Naturopathic Physician in Guilford, CT
Not that we really needed a study to prove it, but here is an interesting summary of a study from the American Lung Association highlighting the severity of pollution in the US:
This is something my colleagues and I have been familiar with for quite some time, but a new report published in the Lancet Neurology demonstrates further proof that an intolerance to gluten containing foods can cause much more than just digestive symptoms.
Sensitivities beyond celiac
“Celiac disease is only one
aspect of a range of possible manifestations of gluten sensitivity. In
some individuals, gluten sensitivity is shown to manifest solely with
neurological dysfunction,” the authors of the new report explain.
Neurological
disorders that might be tied to a gluten sensitivity include a lack of
muscle coordination leading to instability (ataxia), tingling and
numbness (neuropathies), and migraine-like headaches (encephalopathy).
The authors go on to say that the tests that help to establish a
diagnosis of celiac disease may not reliably show if a person has a
gluten sensitivity that affects only their nervous system. For this
reason, they suggest other tests that may help uncover a hidden gluten
sensitivity in people suffering from certain neurological disorders.
The
report’s authors recommend, “To improve diagnosis rates, the perception
of physicians that gluten sensitivity is solely a disease of the gut
must be changed.”
If you think you have a gluten sensitivity
•
Get medical support. Identifying and treating a gluten
sensitivity can help you avoid serious complications.
• Be
proactive. Ask your naturopathic doctor if he or she is familiar with the tests
that are useful for identifying different types of gluten sensitivities,
or if he or she can refer you to someone who is.
• Pay
attention. If you think your symptoms might be related to gluten,
consider a six-week gluten-free diet trial. If you’re going in for lab
work, though, eat your normal diet so your test will gauge your regular
reactions.
Living with a gluten sensitivity
Gluten
sensitivity is in the spotlight, so there’s never been an easier time to
go gluten-free. New food packaging requirements mandate that
gluten-free foods be accurately labeled, and gluten-free cookbooks
abound on bookstore shelves. Ask your grocer whether they can recommend
books, recipes, and other resources to help.
(Lancet Neurol
2010;9:318-30)
Multiple factors influence vitamin D levels
Vitamin D is produced in the body via sunlight. It is also obtained from foods such as oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines), fortified milk, cereals, and from supplements. Low vitamin D levels may be caused by a lack of sun exposure, lack of dietary vitamin D, malabsorption, side effects from medications or supplements, chronic diseases such as kidney or liver disease, and other causes. In addition, seniors, infants and toddlers, dark-skinned people, and pregnant or breastfeeding women may be particularly at risk for low vitamin D levels. Now, we are discovering there are other factors that may affect vitamin D levels.
The new study explored the importance of skin pigmentation, total cholesterol, and baseline blood levels of vitamin D (measured as 25- hydroxy vitamin D) on vitamin D production after ultraviolet B (UVB) exposure. Participants in this study had four UVB exposures several days apart to the chest and back, and each exposure was equivalent to about 30 minutes of sun exposure in the middle of a clear summer day in Denmark. Results showed:
• Of the 182 participants screened for baseline vitamin D, 67% were considered vitamin D insufficient and 18% were vitamin D deficient
• Baseline levels of vitamin D were higher in people who ate fish at least once a week
• Among a group of 50 participants, researchers found significantly higher vitamin D production after UVB exposure in participants with a low baseline vitamin D level compared with those with a higher baseline level
• Fair-skinned and dark-skinned people had similar increases in vitamin D levels after UVB exposure
• There is an association between total cholesterol and vitamin D production, and a low cholesterol level might hinder vitamin D production
Checking vitamin D levels
Here are some tips regarding vitamin D levels:
Talk with a doctor. A healthcare professional can help you decide whether or not it is important to check your vitamin D level. People who live in areas with little sunlight or who are at risk or suffering from chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease or cancer may especially want to discuss the topic of vitamin D with a doctor.
Be careful with sun exposure. Many physicians recommend brief amounts of time (less than 15 minutes a day) of sun exposure for general health, but studies have shown that sun exposure may not be enough to raise vitamin D levels that are low. Further, excess sun can increase the risk of skin cancer, and the authors of this study do not recommend UVB treatment for low vitamin D levels for that reason. Instead they recommend treating low vitamin D levels with vitamin D supplements. Talk with your doctor about treatment strategies for low vitamin D levels.
(J Invest Dermatol 2010;130: 546-53)
Naturopathic Medicine can offer a number of options for helping people to lose weight. From hormonal imbalances to underlying food allergies, the causes of abnormal weight gain are varied, so it’s important to seek an individualized approach to losing weight. Consulting an experienced naturopath will help you identify obstacles to weight loss, allowing you to lose weight in a safe, medically supervised fashion.
• Talk with a professional. Being overweight increases a person’s risk of a number of medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. If you are overweight, talk with a knowledgeable doctor to come up with a good program for you, and work with a nutritionist who can educate you about what to eat and help you stay motivated and on track for a healthy weight. As this study showed, people who attended more dietary counseling sessions lost greater amounts of weight than those who attended less.
• Identify triggers that lead to cravings or overeating. It is important to ask yourself questions such as “Why do I choose foods that are not healthy for me?” and “What feelings or circumstances lead me to crave unhealthy foods or to overeat?” Answering such questions can help you learn how to manage the cravings and feelings that lead to overeating, and help you plan ahead with healthier alternatives in situations where you might normally make unhealthy choices.
• Choose the right foods. You know the recommendations by now, but have you taken specific steps to improve your diet? The body needs an abundance of fruits and veggies–at least 5 servings every day–and a source of protein every day in order to optimize health and prevent disease. Eating foods high in sugar increases cravings, so reach for low-sugar, low-fat, nutrient-dense foods when eating regular meals and when snacking.
• Plan ahead. Sit down and plan your meals for the week. Try grocery shopping on a Sunday in order to stock the refrigerator with healthy foods to get you through the week. Don’t bring high-sugar, high-fat foods into the house, which may increase the temptation for overeating, but keep looking for healthy foods that you really enjoy so you have options if a snack attack hits.
• Exercise regularly. Guidelines recommend 60 minutes of exercise every day for healthy adults and 90 minutes for children. Exercise helps reduce cravings and overeating and also improves risk factors for chronic disease such as high blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol levels. If the optimal amount is too overwhelming either because of your schedule or fitness level, remember that everything helps. Get the all-clear from your doctor, and then start slowly and build over time. As your fitness improves, you will naturally enjoy longer exercise sessions, rather than slogging through. Exercise buddies and cross-training are also good tricks for keeping yourself going.
Osteoporosis can present many challenges in clinical practice, particularly in women who have a history of estrogen-sensitive cancers. This is further complicated if they are sensitive to the typical bisphosphonate drugs (Fosamax, Boniva, etc.) that are usually relied upon to treat osteoporosis. Plus, recent evidence is suggesting that these drugs may actually weaken bone strength, actually increasing the risk of fracture.
A recent study demonstrates that diet and lifestyle factors play a bigger role than genes in determining whether a person will develop Type II Diabetes or not.
Genes are not destiny
To study diabetes risk, researchers enrolled 5,535 healthy British men and women, with an average age of 49 years into a study. After following these people for 10 years, 302 of them developed type 2 diabetes.
The researchers studied how well the Cambridge and Framingham risk scores predicted who developed diabetes in the group. They also looked at how 20 genetic changes that increase diabetes risk affected the ability to predict type 2 diabetes risk in the group.
Adding the genes to the risk scores did not significantly improve the ability to determine who would develop diabetes. In other words age, gender, family history of diabetes, body weight, smoking, and blood levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar are more effective for determining diabetes risk than genes.
You have the power to defeat diabetes
The most exciting thing about this study is that it tells us that we each have the power to positively affect our own health. Two important factors that affect diabetes risk–body weight and smoking–are within our control. By maintaining a healthy body weight and not smoking, we can lessen the chances that we develop diabetes, even if we have “diabetes genes.”
You can’t change your family medical history, age, or gender, but you can make your health a priority starting today. A healthy diet and regular exercise will keep obesity at bay and reduce diabetes risk.
(BMJ 2010;340:b4838. doi:10.1136/bmj.b4838; National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. National Diabetes Statistics, 2007. Accessed February 13, 2010. Available: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/DM/PUBS/statistics/#allages)
Chinese women suffering from moderate to severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) were studied in a prospective, double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel-group, multi-center clinical trial. A Vitex agnus castus extract, VAC BNO 1095, contained 4.0 mg of dried ethanolic (70%) extract of VAC, corresponding to 40 mg of the herbal drug and was given once daily throughout the three cycles during the treatment phase. Two hundred and seventeen women were randomly assigned to the treatment group or the placebo group.
The mean total Premenstrual Syndrome Diary (PMSD) score decreased from 29.23 at baseline to 6.41 at the end of the third cycle for the Vitex group and from 28.14 at baseline to 12.64 at the end of the third cycle for the placebo group. The difference in the PMSD score from baseline to the third cycle was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the placebo group. The Premenstrual Tension Syndrome Self-Rating Scale (PMTS) decreased from 26.17 at baseline to 9.92 for the treatment group and from 27.10 to 14.59 for the placebo group; similar positive results to the PMSD scores.
Comments: Vitex extracts have so far been the best investigated botanical therapies for PMS and several placebo controlled clinical trials have been done that confirms its efficacy. The current study adds to the clinical relevance of this plant in the treatment of moderate to severe symptoms of PMS. In addition, no significant adverse events were reported.
He Z, Chen R, Zhou Y, et al. Treatment for premenstrual syndrome with Vitex agnus castus: A prospective, randomized, multi-center placebo controlled study in China. Maturitas 2009; 63:99-103.
Author: Steve Austin, N.D.
Reference: Li J-J, Lu Z-L, Kou W-R, et al. Beneficial impact of Xuezhikang on cardiovascular events and mortality in elderly hypertensive patients with previous myocardial infarction from the China Coronary Secondary Prevention Study (CCSPS). J Clin Pharmacol 2009;49:947-56.
Design: Randomized double-blind intervention trial
Participants: 1530 elderly (≥65 years of age) hypertensive subjects with a history of myocardial infarction (MI)
Study Medication and Dosage: Subjects received either Xuezhikang, a red yeast rice (RYR) extract, administered as 600 mg b.i.d., or placebo for an average of 4.5 years. Each 600 mg capsule of RYR contained 2.5-3.2 mg of monacolin K plus “a small quantity of lovastatin hydroxyl acid as well as ergosterol and some other components.”
Primary Outcome Measures: Recurrent coronary events
Key Findings: Compared with the placebo group, there was a 38% reduced risk of suffering a coronary event (primarily MIs) (P=0.0009). Similarly there was a 29% reduced risk of dying from coronary disease during the course of the trial (P=0.05). Secondary endpoints revealed a 21% decline in LDL levels in the RYR group (P=0.0001) and a 12% decline in triglyceride levels (P=0.003) compared with trivial declines in the placebo group. Total mortality also declined by 36% in the group receiving RYR (P=0.003).
Practice Implications: RYR extracts are known to reduce cholesterol levels in humans and have been traditionally used in China to treat people with cardiovascular disease. RYR naturally contains the same molecule found in the prescription drug lovastatin. Previous RYR research has focused primarily on cholesterol reduction, though some evidenc
e for reduction in inflammatory markers has also surfaced.
The current trial goes several steps further, showing clinically (and statistically) significant reductions in coronary disease incidence and mortality. Hidden in the data is a near-statistically significant (P=0.06) 37% reduction in the risk of stroke and a statistically significant (P<0.04) reduction in total cancer incidence when compared with the placebo group. No current understanding of the effects of RYR clearly explains these additional positive findings.
One caveat requires mentioning: a previous report studying the pharmacokinetics of a related statin drug found that area-under-the-curve response was twice as great in Chinese subjects compared with white subjects (Clin Pharmacol Ther 2005;78:330-41). Should further investigations confirm these findings in regard to monacolins found in RYR, white (and potentially black) patients might require significantly higher doses of RYR to achieve the same clinical outcomes that occurred in the new report, which studied Chinese subjects.
Scientists link plastics chemical to health risks
By Kate Kelland
Exposure to a chemical found in plastic containers is linked to heart disease, scientists said on Wednesday, confirming earlier findings and adding to pressure to ban its use in bottles and food packaging.
British and U.S. researchers studied the effects of the chemical bisphenol A using data from a U.S. government national nutrition survey in 2006 and found that high levels of it in urine samples were associated with heart disease.
Bisphenol A, known as BPA, is widely used in plastics and has been a growing concern for scientists in countries such as Britain, Canada and the United States, where food and drug regulators are examining its safety.
David Melzer, professor of epidemiology and public health at the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England, who led the study, said the research confirmed earlier findings of a link between BPA and heart problems.
The analysis also confirmed that BPA plays a role in diabetes and some forms of liver disease, said Melzer’s team, who studied data on 1,493 people aged 18 to 74.
“Our latest analysis largely confirms the first analysis, and excludes the possibility that the original report was a statistical blip,” they said in a statement.
BPA, used to stiffen plastic bottles and line cans, belongs to a class of compounds sometimes called endocrine disruptors.
The U.S. Endocrine Society called last June for better studies into BPA and presented research showing the chemical can affect the hearts of women and permanently damage the DNA of mice.
“The risks associated with exposure to BPA may be small, but they are relevant to very large numbers of people. This information is important since it provides a great opportunity for intervention to reduce the risks,” said Exeter’s Tamara Galloway, who worked on the study published by the Public Library of Science online science journal PLoS One.
URGING BANS
U.S. environmental health advocacy groups are urging a federal ban on BPA.
“There’s enough research to take definitive action on this chemical to reduce exposures in people and the environment,” Dr. Anila Jacob of the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization, said in a telephone interview.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering whether any action needs to be taken.
U.S. government toxicologists at the National Institutes of Health concluded in 2008 that BPA presents concern for harmful effects on development of the prostate and brain and for behavioral changes in fetuses, infants and children.
Canada’s government plans to outlaw plastic baby bottles made with BPA. The charity Breast Cancer UK last month urged the British government to do the same because they said there was “compelling” evidence linking the chemical to breast cancer risk.
Experts estimate BPA is detectable in the bodies of more than 90 percent of U.S. and European populations. It is one of the world’s highest production volume chemicals, with more than 2.2 million tonnes produced annually.
Copyright © 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
I almost universally recommend Elderberry in cases of flu and other viral respiratory infections. Here is some research that demonstrates it’s effectiveness:
According to a recent study, an extract of black elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) inhibited human influenza virus A (H1N1) infection in vitro. The IC50 value (i.e., the concentration at which the infection was inhibited by 50%) was 252 µg/ml. Two flavonoids isolated from the elderberry extract were found to bind to H1N1 virions and to block the ability of the virus to infect host cells: these flavonoids were 5,7,3′,4′-tetra-O-methylquercetin (Compound 1) and 5,7-dihydroxy-4-oxo-2-(3,4,5-trihydroxyphenyl)chroman-3-yl-3,4,5-trihydroxycyclohexanecarboxylate (Compound 2). Compound 1 and dihydromyricetin (the 3-hydroxyflavonone of Compound 2) were synthesized and shown to inhibit H1N1 infectivity in vitro by binding to H1N1 virions. Compound 1 had an IC50 of 0.13 µg/ml (0.36 µM) for H1N1 infection inhibition, while Compound 3 had an IC50 of 2.8 µg/ml (8.7 µM). The IC50 of the elderberry flavonoids compared favorably with those of oseltamivir (Tamiflu; 0.32 µM) and amantadine (27 µM), which are prescription drugs used to treat influenza.
The results of in vitro studies do not necessarily translate into clinical efficacy. In order for a compound to have an antiviral effect in vivo, it must be absorbed intact in amounts sufficient to achieve a virucidal concentration at the site of the infection. No data are available regarding the absorption of the antiviral flavonoids in elderberry, and the capacity of the human body to absorb other naturally occurring flavonoids has been found to be limited. However, in clinical trials, administration of an elderberry extract produced encouraging results in people with influenza-like illness.
Forty patients suffering from influenza-like symptoms during an outbreak of influenza B/Panama in 1993 were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, a proprietary preparation (Sambucol) containing extracts of Sambucus nigra L. and raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) or placebo. The dosage was 30 ml per day for children and 60 ml per day for adults, and the treatment was given for three days. Twenty-seven patients completed the trial. After two days of treatment, a higher proportion of patients in the active-treatment group than in the placebo group had experienced significant improvement in symptoms (93% vs. 25%; p value not stated). Symptoms resolved completely after three days in 87% of patients receiving active treatment and in 33% of those receiving placebo.
Sixty patients (aged 18-54 years; mean, 30 years) who were suffering from influenza-like symptoms for 48 hours or less were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, Sambucol (15 ml 4 times per day during meals) or placebo for five days. The mean time until complete or almost-complete resolution of symptoms occurred was significantly less in the active-treatment group than in the placebo group (3.1 days vs. 7.1 days; 56.3% decrease; p < 0.001). No side effects were reported.
Further research with larger numbers of patients in whom the diagnosis of influenza is confirmed by laboratory studies is needed to confirm the results of these preliminary trials. The availability of natural substances should not deter people from taking appropriate precautions for preventing influenza (such as washing hands, keeping family members at home when they are experiencing influenza-like symptoms, and receiving vaccinations when clinically indicated). Nor should the availability of natural substances deter people from seeking medical care and taking medications such as Tamiflu when necessary.
1 Roschek B Jr, Fink RC, McMichael MD, Li D, Alberte RS. Elderberry flavonoids bind to and prevent H1N1 infection in vitro. Phytochemistry 2009;70:1255-1261.
2 Zakay-Rones Z, Varsano N, Zlotnik M, Manor O, Regev L, Schlesinger M, et al. Inhibition of several strains of influenza virus in vitro and reduction of symptoms by an elderberry extract (Sambucus nigra L.) during an outbreak of influenza B Panama. J Altern Complement Med 1995;1:361-369.
3 Zakay-Rones Z, Thom E, Wollan T, Wadstein J. Randomized study of the efficacy and safety of oral elderberry extract in the treatment of influenza A and B virus infections. J Int Med Res 2004;32:132-140.
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