October 30, 2000 Research Update

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

US prescription drug sales boosted by advertising

Who's says that research and good medicine are behind the rise in use of presecriptions drugs? It's got nothing to do with that. Quite the opposite...there's been much controversy lately with the pharmaceutical industry infiltrating into the FDA and affecting the results of so-called unbiased research. bmj.com Charatan 321 (7264): 783 http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7264/783

Mammography no better than physical breast examination, study shows

There has been some debate recently in the medical literature as to whether or not a benefit clearly saves lives. Depending upon the research study you look at, mammography either extends survival or has no effect. And the jury is still out. The bottom line...avoid the issue with detection. Prevention is, has been, and always will be the best answer. Avoid saturated fats, alcohol, refined carbs and hormone replacement therapy. Get plenty of exercise and calcium-d-glucarate from fruits and veggies... bmj.com 321 (7264): 788e http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7264/788/e

Intake of specific carotenoids and risk of lung cancer

You may remember the controversy several years ago when a research study was cancelled because of an increase in lung cancer in smokers taking beta carotene. Well, many jumped to the conclusion that beta carotene was bad. Unfortunately, this was yet another example of man trying to best nature. Nature actually makes hundreds of carotenoids, and they interact in ways to protect our health that scientists can only dream of. To isolate ONE of these carotenoids and use it in large doses to affect a certain disease, is it really a surprise that the results were not as promising as would be hoped? Well, this study redeems the value of a mixture of carotenoids on health. AJCN -- Abstracts: Michaud et al. 72 (4): 990 http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/4/990

Garlic consumption and cancer prevention

Here we go again. This is another study looking for what it should--the effects of natural substances on health. And using the WHOLE food, not an extract in pill form. Nature put it there for us to use, not try to identify the active components, extract them and concentrate them in a pill. Whole foods are always the best way to get our nutrition and maintain good health. AJCN -- Abstracts: Fleischauer et al. 72 (4): 1047 http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/4/1047

Long-Term Effect of Dust Control on Blood Lead Concentrations

Frequently cleaning of dust in a household has always been recommended in an attempt to keep the levels of lead to a minimum. This moderately large study suggests that this approach has no effect on a child's level of lead in the blood. This places additional weight on other methods of prevention; increased vitamin C intake, avoiding fluoridated water (not only does fluorisilic acid increase lead uptake, but poor quality control allows much lead to slip INTO the water supply to make matters worse), keeping an air filter in the child's room and drinking only filtered water. Pediatrics -- Abstracts: Lanphear et al. 106 (4): e48 http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/106/4/e48

Decline in Prevalence of Neural Tube Defects in a High-Risk US area

The use of folic acid in periconceptional women is lowering the risk of birth defects. A few notes here on this good news. First, most women get most of their folic acid from supplements, but a much better source is from whole grains. Next, the truly sad part about this news is that research suggesting a benefit for folic acid on neural tube defects began to surface in the late FIFTIES. If only we had begun to recommend something as safe as folic acid before we were entirely sure it would work, we would've saved literally hundreds of thousands of defects. Incidentaly, we are at that same stage with vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid for lowering homecysteine and possibly heart attacks. Do you want to wait another 50 years before someone finally says conclusively that these nutrients lower risk of cardiovascular disease?? Pediatrics -- Abstracts: Stevenson et al. 106 (4): 677 http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/106/4/677

New Variant of IBD Observed in Children With Developmental Disorders

Dr. Andrew Wakefield is truly a pioneer, and yet he has received an indescribable amount of criticism for his studies suggesting a possible link between the mumps vaccine and autism. And yet, like many old pioneers ridiculed by their colleagues, further research is confirming his findings. There appears to be a link between the health of the GI tract and autistic patients. While some may consider this ludicrous, to those of use familiar with functional medicine, it is very plausible.

Am J Gastroenterol 2000;95:2154-2156,2285-2295 Children with developmental disorders seem to be at risk of developing a distinct variant of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that lacks the typical features of either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. "The combination of ileocolonic lymphoid nodular hyperplasia and colitis in children with developmental disorders distinguished them from developmentally normal children with similar symptoms (including abdominal pain and constipation) in whom lymphoid nodular hyperplasia and histopathological change were uncommon," Dr. Wakefield and colleagues say. The accumulating evidence of a specific variant of enterocolitis in autism makes it "tempting to suggest that a gut-brain interaction" may be involved in the pathogenesis of what researchers are beginning to call "autistic enterocolitis," the authors note. They explain that recent detection of opioid peptides of dietary origin in urine from some affected children is further evidence of this possibility. But in a related editorial, Drs. Eamonn M. M. Quigley and David Hurley, of the National University of Ireland in Cork, say that "there is, at present, insufficient evidence to establish either a direct or indirect link...between an inflamed gut and the brain, in autism."