QualityCounts.com Newsletter of 5/29/02

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Clues on Vitamin E's Anti-Prostate Cancer Effects - ABC News, 5/29/02 - "adding vitamin E to prostate cancer cells inhibits the production of a receptor for testosterone, called the androgen receptor (AR), which is needed in order for the cancer to grow and develop ... Previous research has shown that vitamin E can protect against the development of prostate cancer, reducing risk from 18% to 12% among male smokers ... Vitamin E might work best when administered with other natural treatments that also appear to protect against prostate cancer, such as vitamin D and selenium"

Vitamin C Keeps Lungs Healthy, Researchers Say - ABC News, 5/29/02 - "people who consume high levels of vitamin C and magnesium tend to have healthier lungs. And for the first time, the research showed that people with high levels of vitamin C intake experience less decline in lung function over time ... Exactly how antioxidants keep lungs healthy is uncertain, though they are known to neutralize DNA-ravaging compounds called free radicals that contribute to aging and disease"

Vitamin K Therapy Slows Spread of Liver Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 5/29/02 - "Results show that 59 percent of patients treated with vitamin K-II were alive at two years compared to 29 percent of those who were not given vitamin K-II (p=0.14). Invasion of the cancer into the portal vein occurred in 2 percent of the vitamin K-II treated group at one year and in 13 percent at two years, compared to 21 and 55 percent of controls, respectively" - Also see liver cancer.

Folic Acid May Help Restore Artery Health - ABC News, 5/29/02 - "Folic acid supplements reduced homocysteine levels by 12% and increased folic acid levels by 69% ... function of the thin layer of cells that line the arteries--and allow these blood vessels to expand as needed--was improved ... Blood vessels need to be able to expand and supply blood to oxygen-starved tissue--such as heart muscle-on demand ... because high levels of homocysteine may increase the risk of atherosclerosis, or artery clogging, the study suggests that folic acid may help keep arteries clear"

Vitamins Fight Alzheimer's - WebMD, 5/28/02 - "There's new evidence that a substance found in blood can cause the type of brain and blood vessel deterioration that leads to dementia. But those same studies also show that taking certain vitamins can lower levels of this substance -- homocysteine -- and ward off the damage, possibly preventing Alzheimer's disease ... This is exciting information, because homocysteine levels can be reduced by taking the vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid"

Depression Linked to Parkinson's - WebMD, 5/28/02 - "About 1.4% (19) of the depressed people (about 1.4%) developed Parkinson's compared with only 0.4% of the others ... the link may have a biological explanation, known as the "serotonin hypothesis." Not only do people with Parkinson's disease have lower levels of dopamine in the brain, studies have also shown that the brains of these patients also have reduced levels of another brain chemical, serotonin. Low levels of serotonin are known to be a key factor in depression" - Note: St. Johns wort is believed to increase all three of the brain's primary chemicals, serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine.

Few New Drugs Were Improvement - ABC News, 5/28/02 - "Only 15 percent of new drugs approved in the last decade were novel chemicals that the Food and Drug Administration deemed a significant improvement over older drugs ... The vast majority instead were similar to existing medicines. Yet during the same time, consumer spending on prescription drugs more than doubled to $132 billion and most of the increase was spent not on the most innovative drugs"

Vitamin C May Prevent Platelet Aggregation - Doctor's Guide, 5/28/02 - "Vitamin C may inhibit collagen-induced platelet aggregation. This may add to the protection that vitamin C is already known to give against coronary heart disease ... In smokers who received vitamin C, there were significant decreases in platelet aggregation after six hours with both collagen concentrations compared to placebo. In non-smokers, there were significant decreases of platelet aggregation after three and six hours for both collagen concentrations"

Vitamin C Beneficial In Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 5/27/02 - "These two groups were split into subgroups: those who received 2 g of vitamin C and those who did not after eating high-fat meal ... Although the postprandial flow-mediated dilatation was significantly aggravated in people not taking vitamin C (both with and without heart disease), this parameter in patients and subjects taking vitamin C showed no significant change"

New Evidence Fruit and Vegetable Intake Reduces Hypertension - Doctor's Guide, 5/28/02 - "systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased more in the intervention group than in the control group ... A reduction of two mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure results in a decrease of about 17 percent in the incidence of high blood pressure, six percent in the risk of coronary heart disease, and 15 percent in the risk of stroke and transient ischaemic attack, they say"

Painkillers May Delay Bone Healing - ABC News, 5/27/02 - "rats given Vioxx or Celebrex hadn't fully healed after two months and what new bone formed sometimes was only a weakened shell ... Cox-2 apparently is important in helping bone-forming stem cells and growth factors do their work ... He just compared regular mice with those whose bodies don't make any cox-1 or any cox-2, and only found a problem with lack of cox-2"

Long-Term Epilepsy Therapy Linked to Bone Thinning - ABC News, 5/24/02 - "The 42 adults all had weaker bones than people their same age without epilepsy, according to the report in the May issue of Neurology. Twenty-five exhibited osteopenia--a condition just short of osteoporosis--at the spine or hip" - If it had been St. John's wort, it would have been on the front page of all the newspapers.

Ginseng Berry Treats Obesity, Diabetes in Mice - ABC News, 5/24/02 - "After the 12th day of injections, Yuan and his team discovered that blood-sugar levels had completely normalized in diabetic mice. The mice had also reduced their body weight by more than 10%, and showed cholesterol levels that were 30% lower than those of untreated mice ... the ginseng berry extract likely reduced body weight by suppressing appetite and increasing the expenditure of energy in the mice. Indeed, he and his colleagues note that treated mice ate 15% less than untreated mice, and were 35% more active. "Doing both is very good," ... "Yes, the root works, but the berry is much better," ... he suspects it is the ginsenoside Re in ginseng berries that helps with diabetes, but another berry compound that treats the obesity"

Zinc Helps Kids Grow - WebMD, 5/24/02 - "This new report looked at 33 studies on the effects of zinc supplementation on children up to 10 years old that were published between 1976 and 2001 ... Overall, zinc supplementation produced very significant positive effects on both height and weight measures of the children. And the effect was even greater among children who already suffered from stunted growth or were underweight"

High Cost Of Waiting Too Long - Doctor's Guide, 5/24/02 - "Not only does the reflux of gastric acid cause burning pain, but the soft tissue lining the esophagus may also be damaged. About one third of those with GERD will develop open sores of the esophagus, a condition known as esophagitis. A smaller group of sufferers may go on to develop Barrett's esophagus, a more serious complication by which the esophageal lining hardens and thickens. There is evidence to show that people with Barrett's esophagus have a higher risk of developing esophageal cancer"

New Research Validates Use Of Once-Daily High Dose "Good" Bacteria In Patients With Recurrent Or Refractory Pouchitis - Doctor's Guide, 5/24/02 - "We are excited about the results of this study because a specific amount and type of probiotic has demonstrated that it can dramatically improve patient outcome for pouchitis," said lead investigator, Dr. Mimura. "Furthermore, because pouchitis may be considered a model for other inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), these findings indicate we may have found an effective, inexpensive, and widely available therapeutic treatment for various forms of IBD, such as ulcerative colitis."

Carotenoids: Not for your eyes only - MSNBC, 5/24/02 - "Two large studies — the “Nurses’ Health Study” and the “Health Professionals Follow-up Study” — have linked lutein to fewer problems with cataracts ... Research reported in the journal Circulation shows that lutein may also reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke ... Lutein may also help protect against cancer ... Now researchers say that excess beta-carotene interferes with lutein absorption and lowers blood levels of this phytochemical" - Note: Regarding that last sentence "excess beta-carotene ...", the beta-carotene in Body Wise products is from dunaliella salina algae, which contains mixed carotenoids. Lack of mixed carotenoids and lack of mixed tocopherols are two reasons that I'd trash most multiple vitamins. See the Body Wise AM/PMs. Also, - See Nature's Way Protectamins Multi-Carotene Antioxidant Complex

A Message from Dr. Cooper - Wellness Insider, 5/23/02 - "the higher the pulse pressure, the greater the risk of having an elevated CRP ... "the findings suggest that a wide pulse pressure is associated with higher levels of inflammation," and that inflammation is increasingly "being seen as a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular events." ... Several things are known to lower CRP, including aspirin, vitamin E, and statins (cholesterol lowering drugs). Unpublished data from The Cooper Institute has also shown that exercise lowers CRP ... Early data from the double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of Cooper Complete multivitamins is also showing a reduction of CRP" - See my inflammation page for the latest news on ways to reduce inflammation. Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin.

Nutrition for the Skin - What You Should Know Before Undergoing a Surgical Procedure - Wellness Insider, 5/23/02 - "free radicals can accelerate the aging process of the skin, resulting in wrinkles and sunspots, not to mention an increased risk of skin cancer ... These antioxidants are important in protecting you from disease and can help shield you from skin cancer, maintain youthful, healthy skin, and even help to promote and expedite the healing process after a surgical procedure"

Hormone Replacement Linked to Gallstone Risk - ABC News, 5/23/02 - "The researchers also found a dose-dependant response, with women who took HRT for less than 3 years 2.5 times more likely to develop gallstones, while those who took HRT for more than 3 years had 4 times the risk of developing gallstones ... Because gallstones are composed primarily of cholesterol, Hart said that researchers believe that the use of estrogen could promote an increase in cholesterol in bile that leads to gallstone formation" - See "Alternative News" on my gallstone page for ways to reduce the risk.

Getting Calcium On Young Girls' Radar - Intelihealth, 5/23/02 - "Ninety percent of girls ages 9 to 12 don't get enough calcium in their diets ... Ninety to 98 percent of your skeletal system is developed by age 20, so it's important that these bone-healthy activities are done early. After that, you're either going to maintain the bone density or you're going to lose it" - See Body Wise Essential Calcium

'Ulcer Bug' Can Be Found in Store-Bought Food - ABC News, 5/23/02 - "The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is believed to be transmitted orally by ingesting food or water infected with fecal matter. The bacteria probably contaminated the food products during handling in the store or slaughterhouse ... They were able to grow cultures of the H. pylori on about one third of the samples of the chicken, shrimp, pork, crab, clam and fish"

Boring, Passive Work May Hasten Death - ABC News, 5/23/02 - "People who spend more of their working lives in jobs where they have few opportunities to decide what work to do and how to go about doing it tend to die earlier than employees given more decision-making opportunities"