***Soy Product and Isoflavone Consumption in Relation to Prostate Cancer in Japanese Men***
There seems to be a never ending parade of people noting that soy is detrimental to our health. Unfortunately, many of the references they use do not hold up to scrutiny. Add to this that there are volumes of research on the beneficial aspects of soy and the isoflavones they contain. Keep in mind, however, that our bacterial flora in our gut plays a large role in how beneficial these isoflavones are. Over time, the bacteria in our gut "learn" to convert the isoflavones to their aglycones, and these aglycones are the compounds that are very protective for hormonal cancers. This was a large study looking at whether soy protected against prostate cancer. For localized prostate cancer, soy consumption lowered risk almost 50%. However, it did increase the risk for advanced prostate cancer. Rather than deterring from soy consumption, I would suggest that soy should be part of a lifestyle of healthy changes, coupled with other lifestyles to lower risk of prostate cancer (sunlight exposure, no dairy, plant based diet, exercise, etc..).
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***Comparison of Characteristics of Future Myocardial Infarctions in Women With Baseline High Versus Baseline Low Levels of High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein***
While the research is plentiful, the concept that inflammation is a major player in CVD has been slow to catch on. This study is just another that adds to the research, with some additional tidbits added in. The higher the hsCRP levels, the sooner healthy women had heart attacks and the more likely these women were to experience a fatal heart attack. The real kick in the glut region is that the use of statin drugs to lower cholesterol probably is not having its impact on CVD risk via cholesterol, but rather by acting as an anti-inflammatory. However, there are many other, much more potent, means of lowering inflammation that don't involve medications that lower levels of CoQ10, an absolutely essential nutrient for healthy cell function.
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***Has natural selection in human populations produced two types of metabolic syndrome (with and without fatty liver)?***
I have to admit, with as familiar as I am with metabolic syndrome, the concept that there may be three main clinical manifestations is new to me, but makes sense. We know that there are certain cells that make up the main contributors to insulin resistance and glucose metabolism: muscles, adipose tissue and liver. I've always viewed the effects as identical, but this author is suggesting that we may get 3 separate clinical pictures depending upon which tissue is most affected. Thinking about this and applying it to patients in my office, it makes much sense. I have very insulin resistant patients with very low body fat. I have patients that seem to have elevated liver enzymes long before anything else appears. And I have patients that look relatively lean but have a high body fat. All these pictures would suggest different tissues being affected and may lead to different emphasis on treatments. Interestingly, the main drugs available today to treat insulin resistance in diabetics acts ONLY in the liver and would probably be minimally effective in the other two clinical scenarios presented here.
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***Heightened Risk of Breast Cancer Following Pregnancy: Could Lasting Systemic Immune Alterations Contribute?***
This one gets a little deep. Many realize that pregnancy lowers your risk of developing breast cancer. What many do not know is that this is long term risk--in the short term the risk is actually elevated. So why the discrepancy? I have heard the theory proposed that the high levels of progesterone in pregnancy actually increase the risk of terminal duct lobular carcinoma of the breast, but lower the risk of interlobular ductal breast cancer. This article is suggesting a different (or complimentary) theory. We know that pregnancy induces a change in immune status towards a Th2 dominated state. With a Th2 immune profile, the body is less likely to look inside for something to attack (like the developing fetus). However, we use this system for cancer surveillance. This may indicate that a Th2 state during pregnancy would leave cancer cells to divide unchecked by the immune system, leading to increased rates of cancer.
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***Supplemental and Dietary Vitamin E Intakes and Risk of Prostate Cancer***
This study again points out that there is definitely a difference in what we call "Vitamin E." In most lower quality Vit E supplements, only the alpha form is used. However, Mother Nature uses primarily the gamma form, and, from many studies the gamma form has the more powerful effect on our risk of chronic disease. Interestingly, many studies have pointed to the fact that higher levels of the alpha form will lower the level of gamma forms in the blood. The history as to why the alpha form is the principle form marketed has been covered in past issues of Updates. In this study, higher dietary intakes of gamma tocopherol, but NOT alpha, resulted in a 38% reduction in risk of prostate cancer.
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***Sun Exposure and Prostate Cancer Risk: Evidence for Protective Effect of Early-Life Exposure***
While we're on the subject of protecting the prostate, we have to throw in sunlight exposure / Vitamin D. I cannot stress how important Vit D is to our long term health and the research supporting its role in most chronic diseases. Despite this research, the general public still has the idea ingrained into them that sun exposure is a bad thing, and we need to drink SPF 50 daily to protect our skin from melting away in cancer as we walk to the car. However, in this study, sun exposure at a higher latitude as a child as well help cut prostate cancer risk by over 50%. In adults with high levels of recreational sun exposure there was a lowering the risk for more aggressive prostate cancers. We have yet to fully see the ramifications on cancer rates that will occur as a result of our avoidance of sun exposure.
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***Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and the Serum Levels of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D in the United States***
Are you starting to get the idea that I'm not making this stuff up. The breadth of human physiology that Vit D cuts across makes it one of the most important nutrients (although it is actually a hormone, NOT a vitamin) on the radar screen today.
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***Efficacy of daily and monthly high-dose calciferol in vitamin D–deficient nulliparous and lactating women***
I very frequently get questioned on the doses of Vit D that I recommend to patients. While these dosages vary from patient to patient, a dosage of 2,000 IU / day is becoming a pretty standard recommendation. Many patients think that this is a very high dose. However, we are seeing more and more patients where 2,000 / day is not enough. This study backs up these observations, finding that 2,000 IU / day for 3 months was safe, but researchers found that very few women were able to get their serum levels above 50 nmol /L, suggesting that we are going to need to rethink our recommendations again. However, keep in mind that these researchers used Vit D2, which is proven to be an inferior source of D.
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***Vitamin D Status Predicts Physical Performance and Its Decline in Older Persons***
First, before I go on, these are 4 articles from 4 entirely separate journals published in the same month. If the average doctor is NOT concerned about vit D status in his or her patients, they have to be going out of their way to avoid current medical literature. That being said, we again see that, in this population of patients 65 years of age and older, that serum levels < 20 ng / ml were present in more than half the patients in this study (ideally, we want to be above 100 nmol / L or 40 ng / ml). The bottom line is that the higher the serum levels, the better the patients performed on physical performance tests.
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***Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and safety***
While this article came out in 1999, it is a wonderful review for anyone wanting to find out more about dosages and safety of Vit D supplementation. By the way, this author is suggesting that 10,000 IU / day may be a more appropriate dosage if you base supplementation levels on serum levels of Vit D.
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James Bogash, DC and Amy Strock, DC
1830 S. Alma School Rd, Bldg 7, Ste 135, Mesa, AZ 85210
(Alma School Road, just south of the Superstition Freeway/Highway 60)
Chiropractic Health Care for Chandler, Mesa and Tempe Arizona
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