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The idea that curcumin (a spice found in curry and mustard) was protective is not a big surprise.  What I found definately surprising was that, while the curcumin given to the colorectal cancer patients was found in the tumor and found to lower the amount of damage being done to the DNA, it was not seen in the bloodstream.  So, the question here is, was all the curcumin out of the bloodstream before one hour had elapsed, or did the curcumin not even get absorped effectively?  I don't have the answer, but given how frequently curcimin is put into "anti inflammatory" formulas for conditions such as joint pain it makes me wonder if the curcumin is even making it to the target tissues.

 

 

Recall that our bodies (yes--women AND men) breakdown estrogen to get it out of the system.  This process can follow several pathways.  The "2" pathway is generally considered protective.  The "16" pathway is generally considered damaging to the genes, and the "4" pathway is akin to lighting a stick of C4 and lying it directly on your good 'ole double helix.  Luckily, the body has a mechanism to instantly get rid of the "4" estrogen metabolite (which is subseptable to genetic variation along the COMT pathway), and the ratio between 2 and 16 is amenable to diet.  We know that compounds like cruciferous veggies contain indole-3-carbinol which gets converted to di-indolylemethane with the help of stomach acid.  This DIM goes on to make sure estrogen heads towards the 2, more friendly pathway.  This study confirms that lifestyle is an important determinant of this ratio.

 

 

Holy moly!!  Patients with normal/low cholesterol and elevated CRP had an ELEVEN TIMES risk of dying with coronary artery disease.  And there are still clinicians out there refusing to check CRP levels in patients with a family history of heart disease.  There is absolutely no excuse for this and these doctors should be pushed out of medicine.  And remember that fish oils, exercise and managing insulin resistance can bring down CRP levels quite well.

 

 

Tocotrienols are Vit E's more powerful cousin and usually kept in the closet.  However, they are present in some of the higher quality vitamins as well as a wide variety of foods like rice bran and certain oils like palm.  We have known that they have some powerful antioxidant properties for awhile, but this review suggest additional benefits of lowering cholesterol and, as a wonderful bonus considering the increase in neurodegenerative disorders, reducing glutamate-induce neurotoxicity.  This would suggest that those people with seizures or at increased risk of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's should put this one on the protective list.

 

 

Okay.  A couple problems here.  This study reviewed several statin drugs to determine which one lowered lipids better in patients with metabolic syndrome.  You know-metabolic syndrome-the condition where high INSULIN levels increase lipids.  So here's my analogy:  Your house is on fire and the smoke detector is going off.  We take a baseball bat, hammer and the wrong end of a screwdriver and beat on the smoke detector to see which one breaks the detector into the smallest pieces.  Forget the fire--that's not important.  And, just to be consistent with this study for my analogy, Astra Zeneca, the manufacturer of the hammer (which was found to be the most effective), paid for the study.  Suspicious?  And does anyone wonder why they didn't check corresponding insulin levels?

 

 

This study really demonstrates how behind the research most clinicians are.  Just checking cholesterol really does not give us a good picture of where the patient is as far as their risk for heart disease.  This study evaluated subclasses of LDL (small, intermediate, large), VLDL (very low density lipoprotein) and HDL.  Worsening insulin resistance did not affect LDL levels.  However, strong changes were seen in the subclasses--decrease in the large LDL offset increases in the other sizes of LDL.  So, if one just looks at straight LDL, you just missed the fact that the real picture is one of worsening risk (larger LDL and larger HDL particles are generally considered protective).  Subfractioning of the cholesterol molecules is looking more and more like a good idea...

 

 

IV magnesium (2 grams-a pretty hefty dose) was shown to be just as effective as Reglen (normally used to speed up gastric emptying) for treatment of migraine in the ER.  So, most would look at this and ask why anyone would use magnesium if it is just as effective.  Hmmm... magnesium is much, much cheaper.  No known side effects (diarrhea if given orally, however).  Makers of magnesium IVs are not getting sued for damaging the nervous system.  Need any more reasons to use magnesium instead?

 

 

You need to know that the next strong push in the research for the pharmaceuticals is a drug that will inhibit lipoprotein lipase in the liver and thereby raise HDL levels.  Still amazes me how much money a drug company will spend researching to find a patentable product when natural compounds exist that already work!!  Incidently, exercise, niacin and soy are also know to increase HDL levels as well...

 

 

So your doctor refers you for a clinical study on a pharmaceutical drug (can you say "guinea pig??").  Great, make sure you ask him if he's getting paid--many get anywhere from $1K to $12K for finding eligible patients.  Next, read the fine print.  If you're injured by the study, you most likely will be stuck with your own medical bills!!  In school sponsored research, if a phramaceutical company is backing the study, 61% of the studies will pay for injury.  If there is no drug company sponsor--the number drops to a paltry 22%.  I think even the guinea pigs end up with free veterinary care...

 

 

I know I've always gotten wonderful results in children/infants with eczema using probiotics.  The results are usually not so great in adults.  I feel that as these harmful patterns persist, they are much harder to reverse with simple methods like probiotics.  This study supports what I see in practice--that something as simple as probiotics can lower the inflammation found in the GI tract.