Archive for February, 2009
My early career involved working with patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and undertaking research into how people cope with this. This experience left a lasting impression as MS is a horrible disease to live with. It is neuro-degenerative disorder resulting in progressive loss of function leading to both both physical and neuropsychological disability. There are different forms with some slow moving and some with very rapid deterioration. MS results in the destruction of the myeline in the brain. Myelin is the substance that coats and insulates brain cell in a similar way to the way that plastic coating insulates electric wiring. When the myelin is destroyed the brain short circuits. Whilst most people associate MS with older adults there is an early onset version aff…
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)The most common form of inflammatory arthritis in men is gout and hyperuricemia is a precursor of gout. For at least 25 years, metabolic studies have shown that serum uric acid levels can be reduced by taking high doses of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). What is still to be determined is the exact mechanism by which the vitamin is successful in lowering the uric acid levels and the optimum amount of ascorbic acid needed to do that on a daily or other basis.
X. Gao et al (J Rheumatology. 2008; 35(9):1853-1858) used a population-based study to examine the association between Vitamin C intake and serum uric acid using a group of 1387 men. The participants were a subsample of the Health Professional Follow-up Study, which started in 1986. It has a total population of 51,529 male…
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)Sunshine and I visited our naturopath Dr. Healy Wednesday, to deal with several questions raised by the new CC-4047 drug trial that I have started:
Bone Building:
At Mayo, Dr. Lacy and I discussed a prescription for generic fosamax to strengthen my bones. I don’t actually have that prescription yet - perhaps she’s rethinking it. Dr. Healy seemed uncomfortable with the fosamax, partly because of the risk of osteonecrosis, and referred me to a recent article in WebMD explaining the benefits of Vitamin K2 for rebuilding bones AND for scavenging calcium away from places it shouldn’t be, such as arteries. A double-good whammy!
The issue is complicated for me because Vitamin K1, the most readily-available form, enhances the ability of the blood to clot. In my case, the CC-4047 drug that I tak…
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)Why is the rate of autism in Somali children in Minnesota so high?
A few weeks ago, the Minnesota Post addressed this question. The August 24th Star-Tribune also reported on this #8220;cluster of affected kids#8221;; state and federal officials are investigating.
In Minneapolis, fears have been fueled by some puzzling statistics. Last year, Somali children made up just under 6 percent of the school population, but 17 percent of those in the early childhood autism programs (14 of 81 children). The numbers have been creeping up for several years, especially among young children.
#8220;People are worried,#8221; said Saeed Fahia, who heads a Somali community group. #8220;Nobody remembers any autistic children in Somalia. I#8217;m sure there must have been some, but there were not that ma…
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)Dr Craig Hassed, well known Monash University academic, and author of the books #8216;Know Thyself: The Stress Release Programme#8221;, #8220;New Frontiers in Medicine: The Body as the Shadow of the Soul#8221;, and the recent bestseller #8220;The Essence of Health#8221;, has published a very good online summary of the optimal management of MS. Visit http://www.mindfood.com/at-mag-wellbeing-condition-multiple-sclerosis.seo
New Frontiers […] (Source: Achieving Optimal Health)
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)Compelling evidence that adequate sun exposure is required for optimal health (Source: Achieving Optimal Health)
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)Today#8217;s MinnPost.com reports that #8220;First generation U.S.-born Somali-speaking children in Minneapolis schools are disproportionately identified as having autism.#8221; There are 15,000 to 40,000 Somalis living in Minnesota, a 2001 state health department study reports. According to the Minnesota Department of Education:
in the Minneapolis#8217; early childhood and kindergarten programs, more than 12 percent of the students with autism reported speaking Somali at home. According to Minneapolis school officials, more than 17 percent of the children in the district#8217;s early childhood special education autism program are Somali speaking.
Almost 6 percent of the district#8217;s total enrollment is made up of Somali-speaking students, and about 6 percent of the children in th…
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)First, let me start the week by apologizing for my absence for part of last week. I was traveling on business and was just wrecked at the end of each day. I’m still not back 100 percent, but I’m back enough to jot a few words down.
Many of us use complementary treatments for our multiple sclerosis. Whether they are simple things like stretching and yoga or more radical like the Master Cleanse diet or bee sting therapy. I’d like to talk today about something kind of in the middle: supplements.
As simple as a daily multi-vitamin tab, as complicated as doctor-injected hormones, supplemental therapy has really taken off in the MS world. I’m having a good look (with doctors and my naturopath) at what might fit me best.
Right now, I take a daily multi, calcium, chondroitin, fish or flax …
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)Selenium and Vitamin E Do Not Prevent Prostate Cancer, New Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gene Response to Common Cold Studied
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Selenium and Vitamin E Do Not Prevent Prostate Cancer, New Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gene Response to Common Cold Studied (Source: Malaysian Medical Resources)
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)Tumor weight and growth rate has been reduced by about 50 percent in mouse models of brain, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers with injections of high-dose Vitamin C (ascorbate or ascorbic acid).
Such were the results reported by the NIH study at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS):
The NIH researchers, however, tested the idea that ascorbate, when injected at high doses, may have prooxidant instead of antioxidant activity. Prooxidants would generate free radicals and the formation of hydrogen peroxide, which, the scientists hypothesized, might kill tumor cells.
In their laboratory experiments on 43 cancer and 5 normal cell lines, the researchers discovered that high concentrations of ascorbate had anticancer effects in 75 percent of cancer cell lines tested, while spar…
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If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)
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