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April 16, 2001 Research Update |
James Bogash, D.C. Mesa, AZ
info@lifecarechiro.com
www.lifecarechiro.com
NSAIDs and Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn
This article points out yet another side effect of NSAIDs; potentially damaging effects on the fetus. It never ceases to amaze me that so many patients consider chiropractic dangerous and yet can not put NSAID use into perspective. This effect on the fetus is new to me, but does not surprise me. Add it to the list of kidney, liver, articular and GI damage. Pediatrics -- Abstracts: Alano et al. 107 (3): 519 http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/107/3/519
Study Suggests Environmental Factors Play a Causative Role in IBD
Now that at least a portion of mainstream medicine is begining to recognize the role that environment plays in many diseases, we need to take a more aggresive role in managing these conditions without the use of drugs or surgery. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in this study were found to occur at higher rates in spouses of patients with the disease that would otherwise have been expected. Patient with IBD can actually respond very well to functional medicine concepts such as restoration of GI environment, avoidance of food allergens and maintenance of optimal digestive functioning. Gastroenterology -- Abstracts: LAHARIE et al. 120 (4): 816 http://www.gastrojournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/120/4/816
With Guidance, Diabetics Can Safely Incorporate Sugar into Their Diet
This definately falls into the "huh?" category. We have a substance which is esentially toxic to the body because the body cannot handle it properly (glucose). So lets give it to the body in small amounts so patients do not take it in large amounts? Diabetic patients should avoid high glycemic index foods...period. What we need more of is proper patient education and avoidance of processed and added sugars. Do you think funding for this study may have been provided by a pharmaceutical company that produces diabetic drugs??
Diabetes Care 2001;24:222-227 Teaching patients with type 2 diabetes how to include sugar into their daily meal plans does not adversely affect nutrition or metabolic control, study results suggest. Giving these patients the freedom to eat sweets may actually do more good than harm. Dr. Jean-Francois Yale and colleagues, from McGill University in Montreal, randomized 48 type 2 diabetics to a conventional meal plan containing no concentrated sweets or to a meal plan permitting up to 10% of total calories from added sugars or sweets. They discovered that patients in the "sugar" group had a tendency to consume fewer calories than the conventional group. The sugar group also ate significantly less carbohydrates and starch than the conventional group. "weight remained stable, and there was no evidence that consuming more sugar worsened metabolic profile or improved their perceived quality of life," the team reports in the February issue of Diabetes Care. The researchers say that their study provides evidence that teaching diabetic patients how to incorporate sugar into their diet may result in increased adherence to a healthy diet through better awareness of the carbohydrate content of food. They urge physicians to teach "sugar guidelines" to their diabetic patients.
Lycopene Helps Fight Infertility in Men
Given that lycopene (a substance found in many red fruits and veggies such as tomatoes and watermelon) has been shown to lower risk of prostate cancer, it is not surprising that this substance also has an effect on other male reproductive issues. Combine lycopene with zinc and therapies designed to restore hormone levels and many cases of infertility may be resolved.
(article) Lycopene, an antioxidant found in watermelon, grapes, tomatoes and some shellfish, seems to treat infertility in men, studies conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi show. AIIMS researchers Dr. Rajeev Kumar and Dr. N. P. Gupta had 30 infertile male patients, ages 23 to 45, take 2 mg oral lycopene twice daily for 3 months. "Lycopene is one of the 650 carotenoids found in high concentrations in male testes and lower levels of lycopene are found in infertile males," Dr. Gupta told Reuters Health. The duration of infertility in these men had ranged from 1.2 to 20 years, according to the researchers. In all cases, infertility was idiopathic. Twenty-seven patients had oligospermia, 26 had impaired sperm motility and 22 had abnormal sperm morphology. All three parameters were found in 14 patients, another 14 had two abnormal parameters and the remaining two patients had a single abnormality. After lycopene had been administered for 3 months, sperm concentration improved in 67% of the 30 patients. Maximum improvement was noted in patients with baseline sperm concentrations greater than 5 million/mL. Overall, 73% patients showed improved sperm motility and 63% showed improvement in sperm morphology. "We found that improvement in sperm concentration and motility was statistically significant," Dr. Gupta said in the interview with Reuters Health. There were six pregnancies after the trial, he added. "Oral lycopene therapy does seem to have a positive role in the management of infertility of unknown causes," Dr. Gupta concluded. "However, larger randomized controlled trials are essential before definitive therapeutic guidelines can be laid down."
Medication management in Primary and Secondary Schools
Excuse me for being mildly distressed at this article. We have a situation where a "widespread use" of prescription drugs is present in our school systems. Do we worry about why all these children are medicated? No. We worry about how to adequately and safely deliver the drugs to the children in a school setting. I cannot begin to describe how disturbing this trend is. Instead of trying to manage the problem, we need to figure out WHY these kids are on these drugs and how to FIX the problem.
J Am Pharm Assoc 41(1):67-77, 2001 Pharmacists and school nurses must cross professional borders if they wish to play a role in solving this important drug therapy problem. Pharmacists can provide therapeutic and contextual perspectives on the problem, while school nurses can implement solutions within the schools.
Severe Hepatic Reactions With New Arthritis Drug
I know sometimes it may seem that I highlight some of these "drugs are killing us" type of findings, but I only do it to stress how important it is for patients with diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (the disease this drug is used for) to make lifestyle modifications before trying some of the more harmful pharmaceutical options. Oral tolerance, food allergy avoidance, detoxification and GI restoration are all methods used by natural practioners to manage a case of RA. And with virtually unheard of incidence of side effects, let alone deaths.
(article) Severe liver injuries, some with a fatal outcome, have occurred in patients treated with Aventis' novel rheumatoid arthritis drug leflunomide (Arava), the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) said. In a public statement on its web site, the agency said a total of 296 cases of hepatic reactions had been reported. "Of these, 129 cases were considered as serious, including 2 cases of liver cirrhosis and 15 cases of liver failure, 9 with a fatal outcome." The statement, dated March 12, said that most adverse events occurred within 6 months of starting therapy. "Although confounding factors were present in many cases, a causal relationship to leflunomide cannot be excluded." Arava, a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, is the first new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in more than 10 years. It has been available from hospital specialists since 1999 for the treatment of adults with active disease.
Oral Creatine Supplementation on Human Muscle GLUT4 Protein
GLUT4 is the protein on the cell surface that is responsible for taking in glucose from the bloodstream. Certain medications and exercise will increase the number of GLUT4 on the cell surface. Now it appears that creatine may also do the same thing to a muscle that is immobilized. This has some important implications for both healing from injury and managing diabetes.
Diabetes 50(1):18-23, 2001 The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of oral creatine supplementation on muscle GLUT4 protein content and total creatine and glycogen content during muscle disuse and subsequent training. A double-blind placebo-controlled trial was performed with 22 young healthy volunteers. The right leg of each subject was immobilized using a cast for 2 weeks, after which subjects participated in a 10-week heavy resistance training program involving the knee-extensor muscles (three sessions per week). Half of the subjects received creatine monohydrate supplements (20 g daily during the immobilization period and 15 and 5 g daily during the first 3 and the last 7 weeks of rehabilitation training, respectively), whereas the other 11 subjects ingested placebo (maltodextrine). Muscle GLUT4 protein content and glycogen and total creatine concentrations were assayed in needle biopsy samples from the vastus lateralis muscle before and after immobilization and after 3 and 10 weeks of training. Immobilization decreased GLUT4 in the placebo group (-20%, P < 0.05), but not in the creatine group (+9% NS). Glycogen and total creatine were unchanged in both groups during the immobilization period. In the placebo group, during training, GLUT4 was normalized, and glycogen and total creatine were stable. Conversely, in the creatine group, GLUT4 increased by ~40% (P < 0.05) during rehabilitation. Muscle glycogen and total creatine levels were higher in the creatine group after 3 weeks of rehabilitation (P < 0.05), but not after 10 weeks of rehabilitation. We concluded that 1) oral creatine supplementation offsets the decline in muscle GLUT4 protein content that occurs during immobilization, and 2) oral creatine supplementation increases GLUT4 protein content during subsequent rehabilitation training in healthy subjects.
FDA Officials, Warner-Lambert Knew of Rezulin Risks
Once again, I don't mean to sound like I'm constantly bashing the use of pharmaceutical drugs. I want to stress the idea that, now more than ever, the situation is "buyer beware." Unfortunately, this is very difficult to do without a full background in physiology, pharmacology and access to all the research. My thoughts on this are, since very few people are actually in a position to make such an informed decision, the best route is to avoid being the guinea pig for new meds and using most meds only after safer, more natural methods have failed.
(article) Warner-Lambert downplayed the potentially fatal risks associated with Rezulin during the approval process and received help from federal drug regulators in pushing the drug toward marketing approval, according to an article published in Sunday's edition of the Los Angeles Times. The Times obtained company and government documents, as well as e-mail communications, which showed that Warner-Lambert officials had collaborated closely with certain senior officials within the US Food and Drug Administration during the approval process and later, when the company was being pressured to take the drug off the market. Rezulin (troglitazone) was initially approved by the FDA in January 1997 for treatment of type 2 diabetes. The drug was pulled from the market in March 2000 due to the number of reports of liver failure associated with use of the drug. At an FDA advisory committee meeting last year, regulators reported that there were 90 cases of liver failure among patients taking the drug since its launch.