HealthBeat News

Author: Wellness Club

  • A Dozen Proven Reasons to take a Good Multiple Vitamin

    A Dozen Proven Reasons to take a Good Multiple Vitamin

    By Dr. Dana Myatt

    While conventional medicine and newspaper headlines continue to tell us that nutritional supplementation isn’t important, the results of medical research shows just the opposite. Here are twelve recent medical findings that should convince you to keep taking a high-quality, optimal potency multiple vitamin/mineral supplement. If you’re not sure what an “optimal potency” formula consists of or what you should be taking for your age and sex, refer to The Wellness Club web site’s nutritional supplements page for an up-to-date ingredient list and optimal dose recommendations.

    1. Harvard researchers have found that sub-optimal levels of folic acid, vitamins B6 and B12 are a risk factor for heart disease and colon and breast cancers. (Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) June 19, 2002)
    2. A six-month study showing that folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 helped prevent recurrence of blocked arteries in patients who have undergone coronary angioplasty. (Journal of the American Medical Association, August 28, 2002).
    3. Vitamin K is a critical nutrient for skeletal integrity, with evidence of vitamin K1 supplementation reducing bone loss in healthy postmenopausal women and a significant positive relationship between vitamin K status and indices of bone health in men. (24th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, September 20 – 24, 2002, San Antonio, Texas)
    4. Alzheimer’s disease: Association with zinc deficiency and cerebral vitamin B12 deficiency. (Journal of Orthol. Psychiatry (CANADA), 1984, 13/2 (97-104))
      Supplementation of the elderly with       vitamin E has been shown to enhance immune response, delay onset of Alzheimer’s disease, and increase resistance to oxidative injury associated with exercise. (Proc Nutr Soc. 2002;61:165-171)
      Vitamin E intake      , from foods or supplements, is associated with less cognitive decline with age. Arch Neurol. 2002;59:1125-1132
    5. Researchers at Cambridge University in England looked at serum vitamin C and how long people lived. People who had the lowest levels of vitamin C were twice as likely to die compared to those with the highest serum vitamin C levels. This study was based on the findings from over 19,000 people. (Lancet 2001; 357:657-63)
    6. 26.4% of esophageal and gastric cancers are attributable to low selenium levels. (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Mark et al., 2000)
    7. Calcium supplementation is associated with a significant – though moderate – reduction in the risk of recurrent colorectal adenomas. The effect of calcium was independent of initial dietary fat and calcium intake. (N Engl J Med (United States) Jan 14 1999, 340 (2) p101-7.)
    8. Data from the Nurses’ Health Study conducted at the Harvard Medical School showed that long-term supplementation with folic acid reduces the risk of colon cancer by 75% in women! 90,000 women participated in the Nurses’ Health Study, making this and especially significant finding. The authors of this study explained that folic acid obtained from supplements had a stronger protective effect against colon cancer than folic acid consumed in the diet. (Annals of Internal Medicine (1998; 129:517-524)
    9. Regarding asthma, the lowest intakes of vitamin C and manganese (a trace mineral not to be confused with magnesium) were associated with more than five-fold increased risks of bronchial reactivity. Decreasing intakes of magnesium were also significantly associated with an increased risk of hyper-reactivity. (Thorax (United Kingdom), 1997, 52/2 (166-170)).
    10. Antioxidant supplements reduce the risk of cataract. One study in the evaluated 410 men for 3 years to ascertain the association between serum vitamin E and the development of cortical lens opacities (cataracts). The men with the lowest level of serum vitamin E had a 3.7 times greater risk of this form of cataract compared to men with the highest serum level of vitamin E. (American Journal of Epidemiology Sept. 1996)
    11. Encouraging moderate exercise and dietary supplementation with calcium and vitamin D… are the major nonpharmacological management measures used to prevent and treat osteoporosis. (Drugs and Aging (New Zealand), 1996, 9/6 (472-477)
    12. Nutrient intake of patients with rheumatoid arthritis is deficient in pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), zinc, copper, and magnesium. (Journal of Rheumatology (Canada), 1996, 23/6 (990-994))

    More Research Supporting Benefits of Antioxidants

    By Allen S. Josephs, M.D.
    President, Vitacost.com

    “    Recent studies further support the need for antioxidants and other nutrients to protect against cell damage, and in some cases even reduce risks of certain forms of cancer. One medical study had very promising results when participants were given a daily dose of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene and selenium. Most multivitamins on the market do not qualify as good because they lack so many important antioxidants and/or use inadequate levels and forms.”

  • Some Thoughts On SSRI Drugs And School Shootings

    We have written often to answer questions about SSRI drugs such as Paxil, Effexor, and Prozac. It seems these drugs are being pushed by Big Pharma and doled out like candy by Big Medicine for every imaginable ill, to every possible victim, er, patient. Not only are adults fair game for those pushing these drugs, children and adolescents are fair game too – often with devastating results A regular readers and correspondent wrote recently to share his outrage at this and the drugs connection with a recent university shooting incident:

    Dr. Denny writes:

    The recent slaughter at Northern Illinois U still resonates….on my radio, I listened as some bubble-brained admin at NIU complimenting himself on the “effectiveness of their disaster plan/training” which seems like political double-speak for “wow, aren’t we clever?!”….in light of the fact that the University rushed a lot of people around, wide-eyed and worthless, and NEVER intercepted / confronted the perpetrator, it seems damning (at best) and catastrophically foolish to compliment anyone on having any disaster plan in place.

    The obvious: the “disaster plan” failed miserably – children (and faculty) were slaughtered with no hope of rescue

    The obvious: the predator finished his spree and self-executed himself without ANY interference from anyone

    The obvious: another bureaucrat puts spin on a disaster to politically / media-justify the total absence of effective planning

    I note that nobody addressed the issue of the predator having been medicated with SSRI drugs….(Prozac, Effexor, etc)…a class of meds which has consistently been linked to aberrational behavior in adolescents….one undocumented report alleges that many, if not all, of the high-school shooters have been medicated with SSRIs…several media reports indicated that this particular predator had “recently” self-discontinued his SSRI meds…which would certainly further de-stabilize him…Big Pharma is loathe to see these reports but the reality is clear- these meds are documented as creating suicidal ideations and violent outbursts in adolescents, yet this class of meds is probably the most widely-prescribed class of meds in adolescents here in the US…(outside of antibiotics and sniffle-meds) Certainly the adult population in this country is learning to accept SSRIs as their morning meal…

    We share these sentiments here. Indeed, experts have expressed concerns about increased suicide risk in association with use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for treatment of depression. In 2005, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed a black box warning on SSRI medications, citing an increased risk of suicide among children and adolescents taking this type of antidepressant. Yet conventional medicine continues to prescribe these dangerous drugs as if they are harmless and risk-free.

    Isn’t it time for medicine to return to it’s roots, and to spend some time with a patient to find the cause of a problem instead of simply throwing yet another drug at it?

  • FDA In Trouble Again – And Ignoring Congressional Subpoenas

    It seems that there is no end to the trouble this rogue agency can get itself into. It now appears that the FDA has been ignoring congressional subpoenas for information regarding it’s involvement in the approval of the deadly antibiotic Ketek in spite of knowledge that it was causing liver damage and deaths. Worse, there is now evidence that the FDA Chief Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D. may have committed perjury before Congress. Wow! Isn’t it time for a total, top-down housecleaning for this corrupt bureauocracy? Read more about this here: http://www.newswithviews.com/Richards/byron50.htm

  • Which is the better Hormone Testing – blood testing, saliva testing, or urine testing?

    Hormone testing is something we do a lot of here – Dr. Myatt is very skilled in the interpretation of hormone testing and in the prescribing of Bio-Identical Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy. We get a lot of questions like the one that follows – hopefully the answer to this woman will help others wondering the same thing…

    Susan writes:

    Hi, Nurse Mark,
    I am going to have a hormone saliva test done and am wondering two things:
    1) Do I need to stop taking my OTC women’s menopause formula before? And how long before? (Hopefully not too long because it’s helping me to stay sane … I’m having anxiety, etc., which I think might be related to hormone deficiencies)
    2) Is the saliva test as accurate as blood testing? (Maybe it’s actually preferred?)
    Thank you so much! Susan

    Nurse Mark Answers:

    Hi Susan,

    Please see Dr. Myatt’s information about hormones and hormone testing here: http://www.drmyattswellnessclub.com/SexHormoneBalance.htm

    Whether to stop your current hormone Rx for the testing will depend on what the doctor who is monitoring your hormone treatment wants to know. If your doctor wants to know your baseline hormone levels then you may need to stop therapy and “flush out” for up to a month. If your doctor wants to know what your current hormone therapy is achieving in terms of your hormone balance and correction then there may be no need to stop therapy – your doctor will factor your current treatment into the results of testing.

    As you can see, hormone testing, while simple for the patient, is complicated for the person interpreting the results!

    In terms of preference for testing: Remember that hormone levels fluctuate – they ebb and flow – throughout the 24 hour day.

    Blood testing is least preferred as it provides a look at hormone levels only at that instant the blood is drawn.

    Saliva testing is next preferred as it captures a more “average” representation of hormone levels.

    24-hour urine collection analysis is the most accurate as it captures exactly the highs and lows of hormones over the full 24-hour period and provides a very exact look at the averages.

    Hope this helps…

    Cheers,
    Nurse Mark

  • Things That Make You Say Hmmm…

    Some short but very interesting observations:

    A car company can move its factories to Mexico and claim it’s a free market.
    A toy company can out-source to a Chinese subcontractor and claim it’s a free market.
    A shoe company can produce its shoes in south east Asia and claim it’s a free market.
    A major bank can be incorporated in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim it’s a free market.
    We can buy electronics made in Mexico. We can buy shirts made in Bangladesh. We can purchase almost anything we want, from dozens of countries.
    BUT, heaven help the senior citizens who dare to buy their prescription drugs from a Canadian or Mexican pharmacy. That is called UN-AMERICAN!!!
    AND, you think the pharmaceutical companies don’t have a powerful lobby in Washington? Think again!     Maybe this is an issue that should come up in the next election….