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The Healthy Newsletter from AnnA
Your Weekly Health Prescription - 24 September, 2008
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Sometimes a story comes along that is so bizarrely science
fiction - with shades of the movie Alien - that I have
trouble believing it. Then, when I check it out, I find
we have yet again taken a quantum leap in technology, and
reinforced the 21st century obsession with the perfect body.
Read it, and wonder why - and you might find the other
items interesting too, at least I hope so! May I wish you
the very best of continuing good health. AnnA
In this issue:
- SCARLESS SURGERY
- A NATURAL FACE LIFT
- FLAME RETARDANT CLOTHING - BAD FOR CHILDREN?
- WHY MEN NEED SOME WEIGHT AT MIDDLE AGE
- HEALTH BITES
SCARLESS SURGERY
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Surgery is a big deal. It can seem scary, even when it's
essential for our health we can't help worrying about
what is going to happen, and if we are going to have a
big ugly scar. Well the good news is that you can avoid
the scar, if not the scare, by having what's being called
'Natural Orifice Surgery'.
You won't be cut open, instead there are now at least
two dozen Americans who have undergone a new operation
designed to hurt less, get you back to work more quickly
and leave no visible scars. For one patient, Albert
Pagliuca, who needed his gallbladder removed, he nearly
balked when told that doctors would pull it out through
his mouth. Not unnaturally he was worried it might get
stuck in his windpipe and he would choke, but after doctors
guaranteed that it would not happen, he agreed - makes a
frog in the throat seem quite normal doesn't it?
This is not entirely new, as three years ago surgeons
realized they could enter the body through natural
openings with flexible endoscopes, which are routinely
used for diagnostic purposes such as colon cancer
screening. After experimenting for years on pigs and
human cadavers, a team in India announced in 2005 the
first successful procedure in humans.
To remove a gallbladder or an appendix through the mouth,
surgeons give patients a general anaesthetic and slide
an endoscope down the throat and into the stomach. They
inflate the abdominal area to make it easier to see and
sterilize the stomach. In addition to a camera that
transmits images, the endoscope is equipped with a
variety of small instruments, including a tiny scalpel
that cuts a hole in the stomach wall, allowing the surgeon
to snake the endoscope to the organ needing removal.
Other instruments enable the surgeon to move the organ,
cauterize bleeding blood vessels, suture and clip the
internal incisions and pull out the organ.
Surgeons have now performed the procedures on more than
400 patients worldwide, mostly in South America and India.
The technique has been used mostly to remove gallbladders
through the mouth or the vagina. But a few patients have
had appendectomies, and doctors are experimenting with
stomach surgery for obesity and other conditions.
Doctors in Europe are also now experimenting with them,
and many surgeons are already enthusiastic about the
possibilities, but some question the need for the new
procedures when safe, only slightly invasive alternatives
exist. And they fear that doctors will rush ahead before
they have perfected their techniques and made sure that
the benefits are worth the risks.
Worryingly, other surgeons agree: "That's exactly what's
going to happen," said Ira J. Kodner, a surgery professor
and a bioethicist at Washington University School of
Medicine in St. Louis. "Those who haven't been trained
are going to go out and do it. They are going to take a
weekend course and start offering it. It's going to happen.
I guarantee it."
The idea of a 'weekend course' is frightening enough in
itself, and I find myself sympathetic to the views of David
Cronin, an associate professor of surgery at the Medical
College of Wisconsin who said: "Not every idea is a good
idea. I've been following this one with clenched teeth."
Laparoscopic surgeries in the early 1990s were also hailed
as a great innovation, but caused medical complications so
this time round there is a call for making sure that
patient safety is paramount and the technique developed
in a responsible and careful manner. For the most part,
the benefit is there's no visible hole on the patient's
body but there is a risk that the incision in the stomach
wall might leak, you may perforate an organ and cause a
patient a really serious complication such as a
life-threatening infection. All this just to avoid a
cosmetic scar, and you have to ask if it's worth it.
One patient who had no doubts is Awilda Sanchez of New
York, who went home the same day she had her gallbladder
removed through her vagina in March. She said: "I think
everybody should get this. Now when it's bikini time, I
won't have to worry about a scar. I think it's great."
On the other hand, Colleen Caddell, from Oregan was not
so thrilled as she described experiencing several days
of throat pain so intense and excruciating she could
barely swallow, and a week of vomiting, after having
her gallbladder removed through her mouth.
One more optimist is Marc Bessler, director of laparoscopic
surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital who said: "So
far it doesn't seem to be risky, the patients definitely
have a cosmetic benefit, recovery seems to be better, and
they seem to have less pain. If we can get to recovery-
free, pain-free, and scar-free surgery, then that would
be a revolution."
My concern, given the very high value US society places on
physical beauty and fast response, is the desire for quick,
no-scarring surgery could move too fast for safety. So don't
ask your surgeon for it just yet!
Don't believe my statement about the US? Check out the story
in health bites about breast implants to see if we aren't
heading in the same direction.
A NATURAL FACE LIFT
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In keeping with helping you avoid the surgeon's knife, I
thought I would remind you that there is an alternative to
botox, chemical peels and the trauma of a surgical face
lift if you want to go the DIY route to preserve your looks
- or even enhance them if you are lucky. Of course it won't
cost you as much - in fact it's free - but it does require
some of your time. This entirely natural facelift will improve
circulation, eliminate toxins and reduce stress and tension
so you will lookmore relaxed, and the skin will be smoother
with more radiance and that helps you look younger.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
You are going to stimulate the acupressure points on the
energy meridians of your face by using your fingers to
apply firm pressure to each point and the whole thing
shouldn't take more than ten minutes. To eliminate crows'
feet and tone the eye area:
Place your middle fingers on the inside edges of your
eyebrows. Apply light pressure going along your eyebrow,
round to under the eye, pressing your fingers on the top
of your cheekbones. Then continue to the inside corners
of your eyes. Repeat in a circular motion around the eyes
30 times. To soften fine linesand wrinkles around the eyes:
Put your fingers on the outside end of each eyebrow, then
trace down until they are parallel with the centre of your
eye. Lightly touch these points for three seconds, then
release. Repeat 30 times. Now do the same for the points
directly under your pupil on the top edge of your cheekbone.
There are also some other points to rejuvenate the rest
of your face: For each of these points, again lightly
touch them for three seconds and release, repeating 30
times.
* Either side of each nostril, on the face not the nose
itself.
* The point between your top lip and nose, and the point
between your bottom lip and tip of the chin. Touch both
of these at the same time using your index and ring finger.
* Put your finger directly between your eyebrows, then
trace up until just before you reach the slight bump in
your forehead, about midway to your hairline. Massage
this point gently with a circular motion to release tension.
It might help to do these actions facing a mirror for the
first few times so you can be sure you are pressing in the
right place. Ten minutes a day, every day, and you should
see results within a few weeks. No before and after photos
please, I will be happy to just take your word for it!
FLAME RETARDANT CLOTHING - BAD FOR CHILDREN?
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I wasn't sure why this would be the case, but a warning put
out on one of my natural news networks has confirmed that
there are many hidden chemical dangers in even children's
clothing. I was reading about an 18-month old baby with
sky-high levels of chemical flame retardants in her blood
- two or three times the amount that's known to cause major
nerve damage in lab rats - and she had absorbed these chemicals
through her skin. In the USA and the UK there are regulations
in force relating to children's nightwear and I am not
suggesting you disregard them, but I do think it's important
to bear in mind the effect such chemicals have, particularly
on infants and small children.
A recent study by the Environmental Working Group in the
USA looked at 20 families and found that ALL the childen
under school age had a level of chemical fire retardants
in their blood that was an average of three times higher
than their parents.
The chemicals in question are known as polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Unlike the flame retardant antimony,
which is generally the kind used to make clothing fire-
resconceivable household item you can imagine: mattresses,
TVs, computers, remote controls, and more.
Like antimony, PBDEs have been known to cause brain damage
in animals, but now doctors are concerned that the possible
effects on human children could range from hyperactivity to
damage to hormone systems and reproductive organs.
Fortunately we are not so insistent on the high levels of
fire retardant chemicals in clothing as they are in the USA,
but it might be worth considering switching to natural,
untreated, cotton garments and maintaining sensible fire
precautions in the home -particularly if the child is
sensitive to allergens or has a compromised immune system.
WHY MEN NEED SOME WEIGHT AT MIDDLE AGE
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I am not advocating middle aged spread, but being too thin
can be a real health risk for men. A study carried out at
the University of Oslo on nearly 1,500 men over a 30-year
period, has found that men who were relatively thin when
young, or who lost weight as they aged, were at increased
risk of osteoporosis, the brittle bone disease, when they
were in their 70's.
It's often believed that it's only women who are affected
by osteoporosis, but this is just not the case. Because it
is hard to identify without a bone scan, the first symptom
is often an inexplicable bone break. I met one man who had
only been diagnosed after his fourth fracture - as he played
rugby it was put down to that, but his bones were breaking
under very little pressure.
There are treatments available, usually your doctor will
suggest drugs such as Fosamax, but excellent results have
been seen in women using natural progesterone cream to
rebuild bone. Not enough men have used it to say whether
it is as effective for them, but it might be worth a try.
Remember, your bones are constantly regenerating throughout
your life. Old bone is drawn upon to supply instant demands
for calcium (osteoclasts) and is replaced by new bone material
(osteoblasts) to keep the skeleton strong. As we age, the
process of rebuilding becomes less effective, and there is
an overall loss of density, and the bones under examination
can look almost lace-like when osteoporosis is well advanced.
If you want to avoid it, and there is a family predilection,
then these are the factors that contribute most strongly to
your losing bone density and strength - whether you are a
man or a woman:
* Drinking too many colas as they are high in phosphorus
which draws calcium from the bones.
* Not getting enough exercise - you need it to strengthen
your bones.
* Eating too much fat from dairy and meat. Vegans and
vegetarians have greater bone mass than meat eaters.
* Drinking too much alcohol as it interferes with calcium
absorption.
* Excess coffee drinking as a study of nearly 83,000 patients
showed a correlation between bone fractures and heavy coffee
consumption.
* Smoking has been proven to increase bone loss.
* Some prescription drugs such as cortisone, blood thinners,
antacids containing aluminum, chemotherapy, lithium, and
certain antibiotics can increase bone loss.
* A junk food diet high in salt and sugar will leach calcium
from the bones into the urine.
If you want to know more about the role of natural progesterone,
a book I wrote with Dr Shirley Bond will give you more
information.
You will find details at the catalystonline.co.uk website.
Plus, new research just presented to the American Society for
Bone and Mineral Research is pointing towards compounds that
could induce the body to treat itself for osteoporosis with the
parathyroid hormone.
It is in the early stages of development, but it would probably
involve a series of injections of a form of parathyroid hormone
which triggers bone-building. Currently just using parathyroid
drugs is extremely expensive - around £4000 a year - but it is
hoped that the molecules reported here could be delivered much
more cheaply and be more effective at promoting bone building.
HEALTH BITES
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1 SURGEONS CALL FOR BAN ON BREAST SURGERY ADS - I spotted
this in the Independent, but if you didn't see it, then it's
worth a mention. Apparently, some clinics are using models
with "anatomically impossible" breasts to promote the benefits
of cosmetic surgery. The British Association of Aesthetic
Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) are concerned that such models
- often digitally enhanced - create "unrealistic expectations"
in clients and feel they should be banned in advertisements.
I don't think it's the ads that are the problem, more a society
that thinks it's problems can be solved by moving up several
cup sizes. If you follow their logic then page 3 girls, girlie
magazines and the like should also be banned - it's not the
models it's the belief that there is one standard of acceptable
and desirable beauty and that anyone can get it by going under
the surgeon's knife.
Still, I wish them luck with their campaign - perhaps they
could also lay down some minimum ages for patients as well
while they are about it. There are still sensible doctors,
like the one who had promised their daughter implants for her
16th birthday - though doubtless they would find one somewhere
who would do it after just a quick Google search.
2 TO JAB OR NOT TO JAB - That is indeed the question -
particularly in relation to the flu jab which is on offer
at this time of year. It's over three years now since doubt
was first cast on the effectiveness of the flu jab,
particularly in protecting elderly people. Now it seems
that a new study published in the US shows that the
2007-08 flu vaccine was only 44% effective, which made
it the worst flu season the worst since 2003-04.
In fairness, flu vaccines are formulated based on health
officials' educated guesses about which strains of the
virus are most likely to be circulating in a given year.
Three of these strains are picked for inclusion in the
vaccine and when they guess correctly, the vaccine is
usually between 70 and 90% effective.
Sounds like a bit of a lottery to me, and again going the
natural route I prefer to boost my system with a seasonal
acupuncture tune up and regular doses of Echinacea and
vitamin C - it seems to work for me.
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I hope you have found this information useful, but do remember
I am not a doctor and cannot give you medical advice, so
please always take appropriate action by consulting your
own medical advisor if you have concerns about any aspect
of your health please feel free to pass on any of this
information to your friends, or suggest they sign up for
the newsletter themselves at my website.
Best wishes for a healthier week - AnnA
www.catalystonline.co.uk
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The Healthy Newsletter from AnnA
Your Weekly Health Prescription - 17 September, 2008
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I seem to have got a bit obsessed with the brain this
week - and keeping it alert and functioning. Must be
that slight chill in the air that is sharpening
everything up! I hope you are enjoying the autumn
feel and getting out and walking in the crisper and
less intense sunshine - or even any sunshine! May I
wish you the very best of continuing good health. AnnA
In this issue:
- MEDITTERANEAN MAGIC
- BLUE LIGHT FOR CANCER TREATMENT
- USING YOUR HEAD AFTER TRAUMA
- DIABETES AND MEMORY LOSS SOLUTION
- CRIMINALS WATCH YOUR DIET!
- HEALTH BITES
MEDITERRANEAN MAGIC
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It's not up to date news, just a reminder of something
that will substantially improve your health - and is
enjoyable as well. I am off on a Mediterranean cruise
calling near to Florence in a few weeks, so when a
piece of research from that area came in it caught
my attention. The British Medical Journal this week
published a study from the University of Florence
that showed that people who followed an authentic
Mediterranean diet lived longer and suffered few
serious diseases.
The so-called Mediterranean Diet had great favour a
few years ago, but sadly it is no longer followed as
strictly or by as many people - even in the Mediterranean
itself. So what are the benefits? Well research done on
an extremely large scale and across Mediterranean
populations and others in the U.S., Northern Europe,
and a group of Europeans living in Australia gave
impressive results.
Dr Sofi of the University of Florence and colleagues
followed the diets of 1,574,299 individuals for
intervals of three to 18 years, and showed that
those who followed the dietary rules got all this:
** a 9% lower overall death rate
** a 9% lower risk of dying from heart disease
** a 6% lower incidence of contracting, or dying from cancer
** a 13% lower risk of contracting Parkinson's disease
** a 13% lower risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease
And what do you have to suffer to achieve these impressive
improvements in your health and longevity? The Mediterranean
diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals, fish,
nuts, olive oil, and a moderate intake of red wine during
meals. So that's no hardship is it? On the downside the diet
is also low in red meat, dairy products, and alcohol in large
quantities BUT the key word is low. You don't have to give
them up altogether just eat moderately in comparison to the
other elements of the diet - we may not have much Mediterranean
sunshine at the moment, but we can at least benefit from
their dietary habits!
BLUE LIGHT FOR CANCER TREATMENT
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A blue curing light used to harden dental fillings also
may stunt tumour growth, according to researchers at the
Medical College of Georgia in the USA. Before you rush
off to your dentist to request a quick blast, this research
has so far only been tried on mice.
So what are they basing this on? According to a quartet of
professors at the College, the light dentists use sends
wavelengths of blue-violet light to the composite used in
your filling, and it then, which triggers it to set and
harden. Or in professor-speak "The light waves produce free
radicals that activate the catalyst and speed up polymerization
of the composite resin" The important thing is that in oral
cancer cells, those radicals cause damage that decreases cell
growth and increases cell death." Or in other words, it can
stop the tumour from growing and kill off cancerous cells.
The results so far indicate an approximate 10% increase in
cell death in tumours treated with the blue light and almost
80% decrease in cell growth. It also appears that the
non-cancerous cells appear unaffected at light doses that
kill tumour cells and this could mean using this method
alongside conventional cancer therapy so that patients
could receive lower doses of chemotherapy - and reduce
the unpleasant side effects that such exposure can bring.
USING YOUR HEAD AFTER TRAUMA
One of the most worrying concerns for patients who suffered
a head trauma is how well they will recover. Now there may
be increased hope for them and their families, as a new
study shows that our brain can adapt to help improve our
ability to cope with mental tasks, we just have to use
more of it than before the trauma.
Canada's Baycrest Center for Geriatric Care is an academic
health sciences centre, internationally-renowned for its
aging brain research, clinical treatments and cognitive
rehabilitation strategies. Their latest research has
found that brain injury patients used more of their
brains for similar performance on mental tasks compared
with healthy participants that they studied as a control.
Traumatic brain injury often results in impaired working
memory, particularly executive control, as we have seen
in previous reports, and in this study the patients completed
a series of tasks that tested how they performed specific
tasks. The patients underwent a series of trials in which
they were asked to maintain or alphabetize a set of letters.
They performed the tasks as well as the healthy control group,
but they were using different areas of the brain to access
the information and process it. They were, it is true,
processing
information more slowly, but this seemed to have no significant
difference in their overall ability to perform the task in
roughly the same time frame as the control group.
It gives hope to those suffering traumatic brain injury that
recovery of normal tasks and abilities can be achieved although
the authors were cautious in saying that such injury is often
associated with chronic pain, depression, and anxiety, and that
can influence the rate and extent of recovery.
DIABETES AND MEMORY LOSS SOLUTION
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Another story that interested me this week, also came from
Canada and the Baycrest Center. This time they were reporting
on the link between diabetes, high-fat foods and memory loss.
Apparently, adults with type 2 diabetes who eat unhealthy,
high-fat, meals can suffer from some reduction in their
ability to remember things immediately after eating such
a meal. Possibly because they have fallen asleep while
digesting such a heavy meal, but there is hope as the
temporary memory loss can be offset by taking antioxidant
vitamins C and E with the meal.
It is already known that diabetes is linked to the ability
to retain information, but now it seems that adults with
type 2 diabetes are especially vulnerable to acute memory
loss after eating unhealthy foods. The new findings appeared
in a recent issue of Nutrition Research, a professional
peer-reviewed journal, and suggests that taking high doses
of antioxidant vitamins C and E with the meal may help
minimize those memory slumps.
Type 2 diabetes is associated with chronic oxidative
stress, a major contributor to cognitive decline and
Alzheimer disease. If you have an unhealthy diet, then
that raises your level of free radicals and those
unstable molecules can damage tissue, including brain
tissue. These destructive molecule reactions typically
occur over a one-to-three hour period after you have
eaten but don't think that popping a supplement pill
will do the trick on its own. It's a place to start,
and the study used vitamin C of 100mg and vitamin E of
800 mg taken with the meal, but do check with your doctor
as there are contraindications for taking high doses.
Specifically, tell your doctor if you are taking warfarin
as you may not be able to take vitamin E without special
monitoring during treatment, and also consult your doctor
if you are pregnant or breast-feeding a baby.
Ideally you will change your diet to one that is high
in antioxidants to chase down those free radicals - look
back at the piece on the Mediterranean Diet as it is
generally accepted to be one of the most health-giving
there is.
CRIMINALS WATCH YOUR DIET!
This story is irresistible to a woman who writes so often
about the effects of diet on health. What I didn't realise
is that what you eat could also get you banged up!
Dr John Bond, a researcher at the University of Leicester
and scientific support officer at Northamptonshire Police,
is the inventor of a revolutionary forensic fingerprint
technique that will help put unhealthy criminals behind bars.
He claims that criminals who eat processed foods are more
likely to be discovered by police because their fingerprint
sweat corrodes metal - just shows you what fast food does
to your stomach if just the sweat can eat away an external
surface like that! Apparently the police already love
consumers of processed foods as they tend to be leave better
fingerprints for the police to identify.
It's down to the fact that sweaty fingerprint marks made
more of a corrosive impression on metal if they had a high
salt content - and processed food, fish and chips and burgers
tend to be high in salt as a preservative. The body needs to
excrete excess salt, which comes out as sweat through the
pores in our fingers, and so when you touch a surface it
will be high in salt if you eat a lot of processed foods -
the higher the salt, the better the corrosion of the metal.
Not sure whether I should be encouraging fast food diets
in criminals, to aid their capture, or encourage them to
switch to the Mediterranean diet!
HEALTH BITES
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1 ASPARTAME THE SWEET DECEPTION - I know I have mentioned
aspartame before - probably too often - but I can't emphasise
strongly enough that sweeteners do you no favour, especially
if you are trying to lose weight. Your body does not recognise
a sweetener as sugar, and so you unconsciously seek it out in
other ways. Many experts now believe that Aspartame is one of
the most dangerous substances ever added to food, not only
because it has been proven to make you fatter, but because of
its links to serious health problems such as cancer and
neurological diseases.
Why am I mentioning it now? Because many people just don't
think it's true, or that I am a scaremongering killjoy (only
on Halloween and never when it concerns your health!) Can I
just point out that Aspartame has brought more complaints to
the Food and Drug Agency in the USA than any other
additive-ever.
It's responsible for a staggering 75% of the complaints they
receive and from 10,000 consumer complaints, the FDA compiled
a list of 92 symptoms, including death.
Now I think death is a pretty serious symptom - so if you are
addicted to diet drinks and sweeteners, could you at least cut
down and stop me worrying about you?
2 CELERY AND THE BRAIN - Researchers at the University of
Illinois report that a plant compound found in abundance in
celery and green peppers can disrupt a key component of the
inflammatory response in the brain. This could be important
news for the research on ageing, and on diseases such as
Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis.
Inflammation plays a key role in many neurodegenerative
diseases and also is implicated in the memory and behaviour
problems that can arise as we get older. Inflammation is not
always a bad thing; it is a critical part of the body's immune
response that in normal circumstances reduces injury and
promotes healing, but when it goes wrong then it can lead
to serious physical and mental problems.
The new study looked at luteolin, a plant flavonoid in celery
and green peppers which is known to impede the inflammatory
response in several types of cells outside the central nervous
system. Herbalists have known about the cooling properties
of celery for decades and prescribe it for arthritis and hot
flushes, but now it seems scientists are also taking it
seriously. Add celery and green peppers to your diet and you
will whizzing through the crossword in record time. If you
don't like the taste of them - and I know some people who
don't - then if you have a juicer add it to your mix. I
juice celery regularly with apples and carrot to boost my
immune system and help with arthritis and even celery-haters
love the taste of the juice.
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I hope you have found this information useful, but do remember
I am not a doctor and cannot give you medical advice, so please
always take appropriate action by consulting your own medical
advisor if you have concerns about any aspect of your health
please feel free to pass on any of this information to your
friends, or suggest they sign up for the newsletter themselves
at my website.
Best wishes for a healthier week - AnnA
www.catalystonline.co.uk
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The Healthy Newsletter from AnnA
Your Weekly Health Prescription - 10 September, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to the 'real world' of drugs and mad scientists
this week - well at least partly. I seem to write a
lot about diabetes, but that is because it is the
fastest growing disease in the western world and its
prevention can often be largely in our own hands
through maintaining a consciously healthy lifestyle
and choices. See what you think.
May I wish you the best of good health - AnnA
In this issue:
- BRAIN PROBES COULD HELP ALZHEIMER PATIENTS
- ANOTHER CHINESE BREAKTHROUGH IN DIABETES TREATMENT
- NEVER FORGET THAT DRUGS MEAN PROFIT
- BIRTH DEFECTS - HOW MEN CAN HELP
- OH REALLY?!
- HEALTH BITES
BRAIN PROBES COULD HELP ALZHEIMER PATIENTS
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One of the most lucrative markets these days is for
anything that help people lose weight, and much of
that research is in the field of appetite suppression
- and there is a large pot of gold for anyone who
finds one with no side effects. However, a startling
by product of such research being done at Toronto
Western Hospital in Ontario, Canada, has accidentally
discovered a way to trigger vivid memories.
The hero of the piece is an obese man who had
volunteered to help scientists as they attempt to
find a part of the brain that could suppress the
appetite when stimulated electrically.
When the scientists stimulated the hypothalamus,
which has been associated with hunger, the man
suddenly experienced a vivid memory from 30 years
before. It was complete in all details, the people,
the place, the colours exactly as if he were back
there. While the hypothalamus has not previously
been associated with memory, it borders a part of
the brain that is known to influence memory and
emotion so it seemed like a logical area to explore.
The researchers then implanted a device in his brain
that would constantly stimulate that section of the
hypothalamus. The device is similar to ones that have
been implanted in other parts of the brain to control
tremor in Parkinson's disease.
After three weeks of stimulation at a low level,
the man's performance on two memory tests improved
significantly and this leads researchers to hope that
they can develop the technique into a treatment for
Alzheimer's disease. They are now testing the device
to see if it can stem the memory loss that can be such
a distressing part of Alzheimer's disease.
ANOTHER CHINESE BREAKTHROUGH IN DIABETES TREATMENT
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Nothing to do with the Olympics, but Chinese medicine
is known to be a very rich source for finding new
therapies for diseases and for over 500 years have
used bitter melon as a treatment for diabetes. However,
anecdotal evidence - that is when you have seen hundreds
of years with thousands of people taking some natural
remedy that is effective - is anathema to the scientific
and medical community. Herbal medicine has stepped up to
the challenge to 'prove' their remedies work and, in a
collaboration with an Australianresearch institute, the
scientists have isolated four compounds in bitter melon
that may account for why this treatment is so effective.
In addition to relieving the symptoms of diabetes, bitter
melon is used in traditional Chinese medicine to promote
digestion, brighten the eyes and cool the body. A spokesman
for the Australian Chinese Medicine Association further
claims that it helps people keep slim, lose weight and
regulate cholesterol levels.
The researchers identified four compounds that appeared
to stimulate the activity of a chemical known as AMPK,
which is known to help regulate blood sugar levels.
In people with diabetes, the body is not able to move
enough sugar from the blood and into the cells where
it can be burned for energy, and exercise is normally
prescribed as a part of diabetes treatment. This is
because it activates AMPK, which is known to help move
glucose transporters to the surface of cells, where they
can then grab the sugar out of the blood..
In the current study, if bitter melon was taken before
a meal, it helped by more efficiently removing glucose
from the blood and had the same effect on AMPK as exercise.
As type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases
in the world, with an estimated 171 million people
currently so diagnosed, then anything that can help
stem this could be invaluable and the researchers are
planning on full scale trials on people next year.
The researchers want to develop new drugs based on
these compounds, but if you want to stay with the
natural route - and there isn't much bitter melon
in my local supermarket - then talk it over with
your doctor if you already are on diabetes medication,
then either consult a traditional Chinese herbalist,
or consider taking it in supplement form as several
companies now market it in this way.
NEVER FORGET THAT DRUGS MEAN PROFIT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I do know there are good, dedicated people out there
developing medicines that will improve our lives.
However, you have to remember that with the huge sums
involved there is a tendency to cut corners when it
comes to sales and marketing.
In fact, to outright lie, as has just been shown by
a former FDA (Federal Drug Administration) official
who has testified in court in Alaska that the Eli
Lilly pharmaceutical company knew as early as 1998
that Zyprexa increased the risk of developing diabetes,
but did not issue warnings about those effects until
2007. As this drug alone brought the company $4.8
billion in 2007, and is sold in more than 80 countries
worldwide, you can see why the company was so reluctant
to be honest.
Now, the state of Alaska is suing them to recover the
money that the state Medicaid system paid out to treat
the serious health problems caused by the drug Zyprexa.
It's a warning to consumers to think very carefully
before taking any new medication that is still unproven
because as soon as the drug was approved by the FDA in
1996, doctors quickly began to report that patients were
experiencing severe weight gain, high blood sugar and
diabetes. By 1998, the evidence from these reports and
from clinical trials was overwhelming enough that Eli
Lilly should have warned doctors about the side effects,
and internal emails showed that company employees were
aware of the risks, and that consultants had raised
concerns about them.
In 2002, Japanese regulators imposed requirements that
Eli Lilly warn doctors about Zyprexa's diabetes risks,
but even then the company's U.S. policy was still to
pretend the issue did not exist as this shows:
"We will NOT proactively address the diabetes concerns,"
an internal company memo reads, instructing sales
representatives to talk about diabetes only if doctors
bring it up first and it was not until 2007 that Eli
Lilly updated Zyprexa's label to warn of severe
increases to weight and blood sugar.
So if your doctor suggests a new drug to you, ask
how long it's been on the market and what the results
have been. It never hurts to ask questions, and take
more responsibility for your health.
BIRTH DEFECTS - HOW MEN CAN HELP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Women are encouraged in pregnancy to have a reasonably
high intake of folic acid as it is known to help prevent
neural tube birth defects, but now an important
groundbreaking study shows that a father's intake of
the nutrient might also be just as important.
Men with a high intake of folic acid are significantly
less likely to produce sperm with the chromosomal
abnormalities that can lead to birth defects.
Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley
analyzed sperm from 89 healthy, non-smoking men for a
condition called aneuploidy, in which a sperm cell
carries the wrong number of chromosomes. While in
most cases, aneuploidy leads to either a failure to
conceive or to miscarriage, sometimes the foetus can
be carried to full term where conditions such as Down's,
Klinefelter's or Turner's syndrome (sexual chromosome
abnormalities) occur.
Men who want to make the best contribution to having
a healthy child should start making changes at least
3 months before they want to start a family as it takes
that time to produce sperm. Although you can take folic
acid supplements, a good place to start would be to make
sure you are a non-smoker, and include plenty of folic
acid rich foods such as liver, green leafy vegetables,
broccoli, peas and brussel sprouts.
OH REALLY?!
You know I can't resist howling at unnecessary research
- and here's another one. Bet you would never have
guessed it, but older women, who sleep badly at night
have a higher risk factor for falls. Apparently sleeping
five or fewer hours a night significantly increased the
odds of having two or more falls in any one year by 52%.
Good old Katie L.Stone, Ph.D., of the California Pacific
Medical Center Research Institute, and her colleagues have
realised that people who sleep badly are more likely to be
clumsy, fatigued and pay less attention than those who are
razor sharp from a full 8 hours of good sleep. Who would
have guessed it?
As all the subjects were over 70 and in nursing homes, I
would have thought the study might have also highlighted
that the main danger to the elderly from falls is through
objects left on the floor or badly positioned furniture.
However as Dr. Stone is a consultant for Sepracor - a
pharmaceutical company who produce the blockbuster insomnia
drug Lunesta, with sales of over $1 billion a year, I can
see why she might want to promote an uninterrupted night's
sleep. The research was also part funded by them and five
other major pharmaceutical companies.
HEALTH BITES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 SWEDISH PROTON THERAPY PROJECT - More than 4,500 cancer
specialists will gather in Göteborg, Sweden this weekend
for their annual conference of sessions, lectures, and
presentations. Unfortunately most patients have to shuffle
from place to place for different aspects of treatment but
the conference organisers have just announced that in 2011
Sweden will launch a new process for treating cancer, which
is unique in Europe. The concept of 'distributed competence'
involves eight Swedish university hospitals performing
treatment plans close to the patients' home, with the
patients then treated in a single place. It would be
good to see the idea extended to the UK too wouldn't it?
2 DVT RISK FROM POLLUTION - We have become used to the
idea that being immobile for long periods such as on a
long-haul flight, or sitting in the same position at a
desk for hours, may pose a risk for DVT (deep vein
thrombosis),but now it seems that the air pollution
produced by the burning of fossil fuels can drastically
increase the risk of developing these potentially fatal
blood clots as well. Researchers from the Harvard School
of Public Health did some research on the air pollution
levels in the Lombardy region of Italy. They chose an
area where 870 known DVT patients lived, along with their
1200 healthy neighbours. When they analysed the air
pollution they found that for every 10 microgram per
square meter increase in particulate concentration, a
person's risk of DVT increased by a staggering 70%.
I don't know if Lombardy is particularly polluted, but
if you live in an industrial area, it would pay you to
know about the warning signs for DVT - though it has to
be said sometimes, there are none at all. The first sign
can be chest pain or discomfort which usually gets worse
when you take a deep breath or when you cough. You might
have get an unexplained sudden onset of shortness of breath,
which is the most common symptom, or feel lightheaded,
dizzy or even a bit anxious. If you are at all concerned,
please consult your doctor, and if it is a severe chest
pain get immediate help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you have found this information useful, but do
remember I am not a doctor and cannot give you medical
advice, so please always take appropriate action by
consulting your own medical advisor if you have concerns
about any aspect of your health Please feel free to pass
on any of this information to your friends, or suggest
they sign up for the newsletter themselves at my website.
Best wishes for a healthier week - AnnA
www.catalystonline.co.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Healthy Newsletter from AnnA
Your Weekly Health Prescription - 3 September, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was quite a bit of interest in last week's piece
on fruit juice and drug interactions so I have included
a brief piece on some of the interactions with natural
medicines that you may not be aware of. Plus sex rears
its head again this week, this time in relation to men
and heart attacks - and it's a bit of a heart health
issue which I hope you will find useful for you, and
yours.
May I wish you the best of good health - AnnA
In this issue:
- NATURAL MEDICINES - TAKE CARE WITH DRUGS
- MEN AND HEART ATTACKS - IT'S THE HORMONES
- STATINS UPDATE
- CUT HEART DISEASE - PUT ON THE KETTLE
- HEALTH BITES
NATURAL MEDICINES - TAKE CARE WITH DRUGS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Natural does not mean it can't harm you - some of
the most deadly poisons are 'natural' such as nutmeg.
The odd bit grated on your rice pudding won't harm
you, but if you were to ingest 2-3 whole ones in a
day it could kill you. If you enjoy apples, please
don't eat the pips as they can cause mild cyanide
poisoning and if you are fond of caraway seeds - as
I am on my rye bread - then be aware that again
large quantities can cause headaches and giddiness.
Let's look at just three common supplements and see
what their effect on drugs can be:
ST. JOHN'S WORT - in trials it has performed better
than a placebo and as well as the commonly prescribed
antidepressant, imipramine. This herbal remedy had
fewer side effects and the researchers concluded it
showed promise for the long-term treatment of moderate
depression. However, it does interact with some drugs,
causing them to metabolise through the body too quickly.
Two groups who need to be cautious about taking this
natural remedy for depression are women on the on the
contraceptive pill or anyone on the blood-thinning drug
warfarin, who are at risk of a stroke. There may also
be implications for people on medication for asthma,
epilepsy, depression, migraine and heart problems. You
may think there would be little point in taking a
natural medicine for depression if you are on a drug
like Prozac, but people do - however taking it with
antidepressants like Prozac means a risk of developing
serious side effects--including delirium. The FDA issued
a warning in February 2000 that the herb could interfere
with drugs used to treat HIV-infected patients and there
have also been some reports from America that St John's
wort can cause nerve damage or cataracts when combined
with bright sunlight. Herbalists have always known that
when St John's wort is used externally, you have to keep
out of the sun because hypericin, the active ingredient
in St John's wort, does react with sunlight.
GINKGO BILOBA - many 'seniors' take this supplement to
help with memory and mental sharpness as it helps improve
blood supply to the brain, and many people have reported
good results from using it. However, if you are also
taking a daily 'preventive' aspirin it can potentially
be harmful in two areas: gingko and aspirin in combination
can lead to hemorrhagic stroke that involves bleeding
within the brain, damaging nearby brain tissue, and people
who are taking blood thinners need to be cautious as both
the drug and gingko have anti-clotting properties so the
'double whammy' effect could be very dangerous.
FOLIC ACID - often recommended in pregnancy and you
will find it in virtually every multivitamin combination
as it is essential for many functions in the body.
However, it can interfere with the effectiveness of
some anticancer drugs so not recommended for anyone
on chemotherapy. Conversely, some drugs like
anticonvulants actually deplete the body of folic acid
and in pregnant women can lead to birth defects, which
is why it is often recommended as a supplement at that
time. Anyone who has been taking Phenobarbital over a
long period should be aware that it results in dramatic
reductions in folic acid blood levels, and again you
might be recommended to take supplemental folic acid.
My advice? Whatever medication you are on, if you are
also taking natural supplements it pays to do your
research. First ask your doctor or pharmacist about any
possible interactions and also go on the web and through
a reputable site - such as www.netdoctor.co.uk - and see
what else you can find out. It's your health - and your
responsibility.
MEN AND HEART ATTACKS - IT'S THE HORMONES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sex, or to be fair, hormones are now shown to be the
reason why men are more prone to - and likely to die
of - heart disease compared with women of a similar age.
I thought it was just they worked harder, and worried
more, but am always happy to be proved wrong! A new
study from the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
at the University of Leicester, suggest that this
"male disadvantage" may be related to the effects of
their naturally occurring sex hormones, and yes they
do have more than one: estradiol, estrone, testosterone
and androstenedione. The researchers studied how each of
these interacted with the three major risk factors of
heart disease: cholesterol, blood pressure and weight.
For once, it is not testosterone that is in the dock
because they found that two of these sex hormones
(estradiol and estrone, both oestrogens) are linked
to increased levels of bad cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol)
and low levels of good cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol)
in men and that they may be important risk factors of
heart disease - even before men present symptoms of
coronary artery disease or stroke.
In women, oestrogen helps protect women from heart
disease so why it affects men differently is
interesting - but the research didn't throw up why
this happens, only that it does. However, men
concerned about their heart health could ask their
doctor for a blood test to determine their level of
these two oestrogens to see if they are at risk.
STATINS UPDATE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A new trial has shown that taking an omega-3 fish oil
capsule outperforms a statin drug in reducing mortality
and hospital admissions for chronic heart failure.
The results of the recent Italian study were given at
the European Society of Cardiology meeting and published
online by The Lancet on 31 August. The patients on
omega-3 supplements showed a lowered risk of mortality
compared to those heart failure patients who received
10 mg/day of a potent statin drug and others given a
placebo. The patients given the statin showed no benefit
and in fact had the same outcome as taking the placebo.
What this study suggests is that a daily intake of
omega-3 fatty acid supplement for close to four
years may provide a slight reduction in mortality
or hospitalizations for patients with chronic heart
failure and that treatment with statins does not
appear to be beneficial in patients with chronic
heart failure.
The American College of Cardiology has predicted that
the results would soon be rapidly incorporated into
their guidelines on heart failure. This is the second
trial to demonstrate benefit for omega-3 in cardiovascular
disease: the first trial found that omega-3 reduced the
risk of major cardiovascular events following a heart
attack whereas the second appears to lower the risk of
mortality from heart disease.
If you are concerned about your risk for heart disease
and want to take preventive measures, the suggested
supplemental daily dose of omega-3 is equivalent to
a gram day, taken for at least four years continuously -
or seriously increase your intake of sardines and other
oily fish!
CUT HEART DISEASE - PUT ON THE KETTLE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was giving a talk on alternative medicine on a cruise
recently and mentioned the many health benefits of green
tea - a substance I am very fond of. So, imagine my
surprise when I went to the buffet to get a cup and
couldn't find a green tea bag anywhere. I spoke to the
catering manager who couldn't understand it either, but
told me suddenly everyone was drinking green tea! So for
all those converts, and those who aren't here is another
good reason to head for the green stuff - it can cut
your heart disease and stroke risk in HALF!
New studies on green tea (or epigallocatechin gallate to
give it the proper name) show it has all these benefits:
* Lower your cholesterol counts by 9 points
* Prevent cancer cells from ever forming
* Protect DNA from mutating
* Boost production of disease-fighting T-cells
* Even prevent tooth decay
It has been called the ultimate antioxidant, and to enjoy
it at its best let it steep for a couple of minutes then
drink without milk or sugar. I often add some fresh mint
leaves for taste although you can now buy several different
flavoured varieties, and sweeten with honey if it's not to
your taste. However you drink it, try to get one or two cups
a day into your routine - your health really will benefit.
HEALTH BITES
1 RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN - apparently just walking on a treadmill
every day for six months can really help stroke victims regain
control of mind and body - even years after their stroke.
A German study of stroke victims, half of the whom could walk
without assistance with the rest used a cane, a walker, or a
wheelchair, has found that using a treadmill not only improved
walking speed and fitness, but appeared to rewire their brain
circuits. The repetitive walking action seemed to recruit
unused brain circuits to take over for those destroyed by
the stroke and MRI scans showed greater activity in other
parts of the brain too.
Stroke patients are typically told to learn to live with
their disabilities, and most rehabilitation programmes
focus on short-term improvement, ending just a few months
after the stroke, so that over time the patients' improvement
plateaus and fitness often wanes. But this study suggests
that it's never too late for the brain and body to recover,
the researchers said, noting that patients in the study had
significant improvement even nine years after a stroke.
2 SAFE COUGH MEDICINE FOR CHILDREN - In the USA there is a
call for a ban of all cough medicines for children age 6 for
two very good reasons. One, they don't work well and two,
the incidences of drug overdose for the children who use
them are too high. A safe and effective home remedy is to
go to the store cupboard and get out the honey as researchers
at Penn State University recently found that giving children
a spoonful of honey before bedtime was significantly better
for quieting coughs, compared to a commercial cough suppressant
containing dextromethorphan or no treatment at all. Honey
soothes the throat by coating the area that is irritated and
is a rich source of antioxidants and anti-microbial compounds
that are very beneficial for healing.
Dosage: Children ages 2 to 5 can have a half teaspoon; ages
6 to 12 can have a teaspoon; and ages 12 and over can have
two teaspoons. It may be helpful to follow the honey with a
warm - not milky - drink such as decaffeinated tea. The type
of honey makes a difference - go for a tested honey such as
manuka, it's more expensive, but it is more effective.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you have found this information useful, but do remember
I am not a doctor and cannot give you medical advice, so please
always take appropriate action by consulting your own medical
advisor if you have concerns about any aspect of your health
Please feel free to pass on any of this information to your
friends, or suggest they sign up for the newsletter themselves
at my website.
Best wishes for a healthier week - AnnA
www.catalystonline.co.uk
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