***Risk factors for asthma at 3.5 and 7 years of age***
Regular readers of Updates know how much I rant and rave about how disconnected pediatricians are from the medical literature, and how inappropriate antibiotic use is devastating the health of our children. It is well established that the bacteria in our gut is a major factor in many processes, from toning a developing immune system to protecting against foreign bugs to detoxifying chemicals in our environment. To destroy this important balance of good vs bad bacteria in our gut without truly understanding the long term ramifications should be malpractice. In this study we see a relationship between antibiotic use and asthma, again a result of destruction of the bacteria so important in helping the developing immune system stay balanced. Of particular note is that the use of antibiotics quadrupled the risk of wheezing at 7 yrs of age. This is a very large increase in risk. In addition, the use of a used mattress in infancy also increased the risk. The point is that there are many modifiable risk factors to dramatically lower the risk of asthma in our children that are just NOT being addressed.
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***Maternal breast-milk and intestinal bifidobacteria***
I cannot begin to described my awe w/ the fact that bacteria shows up in breast milk. The physiological steps that would be needed to occur for active bacteria to be secreted into breast milk are numerous. The bottom line is that Mother Nature ABSOLUTELY meant for these bacteria to be in our systems. To further complicate matters on destroying the infants' healthy bacteria, this article would suggest that antibiotic use in the mother affects the risk of allergies in the infant by altering the bacteria she has available. This can put the onus for the infants' health in the hands of the obstetrician, a group notoriously behind the research already.
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***Dark Chocolate Improves Coronary Vasomotion and Reduces Platelet Reactivity***
Some people are still not aware of the benefits of dark chocolate. It contains high levels of flavonoids, which puts it in the same category as tea, wine and many fruits. The key here is DARK chocolate, which has a much higher cocoa content. As a family, we always keep some high cocoa content dark chocolate around the house, usually mixed with some type of almonds, berries or hazelnuts. Interestingly, in this study, the benefits were quite broad as it relates to the health of the blood vessels, improving several markers of coronary artery health, making the blood less likely to clot and lowering oxidative stress markers. Wash it down with some grapes, tea or red wine, and your good to go...
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***Annurca Apple Polyphenols Have Potent Demethylating Activity and Can Reactivate Silenced Tumor Suppressor Genes***
As a refresher, it is helpful to view our DNA as a huge book, with every cell in our body having this same copy of the book. However, to keep liver cells from turning on brain DNA our body uses paper clips to block out those chapters. The more DNA is protected by these paper clips, the less likely it is that damage is going to occur to this "protected" DNA. This "paperclipping" is a process called methylation. Because of this, we normally think of anything that demethylates to be a potentially harmful thing. Of course, with this study, we are constantly reminded of how little we know. Tumor suppressor and promoter genes do just that--promote or protect against tumors. Methylate a tumor promoter and you've lowered risk of cancer. On the flip side, if you demethylate a tumor suppressor, you've just lowered your risk as well. This study finds that Polyphenols in apples do the later--demethylate a tumor suppressor related to colorectal cancer--allowing it to do its job of protecting against tumors.
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***Watermelon Pomace Juice Enhances Arginine Availability and Ameliorates the Metabolic Syndrome***
There is much to be said about the source of a protein or carbohydrate or fat. When it comes to proteins, one thing we know is that plant sources of protein have much higher levels of arginine than lysine when compared to animal proteins. This is one of the factors that we believe plays a role in plant protein's health benefits. Arginine is an amino acid that is a precursor to nitric oxide, and nitric oxide is a major player in the blood vessels' ability to relax and lower blood pressure. In this rat study, it was shown that intake of watermelon juice (which is particularly high in L-citrulline--a precursor to arginine) raised serum arginine levels and helped to lower markers of metabolic syndrome.
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***Leisure time but not occupational physical activity significantly affects cardiovascular risk factors***
I frequently have patients check off the exercise box on their intake questionnaire, but when asked, they say that their job is strenuous. Unfortunately, this is not the first study to find that work time activity do not have the same positive effects as leisure time activity. Intuitively, this does not seem to make sense, since the body should not recognize the difference between the setting in which the activity occurs, in addition to the fact that our bodies were designed for hard labor, NOT exercise (there is no archeological evidence of prehistoric Nordic tracks, treadmills or Ellipticals....). It may be that the psychological status of the setting in which the activity occurs is the major player, but I can't prove that.
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***Antibiotics and Topical Nasal Steroid for Treatment of Acute Maxillary Sinusitis***
There are several conditions that we, as a society, have been conditioned to associate with antibiotic use. When the poor response to antibiotics is mentioned to patients, they frequently seem at a loss and feel that SOME type of treatment needs to be rendered for conditions such as ear infections, sore throats, bronchitis and sinus infections. The reality is that many of these conditions resolve with or without antibiotic use, and the use of antibiotics is some cases may actually LENGTHEN recovery time. That doesn't even take into account the damage to normal bacterial flora. This study finds no benefit to the standard treatment of antibiotics and steroids to sinusitis. Now, many doctors will defend their blatant disregards for the lack of efficacy when giving the prescriptions to the patients, falling back on the belief that patients are demanding some type of prescription. The bottom line is that, if the patient has respect for the knowledge of their physician and their physician clearly articulates why no prescription is needed, it would be much less of a problem.
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***Childhood dairy intake and adult cancer risk: 65-y follow-up***
For those of you still brainwashed into believing that "milk does a body good" you'd better sit down. In this trial, which looked at the adolescents' dairy intake and the risk of certain cancer 65 years later. They found almost a TRIPLIING of risk for colorectal cancer in the adults who had the highest dairy intake as a child. And this was dairy 65 yrs ago--free from antibiotics, growth hormones and xenohormetic stressors!! Of course, this can't compare to a dairy sponsored clinically trials determine that prostate cancer risk is not elevated in infants consuming dairy for 3 yrs...But seriously...how the heck is it that dairy recommendations have infiltrated EVERY public health recommendation from federal down to county when the evidence for it is weak at best? The only answer is that the dairy industry's money wields massive influence and ability to brainwash an entire country.
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***L-carnitine treatment reduces severity of physical and mental fatigue and increased cognitive functions in centenarians***
L-carnitine is a substance that helps shuttle fatty acids across the mitochondrial membrane to allow them to be used for fuel. Anything that supports the function of the mitochondria is going to have positive benefits on a variety of conditions, most notably in those cell types that require high amounts of energy such as the neurons.
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***Dietary patterns and risk of dementia***
While some information about dietary links to altered mental capacity has come out, the strength of these associations just hasn't been given the press it deserves. In this study, a protective effect of fruits and veggies as well as fish intake was seen for both dementia and Alzheimer's. Even more important, an increased intake of omega-6 fatty acids that wasn't balanced out by increased omega-3s (aka the Western Diet) more than doubled the risk! There is no doubt that neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are strongly lifestyle related. However, if we don't get the word out NOW, it will be at least 2 generations before we can see a decline in the incidence of these disorders.
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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 Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert & Tempe, Arizona
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