How to Save New Brain Cells: Scientific American
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Babies Know: A Little Dirt Is Good for You
Does your kid like to play in the dirt and then stick his grubby little fingers in his mouth? Does that send you running for the wipes? What he's doing might be just like getting a vaccination without the mercury and formaldehyde! Even I never knew that worms could be GOOD for your GI and immune system! Read on and be enlightened!
Chronic Pancreatitis: The Use of Antioxidants to Reduce Chronic Pain
This is an interesting study in that one would not usually make the association between "vitamins" and internal pain. It goes to show the basic axiom is still true; if you give the body the raw materials it needs to rebuild and repair you will be healthy and even pain-free. In the presence of disease and dysfunction there is always a depletion of nutrients. When the right nutrients are provided (repleted) in clinical doses, after some time normal function and health will return.
The Integrative Health Center provides advice and treatment of various gastrointestinal disorders.
Chronic Pancreatitis: The Use of Antioxidants to Reduce Chronic Pain
Kurt J. Isselbacher
AccessMedicine from McGraw-Hill. 2009; ©2009 The McGraw-Hill CompaniesAll rights reserved. From Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine
Posted 01/26/2009
Chronic pancreatitis is characterized by a slow inflammatory destruction of pancreatic tissue and subsequent fibrosis. Patients present with abdominal pain or signs of pancreatic endocrine or exocrine insufficiency. The mechanism underlying the pain in this disorder is still poorly understood and treatment has largely depended on the use of narcotics or endoscopic or surgical decompression in the event of an obstructed pancreatic duct. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of pancreatic inflammation and pancreatitis pain. Previously small studies suggested potential therapeutic benefit from antioxidant supplementation. Now Bhardwaj and colleagues (2009) have reported on a large multicenter, placebo-controlled trial of antioxidant supplementation in chronic pancreatitis. A total of 147 patients were randomized to treatment with placebo or antioxidant supplements for 6 months. The antioxidant supplementation consisted of daily doses of (1) 600 µg organic selenium, (2) 0.54 g ascorbic acid, (3) 9000 IU β-carotene, (4) 270 IU α-tocopherol, and (6) 2 g methionine. The assessment of pain was done in terms of the number of painful days per month, the requirement of oral or parenteral analgesics, and the need for hospitalization.
These investigators found that antioxidant supplementation led to a significantly lower number of painful days per month, a high reduction in the need for oral analgesics and a lower need for hospitalization. The beneficial effect of these antioxidants on pain relief was already significant at 3 months. Serum levels of superoxide dismutase and thiobarbituric acid (markers of oxidative stress) were elevated initially and decreased significantly during antioxidant therapy.
This controlled trial has shown that antioxidant supplementation significantly reduced abdominal pain in patients with chronic pancreatitis. The data suggest that free radical mediated injury is involved in the causation of pain in chronic pancreatitis and that this process may be reversible with antioxidant supplementation. Whether antioxidants will remain effective beyond 6 months of therapy remains to be determined.
References
Bhadwaj P et al: A randomized controlled trial of antioxidant supplementation for pain relief in patients with chronic pancreatitis. Gastroenterology 136:149, 2009
Kurt J. Isselbacher, Distinguished Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician and Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston
The Integrative Health Center provides advice and treatment of various gastrointestinal disorders.
Chronic Pancreatitis: The Use of Antioxidants to Reduce Chronic Pain
Kurt J. Isselbacher
AccessMedicine from McGraw-Hill. 2009; ©2009 The McGraw-Hill CompaniesAll rights reserved. From Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine
Posted 01/26/2009
Chronic pancreatitis is characterized by a slow inflammatory destruction of pancreatic tissue and subsequent fibrosis. Patients present with abdominal pain or signs of pancreatic endocrine or exocrine insufficiency. The mechanism underlying the pain in this disorder is still poorly understood and treatment has largely depended on the use of narcotics or endoscopic or surgical decompression in the event of an obstructed pancreatic duct. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of pancreatic inflammation and pancreatitis pain. Previously small studies suggested potential therapeutic benefit from antioxidant supplementation. Now Bhardwaj and colleagues (2009) have reported on a large multicenter, placebo-controlled trial of antioxidant supplementation in chronic pancreatitis. A total of 147 patients were randomized to treatment with placebo or antioxidant supplements for 6 months. The antioxidant supplementation consisted of daily doses of (1) 600 µg organic selenium, (2) 0.54 g ascorbic acid, (3) 9000 IU β-carotene, (4) 270 IU α-tocopherol, and (6) 2 g methionine. The assessment of pain was done in terms of the number of painful days per month, the requirement of oral or parenteral analgesics, and the need for hospitalization.
These investigators found that antioxidant supplementation led to a significantly lower number of painful days per month, a high reduction in the need for oral analgesics and a lower need for hospitalization. The beneficial effect of these antioxidants on pain relief was already significant at 3 months. Serum levels of superoxide dismutase and thiobarbituric acid (markers of oxidative stress) were elevated initially and decreased significantly during antioxidant therapy.
This controlled trial has shown that antioxidant supplementation significantly reduced abdominal pain in patients with chronic pancreatitis. The data suggest that free radical mediated injury is involved in the causation of pain in chronic pancreatitis and that this process may be reversible with antioxidant supplementation. Whether antioxidants will remain effective beyond 6 months of therapy remains to be determined.
References
Bhadwaj P et al: A randomized controlled trial of antioxidant supplementation for pain relief in patients with chronic pancreatitis. Gastroenterology 136:149, 2009
Kurt J. Isselbacher, Distinguished Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician and Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury
The Washington Post reported on 1/28/09 that most High-Fructose Corn Syrup contains mercury. The article stated that caustic soda used to produce HFCS contains mercury and so it is then leached into the HFCS. The article said that on average people consume 12 teaspoons of HFCS per day, with young people who drink soda consuming even more. The article suggested that there are sources of HFCS available that do not contain mercury and that those sources would be good to use. The link appears below.
Start reading your ingredients labels!
In today's world it is absolutely crucial to detox. This means eating the right foods, taking detox supplements, and ridding oneself of heavy metals and other poisons via chelation therapy or the newer detox foot baths.
Dr. Felicia Drury Klement, in her book The Acid Alkaline Balance Diet, says "Detoxification is even more important to longevity than good nutrition." She then goes on to describe an experiment in which the heart cells of a chicken were kept alive in a solution for 28 years. Once this solution was allowed to go bad the cells finally died even though nutrients were still added. You could be eating the best diet in the world but if you're not able to properly detoxify you'll find yourself in trouble one day. Some people have a genetic weakness in this area and all of us are exposed to more environmental and food toxins than we can handle.
The Integrative Health Center offers heavy metal testing and nutritional programs to rid the body of these and other poisons.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012601831.html?nav=most_emailed
Start reading your ingredients labels!
In today's world it is absolutely crucial to detox. This means eating the right foods, taking detox supplements, and ridding oneself of heavy metals and other poisons via chelation therapy or the newer detox foot baths.
Dr. Felicia Drury Klement, in her book The Acid Alkaline Balance Diet, says "Detoxification is even more important to longevity than good nutrition." She then goes on to describe an experiment in which the heart cells of a chicken were kept alive in a solution for 28 years. Once this solution was allowed to go bad the cells finally died even though nutrients were still added. You could be eating the best diet in the world but if you're not able to properly detoxify you'll find yourself in trouble one day. Some people have a genetic weakness in this area and all of us are exposed to more environmental and food toxins than we can handle.
The Integrative Health Center offers heavy metal testing and nutritional programs to rid the body of these and other poisons.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012601831.html?nav=most_emailed
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