Day: 09/27/2015

Liver plays role in pneumonia, sepsis susceptibility

Posted by

0


New evidence highlights the importance of the liver in immunity against bacterial pneumonia. The study is the first of its kind to directly show such a link between liver-produced molecules and pneumonia susceptibility during sepsis.

Led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), the study appears in the journal Infection and Immunity.

Pneumonia, according to the World Health Organization, is the leading infectious cause of death in children worldwide, taking more than 900,000 lives of children under the age of 5 in 2013 alone. Pneumonia, in both children and adults, is frequently associated with , which is the body’s own inflammatory reaction to becoming infected.

In order to model the common clinical scenario of sepsis followed by , models were systemically treated with a bacterial product (eliciting a sepsis-like response) followed hours later by a live bacterial challenge in the lungs. One group had completely normal livers, and the other lacked a gene in their livers that prevented maximal activation. The researcher found the group lacking a complete liver response was more likely to succumb to pneumonia, exhibiting a significantly compromised immune response in both the lungs and blood, where more bacteria survived.

According to the researchers there is a well-established link between pneumonia and sepsis, such that both increase the likelihood of the other. Both also activate the liver to initiate what is known as the acute phase response, an event leading to the liver’s production of acute phase proteins that change in the blood “These proteins are frequently used as clinical biomarkers, but their combined biological significance is mostly speculative. However, the results of this study directly suggest that liver activation is required to maintain adequate immune responses in the lungs,” explained corresponding author Lee J. Quinton, PhD, associate professor of medicine and pathology at BUSM.

While it may be too early to immediately speculate on the applications of these findings, the authors believe that liver activity may serve as a previously unappreciated window into pneumonia defense/susceptibility. “A better understanding of how these distinct organs collaborate to mount immune responses has important clinical implications for patients with or at risk for pneumonia and sepsis. The idea that non-lung tissue could be targeted for treatments of lung disease is compelling,” added Quinton.

Why We’re All Deficient In Magnesium.

Posted by

0


lackvitamins
Signs of magnesium deficiency are everywhere in the United States, if you know what to look for. Unfortunately, the symptoms are so incredibly common that they constantly slip under the radar! Hardly anyone, especially doctors, notice that the ailments we suffer from on a daily basis are actually magnesium deficiency symptoms… and we’re all paying for it.
Just about every single person you come into contact with – especially those with a health problem, but even those with only minor complaints – are suffering in some way from this nationwide deficiency. Including you!

What Exactly Is Magnesium?

Magnesium is life.

It is the 4th most abundant mineral in the body, right next to sulfur (which is JUST as important).

Along with being a mineral, magnesium is also an electrolyte. “Sports drinks” (aka sugar-filled scams) claim to contain electrolytes such as magnesium, potassium, and sodium because we sweat away these important nutrients during exercise, and their deficiency is what leads to the common problems athletes face, such as muscle cramping! But believe me – electrolytes (especially magnesium) do so much more than treat and prevent muscle cramps.

First off, electrolytes are what allow us to be living, electrical beings. They are responsible for all electrical activity (and thus brain conductivity) in the body. Without electrolytes like magnesium, muscles can’t fire, your heart cannot beat, and your brain doesn’t receive any signals. We need magnesium to stay alive, point blank. As soon as we don’t have enough of it, we start to lose the energy and conductivity that keeps us going. Technically, as soon as we become deficient, we slowly begin to die, getting more aches and pains day by day, feeling worse year after year. I can’t stress it enough… signs of magnesium deficiency are everywhere, if you just look.

Magnesium is a cofactor in over three hundred reactions in the body, necessary for transmission of nerve impulses, temperature regulations, detoxification in the liver, and formation of bones and teeth. However, magnesium shows its true power in cardiovascular health. The Weston A. Price foundation writes, “Magnesium alone can fulfill the role of many common cardiac medications: magnesium inhibits blood clots (like aspirin), thins the blood (like Coumadin), blocks calcium uptake (like calcium channel-blocking durgs such as Procardia) and relaxes blood vessels (like ACE inhibitors such as Vasotec) (Pelton, 2001).”

Nearly EVERYONE has signs of magnesium deficiency but we don’t realize it…

Symptoms include:

  • Constipation
  • High blood pressure (Hypertension)
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Insomnia
  • Behavioral disturbances
  • Lethargy
  • Impaired memory/thinking
  • Seizures
  • Fatigue
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Pain
  • Muscle cramps
  • Chronic back pain
  • Headaches
  • Migraines
  • Muscular pain
  • Tendonitis
  • Anger
  • Aggression
  • ADHD
  • Brain fog
  • Tension
  • Anxiety disorders such as OCD

Anything that makes you tense and tight could potentially be due to magnesium deficiency. If you can’t relax or you can’t stop — think magnesium! Full-blown health problems can even be tied back to this crucial mineral. Most people with ANY chronic disease or issue benefit greatly from magnesium supplementation therapy. This is because chronic illness = stress, and stress depletes magnesium. The following are conditions that are likely to have magnesium deficiency as a part of the puzzle:

“Similarly, patients with diagnoses of depression, epilepsy, diabetes mellitus, tremor, Parkinsonism, arrhythmias, circulatory disturbances (stroke, cardiac infarction, arteriosclerosis), hypertension, migraine, cluster headache, cramps, neuro-vegetative disorders, abdominal pain, osteoporosis, asthma, stress dependent disorders, tinnitus, ataxia, confusion, preeclampsia, weakness, might also be consequences of the magnesium deficiency syndrome.”

Amazingly, the article referenced above even mentions neuro-vegetative disorders as a possible result of magnesium deficiency. This would include comas. Stress hormone production requires high levels of magnesium and stressful experiences can immediately lead to complete depletion of magnesium stores; could this be a contributing factor to why we see comas after traumatic accidents/injuries? As I mentioned above, magnesium is an electrolyte responsible for brain signals and conductivity. Without magnesium, people in comas may not be able to come to and resume conductivity. Many people withdiabetes also fall into diabetic comas. Diabetes is listed as another possible consequence of magnesium deficiency. Could this be a factor in diabetic comas as well? Something to think about and research further!

Cravings

Do you crave chocolate? Why, when people are stressed out, do they go for chocolate? Chocolate is one of the highest food sources of magnesium.

Magnesium is associated with so many disorders that Dr. Carolyn Dean of the Nutritional Magnesium Association has devoted an entire book to discussing how she has treated thousands of patients for a wide array of diseases, with magnesium as the primary component. Her book, The Magnesium Miracle, is a must-read if you have any of the magnesium deficiency symptoms above, or any health problems in general – as there is likely a magnesium component to everything. Check out 50 Studies Suggest That Magnesium Deficiency Is Killing Us.

Why Don’t Doctors Find Magnesium Deficiencies In Tests?

Unfortunately, conventional medicine has not woken up to the amount of research that has been done on magnesium deficiency.

One of the reasons Western Medicine is so off base with magnesium is how they test it: with blood tests.

Blood tests do not yield ANY information about magnesium… why? Because the body controls the levels of blood magnesium very tightly. If the magnesium in the blood drops just a little bit, you’re going to have a heart attack. It’s that sample. So to prevent this, the body will rob all of its cells, tissues, and bones of magnesium in order to keep the blood levels constant. If you do a blood test for magnesium, thecells could be completely empty while your blood levels remain constant.

What’s worse is that magnesium is not even in your blood. 99% of the magnesium in the body is stored in the cells that get robbed, while a mere 1% of your body’s total magnesium is in the blood. These tests are a complete waste of time, and they’re not educating doctors to this reality.

“A serum test for magnesium is actually worse than ineffective, because a test result that is within normal limits lends a false sense of security about the status of the mineral in the body. It also explains why doctors don’t recognize magnesium deficiency; they assume serum magnesium levels are an accurate measure of all the magnesium in the body.” – Dr. Carolyn Dean, The Magnesium Miracle.

Why Are We So Deficient?

Here’s the short(ish) version: Number one, we’re being poisoned by our food. Number two, we’re increasingly stressed out. We’re running our engines on high to keep up with life and it’s draining us. Stress hormone production requires high levels of magnesium and stressful experiences lead to depletion of magnesium stores. Number three, we’re eating more sugar than ever. For every molecule of sugar we consume, our bodies use 54 molecules of magnesium to process it. Fourth, low levels in the soil and modern farming techniques deplete stores of magnesium. And lastly, magnesium is depleted by many pharmaceutical drugs and estrogen compounds such as oral contraceptives, antibiotics, cortisone, prednisone, and blood pressure medications (“Drug-induced nutrient depletion handbook,” Pelton, 2001). Diuretics in coffee and tea (caffeine) also raise excretion levels. Oh and by the way – flouride competes for absorption with magnesium!

Nowadays, nearly everyone is magnesium deficient – no test needed. Refined/processed foods are stripped of their mineral, vitamin, and fiber content. These are anti-nutrient foods because they actually steal magnesium in order to be metabolized. When consumed, they demand that we supplement with magnesium or we are destined to break down eventually due to severe deficiency. Like I said, sugar is the worst offender. Every single molecule of sugar you consume drags over 50 times the amount of magnesium out of your body.

Well, what if you eat a healthy diet? Processed products are not the only foods that are devoid of magnesium. In general, magnesium has been depleted from topsoil, diminishing dietary intake across the board while our need for magnesium has increased, due to the high levels of toxic exposure we come across in our daily lives (air, water, plastics, chemicals, the list goes on!). The soil is depleted of magnesium because of the pesticides that are sprayed on all conventionally grown plants and worldwide pollution that affects even the cleanest fields. Pesticides also kill those beneficial bacteria/fungi that are necessary in order for plants to convert soil nutrients into plant nutrients usable by humans.

Are You A Cannabis User?

Cannabis has so many positive effects in terms of treating diseases such as epilepsy, cancer, and more (read 1, 2, 3 and cureyourowncancer.org). Trust me, I’ll be the first to tell you I’m all for it – it’s a safe and effective herb with countless therapeutic benefits that the government has been hiding for years. The only way they want you using it is if they’ve patented one of its’ chemical compounds and can sell it to you for a profit.

However, we should also look at what happens to our body on a cellular level if we use cannabis on a daily basis. Would you take parasite cleansing herbs every day for the rest of your life, or even every few days? Probably not. You’d take them when you’re sick or during a monthly cleanse, or else you’d develop some side effects from overuse. We need to remember that cannabis is a powerful herbal medicine and should be treated in such a way.

It turns out that using marijuana tends to deplete the body’s stores of magnesium, with the result that the person feels more on-edge after coming down from the high.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t safe in moderation. It means that over time, if used consistently without proper balance via magnesium replenishment, it can and will cause magnesium deficiency.

The Best Ways To Get Magnesium

1. Eat magnesium rich foods grown on organic soil.

2. Take ionic magnesium drops. This is my new favorite method, which I’ve learned from The Magnesium Miracle.

3. Apply magnesium oil to your skin! This is the second best way to raise your levels.

4. Soak in epsom salt baths. This will provide not only magnesium, but sulfur for your liver as well.

How Bruce Lee Taught Us to Transform the Human Body Into a Weapon.

Posted by

0


by Robert Wang, M.D.

How Bruce Lee Taught Us to Transform the Human Body Into a WeaponIn all the Bruce Lee biographies that have been written, one theme stands out: He was ahead of his time in terms of both martial arts and physical training.

The list of professional athletes, media icons and everyday martial artists who have been inspired by his teachings is impressive — for good reason. When Lee moved, he embodied the perfect combination of efficiency, effectiveness and aesthetics. What made all that possible was his approach to physical development and health sustainment. With respect to that, a couple of aspects have always stood out.

The August/September 2015 issue of Black Belt, on sale until September 20.

First up is Bruce Lee’s scientific approach to martial arts training, which is well-documented in Tao of Jeet Kune Do, his comprehensive treatise on the art of fighting. By combining teachings from the East and the West, he laid the groundwork for a martial arts curriculum that addresses all aspects of the pursuit, including the spiritual/philosophical foundation, warm-up routine, psychology, and offense and defense.

Bruce Lee could do this because he was an academic at heart. He researched, analyzed, synthesized and documented his thought processes and findings. And heapplied physics to his theories before he made them his conclusions. By being scientific, he was able to arrive at indisputable conclusions about what worked and what didn’t.

Bruce Lee: The Evolution of a Martial Artist, by Tommy Gong, is a bestseller with a 4.9-star rating on Amazon! Order your copy here.

Because of the growing popularity of the martial arts, more people are studying the arts’ effect on health, as well as the potential for injury. Their research is being conducted in the fields of sport science, physiology, medicine, nutrition and rehabilitation, among others. Once again, Bruce Lee was on the cutting edge. Why do I say this? Because his work is an important part of the academic lineage of the martial arts and because his ideas continue to be studied, discussed and, occasionally, refined.

In all that he did, Bruce Lee paid close attention to proper training and injury prevention. He knew that despite his incredible physique and physical abilities, he had to train consistently and properly to avoid injuries that might necessitate a break from training. Couple that with his hectic filmmaking schedule, and you’ll understand how much time management was required for him to maintain his skills at the highest level.

Example: Sports-medicine professionals always emphasize injury prevention. In the martial arts, practitioners are at great risk while landing after a jumping technique. Bruce Lee was well aware of such dangers.

In Tao of Jeet Kune Do (order here on Amazon), he articulates the importance of and strategies for minimizing injury. Specifically, he outlines warm-ups designed to “increase tissue elasticity, which lessens the liability to injury.” He also notes that different warm-ups are required for different activities and that routines need to be modified according to the practitioner’s age.

Download a free guide titled “Our Bruce Lee Movies List: Little-Known Trivia From Bruce Lee’s Pictures” here!

Another example of Bruce Lee’s forward-thinking methodologies comes from hisweight-training advice: He implored martial artists to lift only an amount of weight they can handle without undue strain. This concept of training without exceeding one’s physiologic threshold is ideal in martial arts practice.

If you’re laid up because you lifted too much or used improper form, you’re unable to work on skill development. Even worse, the injury could become chronic or permanent, forever impairing your ability to improve in your art.

As stated in the introduction, Bruce Lee was ahead of his time. He put forth a comprehensive martial arts curriculum that incorporates awareness of one’s health and injury prevention. As I reflect on him, I continue to be impressed by his vast knowledge of and many contributions to the martial arts, which he viewed as both an art and a science.

To borrow a concept from politics: There’s hard power, there’s soft power and then there’s smart power, which combines the other two. By following Bruce Lee’s teachings, we can more efficiently develop smart power.

(“Bruce Lee” is a registered trademark of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC. The Bruce Lee name, image and likeness are intellectual property of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC.)

Robert Wang, M.D., is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and a diplomat of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery.

Here’s why eating too much can give you a ‘food coma’

Posted by

0


Here’s why eating too much can give you a ‘food coma’

We’ve all done it, enjoyed a delicious meal only to nod off in a comfy chair for a while. For some of us, this is just a habit. But for others, it’s unavoidable. So what is it about food that can make us so sleepy?

When we’re eating, the stomach is producing gastrin, a hormone that promotes the secretion of digestive juices. As the food enters the small intestine, the cells in the gut secrete even more hormones (enterogastrone) that signal other bodily functions, including blood flow regulation.

But what does this have to do with sleepiness? Well, as we’re digesting our meal, more of our blood is shunted to the stomach and gut, to transport away the absorbed newly digested metabolites. This leaves less blood for the rest of the body and can cause some people to feel a bit ‘light-headed’ or tired. Still, the body is a lot more sophisticated than that; it doesn’t respond to food volume alone. What you eat is just as important as the size of your meal.

For many years now, researchers have been investigating the link between food and sleepiness, but from another perspective. If we understand more about people’s sleep patterns, we might gain insight into what causes some people to put on weight and develop diseases such diabetes and atherosclerosis (a disease of the arteries that develops with fat deposits in artery walls).

We’ve known for many years that meals with an imbalance of nutrients – that are rich in either fats or carbohydrates – are associated with feeling sleepy. But this is not the case when nutrients are balanced or the meal is rich in protein. And that leads to the burning question: what is causing this effect?

Scientists in Germany have documented that meals high in carbohydrates that also have a high glycaemic index (meaning they release sugar into the bloodstream quickly) cause an increase in the hormone insulin. Insulin promotes the absorption and use of glucose from the bloodstream after a meal. But it also allows the entry of a special amino acid (we get these from the digestion of proteins), called tryptophan, into the brain.

This is important as tryptophan is converted into another chemical in the brain called serotonin, a signalling chemical or neurotransmitter that can be associated with calmness and drowsiness, especially in children.

But does eating foods rich in the essential amino acid tryptophan, such as turkey meat, cottage cheese, tofu and bananas, automatically make you sleepy? Probably not, as it’s the insulin surge brought about by ingesting carbohydrates that will allow the tryptophan to enter your brain, along with some other amino acids.

Consuming a high-protein meal, on the other hand, will cause a lot of amino acids to enter the brain and will probably have a stimulant effect rather than a soporific one as the insulin released after eating stimulates their transport across cell membranes.

Cow’s milk drunk warm, often in the evening, for instance, is associated with sleepiness. But it’s the melatonin (a natural hormone that regulates our night or day rhythm) in the milk that can make us sleepy.

First identified in the 1950s, melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland under the brain. It’s mostly secreted at night, peaking around three or four in the morning. Melatonin acts on receptors in a part of the brain called the suprachiasmic nucleus (a cluster of cells) that triggers sleepiness as part of our sleep-wake cycle. Interestingly, melatonin is found in greater amounts in the milk of cows milked in night-time darkness, as opposed to in the daytime.

So overall, where are we now with our understanding of how food influences sleep? The short answer is that it’s complicated and we don’t yet fully understand it. We know the gut hormones called enterogastrones, which are released when we eat, can influence blood flow. And that some of these hormones (especially one called CCK or cholecystokinin) can directly make us sleepy, probably by influencing the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin and melatonin.

We also know carbohydrates can promote the release of insulin after a meal, which may promote the actions of tryptophan on the brain, again via serotonin. But to more practical matters: what should you do to avoid nodding off after a meal?

Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Don’t overeat; watch your portion size. Allow time during your meal for the level of your body’s natural hormones leptin (which reduces hunger) to rise and ghrelin (normally only released when we initiate eating) to fall, thereby lowering your appetite and inducing a feeling of satiety.
  2. Balance your meal; have protein and carbohydrate in roughly a one-to-two proportion. Include plant-based or marine-based fats rather than animal-based saturated fats in your meal. And don’t neglect any of the major food groups (vegetables and legumes, fruit, grains, lean meats and dairy products), as they all contain some essential nutrients that our bodies cannot manufacture.
  3. In particular, ensure you are getting all the minerals and micronutrients you need by including a variety of vegetables or salads in your diet, and a modest amount of fruit.
  4. Avoid ‘veging out’ after the main meal of the day. Once the meal has settled, be moderately active. This will help promote better blood sugar control.

Good eating.

Kazakhstan town plagued by mysterious illness that causes residents to fall unconscious for days

Posted by

0


A small village in Kazakhstan may be closed down entirely as early as this May after 117 people living in Kalachi fell into a deep sleep for days at a time and awoke with mild amnesia.

The victims report falling asleep with no warning, even as they are walking along, and then waking up remembering nothing of the incident.

The first case of the bizarre sleeping sickness was reported in early 2010, but the incidents have been steadily increasing since March 2013. A number of children have been affected by strong hallucinations, and many residents have suffered the sleeping illness multiple times and have even remained unconscious for up to five days at a time. The mysterious illness is said to have affected nearly one-fourth of the residents of the tiny village of almost 600 residents.

Victims speak out

Among the affected victims is Olga Samusenko, a young mother with two small children. She told a reporter for The Siberian Times: “We need to escape now, there is no future for us here. Everyone is leaving. Many people have sent their children to relatives in other cities and villages. … We still do not know what’s going on. My children have not been outside since September. I am afraid to let them out.”

“We were at the parade of schoolchildren on September 1. My children are small, so we just went to look at the celebration. After that Stanislav played outside in the yard, then he came home at about 4pm and just fell down on his face.”

“He couldn’t sit, he couldn’t stand. I tried to put him on his feet, but he was falling. His eyes were looking in different directions, as if he was drunk. It was so scary.”

Lyubov Rabchevskaya, 27, said her 10-year-old son Almaz has also been affected. She said: “He has fallen asleep twice and now he often has headaches and he feels pain in his back. The first time it was very scary. He went to bed in the evening and I could not wake him up in the morning. I asked for help and when we managed to wake him up he could not say a word, he could not speak, only moaned. He moaned and his eyes are full of tears.”

She added: “Sometimes I think that they all know what the cause is and maybe they’re doing this specially to drive us away from this place. Now they want to resettle us to some remote places. I saw the houses that they propose. My shed looks better. I would not go there with my son. I do not want him to live in such conditions.”

Vera Kolesnichenko who works in a shop in the village, said her four-year-old daughter Margarita has suffered from hallucinations and her husband spent three days in the hospital:

“Margarita had horrible hallucinations, she looked at me and cried: ‘Mama, you have three eyes!’ Then she looked over my shoulder and said: ‘There is something crawling on the radiator!'”

Several theories but no answers

Kalachi stands very near to Krasnogorsk, which was a mining town that produced uranium ore for the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons program. The mines were closed in the late 1980s, but many locals and some scientists speculate this to be an obvious cause. According to analysts in the area, no exact link between the radioactive gas and the ongoing sleeping illness has been proven.

While the disease has baffled scientists and local doctors, there are some emerging patterns. They tend to come in waves, they seem to be more common in the midst of a thaw than when the ground is frozen, and some believe that there is a correlation with wind direction.

Other experts believe that carbon monoxide is the culprit. Sergei Lukashenko, the director of Kazakhstan’s National Nuclear Center’s Radiation Safety and Ecology Institute, stated, “Carbon monoxide is definitely a factor, but I can’t tell you whether this is the main and vital factor. The question is why it does not go away. We have some suspicions as the village has a peculiar location and weather patterns frequently force chimney smoke to go down instead of up.”

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/051328_Kazakhstan_sleeping_sickness_mysterious_illness.html#ixzz3n7s7thba

Scientists think they’ve found the answer to what causes ringing in the ears.

Posted by

0


For many years, doctors have struggled to find the cause of and treatments for tinnitus – that constant ringing sound in the ears that affects around 45 million people in the US alone. But a new study might shed some light on the problem, pointing to a consistent link with chronic pain felt elsewhere in the body.

Researchers from Georgetown University in the US have discovered that difficulties for sufferers of both chronic pain and tinnitus begin as a response to an injury. That response only continues when the brain can’t properly process the pain or the noise – it’s like a faulty circuit breaker. Just like those with chronic pain conditions can feel ‘phantom pain’ for a limb that’s no longer there, people with tinnitus problems can hear ringing in their ears even when there’s no actual sound.

After studying the amount of grey matter in the brain, the team figured out that a loss of such matter in particular areas contributed to both tinnitus and chronic pain – these areas were dubbed “gatekeeping” areas. The process is affected by levels of dopamine and serotonin, which are known to be related to our feelings of energy, mood, and depression.

“These areas act as a central gatekeeping system for perceptual sensations, which determines the affective value of sensory stimuli – whether produced externally or internally – and modulates information flow in the brain,” explains one of the team, Josef Rauschecker Rauschecker, in a press release. “Tinnitus and chronic pain occur when this system is compromised.”

In other words, feelings relating to chronic pain and ringing in the ears are coming into the brain through the same neural ‘gate’ – a discovery that could eventually point medical scientists towards a cure. Advancements in brain scanning technology and the refinement of other techniques meant Rauschecker and his colleagues were able to look more closely at tinnitus-related brain activity than ever before.

The researchers believe that damage to the gatekeeping areas can affect information flow to the brain and create a self-perpetuating loop – a ringing noise that doesn’t go away. They admit there’s still a long way to go, and a lot of questions to answer, but it looks like tinnitus sufferers might finally see some light at the end of the tunnel.

AACE releases position statement on testosterone therapy, CV events

Posted by

0


The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recently issued a position statement, published in Endocrine Practice, citing lack of evidence linking testosterone replacement therapy with cardiovascular events.

Neil Goodman, MD, FACE, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues for the AACE Reproductive Endocrinology Scientific Committee are calling for larger studies that will focus on the impact of testosterone replacement therapy on risk for CVD.

The association of low testosterone concentrations with CV problems, especially among older men, has been supported by recently published studies, but the position statement notes that low testosterone is often a marker of CV illness and not a causal factor.

Testosterone replacement therapy has been shown to have benefits in men with hypogonadism, including decreased insulin resistance, waist circumference and fat mass. Metabolic syndrome has also been reversed in some men following testosterone replacement therapy.

According to the committee, a thorough diagnostic work up should be performed on any man being considered for testosterone replacement therapy. The patients’ signs, symptoms and testosterone concentrations should guide the decision for the therapy rather than the underlying cause.

The committee added that the risk/benefit ratio of testosterone replacement therapy is still not completely clear.

“It needs to be emphasized that low testosterone is often a marker for chronic disease, and the underlying CVD risk factors should be addressed,” the researchers wrote. “In patients with vascular and minor symptoms of hypogonadism, a more cautious approach towards testosterone therapy is prudent. Physicians should have a detailed discussion with such patients … before embarking on testosterone replacement.” – by Amber Cox

Are You Low in This Powerful Nutrient?

Posted by

0


Potassium, a mineral and electrolyte, is essential for your cells, tissues, and organs to function properly. It plays a vital role in heart health, digestive, and muscular function, bone health, and more.

While potassium is found in many foods commonly consumed in the US – including fruits, vegetables, dairy products, salmon, sardines, and nuts – only 2 percent of US adults get the recommended daily amount of 4,700 milligrams (mg).1

This is especially problematic because potassium is a nutrient that needs to be kept in proper balance with sodium in your blood. If you consume too much sodium, which is common if you eat a lot of processed foods, you’ll have an increased need for potassium.

Others who are at particular risk of low potassium, or hypokalemia, are those with chronic malabsorption syndromes, such as Crohn’s disease, or those taking heart medicine (particularly loop diuretics).2

However, anyone who eats a poor diet – an excess of processed foods and not enough fresh, whole foods – is potentially at risk of inadequate potassium levels.

Optimizing Your Potassium Level Helps Lower Your Blood Pressure

The number of deaths due to hypertension, or high blood pressure, increased nearly 62 percent from 2000 to 2013, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).3 Currently, about 70 million US adults struggle with the condition, which amounts to one in every three adults.

Only 52 percent of those who have been diagnosed have their blood pressure levels under control, and another one in three US adults has pre-hypertension, which means blood pressure is elevated and at risk of progressing to full-blown hypertension.4

Yet, many are not aware that an imbalanced sodium-potassium ratio may lead to hypertension, as a higher level of potassium may blunt the effect of excess salt on blood pressure.5

A recent meta-analysis revealed that daily potassium supplementation is associated with a reduction of blood pressure in patients with high blood pressure. The researchers noted:6

“The reduction in blood pressure significantly correlates with decreased daily urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio and increased urinary potassium. Patients with elevated blood pressure may benefit from increased potassium intake along with controlled or decreased sodium intake.”

Similarly, one four-year observational study (the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology [PURE] study), which included more than 100,000 people in 17 countries, found that while higher sodium levels correlate with an increased risk for high blood pressure, potassium helps offset sodium’s adverse effects.7

In the study, those with the lowest risk for heart problems or death from any cause were consuming three to six grams of sodium a day — far more than US daily recommended limits. So while there is a relationship between sodium and blood pressure, it’s not a linear relationship, and potassium plays a role.

Increasing Potassium May Be More Important Than Decreasing Salt for High Blood Pressure

The authors proposed that instead of recommending aggressive sodium reduction across the board, it might be wiser to recommend high-quality diets rich in potassium instead.

This, they surmised, might achieve greater public health benefits, including blood-pressure reduction. As noted by one of the researchers, Dr. Martin O’Donnell of McMaster University:8

“Potatoes, bananas, avocados, leafy greens, nuts, apricots, salmon, and mushrooms are high in potassium, and it’s easier for people to add things to their diet than to take away something like salt.”

For comparison, according to a 1985 article in The New England Journal of Medicine, titled “Paleolithic Nutrition,” our ancient ancestors got about 11,000 mg of potassium a day and about 700 mg of sodium.9 This equates to nearly 16 times more potassium than sodium.

In contrast, daily potassium consumption with the Standard American Diet averages about 2,500 mg, along with 3,600 mg of sodium.

Researchers have also determined that increasing average potassium intake to the recommended 4,700 mg a day would reduce systolic blood pressure by between 1.7 and 3.2 mm Hg on a population-wide scale.

This decrease, they suggest, is similar to the reduction that would occur if Americans lowered their salt intake by 4 grams a day.10 This isn’t to say that I advise consuming all the salt you want, of course, particularly if it’s processed salt.

The easiest way to achieve an imbalance in your sodium-to-potassium ratio is by consuming a diet of processed foods, which are notoriously low in potassium while high in processed salt.

Potassium May Lower Your Risk of Stroke

Consuming enough potassium isn’t only a matter of maintaining a healthy blood pressure; it also helps to lower your risk of stroke (which makes sense, since elevated blood pressure is a major risk factor for stroke).

Research found that women without hypertension who consumed the most potassium (nearly 3,200 mg/day) had a 21 percent reduced risk of stroke.

Further, women who consumed the most potassium were 12 percent less likely to suffer from a stroke, and 12 percent less likely to die during the study period, than those who consumed the least.11 According to the study’s lead researcher:12

“Potassium may play a role in improving blood vessel function in our brains. This could allow better oxygenation of our brain tissue, and prevent tissue death that occurs from lack of oxygen to the brain… The effect of potassium consumption on reduced stroke risk could also be due to a better diet overall, though we did not investigate this in our study.”

Separate research also revealed that for every 1000-mg/day increase in potassium intake, the risk of stroke decreased by 11 percent. “Dietary potassium intake is inversely associated with risk of strok.,”

The researchers wrote, “in particular ischemic stroke.”13 (Ischemic stroke, the most common type, results from an obstruction in a blood vessel supplying blood to your brain.)

Why You Should Strive to Get Your Potassium from Your Diet

It’s typically preferable to get your nutrients from foods instead of supplements, and this is certainly the case with potassium. Potassium in fruits and vegetablesis potassium citrate or potassium malate, while that found in supplements is typically potassium chloride.

The citrate, malate, and other compounds in dietary potassium, particularly that in produce, helps your body produce alkali, which may promote bone health14and even help preserve lean muscle mass as you get older.15 As researcher Dr. Bess Dawson–Hughes, of Tufts University, explained to Nutrition Action:16

“If you don’t have adequate alkali to balance the acid load from the grains and protein in a typical American diet, you lose calcium in the urine and you have bone loss…

When the body has more acid than it is easily able to excrete, bone cells get a signal that the body needs to neutralize the acid with alkali… And bone is a big alkali reservoir, so the body breaks down some bone to add alkali to the system.”

That bone loss could lead to brittle bones or even osteoporosis over time. But while potassium in fruits and vegetables may help build bone health, the potassium chloride in supplements may not.

Research by Dawson-Hughes found that people who were in the neutral range for net acid excretion, meaning they had a fairly healthy balance for bone and muscle health, were eating just over eight servings of fruits and vegetables a day along with 5.5 servings of grains.

When they rounded this out, it came to about half as many grains as fruits and vegetables. For many Americans a simple recommendation to increase your alkali (and potassium) while reducing acid is to eat more vegetables and fewer grains.17

What Else Is Potassium Good For?

There’s no doubt that potassium is a superstar for heart health, lowering both your risk of high blood pressure and stroke. It’s also beneficial for lowering your risk of heart disease. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center:18

“Studies show that [people with] a higher sodium-potassium ratio have a higher risk of heart disease and all-cause mortality. Other studies show that heart attack patients who have moderate potassium levels… have a lower risk of death.”

As mentioned, eating a diet rich in potassium is also associated with bone health, particularly in elderly women, and, possibly, reducing the risk of osteoporosis. Symptoms of low potassium include weakness, lack of energy, muscle cramps, stomach disturbances, an irregular heartbeat, and an abnormal EKG (electrocardiogram, a test that measures heart function).19 If you’re wondering what your potassium levels are, ask your physician for a blood test.

Is Your Sodium-to-Potassium Ratio Out of Balance?

If you eat a lot of processed foods and not many vegetables, there’s a good chance your sodium-to-potassium ratio is unbalanced. If you’re not sure, try a free app like My Fitness Pal, which allows you to enter the foods you eat and then calculates the ratio automatically. It’s generally recommended that you consume five times more potassium than sodium, but most Americans get two times more sodium than potassium. If your ratio is out of balance…

  • First, ditch all processed foods, which are very high in processed salt and low in potassium and other essential nutrients
  • Eat a diet of whole, unprocessed foods, ideally organically and locally grown to ensure optimal nutrient content. This type of diet will naturally provide much larger amounts of potassium in relation to sodium
  • When using added salt, use a natural salt. I believe Himalayan salt may be the most ideal, as it contains lower sodium and higher potassium levels compared to other salts

I do not recommend taking potassium supplements to correct a sodium-potassium imbalance. Instead, it is best to simply alter your diet and incorporate more potassium-rich whole foods. Green vegetable juicing is an excellent way to ensure you’re getting enough nutrients for optimal health, including about 300 to 400 mg of potassium per cup. Some additional rich sources of potassium are:

  • Lima beans (955 mg/cup)
  • Winter squash (896 mg/cup)
  • Cooked spinach (839 mg/cup)
  • Avocado (500 mg per medium)

Other potassium-rich fruits and vegetables include:

  • Fruits: papayas, prunes, cantaloupe, and bananas. (But be careful of bananas as they are high in sugar and have half the potassium of an equivalent amount of green vegetables. It is a myth that you are getting loads of potassium from bananas; the potassium is twice as high in green vegetables)
  • Vegetables: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, avocados, asparagus, pumpkin, Swiss chard, and beet greens

National Cancer Institute Admits Cannabis Use Causes 45% Reduction in Bladder, Breast and Liver Cancer

Posted by

0


The National Cancer Institute recently released its report on medical marijuana. The overview of their conclusion is, THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) caused a 45 percent reduction in bladder cancer, remission in breast and liver cancer and more.

Medical-Marijuana

They have determined that there is no lethal dose of marijuana. And addictive potential is considerably lower than any other medicine available.

Among their findings, they have found that cannabis is not associated with adverse pulmonary function and does not cause lung cancer or any aerodigestive tract cancers. Cannabis does not cause other types of cancer either.

They found cannabis has great anti-tumoral activity. Through their testing they have determined that cannabis is more effective than conventional antiemetics (drugs that ease nausea). And inhaled marijuana was more effective in chemo-induced nausea than any other currently available treatment.

(Editor’s note- this article is written by Wyoming News which serves an entire state. We talk of the bottom of alternatives to inhaling marijuana.. But yes, it’s true about inhaled marijuana. Granted, you can also take cannabis in other forms medically prescribed by your doctor which we describe below.

Some of their other findings are: Cannabis appetite increase at 75 percent compared to the most effective medicine that has a 49 percent increase; weight increase at 11 percent compared to the most effective current medicine that has a 3 percent increase.

In opiate resistant cancer pain, marijuana had significant pain intensity relief, substantial analgesic effects, antiemetic effects and appetite simulation.

They also proved THC to be more effective then codeine. Some 10 mg of THC was more effective then 60 mg of codeine. There was no increase of the THC dose needed in long-term pain management.

Inhaled THC was shown to be more effective in neuropathic pain than current medicine. It also showed improved sleep quality and sense of well being and less anxiety.

These are just some of the findings of the National Cancer Institute.

The federal government has made it so no state can be prosecuted for implementing a medical marijuana program. That is why the 23 states (and our nation’s capital) with medical marijuana programs are still around.

Editors Notes: This is a guest piece by one of the bigger online papers for the entire state of Wyoming. We just spent many days in Colorado learning that most medical marijuana patients who are prescribed cannabis by their medical doctors and have their red cards for medical dispensaries and pharmacies actually get tinctures (aka “CBD oil” or cannabis oil)  Depending on their illness – the ratio of CBD: THC varies. We’re doing a documentary which will be out soon. We don’t sell any products on the site (but do have links to some things on Amazon) but we may recommend some of the higher quality legal CBD oils out there that we have used ourselves.

– See more at: http://www.healthnutnews.com/national-cancer-institute-finally-admits-thc-causes-45-remission-in-bladder-breast-and-liver-cancer/#sthash.ilgD3ure.Y3xIxJxy.dpuf

5 Reasons Your Blood Sugar is High

Posted by

2


It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to trying to understand what’s causing your high blood sugars. In life with diabetes, it’s only natural that we experience high blood sugars now and then, but when those highs seem to be a total mystery or not the result of blatant carb-counting snafus, they could be the result of something in your diabetes management that needs some tweaking.

January 8 2008 day 89 - On a highHere are 5 common reasons for consistently high blood sugars:

  1. Not enough background/basal insulin or oral meds: Whether you’re on a pump, pens or syringes, the number of units you’ve been taking for your background or basal insulin dose can change very easily throughout your life, sometimes without any clear reason. Usually, though, we go through phases of life that impact our background insulin needs such as increased regular stress, decreased activity, weight-gain, consuming more calories/carbohydrates or not getting enough sleep. All of the above are variables that could easily lead your body to needing just a wee bit more insulin in the background or a higher dose of your oral diabetes medications. If your blood sugar seems to be rising even several hours after you’ve eaten or while you’re sleeping, that’s a good sign your meal-time doses need some tweaking with the hep of your diabetes healthcare team!
  2. Not enough meal-time insulin: Your meal-time insulin doses can change just as easily as your background insulin doses because of gaining weight, less exercise, more regular stress, more food, etc. If your blood sugar is rising after every meal, and you’re constantly taking correction doses on top of your meal doses, that’s a good sign your meal-time doses need some tweaking with the help of your diabetes healthcare team! (By the way, that means your correction doses could need some tweaking, too!) Remember, just because your body needed a certain amount of insulin last year does not mean that’s the same amount of insulin it needs this year! Little tweaks in your doses can have a tremendous impact!
  3. Anaerobic exercise: We’re often taught in the doctor’s office that all exercise ought to lower our blood sugar but anaerobic exercise works different in the body than aerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercise is the category for things like weight-lifting, sprinting, spinning (sometimes, depends on the structure and intensity of the intervals), and CrossFit-like circuit training. Basically, every time you’re doing an exercise that requires you to start and stop (even running) which allows your heart rate to quickly go UP and DOWN, you’re working in an anaerobic capacity rather than an aerobic capacity; therefore your body is going to burn more body fat for fuel rather than glucose! Plus, your body is likely to produce adrenaline in response to some of those activities, which can also lead to higher blood sugars. You may find that simply starting your workout with an in-range blood sugar, without prepping with extra carbohydrates, is the easy fix to the highs you see during anaerobic exercise. If you continue to see those highs during your workouts, talk to your diabetes healthcare team about taking a small bolus of insulin prior to your workout to help prevent the consistent rise.
  4. Severe low blood sugars: How often is your blood sugar plummeting to 40 mg/dL or below during the day or the night? If this is a consistent pattern in your life with diabetes, then you’re probably also seeing your blood sugar sky-rocket an hour or several hours after that severe low. This is the result of your liver dumping glycogen (which is then converted into glucose) into your bloodstream in an attempt to save your life! Little does your liver know, you’ve always been downing carbohydrates to help raise your blood sugar, too, so you’re getting a double-whammy of glucose for that low! The fix? Take a closer look at what’s causing those severe lows and work with your diabetes healthcare team to prevent them from happening quite so often!
  5.  Non-diabetes medications: Beware of medications that can easily lead to high blood sugars such as Albuterol (used in asthma inhalers), Meloxicam (anti-inflammatory), Prednisone (immunosuppressant), and many others! Visit Diabetes In Control for a complete list of non-diabetes medications that affect blood glucose levels in diabetics. If you think you’re on a medication that could be raising your blood sugar, talk to your healthcare team about either substituting a different medication for that drug or adjusting your insulin doses or oral medications to help counteract the unwanted changes in your blood glucose levels.