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's increasing number of obese adults and children face twice the risk of losing their sight from a range of degenerative eye conditions, a report from the Royal National Institute of the Blind said on Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060906/hl_nm/obesity_blindness_dc
The last article is not to be believed, I have seen too much proof to the contrary, I agree with Charles Brown here...
Study finds silver fillings not harmful
WASHINGTON - Silver fillings used to patch cavities aren't dangerous even though they expose dental patients to the toxic metal mercury, federal health researchers said Friday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060902/ap_on_he_me/dental_mercury_3
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: www.cwiechert.com
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.Please pass these on to anyone you want.
E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Health in the news this week 09-01-06
Well alot of interesting news this week in the field of health. First, a study that confirms that we need more Vitamin K, which I have blogged on many times. Vitamin K removes calcium from soft tissues, where it should not be, and gives it to the bones, where it does belong. Obesity is increasing everywhere, especially in the U.S., the cause Hyperinsulinemia. Two of the oldest people in the world died this week. One ate junk food and one didn't. Genetics is important for longevity, but it's only when there genetics make them control insulin levels and blood sugar properly. Most of us, don't have that luxury. High insulin & glucose levels - The Cause of Many Diseases. And lastly, we learn the importance of drinking teas that contain antioxidants and that caffeinated teas or coffee, do not dehydrate as has been previously been reported.
CW
8/29/2006 - A high daily intake of vitamin K1, found in green leafy vegetables, could reduce the risk of fatal coronary heart disease by 19 per cent, says a new study.
Vitamin K1-rich diet linked to better heart health
9/25/2006 - 31 states showing an increase in obesity. Mississippi continued to lead the way. An estimated 29.5 percent of adults there are considered obese. That's an increase of 1.1 percentage points when compared with last year's report, which is compiled by Trust for America's Health, an advocacy group that promotes increased funding for public health programs.
Waistlines continue to grow in U.S.
The world's oldest person, a 116-year-old Ecuadorean woman who drank donkey milk for health, died on Sunday less than a month before her birthday, her relatives told local newspapers on Monday.
World's oldest person dies at age 116
LOS ANGELES - George Johnson, considered California's oldest living person at 112 and the state's last surviving World War I veteran, had experts shaking their heads over his junk food diet.
Man lives to 112 despite junk-food diet
28/08/2006 - The antioxidant content of tea could mean that drinking three or more cups a day could reduce the risk of a wide range of health problems, ranging from cancer to heart disease, and may even be healthier than water, says a review from Britain.
Do antioxidants make tea healthier than water?
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
Please visit our website at: www.cwiechert.com
Click here if you would like to subscribe to our free HealthBlogger News Letter.
Write... add me to your list on the subject line.Please pass these on to anyone you want.
E-mail us at cww@cwiechert.com
CW
8/29/2006 - A high daily intake of vitamin K1, found in green leafy vegetables, could reduce the risk of fatal coronary heart disease by 19 per cent, says a new study.
Vitamin K1-rich diet linked to better heart health
9/25/2006 - 31 states showing an increase in obesity. Mississippi continued to lead the way. An estimated 29.5 percent of adults there are considered obese. That's an increase of 1.1 percentage points when compared with last year's report, which is compiled by Trust for America's Health, an advocacy group that promotes increased funding for public health programs.
Waistlines continue to grow in U.S.
The world's oldest person, a 116-year-old Ecuadorean woman who drank donkey milk for health, died on Sunday less than a month before her birthday, her relatives told local newspapers on Monday.
World's oldest person dies at age 116
LOS ANGELES - George Johnson, considered California's oldest living person at 112 and the state's last surviving World War I veteran, had experts shaking their heads over his junk food diet.
Man lives to 112 despite junk-food diet
28/08/2006 - The antioxidant content of tea could mean that drinking three or more cups a day could reduce the risk of a wide range of health problems, ranging from cancer to heart disease, and may even be healthier than water, says a review from Britain.
Do antioxidants make tea healthier than water?
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
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