Daily Telegraph – The so-called sunshine vitamin, which can be obtained from food or manufactured by human skin exposed to the sun, plays a key role in boosting the immune system, researchers believe. In particular it triggers and arms the body’s T cells, the cells in the body that seek out and destroy any invading bacteria and viruses. Read Article
Ed. – The study might be new, but that Vit. D plays a vital role in keeping a healthy immune system is NOT. e.g. From Vit. D information on the NIH website: “Vitamin D has other roles in human health, including modulation of neuromuscular and immune function and reduction of inflammation.” Vit. D is also known for it’s role in bone health.
ScienceDaily — A ground-breaking study published in the March 2010 Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found an astonishing 59 per cent of study subjects had too little Vitamin D in their blood. Nearly a quarter of the group had serious deficiencies (less than 20 ng/ml) of this important vitamin. Since Vitamin D insufficiency is linked to increased body fat, decreased muscle strength and a range of disorders, this is a serious health issue. Read Article
AP — Congressional investigators say the Food and Drug Administration should pay more attention to the safety of some food ingredients, including one involved in a widespread recall this week. A report released Friday by the Government Accountability Office points out that some spices, artificial flavors and other ingredients are not subject to frequent safety reviews by the FDA because the agency or manufacturers deem them “generally recognized as safe.” A flavor-enhancing hydrolyzed vegetable protein recalled Thursday due to salmonella contamination is among those ingredients. Read Article
ScienceDaily — Combining tamoxifen, the world’s most prescribed breast cancer agent, with a compound found in the flowering plant feverfew may prevent initial or future resistance to the drug, say researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. The finding, reported online Feb. 12 in The FASEB Journal, provides new insight into the biological roots of that resistance, and also tests a novel way to get around it. Read article
Daily Telegraph – Vitamin B could help improve the health of stroke patients, a study has found. American researchers have found it can “rewire” the brain by improving blood vessels in patients. Doctors at the Henry Ford Hospital, in Detroit, found that vitamin B3, or niacin – a common water-soluble vitamin – restored a brain’s neurological function after a stroke. Read article
Comcast.net — The maker of Poligrip denture cream will stop making formulas containing zinc amid lawsuits claiming years of excessive use caused neurological damage and blood problems in consumers, allegedly crippling some. GlaxoSmithKline will stop making and marketing Super Poligrip Original, Ultra Fresh and Extra Care products in the U.S. The company plans to reformulate the creams without zinc. Read article
Ed. – Zinc is a necessary and important part of the immune system, and has an integral role in healing. Most Zn supplements are 25mg, some 50 mg daily. To get a toxic dose; it is necessary to take 10 times that upper amount, i.e. >500mg. The following is the link to the NIH website: supp, where you can find comprehensive information about Zinc benefits, Toxicity and contra-indications.
PhysOrg.com — Keep in mind that salt is not only what comes out of the shaker, but rather what goes into the food during processing and manufacture. Read Article
Ed. – Be aware of your usual blood pressure, as well as your sodium (Na) intake. Some people actually sit on the borderline of having low blood pressure. For them, reducing sodium/salt intake significantly, would mean increased dizzy spells, particularly when changing position suddenly i.e. from a head-down to a head-up postiion; or vice versa. Check out what healthy potassium (K) levels are, as the balance of levels of some electrolytes are involved in healthy heart function.
LA Times – The Santa Cruz County town, which officials say is experiencing a dental-decay epidemic, voted in 2002 to block fluoridation of the city’s water. The City Council is moving closer to approval. The editorial in the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian offered local voters some blunt advice: “Shield your eyes,” it said, “because the City Council is preparing to spit in your face.” Read article
Ed. – The last paragraph of the article is the most telling. It reminds us that fluoride in our water is absorbed through the skin and multiple ingestion routes. The questions: How much is too much? What’s the most effective route for dental benefit from fluoride? What alternatives are there to adding it to the water? Can less harmful fluoride compounds be used in these alternatives? Tablets? Subsidized fluoride dental products? And putting it into the water and then taking it out again, just isn’t commonsense.
PhysOrg.com – Consuming two or more soft drinks per week increased the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by nearly twofold compared to individuals who did not consume soft drinks, according to a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Although relatively rare, pancreatic cancer remains one of the most deadly, and only 5 percent of people who are diagnosed are alive five years later. Read Article
Ed. – Sugar is an additive. It is added to many things, like savoury packet sauce mixes, where it is not needed. Watch for it.
National Post – Makers of natural-health products say they are bracing for widespread layoffs and millions of dollars in losses after Canada’s pharmacy regulators issued a surprise directive recently urging druggists to stop selling unlicensed natural remedies. The order affects thousands of herbal treatments, multi-vitamins and other products, most of them waiting for approval from Health Canada under a backlogged, five-year-old program to regulate natural-health goods. Read article
Border Watch – The anti-fluoride community group Choice Mount Gambier’s founding member has called on the State Government to meet residents and hold a referendum on the fluoridation of the Blue Lake water supply. Read Article
ABC – A new campaign has begun to stop the Ballina Shire Council from adding fluoride to the shire’s drinking water. Read article
The West Australian – A strict low-fat diet, vitamin D and a healthy lifestyle can stop the progression of multiple sclerosis, according to new book by Perth-based medical specialist George Jelinek who himself has the disease affecting an increasing number of people throughout the world. ‘Overcoming Multiple Sclersois’ brings hope to those with the neurological condition as Professor Jelinek – an Emergency Medicine specialist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and medical academic at the University of Western Australia – challenges the long-held belief that diagnosis with MS signals an inevitable slide into relapse and disability.Read Article
FoodBev.com – Leading aspartame producer Ajinomoto is launching a new initiative that will brand the sweetener AminoSweet. It’s now more than 25 years since products sweetened with aspartame were first launched in Europe. In this time, the sweetener has transformed the market for low-calorie and sugar-free foods and drinks and has become the first choice for many leading brands. Read article
Ed. – In this culture of really busy lives, who sits down and researches something that is a part of everyday life? It is worth researching aspartame. The properties of any compounds, even biological ones, are different from that of their building blocks (component parts). If your health is important to you, researching the substances you ingest is simply sensible.
The Times – In the lives of young people at high risk for developing serious mental illness, heading off that first psychotic episode can mean a world of difference. A new study has found that for a year after it was completed,12 weeks of dietary supplementation with Omega-3 fish oil reduced progression to full-blown psychosis in a large group of adolescents and young adults. The study subjects were young people who did not yet meet the criteria for full-blown mental illness, but whose grip on reality had begun to come loose, prompting them to seek psychiatric care. Read Article
Digital Journal – A study shows that taking magnesium supplements can boost memory and learning. This study also supports the idea that a magnesium deficiency may cause faster deterioration of memory as we age. In a published study in the journal Neuron, learning and memory improvements of old and young rats were observed by scientists when magnesium dosages were administered. Read article
Ed. – For information on the extent to which our bodies need Magnesium link OR Google: the importance of magnesium. Remember that the body needs minerals like Calcium and Magnesium IN BALANCE. Magnesium is known to be used up when the person/animal is under stress. It affects many different parts of the body, and Restless-legs syndrome can often be mitigated or cured with Magnesium supplements.
Daily Mail – Sales of alternative medicines are booming as consumers shake off their cynicism. Analysts say the market has grown by 18 per cent in two years and is worth £213million a year. Read Article
Medical News Today -Vitamin D levels in the body at the start of a low-calorie diet predict weight loss success, a new study found. The results, which suggest a possible role for vitamin D in weight loss, were presented at The Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. “Vitamin D deficiency is associated with obesity, but it is not clear if inadequate vitamin D causes obesity or the other way around,” said the study’s lead author, Shalamar Sibley, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota. Read article
Medguru — Patients with epilepsy; using gingko biloba, a commonly used herbal remedy, may face an increased risk of seizures, warns a novel German research. Seizure is defined as an abnormal movement or behavior due to unusual electrical activity in the brain, according to WebMD. Epilepsy is a group of related disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent seizures. Read Article
Ed. – 1. The seeds contain Gingokotoxin (4?-methoxypyridoxolis) “When eaten the inner seed can cause food poisoning – especially with children- caused by MPN (4-methoxypyridoxine) when seeds are eaten for a long period and/or in large quantities (over 5 seeds a day). MPN is heat-stable. Studies [show] that convulsions caused by MPN can be prevented or terminated with pyridoxine [Vit B6].” 2. “Tests involving one or only a few components of Ginkgo leaves have had disappointing results. The effect of Ginkgo is probably due to a number of substances.” likely acting together, and it is known to contain B vits. [Quoted info taken from link]
BBC – People with epilepsy should be warned that using a popular herbal remedy may increase the risk of seizures, researchers say. German scientists, writing in the Journal of Natural Products, said they had found 10 written reports of seizures linked to ginkgo biloba. They said they were convinced the herb could have a “detrimental effect”. A leading UK epilepsy charity said the evidence was not yet compelling, although it said care was needed. Read Article
Ed. – First: 10 is a very small number of cases vs, the widespread use of G. Biloba, Second: they said ‘linked’; correlation does NOT mean causation. Third: the UK charity (?) evidently thinks that it is best to err on the side of caution until more is known. Fourth: This article is structured in a number of small ways to make the danger seem more definite than it really is. To that end; we are running another article on this topic, which seems to be more objective. It is recommended that you google ‘gingkotoxin’.
The Guardian – Computer-obsessed children who spend too long indoors and over-anxious parents who slap on excessive sunscreen are contributing to a sharp rise in cases of the bone disease rickets, doctors are warning. Vitamin D deficiency, which causes the condition, could be rectified by adding supplements to milk and other food, a research team at Newcastle University suggests. There are several hundred cases of the preventable condition among children in the UK every year, according to a clinical review paper in the British Medical Journal by Professor Simon Pearce and Dr Tim Cheetham. Read Article
Ed. – Cod Liver Oil used to be popular in England because it prevented rickets due to it’s high Vitamin D content. Why was it necessary way back then, when children spent a healthy amount of time outdoors? Reason: England simply doesn’t get the same amount of sunlight as places like Australia. Also, Winter in the UK has short days, further limiting the amount of vitamin D that can be derived from sunlight at that time of year – and it’s cold – so less time is spent outdoors and the skin is covered. Vitamin D may also help to prevent other diseases such as cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis and heart disease.
Orthomolecular News – There was not even one death caused by a dietary supplement in 2008, according to the most recent information collected by the U.S. National Poison Data System. The new 174-page annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers, published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, shows zero deaths from multiple vitamins; zero deaths from any of the B vitamins; zero deaths from vitamins A, C, D, or E; and zero deaths from any other vitamin. Read Article
Ed. – Here are the links required legally to be posted with the article.
http://orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml
Daily Telegraph – Ice cream and chocolate bars are addictive because the mix of ingredients in them activates our “bliss point”, according to Professor David Kessler, a leading scientist. Snacks, cereals and ready meals can trigger the brain in the same way as tobacco, according to the former head of America’s food standards watchdog. Professor Kessler, ex-commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), claims that manufacturers have created combinations of fat, sugar and salt that are so tasty many people cannot stop eating them even when full. Read Article
New York Times – In 2008, Americans drank 8.6 billion gallons of bottled water, double the amount of a decade ago, with more than half saying they drink it because it is safer and healthier than tap water.
The latest on President Obama, the new administration and other news from Washington and around the nation.
But at a hearing Wednesday, members of Congress were briefed on two new studies that question whether bottled water is safer than water directly from the faucet. Afterward, the committee sent letters to 13 companies requesting more information about the source of their water and how it is tested. Read article
Brisbane Times – A Canadian microbiologist says removing additives from food could reduce the incidence of cancer.
Doctor Shiv Chopra, a former senior adviser for Canada’s health authority, has issued a warning to policy makers about the risks of using additives in meat, fruit and vegetables.
He told a group of politicians and industry stakeholders in Canberra on Tuesday that there needed to be a closer examination of the health impacts of the five pillars of food contamination – hormones, antibiotics, GM organisms, pesticides and slaughterhouse waste.
Removing the “five pillars” would lead to a healthier population, would reduce the incidence of cancer, while healthcare costs would be lower, he said. Read article
