***Extracellular pH and Bone***
It has been known for some time that acid base balance plays a large role in bone metabolism. At the heart is the fact that our bodies use calcium as a buffer for acids in the blood. When calcium in the blood drops (an otherwise potentially life threatening situation) the body quickly moves to correct the drop. The best depot of calcium in the body is bone. So, in an acid situation, the body will leach calcium from the bone to keep the pH of the blood steady. Keeps us alive short term--destroys bone long term. This is one of the reasons I have always had an issue with the way we treat osteopenia and osteopororis in medicine today--almost exclusively by blocking bone turnover. An approach to bone health is multifactorial, including exercise, alkaline diet, optimal Vit D levels and an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. In addition, this study found that at acidic pH, the bone matrix actually becomes more soluble, resulting in further bone loss.
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***Selective Publication of Antidepressant Trials***
There are many who view chiropractic as being unscientific and think there is no evidence to support its use. This attitude permeates much of alternative medicine. Closer to reality, there IS research to support alternative medicine, and massive volumes to support functional medicine. Rarely, however, is money to be made on the basis of a published article or two. This is not true for pharmaceutical research. Quite the opposite. It has gotten to the point that the bias inherent in drug research is so massive and widespread that one has to step back and look and wonder if ANY is truly valid. I can tell you from my standpoint, as someone who reads a lot of medical literature, the evidence supporting MOST of what mainstream medicine does is shaky at best, downright dangerous at worse. In this particular review, it was found that when the negative studies were thrown into the mix with all the other studies, there is NO evidence to support the use of antidepressants in normal clinical use. It's not that there are isolated cases of positive response--there are. But for the number of patients on antidepressants given the very weak evidence of benefit (and a long litany of nasty side effects) it is inexcusable. Exercise 3 days a week shows improvements in mood dwarfing medication's effects. But few stand to make billions on treadmills alone.
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***Serum Micronutrient Concentrations and Decline in Physical Function Among Older Persons***
With some negative research on Vit E that was published several years ago, many physicians who do not understand the physiology behind Vit E began to recommend patients stop taking it. So, instead of taking the opportunity to educate their patients on Vit E differences (different tocopherols, tocotrienols, natural, synthetic), we've really messed them up further. There is absolutely no doubt that Vit E plays of positive role on our health, but there are some caveats. Mother Nature provides a blend of tocopherols and tocotrienols in foods, with gamma-tocopherol being the dominant form. The vast majority of supplements for Vit E are only the synthetic alpha-tocopherol form. High intake of alpha will lower serum levels of gamma. So, the idea that we would have some limited problems with high dose only alpha tocopherol supplementation is not that surprising. We should've used this research as a teaching tool for our patients. The problem is that we've been seeing some evidence of increased rates of diabetes and now declining physical function in patients with lower serum levels of Vit E.
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***Mitochondrial dysfunction as a cause of ageing***
Ah. My favorite topic. The Holy Grail of chronic disease prevention. The lynchpin of cellular health. Anything to harms mitochondria numbers or function is bad for us and leads to chronic disease. Anything that helps increase the number and efficiency of mitochondria promotes health and avoids chronic disease. It really can be that simple. It all boils down to the mitochondria. Protect them at all costs. This becomes even more important as we age, since mitochondrial function declines with age and begins to lead to the problems associated with aging.
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***Pomegranate Juice is Potentially Better then Apple Juice in Improving Antioxdiant Function***
Not all juices are created equal. While many parents liberally give apple juice to their little toddlers, our family relies heavily on darker juices such as pomegranate, cherry and grape juice. Even then, my 2 1/2 yr old will usually get 2/3 water and the rest juice. We should NOT be drinking our calories. But, if we must drink them, the best goal is to stick with high phytonutrient juices such as pomegranate and grape.
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***Influence of oxLDL on the Viability of Osteoblastic Cells***
While much hoopla has been generated about the links between LDL cholesterol levels and heart disease, in reality the association is thin. However, once LDL gets damaged and becomes oxidized (oxLDL), the links to heart disease now become much stronger. Of course, much like every other chronic disease, there are many metabolic abnormalities in common between disease states. If you're at risk for one, you're at risk for them all. Great news, huh? In this study, researchers found an association between oxLDL levels and the health of the cells that create bone, thus connecting one link between CVD and osteoporosis. Again makes you question the logic of using a single drug to impact one single pathway of a chronic disease (i.e. anti-resporptive agents for osteoprosis, statins for cholesterol).
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***Mercury Levels in Newborns and Infants after Receipt of Thimerosal Containing Vaccines***
The topic of vaccination is always a hotly contested one. Many pediatricians will not keep a patient in the practice if they are not fully vaccinated. As with any other topic, the answer usually lies somewhere in between. Links between autism, allergies, autoimmune conditions and asthma are of concern for patients. Doctors say the studies do not support the links. But, studies are always done in a vacuum; real life physiology, however, is not. The development of autism and immune system dysfunctions are not caused by single agents, but rather by the entire breadth of compounds a developing infant is and is NOT exposed to. That being said, the us of mercury in Thimerosal is inexcusable. Period. Whomever thought that there would be any safe level of a potent neurotoxin like mercury injected into a newborn should be shot. Point blank. Then throw in other physiological problems common in infants today like constipation (which allows more time for mercury that the body is trying to eliminate to be re-absorbed), low phytonutrient intake, near universal use of antibiotics with no concern for normal flora, in-utero exposures to toxic chemicals and you've got a physiological time bomb waiting to explode. Add in heavy vaccination (for many self-limiting diseases like chicken pox) which is WELL documented to skew the cytokine balance to a Th2 profile (run THAT one by your local pediatrician) and it's no wonder autism is on the rise.
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***Baby Care Products: Possible Source of Infant Phthalate Exposure***
Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) is unquestionably at the forefront of identifying and educating the public on environmental exposures. I use and refer to this site frequently and always urge others to do the same, with some additional thought to making a donation. Phthalates are petroleum products that are used in plastics. They are known endocrine disruptors and can interfere with thyroid and reproductive function. Any identifiable exposure to them should be eliminated. But the general public is not typically aware of the exposures their little ones are getting. Everyone is aware of lead, the phthalate exposure is much more prevalent, even in the womb. For our family, we have elected to use organic, expensive shampoo and bubble bath. Think about how long a child is soaking in a bath--it is worth the extra expense to me to by organic. Besides, we keep Keegan's hair short so an $8 bottle of shampoo will last 6 months. Incidently, EWG just got a law passed limiting the use of phthalate containing plastics to be used in any product for infant or toddler use. Sounds like a good idea to me...
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***Favorable Effect of Berry Consumption on Platelet Function, Blood Pressure and HDL Cholesterol***
When is comes to high phytonutrient value and protection of mitochondria, berries definitely are found high on the list. And, when you think about it, increasing your intake of berries is not exactly painful. A cup of wild blueberries daily can go a long way. In this particular study, we found increases in HDL levels with berry intake. Interestingly, there are not many direct pathways I can think of that would increase HDL levels with increasing polyphenol intake from berries. Which brings to mind the subject of surrogate endpoints. Recently, human clinical trials of a drug designed to raise HDL levels was canceled when patients in the study were dying on the drug, despite higher HDL levels. The use of surrogate end markers (instead of looking at death, we look at lab values that are linking to higher death rates, such as HDL cholesterol in this case). The trial was not the first to find that a drug designed specifically to affect surrogate endpoints has resulted in higher death rates. So maybe, just maybe, the fact that higher HDL levels seem to protect against heart disease is because HDL levels are merely a reflection of the health of the entire patient, and when they are healthy, HDL levels go up--rather then being healthy because HDL levels are elevated. So, back to this study, maybe the HDL levels have gone up because the polyphenols from the berries are improving the entire health of the patient, resulting in the by-product of higher HDL levels.
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***Protein intake and ovulatory infertility***
Assisted reproductive technologies in this country are big business. We won't go into the ethics of physicians providing ART to force a woman into a pregnancy that her body is screaming that it's not ready for and how this can impact and preprogram the developing infant for chronic disease and is slowly destroying the health of our nation because I don't have a strong opinion on this... However, the idea that lifestyle changes can impact fertility is well accepted in the research. In this study alone with the switch to an intake of plant protein vs animal protein resulted in 50% lower risk of anovulatory infertility. With numbers this high, it is an absolute that any woman wishing to become pregnant but having problems should attempt a high plant based diet. Besides being more effective and much, much, much safer with better long term health outcomes, it's got to be just a little cheaper than a $15,000 attempt at pregnancy....
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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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