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December 15, 2004 Research Update |
James Bogash, D.C. Mesa, AZ
info@lifecarechiro.com
www.lifecarechiro.com
n-3 Fatty Acids and Cancer Therapy
The research supporting the use of natural medicine along with traditional cancer therapies is, to say the least, overwhelming. And yet, I have a patient that is currently undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Her oncologist said her wants her taking NOTHING during the chemotherapy to it will not interfere. I'm sorry, but this is an ignorant, dangerous and narrow minded approach. Physicians entrusted to the care of patients in their most vulnerable time of their life should read medical journals in their sleep. But, the comments of this oncologist suggests to me that he reads none. This should be considered malpractice. As a physician, you have an OBLIGATION to stay current with the medical literature so you can provide your patient with the absolute best care. Sorry...I'll get off my soapbox now.
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Indole-3-Carbinol and Prostate Cancer
This same concept would benefit many cases of breast cancer as well (unbeknownst to the oncologist in the previous example...). But I have a question here. For I-3-C in foods to be activated to DIM, stomach acid is required. Are the physicians prescribing acid suppressive therapy informing their patients that the cancer protective effect of their foods will probably be reduced by this class of drugs??
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Bone Fragility and Collagen Cross-Links
So much attention over the years has been focused on purely bone density without any thought to the quality of the bone present. This research has started to surface, and it's not very pretty. The fragility (and therefore the quality) of the bone is a very important factor in whether or not a bone is going to fracture. The quality of a bone is much more than just stopping the bone's breakdown (via biphosphonate therapy like Fosamax) and needs to involve a wide spectrum approach including more of a plant-based/alkaline diet, high quality calcium as well as the numberable micronutrients needed for health bone. This also lends much credance to check the urine for the breakdown products of bone--a urine test that has been commercially available for many years now.
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Immune modulation after measles vaccination of 6–9 month olds
"Administration of high titre measles vaccines before 7 months of age led to increased overall mortality." I understand that measles in developing nations can be a serious and life threatening disease. But here in the US deaths from measles are virtually unheard of. So, in the spirit of "first do no harm," the forcing of vaccinations to newborns here in the US does not fit the mold. Might the American public, who blindly vaccinate their infants because that's what they've been told they need to do, rethink this policy if they knew their child might be MORE likely to die if they get this vaccine?
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Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders in the Offspring of Mothers Exposed to Mild-Moderate Iodine Deficiency: A Possible Novel Iodine Deficiency Disorder in Developed Countries
The answer to the origin of ADD/ADHD as well as autism will most likely result in a multi-factorial equation. One thing is for sure--we are doing something different to our kids that is negatively affecting their health and increasing their risk for chronic diseases. In this study, the concept that kids with ADD/ADHD may have developed a resistance to thyroid hormone as a result of iodine deficiency in the mom is proposed. Iron deficiency, vaccines, antibiotic overuse, poor nutritional quality diets and toxin exposure are all on the list as well. Most likely the answer lies in a mixture of all of these factors.
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Metabolic biomarkers of increased oxidative stress and impaired methylation capacity in children with autism
Ditto to above, with the addition that increased antibiotic use will destroy normal bacterial flora in the gut, and this bacteria can be a strong source of Vit B12. So, could destruction of normal flora with antibiotics be a contributing factor to the increase in autism? Overall, the sad thing is that many of these kids have horrendous diets. My wife had done in-home daycare for awhile. One of the kids she used to watch had a long list of psychological diagnosis, of which ADD was on the list. This same child used to come to the house in the morning eating candy bars for breakfast...
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Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress
This one definately falls into the category of "wow." Telomeres are portions at the end of our DNA that get shorter with each cell division. As these telomeres get shorter, the life span of the organism gets shorter and shorter as well. So, in this study, stress was shown to shorten telomere length. So, if it wasn't bad enough that stress indirectly increases your risk of many (if not most) chronic diseases, we now find that it directly shortens lifespan as well!!
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trans Fatty acids and systemic inflammation in heart failure
It has been only recently that trans fats present in hydrogenated oils and most processed foods have been getting some press. Hydrogenated oils are about as common as refined carbs and straight sugar in most of the foods consumed in the US today. So, given that inflammation is a major player in all chronic diseases and that trans fats upregulates inflammation to a rather large degree, where is the mainstream media on this one? They jump on Vit E with weak results, but ignore the real factors damaging our health.
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Bioelectrical impedance phase angle in clinical practice: implications for prognosis in advanced colorectal cancer
Given that I use BIA analysis quite frequently in my practice, this one hits home. It's just kind of funny how some patients and physicians react to the BIA and the phase angle that is calculated by the BIA. Most probably think it's more hype and voodoo than reality. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and phase angle tracks closely with mortality in many disease states. This study shows a cutoff at 5.57 (higher is better). Those higher than this had an average mortality of 40.4 months. Under? 8.6 months. Almost five times longer. Pretty good predictive value for voodoo...
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Tanning is associated with optimal vitamin D status (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration) and higher bone mineral density
As I've said before, sunlight has gotten a bad rap over the past ten years or so, and yet moderate sunlight exposure has tremendous protective benefits from the increase in Vit D production. The term "vitamin" for D is actually misleading...vitamins help enzymes do their job by acting as cofactors. Hormones, on the other hand, affect the well a cell expresses it's DNA. Vitamin D acts as a hormone and every cell in the body has a receptor for this compound, with an incredibly long list of beneficial effects.
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