Friday, April 25, 2008

Dementia is a brain disorder that seriously affects a person’s ability to carry out daily activities. The most common form of dementia among older people is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which initially involves the parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. Although scientists are learning more every day, right now they still do not know what causes AD, and there is no cure.
Scientists think that as many as 4.5 million Americans suffer from AD. The disease usually begins after age 60, and risk goes up with age. While younger people also may get AD, it is much less common. About 5 percent of men and women ages 65 to 74 have AD, and nearly half of those age 85 and older may have the disease. It is important to note, however, that AD is not a normal part of aging. Prevention is the key and there is good news on that front. The acetyl group that is part of acetyl-L-carnitine contributes to the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is required for mental function. Several double-blind clinical trials suggest that acetyl-L-carnitine delays the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and enhances overall performance in some people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Several clinical trials have found that acetyl-L-carnitine supplementation delays the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, improves memory, and enhances overall performance in some people with Alzheimer’s disease. Overall, most short-term studies have shown clinical benefits, and most long-term studies (one year) have shown a reduction in the rate of deterioration.

cw


Alpha-Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine...
Two dietary supplements straight off the health food store shelf put the spark back into aging rats, and might do the same for aging baby boomers, according to a study at the University of California, Berkeley, and Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute.
A team of researchers led by Bruce N. Ames, professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, fed older rats two chemicals normally found in the body’s cells and available as dietary supplements: acetyl-L-carnitine and an antioxidant, alpha-lipoic acid.
In three articles in the February 19 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ames and his colleagues report the surprising results. Not only did the older rats do better on memory tests, they had more pep, and the energy-producing organelles in their cells worked better.
“With the two supplements together, these old rats got up and did the Macarena,” said Ames, also a researcher at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI). “The brain looks better, they are full of energy—everything we looked at looks more like a young animal.”
“The animals seem to have much more vigor and are much more active than animals not on this diet, signaling massive improvement to these animals’ health and well-being,” said former UC Berkeley post-doctoral fellow Tory M. Hagen, now an assistant professor at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, Corvallis. “And we also see a reversal in loss of memory. That is a dual-track improvement that is significant and unique. This is really starting to explode and move out of the realm of basic research into people.”
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In New Alzheimer's Studies, Lab Tests Show Vitamin E And Other Antioxidants Preventing Brain Cell Death...
ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 1998) — BOSTON, Aug. 27--In laboratory tests, vitamin E prevented the death of brain cells exposed to a toxic protein found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, it was reported here today. The protein, amyloid beta peptide (AB), is the major constituent of the senile plaques found in Alzheimer brains, and it generates oxygen free radicals that attack and kill brain cells, said Allan Butterfield, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and director of the Center for Membrane Sciences of the University of Kentucky. He presented his findings at a national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. Now, Dr. Butterfield says, he has become the first to see the actual death and survival of brain cells in tests of AB and antioxidants.
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Wine May Protect Against Dementia, Study Suggests...
ScienceDaily (Apr. 13, 2008) — There may be constituents in wine that protect against dementia. This is shown in research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The findings are based on 1,458 women who were included in the so-called Population Study of Women from 1968. When they were examined by physicians they were asked to report how often they drank wine, beer, and liquor by selecting from seven categories on a scale from 'never' to 'daily.' The researchers know nothing about how much they drank on each occasion, or how correct the estimates were. For each beverage the women reported having drunk more than once a month, they were classified as a consumer of that particular beverage.
Thirty-four years after the first study, 162 women had been diagnosed with dementia. The results show that among those women who reported that they drank wine a considerably lower proportion suffered from dementia, whereas this correlation was not found among those who had reported that they regularly drank beer or liquor.
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Gingko may boost memory - if you remember to take it...
Supplements of ginkgo biloba may boost the memory and memory function of the elderly, so long as people comply and take them as instructed, according to the results of a new randomised clinical trial (RCT). Researchers report in the journal Neurology that reliably taking the supplement could reduce the risk of developing mild memory problems by 68 per cent in healthy older people with no memory problems.
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Blueberry flavonoids could have Alzheimer's benefits, study...
Blueberries and other phytochemical-rich foods could help in increasing memory capacity by reversing age-related deficits in memory, according to a new rat study by UK researchers. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Reading and the Peninsula Medical School, has not yet been published but is expected to appear in the peer-reviewed journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine within the next few days. After supplementing the diet of rats with blueberries over a 12-week period, the research team said that improvements in spatial working memory tasks emerged within three weeks and continued throughout the period of the study.
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Green tea's Alzheimer protection gets more support...
Green tea catechins may inhibit the loss of reference and working memory linked to plaque formation in the brain, say research from Japan, adding to claims that the beverage may help ward off Alzheimer's. Our results suggest that long-term administration of PE prevents cognitive deficits caused by oxidative stress, beta-amyloid-induced and/or otherwise, at least by facilitating antioxidative defences," wrote lead author Abdul Haque from Shimane University Faculty of Medicine
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MEMORY HEALTH

MENTAL FOCUS

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Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
President
Forever Changes, Inc.
Website: http://www.cwiechert.com/
Health Blogger: http://www.cwiechert.blogspot.com/
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" The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."- Albert Einstein

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

You be the judge...

You have heard it said many times from doctors... That we don't need supplements, we get all the nutrients we need from food. Orthomolecular Medicine tells a different story that in many cases, more is not only better, it can reverse disease. You be the judge... I can do this with many other nutrients besides vitamin D...

cw


Vitamin D research
Posted on Tue, Apr. 22, 2008

CANCER
Vitamin D emerged as a protective factor in a study of more than 3,000 adults who underwent a colonoscopy; there was a significantly lower risk of advanced cancerous lesions among those with the highest vitamin D intake, according to the National Institutes of Health. A four-year trial at Creighton University, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that the higher the level of vitamin D, the lower the risk of all cancers in post-menopausal women.

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
An analysis of two large Nurses' Health Study groups found a reduced risk of MS was associated with vitamin D supplementation, according to a 2004 report in Neurology.

DIABETES
A study published in the Lancet in 2001 concluded that children who were given vitamin D supplementation were less likely to develop Type 1 diabetes.

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
In the Iowa Women's Health Study, women consuming higher levels of vitamin D showed a reduced risk for rheumatoid arthritis.

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
A study in the journal Circulation found that those with low vitamin D levels had a 62 percent increased risk of heart failure.

FALLS & FRACTURES
Seniors taking a high daily dose of vitamin D experience 72 percent fewer fractures, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. A daily supplement of 800 units of vitamin D could prevent a quarter of hip fractures in older people, suggests a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

ASTHMA
In a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, children of mothers with lower intakes of vitamin D during pregnancy were more likely to develop asthma.

FIBROMYALGIA
Some researchers believe this disorder could actually be vitamin D deficiency, which can cause muscle weakness and pain. One Canada study, published in 2001 in the journal Rheumatology, found that half the fibromyalgia patients tested had low levels of vitamin D.

Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.

President

Forever Changes, Inc.

Website: http://www.cwiechert.com/

Health Blogger: http://www.cwiechert.blogspot.com/

Orthomolecular Formulations: www.cwiechert.com/Orthomolecularformulations.html

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" The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."- Albert Einstein



Sunday, April 13, 2008

Begin with the end in mind... Consider making changes now that can give you good health when you are older.

Dynamic changes in health can be achieved by decreasing some things in our diet like sugars, and high glycemic foods and beverages, and by increasing the amount of healthy foods along with supplements. Orthomolecular Nutrition teaches us that taking the RDA, the Recommended Daily Allowance, of nutrients is not enough to prevent chronic illness. This is true as well, when we don't eat enough vegetables and fruits each day. One example below is copper. Greens contain lots of the trace mineral copper, which when eaten in large amount's, might reduce enlarged hearts. Here are some examples of things we should do less of and powerful nutrients that we might want to consider taking more of.

cw



Vitamin C: There May Be a Modern Chronic Deficiency ...
NaturalNews) Vitamin C. Mmmm . . . maybe you think of a tall glass of Florida orange juice. Or maybe you grab it at the beginning of the cold season. But would you associate it with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or cancer? Maybe you should. According to an article published in October 2007, in the Journal of Nutrition, there is accumulating scientific evidence that very large (therapeutic) doses of vitamin C may be effective in treating both CVD and cancer. In addition, some scientists have hypothesized that the onset of these common degenerative diseases may actually be due to a vitamin C deficiency in the general population. Dr. Steven Hickey and Dr. Hilary Roberts with the Vitamin C Foundation and authors of the book 'Ascorbate: the Science of Vitamin C', have gone so far as to suggest that heart disease is actually a chronic form of the vitamin C deficiency disease called scurvy. If we ate the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, we'd easily consume double the RDA for vitamin C and likely a lot more. According to Linus Pauling, a two time Nobel Prize winning chemist who is noted for his vitamin C research, our early human ancestors probably consumed 2,300 mg/day to 9,500 mg/day of vitamin C from their plant-based diet. This is 25 to 100 times more than today's RDA for an adult man!
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High-dose copper reverses heart enlargement ...
(NaturalNews) Relatively high doses of copper may help reverse unhealthy enlargement of the heart, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. The research was led by scientists at the University of Louisville Medical Center in Kentucky, in collaboration with Agricultural Research Service scientists from the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center in North Dakota. The researchers fed a group of mice with enlarged hearts the equivalent of three times the human recommended daily allowance of copper. The mice that had been fed copper experienced a reversal of cardiac hypertrophy -- enlarged heart -- symptoms, whereas the non-supplemented mice did not.
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Dr. Matthias Rath - Cellular Medicine - How Cancer Develops...
Dr. Rath identified a common pathomechanism of all cancers, which is the degradation of the surrounding connective tissue, as a precondition for cancer metastasis. He suggested that the amino acid lysine and vitamin C could effectively control this process.
Cancer develops when cells in one part of the body begin to grow out of control. Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in a systematic way. During the early years of a person’s life, normal cells divide more rapidly until the person becomes an adult. After that, cells in most parts of the body divide only to replace worn out or dying cells and to repair injuries. In the case of cancer cells, the genetic program that regulates their growth cycle is interrupted, causing the cells to become immortal and constantly divide. Cancer cell growth never stops, and it results in the formation of a tumor mass. To stop cancer metastasis, the activity of MMPs must be inhibited. Dr. Rath and his team of researchers at the Dr. Rath Research Institute have identified a specific combination of nutrients that can inhibit the activity of MMPs and stop the spread of cancer cells. Further research has led to the development of a nutrient combination, including vitamin C, the amino acids L-lysine and L-proline and a green tea extract known as Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), that works synergistically to stop the spread of cancer cells through connective tissue.
VIDEO


Glutathione: The "mother" of all antioxidants...
Medical Professionals on the Benefits of Glutathione
"We literally cannot survive without this miraculous antioxidant," according to Dr. Earl Mindell, What You Should Know about the Super Antioxidant Miracle "No other antioxidant is as important to overall health as glutathione. It is the regenerator of immune cells and the most valuable detoxifying agent in the body. Low levels are associated with early aging and even death." The Immune System Cure, Lorna R. Vanderhaeghe & Patrick J.D. Bouic, Ph.D. "Without glutathione, other important antioxidants such as vitamins C and E cannot do their job adequately to protect your body against disease." Breakthrough in Cell Defense, Dr. Allan Somersall, Ph.D., M.D. with Dr. Gustavo Bounous, M.D. FRCS(C) "Your life depends on glutathione. Without it, your cells would disintegrate from unrestrained oxidation, your body would have little resistance to bacteria, viruses and cancer, and your liver would shrivel up from the eventual accumulation of toxins." Glutathione: Essential Health AID - Antioxidant. Immune Booster. Detoxifier, Dr. Jimmy Gutman, MD, FACEP "A review article published in the Annals of Pharmacology stated that glutathione is important in DNA synthesis and repair, protein and prostaglandin synthesis, amino acid transport, detoxification of toxins and carcinogens, enhancement of the immune system, and protection from oxidation and enzyme activations." The Immune System Cure, Lorna R. Vanderhaeghe & Patrick J.D. Bouic, Ph.D. "Glutathione has potent anti-viral properties - if you raise the glutathione level you can stop the replication of most any, at least, intracellular pathogen....but glutathione deficiency produces a pro-viral effect." Dr. Paul Cheney, transcribed from a workshop presentation on the clinical management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome "Glutathione levels also diminsh as we age and many diseases normally associated with aging have been linked to glutathione deficiency." Glutathione: Essential Health AID - Antioxidant. Immune Booster. Detoxifier, Dr. Jimmy Gutman, MD, FACEP "Clinical evidence links low glutathione levels to the most common illnesses of our time as well as newly emerging diseases." Glutathione: Essential Health AID - Antioxidant. Immune Booster. Detoxifier, Dr. Jimmy Gutman, MD, FACEP
VIDEO


The Harmful Effects of Sugar and Choosing Healthy Alternatives...
(NaturalNews) Most of us have heard the good advice that we need to eat less sugar - and rightly so. However, despite the numerous warnings by health authorities of the ill effects of sugar, the majority of the population is still consuming sugar on a daily basis in some form or other. “Sugar” is both a broad category and a misleading one. Let’s examine it for our health’s sake. We do not have to consume white, refined sugar to be consuming sugar. Sugar includes glucose, fructose (as in fruit sugar), lactose (as in milk), sucrose (as in table sugar), maltose or malts (as in rice malt and honey), jam (contains concentrated juice, which is high in fruit sugar), maple syrup, corn syrup, palm sugar (traditionally used in macrobiotic cooking), and the very deceiving organic brown sugar, which is not all that different from white sugar. Even alcohol is a sugar. All of these sugars are problematic in many different ways.
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NAC as a Natural Treatment for Cocaine Addiction?...
NaturalNews) Three recent clinical studies, two about cocaine addiction and one about compulsive gambling, examine the role of a simple amino acid in normalizing brain chemistry of those with addiction. Drug addiction and various forms of pathological gambling has widely ruined personal finances, family cohesiveness and health. Relapse rates are extremely high. These studies offer much hope for an inexpensive, non-toxic option for healing.
N-acetylcysteine, a form of the sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine is a precursor to the brain neurotransmitter glutamate. There is observational evidence that low levels of glutamate in the brain will increase compulsive and addictive behaviors and intensify cravings. Taking NAC by mouth has been shown to increase glutamate concentrations in the regions of the brain (the nucleus accumbens) which, when low in glutamate, promotes addictive behavior.
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NSI N-Acetyl Cysteine -- 600 mg - 120 Capsules


NSI Vitamin C with Bioflavonoids, Quercetin, Green Tea, L-Lysine and L-Proline -- 240 Capsules


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Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
President
Forever Changes, Inc.
Website: http://www.cwiechert.com/
Health Blogger: http://www.cwiechert.blogspot.com/
Orthomolecular Formulations: www.cwiechert.com/Orthomolecularformulations.html
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" The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."- Albert Einstein

Friday, April 04, 2008

Can you dramatically extend your health span with diet and supplementation?

Could the right diet along with supplementation possibly take 20 years off the biological age of your brain, make middle aged cells function much younger, improve memory & cognitive performance, double your energy and dramatically reduce your chances of getting cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and neurological conditions?
Too good to be true... If research done on mice extends to humans, which we feel it does, then perhaps yes... In fact, recent studies on humans have already been done with amazing results.

Life extension is a hot topic these days, with baby boomers aging and wanting to stay active and young. More than life extension, health span is what most of us really want. The ability to live a long life with comparatively good health and vigor, free from degenerative disease, until very near death. Researchers say the best way to accomplish that has everything to do with diet, exercise, healthy lifestyle habits and micro nutrient intake. I recommend what I call The Ideal Diet, which is a diet that mimics what our ancestors ate and is anti-inflammatory in nature. In addition to that diet, I take a powerful combination of the nutrients discussed below everyday for nutritional insurance. Take some time and read the following studies. Prevention is so much cheaper than treatment, and a by product of this protection is, quality of life.

cw


Lipoic Acid Explored As Anti-aging Compound...
Researchers announced they have identified the mechanism of action of lipoic acid, a remarkable compound that in animal experiments appears to slow down the process of aging, improve blood flow, enhance immune function and perform many other functions. "Our studies have shown that mice supplemented with lipoic acid have a cognitive ability, behavior, and genetic expression of almost 100 detoxification and antioxidant genes that are comparable to that of young animals," Hagen said. "They aren't just living longer, they are living better -- and that's the goal we're after."
What the OSU researchers now believe is that the role of lipoic acid is not so much a direct one to benefit cells, but rather an indirect aid that "kick starts" declining function in cells and helps them recover the functions that came more easily and naturally in young animals.
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Compounds Rejuvenate Rats, May Aid Humans...
Researchers in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University and the University of California at Berkeley have identified a combination of dietary supplements that dramatically improves both the activity, energy level and cognitive function of old rats. The studies were done with a combination of two compounds that occur naturally, acetyl-l-carnitine and an antioxidant, alpha-lipoic acid. Previous work has shown that either of these compounds may have value in addressing some of the physical and mental deterioration associated with aging, but the newest research suggested a combination of the two works far better than either one separately.
"After just a month, older rats whose diet was supplemented with these two compounds were about twice as active as our control rats, which remained largely inactive," said Tory Hagen, an assistant professor in OSU's Linus Pauling Institute. "They also had a much better memory and cognitive performance, measured by their ability to remember objects and spatial orientation."
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Broad-Spectrum Effects of Grape Seed Extract...
It is clear that France gave us the Statue of Liberty to protect us and french fries to kill us.
They themselves are not harmed by their fatty food, but we Americans are. Despite high blood pressure and cholesterol, a Frenchman’s risk of dying from heart disease is the lowest of any Western industrialized nation—up to 50% lower than in America and parts of Europe. The “French paradox” has become a cottage industry all unto itself. The most consistent explanation is that wine contains factors that keep the French from having heart attacks. Some have argued that it is the alcohol itself, and there is support for this argument. But the strongest evidence for what is behind the heart-protective effects of wine centers around the non-alcoholic part. In this respect, red wine is the winner, but white wine also is a contender. Both contain powerful antioxidants and other factors that protect the heart and vascular system. Grapevines contain dozens of different phytocompounds that have different effects on different areas of the human body. The most studied of these phytocompounds are quercetin, resveratrol, proanthocyanidins (from seeds), and anthocyanins (which give purple and red grapes their color). All of these phytocompounds are classified as polyphenols. The seeds of grapes contain many good things. First are the antioxidants, more rightly called super-antioxidants. They’re not only more powerful than standard antioxidants like vitamin E, but also more diverse. The factors contained in grape seed go way beyond the ordinary. Running the gambit from vaporizing the effects of environmental stress to intercepting free radicals created by food, the compounds in grape seed extract provide broad-spectrum antioxidant protection. Scientific studies document multiple effects, including antibiotic, anti-tumor, anti-diabetic, anti-ulcer, pro-heart and arteries, and anti-brain aging. Proanthocyanidins are the main active ingredients in grape seed extract that go after “molecular sharks” otherwise known as free radicals. They make up about 90% of grape seed extract. Various versions are all united by a similar chemical structure and possess powerful antioxidant activity15—20 times stronger than that of vitamin E and 50 times stronger than that of vitamin C. The “super-antioxidant” effects are neatly summed up in a study showing that pretreatment with grape seed extract reduces DNA fragmentation in the brain by a whopping 50% and in the liver by 47% after exposure to a strong chemical. Proanthocyanidins, along with resveratrol and quercetin, are some of the healthy factors in wine.
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Green Tea Boosts Production Of Detox Enzymes, Rendering Cancerous Chemicals Harmless...
Concentrated chemicals derived from green tea dramatically boosted production of a group of key detoxification enzymes in people with low levels of these beneficial proteins, according to researchers at Arizona Cancer Center. These findings, published in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, suggest that a green tea concentrate might help some people strengthen their metabolic defense against toxins capable of causing cancer.
In a study of 42 people, the concentrate -- composed of chemicals known as green tea catechins in amounts equal to that found in 8-16 cups of green tea -- boosted production of the enzymes, which belong to the glutathione S-transferase (GST) family, by as much as 80 percent in some participants. Green tea has long been of interest to researchers given studies that have shown populations in which it is often consumed, such as the Chinese and Japanese, generally have lower rates of cancer. To find out if green tea can protect against cancer, the NCI has sponsored a number of rigorous scientific studies testing capsules of the extract, Polyphenon E, that have been prepared in Japan to meet exact specifications. These pills contain epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a catechin known for its potent antioxidant activity, and are currently being tested against a variety of cancers in clinical trials. "This is the first clinical study to show proof that chemicals in green tea can increase detoxification enzymes in humans," Chow said. "There may be other mechanism in play by which green tea may protect against cancer development, but this is a good place to start."
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Vitamin D deficiency linked to cancer...
Recent research shows up to 50 percent of kids and adults in America are at high risk for vitamin D deficiency.
A lack of vitamin D has been linked to a whole host of diseases, including cancer.
Dr. Donald Trump, who treats prostate cancer, has noticed a disturbing link "Seventy percent of my patients have vitamin D deficiency," he said.
The sunshine vitamin is new area for cancer research. A study in post-menopausal women shows high doses of vitamin D cut the risk of cancer by 60 percent. Another recent study shows vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of colon, breast and prostate cancer by 30 to 50 percent.
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Vitamin K may reverse arterial calcification - study...
Arterial calcification, a process of hardening of the arteries, may be inhibited and even reversed with supplementation with high-dose vitamin K, suggests an animal study. Atherosclerosis, known as hardening or furring of the arteries is a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the cause of over 50 per cent of deaths in Europe and the US and estimated to cost the economy …"Given that arterial calcifications are predictive of cardiovascular events, regression of arterial calcification may help to reduce the risk of death in people with chronic kidney disease and coronary artery disease," wrote lead author Leon Schurgers from VitaK at Maastricht University.
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Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
President
Forever Changes, Inc.
Website: http://www.cwiechert.com/
Health Blogger: http://www.cwiechert.blogspot.com/
Orthomolecular Formulations: www.cwiechert.com/Orthomolecularformulations.html
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" The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."- Albert Einstein

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Cod liver oil relieves rheumatoid arthritis pain...

From Life Extension Update

Cod liver oil supplements reduce rheumatoid arthritis drug requirement...
Rheumatoid arthritis patients may be able to reduce their dose of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by adding cod liver oil to their daily regimen, according to an article published online on March 24, 2008 in the journal Rheumatology. Cod liver oil contains the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which can help inhibit the production of inflammatory prostaglandins and leukotrienes derived from arachidonic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid), and increase the production of less inflammatory substances.
For the current study, researchers at centers in Dundee and Edinburgh, Scotland enrolled 97 rheumatoid arthritis patients who were being treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Participants were randomized to receive a placebo or
a daily dose of ten capsules containing 10 grams of cod liver oil (which provided 2.2 grams of omega-3 essential fatty acids plus vitamins A, D, and E) for nine months. The subjects were evaluated for rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and safety at the beginning of the study and at the fourth, twelfth, twenty-fourth and thirty-sixth week.
After 12 weeks, the participants were instructed to gradually reduce their medication usage and to discontinue their drugs if possible. Thirty-nine percent of those who received cod liver oil were able to reduce their NSAID dose by over 30 percent without experiencing a worsening of symptoms, while only 10 percent of those in the placebo group were able to do so. Among those who completed the full nine months fish oil therapy, 59 percent successfully lowered their medication dose. They also experienced a modest improvement in pain symptoms compared with the placebo group by the end of the trial.
To the author’s knowledge, the study is the largest to investigate the effect of omega-3 fatty acids in rheumatoid arthritis. “Fish oil supplementation should be considered in rheumatoid arthritis patients to help them reduce their NSAID intake in order to attenuate the risks of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular adverse events associated with these drugs,” the authors conclude.
www.lef.org


NSI Norwegian Cod Liver Oil -- 2,200 mg per serving - 300 softgels



Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
President
Forever Changes, Inc.
Website: http://www.cwiechert.com/
Health Blogger: http://www.cwiechert.blogspot.com/
Orthomolecular Formulations: www.cwiechert.com/Orthomolecularformulations.html
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Toll Free Number: 800-803-3323
" The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."- Albert Einstein