Cups of Coffee a Day May Help Fight Liver Disease
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010Researchers in the United States have found another good reason to go to the local espresso bar: several cups of coffee a day could halt the progression of liver disease, a study showed Wednesday.
Sufferers of chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease who drank three or more cups of coffee per day slashed their risk of the disease progressing by 53 percent compared to patients who drank no coffee, the study led by Neal Freedman of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) showed.
For the study, 766 participants enrolled in the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) trial — all of whom had hepatitis C which had not responded to treatment with anti-viral drugs — were asked to report how many cups of coffee they drank every day.
The patients were seen every three months during the 3.8-year study and liver biopsies were taken at 1.5 and 3.5 five years to determine the progression of liver disease.
“We observed an inverse association between coffee intake and liver disease progression,” meaning patients who drank three or more cups of java were less likely to see their liver disease worsen than non-drinkers, wrote the authors of the study, which will be published in the November issue of Hepatology.
The researchers put forward several ways in which coffee intake might protect against liver disease, including by reducing the risk of type two diabetes, which has been associated with liver illness; or by reducing inflammation, which is thought to cause fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver.
Even caffeine, the chemical that gives a cup of coffee its oomph, came under the spotlight, having been found in previous studies to inhibit liver cancer in rats.
But drinking black or green tea, which also contain caffeine, had little impact on the progression of liver disease, although there were few tea drinkers in the study.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) three to four million people contract hepatitis C each year. Seventy percent of cases become chronic and can cause cirrhosis or liver cancer.
Good Sources of Vitamin D
Saturday, August 21st, 2010Benefits of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is increasingly being viewed as important. It’s well known for working with calcium to strengthen your bones, but it may also help prevent osteoarthritis, reduce your risk of certain cancers, fight inflammation, and help regulate blood pressure.
Recommended Amount: How Much You Need
There’s mounting evidence to support a bump in the daily dose of vitamin D. While the government recommendations are 400 international units (IU) per day if you’re under 70 years of age and 600 IU if you’re over 70, several members of the RealAge Scientific Advisory Board now recommend taking 1,000 IU of vitamin D if you’re under 60 years of age and 1,200 IU if you’re over 60. The daily upper intake level for D is 2,000 IU a day — so anything up to that is generally considered safe.
Good Sources of Vitamin D
There are three ways to get vitamin D: food, sunlight, and supplements. If you’re not getting enough from your diet, or you don’t spend much time outdoors (just 10–20 minutes in the sun can significantly boost your body’s production of vitamin D), take a daily vitamin D supplement.
| Salmon, canned (3 ounces) | 530 IU |
| Salmon, cooked (3.5 ounces) | 240–360 IU |
| Tuna, canned (3 ounces) | 200 IU |
| Soymilk, fortified (8 ounces) | 100 IU |
| Orange juice, fortified (8 ounces) | 100 IU |
| Milk, low fat, fortified (8 ounces) | 98 IU |
| Cereal, fortified (1 cup) | 40–50 IU |
| Eggs (1 large) | 20–26 IU |
| Swiss cheese (1 ounce) | 12 IU |
Inflammation Causes Heart Disease – Not Cholesterol
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010Cholesterol Does Not Cause Heart Disease – Inflammation Does
Opinion makers insisted heart disease resulted from the simple fact of elevated blood cholesterol.
The only accepted therapy was prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricted fat intake.
The latter of course we insisted would lower cholesterol and heart disease. Deviations from these recommendations were considered heresy and could quite possibly result in malpractice.
It Is Not Working!
These recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally defensible. *The discovery a few years ago that inflammation in the artery wall is the real cause of heart disease is slowly leading to a
paradigm shift in how heart disease and other chronic ailments will be treated.
The long-established dietary recommendations have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes*, the consequences of which dwarf any historical plague in terms of mortality, human suffering and dire economic consequences.
Despite the fact that 25% of the population takes expensive statin medications and despite the fact we have reduced the fat content of our diets, more Americans will die this year of heart disease than ever before.
Statistics from the American Heart Association show that 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. These disorders are effecting younger and younger people in greater numbers every year.*
Simply stated, without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes. Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended. It is inflammation that causes cholesterol to become trapped.*
Inflammation is not complicated — it is quite simply your body’s natural defense to a foreign invader such as a bacteria, toxin or virus.
The cycle of inflammation is perfect in how it protects your body from these bacterial and viral invaders. However, *if we chronically expose the body to injury by toxins or foods the human body was never designed to process, a condition occurs called chronic inflammation*. Chronic inflammation is just as harmful as acute inflammation is beneficial.
What thoughtful person would willfully expose himself repeatedly to foods or other substances that are known to cause injury to the body? Well, smokers perhaps, but at least they made that choice willfully.*
The rest of us have simply followed the recommended mainstream diet that is low in fat and high in polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates, not knowing we were causing repeated injury to our blood vessels. This repeated injury creates chronic inflammation leading to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. Let me repeat that. The injury and inflammation in our blood vessels is caused by the low fat diet that has been recommended for years by mainstream medicine.
What are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation? Quite simply, they are the overload of simple, highly processed carbohydrates (sugar, flour and all the products made from them) and the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in many processed foods.*
Take a moment to visualize rubbing a stiff brush repeatedly over soft skin until it becomes quite red and nearly bleeding. Let’s say you kept this up several times a day, every day for five
years. If you could tolerate this painful brushing, you would have a bleeding, swollen infected area that became worse with each repeated injury. This is a good way to visualize the inflammatory process that could be going on in your body right now.
Regardless of where the inflammatory process occurs, externally or internally, it is the same. I have peered inside thousands upon thousands of arteries. A diseased artery looks as if someone took a
brush and scrubbed repeatedly against its wall. *Several times a day, every day, the foods we eat create small injuries compounding into more injuries, causing the body to respond continuously and appropriately with inflammation.*
While we savor the tantalizing taste of a sweet roll, our bodies respond alarmingly as if a foreign invader arrived declaring war. Foods loaded with sugars and simple carbohydrates, or processed with omega-6 oils for long shelf life have been the mainstay of the American diet for six decades. *These foods have been slowly poisoning everyone.*
How does eating a simple sweet roll create a cascade of inflammation to make you sick?
Imagine spilling syrup on your keyboard and you have a visual of what occurs inside the cell. *When we consume simple carbohydrates such as sugar, blood sugar rises rapidly. In response, your pancreas secretes insulin whose primary purpose is to drive sugar into each cell where it is stored for energy. If the cell is full and does not need glucose,* it is rejected to avoid extra sugar gumming up the works.*
When your full cells reject the extra glucose, blood sugar rises producing more insulin and the glucose converts to stored fat.*
What does all this have to do with inflammation? *Blood sugar is controlled in a very narrow range. Extra sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This
repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation.* When you spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood vessels.
While you may not be able to see it, rest assured it is there. I saw it in over 5,000 surgical patients spanning 25 years who all shared one common denominator – inflammation in their arteries.
Let’s get back to the sweet roll. That innocent looking goody not only contains sugars, it is baked in one of many omega-6 oils such as soybean. Chips and fries are soaked in soybean oil; processed foods are manufactured with omega-6 oils for longer shelf life. While omega-6’s are essential -they are part of every cell membrane controlling what goes in and out of the cell – they must be in the correct balance with omega-3’s.
If the balance shifts by consuming excessive omega-6, the cell membrane produces chemicals called cytokines that directly cause inflammation. Today’s mainstream American diet has produced an extreme imbalance of these two fats. The ratio of imbalance ranges from 15:1 to as high as 30:1 in favor of omega-6. That’s a tremendous amount of cytokines causing inflammation. In today’s food environment, a 3:1 ratio would be optimal and healthy.
To make matters worse, the excess weight you are carrying from eating these foods creates overloaded fat cells that pour out large quantities of pro-inflammatory chemicals that add to the injury caused by having high blood sugar. The process that began with a sweet roll turns into a vicious cycle over time that creates heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and finally, Alzheimer’s disease, as the inflammatory process continues unabated.
There is no escaping the fact that the more we consume prepared and processed foods, the more we trip the inflammation switch little by little each day. The human body cannot process, nor was it designed to consume, foods packed with sugars and soaked in omega-6 oils.
There is but one answer to quieting inflammation, and that is returning to foods closer to their natural state. *To build muscle, eat more protein. Choose carbohydrates that are very complex such as colorful fruits and vegetables*. *Cut down on or eliminate inflammation- causing omega-6 fats like corn and soybean oil and the processed foods that are made from them. One tablespoon of corn oil contains 7,280 mg of omega-6; soybean contains 6,940mg. Instead, use olive oil or butter from grass-fed beef.*
Animal fats contain less than 20% omega-6 and are much less likely to cause inflammation than the supposedly healthy oils labelled polyunsaturated. Forget the “science” that has been drummed into your head for decades. The science that saturated fat alone causes heart disease is non-existent. The science that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol is also very weak. *Since we now know that _cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease_, the concern about saturated fat is even more absurd today.*
The cholesterol theory led to the no-fat, low-fat recommendations that in turn created the very foods now causing an epidemic of inflammation.
Mainstream medicine made a terrible mistake when it advised people to avoid saturated fat in favor of foods high in omega-6 fats._* We now have an epidemic of arterial inflammation leading to heart disease and other silent killers.
What you can do is choose whole foods your grandmother served and not those your mom turned to as grocery store aisles filled with manufactured foods.* By eliminating inflammatory foods and adding essential nutrients from fresh unprocessed food, you will reverse years of damage in your arteries* and throughout your body from consuming the typical American diet.
What Causes Asthma?
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010Asthma is a disease affecting the airways that carry air to and from your lungs. People who suffer from this chronic condition (long-lasting or recurrent) are said to be asthmatic.
The inside walls of an asthmatic’s airways are swollen or inflamed. This swelling or inflammation makes the airways extremely sensitive to irritations and increases your susceptibility to an allergic reaction.
As inflammation causes the airways to become narrower, less air can pass through them, both to and from the lungs. Symptoms of the narrowing include wheezing (a hissing sound while breathing), chest tightness, breathing problems, and coughing. Asthmatics usually experience these symptoms most frequently during the night and the early morning.
Asthma is Incurable
Asthma is an incurable illness. However, with good treatment and management there is no reason why a person with asthma cannot live a normal and active life.
An asthma episode, or an asthma attack, is when symptoms are worse than usual. They can come on suddenly and can be mild, moderate or severe.
What happens during an asthma attack?
• The muscles around your airways tighten up, narrowing the airway.
• Less air is able to flow through the airway.
• Inflammation of the airways increases, further narrowing the airway.
• More mucus is produced in the airways, undermining the flow of air even more.
Asthma Attacks Vary
In some asthma attacks, the airways are blocked such that oxygen fails to enter the lungs. This also prevents oxygen from entering the blood stream and traveling to the body’s vital organs. Asthma attacks of this type can be fatal, and the patient may require urgent hospitalization.
Asthma attacks can be mild, moderate, severe and very severe. At onset, an asthma attack does allow enough air to get into the lungs, but it does not let the carbon dioxide leave the lungs at a fast enough rate. Carbon dioxide – poisonous if not expelled – can build up in the lungs during a prolonged attack, lowering the amount of oxygen getting into your bloodstream.
With experience you will learn to keep away from things that irritate your airways, know when to take your medication, and better control your asthma. Effective asthma control allows you to take part in normal everyday activities.
Consequences of Not Controlling Your Asthma
If you don’t control your asthma you will miss school or work more often and you will be less likely to be able to take part in some activities you enjoy. In the USA and Western Europe, asthma is one of the leading causes of school absenteeism.
According to recent estimates, asthma affects 300 million people in the world and more than 22 million in the United States. Although people of all ages suffer from the disease, it most often starts in childhood, currently affecting 6 million children in the US. Asthma kills about 255,000 people worldwide every year.
Children at Risk
Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children – especially children who have low birth weight, are exposed to tobacco smoke, are black, and are raised in a low-income environment. Most children first present symptoms around 5 years of age, generally beginning as frequent episodes of wheezing with respiratory infections. Additional risk factors for children include having allergies, the allergic skin condition eczema, or parents with asthma.
Young boys are more likely to develop asthma than young girls, but this trend reverses during adulthood. Researchers hypothesize that this is due to the smaller size of a young male’s airway compared to a young female’s airway, leading to a higher risk of wheezing after a viral infection.
Allergies
Almost all asthma sufferers have allergies. In fact, over 25% of people who have hay fever (allergic rhinitis) also develop asthma. Allergic reactions triggered by antibodies in the blood often lead to the airway inflammation that is associated with asthma.
Common sources of indoor allergens include animal proteins (mostly cat and dog allergens), dust mites, cockroaches, and fungi. It is possible that the push towards energy-efficient homes has increased exposure to these causes of asthma.
Tobacco Smoke
Tobacco smoke has been linked to a higher risk of asthma as well as a higher risk of death due to asthma, wheezing, and respiratory infections. In addition, children of mothers who smoke – and other people exposed to second-hand smoke – have a higher risk of asthma prevalence. Adolescent smoking has also been associated with increases in asthma risk.
Environmental Factors
Allergic reactions and asthma symptoms are often the result of indoor air pollution from mold or noxious fumes from household cleaners and paints. Other indoor environmental factors associated with asthma include nitrogen oxide from gas stoves. In fact, people who cook with gas are more likely to have symptoms such as wheezing, breathlessness, asthma attacks, and hay fever.
photo of city from high in the air
Pollution, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, ozone, cold temperatures, and high humidity have all been shown to trigger asthma in some individuals.
During periods of heavy air pollution, there tend to be increases in asthma symptoms and hospital admissions. Smoggy conditions release the destructive ingredient known as ozone, causing coughing, shortness of breath, and even chest pain. These same conditions emit sulfur dioxide, which also results in asthma attacks by constricting airways.
Weather changes have also been known to stimulate asthma attacks. Cold air can lead to airway congestion, bronchoconstriction (airways constriction), secretions, and decreased mucociliary clearance (another type of airway inefficiency). In some populations, humidity causes breathing difficulties as well.
Obesity
Overweight adults – those with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30 – are 38% more likely to have asthma compared to adults who are not overweight. Obese adults – those with a BMI of 30 or greater – have twice the risk of asthma. According to some researchers, the risk may be greater for nonallergic asthma than allergic asthma.
Pregnancy
The way you enter the world seems to impact your susceptibility to asthma. Babies born by Caesarean sections have a 20% increase in asthma prevalence compared to babies born by vaginal birth. It is possible that immune system-modifying infections from bacterial exposure during Cesarean sections are responsible for this difference.
When mothers smoke during pregnancy, their children have lower pulmonary function. This may pose additional asthma risks. Research has also shown that premature birth is a risk factor for developing asthma.
Stress
People who undergo stress have higher asthma rates. Part of this may be explained by increases in asthma-related behaviors such as smoking that are encouraged by stress. However, recent research has suggested that the immune system is modified by stress as well.
Genes
It is possible that some 100 genes are linked to asthma – 25 of which have been associated with separate populations as of 2005.
lab test
Genes linked to asthma also play roles in managing the immune system and inflammation. There have not, however, been consistent results from genetic studies across populations – so further investigations are required to figure out the complex interactions that cause asthma.
Mom and Dad may be partially to blame for asthma, since three-fifths of all asthma cases are hereditary. The Centers for Disease Control (USA) say that having a parent with asthma increases a person’s risk by three to six times.
Genetics may also be interacting with environmental factors. For example, exposure to the bacterial product endotoxin and having the genetic trait CD14 (single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) C-159T) have remained a well-replicated example of a gene-environment interaction that is associated with asthma.
Airway Hyperreactivity
Researchers are not sure why airway hyperreactivity is another risk factor for asthma, but allergens or cold air may trigger hyperreactive airways to become inflamed. Some people do not develop asthma from airway hyperreactivity, but hyperreactivity still appears to increase the risk of asthma.
Atopy
Atopy – such as eczema (atopic dermatitis), allergic rhinitis (hay fever), allergic conjunctivitis (an eye condition) – is a general class of allergic hypersensitivity that affects different parts of the body that do not come in contact with allergens. Atopy is a risk factor for developing asthma.
Some 40% to 50% of children with atopic dermatitis also develop asthma, and it is probable that children with atopic dermatitis have more severe and persistent asthma as adults.
What is Lupus?
Saturday, January 16th, 2010What is Lupus?
Lupus is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissue. This results in symptoms such as inflammation, swelling, and damage to joints, skin, kidneys, blood, the heart, and lungs.
Under normal function, the immune system makes proteins called antibodies in order to protect and fight against antigens such as viruses and bacteria. Lupus makes the immune system unable to differentiate between antigens and healthy tissue. This leads the immune system to direct antibodies against the healthy tissue – not just antigens – causing swelling, pain, and tissue damage.
(* An antigen is a substance capable of inducing a specific immune response.)
What are the different types of lupus?
Several different kinds of lupus have been identified, but the type that we refer to simply as lupus is known as systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE. Other types include discoid (cutaneous), drug-induced, and neonatal.
Patients with discoid lupus have a version of the disease that is limited to the skin. It is characterized by a rash that appears on the face, neck, and scalp, and it does not affect internal organs. Less than 10% of patients with discoid lupus progress into the systemic form of the disease, but there is no way to predict or prevent the path of the disease.
SLE is more severe than discoid lupus because it can affect any of the body’s organs or organ systems. Some people may present inflammation or other problems with only skin and joints, while other SLE sufferers will see joints, lungs, kidneys, blood, and/or the heart affected. This type of lupus is also often characterized by periods of flare (when the disease is active) and periods of remission (when the disease is dormant).
Drug-induced lupus is caused by a reaction with certain prescription drugs and causes symptoms very similar to SLE. The drugs most commonly associated with this form of lupus are a hypertension medication called hydralazine and a heart arrhythmia medication called procainamide, but there are some 400 other drugs that can also cause the condition. Drug-induced lupus is known to subside after the patient stops taking the triggering medication.
A rare condition, neonatal lupus occurs when a mother passes autoantibodies to a fetus. The unborn and newborn child can have skin rashes and other complications with the heart and blood. Usually a rash appears but eventually fades within the first six months of the child’s life.
Who is affected by lupus?
According to the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA), 1.5 to 2 million Americans have some form of lupus. The prevalence is about 40 cases per 100,000 persons among Northern Europeans and 200 per 100,000 persons among blacks. Although the disease affects both males and females, women are diagnosed 9 times more often than men, usually between the ages of 15 and 45. African-American women suffer from more severe symptoms and a higher mortality rate.
Other risk factors include exposure to sunlight, certain prescription medications, infection with Epstein-Barr virus, and exposure to certain chemicals.
What causes lupus?
Although doctors are do not know exactly what causes lupus and other autoimmune diseases, most believe that lupus results from both genetic and environmental stimuli.
Since lupus is known to occur within families, doctors believe that it is possible to inherit a genetic predisposition to lupus. There are no known genes, however, that directly cause the illness. It is probable that having an inherited predisposition for lupus makes the disease more likely only after coming into contact with some environmental trigger.
The higher number of lupus cases in females than in males may indicate that the disease can be triggered by certain hormones. Physicians believe that hormones such as estrogen regulate the progression of the disease because symptoms tend to flare before menstrual periods and/or during pregnancy.
Certain environmental factors have been known to cause lupus symptoms. These include:
* Extreme stress
* Exposure to ultraviolet light, usually from sunlight
* Smoking
* Some medications and antibiotics, especially those in the sulfa and penicillin groups
* Some infections, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), parvovirus (such as fifth disease), hepatitis C infections, and the Epstein-Barr virus (in children)
* Chemical exposure to compounds such as trichloroethylene in well water and dust
What are the symptoms of lupus?
Since no two cases of lupus are exactly alike, there is a wide range of symptoms that are known to affect many parts of the body. Sometimes symptoms develop slowly or appear suddenly; they can be mild, severe, temporary, or permanent. Most people with lupus experience symptoms in only a few organs, but more serious cases can lead to problems with kidneys, the heart, the lungs, blood, or the nervous system.
Lupus episodes, or flares, are usually noted by a worsening of some of the following symptoms:
* Achy joints (arthralgia), arthritis, and swollen joints, especially in wrists, small joints of the hands, elbows, knees, and ankles
* Swelling of the hands and feet due to kidney problems
* Fever of more than 100 degrees F (38 degrees C)
* Prolonged or extreme fatigue
* Skin lesions or rashes, especially on the arms, hands, face, neck, or back
* Butterfly-shaped rash (malar rash) across the cheeks and nose
* Anemia (oxygen carrying deficiency of red blood cells)
* Pain in the chest on deep breathing or shortness of breath
* Sun or light sensitivity (photosensitivity)
* Hair loss or alopecia
* Abnormal blood clotting problems
* Raynaud’s phenomenon: fingers turn white and/or blue or red in the cold
* Seizures
* Mouth or nose ulcers
* Weight loss or gain
* Dry eyes
* Easy bruising
* Anxiety, depression, headaches, and memory loss
Lupus can also lead to complications in several areas of the body. These include:
* Kidneys – serious kidney damage is a primary cause of death for lupus sufferers.
* Central nervous system – lupus can cause headaches, dizziness, memory problems, seizures, and behavioral changes.
* Blood and vessels – lupus causes an increased risk of anemia, bleeding, blood clotting, and vessel inflammation
* Lungs – noninfectious pneumonia and difficulty breathing due to inflammation of the chest cavity are more likely with lupus
* Heart – heart muscle and artery inflammation are more likely with the disease, and lupus increases the chances of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks.
* Infection – lupus treatments tend to depress the immune system making your body more vulnerable to infection.
* Cancer – lupus increases the risk of cancer, especially of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, lung cancer, and liver cancer
* Bone tissue death – a lower blood supply to bone tissue leads to tiny breaks and eventual death of bone. This is most common in the hip bone.
* Pregnancy – lupus increases the risk of miscarriage, hypertension during pregnancy, and preterm birth.
Scientists Map How White Blood Cells Repair Wounds
Sunday, December 27th, 2009WILMINGTON – Based on more than 50 experiments with mice, scientists have mapped out the basic steps taken by a particular set of white blood cells in setting the pace for recovery after serious lung injury.
The white blood cells are called regulatory T-cells, or Tregs for short, and their best known function is to keep the body’s immune system from attacking its own healthy tissues.
“Our study results are the critical first leads in finding treatments for a clinical condition that until now has had none, despite its high mortality,” says study senior investigator Landon King, Johns Hopkins University.
“When a patient develops acute lung injury, we want the critical care medicine team to be able to do more than just stabilize the patient on a ventilator,” said
Some 200,000 Americans suffer some form of sudden, acute lung injury (
Among them are people with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by infection, the most severe form of
Almost all people with
The study was published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Introducing – Bilberry
Monday, November 30th, 2009Bilberry fruit is a close relative to the American blueberry. It’s a common ingredient in pies, cakes and jams. The active constituents are thought to be antioxidants called anthocyanins.
Why Do People Use Bilberry
Bilberry is primarily used for eye conditions and to strengthen blood vessels. During World War II, British Royal Air Force pilots reportedly found that eating bilberry jam just before a mission improved their night vision which prompted researchers to investigate bilberry’s properties.
Bilberry is also used for glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and cataracts.
The anthocyanins in bilberry may strengthen the walls of blood vessels, reduce inflammation and stabilize tissues containing collagen, such as cartilage, tendons and ligaments. Grape seed contains similar substances, however, bilberry’s anthocyanins are thought to have particular benefits for the eye.
Because bilberry is thought to strengthen blood vessels, it’s sometimes taken orally for varicose veins and hemorrhoids.
Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients Going for Alternative Medicine
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009ABERDEEN – An increasing number of patients are turning to complementary and alternative medical therapies to help treat the symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), revealed a new study.
In the study, the researchers aimed to explore the pattern of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in patients with a prior diagnosis of CRS at a rhinology outpatient clinic in Aberdeen, Scotland.
CRS is defined as a group of disorders characterized by inflammation of the mucosa of the nose and paranasal sinuses of at least 12 weeks duration.
In the study, the researchers provided questionnaires to 75 patients over a two-month period.
The questionnaire consisted of demographic information and whether they had ever used CAM from a list of 49 herbal and non-herbal alternative therapies (such as acupuncture, massage, aloe vera, and cod liver oil).
All the subjects were also asked why they used CAM, where they learned of CAM, whether they found it efficacious, and whether their general practitioner was aware they were using it.
It was found that 65 percent of patients had used CAM, while 30 percent of patients used it for chronic rhinosinusitis.
Women were significantly more likely to use CAM than men, according to the statistics.
Patients who were employed, married, and had university degrees were also more likely to use CAM and only 43 percent of CAM users had informed their doctor about the use of the therapy.
Researchers found that patients were shy about telling their physician about usage of CAM.
They suggested that clinicians should enquire as to all the medications being taken by patients, and the dangers of non- compliance with conventional medications should be emphasized to CAM users by their treating physician.
The findings were presented at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting and OTO EXPO in San Diego.
Introducing – Devil’s claw
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009Overview:
Native to southern Africa, devil’s claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) is a shrub that has lush foilage and red flowers. The plant gets its name from the miniature hooks that cover its fruit. For thousands of years, the Khoisan peoples of Madagascar and the Kalahari Desert have used devil’s claw root in remedies to treat pain and complications of pregnancy and in topical ointments to heal sores, boils, and other skin problems. Since its introduction to Europe from Africa in the early 1900s, dried roots have been used to restore appetite, relieve heartburn, and reduce pain and inflammation. Today, devil’s claw is used for degenerative joint diseases such as arthritis, for low back pain, and as an appetite stimulant and digestive tonic. Scientific evidence supports the use of devil’s claw root to help relieve pain and inflammation in people with arthritis and other painful disorders.
Plant Description:
Devil’s claw does not have an odor, but it contains substances that make it taste bitter. It is a leafy perennial with branching roots and shoots. It has secondary roots, called tubers, that grow out of the main roots. The roots and tubers are used for medicinal purposes.
Medicinal Uses and Indications:
Osteoarthritis
Studies have found that taking devil’s claw for several months substantially reduces pain and improves physical functioning in people with osteoarthritis. A 4-month study, including 122 people with knee and hip osteoarthritis, examined the effects of devil’s claw root powder on pain. The devil’s claw supplement reduced pain and improved functional ability as effectively as standard doses of a leading European medication for osteoarthritis. In addition, those who received devil’s claw experienced fewer side effects and required fewer pain-reducing medications throughout the study.
Another study found that devil’s claw supplementation was effective in patients with rheumatic diseases (arthrosis and low back pain). Seventy-five patients with hip or knee arthritis were given devil’s claw, 2,400 mg daily, corresponding to 50 mg of harpagosides, for 12 weeks. The dosage provided a significant reduction of pain and symptoms associated with osteoarthritis. Only 2 cases of possible adverse drug reactions were reported (complaints of indigestion and a sensation of fullness).
Back and neck pain
Although study results have been somewhat conflicting, evidence suggests that devil’s claw may help relieve low back and neck pain. In a small study of 63 people with mild-to-moderate back, neck, or shoulder pain, 4 weeks of treatment with a standardized extract of devil’s claw root provided moderate relief from muscle pain. In a larger study of 197 men and women with chronic low back pain, those who received daily doses of a commercialized devil’s claw extract every day for a month reported experiencing less pain and needing fewer painkilling medications than those who received placebo.
Another study followed 73 patients. Thirty-eight patients took a standardized devil’s claw supplement, while 35 taking the COX-2 inhibitor medicine rofecoxib, also known as Celebrex, for up to 54 weeks. Results inidicated that devil’s claw was as effective in relieving pain as the rofecoxib.
Other uses
In addition to the treatment of these and other painful disorders, many professional herbalists consider devil’s claw to be useful for upset stomach, loss of appetite, headaches, allergies, and fever. Topical preparations of devil’s claw are also applied to the surface of the skin to heal sores, ulcers, boils, and skin lesions.
What’s It Made Of?:
Devil’s claw contains iridoid glycosides, components believed to have strong anti-inflammatory effects. Harpagoside (one type of iridoid) is highly concentrated in devil’s claw root and has been reported in some laboratory studies to have significant pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties.
Available Forms:
Devil’s claw is available as dried or fresh root supplements and is found in capsules, tablets, liquid extracts, and topical ointments. Teas (infusions) can also be made from dried devil’s claw root.
How to Take It:
Pediatric
There are no known scientific reports on the pediatric use of devil’s claw. Therefore, it is not currently recommended for children.
Adult
- Standardized dose: 600 – 1,200 mg, standardized to contain 50 – 100 mg of harpagoside, 3 times daily
- Dried tuber or dried root powder: 100 – 250 mg, 3 times daily
- Capsules containing dried root powder: 100 – 250 mg, 3 times daily
- Liquid extract (1:1 in 25 % alcohol): 2 – 7 drops, 3 times daily
- Tincture (1:5 in 25 % alcohol): 10 – 30 drops, 3 times daily
- Tea (Decoction): Boil 1/3 – 1 (1.5 – 4 gm) teaspoonful in water. Strain and drink, 1 – 3 times daily.
Precautions:
The use of herbs is a time-honored approach for strengthening the body and treating disease. Herbs, however, contain components that can trigger side effects and interact with other herbs, supplements, or medications. For these reasons, herbs should be taken with care, under the supervision of a health care provider qualified in the field of botanical medicine.
Devil’s claw is nontoxic and safe, with virtually no side effects if taken at the recommended therapeutic dose for short periods of time. However, high doses can cause mild gastrointestinal problems in some individuals, and it is not clear whether devil’s claw becomes toxic if taken for long periods of time.
Individuals with stomach ulcers, duodenal ulcers, or gallstones should not take devil’s claw unless recommended by a health care provider.
Safety of devil’s claw for pregnant and breastfeeding women is not known. Therefore, it should be avoided during those times unless otherwise directed by your health care provider.
Possible Interactions:
Warfarin and Other Blood-Thinning Medications — Devil’s claw may interact with a blood-thinning medications, such as warfarin (Coumadin) and cause bruising or bleeding disorders. For this reason, individuals taking warfarin or other blood-thinners should not use devil’s claw without first talking to a health care provider.
Other Potential Interactions — ACE inhibitors, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, diabetes medicines, diuretics, herbs with blood-thinning effects.
Alternative Names:
Grapple plant; Harpagophytum procumbens; Wood spider
Oxidized Form of Vitamin A May Treat Bowel Diseases
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009CHINA – Here’s another reason why you should take your vitamins: A new research report suggests that retinoic acid could be a beneficial treatment for people suffering from ulcerative colitis and other irritable bowel diseases.
Researchers found that retinoic acid, he oxidized form of vitamin A, helps suppress out-of-control inflammation, which is a hallmark of active ulcerative colitis.
“Pharmaceutical strategies based on this research may offer a promising alternative to our current approaches of managing immune diseases including, IBD, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and so on,” said
To make this discovery, reported in the October print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, Bai and colleagues conducted in-vitro studies with human tissue and in vivo studies in mice.
Both studies ultimately found that treatment with retinoic acid reduced the inflammation in the colon by increasing the _expression of FOXP3, a gene involved with immune system responses, as well as decreasing the _expression of IL-17, a cytokine believed to cause inflammation. Because many experts believe that IL-17 relates directly to the uncontrolled inflammation seen in ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel disease, the discovery that retinoic acid reduces IL-17’s ability to cause inflammation could accelerate the development of treatments for these chronic diseases.
“Runaway inflammation is serious problem, no matter where it occurs in the body, but in many instances, the root cause is a mystery,” said
1 in 5 U.S. kids found deficient in vitamin D
Monday, October 26th, 20091 in 5 U.S. kids found deficient in vitamin D
By a looser measure, almost 90 percent of black children that age and 80 percent of Latino kids could be vitamin D deficient – “astounding numbers” that should serve as a call to action, said
The deficiency is a concern because recent studies suggest the vitamin might help prevent infections, diabetes and some cancers.
The new analysis, released online today by the journal Pediatrics, is the first assessment of varying vitamin D levels in children ages 1 through 11. The study used data from a 2001-06 government health survey of almost 3,000 children who had blood tests measuring vitamin D.
Know the Difference between Cold and Swine Flu Symptoms
Monday, October 26th, 2009Know the Difference between Cold and Swine Flu Symptoms
|
Symptom |
Cold |
Swine Flu |
|
Aches |
Slight body aches and pains can be part of a cold. |
Severe aches and pains are common with the flu. |
|
Chills |
Chills are uncommon with a cold. |
60% of people who have the flu experience chills. |
|
Tiredness |
Tiredness is fairly mild with a cold. |
Tiredness is moderate to severe with the flu. |
|
Sneezing |
Sneezing is commonly present with a cold. |
Sneezing is not common with the flu. |
|
Sudden Symptoms |
Cold symptoms tend to develop over a few days. |
The flu has a rapid onset within 3-6 hours. The flu hits hard and includes sudden symptoms like high fever, aches and pains. |
|
Headache |
A headache is fairly uncommon with a cold.. |
A headache is very common with the flu, present in 80% of flu cases. |
|
Sore Throat |
Sore throat is commonly present with a cold. |
Sore throat is not commonly present with the flu. |
|
Chest Discomfort |
Chest discomfort is mild to moderate with a cold. |
Chest discomfort is often severe with the flu. |
Vitamin D may save your life from swine flu
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009Vitamin D may save your life from swine flu
People still don’t get it: Vitamin D is the “miracle nutrient” that activates your immune system to defend you against invading microorganisms — including seasonal flu and swine flu. Two months ago, an important study was published by researchers at Oregon State University. This study reveals something startling: Vitamin D is so crucial to the functioning of your immune system that the ability of vitamin D to boost immune function and destroy invading microorganisms has been conserved in the genome for over 60 million years of evolution.
As this press release from Oregon State University (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea…) explains:
The fact that this vitamin-D mediated immune response has been retained through millions of years of evolutionary selection, and is still found in species ranging from squirrel monkeys to baboons and humans, suggests that it must be critical to their survival, researchers say.
“The existence and importance of this part of our immune response makes it clear that humans and other primates need to maintain sufficient levels of vitamin D,” said
The announcement goes on to explain:
In primates, this action of “turning on” an optimal response to microbial attack only works properly in the presence of adequate vitamin D, which is actually a type of hormone that circulates in the blood and signals to cells through a receptor. Vitamin D is produced in large amounts as a result of sun exposure, and is available in much smaller amounts from dietary sources.
Vitamin D prevents the “adaptive” immune response from over-reacting and reduces inflammation, and appears to suppress the immune response. However, the function of the new genetic element this research explored allows vitamin D to boost the innate immune response by turning on an antimicrobial protein. The overall effect may help to prevent the immune system from overreacting.
Without vitamin D, you’re really at risk
What this study reveals is that without sufficient levels of vitamin D circulating in your blood, you’re a ripe, juicy target for influenza (H1N1 or otherwise). If you lack vitamin D, your immune system can’t “activate” to do its job. That’s why people who are deficient in vitamin D so frequently get winter colds.
But people who are high in vitamin D have the nutritional power to activate their immune system so that it can respond to invading pathogens. Crucially, vitamin D also manages to balance immune response and prevent inflammation — the leading cause of death in the 1918 influenza pandemic.
So not only does vitamin D protect you from the initial infection; it also prevents your body from over-reacting and killing you with inflammation (which typically gets expressed as bacterial pneumonia, an infection of the lungs).