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  • Iodine Shortages – Again!

    By Nurse Mark

     

    You may remember when the tsunami struck Japan and triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster – an environmental mess that will plague mankind for centuries to come.

    At that time millions of people seemed to remember that potassium iodide was protective to the thyroid gland in cases of exposure to radioactive iodine – a common component of radioactive “fallout.” Subsequently those people all tried to find supplies of potassium iodide at the same time with predictable results – shortages and price gouging.

    After the panic died down a bit supplies returned to normal – almost. Then in an unfortunate accident Dr Guy Abraham, the maker of the iodine supplement Iodoral, passed away and there have been problems within his company that have resulted once again in shortages of Iodoral.

    Iodoral brand iodine / iodide (an effective supplement must contain both) is currently unavailable and future availability is uncertain.

    This is a serious problem for many people – supplemental iodine is an important part of thyroid health for many folks and it’s not a supplement that should be just “stopped” suddenly. Because of the shortages, many of Dr. Myatt’s patients found themselves in a “pickle” and Dr. Myatt set out to find a replacement that would meet her high standards for purity and potency.

    She has been successful, and we now offer LugoTab – a direct replacement for Iodoral.

    LugoTab is exactly the same formulation – same ingredients, same potency, same (or even higher) quality. It is made right here in the USA in a FDA accredited facility under the watchful eye of a skilled and experienced pharmacist that Dr. Myatt knows and trusts.

    So, don’t fall for the “shortage” panic or pay exorbitant prices for the few remaining bottles of Iodoral that some unscrupulous sellers may have still in stock. Just as during the Fukushima shortages Dr. Myatt considers it unethical to take advantage  of people by raising prices and has instead worked hard to find a top quality product that you can trust, at the same price – LugoTab iodine / iodide is available now at Dr. Myatt’s Wellness Club.

  • This Supplement Slashes Cardiac Death Risk By Half

    By Nurse Mark

     

    This should be all over the news – but it’s not. Why? Because it’s not a drug!

    If Big Pharma managed to come up with a drug that could slash the risk of cardiac death by half they would be demanding that it be given to everyone from infancy to death, and even added to the food and water supply.

    Does that sound over-the-top? Do you think I’m exaggerating? Well, I’m not, really. Just look at the hysteria of statin drugs – with doctors, urged on by Big Pharma, suggesting that these dangerous cholesterol drugs be given to young children and with some doctors even suggesting adding statins to water supplies!

    So, just think – a drug that could slash the risk of cardiac death by half – what a block-buster!

    But it’s not a drug – it’s a supplement that you can buy over-the-counter, no prescription needed. It’s not patentable and therefore there really isn’t any profit in it for Big Pharma, so you are really not likely to ever hear about it from them or from your conventional doctor.

    So, what is this amazing supplement?

    It’s our old friend CoQ10!

    According to the Science Daily article that discusses a placebo-controlled study conducted in Europe called Q-SYMBIO:

    Coenzyme Q10 decreases all cause mortality by half, according to new results. It is the first drug to improve heart failure mortality in over a decade and should be added to standard treatment, according to experts.

     

    Wow! Does this sound too good to be true? Does this sound like “puffery” on the part of Science Daily?

    Maybe – but let’s look at the conclusions of the scientific abstract for the presentation that was made by the researchers to the 2013 conference of the European Society of Cardiology in Lisbon: (edited for readability – full abstract can be found below)

    CoQ10 treated patients had significantly lower cardiovascular mortality and lower occurrence of hospitalizations for Heart Failure. All cause mortality was also lower in the CoQ10 group, 18 patients vs. 36 patients in the placebo-group. There were fewer adverse events in the CoQ10 group compared to the placebo group.

     

    The dose of CoQ10 used to achieve this life-saving effect? A mere 100 mg taken three times a day.

    What else is CoQ10 good for?

    CoQ10 is a potent antioxidant and is vital to the energy functions of all the cells in our bodies. Learn more here.

    What about the “New” kind of CoQ10 – ubiquinol – is it really better?

    Ubiquinol and ubiquinone are two sides of the same coin – the body converts one to the other and back again. There is no solid proof that the much-hyped “new” form of CoQ10 called ubiquinol is any “better” than ubiquinone which we have been using for many years. Learn more here.

    But CoQ10 can be so darned expensive! Are the “bargain” brands any good? I need to watch my pennies!

    Yes, good quality CoQ10 is expensive. The best is made using a patented process by a Japanese company using a yeast-based process that yields a very absorbable and pure “trans” (i.e.: bio-identical – the same as your own cells make) form of CoQ10. Many bargain brands use a process that extracts a “cis” or synthetic analog form from tobacco leaves. The patented Japanese process is quite an expensive one but we believe that the “trans” form, that is, identical to that made naturally by our body, is the preferable form and worth the extra expense. The price may come down somewhat on the Japanese process CoQ10 since the Japanese company has built a facility in the US. Learn more here.

    Here is perhaps the best way to figure out your costs for CoQ10 so that you can see what might be the most economical way to take it: figure out the price per milligram (mg) for different forms. For example, Dr. Myatt sells a very high quality CoQ10 in 50 and 100 mg softgel capsules. The price works out to around a penny per milligram. She also makes available a high potency form of CoQ10 from Vitaline in 300 mg and 400 mg chewable wafers. This is the brand that was used in the N.I.H. Parkinson’s study and is known to be of the very highest quality. Though the bottles of this high dose CoQ10 might seem shockingly expensive at first glance, the cost per milligram is actually less – at just over a half-penny per mg. Despite the “sticker shock” the Vitaline CoQ10 is actually quite a bargain!

    Watching our pennies is certainly important for us all, but we need to be careful not to lose sight of the price versus value equation. And, what good are all those pennies if you don’t have your health?

     

    References:

    Science Daily Article:

    First drug to significantly improve heart failure mortality in over a decade. May 25, 2013 European Society of Cardiology (ESC)
    Summary: Coenzyme Q10 decreases all cause mortality by half, according to new results. It is the first drug to improve heart failure mortality in over a decade and should be added to standard treatment, according to experts. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130525143852.htm

    Abstract of the presentation of results from the Q-SYMBIO study:

    The effect of coenzyme Q10 on morbidity and mortality in chronic heart failure. Results from the Q-SYMBIO study
    Authors: SA Mortensen [et al]

    On behalf: The Q-SYMBIO study investigators

    Citation: European Journal of Heart Failure ( 2013 ) 15 ( S1 ), S20

    Dysfunction of bioenergetics and energy starvation of the myocardium may be a dominant feature of heart failure (HF) and attention is directed towards a support of the myocardial metabolism. The myocardial tissue level of the essential redox component of the respiratory chain Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) has been found inversely related to the severity of HF. We investigated the effects of CoQ10 on patients symptoms, functional capacity and biomarker status (NT-proBNP) and the long-term outcome with morbidity and mortality.

    Methods: HF patients in New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or IV who were receiving current pharmacologic therapy were randomly assigned in parallel groups to CoQ10 100 mg three times daily versus placebo. The primary long-term endpoint was the time to first MACE (major adverse cardiovascular event) including unplanned hospitalization due to worsening of HF, cardiovascular death, urgent cardiac transplantation and mechanical support, using a time to first event analysis.

    Results: A total of 420 patients – CoQ10 (N=202), placebo (N=218) – were enrolled with a follow-up time of 2 years. After 3 months there was a trend with a reduced level of NT-proBNP in the CoQ10 group. After 2 years there was a significant improvement of the NYHA Class in the CoQ10 group (p=0.047). The primary endpoint was reached by 29 patients in the CoQ10 group, as compared with 55 patients in the placebo group (14 percent vs. 25 percent; hazard ratio CoQ10 vs. placebo: 2.0 (95% CI: 1.3-3.2); P=0.003) by intention to treat analysis. CoQ10 treated patients had significantly lower cardiovascular mortality (p=0.02) and lower occurrence of hospitalizations for HF (p=0.05). All cause mortality was also lower in the CoQ10 group, 18 patients vs. 36 patients in the placebo-group (9 percent vs. 17 percent; hazard ratio CoQ10 vs. placebo: 2.1 (95% CI: 1.2-3.8); p=0.01). There were fewer adverse events in the CoQ10 group compared to the placebo group (p=0.073).

    Conclusions: Q-SYMBIO is the first double-blind trial in chronic HF addressing whether CoQ10 supplementation might improve survival. The CoQ10 treated patients had reduced hospital admission rates for worsening HF and lower cardiovascular death both of which may reflect a significant improvement in cardiac function. CoQ10 treatment was safe with a reduced all cause mortality rate. CoQ10 should be considered as a part of the maintenance therapy of patients with chronic HF.

  • Vitamin D and Liver Cancer: More Reasons Love Vitamin D

    By Nurse Mark

     

    In our modern world filled with wondrous, even miraculous offerings of synthetic drugs so benevolently given to us by Big Pharma it is comforting to know that Mother Nature is still on our side looking out for us and giving us simple things that actually do work. They do work that is, if we can just avert our eyes from the seductive glitter of patent drugs for long enough to actually get back to basics and try the natural solutions…

    Such is the case with vitamin D.

    Long dismissed by conventional medicine and Big Pharma as being only needed in miniscule amounts to prevent the ancient disease rickets and derisively called “the sunshine vitamin” so as to suggest that we get all we need from minimal exposure to daylight, vitamin D has recently forced it’s way into the spotlight as being not just valuable to our health, but essential to us in preventing some of our most feared diseases.

    We have been singing the praises of vitamin D here at The Wellness Club for many years. Over 4 years ago we offered our readers Dr. Myatt’s Special Report On Vitamin D. Now it appears that conventional medical researchers are finally catching up with us.

    Emory University has recently announced the results of research showing that vitamin D intake can lower the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). For those who didn’t know, HCC is the main form of liver cancer.

    According to the article:

    Findings indicated that higher levels of vitamin D in the body cut the risk of HCC in half

     

    Let’s repeat that: higher levels of vitamin D cut the risk of liver cancer in half.

    If it were a new patent medicine that this was being said about we would be hearing all about it. The FDA and Big Pharma would be trying to convince us to add it to the drinking water. Politicians would be demanding mandatory consumption of it “for the children.”

    But it’s not a patent medicine – it’s lowly, simple, natural vitamin D and until Big Pharma can figure out how to patent it and sell it for a profit they will continue to regard it with contempt.

    We will continue to give vitamin D the respect it deserves here at The Wellness Club, and we invite you to learn more:

    Dr. Myatt’s Special Report On Vitamin D

    Vitamin D Deficiency is common – find out if you are deficient with a simple lab test: Our vitamin D, 25-OH, Total (Blood Spot) – uses a FINGER STICK blood spot test that you collect at home

    Vitamin D supplements are inexpensive and available in both capsules and liquid drops. 

    And please read our other articles on vitamin D in HealthBeat News.

  • Headlines Scream: New Risks For Niacin!

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Will the assault on vitamins, minerals, and other natural and non-patentable (and thus non-profitable) supplements and treatments ever stop?

    In my opinion, no. As long as something poses a threat to the profit picture of Big Pharma and their patent drug offerings there will be no let-up in Big Pharma’s efforts to remove the competition.

    Here is a link to one of dozens of equally breathless and poorly researched and written articles from the last few days: Studies see new risks for cholesterol drug niacin

    Pretty scary, huh? Calling niacin a drug, invoking the names of a “famous” cardiologist and both the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, telling us that just by using this “Drug” niacin "for every 200 people that we treat with niacin, there is one excess death,"…

    It sure sounds like we had better stop using this deadly “drug” immediately!

    Right?

    Not so fast…

    Associate Press (AP) and the reporter who penned this unfortunate scare-piece have done their readers a severe injustice – shame on them for such shoddy journalism!

    While the reporter correctly identifies niacin as a member of the B vitamin family, she promptly goes on to call it a drug, and then compounds her error by insinuating that patent drug forms of niacin-containing drugs offered by the pharmaceutical companies by prescription are no different from the natural forms of simple, unadulterated niacin available over-the-counter in your local health food or vitamin store. Shame on her!

    The drugs referred to in this “study” are Niaspan and Tredaptive. Both these drugs contain niacin – but niacin alone is not a drug – it is a vitamin!

    And bologna contains beef – but it sure isn’t steak!

    Niaspan is a “time release” niacin-containing drug from the drug company Abbvie. It contains it’s niacin in a wax matrix within a film coating that is said to delay absorption (the “time release” part) and it also contains the inactive ingredients hypromellose, povidone, stearic acid, and polyethylene glycol, and the coloring agents FD&C yellow #6/sunset yellow FCF Aluminum Lake, synthetic red and yellow iron oxides, and titanium dioxide.

    Niaspan has been around as a prescription drug for many years and has long been known to carry a risk of liver damage and to occasionally cause increased blood glucose in diabetics.

    Tredaptive is, so to speak, “a whole ‘nother ball-game” and one really has to question why it is even being mentioned. You see, while this fancy prescription drug does indeed contain niacin, it also contains another drug – a drug called Laropiprant which acts as a prostaglandin DP1 antagonist intended to reduce the natural  “flushing” that niacin is infamous for.

    So, why would I say that Tredaptive is “a whole ‘nother ball-game”? Well, because it has never been approved for use in the United States, it has been banned from use in Europe, and in those few countries where it is still available the drug company Merck is suspending sales of it and telling doctors to stop prescribing it!

    Sounds like a bad drug that Merck no longer wants to take a chance on selling – the risks are too great! Remember, Merck, like any drug company is all about risk and reward – aka “profit” – and they have obviously concluded that the profit from this drug will not be enough to offset the payouts when the lawsuits begin…

    Bad Science (aka B.S.), Bad Writing, and an obvious bias toward Big Pharma combine to give you…

    A terrible pseudo-news article intended to frighten you away from a natural vitamin and designed to help lay the groundwork for the FDA’s desired abolition of non-prescription vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements.

    The reporter is actually writing about an editorial (i.E.: “opinion”) article published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones of Northwestern University in Chicago. This very same Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones is a paid grand poohbah with the American Heart Association – an outfit very deeply in the pocket of Big Pharma, and dependant upon Big Pharma for funding…

    Lloyd-Jones, in his “editorial” is actually talking about two studies – one done on Niaspan, which has well-known risks and dangers, and the other on Tredaptive, a drug that was never available in the US and has been banned from use in Europe and withdrawn from the market by the drug company Merck. He is using these “studies” with their to-be-expected negative conclusions, to smear by association a vitamin that has a long and honorable history of safe and effective use in promoting healthy cholesterol levels.

    Yes – Niaspan and Terdaptive can be (are) bad drugs. Yes – both these drugs contain the vitamin niacin. So is niacin the cause of the increased risks mentioned by these studies?

    NO!

    While niacin was “found at the scene of the crime” it is Not Guilty!

    The bottom line?

    Niacin works, and works well. It has a long and honorable history of safe and effective use. I causes many people to experience a harmless but annoying, even embarrassing flush when they take it, so Big Pharma has long seen this as an opportunity to find something, anything about it that they can change and patent.

    But it seems that every time Big Pharma gets their greedy paws on something safe and effective and un-patentable (unprofitable) like niacin they manage to turn it into something toxic like Niaspan or Terdaptive.

    So they are left to print deceitful “news” articles maligning natural remedies and defending and promoting their patent medicines.

    For Shame!

    Learn more about Niacin here:

    Learn more about cholesterol and cholesterol control here:

    Learn why you MUST eat healthy saturated fats and cholesterol here:

    Learn about the dangers of using statin drugs to lower cholesterol here:

    Don’t like that “Niacin Flush” but want something natural to help you achieve healthy cholesterol levels? Try this natural herb with plenty of research behind it:

     

    References:

    Merck withdraws Tredaptive: http://www.mercknewsroom.com/press-release/research-and-development-news/merck-provides-update-next-steps-tredaptive-extended-rel

    Wikipedia discusses niacin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niacin

    New England Journal of Medicine editorial piece: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1406410

    Wikipedia discusses disgraced Merck drug Laropiprant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laropiprant

  • Memory Tests: What’s Real And What’s Phony Baloney

    By Nurse Mark

     

    There is a lot of junk floating around the internet…

    And sooner or later, if it is in any way related to health, someone forwards it to us with the question “What do you think of this? Is it of any value? Is it something that you are aware of?”

    And so it is with the so-called “Alzheimer’s Eye Test” that makes the rounds of the internet from time to time.

    The basic premise of the “test” is that one reads a sentence and then quickly counts the number of letters “F” contained in that sentence.

    Here is the sentence: FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

    The email goes on to claim that it is normal to identify 3 of the letters “F”, and that to identify 4 is rare and to identify all 6 is “genius.”

    Hmmm…

    Modesty prevents me from chuckling at this aloud, since I promptly identified all 6 when I first saw this, years ago. Oops, was that immodest of me? Sorry…

    Now, this is a fun little brain teaser sort of thing, but what it has to do with Alzheimer’s I really don’t understand – and I certainly can’t imagine what it has to do with memory.

    The rationale given for the fact that many people don’t immediately see 3 of the letters “F” is that “The brain cannot process the word ‘of’.”

    But if that is true, why do we use the word so much in our speech and our written communications? I’ll bet my second paragraph in this article would look awfully silly if I hadn’t used the word ‘of’ several times…

    A more likely explanation is that many people mispronounce the word of ‘of’ slightly, as ‘uv’ and thus our brains are not as likely to “hear” the ‘F’ in the word ‘of’.

    So, while this is a fun little game for young and old alike, it is hardly a diagnostic tool for determining either memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease.

    Afraid of losing your marbles?

     

    Most of us are – probably even all of us (at least all of us that haven’t already lost our marbles…) and that is why this kind of internet junk, a brain teaser made out to be some sort of simple, objective “test” is so popular.

    But it’s not objective, and it’s not a test, and it’s not diagnostic.

    Here is something that is objective and diagnostic:

    The Ohio State University has developed what they call their S.A.G.E. Test – the The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam.

    The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE) is designed to detect early signs of cognitive, memory or thinking impairments. It evaluates your thinking abilities and helps physicians to know how well your brain is working.

     

    While this is primarily intended for doctors and other medical health professionals to administer to their patients, it can also be downloaded and used by laypersons. By clicking on the “for physicians” link on the webpage you can access the scoring and interpretation instructions for the test. But beware – you can seriously invalidate the results of your test by reading through the scoring and interpretation instructions before doing the test – so don’t do it! Better yet, have someone else download the test and score it for you – just as if you were going to your doctor for this test.

    There are 4 versions of the test – and it does not matter which version you take. There are 4 versions so that it can be repeated as needed in order to assess progress or change.

    Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.

    Mark Twain

    So what can you do?

     

    A personal story: I recently wrote about the benefits of citicoline for brain health: The Amazing Brain Nutrient You Don’t Know About.

    My Dad is 89 years young and has complained of C.R.S. (Can’t Remember Stuff) for many years now.

    He read that article and asked why he wasn’t taking citicoline. I sent him a couple of bottles with instructions to take a higher amount for the first bottle and then to drop back to a maintenance dosage after that.

    Dad recently wrote to say that he had been taking the citicoline as directed:

    Just a few lines to let you know (as requested) the results from the twice daily dosage of Cognizin. I must confess that the only sign so far of any change in my long-standing inability to remember much of anything is an apparent increase in the speed with which I finish the newspaper’s daily crossword puzzle which accompanies my daily breakfast. I guess this must be a positive sign that the stuff is working,

    Yes, finishing the daily crossword more rapidly is a very definite and objective sign that there is memory improvement – since crossword puzzles are all about remembering words and associating them with clues!

    Clinical and laboratory research show citicoline supports memory function and healthy cognition and there is clinical evidence suggesting that citicoline can improve memory problems associated with aging. (1, 2)

    Further, according to pharmacology researchers:

    The other major indication of citicoline is for treatment of senile cognitive impairment, either secondary to degenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer disease) or to chronic cerebral vascular disease. In patients with chronic cerebral ischemia, citicoline improves scores in cognitive rating scales, while in patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type it stops the course of disease, and neuroendocrine, neuroimmunomodulatory, and neurophysiological benefits have been reported. (3)

     

     

    References:

    1.) Spiers PA et al. Citicoline improves verbal memory in aging. Arch Neurol. 996;53:441-48.

    2.) Alvarez XA et al. Citicoline improves memory performance in elderly subjects. Meth Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 1997;19(3):201-10.

    3.) Secades JJ1, Lorenzo JL.. Citicoline: pharmacological and clinical review, 2006 update. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 2006 Sep;28 Suppl B:1-56. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17171187