April 23, 2003 Research Update

James Bogash, D.C. Mesa, AZ
info@lifecarechiropractic.com
www.lifecarechiropractic.com

Lutein and Zeaxanthin Raise Macular Pigment Density and Serum Concentrations of these Carotenoids

It is surprising how many elderly patients I see in my office that are affected by AMD. Many of them would do just about anything to get their eyesight back. I do not believe that AMD can be reversed, but I do strongly believe that carotenoids such as these, as well as zinc and the bioflavanoids found in bilberry can prevent or slow the progression. Another incredibly simple preventative measure is to constantly wear sunglasses--even when the sun is tucked behind the clouds.

nutrition.org -- Abstracts: Bone et al. 133 (4): 992

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Watermelon Increases Concentrations of Lycopene, beta-Carotene

What more could we ask for? Personally I could eat watermelon 24 hours a day. Recall that lycopene has strong evidence supporting its use for prevention and treatment of prostate cancer and is also present in tomato and grapefruit.

nutrition.org -- Abstracts: Edwards et al. 133 (4): 1043

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Macadamia Nuts Lowers Plasma Total and LDL Cholesterol Levels

Sadly, I had another patient recently that I obtained old bloodwork on (6 months prior). This women was on Lipotor, despite the fact that her cholesterol was under 200, HDL was sky high at 80-something and triglycerides were just under 300. This does not strike me as a patient that needs meds--she needs lifestyle changes to affect Syndrome X (abdominal obesity was also present). Worsening the picture was that her liver enzymes were elevated and her PCP made no changes. Worse, the "lifestyle changes" he gave here were no breads and low fat. What an incredible disservice this patient was given. She was surprised when I told her to increase nut consumption (as well as other beneficial changes for insulin sensitivity) because her PCP told her to avoid them...

nutrition.org -- Abstracts: Garg et al. 133 (4): 1060

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Differential effects of oral vs transdermal ERT on CRP in postmenopausal

Hate to rely all my sad stories, but I had a woman in this week; 60 years old, multiple open heart surgeries, stent placement in both renal artieries and 3 strokes. You would think her cardiologists (a long stream of them) would at some point have discussed insulin management, homocysteine and CRP with her. Appearantly not. She is also currently on oral ERT which, as we see in this study raises CRP levels.

Cardiosource

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Induction of tumors in mice by genomic hypomethylation

If you wish to fully understand the folic acid cycle and its contribution to the methylation process and how this drastically impacts our current health and disease prevention and how this pathway is subject to multiple genetic variations then don't ask me. I don't remember all that biochemistry either. Just know that folic acid and SAM-e are essential players in the ability of our bodies to protect DNA through a process called methylation. I have actually added high dose folic acid supplementation to my recommended basic vitamin list.

Entrez-PubMed

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Valerian

If I can get patients to get past the smell of this herb, most of them find it very effective at helping them sleep. Once again, American Family Physician gives a nice, unbiased review.

Valerian - April 15, 2003 - American Family Physician

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Uric Acid and Survival in Chronic Heart Failure

I don't always include articles about new lab values for prognostication of disease until be know how to modify the risk factor, but here we see that, in patient with chronic heart failure, low uric acid levels had a 100% accuracy in predicting that these patients will NOT need transplantation. Can't beat 100%!

Circulation -- Abstracts: Anker et al. 107 (15): 1991

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Magnesium Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Metabolic Control in Diabetes

If I'm reading this right (and someone please correct me if I am!!) it looks like these patients got 2.5 grams of magnesium per day in this study. This is an incredible dose--which is good because too often we see clinical trials with supplements that use non-therapeutic levels and then say that it was of no benefit. Keep in mind that 2.5 grams would need to be administered carefully to avoid diarrhea (past a point where no more magnesium is absorbed, it stays in the colon and attracts water...).

Dia Care -- Abstracts: Rodríguez-Morán and Guerrero-Romero 26 (4): 1147

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