Some warnings for those who wear contact lenses, from bottomlinesecrets.com.
"For the 34 million Americans who wear contact lenses, disposable soft lenses have offered advantages in comfort and ease of use. However, soft-lens wearers have had problems recently from rare but dangerous infections associated with multipurpose lens cleaning solutions. You might remember that Bausch & Lomb recalled and discontinued all of its ReNu with MoistureLoc products in 2006 after fungal infections were associated with their use. A few months later it happened again -- another scattered but alarming breakout of an ameba corneal infection (keratitis) in soft lens wearers using Complete MoisturePlus Multi-Purpose Solution from Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. The offending agent was a parasite, called Acanthamoeba, present in the water supply.
The infection it caused created eye pain, redness, blurry vision, excessive tearing, sensitivity to light and a foreign-body-in-the-eye sensation. More than 130 people were affected and experts were worried, since it was possible for damage to be so severe it could cause blindness or could necessitate a corneal transplant. Early detection is critical for effective treatment, and the keratitis frequently mimics other infections caused by fungus or herpes simplex virus.
EYE INFECTION DANGERS
To learn what soft-lens wearers should do to avoid these and other infections, I called ophthalmologist Thomas Steinemann, MD, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, and spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He explains that while such parasite and fungal infections are rare, the presence of Acanthamoeba in our water supply is not. They are pretty much everywhere in nature, including in our soil as well as water. There has been speculation that the more relaxed water-purification restrictions enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2003 may have played a role. The EPA vigorously denies those charges and claims that the problem is an issue of contact lens hygiene, not drinking water.
Dr. Steinemann points out that widely used multipurpose lens cleaning solutions do not protect against microbes such as Acanthamoeba as well as hydrogen peroxide two-step solutions do. While consumers should definitely avoid using the products associated with the recent outbreaks of infection -- tossing away any unused solution -- it is equally important to keep in mind that the advantages of being able to correct your vision with contact lenses do not come without responsibility. The lenses are so easy to use that people forget that they are first and foremost medical devices and there are good reasons for the rules promoting safe lens wear. Excellent hygiene will go far in helping protect contact lens wearers from such infections, regardless of their source.
HOW TO STAY SAFE
For example, many people are in the habit of wearing their disposable lenses longer than they should. Lenses are designed to be worn for a day, a week, two weeks or a month -- whatever the time frame for yours, Dr. Steinemann says to respect it and dispose of them accordingly. He advises against sleeping in them. Sleeping in lenses translates to a five times greater likelihood of developing a blinding infection, so it is imperative to avoid the practice.
As for lens disinfecting and proper cleansing techniques, Dr. Steinemann has a number of tips. Noting that multipurpose solutions which clean, disinfect, rinse and store lenses in one fell swoop are convenient for patients, he has concerns about them because many people don't follow the manufacturer's guidelines for using the products, which increases risk. Though more time consuming, he says it might be better to use a two-step cleaner. Always follow guidelines for use of cleansers. Be sure to always empty your lens case of the old disinfecting solution, so you are putting them into fresh solution every single day -- people tend to top off yesterday's supply, says Dr. Steinemann, which means they are putting their lenses into a solution that may be filled with bacteria and ameba since these lose disinfecting efficacy after a day or two. The FDA recommends always washing hands with soap and water and letting them dry completely so water won't infiltrate your lenses. For the same reason, it is also important to let your lens case air-dry after you have dumped the used solution.
Infection protection while wearing your lenses is largely a matter of keeping water out of your lenses. For this reason Dr. Steinemann does not recommend wearing lenses while swimming or using hot tubs. Just wearing goggles isn't good enough... even the best-fitting ones allow some water from the pool or lake to seep in, he says. Showering with lenses is also a bad idea. He acknowledges this advice might seem over-the-top, but on the other hand, it is a way to make sure water-borne ameba do not get into your lenses. Look for prescription goggles from companies such as Hilco and Sports Optix.
Dr. Steinemann adds that occasionally people have difficulty wearing their lenses. Generally this manifests as dry eyes, particularly in women. He recommends using an artificial tear solution, which his patients have found helpful. Note: Choose a tear product that can be used with contacts. Another potential problem is blepharitis, an irritation of the eyelid and eye caused by the oil gland. Prevent this by taking supplements of flaxseed (available in grocery stores or in the eye care section of the drugstore) and omega-3-rich fish oil. These will help enhance the secretion of the oil glands."
Source: Thomas Steinemann, MD, associate professor of ophthalmology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Those slight changes
Think about this razor's edge difference when you consider what you're doing about your health, your workout routines, and your dietary changes for 2008. Often, it's only those slight, seemingly insignificant changes that can add up to huge differences in your life.
From Bob Proctor, author and speaker:
"It has often been said the line which separates winning from losing is as fine as a razor's edge - and it is (I am talking about winning in a big way and in all areas of your life)
One person "just about" starts a project, the other person starts it. One individual "almost" completes a task, the other does complete it. One person sees an opportunity, the other acts on it. One student "nearly" passes the exam, the other does pass it - and although the difference in their marks may be only one percentage point out of a hundred, it's that one point that makes all the difference.
In 1947, ARMED - the first race horse in the history of United States' racing to win over one million dollars in prize money over the duration of his career - had earnings of $761,500. But the horse which finished second in earnings that same year- a horse which often lost races a mile long by only "a nose" - won only $75,000. Now, if one were to look at their winnings alone, it would appear that ARMED was thirteen times better than his closest competitor. However, when you compare "the times" that were actually registered by those two horses in their races, you discover he really wasn't even four percent superior!
Think of how your results would change if you improved your performance by just one or two percent."
From Bob Proctor, author and speaker:
"It has often been said the line which separates winning from losing is as fine as a razor's edge - and it is (I am talking about winning in a big way and in all areas of your life)
One person "just about" starts a project, the other person starts it. One individual "almost" completes a task, the other does complete it. One person sees an opportunity, the other acts on it. One student "nearly" passes the exam, the other does pass it - and although the difference in their marks may be only one percentage point out of a hundred, it's that one point that makes all the difference.
In 1947, ARMED - the first race horse in the history of United States' racing to win over one million dollars in prize money over the duration of his career - had earnings of $761,500. But the horse which finished second in earnings that same year- a horse which often lost races a mile long by only "a nose" - won only $75,000. Now, if one were to look at their winnings alone, it would appear that ARMED was thirteen times better than his closest competitor. However, when you compare "the times" that were actually registered by those two horses in their races, you discover he really wasn't even four percent superior!
Think of how your results would change if you improved your performance by just one or two percent."
Sunday, December 30, 2007
How sumo wrestlers gain weight
from Debra Boutin, MS, RD, dietetic internship director and assistant professor, and Julie Starkel, MS, CN, dietetic intern, Bastyr University
"The No. 1 trick sumo wrestlers employ to gain weight is skipping breakfast. It slows metabolism because our bodies mistakenly think we are starving. We operate on a lower level both physically and mentally and, therefore, we require less food, shuttling "extra" calories into fat stores.
v A balanced breakfast includes protein, carbohydrates and healthy fat. Plenty of water upon waking is also key.
As we grab our breakfast on the go, we may overlook balance in favor of quick energy. A plain bagel increases our blood sugar after all night without food and provides us with a quick blast of energy. But it then leaves us lacking energy later in the afternoon and may even result in snack food cravings at night. Adding a good source of protein, such as eggs, fish, meat, poultry, dairy products or beans, to breakfast may end those afternoon doldrums. It also may eliminate the need for the post-lunch caffeine pick-me-up.
Stumped on protein ideas for breakfast? We can borrow a few from other cultures: Scandinavians eat cold salmon and herring, Japanese have fish and miso soup, and other cultures have chapatti with mushy peas, a member of the protein-rich legume family.
If you have lived most of your life avoiding breakfast, it may feel strange to start. However, like anything, a little practice will allow your stomach to adapt. Besides, you also may have the added benefits of extra energy all day and a trimmer waistline."
"The No. 1 trick sumo wrestlers employ to gain weight is skipping breakfast. It slows metabolism because our bodies mistakenly think we are starving. We operate on a lower level both physically and mentally and, therefore, we require less food, shuttling "extra" calories into fat stores.
v A balanced breakfast includes protein, carbohydrates and healthy fat. Plenty of water upon waking is also key.
As we grab our breakfast on the go, we may overlook balance in favor of quick energy. A plain bagel increases our blood sugar after all night without food and provides us with a quick blast of energy. But it then leaves us lacking energy later in the afternoon and may even result in snack food cravings at night. Adding a good source of protein, such as eggs, fish, meat, poultry, dairy products or beans, to breakfast may end those afternoon doldrums. It also may eliminate the need for the post-lunch caffeine pick-me-up.
Stumped on protein ideas for breakfast? We can borrow a few from other cultures: Scandinavians eat cold salmon and herring, Japanese have fish and miso soup, and other cultures have chapatti with mushy peas, a member of the protein-rich legume family.
If you have lived most of your life avoiding breakfast, it may feel strange to start. However, like anything, a little practice will allow your stomach to adapt. Besides, you also may have the added benefits of extra energy all day and a trimmer waistline."
The idiocy of accepting second best
I'm a big fan of positive thinking. Not because it's magical, but because so much of what we hear is negative, and people grow to accept that negative thinking, and begin to think that the world is a negative place.
It's not. These are some good thoughts, from Ted Twietmeyer, at tedtw@frontiernet.net. I encourage you to think carefully about what's said here.
"I have agonized for some time over writing this, but thought it was past time someone did. Much of this essay is redundant for many readers. But it presents new concepts for others.
America was founded by men who never settled for second best. Despite their flaws and imperfections, they were all men of accomplishment and self-study. Thomas Jefferson was personally trained by George Wythe (1726-1806) to be a lawyer, who himself was a lawyer.
It was a time when life was tough for there was no central heating, air conditioning, electricity or running water. Walls in homes were painted with paint made of sour cream, lead and charcoal to provide a grey color. Ancient Rome had running water and central heating in some buildings, but America in the 1700's did not to the best of my knowledge. Even the church where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech is still standing today and can be visited. The people of 1776 had none of these luxuries we take for granted today.
We tend to think in compressed terms that a relatively short time passed between the time the colonies were established and America's Declaration of Independence in 1776 but this is far from true. In 2007 the state of Virginia celebrated its 400th anniversary. When the Constitution was signed, 169 YEARS had passed under the thumb of the king. It was time for a change so American could be free from the tyranny of England. No more subservience for America.
Despite their human frailties, the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution gave their very best in a way that cannot be expressed in words. Today 231 years later, their work and sacrifice still serves as an example to every American.
Through the negative effects of social engineering and modern culture, the majority of people alive today in America are settling for second best or even less, the bottom of the heap. One very prominent effect of these negative influences is to destroy hope and create despair. Second best or making do has become a way of life throughout the entire civilized world.
In China, a strong contrast exists between those hauling water in buckets and living in shacks in the countryside vs. those who live in modern furnished apartments and drive new cars in the city. Most of those in the country have accepted their living standard as their proverbial "lot in life" while others strive for a better life and attain it. Poverty has long been a tool to control the masses.
Under Mao Tse-tung's "Cultural Revolution," China's universities were closed and professors relegated to the fields to farm rice. It was Mao's concept of a "cultural revolution." But it was more like a backward step toward an agri-CULTURAL revolution into an agrarian economy. Why did he do this? Because ignorant dumbed-down masses are far easier to control. Sound familiar? Think that can't happen in America? No one ever dreamed something draconian legislation like the Patriot Act could ever become law in America. But it did and in more than one form, too.
Recently, a wash-out recruit at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Academy stated in an interview before starting training there, that she "just wanted to get by and get through it." She washed out after the first day by resigning. Perhaps now she should has learned that anyone who desires to excel at anything in life cannot hope to do so by just "getting by."
Personal goals for success do not have to be focused strictly on attaining all the personal wealth possible. It's not about "getting by" with what you may have or as our British friends like to call it, "making do." What this really is about is to reach and strive for EXCELLENCE in all you do. It doesn't matter what you do in life. What matters is what you do with what you have, and what your long term goals are.
There are countless personal success stories in America. These are people who made their mark on the world in business, sports or other fields. Each one in their respective field achieved what they set out to do. And I can tell you from personal experience it will be the hardest thing you'll ever do, but well worth the satisfaction in the long run.
It has been said that if you want to succeed at any long term goal, do SOMETHING every day to move toward that goal. No matter how small or big that daily effort may be, do something, anything on it every day. Olympic athletes must do this or they never make it to the Olympics. If you are an inventor, work on your idea EVERY day. Even though on some days you only have time for mental effort. If you do not, don't expect success or even a patent. (Avoid those television patent assistance companies like the plague.) The moment time permits, write down everything you thought about and any people, plans or designs you thought about.
It's far better to over exert yourself toward your goal than to just "get by." Carry a personal voice recorder for those times when you cannot write, such as when driving. Record and write down EVERYTHING, no matter how trivial you think it is. What may appear to be trivia to you now, can suddenly become a critical piece of information you will need to have later on but you may not know that until another day.
There is a story about a man who pushed himself beyond his limit. The year was 1982. Embedded microprocessors were in their infancy, and processors ran at speeds of only 10 MHz. This man was employed in an engineering department in the early 80's at a company which designed and built switching systems. At that time, even many colleges weren't teaching microprocessor technology yet. His company was awarded a contract to build two complex switching systems for one of the intelligence agencies. As the only microprocessor engineer at the company, his task was to design at the chip level a control processor, and write a control and operating system. This task was dumped upon him with no warning.
After analyzing the situation, it was apparent to him that his assembly language knowledge would take far too long to implement. And he knew nothing about C language, which though in it's infancy for embedded system in 1982 would be required. Married and the sole breadwinner with two young children, it truly scared the living daylights out of him. It was a do or die situation. The only other high level language he knew before C was BASIC. This system was required to be crash-proof, since no "software updates" would be allowed where the system was to be installed. Back in 1982, the term "software updates" was never used.
He had to learn C language, write an embedded operating system from scratch, write the software for a long fault tolerant and self-correcting embedded switching control program to run on it, debug it and deliver it for final testing to manufacturing. With just two months to do it all, there wasn't time to go find a college level C course in software engineering. Recompiling the program required about 20 minutes, because microprocessors were very slow 25 years ago.
After considerable overtime it all worked out and the system was delivered on time. This was the first of various NASA, defense and other systems he worked which on numerous occasions made him feel he was sitting out on a tree limb vigorously sawing away at the branch between me and the tree. What these and other experiences taught him was priceless - the more he expected from himself, the more he could accomplish. People will only excel in life to the level they aspire to and no more. If someone sets their sights low, they can expect little or no progression towards excellence or independence.
Sadly, America has become a land where people expect federal and state governments to take care of them from cradle to grave. This is the most foolish expectation anyone can ever have. There is no such promise to Americans as though its some God-given right, as President Kennedy reminded the nation in one of his speeches.
If we focus more on what we can GIVE to family, friends, America and the world rather than what we can take, a far greater feeling of accomplishment is attained. It is far better mentally to be a giver than a taker, even if one isn't a Christian. It's also been proven to be physically healthier, too. Those who live to give already know that life really is as the cliché states What goes around, comes around.
Complacency is the enemy to progress. Accepting "one's lot in life" is only another way to self-erect yet another barrier to progress. To believe "I just can't do better or whine "it's not my fault everything is going wrong" is a symptom of more self-inflicted lies.
Countless real-life examples of those who worked their way out of slums and have succeeded have proven that these axioms are only excuses. Seeing our civil rights taken away angers me just as much as listening to someone utter any of the countless excuses for their problems. Indeed we tend to make most of our own problems, often through the invisible and dangerous desire, greed.
There is a close family member with MS who was already majoring in acting in college when the illness hit her. It angers her to listen to able-bodied adults whine about their lot in life and how poor they are. How would anyone like to have their ability to communicate be intellectually impaired as this lady has? They will suddenly be whining about what they SHOULD have done with their lives, only it would be too late. Why do able-bodied people have to wait for that day to come?
When I completed high school there were no free lunches in education. No Pell grants for a student to live on as "professional students" in perpetuity. No handouts. Not being a minority closed more doors in my face than it opened. Like many of my generation and those before me, I had to do it the hard way without handouts.
Many stumble and stammer their way through life, waiting for someone to "give them a break." Most will be on Social Security (if it still exists) before their "break" ever comes along. A comfortable life without taking calculated risks is merely a boring one. I'm not talking about trying drugs, bungee jumping, sky-diving or other pointless foolish acts of stupidity. What we are talking about here is being an entrepreneur, changing careers (hopefully voluntarily) or some other well-thought-out legal challenge to make one's life better. What's the worst that can happen, it doesn't work out? So what! You can always try again or go in a different direction!
If you don't know how to start or conduct a business, or write a business plan, take a course or seek out those who do in your locality such as retired business people. Look up your local Chamber of Commerce or other county development agency. Every community across America seeks to broaden the local tax base, and has plans to help get you started. If your plan is to retire early, retire on a comfortable income or retire without applying for an income make-up job at a box store, then plan on thinking outside the box.
The American Dream should not be simply about owning a home. It should be about having the confidence to become self-sufficient and independent. Most people have no idea what their limits are, simply because they have never tried to find out what they are. And how do they find that limit? By pushing beyond it, just like those who climbMount Everest must do to make it. All of us must climb mountains in life they are unavoidable. Even the death of a loved one is a mountain in itself. Like climbing Mount Everest, it's not about whether one makes it to the top but the EFFORT put forth into trying to do so. Put in enough effort each day, and anyone can make it to the top.
If someone is in good health today but has never really applied themselves to the fullest, what will they do if sudden illness strikes? How will they feel? Have you strived to find out what your limits are, or just accepted "your lot in life?" Every day we live is really a rental. Everything we own including our bodies is rented or loaned to us - except for the mark on our spirit or soul and the mark we make upon the world, whether it is good or bad. That mark we make on the world is immortal and will outlive us. To hell with mediocre! No one should accept it.
We must reach for the stars, for they are closer than you think."
It's not. These are some good thoughts, from Ted Twietmeyer, at tedtw@frontiernet.net. I encourage you to think carefully about what's said here.
"I have agonized for some time over writing this, but thought it was past time someone did. Much of this essay is redundant for many readers. But it presents new concepts for others.
America was founded by men who never settled for second best. Despite their flaws and imperfections, they were all men of accomplishment and self-study. Thomas Jefferson was personally trained by George Wythe (1726-1806) to be a lawyer, who himself was a lawyer.
It was a time when life was tough for there was no central heating, air conditioning, electricity or running water. Walls in homes were painted with paint made of sour cream, lead and charcoal to provide a grey color. Ancient Rome had running water and central heating in some buildings, but America in the 1700's did not to the best of my knowledge. Even the church where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech is still standing today and can be visited. The people of 1776 had none of these luxuries we take for granted today.
We tend to think in compressed terms that a relatively short time passed between the time the colonies were established and America's Declaration of Independence in 1776 but this is far from true. In 2007 the state of Virginia celebrated its 400th anniversary. When the Constitution was signed, 169 YEARS had passed under the thumb of the king. It was time for a change so American could be free from the tyranny of England. No more subservience for America.
Despite their human frailties, the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution gave their very best in a way that cannot be expressed in words. Today 231 years later, their work and sacrifice still serves as an example to every American.
Through the negative effects of social engineering and modern culture, the majority of people alive today in America are settling for second best or even less, the bottom of the heap. One very prominent effect of these negative influences is to destroy hope and create despair. Second best or making do has become a way of life throughout the entire civilized world.
In China, a strong contrast exists between those hauling water in buckets and living in shacks in the countryside vs. those who live in modern furnished apartments and drive new cars in the city. Most of those in the country have accepted their living standard as their proverbial "lot in life" while others strive for a better life and attain it. Poverty has long been a tool to control the masses.
Under Mao Tse-tung's "Cultural Revolution," China's universities were closed and professors relegated to the fields to farm rice. It was Mao's concept of a "cultural revolution." But it was more like a backward step toward an agri-CULTURAL revolution into an agrarian economy. Why did he do this? Because ignorant dumbed-down masses are far easier to control. Sound familiar? Think that can't happen in America? No one ever dreamed something draconian legislation like the Patriot Act could ever become law in America. But it did and in more than one form, too.
Recently, a wash-out recruit at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Academy stated in an interview before starting training there, that she "just wanted to get by and get through it." She washed out after the first day by resigning. Perhaps now she should has learned that anyone who desires to excel at anything in life cannot hope to do so by just "getting by."
Personal goals for success do not have to be focused strictly on attaining all the personal wealth possible. It's not about "getting by" with what you may have or as our British friends like to call it, "making do." What this really is about is to reach and strive for EXCELLENCE in all you do. It doesn't matter what you do in life. What matters is what you do with what you have, and what your long term goals are.
There are countless personal success stories in America. These are people who made their mark on the world in business, sports or other fields. Each one in their respective field achieved what they set out to do. And I can tell you from personal experience it will be the hardest thing you'll ever do, but well worth the satisfaction in the long run.
It has been said that if you want to succeed at any long term goal, do SOMETHING every day to move toward that goal. No matter how small or big that daily effort may be, do something, anything on it every day. Olympic athletes must do this or they never make it to the Olympics. If you are an inventor, work on your idea EVERY day. Even though on some days you only have time for mental effort. If you do not, don't expect success or even a patent. (Avoid those television patent assistance companies like the plague.) The moment time permits, write down everything you thought about and any people, plans or designs you thought about.
It's far better to over exert yourself toward your goal than to just "get by." Carry a personal voice recorder for those times when you cannot write, such as when driving. Record and write down EVERYTHING, no matter how trivial you think it is. What may appear to be trivia to you now, can suddenly become a critical piece of information you will need to have later on but you may not know that until another day.
There is a story about a man who pushed himself beyond his limit. The year was 1982. Embedded microprocessors were in their infancy, and processors ran at speeds of only 10 MHz. This man was employed in an engineering department in the early 80's at a company which designed and built switching systems. At that time, even many colleges weren't teaching microprocessor technology yet. His company was awarded a contract to build two complex switching systems for one of the intelligence agencies. As the only microprocessor engineer at the company, his task was to design at the chip level a control processor, and write a control and operating system. This task was dumped upon him with no warning.
After analyzing the situation, it was apparent to him that his assembly language knowledge would take far too long to implement. And he knew nothing about C language, which though in it's infancy for embedded system in 1982 would be required. Married and the sole breadwinner with two young children, it truly scared the living daylights out of him. It was a do or die situation. The only other high level language he knew before C was BASIC. This system was required to be crash-proof, since no "software updates" would be allowed where the system was to be installed. Back in 1982, the term "software updates" was never used.
He had to learn C language, write an embedded operating system from scratch, write the software for a long fault tolerant and self-correcting embedded switching control program to run on it, debug it and deliver it for final testing to manufacturing. With just two months to do it all, there wasn't time to go find a college level C course in software engineering. Recompiling the program required about 20 minutes, because microprocessors were very slow 25 years ago.
After considerable overtime it all worked out and the system was delivered on time. This was the first of various NASA, defense and other systems he worked which on numerous occasions made him feel he was sitting out on a tree limb vigorously sawing away at the branch between me and the tree. What these and other experiences taught him was priceless - the more he expected from himself, the more he could accomplish. People will only excel in life to the level they aspire to and no more. If someone sets their sights low, they can expect little or no progression towards excellence or independence.
Sadly, America has become a land where people expect federal and state governments to take care of them from cradle to grave. This is the most foolish expectation anyone can ever have. There is no such promise to Americans as though its some God-given right, as President Kennedy reminded the nation in one of his speeches.
If we focus more on what we can GIVE to family, friends, America and the world rather than what we can take, a far greater feeling of accomplishment is attained. It is far better mentally to be a giver than a taker, even if one isn't a Christian. It's also been proven to be physically healthier, too. Those who live to give already know that life really is as the cliché states What goes around, comes around.
Complacency is the enemy to progress. Accepting "one's lot in life" is only another way to self-erect yet another barrier to progress. To believe "I just can't do better or whine "it's not my fault everything is going wrong" is a symptom of more self-inflicted lies.
Countless real-life examples of those who worked their way out of slums and have succeeded have proven that these axioms are only excuses. Seeing our civil rights taken away angers me just as much as listening to someone utter any of the countless excuses for their problems. Indeed we tend to make most of our own problems, often through the invisible and dangerous desire, greed.
There is a close family member with MS who was already majoring in acting in college when the illness hit her. It angers her to listen to able-bodied adults whine about their lot in life and how poor they are. How would anyone like to have their ability to communicate be intellectually impaired as this lady has? They will suddenly be whining about what they SHOULD have done with their lives, only it would be too late. Why do able-bodied people have to wait for that day to come?
When I completed high school there were no free lunches in education. No Pell grants for a student to live on as "professional students" in perpetuity. No handouts. Not being a minority closed more doors in my face than it opened. Like many of my generation and those before me, I had to do it the hard way without handouts.
Many stumble and stammer their way through life, waiting for someone to "give them a break." Most will be on Social Security (if it still exists) before their "break" ever comes along. A comfortable life without taking calculated risks is merely a boring one. I'm not talking about trying drugs, bungee jumping, sky-diving or other pointless foolish acts of stupidity. What we are talking about here is being an entrepreneur, changing careers (hopefully voluntarily) or some other well-thought-out legal challenge to make one's life better. What's the worst that can happen, it doesn't work out? So what! You can always try again or go in a different direction!
If you don't know how to start or conduct a business, or write a business plan, take a course or seek out those who do in your locality such as retired business people. Look up your local Chamber of Commerce or other county development agency. Every community across America seeks to broaden the local tax base, and has plans to help get you started. If your plan is to retire early, retire on a comfortable income or retire without applying for an income make-up job at a box store, then plan on thinking outside the box.
The American Dream should not be simply about owning a home. It should be about having the confidence to become self-sufficient and independent. Most people have no idea what their limits are, simply because they have never tried to find out what they are. And how do they find that limit? By pushing beyond it, just like those who climbMount Everest must do to make it. All of us must climb mountains in life they are unavoidable. Even the death of a loved one is a mountain in itself. Like climbing Mount Everest, it's not about whether one makes it to the top but the EFFORT put forth into trying to do so. Put in enough effort each day, and anyone can make it to the top.
If someone is in good health today but has never really applied themselves to the fullest, what will they do if sudden illness strikes? How will they feel? Have you strived to find out what your limits are, or just accepted "your lot in life?" Every day we live is really a rental. Everything we own including our bodies is rented or loaned to us - except for the mark on our spirit or soul and the mark we make upon the world, whether it is good or bad. That mark we make on the world is immortal and will outlive us. To hell with mediocre! No one should accept it.
We must reach for the stars, for they are closer than you think."
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The digestion connection: coffee
from Andrew L. Rubman, ND, director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut
"I'm not a coffee drinker, but I wanted to be when I was young. I remember the grown-ups drinking coffee after meals, but my mother wouldn't let me have any because she said it would stunt my growth. How things change! Today health food stores sell coffee and the headlines are full of assorted new studies about the abundance of disease-fighting antioxidants called polyphenols (more than in green or black tea), in a cup of caffeinated black coffee.
In a chat with Daily Health News contributing editor and coffee connoisseur Andrew L. Rubman, ND, I learned that coffee is not only safe for most people to drink, it may even lower the risk of liver disease, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. While coffee's caffeine and antioxidant content are what most commonly come under scrutiny, this potent brew actually contains hundreds of compounds, many of which haven't even been identified yet. Dr. Rubman mentioned chlorogenic acid in particular, which may benefit the liver by stimulating the flow of bile and balancing blood sugar. Dr. Rubman outlined the dos and don'ts of healthful coffee consumption.
THE JOY OF JAVA
In recent years, scientists have conducted thousands of studies regarding coffee's impact on health. Following are some of the intriguing results...
* Coffee is good for the liver. In a study at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, California, scientists found that coffee reduced the risk of alcohol-related cirrhosis. Other research suggests that coffee supports liver health in general.
* Coffee lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that men who drank at least six 8-ounce cups daily reduced their risk of type 2 diabetes by more than 50%, and women lowered their risk by 30%. Chlorogenic acid and magnesium in coffee are believed to reduce insulin resistance, which plays an important role in diabetes. However, given the impact of six cups of caffeinated coffee (decaf doesn't have the same benefits, since most are removed when the caffeine is taken out), further studies showing treatment effect with fewer than six cups a day will be beneficial.
* Regular coffee consumption may reduce the risk of Parkinson's Disease. At least half a dozen studies indicate that consistent coffee drinkers are as much as 80% less likely to develop Parkinson's.
* And even more benefits. Other research has linked coffee with a possible lower risk of liver, colon, breast and rectal cancers. And I read recently that caffeine may also be protective against skin cancer. Plus, caffeine may help treat asthma and headaches, which is why both Extra-Strength Excedrin and Anacin contain caffeine. And one study suggests coffee can help prevent cavities.
DR. RUBMAN SPILLS THE BEANS
Of course, everyone's metabolism is different, and no two people react exactly the same way to coffee. Some swear by their morning cup -- or two or three cups -- and cannot start the day without it. For these folks, coffee may act as an energy booster, mental sharpener and mood enhancer. Some people rely on coffee to help them stay regular. Others cannot tolerate caffeine, and become shaky and anxious whenever they drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages, including tea, cola, energy drinks, etc.
Dr. Rubman offered several tips on how to get the most enjoyment and health benefits from your coffee break...
* Make your own coffee from fresh beans. Don't move into your local coffee bar, franchise or otherwise. According to Dr. Rubman, the more hands on you are with coffee and the more natural its state, the better it is both for your taste buds and health. His advice: Buy fresh beans, keep them in an airtight bag in the freezer, invest in a grinder and brew your own coffee. One of his favorite on-line resources is thewholebean.com.
* Drink it black. Stirring in cream and sugar may negate some of the health benefits. As for chemical-laden artificial sweeteners or non-dairy creamers laced with high-fructose corn sweetener... don't even think about it, as the negative effect on health of these fake foods is worth its own column. Good coffee is naturally sweet and satisfying to taste... though not everyone agrees with Dr. Rubman's opinion on that.
* Moderation is key. Use common sense to determine the level of coffee consumption right for you. Keep in mind that caffeine is a powerful stimulant. Too many cups of coffee can increase heart rate and blood pressure and cause sleep disturbances. Caffeine is also a potentially addictive drug, and rapid coffee withdrawal can lead to headaches, nausea and irritability.
* If coffee makes you jittery, don't drink it. In Dr. Rubman's experience, even coffee lovers sometimes find the beverage too stimulating during stressful periods. When this happens, cut back, at least temporarily. Once your world calms down, you'll be able to indulge in that second or third cup without negative repercussions. Or you could dilute caffeinated coffee with spring water.
* Decaf doesn't do it. As mentioned above, only the "full octane" coffee has been shown to have these benefits. The chemical processing required to decaffeinate coffee also destroys its health benefits.
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE
Children, pregnant women and those with high blood pressure are generally advised to steer clear of coffee. As for the rest of us, coffee has a downside as well as all those benefits. Since I do get jittery from coffee, I'm not planning to pick up the habit and Dr. Rubman would be last to suggest I should. But for the many coffee lovers out there, it's good news that this popular beverage once maligned as a vice can now be looked upon -- well, almost -- as a virtue."
"I'm not a coffee drinker, but I wanted to be when I was young. I remember the grown-ups drinking coffee after meals, but my mother wouldn't let me have any because she said it would stunt my growth. How things change! Today health food stores sell coffee and the headlines are full of assorted new studies about the abundance of disease-fighting antioxidants called polyphenols (more than in green or black tea), in a cup of caffeinated black coffee.
In a chat with Daily Health News contributing editor and coffee connoisseur Andrew L. Rubman, ND, I learned that coffee is not only safe for most people to drink, it may even lower the risk of liver disease, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. While coffee's caffeine and antioxidant content are what most commonly come under scrutiny, this potent brew actually contains hundreds of compounds, many of which haven't even been identified yet. Dr. Rubman mentioned chlorogenic acid in particular, which may benefit the liver by stimulating the flow of bile and balancing blood sugar. Dr. Rubman outlined the dos and don'ts of healthful coffee consumption.
THE JOY OF JAVA
In recent years, scientists have conducted thousands of studies regarding coffee's impact on health. Following are some of the intriguing results...
* Coffee is good for the liver. In a study at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, California, scientists found that coffee reduced the risk of alcohol-related cirrhosis. Other research suggests that coffee supports liver health in general.
* Coffee lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that men who drank at least six 8-ounce cups daily reduced their risk of type 2 diabetes by more than 50%, and women lowered their risk by 30%. Chlorogenic acid and magnesium in coffee are believed to reduce insulin resistance, which plays an important role in diabetes. However, given the impact of six cups of caffeinated coffee (decaf doesn't have the same benefits, since most are removed when the caffeine is taken out), further studies showing treatment effect with fewer than six cups a day will be beneficial.
* Regular coffee consumption may reduce the risk of Parkinson's Disease. At least half a dozen studies indicate that consistent coffee drinkers are as much as 80% less likely to develop Parkinson's.
* And even more benefits. Other research has linked coffee with a possible lower risk of liver, colon, breast and rectal cancers. And I read recently that caffeine may also be protective against skin cancer. Plus, caffeine may help treat asthma and headaches, which is why both Extra-Strength Excedrin and Anacin contain caffeine. And one study suggests coffee can help prevent cavities.
DR. RUBMAN SPILLS THE BEANS
Of course, everyone's metabolism is different, and no two people react exactly the same way to coffee. Some swear by their morning cup -- or two or three cups -- and cannot start the day without it. For these folks, coffee may act as an energy booster, mental sharpener and mood enhancer. Some people rely on coffee to help them stay regular. Others cannot tolerate caffeine, and become shaky and anxious whenever they drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages, including tea, cola, energy drinks, etc.
Dr. Rubman offered several tips on how to get the most enjoyment and health benefits from your coffee break...
* Make your own coffee from fresh beans. Don't move into your local coffee bar, franchise or otherwise. According to Dr. Rubman, the more hands on you are with coffee and the more natural its state, the better it is both for your taste buds and health. His advice: Buy fresh beans, keep them in an airtight bag in the freezer, invest in a grinder and brew your own coffee. One of his favorite on-line resources is thewholebean.com.
* Drink it black. Stirring in cream and sugar may negate some of the health benefits. As for chemical-laden artificial sweeteners or non-dairy creamers laced with high-fructose corn sweetener... don't even think about it, as the negative effect on health of these fake foods is worth its own column. Good coffee is naturally sweet and satisfying to taste... though not everyone agrees with Dr. Rubman's opinion on that.
* Moderation is key. Use common sense to determine the level of coffee consumption right for you. Keep in mind that caffeine is a powerful stimulant. Too many cups of coffee can increase heart rate and blood pressure and cause sleep disturbances. Caffeine is also a potentially addictive drug, and rapid coffee withdrawal can lead to headaches, nausea and irritability.
* If coffee makes you jittery, don't drink it. In Dr. Rubman's experience, even coffee lovers sometimes find the beverage too stimulating during stressful periods. When this happens, cut back, at least temporarily. Once your world calms down, you'll be able to indulge in that second or third cup without negative repercussions. Or you could dilute caffeinated coffee with spring water.
* Decaf doesn't do it. As mentioned above, only the "full octane" coffee has been shown to have these benefits. The chemical processing required to decaffeinate coffee also destroys its health benefits.
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE
Children, pregnant women and those with high blood pressure are generally advised to steer clear of coffee. As for the rest of us, coffee has a downside as well as all those benefits. Since I do get jittery from coffee, I'm not planning to pick up the habit and Dr. Rubman would be last to suggest I should. But for the many coffee lovers out there, it's good news that this popular beverage once maligned as a vice can now be looked upon -- well, almost -- as a virtue."
Be happy now
"Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored."
Earl Nightingale,
author and speaker
Earl Nightingale,
author and speaker
Life is a Bag of Frozen Peas
by Michael T. Smith
"A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a vegetable, I decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it slipped from my hands and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles, rolled everywhere. I tried to use a broom, but with each swipe the peas rolled across the kitchen, bounced off the wall on the other side and rolled in another direction.
My mental state at the time was fragile. Losing a spouse is an unbearable pain. I got on my hands and knees and pulled them into a pile to dispose of, I was half laughing and half crying as I collected them. I could see the humor in what happened, but it doesn't take much for a person dealing with grief to break down.
For the next week, every time I was in the kitchen, I would find a pea that had escaped my first cleanup. In a corner, behind a table leg, in the frays at the end of a mat, or hidden under a heater, they kept turning up. Eight months later I pulled out the refrigerator to clean, and found a dozen or so petrified peas hidden underneath.
At the time I found those few remaining peas, I was in a new relationship with a wonderful woman I met in a widow/widower support group. After we married, I was reminded of those peas under the refrigerator. I realized my life had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had shattered. My wife was gone. I was in a new city with a busy job and a son having trouble adjusting to his new surroundings and the loss of his mother. I was a wreck. I was a bag of spilled, frozen peas. My life had come apart and scattered.
When life gets you down; when everything you know comes apart; when you think you can never get through the tough times, remember, it is just a bag of scattered, frozen peas. The peas can be collected and life will move on. You will find all the peas. First the easy peas come together in a pile. You pick them up and start to move on. Later you will find the bigger and harder peas. When you pull it all together, life will be whole again.
The life you know can be scattered at any time. You will move on, but how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom, or will you pick them up one-by-one and put your life back together?"
"A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a vegetable, I decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it slipped from my hands and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles, rolled everywhere. I tried to use a broom, but with each swipe the peas rolled across the kitchen, bounced off the wall on the other side and rolled in another direction.
My mental state at the time was fragile. Losing a spouse is an unbearable pain. I got on my hands and knees and pulled them into a pile to dispose of, I was half laughing and half crying as I collected them. I could see the humor in what happened, but it doesn't take much for a person dealing with grief to break down.
For the next week, every time I was in the kitchen, I would find a pea that had escaped my first cleanup. In a corner, behind a table leg, in the frays at the end of a mat, or hidden under a heater, they kept turning up. Eight months later I pulled out the refrigerator to clean, and found a dozen or so petrified peas hidden underneath.
At the time I found those few remaining peas, I was in a new relationship with a wonderful woman I met in a widow/widower support group. After we married, I was reminded of those peas under the refrigerator. I realized my life had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had shattered. My wife was gone. I was in a new city with a busy job and a son having trouble adjusting to his new surroundings and the loss of his mother. I was a wreck. I was a bag of spilled, frozen peas. My life had come apart and scattered.
When life gets you down; when everything you know comes apart; when you think you can never get through the tough times, remember, it is just a bag of scattered, frozen peas. The peas can be collected and life will move on. You will find all the peas. First the easy peas come together in a pile. You pick them up and start to move on. Later you will find the bigger and harder peas. When you pull it all together, life will be whole again.
The life you know can be scattered at any time. You will move on, but how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom, or will you pick them up one-by-one and put your life back together?"
Green Tea and EGCG fights cancer and protects your memory
from Robert Rowen, MD:
"This common beverage fights cancer and protects your memory
I've said for years that the only beverage you should drink in place of water is green tea. Now two new studies show doing so can fight cancer and preserve your memory.
In the first study, researchers found that EGCG, a polyphenols rich in green tea, induces apoptosis (cell death) in liver cancer cells. The good news is that the researchers found that EGCG doesn't just induce cancer-killing effects in the lab dish. It also killed the cells in experimental animals that had cancers implanted in them. That strongly suggests that you can get enough EGCG by mouth to effectively fight cancer.
At a medical conference a few years back, one of my esteemed European colleagues, John Ionescu, PhD, of Germany presented fascinating information on EGCG. He pointed out how EGCG can act as a protective antioxidant in certain conditions and as an oxidant in others. In the degenerated state of cancer cells, it acts as an oxidant. And, as you know, cancer cells are sensitive to oxidation.
In the second study, researchers studied the Japanese to determine why they have such a low rate of Alzheimer's and dementia. They found that their high green-tea consumption might be an explanation.
This was a larger study on 1,002 Japanese of both sexes. Those in the top third of consumption (two or more cups per day) developed less than half the incidence of memory loss compared to those in the lowest third (less than three or less cups per week). That reduction even included severe impairment. Those in the middle third had a 38% reduction in impairment. No protection was noted from black tea or coffee drinking.
This article on green tea supports the oxidative stress theory. Green tea is loaded with specific flavonoids that protect your neurons from the neurotoxic free radical peroxynitrate.
Here you have two more reasons to drink green tea as water. I don't recommend any other beverage in lieu of water. Please don't hesitate to make green tea (organic) a part of your daily regimen. I don't have enough information to tell you that green tea is as effective as its constituent EGCG. However, I am always partial to the whole product, and will remain so in this case until I see evidence to tell you otherwise.
You can find high-quality green tea in any health food store and now in many grocery stores. Just make sure it's organic."
"This common beverage fights cancer and protects your memory
I've said for years that the only beverage you should drink in place of water is green tea. Now two new studies show doing so can fight cancer and preserve your memory.
In the first study, researchers found that EGCG, a polyphenols rich in green tea, induces apoptosis (cell death) in liver cancer cells. The good news is that the researchers found that EGCG doesn't just induce cancer-killing effects in the lab dish. It also killed the cells in experimental animals that had cancers implanted in them. That strongly suggests that you can get enough EGCG by mouth to effectively fight cancer.
At a medical conference a few years back, one of my esteemed European colleagues, John Ionescu, PhD, of Germany presented fascinating information on EGCG. He pointed out how EGCG can act as a protective antioxidant in certain conditions and as an oxidant in others. In the degenerated state of cancer cells, it acts as an oxidant. And, as you know, cancer cells are sensitive to oxidation.
In the second study, researchers studied the Japanese to determine why they have such a low rate of Alzheimer's and dementia. They found that their high green-tea consumption might be an explanation.
This was a larger study on 1,002 Japanese of both sexes. Those in the top third of consumption (two or more cups per day) developed less than half the incidence of memory loss compared to those in the lowest third (less than three or less cups per week). That reduction even included severe impairment. Those in the middle third had a 38% reduction in impairment. No protection was noted from black tea or coffee drinking.
This article on green tea supports the oxidative stress theory. Green tea is loaded with specific flavonoids that protect your neurons from the neurotoxic free radical peroxynitrate.
Here you have two more reasons to drink green tea as water. I don't recommend any other beverage in lieu of water. Please don't hesitate to make green tea (organic) a part of your daily regimen. I don't have enough information to tell you that green tea is as effective as its constituent EGCG. However, I am always partial to the whole product, and will remain so in this case until I see evidence to tell you otherwise.
You can find high-quality green tea in any health food store and now in many grocery stores. Just make sure it's organic."
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
The healthiest spice of all
Whenever the scent of cinnamon wafts through my house, it is sure to bring family members into the kitchen to see what's cooking. But my family doesn't know my healthy little secret: Cinnamon not only smells and tastes good, it's good for you, too. Sprinkling a little cinnamon into your foods and beverages over the course of a day helps your body increase insulin function and also delays stomach emptying, which leads to a decreased glycemic load. New research provides empirical evidence of this effect, where previous studies had merely reported that it seemed so. To learn more about this, I contacted study author Joanna Hlebowicz, MD, at the University of Lund in Sweden.
ABOUT THE STUDY
Using ultrasound imaging, Dr. Hlebowicz and her colleagues measured the gastric emptying rate (GER) -- how fast food empties from the stomach and enters the small intestine -- of 14 healthy people after they ate an un-spiced bowl of rice pudding, and also after they ate a bowl of rice pudding to which six grams (a little less than 1 1/3 teaspoons) of cinnamon had been added. They found that cinnamon significantly delayed gastric emptying and lowered after-eating blood sugar levels.
The reason this is so important is that gastric emptying, among other factors, affects the post-meal glucose, explains Dr. Hlebowicz. Since past research has shown that high levels of glucose following meals may be linked with a higher risk of diabetes complications such as cardiovascular disease, finding a simple way to lower it and thus lower post-meal blood glucose levels -- such as adding cinnamon to your diet -- is a good idea.
ADD A LITTLE SPICE TO YOUR LIFE
Fortunately, there are plenty of delicious ways to incorporate more cinnamon into your daily diet. Cinnamon tea is delicious, for one. And, besides flavoring many sweet treats, cinnamon is a tasty ingredient for chicken, meat and fish dishes. Many recipe ideas can be found at McCormick.com.
ABOUT THE STUDY
Using ultrasound imaging, Dr. Hlebowicz and her colleagues measured the gastric emptying rate (GER) -- how fast food empties from the stomach and enters the small intestine -- of 14 healthy people after they ate an un-spiced bowl of rice pudding, and also after they ate a bowl of rice pudding to which six grams (a little less than 1 1/3 teaspoons) of cinnamon had been added. They found that cinnamon significantly delayed gastric emptying and lowered after-eating blood sugar levels.
The reason this is so important is that gastric emptying, among other factors, affects the post-meal glucose, explains Dr. Hlebowicz. Since past research has shown that high levels of glucose following meals may be linked with a higher risk of diabetes complications such as cardiovascular disease, finding a simple way to lower it and thus lower post-meal blood glucose levels -- such as adding cinnamon to your diet -- is a good idea.
ADD A LITTLE SPICE TO YOUR LIFE
Fortunately, there are plenty of delicious ways to incorporate more cinnamon into your daily diet. Cinnamon tea is delicious, for one. And, besides flavoring many sweet treats, cinnamon is a tasty ingredient for chicken, meat and fish dishes. Many recipe ideas can be found at McCormick.com.
Developments about Parkinsons disease
Parkinson's Disease (PD) has been in the news of late, and not only because actor and PD patient Michael J. Fox has given it a high profile. On several research fronts, there's exciting news. For people who have the debilitating disease, none of this can happen quickly enough.
Devastating for the million or so Americans suffering from PD is the fact that not only is there no cure but medication is only somewhat effective -- true even of the one most commonly used, levodopa/carbidopa (brand name Sinemet). Finding the right drug often involves trial and error and these drugs have numerous side effects including digestive distress, headaches, fatigue and -- ironically, even more uncontrollable movement.
BIG NEWS ABOUT A TINY STUDY
The frustration on the part of patients and doctors alike has been replaced by cautious optimism in recent months, thanks to a gene therapy experiment involving just 12 patients at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Doctors injected copies of a synthesized gene associated with production of a chemical GABA, deficient in PD patients. The hope is that increasing GABA levels might help calm the overactive brain circuitry that triggers some PD symptoms -- and indeed within three months of the gene insertion procedure, patients' symptoms, especially tremors, stiffness and walking problems, began to improve, and the benefit remained at least stable throughout the one-year study.
For insight on this and other recent PD research, I called neurologist William Weiner, MD, director of the Maryland Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. While acknowledging these gene therapy study results are encouraging, Dr. Weiner stresses that this new and innovative research is preliminary, noting that caution is warranted since there's a long history of research on PD with lots of promising developments and discoveries that went nowhere. Dr. Weiner adds that even though study patients showed continuous symptom improvement, there's not yet actual proof that the gene therapy caused a specific biological change. Certainly it's an exciting development, but the possibility that it will turn into a treatment option for PD patients is still, unfortunately, a long way off, he says.
OTHER AREAS OF RESEARCH
Researchers are also studying two other areas -- the first is a possible association of PD with narcolepsy, a disorder that causes sudden onset of daytime sleep and nighttime sleeplessness. By examining human cadaver brains, a UCLA and Veterans Affairs Department research team discovered that PD patients lack sufficient quantities of a brain peptide called hypocretin. This was of great interest because the same group had previously identified lack of hypocretin as the cause of narcolepsy. Dr. Weiner's take on the study: Although sleep problems -- including insomnia, frequent sleep waking and REM sleep disorder -- are common among people with PD, this research, too, is in an early stage.
Finally, there is new research on the use of Co-enzyme Q10 (commonly called CoQ10), a powerful antioxidant. Dr. Weiner says that the Parkinson's Disease patient community has been enthusiastic about CoQ10, based on the rumor that it slows disease progression -- but in reality, the research has been equivocal. A large National Institutes of Health (NIH) study investigated the effects of 1,200 mg of CoQ10 a day for PD patients: Its stated conclusion was that CoQ10 might slow functional decline. Another study, based on double that amount, will soon be undertaken by NIH to investigate how 2,400 mg/day of the antioxidant affects symptoms. Until we have those results, which could take years, Dr. Weiner is unwilling to advise patients to take CoQ10, feeling that there's not yet sufficient proof to warrant its substantial monthly cost ($150 to $300), which insurance does not cover -- not to mention the little, if any, research on how it affects people with Parkinson's, most particularly in mega-doses.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Dr. Weiner did tell me about one other new technique that he believes holds promise, though not many people are using it -- deep brain stimulation (DBS). This involves surgically implanting a battery-operated device in the brain that is then manipulated to alter brain activity through low-voltage stimulation. It has proved to be very helpful, especially for patients with advanced PD whose medications have started to falter. It can prolong the length of time PD drugs are effective and enable patients to take smaller dosages, which results in fewer drug side effects. Dr. Weiner is surprised that not many PD patients have taken advantage of DBS, which he attributes in part to a lack of awareness. It's also possible, and understandable, that they find the prospect of such an invasive procedure frightening. He noted that there are some risks: DBS is associated with a small risk of bleeding-induced stroke (approximately 1% to 3%), infection and breakage or malfunction of the equipment. For those who are interested in DBS, it is crucial to seek out a Parkinson's Disease center or major teaching hospital where there is a fully trained team experienced in all aspects of DBS care. For more information, go to www.parkinsons.org or www.apdaparkinsons.org.
As to the future, Dr. Weiner reports that there is much hope for new developments with many trials currently in progress. Scientists continue to be baffled by what causes PD, but Dr. Weiner says that current thinking now focuses on certain genes that combine in strange ways or interact with as yet unknown environmental factors. Understanding what causes PD can lead to earlier intervention and perhaps one day even prevention. Though he doesn't think the problem will get solved soon, Dr. Weiner says he believes this is the most promising direction thus far. In the meantime, he cautions PD patients to be careful about headlines that promise too much, but at the same time to pay close attention to research news because real progress will definitely come.
Devastating for the million or so Americans suffering from PD is the fact that not only is there no cure but medication is only somewhat effective -- true even of the one most commonly used, levodopa/carbidopa (brand name Sinemet). Finding the right drug often involves trial and error and these drugs have numerous side effects including digestive distress, headaches, fatigue and -- ironically, even more uncontrollable movement.
BIG NEWS ABOUT A TINY STUDY
The frustration on the part of patients and doctors alike has been replaced by cautious optimism in recent months, thanks to a gene therapy experiment involving just 12 patients at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Doctors injected copies of a synthesized gene associated with production of a chemical GABA, deficient in PD patients. The hope is that increasing GABA levels might help calm the overactive brain circuitry that triggers some PD symptoms -- and indeed within three months of the gene insertion procedure, patients' symptoms, especially tremors, stiffness and walking problems, began to improve, and the benefit remained at least stable throughout the one-year study.
For insight on this and other recent PD research, I called neurologist William Weiner, MD, director of the Maryland Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. While acknowledging these gene therapy study results are encouraging, Dr. Weiner stresses that this new and innovative research is preliminary, noting that caution is warranted since there's a long history of research on PD with lots of promising developments and discoveries that went nowhere. Dr. Weiner adds that even though study patients showed continuous symptom improvement, there's not yet actual proof that the gene therapy caused a specific biological change. Certainly it's an exciting development, but the possibility that it will turn into a treatment option for PD patients is still, unfortunately, a long way off, he says.
OTHER AREAS OF RESEARCH
Researchers are also studying two other areas -- the first is a possible association of PD with narcolepsy, a disorder that causes sudden onset of daytime sleep and nighttime sleeplessness. By examining human cadaver brains, a UCLA and Veterans Affairs Department research team discovered that PD patients lack sufficient quantities of a brain peptide called hypocretin. This was of great interest because the same group had previously identified lack of hypocretin as the cause of narcolepsy. Dr. Weiner's take on the study: Although sleep problems -- including insomnia, frequent sleep waking and REM sleep disorder -- are common among people with PD, this research, too, is in an early stage.
Finally, there is new research on the use of Co-enzyme Q10 (commonly called CoQ10), a powerful antioxidant. Dr. Weiner says that the Parkinson's Disease patient community has been enthusiastic about CoQ10, based on the rumor that it slows disease progression -- but in reality, the research has been equivocal. A large National Institutes of Health (NIH) study investigated the effects of 1,200 mg of CoQ10 a day for PD patients: Its stated conclusion was that CoQ10 might slow functional decline. Another study, based on double that amount, will soon be undertaken by NIH to investigate how 2,400 mg/day of the antioxidant affects symptoms. Until we have those results, which could take years, Dr. Weiner is unwilling to advise patients to take CoQ10, feeling that there's not yet sufficient proof to warrant its substantial monthly cost ($150 to $300), which insurance does not cover -- not to mention the little, if any, research on how it affects people with Parkinson's, most particularly in mega-doses.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Dr. Weiner did tell me about one other new technique that he believes holds promise, though not many people are using it -- deep brain stimulation (DBS). This involves surgically implanting a battery-operated device in the brain that is then manipulated to alter brain activity through low-voltage stimulation. It has proved to be very helpful, especially for patients with advanced PD whose medications have started to falter. It can prolong the length of time PD drugs are effective and enable patients to take smaller dosages, which results in fewer drug side effects. Dr. Weiner is surprised that not many PD patients have taken advantage of DBS, which he attributes in part to a lack of awareness. It's also possible, and understandable, that they find the prospect of such an invasive procedure frightening. He noted that there are some risks: DBS is associated with a small risk of bleeding-induced stroke (approximately 1% to 3%), infection and breakage or malfunction of the equipment. For those who are interested in DBS, it is crucial to seek out a Parkinson's Disease center or major teaching hospital where there is a fully trained team experienced in all aspects of DBS care. For more information, go to www.parkinsons.org or www.apdaparkinsons.org.
As to the future, Dr. Weiner reports that there is much hope for new developments with many trials currently in progress. Scientists continue to be baffled by what causes PD, but Dr. Weiner says that current thinking now focuses on certain genes that combine in strange ways or interact with as yet unknown environmental factors. Understanding what causes PD can lead to earlier intervention and perhaps one day even prevention. Though he doesn't think the problem will get solved soon, Dr. Weiner says he believes this is the most promising direction thus far. In the meantime, he cautions PD patients to be careful about headlines that promise too much, but at the same time to pay close attention to research news because real progress will definitely come.
Monday, December 24, 2007
How to use fitness challenges to stay young
"I know lots of people in their 50s, 60s and even beyond who have set out to accomplish ambitious, even extreme athletic goals for themselves... and I can understand why. Training for a cycling trip, triathlon and the like can add motivation and excitement to your fitness regimen... serve as a distraction from a painful reality, such as loss of a loved one... or be a way to prove to yourself that you are strong and capable in the face of illness, like cancer. But summiting a mountain peak or running a marathon is daunting even for folks who are young and fit -- so I wondered what precautions older athletes should take to reduce the likelihood of serious problems, including injury, while also boosting the odds they'll meet the challenge they've set.
I discussed this topic with Walter M. Bortz II, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, co-chair of the American Medical Association's Task Force on Aging and the author of five books including Living Longer for Dummies (For Dummies) and Dare to Be 100 (Fireside). Dr. Bortz, 77, now runs one marathon a year.
He says senior fitness has become a way of life for many people and there's no reason not to embrace it. "Most of what people think of as frailty is not actually aging, but disuse," he said. For instance, he noted that a fit 70-year-old would be sure to score higher than an out-of-shape 40-something on the V02max test, a test of the ability of the body to use oxygen, which is considered a standard measure of cardiorespiratory fitness. And, there are people in their 80s running marathons today in times that would have approached record-breaking for any age group back in the 1920s.
YES, YOU CAN!
A lifelong athlete, Dr. Bortz says he is a believer in a theory called "self-efficacy," advanced by his good friend and Stanford colleague psychology professor Albert Bandura. It's about "your belief in your own capability to produce a certain level of performance," Dr. Bortz told me, listing four fundamental steps to succeeding:
Take small steps to mastery, building success as you do. For instance, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Keep building to the next level.
Look for inspiring peer examples. For instance, what stories can you find about challenges other 80-year-olds have accomplished?
Experience social persuasion. Join an organization of masters athletes (competitive athletes over age 40) to access the social support that will help you succeed.
Find ways to diminish any sense of failure you may have, while increasing your experience of success -- for example, if your feet are sore, get better shoes but don't accept this as the reason you can't go walking or running.
AGE GRATEFULLY
I asked another expert on senior fitness, Karl Knopf, PhD, executive director of the Fitness Empowerment of Active Adults Association, for information on whether, and how, older athletes should alter training or expectations, given their age. One concern he voiced is that baby boomers coming into their aging years may continue to throw themselves into exercise with the same passion they've had in the past. "Fifty may be the new 30 -- but that doesn't mean untrained people should jump in with both feet," he said, noting that our bodies change internally and externally, visibly and invisibly. "While some of us may have the same physique as we did back in the day, we don't have as much power. People aren't mindful of the fact they face a high incidence of injury if they try to train with the methods and passions of bygone days." Start slowly. Treat your body like a vintage car. While it can go as far as a newer model, it needs a little extra TLC, a longer warm-up and some sensitivity to quirks that have developed over time.
That said, Dr. Knopf believes athletes can set new and challenging goals for themselves well into their 10th decade, if they do so with awareness of how their abilities change with age. Here are some of his suggestions:
Consider cross training (bicycling for runners, swimming for cyclists, weight training for all) to prevent overuse injuries. Building strength and endurance overall will reduce the likelihood you'll suffer injury anywhere.
Don't train as hard as you used to... instead set slower, steady incremental increases in challenges, using heart rate monitors and expert oversight. The good news, says Dr. Knopf, is that it will be much, much easier to be a success story. "I know a 100-year-old swimmer who wins events in his age class just by showing up and completing the event," he said.
It's fine to use the same training techniques that worked for you when you were younger -- just adjust for age. Dr. Knopf suggests cutting back on intensity and duration, while giving yourself more days between certain types of workouts in order to let your body recover. Cross train. Don't do the same exercise routine every day. You can even do three 10-minute bouts of exercise instead of 30-minute non-stop bouts, while alternating specific workouts. Knopf believes the 50+ body needs gentle to moderate exercise every day.
There are numerous organizations -- national and local -- for the older athlete who wants to ramp things up, or just be inspired by what's possible. One mentioned by Dr. Bortz is Lifelong Fitness Alliance (www.50plus.org). There you can find terrific resources on getting started and staying motivated, as well as events like the Lifelong Fitness Challenge Camp, annual fitness Dare to Be Fit Weekend and many other events. Their Fitness Ambassador Corps provides information and opportunities for older adults to get and stay fit.
"It's never too late to start," says Dr. Bortz, "and it's always too soon to stop."
I discussed this topic with Walter M. Bortz II, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, co-chair of the American Medical Association's Task Force on Aging and the author of five books including Living Longer for Dummies (For Dummies) and Dare to Be 100 (Fireside). Dr. Bortz, 77, now runs one marathon a year.
He says senior fitness has become a way of life for many people and there's no reason not to embrace it. "Most of what people think of as frailty is not actually aging, but disuse," he said. For instance, he noted that a fit 70-year-old would be sure to score higher than an out-of-shape 40-something on the V02max test, a test of the ability of the body to use oxygen, which is considered a standard measure of cardiorespiratory fitness. And, there are people in their 80s running marathons today in times that would have approached record-breaking for any age group back in the 1920s.
YES, YOU CAN!
A lifelong athlete, Dr. Bortz says he is a believer in a theory called "self-efficacy," advanced by his good friend and Stanford colleague psychology professor Albert Bandura. It's about "your belief in your own capability to produce a certain level of performance," Dr. Bortz told me, listing four fundamental steps to succeeding:
Take small steps to mastery, building success as you do. For instance, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Keep building to the next level.
Look for inspiring peer examples. For instance, what stories can you find about challenges other 80-year-olds have accomplished?
Experience social persuasion. Join an organization of masters athletes (competitive athletes over age 40) to access the social support that will help you succeed.
Find ways to diminish any sense of failure you may have, while increasing your experience of success -- for example, if your feet are sore, get better shoes but don't accept this as the reason you can't go walking or running.
AGE GRATEFULLY
I asked another expert on senior fitness, Karl Knopf, PhD, executive director of the Fitness Empowerment of Active Adults Association, for information on whether, and how, older athletes should alter training or expectations, given their age. One concern he voiced is that baby boomers coming into their aging years may continue to throw themselves into exercise with the same passion they've had in the past. "Fifty may be the new 30 -- but that doesn't mean untrained people should jump in with both feet," he said, noting that our bodies change internally and externally, visibly and invisibly. "While some of us may have the same physique as we did back in the day, we don't have as much power. People aren't mindful of the fact they face a high incidence of injury if they try to train with the methods and passions of bygone days." Start slowly. Treat your body like a vintage car. While it can go as far as a newer model, it needs a little extra TLC, a longer warm-up and some sensitivity to quirks that have developed over time.
That said, Dr. Knopf believes athletes can set new and challenging goals for themselves well into their 10th decade, if they do so with awareness of how their abilities change with age. Here are some of his suggestions:
Consider cross training (bicycling for runners, swimming for cyclists, weight training for all) to prevent overuse injuries. Building strength and endurance overall will reduce the likelihood you'll suffer injury anywhere.
Don't train as hard as you used to... instead set slower, steady incremental increases in challenges, using heart rate monitors and expert oversight. The good news, says Dr. Knopf, is that it will be much, much easier to be a success story. "I know a 100-year-old swimmer who wins events in his age class just by showing up and completing the event," he said.
It's fine to use the same training techniques that worked for you when you were younger -- just adjust for age. Dr. Knopf suggests cutting back on intensity and duration, while giving yourself more days between certain types of workouts in order to let your body recover. Cross train. Don't do the same exercise routine every day. You can even do three 10-minute bouts of exercise instead of 30-minute non-stop bouts, while alternating specific workouts. Knopf believes the 50+ body needs gentle to moderate exercise every day.
There are numerous organizations -- national and local -- for the older athlete who wants to ramp things up, or just be inspired by what's possible. One mentioned by Dr. Bortz is Lifelong Fitness Alliance (www.50plus.org). There you can find terrific resources on getting started and staying motivated, as well as events like the Lifelong Fitness Challenge Camp, annual fitness Dare to Be Fit Weekend and many other events. Their Fitness Ambassador Corps provides information and opportunities for older adults to get and stay fit.
"It's never too late to start," says Dr. Bortz, "and it's always too soon to stop."
Will Rogers' secret
Elmer Wheeler, from How to Sell Yourself to Others
"A magic way to win more friendships that no one can resist; even hardened criminals can be won over this way.
"I never met a man I did not like," said Will Rogers. Many people thought this was just another funny Rogers' remark, but one time when I met him with Amon Carter, of Fort Worth, I asked him, "Surely you can't like everybody?"
I knew he must meet bores, cheats, fourflushers just like the rest of us do. How can he possibly like even them?
Will was famous as a funnyman; but he was also a wise philosopher and he could be most serious when he wanted.
"Of course I don't approve of all the things that people do," he said, "but there is some goodness and some cussedness in all of us."
He continued, "If you know a man well enough you can always find something good in him and you can always find something interesting about him. It is just a matter of what you are looking for!"
"But what about the narrow-minded people? What about gossips? The people who do petty, mean little things? Do you like them, too?" I persisted.
"I once read somewhere," he said, "where someone asked Abe Lincoln that same question - why he refused to get mad at the people who abused him, ridiculed him and tried to discredit him."
"Lincoln replied that people's actions spring from their character and that many factors beyond their control went into making up their character - where they were born, the people they had associated with, and a lot of other things."
"Therefore,' said Lincoln, 'you shouldn't become angry with a person who blocks your path any more than you would with a tree which the wind blew across the road.'"
Will Rogers had no more reason for hating a person who happened to have been unfortunate enough to have acquired a habit of gossip than he did for hating a person who was foolish enough to neglect his teeth.
He didn't like gossip. Few people do; and he didn't like pettiness. He looked upon them as foolish behavior rather than evil behavior.
I am convinced that Will Rogers really did like every person he ever met.
There is an interesting thing about liking people, and that is they in turn like you. If you must start a rumor about somebody start it by saying, "I sure like that person."
This gets back to them and they say, "Well, I always liked him, too."
Another funny thing about gossip is that if they tell you things about others, you can just bet they will tell others things about you.
While there is always a temptation to listen to gossip, just remember while you are on the listening end this time with this gossiper, the next time you will be on the receiving end when the gossiper gets elsewhere.
Beware of the Gossip!
Avoid the company of the gossip. Don't give them a chance to be with you, find something out about you, then carry that story into another circle.
I am convinced that this trait of his character was largely responsible for Will Rogers being the most universally liked person I have ever heard about.
Will Rogers liked everybody and everybody liked Will Rogers!"
"A magic way to win more friendships that no one can resist; even hardened criminals can be won over this way.
"I never met a man I did not like," said Will Rogers. Many people thought this was just another funny Rogers' remark, but one time when I met him with Amon Carter, of Fort Worth, I asked him, "Surely you can't like everybody?"
I knew he must meet bores, cheats, fourflushers just like the rest of us do. How can he possibly like even them?
Will was famous as a funnyman; but he was also a wise philosopher and he could be most serious when he wanted.
"Of course I don't approve of all the things that people do," he said, "but there is some goodness and some cussedness in all of us."
He continued, "If you know a man well enough you can always find something good in him and you can always find something interesting about him. It is just a matter of what you are looking for!"
"But what about the narrow-minded people? What about gossips? The people who do petty, mean little things? Do you like them, too?" I persisted.
"I once read somewhere," he said, "where someone asked Abe Lincoln that same question - why he refused to get mad at the people who abused him, ridiculed him and tried to discredit him."
"Lincoln replied that people's actions spring from their character and that many factors beyond their control went into making up their character - where they were born, the people they had associated with, and a lot of other things."
"Therefore,' said Lincoln, 'you shouldn't become angry with a person who blocks your path any more than you would with a tree which the wind blew across the road.'"
Will Rogers had no more reason for hating a person who happened to have been unfortunate enough to have acquired a habit of gossip than he did for hating a person who was foolish enough to neglect his teeth.
He didn't like gossip. Few people do; and he didn't like pettiness. He looked upon them as foolish behavior rather than evil behavior.
I am convinced that Will Rogers really did like every person he ever met.
There is an interesting thing about liking people, and that is they in turn like you. If you must start a rumor about somebody start it by saying, "I sure like that person."
This gets back to them and they say, "Well, I always liked him, too."
Another funny thing about gossip is that if they tell you things about others, you can just bet they will tell others things about you.
While there is always a temptation to listen to gossip, just remember while you are on the listening end this time with this gossiper, the next time you will be on the receiving end when the gossiper gets elsewhere.
Beware of the Gossip!
Avoid the company of the gossip. Don't give them a chance to be with you, find something out about you, then carry that story into another circle.
I am convinced that this trait of his character was largely responsible for Will Rogers being the most universally liked person I have ever heard about.
Will Rogers liked everybody and everybody liked Will Rogers!"
Losing your hearing? here's how to restore your hearing naturally
from our friends at mercola.com
"If you have trouble hearing, or notice that your hearing is not as good as it used to be, listen up.
Age-related hearing loss may be retrievable, according to Dr. Jonathan Wright, MD, medical director of the Tahoma Clinic in Washington.
By supplementing three patients with the bioidentical hormone aldosterone, all of the men -- who were either losing their hearing or who had lost a lot of their hearing -- were able to regain much of what had been lost.
In one case, an 87-year-old man who was diagnosed with hearing loss in 1994 was found to have low aldosterone levels. After six weeks of taking aldosterone, the man visited his audiologist and found that his hearing had increased 30-50 decibels in one ear, and 20-30 in the other. His ability to discriminate words from a noisy background also increased significantly.
An animal study has also suggested that the hormone aldosterone was able to restore hearing.
This process of using bioidentical hormones to restore hearing is actively going on at the Tahoma Clinic, which is presently the first and only place in the United States that is using aldosterone to restore hearing.
Sources:
a.. My personal interview with Dr. Jonathan Wright, November 24, 2007
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
I've known of Dr. Wright for well over 30 years now, and he's been an enormous inspiration to me. It was a great privilege to recently interview him for our new upcoming expert membership site that will be released in January.
In the mid 70's, Dr. Wright was the editor of one of the best alternative medical periodicals of that time, called Prevention Magazine. It was so influential, in fact, that as a result of one of the articles in there, I became inspired to actually pursue osteopathic medical training as an alternative to traditional medicine.
I view Dr. Wright as one of the major pioneers in helping to educate physicians about the natural medicine paradigm. It's interesting to notice just how ingrained the conventional view on medicine and medical science really is; conventional medicine is said to be backed, and proven by science.
But the reality is that only 15 percent of all things done in current medicine have ever been proven by a controlled clinical trial. 15 percent.
This shocking fact has been repeatedly confirmed and published by such entities as the Office of Technology Assessment (a branch under a different name of the U.S. Congress), and by Duke University Research Sciences, just to name a couple of the sources.
In truth, there's just as much scientific proof on natural medicine as there is in conventional medicine, but this fact is simply ignored and under reported because techniques such as those of Dr. Wright will not create billions of dollars for the pharmaceutical industry.
What Causes Age-Related Hearing Loss?
Interestingly enough, age-related hearing loss is not due to "mechanical dysfunction" in your ear, but rather it's how your brain processes information that results in reduced hearing.
From colors and shapes seen, to textures and objects felt, to the range of sounds you hear on the street, your brain does an amazing job of sorting, filtering and making sense of the information that flows through your senses. Your brain stem sorts out the mass of information in ways that make it easy for you to carry on with life. Yet it's this ability of your brain--not hearing itself--that is diminished as you age and can no longer hear as well.
Furthermore, it's your brain's ability to provide proper feedback to your ear, by filtering out unwanted information that declines when you reach your 40s and 50s. Without this "filtering system," you're more likely to be overcome by a mass of information that is difficult to sort out.
What is Aldosterone?
Aldosterone is a type of hormone that is essential to life because it regulates the amounts of electrolytes in your body. It is secreted naturally by your adrenal cortex and simultaneously regulates sodium and potassium levels, helping to maintain both your blood pressure and bodily fluids.
If aldosterone levels in your body are out of sync, a variety of symptoms can result. Low levels of aldosterone have been indicated in diseases such as diabetes, for example.
As usual, we find that your body is amazingly interconnected and being deficient in any nutrient, anti-oxidant, vitamin, mineral or hormone can lead to a whole host of physical dysfunctions. Which is why I consistently try to impart the importance of whole nutrition and whole health; eating a diet based on your individual nutritional type, getting proper sleep (since your body performs a wide variety of restorative functions during that time), and getting sufficient exercise.
By the way, while we're on the subject of hormones, I'd like to remind you that women who take the most common form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have been found to experience a hearing loss of 10 to 30 percent more than those who do not.
Women whose HRT included progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) had the hearing loss usual for women up to a decade older, and showed problems both in the inner ear, and in the portions of the brain used for hearing.
How You Can Protect Yourself Against Hearing Loss
While aging is a natural part of life, it's important to realize there are many things you can do to keep your body young and healthy. It's not a quick fix and there is some effort involved, but the rewards are well worth the effort.
I find Dr. Wright's experience to be an amazing testimony to the power of your body and brain to overcome what is traditionally believed to be irreversible processes, and it reinforces other scientific findings that hearing loss may be either prevented, or greatly restored, through all natural means.
Using energy psychology tools like EFT, for example, can also be useful if you are struggling with hearing loss.
Other studies have showed that a combination of vitamins A, C, and E, as well as magnesium, can protect your hearing.
In one animal study, a high-dose mixture of these vitamins were given to the animals an hour before exposure to a loud noise, and then taken once a day for five days thereafter. Amazingly, the animals were protected from permanent noise-induced hearing loss even after prolonged exposure to sounds as loud as a jet engine taking off at close range!
Of course, protecting yourself from loud noises in the first place is prevention 101.
Sound is created when noise beats against the eardrum and the vibrations stimulate nerves deep inside your ear. There, fine hair cells called cilia convert the vibrations into nerve impulses, which are transmitted to your brain.
Continued exposure to noise of 85 decibels or more will eventually destroy these fragile hair cells in your inner ear that convert sound vibrations into nerve impulses -- the basis of hearing. The volume of portable compact disc players ranges between 91 and 121 decibels, and earphones increase the volume. The louder the noise, the quicker the hearing loss.
For instance, 100-decibel stereo headphones can cause harm in two hours, and a 120-decibel rock concert damages the ears in only 7.5 minutes. So, using an inexpensive set of ear plugs during loud noise activities is your first step to prevent damage that is not related to the physical process of aging."
"If you have trouble hearing, or notice that your hearing is not as good as it used to be, listen up.
Age-related hearing loss may be retrievable, according to Dr. Jonathan Wright, MD, medical director of the Tahoma Clinic in Washington.
By supplementing three patients with the bioidentical hormone aldosterone, all of the men -- who were either losing their hearing or who had lost a lot of their hearing -- were able to regain much of what had been lost.
In one case, an 87-year-old man who was diagnosed with hearing loss in 1994 was found to have low aldosterone levels. After six weeks of taking aldosterone, the man visited his audiologist and found that his hearing had increased 30-50 decibels in one ear, and 20-30 in the other. His ability to discriminate words from a noisy background also increased significantly.
An animal study has also suggested that the hormone aldosterone was able to restore hearing.
This process of using bioidentical hormones to restore hearing is actively going on at the Tahoma Clinic, which is presently the first and only place in the United States that is using aldosterone to restore hearing.
Sources:
a.. My personal interview with Dr. Jonathan Wright, November 24, 2007
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
I've known of Dr. Wright for well over 30 years now, and he's been an enormous inspiration to me. It was a great privilege to recently interview him for our new upcoming expert membership site that will be released in January.
In the mid 70's, Dr. Wright was the editor of one of the best alternative medical periodicals of that time, called Prevention Magazine. It was so influential, in fact, that as a result of one of the articles in there, I became inspired to actually pursue osteopathic medical training as an alternative to traditional medicine.
I view Dr. Wright as one of the major pioneers in helping to educate physicians about the natural medicine paradigm. It's interesting to notice just how ingrained the conventional view on medicine and medical science really is; conventional medicine is said to be backed, and proven by science.
But the reality is that only 15 percent of all things done in current medicine have ever been proven by a controlled clinical trial. 15 percent.
This shocking fact has been repeatedly confirmed and published by such entities as the Office of Technology Assessment (a branch under a different name of the U.S. Congress), and by Duke University Research Sciences, just to name a couple of the sources.
In truth, there's just as much scientific proof on natural medicine as there is in conventional medicine, but this fact is simply ignored and under reported because techniques such as those of Dr. Wright will not create billions of dollars for the pharmaceutical industry.
What Causes Age-Related Hearing Loss?
Interestingly enough, age-related hearing loss is not due to "mechanical dysfunction" in your ear, but rather it's how your brain processes information that results in reduced hearing.
From colors and shapes seen, to textures and objects felt, to the range of sounds you hear on the street, your brain does an amazing job of sorting, filtering and making sense of the information that flows through your senses. Your brain stem sorts out the mass of information in ways that make it easy for you to carry on with life. Yet it's this ability of your brain--not hearing itself--that is diminished as you age and can no longer hear as well.
Furthermore, it's your brain's ability to provide proper feedback to your ear, by filtering out unwanted information that declines when you reach your 40s and 50s. Without this "filtering system," you're more likely to be overcome by a mass of information that is difficult to sort out.
What is Aldosterone?
Aldosterone is a type of hormone that is essential to life because it regulates the amounts of electrolytes in your body. It is secreted naturally by your adrenal cortex and simultaneously regulates sodium and potassium levels, helping to maintain both your blood pressure and bodily fluids.
If aldosterone levels in your body are out of sync, a variety of symptoms can result. Low levels of aldosterone have been indicated in diseases such as diabetes, for example.
As usual, we find that your body is amazingly interconnected and being deficient in any nutrient, anti-oxidant, vitamin, mineral or hormone can lead to a whole host of physical dysfunctions. Which is why I consistently try to impart the importance of whole nutrition and whole health; eating a diet based on your individual nutritional type, getting proper sleep (since your body performs a wide variety of restorative functions during that time), and getting sufficient exercise.
By the way, while we're on the subject of hormones, I'd like to remind you that women who take the most common form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have been found to experience a hearing loss of 10 to 30 percent more than those who do not.
Women whose HRT included progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) had the hearing loss usual for women up to a decade older, and showed problems both in the inner ear, and in the portions of the brain used for hearing.
How You Can Protect Yourself Against Hearing Loss
While aging is a natural part of life, it's important to realize there are many things you can do to keep your body young and healthy. It's not a quick fix and there is some effort involved, but the rewards are well worth the effort.
I find Dr. Wright's experience to be an amazing testimony to the power of your body and brain to overcome what is traditionally believed to be irreversible processes, and it reinforces other scientific findings that hearing loss may be either prevented, or greatly restored, through all natural means.
Using energy psychology tools like EFT, for example, can also be useful if you are struggling with hearing loss.
Other studies have showed that a combination of vitamins A, C, and E, as well as magnesium, can protect your hearing.
In one animal study, a high-dose mixture of these vitamins were given to the animals an hour before exposure to a loud noise, and then taken once a day for five days thereafter. Amazingly, the animals were protected from permanent noise-induced hearing loss even after prolonged exposure to sounds as loud as a jet engine taking off at close range!
Of course, protecting yourself from loud noises in the first place is prevention 101.
Sound is created when noise beats against the eardrum and the vibrations stimulate nerves deep inside your ear. There, fine hair cells called cilia convert the vibrations into nerve impulses, which are transmitted to your brain.
Continued exposure to noise of 85 decibels or more will eventually destroy these fragile hair cells in your inner ear that convert sound vibrations into nerve impulses -- the basis of hearing. The volume of portable compact disc players ranges between 91 and 121 decibels, and earphones increase the volume. The louder the noise, the quicker the hearing loss.
For instance, 100-decibel stereo headphones can cause harm in two hours, and a 120-decibel rock concert damages the ears in only 7.5 minutes. So, using an inexpensive set of ear plugs during loud noise activities is your first step to prevent damage that is not related to the physical process of aging."
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Off for a few days
I'm taking off for a few days for Christmas.
Have a joyous Christmas season, and a happy 2008!
Have a joyous Christmas season, and a happy 2008!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Is your mouth increasing your risk of memory loss?
If you want to know how likely you are to lose your memory, look no further than your mouth! Here's why:
A new study followed 2,463 adults over the age of 65. Most of these adults (1,569) lived in care homes, and the rest lived in private households. The researchers interviewed each of the participants, asking their age, sex, level of education, disability, body mass index, dental status, and their cognitive function.
The researchers found that less than half of the community sample (40.4%) and 67.9% of the care-home sample were missing teeth. And those who were missing teeth had three-and-a-half times greater risk of cognitive decline than those who kept their teeth. The researchers concluded that missing teeth is a major risk factor for memory loss.
It's not clear from this study if it's the missing teeth themselves or the consequences of lost teeth. I think it could be both. Lost teeth impair your ability to chew and extract nutrients from your food. The inflammatory processes leading to lost teeth could impact your brain and the blood flow to it.
We already know that periodontal disease is a major risk factor for heart disease. It also causes tooth loss. And now we know it causes memory loss and other cognitive problems. So make sure you take care of your teeth. Able dentists are devoted to sparing your teeth. Get your dental health checked regularly.
If you have a lot of dental problems and notice your memory isn't working as well as it should, there's one important step you must take immediately. You need to eliminate all high-glycemic foods from your diet. This includes all sugars, sweets, fruit (and especially fruit juice), and flour and potato products (including chips, bread, pancakes, etc.). All of these increase your blood sugar, which wreaks havoc on your teeth and your brain.
A new study followed 2,463 adults over the age of 65. Most of these adults (1,569) lived in care homes, and the rest lived in private households. The researchers interviewed each of the participants, asking their age, sex, level of education, disability, body mass index, dental status, and their cognitive function.
The researchers found that less than half of the community sample (40.4%) and 67.9% of the care-home sample were missing teeth. And those who were missing teeth had three-and-a-half times greater risk of cognitive decline than those who kept their teeth. The researchers concluded that missing teeth is a major risk factor for memory loss.
It's not clear from this study if it's the missing teeth themselves or the consequences of lost teeth. I think it could be both. Lost teeth impair your ability to chew and extract nutrients from your food. The inflammatory processes leading to lost teeth could impact your brain and the blood flow to it.
We already know that periodontal disease is a major risk factor for heart disease. It also causes tooth loss. And now we know it causes memory loss and other cognitive problems. So make sure you take care of your teeth. Able dentists are devoted to sparing your teeth. Get your dental health checked regularly.
If you have a lot of dental problems and notice your memory isn't working as well as it should, there's one important step you must take immediately. You need to eliminate all high-glycemic foods from your diet. This includes all sugars, sweets, fruit (and especially fruit juice), and flour and potato products (including chips, bread, pancakes, etc.). All of these increase your blood sugar, which wreaks havoc on your teeth and your brain.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The healthiest food you never heard of
The hemp plant has an illustrious history -- for many thousands of years people spun sturdy textiles from its fiber while also valuing its seeds and oil for food. The puritans brought hemp to this country, making it an important crop in the New World. Today, children and adults alike enjoy using hemp twine to make casual beaded necklaces and bracelets. It has unsavory aspects too, thanks to the fact that it is the same species as the marijuana plant (Cannabis sativa). While it is illegal to grow hemp in this country, food made from hemp, grown in Canada and other countries, remains perfectly legal and is actually very, very good for you.
In fact, hemp is a nutritional gold mine containing antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, protein and other nutrients. Specifically, hemp boasts omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in a ratio of 3:1, which is generally considered the optimal ratio. Additionally, hemp contains significant amounts of what Gero Leson, D.Env., an environmental scientist and scientific advisor to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, refers to as "super" polyunsaturated fatty acids, gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and stearidonic acid (SDA). Hemp also provides a balanced and very digestible protein, along with significant concentrations of both tocopherol and tocotrienol vitamin E, magnesium, manganese and other minerals and vitamins.
HOW TO EAT HEMP
Since hemp is not typically available at your local grocery or served in restaurants, it's valid to wonder, how do you eat it? Edible hemp is available as oil, nuts, seeds and seed cake (the protein and fiber-rich flour that remains after the pressing for oil) and as an ingredient in such foods as salad dressing, nutrition bars, breads, cookies, granola, nut butter, pasta, frozen desserts and more. Dr. Leson says the oil is delicious in salad dressing or used to lightly sauté meats or vegetables. It should not be used for frying, since high temperatures damage the highly unsaturated fatty acids and produces unhealthy by-products. The hemp nuts are richly nutritious -- Dr. Leson toasts them lightly to add to yogurt, cereals, sauces and sprinkled over meats. He says that hemp protein powder, used in shakes, is a great source of fiber, too.
Dr. Leson told me that some liken the taste of hemp to sunflower oil, but he disagrees. He says it is better described as having a rich, nutty taste. Dr. Leson recommends looking for top-quality brands such as Nutiva, Manitoba Harvest and Living Harvest. You can find hemp foods at Whole Foods Market and other natural food stores throughout the US, as well as on the Internet.
In fact, hemp is a nutritional gold mine containing antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, protein and other nutrients. Specifically, hemp boasts omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in a ratio of 3:1, which is generally considered the optimal ratio. Additionally, hemp contains significant amounts of what Gero Leson, D.Env., an environmental scientist and scientific advisor to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, refers to as "super" polyunsaturated fatty acids, gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and stearidonic acid (SDA). Hemp also provides a balanced and very digestible protein, along with significant concentrations of both tocopherol and tocotrienol vitamin E, magnesium, manganese and other minerals and vitamins.
HOW TO EAT HEMP
Since hemp is not typically available at your local grocery or served in restaurants, it's valid to wonder, how do you eat it? Edible hemp is available as oil, nuts, seeds and seed cake (the protein and fiber-rich flour that remains after the pressing for oil) and as an ingredient in such foods as salad dressing, nutrition bars, breads, cookies, granola, nut butter, pasta, frozen desserts and more. Dr. Leson says the oil is delicious in salad dressing or used to lightly sauté meats or vegetables. It should not be used for frying, since high temperatures damage the highly unsaturated fatty acids and produces unhealthy by-products. The hemp nuts are richly nutritious -- Dr. Leson toasts them lightly to add to yogurt, cereals, sauces and sprinkled over meats. He says that hemp protein powder, used in shakes, is a great source of fiber, too.
Dr. Leson told me that some liken the taste of hemp to sunflower oil, but he disagrees. He says it is better described as having a rich, nutty taste. Dr. Leson recommends looking for top-quality brands such as Nutiva, Manitoba Harvest and Living Harvest. You can find hemp foods at Whole Foods Market and other natural food stores throughout the US, as well as on the Internet.
Higher thinking
"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think."
Benjamin Disraeli,
British statesman and Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli,
British statesman and Prime Minister
The tomato and its medicinal properties
I don't usually like it when people refer to foods as medicines, or when they refer to the "medicinal" qualities of foods. But the reality is that tomatoes really are good for you, and they taste good -- in so many forms -- that I wanted you to see this article.
On a side note, I wonder how our ancestors in Europe and Africa lived without tomatoes. Remember, they were a western hemisphere fruit and didn't arrive in Europe until after the 1500s. Imagine pizza without tomatoes! Here's your article:
"I have heard a lot of stories about tomato saying that it is a
powerful folk medicine. My grandfather, grandmother, and uncle had an
acre of farmland planted with tomatoes and other crops.
When food shortages occurred during WWII, our daily foods were
comprised of only potatoes and tomatoes. They told me that tomato
could heal all our sufferings and maladies.
Today, we realize that tomato is one of the most recommended and
nutritious vegetables in your backyard garden. One medium-sized
tomato, about 150 grams in weight has about 35 calories, 0.5 grams of
fat, 5 mg of sodium, 7 grams of carbohydrate, 1 gram of dietary
fiber, 6 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein, 20% vitamin A, 40%
vitamin C, 2% Calcium, 2% Iron. That's a great vegetable or you call
it fruit.
Recently, we read from medical journals that tomatoes are good for
cancer prevention. Wow, it's really great. What our ancestors
narrated to their children was true.
People who ate tomatoes regularly have a reduced risk of contracting
cancer diseases such as lung, prostate, stomach, cervical, breast,
oral, colorectal, esophageal, pancreatic, and many other types of
cancer.
Some studies show that tomatoes and garlic should be taken together
at the same time to have its cancer preventive effects. Whatever it
is, we really do not know how or why tomatoes work against cancers.
We believe that lycopene and the newly discovered bioflavonoids in
tomatoes are responsible as cancer fighting agents.
Not only raw tomatoes but also cooked or processed tomato products
such as ketchup, sauce, and paste, are counted as good sources of
cancer prevention.
Tomato is also good for liver health. Tomato has detoxification
effect in the body. Probably it is due to the presence of chlorine
and sulfur in tomatoes.
According to some studies, 51 mg of chlorine and 11 mg of sulfur in
100 grams size of tomato have a vital role in detoxification process.
We know that natural chlorine works in stimulating the liver and its
function for filtering and detoxifying body wastes. Sulfur in
tomatoes protects the liver from cirrhosis, too. Tomato juice is
known as good energy drink and for rejuvenating the health of
patients on dialysis.
Herbalists knew that taking tomatoes and tomato products could reduce
the risk of cardiovascular diseases because of lycopene in it.
What is your worry when you take too much food that contains animal
fat? Butter, cheese, pork, egg, beef, and other fried foods. Take
tomato, it will prevent hardening of the arteries. Therefore, tomato
can reduce high blood pressure, too.
Red ripened tomato is a powerful antioxidant. Vitamin E and lycopene
in tomato prevents LDL oxidation effectively. Bean sprouts, cabbage
or barley malt contain vitamin E. Tomato is an excellent fruit or
vegetable for rapid skin cell replacement.
Tomato juice can be used for healing sunburn because of its unique
vitamin C. You can also name tomato juice as a good sports drink to
restore yourself from fatigue and sleepiness.
Let's plant marvelous tomato in a container garden if you don't have
a backyard garden."
----------------------------------------------------------
About the Author:
Junji Takano is a Japanese health researcher involved in
investigating the cause of various diseases since 1960. In 1968, he
invented Pyro-Energen, the first electrotherapy device that
eradicates viral disease, cancer, and diseases of unknown cause
effectively without side effects.
Free newsletter: http://www.pyroenergen.com/newsletter.htm
On a side note, I wonder how our ancestors in Europe and Africa lived without tomatoes. Remember, they were a western hemisphere fruit and didn't arrive in Europe until after the 1500s. Imagine pizza without tomatoes! Here's your article:
"I have heard a lot of stories about tomato saying that it is a
powerful folk medicine. My grandfather, grandmother, and uncle had an
acre of farmland planted with tomatoes and other crops.
When food shortages occurred during WWII, our daily foods were
comprised of only potatoes and tomatoes. They told me that tomato
could heal all our sufferings and maladies.
Today, we realize that tomato is one of the most recommended and
nutritious vegetables in your backyard garden. One medium-sized
tomato, about 150 grams in weight has about 35 calories, 0.5 grams of
fat, 5 mg of sodium, 7 grams of carbohydrate, 1 gram of dietary
fiber, 6 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein, 20% vitamin A, 40%
vitamin C, 2% Calcium, 2% Iron. That's a great vegetable or you call
it fruit.
Recently, we read from medical journals that tomatoes are good for
cancer prevention. Wow, it's really great. What our ancestors
narrated to their children was true.
People who ate tomatoes regularly have a reduced risk of contracting
cancer diseases such as lung, prostate, stomach, cervical, breast,
oral, colorectal, esophageal, pancreatic, and many other types of
cancer.
Some studies show that tomatoes and garlic should be taken together
at the same time to have its cancer preventive effects. Whatever it
is, we really do not know how or why tomatoes work against cancers.
We believe that lycopene and the newly discovered bioflavonoids in
tomatoes are responsible as cancer fighting agents.
Not only raw tomatoes but also cooked or processed tomato products
such as ketchup, sauce, and paste, are counted as good sources of
cancer prevention.
Tomato is also good for liver health. Tomato has detoxification
effect in the body. Probably it is due to the presence of chlorine
and sulfur in tomatoes.
According to some studies, 51 mg of chlorine and 11 mg of sulfur in
100 grams size of tomato have a vital role in detoxification process.
We know that natural chlorine works in stimulating the liver and its
function for filtering and detoxifying body wastes. Sulfur in
tomatoes protects the liver from cirrhosis, too. Tomato juice is
known as good energy drink and for rejuvenating the health of
patients on dialysis.
Herbalists knew that taking tomatoes and tomato products could reduce
the risk of cardiovascular diseases because of lycopene in it.
What is your worry when you take too much food that contains animal
fat? Butter, cheese, pork, egg, beef, and other fried foods. Take
tomato, it will prevent hardening of the arteries. Therefore, tomato
can reduce high blood pressure, too.
Red ripened tomato is a powerful antioxidant. Vitamin E and lycopene
in tomato prevents LDL oxidation effectively. Bean sprouts, cabbage
or barley malt contain vitamin E. Tomato is an excellent fruit or
vegetable for rapid skin cell replacement.
Tomato juice can be used for healing sunburn because of its unique
vitamin C. You can also name tomato juice as a good sports drink to
restore yourself from fatigue and sleepiness.
Let's plant marvelous tomato in a container garden if you don't have
a backyard garden."
----------------------------------------------------------
About the Author:
Junji Takano is a Japanese health researcher involved in
investigating the cause of various diseases since 1960. In 1968, he
invented Pyro-Energen, the first electrotherapy device that
eradicates viral disease, cancer, and diseases of unknown cause
effectively without side effects.
Free newsletter: http://www.pyroenergen.com/newsletter.htm
Fish Oil Lowers Fat Mass and Shrinks Fat Cells
In this study with 27 type II diabetic women it was found that three grams of fish oil per day (containing 1.8 grams of omega 3 fatty acids like DHA) given for two months reduced total fat mass as well as reduced the size of fat cells. Inflammatory genes operating within fat were also reduced, an important result indicating that leptin status was improved (though not directly measured). This study shows how fish oil can improve unhealthy body composition even in individuals with significantly disturbed metabolism.
Also important in these findings is that the fish oil also improved circulatory health, a key concern of any person with diabetes.
Fish oil, and DHA in particular, have gone to the front of the line as a health promoting substance for brain function, cardiovascular function, and weight management. Because omega 3 oils are woefully lacking in the processed diets eating by most Americans and because fish is often contaminated with mercury, molecularly distilled fish oil modified for high content of DHA is clearly the top fish oil supplement on the market today.
Also important in these findings is that the fish oil also improved circulatory health, a key concern of any person with diabetes.
Fish oil, and DHA in particular, have gone to the front of the line as a health promoting substance for brain function, cardiovascular function, and weight management. Because omega 3 oils are woefully lacking in the processed diets eating by most Americans and because fish is often contaminated with mercury, molecularly distilled fish oil modified for high content of DHA is clearly the top fish oil supplement on the market today.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
How to achieve the impossible
"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation."
Pearl Buck, author
Pearl Buck, author
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Eat Grains and Sugars if You Want to go Blind
from mercola.com:
"Carbohydrates that cause blood sugar levels to spike and fall rapidly could be a risk factor for central vision loss with aging. Central vision loss is one of the first signs of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness among the elderly.
Diets high in carbohydrates that are quickly digested and absorbed, such as white bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, sugars and corn syrups are also suspected of being involved in the vision loss that sometimes accompanies diabetes.
The type of damage to eye tissue produced by these "fast" carbs could be similar in both AMD and diabetic eye disease.
Sources:
a.. Science Daily November 27, 2007
a.. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition October, 2007; 86
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Losing your eyesight is a common concern as you age. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible blindness among the elderly, with an estimated 13 million Americans, age 65 and over, suffering from the disorder. Conventional medicine has been unable to find any kind of treatment for its most common variety (dry AMD).
But first, let's be clear that aging does not automatically equate to diminished eyesight, as there are plenty of people in their 80s and beyond who still have good vision. However, as you age, changes can indeed occur that may weaken your ability to see.
What is Macular Degeneration?
Your retina is about the size of a postage stamp and your macula only about the size of a pencil tip.
Located in the macula - in the center of your retina -- are your cone cells, which produce color vision, and are used for reading and fine central vision. Your rod cells, which are in the periphery of your retina, are used for night vision and side vision.
When your cones begin to degenerate, the result is macular degeneration and loss of your central vision. As AMD progresses, tiny, fragile blood vessels begin to develop in the retina. These vessels often leak blood and fluid that damages the retina even further.
What are the Warning Signs of Macular Degeneration?
Some of the warning signs of AMD include:
a.. Blurred vision (may be the first symptom)
b.. Straight lines begin to appear crooked
c.. Dark or empty spaces may block central vision
You can also check your vision regularly using the Amsler Grid.
a.. Use a bright reading light
b.. Wear your reading glasses if appropriate
c.. Hold the chart approximately 14-16 inches from your eye
d.. Cover one eye
e.. Look at the center dot
f.. Note irregularities (wavy, size, gray, fuzzy)
g.. Repeat the test with your other eye
h.. Contact your ophthalmologist if you see any irregularities or notice any changes
The Two Types of Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is classified as either wet (neovascular), or dry (non-neovascular). Dry AMD accounts for about 90 percent of all AMD cases.
In wet macular degeneration new vessels form to improve your blood supply to oxygen-deprived retinal tissue. But these new vessels are very delicate and break easily, causing bleeding and damage to surrounding tissue.
Wet AMD is not considered as serious as the dry version, and there are a couple of conventional treatment methods available if you suffer from wet AMD, including laser photocoagulation and photodynamic therapy. Laser photocoagulation can seal off leaking or bleeding vessels, hence preventing further vision loss; however it does not restore lost vision.
Photodynamic therapy is a more recent treatment, which can stop abnormal blood vessel growth in some cases of wet AMD, and it's far less damaging than laser photocoagulation. However, your best bet, and your least dangerous alternative, is to practice prevention -- or vision maintenance if you're already in the beginning stages of AMD -- through appropriate nutrition.
How to Prevent Macular Degeneration, or Reduce Further Vision Loss
This is not the first study to hail the benefits of nutrition to prevent and treat macular degeneration. For example, Dr. Stuart Richer, OD, PhD, at the North Chicago Veterans Medical Center, painstakingly documented that macular degeneration can be reversed with nutritional supplements and dietary changes.
Following my dietary recommendations, based on your nutritional type, is one of your best ways to help prevent this cause of blindness, and will automatically limit or eliminate your intake of grains and sugars.
Lutein (LOO-teen) is a cartenoids found in vegetables and fruits. Lutein is just as important to health, or more so, than beta-carotene. It acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells against the damaging effects of free radicals.
a.. Lutein is not made in the body.
b.. Lutein must be obtained from food or vitamin supplements.
c.. Lutein is found in large amounts in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale, and in raw egg yolks.
It has been found that people who eat large amounts of fruits and vegetables have a 43 percent risk reduction of age-related macular degeneration. Fortunately, lutein is easy to add to your diet if you eat plenty of spinach and other green, leafy vegetables, as well as raw egg yolks.
It is important to note that lutein is an oil-soluble nutrient, and if you merely consume the vegetables without some oil (like olive oil) or butter, your body can't absorb the lutein.
In addition to optimizing your lutein intake by eating plenty of leafy greens, these simple strategies can also help protect you from onset, or worsening vision loss:
1. Never wear UV-blue blocking sunglasses when outdoors in daylight, we require exposure to all wavelengths of sunshine to remain healthy.
2. Eat sulfur-rich foods, such as garlic, eggs, asparagus, and onions
3. Eat natural food products, like blueberries, that are high in phytochemical antioxidants
4. A daily food supplement regimen that includes:
a.. Omega-3 krill oil or fish oil providing 1000 mg of DHA
b.. lutein (6-12 mg)
c.. vitamin E (200-400 IU)
d.. selenium (organic, nor selenate or selenite) 200 mcg
e.. vitamin B12, 300 mcg
f.. magnesium 400 mg
g.. vitamin C 500-2000 mg
h.. bilberry 120-240 mg
i.. sulfur-bearing nutrients (glutathione, lipoic acid, N-acetyl cysteine or taurine)
5. Avoid high-dose calcium supplements without balancing magnesium
6. Avoid these fats, which are in most processed, store-bought foods and fried foods:
a.. trans fats / hydrogenated fats (vegetable oil) that interfere with the omega-3 fats
b.. monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
7. Avoid very low-fat diets, which robs the retina of omega-3 fats."
"Carbohydrates that cause blood sugar levels to spike and fall rapidly could be a risk factor for central vision loss with aging. Central vision loss is one of the first signs of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness among the elderly.
Diets high in carbohydrates that are quickly digested and absorbed, such as white bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, sugars and corn syrups are also suspected of being involved in the vision loss that sometimes accompanies diabetes.
The type of damage to eye tissue produced by these "fast" carbs could be similar in both AMD and diabetic eye disease.
Sources:
a.. Science Daily November 27, 2007
a.. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition October, 2007; 86
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Losing your eyesight is a common concern as you age. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible blindness among the elderly, with an estimated 13 million Americans, age 65 and over, suffering from the disorder. Conventional medicine has been unable to find any kind of treatment for its most common variety (dry AMD).
But first, let's be clear that aging does not automatically equate to diminished eyesight, as there are plenty of people in their 80s and beyond who still have good vision. However, as you age, changes can indeed occur that may weaken your ability to see.
What is Macular Degeneration?
Your retina is about the size of a postage stamp and your macula only about the size of a pencil tip.
Located in the macula - in the center of your retina -- are your cone cells, which produce color vision, and are used for reading and fine central vision. Your rod cells, which are in the periphery of your retina, are used for night vision and side vision.
When your cones begin to degenerate, the result is macular degeneration and loss of your central vision. As AMD progresses, tiny, fragile blood vessels begin to develop in the retina. These vessels often leak blood and fluid that damages the retina even further.
What are the Warning Signs of Macular Degeneration?
Some of the warning signs of AMD include:
a.. Blurred vision (may be the first symptom)
b.. Straight lines begin to appear crooked
c.. Dark or empty spaces may block central vision
You can also check your vision regularly using the Amsler Grid.
a.. Use a bright reading light
b.. Wear your reading glasses if appropriate
c.. Hold the chart approximately 14-16 inches from your eye
d.. Cover one eye
e.. Look at the center dot
f.. Note irregularities (wavy, size, gray, fuzzy)
g.. Repeat the test with your other eye
h.. Contact your ophthalmologist if you see any irregularities or notice any changes
The Two Types of Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is classified as either wet (neovascular), or dry (non-neovascular). Dry AMD accounts for about 90 percent of all AMD cases.
In wet macular degeneration new vessels form to improve your blood supply to oxygen-deprived retinal tissue. But these new vessels are very delicate and break easily, causing bleeding and damage to surrounding tissue.
Wet AMD is not considered as serious as the dry version, and there are a couple of conventional treatment methods available if you suffer from wet AMD, including laser photocoagulation and photodynamic therapy. Laser photocoagulation can seal off leaking or bleeding vessels, hence preventing further vision loss; however it does not restore lost vision.
Photodynamic therapy is a more recent treatment, which can stop abnormal blood vessel growth in some cases of wet AMD, and it's far less damaging than laser photocoagulation. However, your best bet, and your least dangerous alternative, is to practice prevention -- or vision maintenance if you're already in the beginning stages of AMD -- through appropriate nutrition.
How to Prevent Macular Degeneration, or Reduce Further Vision Loss
This is not the first study to hail the benefits of nutrition to prevent and treat macular degeneration. For example, Dr. Stuart Richer, OD, PhD, at the North Chicago Veterans Medical Center, painstakingly documented that macular degeneration can be reversed with nutritional supplements and dietary changes.
Following my dietary recommendations, based on your nutritional type, is one of your best ways to help prevent this cause of blindness, and will automatically limit or eliminate your intake of grains and sugars.
Lutein (LOO-teen) is a cartenoids found in vegetables and fruits. Lutein is just as important to health, or more so, than beta-carotene. It acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells against the damaging effects of free radicals.
a.. Lutein is not made in the body.
b.. Lutein must be obtained from food or vitamin supplements.
c.. Lutein is found in large amounts in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale, and in raw egg yolks.
It has been found that people who eat large amounts of fruits and vegetables have a 43 percent risk reduction of age-related macular degeneration. Fortunately, lutein is easy to add to your diet if you eat plenty of spinach and other green, leafy vegetables, as well as raw egg yolks.
It is important to note that lutein is an oil-soluble nutrient, and if you merely consume the vegetables without some oil (like olive oil) or butter, your body can't absorb the lutein.
In addition to optimizing your lutein intake by eating plenty of leafy greens, these simple strategies can also help protect you from onset, or worsening vision loss:
1. Never wear UV-blue blocking sunglasses when outdoors in daylight, we require exposure to all wavelengths of sunshine to remain healthy.
2. Eat sulfur-rich foods, such as garlic, eggs, asparagus, and onions
3. Eat natural food products, like blueberries, that are high in phytochemical antioxidants
4. A daily food supplement regimen that includes:
a.. Omega-3 krill oil or fish oil providing 1000 mg of DHA
b.. lutein (6-12 mg)
c.. vitamin E (200-400 IU)
d.. selenium (organic, nor selenate or selenite) 200 mcg
e.. vitamin B12, 300 mcg
f.. magnesium 400 mg
g.. vitamin C 500-2000 mg
h.. bilberry 120-240 mg
i.. sulfur-bearing nutrients (glutathione, lipoic acid, N-acetyl cysteine or taurine)
5. Avoid high-dose calcium supplements without balancing magnesium
6. Avoid these fats, which are in most processed, store-bought foods and fried foods:
a.. trans fats / hydrogenated fats (vegetable oil) that interfere with the omega-3 fats
b.. monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
7. Avoid very low-fat diets, which robs the retina of omega-3 fats."
Fish Oil Improves Circulation in Healthy People
The essential fatty acids in fish oil, especially DHA, are now recognized as an excellent cardiovascular support nutrient. A new study in healthy younger men and women shows that fish oil at a small dose of 1 gram per day was able to improve the function of their arteries, helping them dilate easier so blood could flow better. It also helped reduce their resting heart rate, meaning the heart did not have to work as hard to get its job done.
This study shows the importance of fish oil to general health. Those who maintain healthy circulation during the course of their younger years are much more likely to grow old with fewer cardiovascular problems. This is especially important for younger people to consider if there is a family history of poor cardiovascular health. Genetics can be modulated; risk factors don't have to automatically become problems later in life. The fact that DHA is so good for the health of brain cells, learning, and intelligence is simply an added bonus. Supplementing with DHA is as important as taking a good multiple vitamin for basic health purposes. Molecularly distilled DHA is free of mercury and other contaminants that may be present in fish.
This study shows the importance of fish oil to general health. Those who maintain healthy circulation during the course of their younger years are much more likely to grow old with fewer cardiovascular problems. This is especially important for younger people to consider if there is a family history of poor cardiovascular health. Genetics can be modulated; risk factors don't have to automatically become problems later in life. The fact that DHA is so good for the health of brain cells, learning, and intelligence is simply an added bonus. Supplementing with DHA is as important as taking a good multiple vitamin for basic health purposes. Molecularly distilled DHA is free of mercury and other contaminants that may be present in fish.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Making mistakes
"Have no fear of making mistakes. Be afraid of NOT making any. He who makes no mistakes is no closer to his goals. Mistakes are the mile markers leading to the mansions in our minds."
Matt Furey, author
Matt Furey, author
Thursday, December 13, 2007
How to achieve what you want
"You can achieve anything you want in life if you have the courage to dream it, the intelligence to make a realistic plan, and the will to see that plan through to the end."
Sidney A. Friedman
entrepreneur, speaker, and author
Sidney A. Friedman
entrepreneur, speaker, and author
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
How to lose energy
"You only lose energy when life becomes dull in your mind. Your mind gets bored and therefore tired of doing nothing. Get interested in something! Get absolutely enthralled in something! Get out of yourself! Be somebody! Do something! The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have."
Norman Vincent Peale
author and speaker
Norman Vincent Peale
author and speaker
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Envision what you want and write it down!
"The simple step of writing down your ideal scene can lead you to discover the unfailing natural laws of manifestation."
Marc Allen, author
Marc Allen, author
Monday, December 10, 2007
Practical hints for dealing with cancer
Some excellent suggestions from mercola.com
"A new laboratory study, published in Phytomedicine, suggests that extracts from black cohosh, an herb most commonly used to reduce menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, may stop breast cancer cells in their tracks. This adds more evidence to a small but growing body of research suggesting that black cohosh could have a use in breast cancer prevention.
Black cohosh (Cimicifugae racemosae rhizome), is a perennial plant native to North America, is a member of the buttercup family. It has long been a popular alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in many countries. In the UK, 9 million days' worth of black cohosh supplements were purchased in 2004.
The inhibition of the growth of breast cancer cells was related to an induction of programmed cell death (apoptosis).
"These results corroborate the results of our previous studies indicating that the growth inhibitory effect of actein or an extract of black cohosh is associated with activation of specific stress response pathways and apoptosis," wrote the researchers, referring to their studies published earlier this year in Anticancer Research and the International Journal of Cancer.
Although the results are promising, further research is needed to determine whether the herb can be effectively used as a breast cancer chemopreventive agent.
Sources:
a.. FoodAndDrinkEurope.com November 13, 2007
a.. Phytomedicine October 31, 2007 [Epub Ahead of Print]
a.. Anticancer Research March-April, 2007;27(2):697-712
a.. International Journal of Cancer November 1, 2007;121(9):2073-83
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
First of all, for those of you who are new to the newsletter; let me make it perfectly clear that while I view herbs as frequently helpful and virtually non-toxic when compared to patent drugs, they rarely treat the cause of the disease. I view most of them as symptomatic band-aids. They should rarely be used without addressing the underlying cause of the disease, which is precisely what I address in the hundreds of thousands of pages on my site.
Having said that, black cohosh was first listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia (the nation's official drug reference book), from 1820 to 1926. But at that point, drug manufacturers began focusing almost exclusively on synthetic molecules that, unlike herbs, could be patented and used to make big profits. So research stopped, and medicinal plants like black cohosh were dropped from use in conventional medicine.
However, in more recent years, studies have shown that black cohosh is nearly as effective as estrogen -- and far more effective than placebo pills -- at treating hot flashes, and is also useful in managing the mood swings and irritability that can accompany menopause. And now we're beginning to see its value in dealing with cancer.
The catch-22 is that black cohosh has also been found to interfere with drugs and radiation treatments used in conventional cancer therapy by:
a.. Increasing cell killing by two of the drugs[ (Adriamycin and Taxotere)
b.. Decreasing the effectiveness of one drug (Platinol)
c.. Not altering the effects of radiation or a fourth drug (4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide)
Therefore, if you're being treated for breast cancer through conventional cancer treatments you should definitely consult with your physician before using black cohosh on your own.
Cancer treatment is one that I typically don't focus on for a variety of reasons. But needless to say, there are a large variety of naturally-based treatments that you could use for cancer, in which black cohosh would not be a problem.
There are also a number of other options available that can help you prevent breast cancer.
My Cancer-Busting Dozen Approaches
I believe you can VIRTUALLY ELIMINATE your cancer risk and radically improve your risk of recovering from cancer if you currently have it. All you need to do is follow these relatively simple risk reduction strategies. You won't read or hear much about them because they have not been formally "proven" yet by conservative researchers. However, most people do not know that 85 percent of therapies currently recommended by conventional medicine have never been formally proven either.
So here are the Twelve Strategies
1.. Reduce your processed food, sugar and grain carbohydrate intake Yes, this is even true for whole unprocessed organic grains as they tend to rapidly break down and drive your insulin and leptin levels up, which is the last thing you need to have happening if you are seeking to resolve a cancer.
2.. Control your fasting insulin and leptin levels: This is the end result, and can be easily monitored with the use of simple and relatively inexpensive blood tests.
3.. Normalize your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats by taking a high-quality krill oil or fish oil and reducing your intake of most processed vegetable oils
4.. Get regular exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.
5.. Normalize your vitamin D levels and vitamin A levels by getting plenty of sunlight exposure and consider careful supplementation when this is not possible. If you take oral vitamin D and have a cancer it would be very prudent to monitor your vitamin D blood levels regularly.
6.. Get a good night's sleep
7.. Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much underappreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have
8.. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution
9.. Limit your exposure and provide protection for yourself from information carrying radio waves produced by cell phone towers, base stations, phones and WiFi stations
10.. Avoid frying or charbroiling your food. Boil, poach or steam your foods instead
11.. Have a tool to permanently reprogram the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. Energy psychology seems to be one of the best approaches and my particular favorite tool, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique. German New Medicine is another powerful tool
12.. Use broccoli sprouts as an adjunct to everything above unless you simply do not like broccoli."
"A new laboratory study, published in Phytomedicine, suggests that extracts from black cohosh, an herb most commonly used to reduce menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, may stop breast cancer cells in their tracks. This adds more evidence to a small but growing body of research suggesting that black cohosh could have a use in breast cancer prevention.
Black cohosh (Cimicifugae racemosae rhizome), is a perennial plant native to North America, is a member of the buttercup family. It has long been a popular alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in many countries. In the UK, 9 million days' worth of black cohosh supplements were purchased in 2004.
The inhibition of the growth of breast cancer cells was related to an induction of programmed cell death (apoptosis).
"These results corroborate the results of our previous studies indicating that the growth inhibitory effect of actein or an extract of black cohosh is associated with activation of specific stress response pathways and apoptosis," wrote the researchers, referring to their studies published earlier this year in Anticancer Research and the International Journal of Cancer.
Although the results are promising, further research is needed to determine whether the herb can be effectively used as a breast cancer chemopreventive agent.
Sources:
a.. FoodAndDrinkEurope.com November 13, 2007
a.. Phytomedicine October 31, 2007 [Epub Ahead of Print]
a.. Anticancer Research March-April, 2007;27(2):697-712
a.. International Journal of Cancer November 1, 2007;121(9):2073-83
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
First of all, for those of you who are new to the newsletter; let me make it perfectly clear that while I view herbs as frequently helpful and virtually non-toxic when compared to patent drugs, they rarely treat the cause of the disease. I view most of them as symptomatic band-aids. They should rarely be used without addressing the underlying cause of the disease, which is precisely what I address in the hundreds of thousands of pages on my site.
Having said that, black cohosh was first listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia (the nation's official drug reference book), from 1820 to 1926. But at that point, drug manufacturers began focusing almost exclusively on synthetic molecules that, unlike herbs, could be patented and used to make big profits. So research stopped, and medicinal plants like black cohosh were dropped from use in conventional medicine.
However, in more recent years, studies have shown that black cohosh is nearly as effective as estrogen -- and far more effective than placebo pills -- at treating hot flashes, and is also useful in managing the mood swings and irritability that can accompany menopause. And now we're beginning to see its value in dealing with cancer.
The catch-22 is that black cohosh has also been found to interfere with drugs and radiation treatments used in conventional cancer therapy by:
a.. Increasing cell killing by two of the drugs[ (Adriamycin and Taxotere)
b.. Decreasing the effectiveness of one drug (Platinol)
c.. Not altering the effects of radiation or a fourth drug (4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide)
Therefore, if you're being treated for breast cancer through conventional cancer treatments you should definitely consult with your physician before using black cohosh on your own.
Cancer treatment is one that I typically don't focus on for a variety of reasons. But needless to say, there are a large variety of naturally-based treatments that you could use for cancer, in which black cohosh would not be a problem.
There are also a number of other options available that can help you prevent breast cancer.
My Cancer-Busting Dozen Approaches
I believe you can VIRTUALLY ELIMINATE your cancer risk and radically improve your risk of recovering from cancer if you currently have it. All you need to do is follow these relatively simple risk reduction strategies. You won't read or hear much about them because they have not been formally "proven" yet by conservative researchers. However, most people do not know that 85 percent of therapies currently recommended by conventional medicine have never been formally proven either.
So here are the Twelve Strategies
1.. Reduce your processed food, sugar and grain carbohydrate intake Yes, this is even true for whole unprocessed organic grains as they tend to rapidly break down and drive your insulin and leptin levels up, which is the last thing you need to have happening if you are seeking to resolve a cancer.
2.. Control your fasting insulin and leptin levels: This is the end result, and can be easily monitored with the use of simple and relatively inexpensive blood tests.
3.. Normalize your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats by taking a high-quality krill oil or fish oil and reducing your intake of most processed vegetable oils
4.. Get regular exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.
5.. Normalize your vitamin D levels and vitamin A levels by getting plenty of sunlight exposure and consider careful supplementation when this is not possible. If you take oral vitamin D and have a cancer it would be very prudent to monitor your vitamin D blood levels regularly.
6.. Get a good night's sleep
7.. Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much underappreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have
8.. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution
9.. Limit your exposure and provide protection for yourself from information carrying radio waves produced by cell phone towers, base stations, phones and WiFi stations
10.. Avoid frying or charbroiling your food. Boil, poach or steam your foods instead
11.. Have a tool to permanently reprogram the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. Energy psychology seems to be one of the best approaches and my particular favorite tool, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique. German New Medicine is another powerful tool
12.. Use broccoli sprouts as an adjunct to everything above unless you simply do not like broccoli."
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Sunshine and cancer
From the Vitamin D Council:
"Dr. Cannell, I was just diagnosed with breast cancer, how much vitamin D should I take?"
"My mother has colon cancer, how much vitamin D should she take?"
"I've had prostate cancer for four years, is there any reason to think vitamin D would help?"
"Dr. Cannell, my son has leukemia, should I give him vitamin D?"
It's one thing to talk about evidence vitamin D may prevent cancer but something quite different to discuss evidence vitamin D might help treat cancer. I used to think the answers to all the above questions were the same. Like anyone else, people with cancer should be screened for vitamin D deficiency and be treated if deficiency is present. Simple. However, it's not that simple. The real questions are, What are reasonable 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels for someone with a life-threatening cancer? How much vitamin D do they need to take to obtain such levels? Is there any evidence, of any kind, that vitamin D will help treat cancer? The risk/benefit analysis of taking vitamin D is quite different if you are in perfect health than if your life, or your child's life, is on the line.
Remember, unlike cancer prevention, not one human randomized controlled trial exists showing vitamin D has a treatment effect on cancer. By treatment effect, I mean prolongs the lives of cancer patients. However, as I cited in my last newsletter, Dr. Philippe Autier of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and Dr. Sara Gandini of the European Institute of Oncology, performed a meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials showing even low doses of vitamin D extend life but they looked at all-cause mortality, not just cancer (Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(16):1730-1737). However, some epidemiological studies indirectly address the treatment issue and are quite remarkable. The first are a series of discoveries by Professor Johan Moan, Department of Physics at the University of Oslo, with Dr. Alina Porojnicu as the lead author on most of the papers.
Moan J, et al. Colon cancer: Prognosis for different latitudes, age groups and seasons in Norway. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2007 Sep 19
Lagunova Z, et al. Prostate cancer survival is dependent on season of diagnosis. Prostate. 2007 Sep 1;67(12):1362-70.
Porojnicu AC, et al. Changes in risk of death from breast cancer with season and latitude: sun exposure and breast cancer survival in Norway. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2007 May;102(3):323-8.
Porojnicu A, et al. Season of diagnosis is a predictor of cancer survival. Sun-induced vitamin D may be involved: a possible role of sun-induced Vitamin D. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Mar;103(3-5):675-8.
Porojnicu AC, et al. Season of diagnosis is a prognostic factor in Hodgkin's lymphoma: a possible role of sun-induced vitamin D. Br J Cancer. 2005 Sep 5;93(5):571-4.
Porojnicu AC, et al. Seasonal and geographical variations in lung cancer prognosis in Norway. Does Vitamin D from the sun play a role? Lung Cancer. 2007 Mar;55(3):263-70.
What Professor Moan's group discovered, repeatedly, is quite simple, whether it be cancer of the breast, colon, prostate, lung, or a lymphoma. You live longer if your cancer is diagnosed in the summer. And it is not just Moan's group who has found this. A huge English study recently confirmed Moan's discovery.
Lim HS, et al. Cancer survival is dependent on season of diagnosis and sunlight exposure. Int J Cancer. 2006 Oct 1;119(7):1530-6.
What do these studies mean? Something about summer has a treatment effect on cancer. Whatever it is, you live longer if you are diagnosed in the summer but die sooner if you are diagnosed in the winter. What could it be about summer? Exercise? Fresh air? Melatonin? Sunlight? Pretty girls? Remember, these patients already had cancer. Whatever it is about summer, it is not a preventative effect that Professor Moan discovered, it is a treatment effect. Something about summer prolongs the life of cancer patients.
Dr. Ying Zhou, a research fellow, working with Professor David Christiani at the Harvard School of Public Health, went one step further. The stuffy Harvard researchers assumed summer worked its magic, not by pretty girls, but by summer sunlight making vitamin D. So they looked at total vitamin D input, from both sun and diet, to see if high vitamin D input improved the survival of cancer patients. Yes, indeed, remarkably. They found that early stage lung cancer patients with the highest vitamin D input (from summer season and high intake from diet) lived almost three times longer than patients with the lowest input (winter season and low intake from diet). Three times longer is a huge treatment effect, a treatment effect that most conventional cancer treatment methods would die for.
Zhou W, Vitamin D is associated with improved survival in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005 Oct;14(10):2303-9.
And that's not all, Marianne Berwick and her colleagues, at the New Mexico Cancer Institute, found malignant melanoma patients with evidence of continued sun exposure had a 60% mortality reduction compared to patients who did not. That implies a robust treatment effect from sunlight.
Berwick M, et al. Sun exposure and mortality from melanoma. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2005 Feb 2;97(3):195-9.
I will not list the thousands of animal studies that indicate vitamin D has a treatment effect on cancer as almost all of them studied activated vitamin D or its analogs, drugs that bypass normal regulatory mechanisms, cannot get autocrine quantities of the hormone into the cell, and that often cause hypercalcemia. However, Michael Holick's group found that simple vitamin D deficiency made cancers grow faster in mice. That is, vitamin D has a cancer treatment effect in vitamin D deficient mice. Professor Gary Schwartz, at Wake Forest, recently reviewed the reasons to think that vitamin D may have a treatment effect in cancer.
Tangpricha V, et al. Vitamin D deficiency enhances the growth of MC-26 colon cancer xenografts in Balb/c mice. J Nutr. 2005 Oct;135(10):2350-4.
Schwartz GG, Skinner HG. Vitamin D status and cancer: new insights. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2007 Jan;10(1):6-11.
Finally, one human interventional study exists. In 2005, in an open trial, Professor Reinhold Vieth and his colleagues found just 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day had a positive effect on PSA levels in men with prostate cancer.
Woo TC, et al. Pilot study: potential role of vitamin D (Cholecalciferol) in patients with PSA relapse after definitive therapy. Nutr Cancer. 2005;51(1):32-6.
So we come back to the crucial question. If you have cancer, how much vitamin D should you take, or, more precisely, what 25(OH)D level should you maintain? We don't know. You can correctly say that definitive studies have not been done and, incorrectly, conclude physicians treating cancer patients should do nothing. I say incorrectly because standards of medical practice have always demanded that doctors make reasonable decisions based on what is currently known, doing a risk/benefit analysis along the way to decide what is best for their patients based on what is known today. If a patient has a potentially fatal cancer, the doctor cannot dismiss a relatively benign potential treatment modality just because definitive studies have not been done, and passively watch his patient die. Standards of care require doctors consider what is known now, using information currently available, perform a risk/benefit analysis, and then act in the best interest of their patient.
Luckily, such doctors recently obtained some guidance. In the first study of its kind, Professor Bruce Hollis of the Medical University of South Carolina gave all of us something to think about. He asked and answered a simple question: How much vitamin D do you have to take to normalize the metabolism of vitamin D?
Remember, unlike other steroid hormones, vitamin D has very unusual metabolism in most modern humans, called first-order, mass action, kinetics. All this means is that the more vitamin D you take, the higher the 25(OH)D level in your blood, and the higher the 25(OH)D level in your blood, the higher the levels of activated vitamin D in your tissues. No other steroid hormone in the body behaves like this. Think about it, would you like your estrogen level to be dependent on how much cholesterol you ate? Or your cortisol level? (I'd ask the same about testosterone levels but I know men well enough not to ask.) No, the body must tightly regulate powerful steroid hormones through substrate inhibition, that is, if an enzyme turns A into B, when the body has enough B, B inhibits the enzyme and so limits its own production.
Not so with vitamin D, at least at modern human vitamin D levels. Professor Reinhold Vieth was the first to write about this and Vieth's Chapter 61 in Feldman, Pike, and Glorieux's wonderful textbook, Vitamin D (Elsevier, 2005, second edition), is a great reason to buy the textbook or have your library do so. [ I'm glad to see Amazon is out of stock of the new ones (someone must be reading about vitamin D) but you can still buy used editions.)
Why would the kinetics of vitamin D be different from all other steroids? Maybe they are not, Hollis reasoned, like Vieth before him. Maybe vitamin D levels are so low in modern humans that its metabolic system is on full blast all the time in an attempt to give the body all the vitamin D metabolites it craves. So Hollis asked, Is vitamin D's metabolism different in populations in the upper end of 25(OH)D levels (a population of sun-exposed people and a group of women prescribed 7,000 IU per day)? Note, the Hollis study is free on Medline, you can download the entire paper on the right hand of the PubMed page below.
Hollis BW, et al. Circulating vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D in humans: An important tool to define adequate nutritional vitamin D status. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Mar;103(3-5):631-4.
If you look at the two graphs, Figures 1 and 2 of Hollis' paper, you find vitamin D's kinetics can be normalized, made just like all other steroid hormones in the body, but you have to get enough sunshine or take enough vitamin D to get your 25(OH)D level above 50 ng/ml, and 60 ng/ml would be better. Then your body starts to store cholecalciferol in the body without much further increase in 25(OH)D levels. The reaction becomes saturable. This is a remarkable discovery and it implies levels of 30 and 40 ng/ml are usually not sufficient. It also implies actual vitamin D levels (cholecalciferol levels), not just 25(OH)D levels, may be useful in diagnosing and treating deficiency. Note, that not all of the sun-exposed individuals or women prescribed 7,000 IU/day achieved such levels. That's because the sun-exposed individuals were tested after an Hawaiian winter and because prescribing and taking are two different things.
So my answer to "How much should I take if I have cancer?" is "Take enough to get your 25(OH)D level above 60 ng/ml, summer and winter." In doing so, you will have normalized the kinetics of vitamin D and stored the parent compound, cholecalciferol, in your tissues. In the absence of sunshine, you need to take about 1,000 IU/day per 30 pounds of body weight to do this. A 150 pound cancer patient may need to take 5,000 IU per day, a 210 pound cancer patient about 7,000 IU per day, all this in the absence of sunlight. And this may not be enough; cancer patients may use it up faster (increased metabolic clearance) and children may do the same due to their young and vital enzymes. Or you may need less, because you get more sun than you think, more from your diet, or because you are taking a modern medicine that interferes with the metabolism of vitamin D. An even easier way to do it is go to a sun tanning booth every day and obtain and keep a dark, full-body, tan. Then you don't have to worry about blood levels but I'd get one anyway, just to be sure it was above 60 ng/ml.
Given what Hollis discovered, given the well-known potent anti-cancer properties of activated vitamin D, given epidemiological evidence that summer extends the life of cancer patients, given a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials showed that vitamin D prolongs life, given animal data that simple vitamin D has a treatment effect on cancer, and given a patient with a life-threatening cancer, what would a reasonable physician do? Simply let their patient die while muttering something about the lack of randomized controlled trials?
No, they would simply check a 25(OH)D level every month and advise cancer patients to take enough vitamin D or frequent sun tanning parlors enough to keep their level above 60 ng/ml. Toxicity does not start until levels reach 150 ng/ml but if you take more than 2,000 IU per day have your doctor order a blood calcium every month or two along with the 25(OH)D. Both you and he will feel better and because if you have cancer, you are probably taking lots of other drugs and little is known about how modern drugs interact with vitamin D metabolism. By getting your level above 60 ng/ml, all you are doing is getting your level to where most lifeguards' levels are at the end of summer, to levels our ancestors had when they lived in the sun, to levels regular users of sun-tan parlors levels achieve, and most importantly, to levels where vitamin D's pharmacokinetics are normalized.
In the end, if you have cancer and your physician won't do a risk/benefit analysis, do it yourself. The risk side of that equation is easy. Both Quest Diagnostics and Lab-Corp, the two largest reference labs in the USA, report the upper limit of 25(OH)D normal is 100 ng/ml and toxic is above 150 ng/ml, so 60 ng/ml is well below both. The reason levels up to 100 ng/ml are published normals is because there is no credible evidence in the literature that levels of 100 ng/ml do any harm and because sun worshipers often have such levels. (If you don't believe me, go to the beach in the summer for one month, sunbath every day for 30 minutes on each side in your bathing suit, and go home and have a 25(OH)D level.) By getting your level above 60 ng/ml, all you are doing is getting your levels into the mid to upper range of laboratory reference normals. Little or no risk.
What are the potential benefits? It probably depends on a number of things. Did your cancer cells retain the enzyme that activates vitamin D? Many do. Did your cancer cells retain the vitamin D receptor? Many do. If your cancer cells get more substrate [25(OH)D], will that substrate induce the cancer cells to make more vitamin D receptors or more of the activating enzyme? Some cancer cells do both. In practical terms, vitamin D is theoretically more likely to help your cancer the earlier you start taking it. However, no one knows. Certainly there is no reason, other than bad medicine, for cancer patients to die vitamin D deficient. Unfortunately, most do.
Tangpricha V, et al. Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients attending an outpatient cancer care clinic in Boston. Endocr Pract. 2004 May-Jun;10(3):292-3.
Plant AS, Tisman G. Frequency of combined deficiencies of vitamin D and holotranscobalamin in cancer patients. Nutr Cancer. 2006;56(2):143-8.
It is very important that readers understand I am not suggesting vitamin D cures cancer or that it replace standard cancer treatment. Oncologists perform miracles every day. Do what they say. The only exception is vitamin D. If your oncologist tells you not to take vitamin D, ask him three questions. 1) How do you convert ng/mls to nmol/Ls? How many IU in a nonogram? 3) How do you spell "cholecalciferol?" If he doesn't know how to measure it, weigh it, or spell it, chances are he doesn't know much about it.
All of the epidemiological and animal studies in the literature suggest cancer patients will prolong their lives if they take vitamin D. I can't find any studies that indicate otherwise. However, none of the suggestive studies are randomized controlled interventional trials; they are all epidemiological or animal studies, or, in the case of Vieth's, an open human study. However, if you have cancer, or your child does, do you want to wait the decades it will take for the American Cancer Society to fund randomized controlled trials using the proper dose of vitamin D? Chances are you, or your child, will not be around to see the results."
"Dr. Cannell, I was just diagnosed with breast cancer, how much vitamin D should I take?"
"My mother has colon cancer, how much vitamin D should she take?"
"I've had prostate cancer for four years, is there any reason to think vitamin D would help?"
"Dr. Cannell, my son has leukemia, should I give him vitamin D?"
It's one thing to talk about evidence vitamin D may prevent cancer but something quite different to discuss evidence vitamin D might help treat cancer. I used to think the answers to all the above questions were the same. Like anyone else, people with cancer should be screened for vitamin D deficiency and be treated if deficiency is present. Simple. However, it's not that simple. The real questions are, What are reasonable 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels for someone with a life-threatening cancer? How much vitamin D do they need to take to obtain such levels? Is there any evidence, of any kind, that vitamin D will help treat cancer? The risk/benefit analysis of taking vitamin D is quite different if you are in perfect health than if your life, or your child's life, is on the line.
Remember, unlike cancer prevention, not one human randomized controlled trial exists showing vitamin D has a treatment effect on cancer. By treatment effect, I mean prolongs the lives of cancer patients. However, as I cited in my last newsletter, Dr. Philippe Autier of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and Dr. Sara Gandini of the European Institute of Oncology, performed a meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials showing even low doses of vitamin D extend life but they looked at all-cause mortality, not just cancer (Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(16):1730-1737). However, some epidemiological studies indirectly address the treatment issue and are quite remarkable. The first are a series of discoveries by Professor Johan Moan, Department of Physics at the University of Oslo, with Dr. Alina Porojnicu as the lead author on most of the papers.
Moan J, et al. Colon cancer: Prognosis for different latitudes, age groups and seasons in Norway. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2007 Sep 19
Lagunova Z, et al. Prostate cancer survival is dependent on season of diagnosis. Prostate. 2007 Sep 1;67(12):1362-70.
Porojnicu AC, et al. Changes in risk of death from breast cancer with season and latitude: sun exposure and breast cancer survival in Norway. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2007 May;102(3):323-8.
Porojnicu A, et al. Season of diagnosis is a predictor of cancer survival. Sun-induced vitamin D may be involved: a possible role of sun-induced Vitamin D. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Mar;103(3-5):675-8.
Porojnicu AC, et al. Season of diagnosis is a prognostic factor in Hodgkin's lymphoma: a possible role of sun-induced vitamin D. Br J Cancer. 2005 Sep 5;93(5):571-4.
Porojnicu AC, et al. Seasonal and geographical variations in lung cancer prognosis in Norway. Does Vitamin D from the sun play a role? Lung Cancer. 2007 Mar;55(3):263-70.
What Professor Moan's group discovered, repeatedly, is quite simple, whether it be cancer of the breast, colon, prostate, lung, or a lymphoma. You live longer if your cancer is diagnosed in the summer. And it is not just Moan's group who has found this. A huge English study recently confirmed Moan's discovery.
Lim HS, et al. Cancer survival is dependent on season of diagnosis and sunlight exposure. Int J Cancer. 2006 Oct 1;119(7):1530-6.
What do these studies mean? Something about summer has a treatment effect on cancer. Whatever it is, you live longer if you are diagnosed in the summer but die sooner if you are diagnosed in the winter. What could it be about summer? Exercise? Fresh air? Melatonin? Sunlight? Pretty girls? Remember, these patients already had cancer. Whatever it is about summer, it is not a preventative effect that Professor Moan discovered, it is a treatment effect. Something about summer prolongs the life of cancer patients.
Dr. Ying Zhou, a research fellow, working with Professor David Christiani at the Harvard School of Public Health, went one step further. The stuffy Harvard researchers assumed summer worked its magic, not by pretty girls, but by summer sunlight making vitamin D. So they looked at total vitamin D input, from both sun and diet, to see if high vitamin D input improved the survival of cancer patients. Yes, indeed, remarkably. They found that early stage lung cancer patients with the highest vitamin D input (from summer season and high intake from diet) lived almost three times longer than patients with the lowest input (winter season and low intake from diet). Three times longer is a huge treatment effect, a treatment effect that most conventional cancer treatment methods would die for.
Zhou W, Vitamin D is associated with improved survival in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005 Oct;14(10):2303-9.
And that's not all, Marianne Berwick and her colleagues, at the New Mexico Cancer Institute, found malignant melanoma patients with evidence of continued sun exposure had a 60% mortality reduction compared to patients who did not. That implies a robust treatment effect from sunlight.
Berwick M, et al. Sun exposure and mortality from melanoma. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2005 Feb 2;97(3):195-9.
I will not list the thousands of animal studies that indicate vitamin D has a treatment effect on cancer as almost all of them studied activated vitamin D or its analogs, drugs that bypass normal regulatory mechanisms, cannot get autocrine quantities of the hormone into the cell, and that often cause hypercalcemia. However, Michael Holick's group found that simple vitamin D deficiency made cancers grow faster in mice. That is, vitamin D has a cancer treatment effect in vitamin D deficient mice. Professor Gary Schwartz, at Wake Forest, recently reviewed the reasons to think that vitamin D may have a treatment effect in cancer.
Tangpricha V, et al. Vitamin D deficiency enhances the growth of MC-26 colon cancer xenografts in Balb/c mice. J Nutr. 2005 Oct;135(10):2350-4.
Schwartz GG, Skinner HG. Vitamin D status and cancer: new insights. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2007 Jan;10(1):6-11.
Finally, one human interventional study exists. In 2005, in an open trial, Professor Reinhold Vieth and his colleagues found just 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day had a positive effect on PSA levels in men with prostate cancer.
Woo TC, et al. Pilot study: potential role of vitamin D (Cholecalciferol) in patients with PSA relapse after definitive therapy. Nutr Cancer. 2005;51(1):32-6.
So we come back to the crucial question. If you have cancer, how much vitamin D should you take, or, more precisely, what 25(OH)D level should you maintain? We don't know. You can correctly say that definitive studies have not been done and, incorrectly, conclude physicians treating cancer patients should do nothing. I say incorrectly because standards of medical practice have always demanded that doctors make reasonable decisions based on what is currently known, doing a risk/benefit analysis along the way to decide what is best for their patients based on what is known today. If a patient has a potentially fatal cancer, the doctor cannot dismiss a relatively benign potential treatment modality just because definitive studies have not been done, and passively watch his patient die. Standards of care require doctors consider what is known now, using information currently available, perform a risk/benefit analysis, and then act in the best interest of their patient.
Luckily, such doctors recently obtained some guidance. In the first study of its kind, Professor Bruce Hollis of the Medical University of South Carolina gave all of us something to think about. He asked and answered a simple question: How much vitamin D do you have to take to normalize the metabolism of vitamin D?
Remember, unlike other steroid hormones, vitamin D has very unusual metabolism in most modern humans, called first-order, mass action, kinetics. All this means is that the more vitamin D you take, the higher the 25(OH)D level in your blood, and the higher the 25(OH)D level in your blood, the higher the levels of activated vitamin D in your tissues. No other steroid hormone in the body behaves like this. Think about it, would you like your estrogen level to be dependent on how much cholesterol you ate? Or your cortisol level? (I'd ask the same about testosterone levels but I know men well enough not to ask.) No, the body must tightly regulate powerful steroid hormones through substrate inhibition, that is, if an enzyme turns A into B, when the body has enough B, B inhibits the enzyme and so limits its own production.
Not so with vitamin D, at least at modern human vitamin D levels. Professor Reinhold Vieth was the first to write about this and Vieth's Chapter 61 in Feldman, Pike, and Glorieux's wonderful textbook, Vitamin D (Elsevier, 2005, second edition), is a great reason to buy the textbook or have your library do so. [ I'm glad to see Amazon is out of stock of the new ones (someone must be reading about vitamin D) but you can still buy used editions.)
Why would the kinetics of vitamin D be different from all other steroids? Maybe they are not, Hollis reasoned, like Vieth before him. Maybe vitamin D levels are so low in modern humans that its metabolic system is on full blast all the time in an attempt to give the body all the vitamin D metabolites it craves. So Hollis asked, Is vitamin D's metabolism different in populations in the upper end of 25(OH)D levels (a population of sun-exposed people and a group of women prescribed 7,000 IU per day)? Note, the Hollis study is free on Medline, you can download the entire paper on the right hand of the PubMed page below.
Hollis BW, et al. Circulating vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D in humans: An important tool to define adequate nutritional vitamin D status. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Mar;103(3-5):631-4.
If you look at the two graphs, Figures 1 and 2 of Hollis' paper, you find vitamin D's kinetics can be normalized, made just like all other steroid hormones in the body, but you have to get enough sunshine or take enough vitamin D to get your 25(OH)D level above 50 ng/ml, and 60 ng/ml would be better. Then your body starts to store cholecalciferol in the body without much further increase in 25(OH)D levels. The reaction becomes saturable. This is a remarkable discovery and it implies levels of 30 and 40 ng/ml are usually not sufficient. It also implies actual vitamin D levels (cholecalciferol levels), not just 25(OH)D levels, may be useful in diagnosing and treating deficiency. Note, that not all of the sun-exposed individuals or women prescribed 7,000 IU/day achieved such levels. That's because the sun-exposed individuals were tested after an Hawaiian winter and because prescribing and taking are two different things.
So my answer to "How much should I take if I have cancer?" is "Take enough to get your 25(OH)D level above 60 ng/ml, summer and winter." In doing so, you will have normalized the kinetics of vitamin D and stored the parent compound, cholecalciferol, in your tissues. In the absence of sunshine, you need to take about 1,000 IU/day per 30 pounds of body weight to do this. A 150 pound cancer patient may need to take 5,000 IU per day, a 210 pound cancer patient about 7,000 IU per day, all this in the absence of sunlight. And this may not be enough; cancer patients may use it up faster (increased metabolic clearance) and children may do the same due to their young and vital enzymes. Or you may need less, because you get more sun than you think, more from your diet, or because you are taking a modern medicine that interferes with the metabolism of vitamin D. An even easier way to do it is go to a sun tanning booth every day and obtain and keep a dark, full-body, tan. Then you don't have to worry about blood levels but I'd get one anyway, just to be sure it was above 60 ng/ml.
Given what Hollis discovered, given the well-known potent anti-cancer properties of activated vitamin D, given epidemiological evidence that summer extends the life of cancer patients, given a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials showed that vitamin D prolongs life, given animal data that simple vitamin D has a treatment effect on cancer, and given a patient with a life-threatening cancer, what would a reasonable physician do? Simply let their patient die while muttering something about the lack of randomized controlled trials?
No, they would simply check a 25(OH)D level every month and advise cancer patients to take enough vitamin D or frequent sun tanning parlors enough to keep their level above 60 ng/ml. Toxicity does not start until levels reach 150 ng/ml but if you take more than 2,000 IU per day have your doctor order a blood calcium every month or two along with the 25(OH)D. Both you and he will feel better and because if you have cancer, you are probably taking lots of other drugs and little is known about how modern drugs interact with vitamin D metabolism. By getting your level above 60 ng/ml, all you are doing is getting your level to where most lifeguards' levels are at the end of summer, to levels our ancestors had when they lived in the sun, to levels regular users of sun-tan parlors levels achieve, and most importantly, to levels where vitamin D's pharmacokinetics are normalized.
In the end, if you have cancer and your physician won't do a risk/benefit analysis, do it yourself. The risk side of that equation is easy. Both Quest Diagnostics and Lab-Corp, the two largest reference labs in the USA, report the upper limit of 25(OH)D normal is 100 ng/ml and toxic is above 150 ng/ml, so 60 ng/ml is well below both. The reason levels up to 100 ng/ml are published normals is because there is no credible evidence in the literature that levels of 100 ng/ml do any harm and because sun worshipers often have such levels. (If you don't believe me, go to the beach in the summer for one month, sunbath every day for 30 minutes on each side in your bathing suit, and go home and have a 25(OH)D level.) By getting your level above 60 ng/ml, all you are doing is getting your levels into the mid to upper range of laboratory reference normals. Little or no risk.
What are the potential benefits? It probably depends on a number of things. Did your cancer cells retain the enzyme that activates vitamin D? Many do. Did your cancer cells retain the vitamin D receptor? Many do. If your cancer cells get more substrate [25(OH)D], will that substrate induce the cancer cells to make more vitamin D receptors or more of the activating enzyme? Some cancer cells do both. In practical terms, vitamin D is theoretically more likely to help your cancer the earlier you start taking it. However, no one knows. Certainly there is no reason, other than bad medicine, for cancer patients to die vitamin D deficient. Unfortunately, most do.
Tangpricha V, et al. Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients attending an outpatient cancer care clinic in Boston. Endocr Pract. 2004 May-Jun;10(3):292-3.
Plant AS, Tisman G. Frequency of combined deficiencies of vitamin D and holotranscobalamin in cancer patients. Nutr Cancer. 2006;56(2):143-8.
It is very important that readers understand I am not suggesting vitamin D cures cancer or that it replace standard cancer treatment. Oncologists perform miracles every day. Do what they say. The only exception is vitamin D. If your oncologist tells you not to take vitamin D, ask him three questions. 1) How do you convert ng/mls to nmol/Ls? How many IU in a nonogram? 3) How do you spell "cholecalciferol?" If he doesn't know how to measure it, weigh it, or spell it, chances are he doesn't know much about it.
All of the epidemiological and animal studies in the literature suggest cancer patients will prolong their lives if they take vitamin D. I can't find any studies that indicate otherwise. However, none of the suggestive studies are randomized controlled interventional trials; they are all epidemiological or animal studies, or, in the case of Vieth's, an open human study. However, if you have cancer, or your child does, do you want to wait the decades it will take for the American Cancer Society to fund randomized controlled trials using the proper dose of vitamin D? Chances are you, or your child, will not be around to see the results."
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