May 31, 2001 Research Update

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

Soy Product Consumption Seems to Protect Against Hot Flashes

Those of us following natural medicine didn't exactly drop our jaws at this study. I would like to take this opportunity to explain something that most people would find very shocking. During perimenopause, it has been shown that women's estrogen levels are actually high. That seems to run totally contrary to what the medical dogma says, huh? Symptoms such as hot flushes actually result from a rapid change in estrogen levels. So, the goal of a woman in perimenopause is NOT to fall into the knee jerk HRT therapy, but rather to work on lowering the highs and raising the lows so that these rapid shifts of estrogen levels do not occur. Phytoestrogens such as those found in soy can help raise the lows as well as lower the lows. Progesterone cream can help to lower the highs as well. Hopefully you can start to see a nice program that can reduce or eliminate hot flushes safely and quickly.

Am J Epidemiol 2001;153:790-793 A dietary survey of Japanese women indicates that intake of soy products correlates inversely with menopausal hot flashes. Dr. Chisato Nagata and colleagues, from Gifu University School of Medicine, in Japan, report the results of a prospective study analyzing the association between soy intake and the onset of hot flashes in 1106 women between the ages of 35 and 54 years who were premenopausal at baseline. During the study period, 101 women experienced new moderate or severe hot flashes according to the Kupperman test of menopausal distress. After controlling for age, total energy intake, and menopausal status, hot flashes were significantly inversely associated with soy product consumption and isoflavone intake. Hazard ratios for hot flashes were 0.47 and 0.42 for high versus low tertiles of soy product and isoflavone intake, respectively, the team reports. "Although traditional hormone replacement therapy is effective in controlling hot flashes, compliance with this therapy is not great, and there is a desire for a more natural approach to the management of menopausal symptoms," Dr. Nagata and colleagues say. "Our findings suggest that consumption of soy products is a practical strategy for preventing hot flashes."

Bisphenol A Detected in Canned Food in UK

This substance acts as a xenoestrogen...mimicking the effect of estrogen in the body. These class of substances have been linking to many diseases, including breast cancer, PMS and early onset of puberty. Nearly two-thirds of the canned food tested contained levels of this chemical. To me, this is quite scary. It may be that the levels in any one can is not significant, but when you add that to other sources in the environment (plastics, certain pesticides, HRT...) the cumulative effect may be great. Then, look at the fact that many women have deficiencies in the way their own body detoxifies estrogen (liver problems, B vitamin deficiency, yeast overgrowth, pathogenic flora in GI tract...) it becomes even more of a concern.

(article) The results of a new survey by the UK government's food watchdog has shown that the seepage of the oestrogen-mimicking compound bisphenol A (BPA) into canned food is widespread. Nearly two thirds of tinned food assessed by the Food Standards Agency's Committee on Toxicity including Heinz baled beans, Tesco tuna and Sainsbury's fruit cocktail were found to contain BPA. Although the committee declared the level of contamination as "unlikely to be of concern to health," environmentalists have called for an alternative to BPA to be developed as a matter of urgency. Animal research has shown that BPA enlarges the size of the prostate gland in mice, advances the onset of puberty in females and reduces fertility in rats. The findings have led to speculation that the build up of BPA in humans — the chemical is also found in white dental fillings — may be responsible for the rise in testicular cancer, prostate cancer and reduced sperm counts. Children and unborn babies are thought to be at greatest risk of the effects of BPA because of their smaller body size.

Tough-to-Treat Myofascial Pain Responds to Botulinium Toxin Type A

It's pretty neat to see an article addressing an incredibly common condition that is virtually unheard of in mainstream medicine. Although this study uses Botox, other methods include trigger point therapy, post-isometric relaxation stretches, moist heat and manipulation.

53rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology Nearly three-quarters of patients with refractory myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) experience good to excellent pain relief following treatment with botulinium toxin type A (Botox) injections, according to data presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). While botulinium toxin type A has proven effective in a variety of conditions associated with muscle spasm, the literature on its use in refractory MPS has been limited. Of the 187 injections in 104 patients in whom records were available for review, Dr. Royal reported that 135 (72.2%) injections resulted in good (16.6%) to excellent (55.6%) pain relief, lasting an average of 2.7 to 3.8 months. Nearly one in five patients (19.2%) who had an excellent response had at least a six-month duration of relief. Treatments were well tolerated with only a handful of patients having mild and very transient reactions. Myofascial pain syndrome is a common chronic regional pain syndrome defined by the presence of trigger points and referred pain remote from the involved area, Dr. Royal noted.

Pediatricians Urge Limitations on Fruit Juice Consumption

Two points here. First, these recommendations were on fruit juice, not fruit drink. If recommendations are to lower juice consumption, imagine the attitudes towards fruit drink. So many parents are mislead into thinking that drinks such as Sunny Delight and those like it are healthy--and yet they couldn't be farther from the truth. As for the juice consumption, too often toddlers drink large amounts of juice. Always, the whole fruit is much preferred and much healthier, with plenty of soluble fiber to blunt the effects of the sugars taken in. Although the sugars are natural sugars and have less of an effect on insulin levels, too much of anything is not always a good thing. Pediatrics -- Abstracts: Committee on Nutrition 107 (5): 1210 http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/107/5/1210

Prevalence of atopic disorders in children w/ chronic OME

Here's a hypothesis for these findings--children with chronic otitis media w/ effusion (sterile fluid in the middle ear) have very likely gone through many courses of antibiotics. We have discussed very frequently how important normal, healthy flora iin the GI tract is protective. Destroy this w/ antibiotics and chronic diseases such as allergies and asthma begin to pop up... Synergy : Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 12 (2), 102-106 http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/Journals/content/abstracts/pai/2001/12/2/abstract_pai041.asp?journal=pai&issueid=5530&artid=105366&cid=pai.2001.1& ftype=abstracts

Nontoxic Potentiation of Chemotherapy by Oligofructose or Inulin

This is really a wonderful article that begins to look at the incredible power of the substances that natural gave us. Remember that oligofructose and inulin are classified as prebiotics (helps friendly bacteria the thrive). This study found that these substances were able to inhibit malignant cancer growth in animals. This article concludes by suggesting that these two compounds should be used as an adjunct to standard chemo. Cancer treatments that bring together the best and nutrition, funcitonal medicine and traditional medical care are almost always going to be your best bet. Journals Read More

ApoB is inhibited by the flavonoids, naringenin and hesperetin

This japanese sounding title refers to the ability of certain natural compounds found in various fruits, to lower cholesterol levels. Ironically, naringenin is the substance in grapefruit that leads to the recommendation of avoiding it (actually...only about 50% of patients on coumidin get this recommendation...) while on coumidin because of its ability to inhibit phase I detoxification in the liver. J. Lipid Res. -- Abstracts: Wilcox et al. 42 (5): 725 http://www.jlr.org/cgi/content/abstract/42/5/725

Assessment of Cognitive Function after Bypass Surgery

Just in case you needed another reason to take better care of your heart and avoid heart surgery. A large chunk of patients in this study who underwent coronary surgery experienced cognitive decline over five years as a result of the procedure. Remember...prevention, prevention, prevention.. NEJM -- Abstracts: Newman et al. 344 (6): 395 http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/344/6/395

Why do Patients w/ Rheumatoid Arthritis use Alternative Treatments?

I hope there are no patients with RA reading this, because they may get very offended by this study. Basically, this study try to evaluate why patients with RA seek alternative care. The answer? Psychosocial issues. It couldn't possibly be that conventional therapy for RA is incredibly toxic and may end up making the patient worse, and that alternative practioners can very often significantly relieve or put into remission RA? The concept of lifestyle changes and an anti-inflammatory diet for rheumatologists is, unfortunately, beyond their practice comfort zone. Springer LINK: Clinical Rheumatology - Abstract Volume 20 Issue 3 (2001) pp 192-196 http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/10067/bibs/1020003/10200192.htm

Troglitazone Increases VEGF in Diabetic Patients

Remember the new-wonder drug for diabetes? Remember it was pulled off the market because of liver failure. Well, now we also find out that it may increase new blood vessels formation and actually lead to diabetic retinopathy!! It just amazes me how frequently we see drugs on the market that may work in the short term, but actually make the condition worse in the long run. Although this article does not mention it, new blood vessels formation is absolutely required for most tumor growths. Might this drug in the long run lead to increased rates and increased metastasis of certain cancers? Diabetes -- Abstracts: Emoto et al. 50 (5): 1166 http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/50/5/1166

(for further reading on conjugated linoleic acid instead of troglitazone... Diabetes -- Abstracts: Ryder et al. 50 (5): 1149 http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/50/5/1149