Problems with New Sweetener

UPDATE: August 2010
Here's a toxic sweetener you most likely had never heard of, but I would caution you to make sure you do not ingest it:

^{HealthEdge's NaturallySweet} 

This is manufactured by these folks.

Truvia, Purevia, Zevia, Zerose, Zsweet are marketing names for this artificially blended  erythritol and rebiana mix.  Rebiana is a chemically modified form of  stevia, it is NOT pure stevia.

UPDATE 4, Consumer complaints regarding Truvia

UPDATE 3, 23 December 08: A reader comments on Erythritol as not causing her any problems as noted in our researcher's report. Just like all substances, the ingestion of a substance needs to be in the right form, the right amount, et al, and the effect and outcomes are individual. Please realize that our researcher is a former FDA investigator who has an indepth background in the sciences necessary to make such statements. Please note that the artificial sweeteners referred to, Truvia (Cargill) and PureVia(Whole Earth Sweeteners) are manufactured by these agribusness corporations with an extract of stevia (rebiana)and erythritol and are NOT whole leaf stevia or pure(whole leaf)stevia extract.

UPDATE 2, 22 December 08: Please note that contrary to other reports you may be reading, the FDA DID NOT APPROVE STEVIA. The FDA, in cahoots with Cargill and Coke, approved a synthesized product - as reported originally in this article - manufactured with rebiana (an extract from Stevia) and erythritol (a sugar alcohol).

As Dr. Evangelista states (quoted below): "DO NOT CONFUSE REBIANA (TRUVIA) WITH STEVIA"

UPDATE 1, 20 December 08: Zerose is the Cargill synthesized artificial sweetener made from stevia and erythritol. Zsweet is a similar product in UK and EU. There are numerous scientific studies presenting that this, and related products such as Truvia, may lead to calcium, potassium and phosphate loss with calcification (and lesions) in the kidneys (just like Splenda) and bowel alterations. Please read more.

As to Zevia soda, it seems to me to be quite irresponsible on the part of the company CEO (an attorney)to make the following quote, "Why not supplement a steady breast milk diet with some refreshing ZEVIA?" This quote is associated with a photo of an infant being fed soda by the mother on the company blog. I would suggest the mother is irresponsible as well. While the company web site does not state that Zerose is the sweetener used in their products it does mention that eryrithritol is an ingredient.

I am sure this fellow was not in my 'Social Responsibility of Business' class in grad school.

We suggest Just Like Sugar, unaltered Stevia (order the extract via the Starwest link on this page) and Agave.

We do not endorse the use aspartame or sucralose or any forms of these chemicals, first developed as inseticides, or any products containing them, as they are known toxins to human health, nor do we endorse the use of acesulfame K.
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12-19-08
The news this morning on NPR seems to be focused on helping you be in the spin on 'rebiana'(Truvia) and how it is "just stevia".

Coke (using Truvia) and Pepsi (using PureVia) are marketing this new artificial sweetener in their beverages but apparently aren't open to presenting both sides of the story.

Even the one TV ad I saw recently for "Truvia" would lead you to believe that this is a safe and natural additive.

Zevia(a soda), because it contains erythritol, may also have similar problems.

The problem is that is may come from natural sources but it is an extracted and modified chemical when it comes out the other end.

DO NOT CONFUSE REBIANA (TRUVIA) WITH STEVIA
Do not confuse this with pure stevia, it is a combination of chemicals with a dab of the stevia plant. Stevia itself is a sweetener and yet they are using Erythritol which is a sugar alcohol known to cause such things as bloating, diarrhea and cramps. That tells you they are not using much stevia. Nor are they removing the poisonous aspartame from Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi. They are simply trying to satisfy a part of the population that knows how deadly aspartame is and wants to use something else.

Notice this sentence: "Stevia was not approved as a food additive by U.S. regulators, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued letters to the companies on Wednesday saying it had no objections to their sweeteners, which are derived from the plant." The FDA has made themselves clear. Industry can do anything they please but they have no intention of approving something safe for the general public. They don't want to displease the aspartame industry who is powerful and takes care of those who defend their poison. Make sure you understand this is a combination of sweeteners and chemicals and not real stevia. The pop companies feel "a dab will do you, so just buy our product regardless of how its made". The public again will be the guinea pigs and lab rats. Also, see the admission that Pepsi's Purevia is being developed with Merisant, an aspartame manufacturer. Nobody should use these products until they are analyzed. Industry is constantly adding small amounts of aspartame because its addictive. If they do this to these products aspartame victims will react because aspartame is so poisonous it causes chemical hypersensitization.

Lab Tests Point to Problems with New Sweetener
Consumer group says product can increase cancer risk
September 2, 2008

A consumer group says a new commercial sweetner, said to be 200 times sweeter than sugar, may cause health problems and needs more study. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are planning to introduce new drinks made with the sweetner, rebiana, an extract of stevia leaves.

In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says the agency should require additional tests, including a key animal study, before accepting rebiana as Generally Regarded as Safe, or GRAS.

The letter cites a new 26-page report by toxicologists at the University of California, Los Angeles, several, though not all, laboratory tests show that the sweetener causes mutations and DNA damage, which raises the prospect that it causes cancer.

"A safe, natural, high-potency sweetener would be a welcome addition to the food supply," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "But the FDA needs to be as sure as possible that rebiana is safe before allowing it into foods that would be consumed by tens of millions of people. It would be tragic if the sweetener turned out to cause cancer or other problems."

One key animal study has not been conducted, according to the UCLA experts and CSPI. The FDA's guidelines advise testing prospective major new food additives on two rodent species, usually rats and mice. The new sweetener has only been tested on rats, but not mice.

The toxicologists' report said that because several studies found mutations and DNA damage, a lifetime mouse study designed to evaluate the risk of carcinogenicity and other health problems was particularly important.

The UCLA toxicologists emphasized the need for more genotoxicity tests, because of the evidence that derivatives of stevia that are closely related to rebiana damage DNA and chromosomes.

Their report noted that much of the recent research on rebiana was sponsored by Cargill and urged the FDA to obtain independently conducted tests to ensure that corporate biases don't influence the design, conduct, or results of the tests.

Rebiana is shorthand for rebaudioside A, a component of stevia. It is obtained from the leaves of a shrub native to Brazil and Paraguay. Coke, Pepsi, and other companies are excited about rebiana, because it supposedly tastes better than crude stevia, which is sold as a dietary supplement in health-food stores.

After all the controversies pertaining to saccharin, aspartame, and other artificial sweeteners, the food industry expects many calorie-conscious consumers to eagerly opt for this natural sweetener.

Two companies -- Cargill and Merisant -- have told the FDA that rebiana should be considered GRAS, a category given less scrutiny by the FDA than ordinary food additives. A third company, Wisdom Natural Brands, has declared that its stevia-based sweetener is GRAS and will market it without giving evidence to, or even notifying, the FDA. That company gave CSPI only a heavily redacted report prepared by scientists it hired to declare its stevia derivative, which is of unknown purity, is safe.

Stevia is legal in foods in Japan and several other countries, but the United States, Canada, and the European Union bar stevia in foods because of older tests that suggested it might interfere with reproduction. New tests sponsored by Cargill did not find such problems.

"I am not saying that rebiana is harmful, but it should not be marketed until new studies establish that it is safe," Jacobson said.

Cargill's version of rebiana is called Truvia and would be used by Coca-Cola. Pepsi's version is called PureVia and is produced by Merisant's Whole Earth Sweetener division. Merisant is best known for marketing the Equal brand of aspartame.

CSPI has not questioned the safety of two artificial sweeteners, sucralose (Splenda) and neotame, but says that suggestive evidence indicates that saccharin, aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), and acesulfame-K pose small risks of cancer.

"The whole issue of what gets GRAS status needs to be reviewed by Congress," Jacobson said. "It's crazy that companies can just hire a few consultants to bless their new ingredients and rush them to market without any opportunity for the FDA and the public to review all the safety evidence."

Two of the most harmful ingredients in the food supply are considered GRAS: salt, which raises blood pressure and causes thousands of unnecessary heart attacks and strokes every year, and partially hydrogenated oil, which is the source of artery-clogging artificial trans fat. CSPI has long campaigned to get partially hydrogenated oil out of the food supply and to reduce salt to safe levels.
From Consumer Affairs

More Asthma and Risk of Asthma Drugs

UPDATE: 15 July, 2010 - Interferon is known to cause liver and kidney failure.  St. John's wort is a natural interferon.

Interferon may help stop asthma

DALLAS, July 15 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers suggest the protein interferon may help block immune cells known to cause asthma.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas say interferon -- an immune-system protein used to treat multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C and a number of cancers -- may help asthma patients breathe easier.

The study, published in the Journal of Immunology, finds interferon blocks the development of immune T lymphocytes cells known as T helper 2 cells, which help protect against infection but in some individuals also promote allergic responses to substances such as animal dander and pollens. Once these cells become reactive they promote all of the inflammatory processes common to an allergic disease like asthma.

"This finding is incredibly important, because humans are being treated with interferon for a variety of diseases, yet no one has tried treating asthma patients with interferon," Dr. J. David Farrar, the study senior author, said in a statement. "The current therapies for asthma are inhalers and steroids, both of which offer only temporary relief."

Farrar and colleagues determined in isolated human cells that interferon blocks the development of the T helper 2 cells by interfering with a transcription factor.

"By targeting this transcription factor, we've turned off the key component that regulates the entire process," Farrar said. 

© 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Originally posted: 12/10/08

Most people of color, it has been shown, receive second class health care, when compared to white males in the US.

I think we all get second class health care, on the way to third, because of the drug issues, failure to deliver good health care, discrimination and other factors.

I do know that there are quite a number of questions about asthma that probably aren't being asked, and there are quite a few natural approaches that aren't even considered.

One of these happens to be low magnesium levels that is an issue in heart disease and other health problems.

Then of course there is pollution, poor food supplies, food allergy, and untoward effects of vaccines and prescription drugs.

Asthma rate higher in US-born blacks, Dorchester study finds
By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff | December 1, 2008

A landmark survey conducted on street corners in Dorchester shows that African-Americans born in this country are nearly three times more likely to have asthma than their black neighbors born abroad, a finding that could yield important clues about a national epidemic.

The study was conceived in 2005 by frustrated residents of Dorchester who wanted to understand why asthma is rampant in their neighborhood. The results appear in the November edition of the Journal of Asthma.

It is believed to be the first study to show varying asthma rates among African-Americans based on place of birth - although scientists can't say for sure why Dorchester blacks born outside the United States suffer less from asthma.

"It has a through-the-looking-glass feel to it," said Doug Brugge, the researcher at Tufts University's medical school who presided over the study. "We're used to thinking that people coming from developing countries have worse health."

Theories for the disparity range from more sunlight exposure for foreign-born African-Americans during childhood, to less time spent cooped up inside, where mold, cockroach droppings, and other triggers dwell.

One of the most provocative - and even paradoxical - suggestions involves something called the hygiene hypothesis: Because natives of other nations, especially those in the developing world, may encounter more infections growing up, their immune systems often ignore threats such as dust mites and mold. When the immune system does not regularly confront life-threatening diseases, its ammunition instead is directed at lesser enemies, provoking allergic reactions that can spawn asthma.

"There may be a price to be paid for growing up in a more sterile, hygienic environment with fewer infections as a child," such as the United States, said Dr. George O'Connor, director of the Adult Asthma Program at Boston Medical Center. "And the price to be paid is that your immune system may develop more along the lines of promoting allergic responses."

The Dorchester findings did not come as a total surprise: Earlier research had shown that foreign-born Asians and Hispanics appear less prone to the disease.

The discovery is another piece in the emerging jigsaw puzzle of asthma, which has roughly doubled in prevalence nationally during the past three decades.

Evidence of the epidemic can be heard all across Dorchester, as the sounds of suffering ricochet through homes: coughing jags, raspy wheezing, chest-clenching gasps for air - and time spent in clinics rather than at school and work.

Everywhere Mary White turns, the Boston native finds someone whose life has been defined by the disease, she says, starting with her own. She has asthma and so do her three sons, and her mother. So did her deceased father.

"When you ask a person, 'Do you have asthma? Do you know what asthma is?' and then you look in their eyes, you see something, because everyone has someone in their family with asthma," said White, a member of the Boston Urban Asthma Coalition, an advocacy group. "But we wanted to get it on paper."

So they approached Brugge and asked him to study asthma in Dorchester, as he had done in Chinatown. He agreed - and then enlisted the people of Dorchester to help collect the data.

They stationed themselves at T stations, grocery stores, and laundromats.

"You're sitting there waiting for your clothes to dry, and you're always talking to the person next to you - so why not talk to me?" said Neal-Dra Osgood, coordinator of the asthma coalition's Strengthening Voices project, which works to provide support for families of asthma sufferers.

Using a carefully constructed survey, nearly 20 parents and Harvard medical students fanned out across Dorchester in 2005 and 2006, with findings on 290 adults and 157 children included in the analysis.

"The idea is that community members know something about the disease that outsiders don't, both how it affects their bodies and their families, but also, more importantly, about the community context," said Jason Corburn of the University of California at Berkeley, who studies the intersection between community involvement and urban environmental health, an ethos neatly summarized in the title of his book "Street Science."

The study found that 30 percent of African-American adults who were US natives had been diagnosed with asthma, compared with 11 percent of blacks born elsewhere. Researchers cautioned that the study is a snapshot of only one neighborhood.

Still, it reflects an emerging recognition that scientists should stop regarding racial and ethnic groups as monoliths. "We have to be really aware that using a broad brush, you're going to miss some really important differences," said Dr. Lauren Smith, medical director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Asthma has rampaged across New England in recent years; one study estimated that the number of people in the region diagnosed with the condition rose by 400,000 from 2001 to 2004. The disease is more common here than anywhere else in the country, with one in seven adults and children affected.

Studies have shown that children who spend pivotal growing-up years in farming areas are strikingly less likely to develop asthma. Researchers theorize - and biological tests suggest - that exposure to germs during childhood reduces reaction to allergens. But it remains unclear what to do with that finding.

"Do you definitely want people here to start dealing with all the issues other countries have outside the United States in order to get rid of asthma and allergy?" said Dr. Wanda Phipatanakul, an allergist at Children's Hospital Boston.

Mary White dealt with her family's asthma by moving out of the mold-ridden, vermin-attracting apartment in the South End where they lived. Now, home is a two-family in Dorchester. Shoes never touch the living room floor. Dust is quickly banished. And the floors glisten with shiny wood instead of wall-to-wall carpeting. All help reduce the asthma symptoms.

She always knew in her heart, White said, that asthma placed an especially heavy burden on her neighborhood. But with the study, "someone's going to listen to you now," she said. "It's proof. And proof is important."

FDA advisers weigh risks of asthma drugsBy RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer
Wed Dec 10, 2008
WASHINGTON – In recent years, millions of asthma patients have started using long-acting drugs to help them breathe more normally, allowing for nights of uninterrupted sleep or workouts at the gym.

Now the Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether the medications, in rare cases, can increase the risk of serious asthma complications, the kinds that send patients to the emergency room gasping for air. At a two-day meeting that begins Wednesday, independent medical advisers will hear the scientific evidence and make recommendations on whether the drugs should continue to be used to treat asthma.

At issue are four inhaler medications: Advair, Foradil, Serevent and Symbicort. Within the FDA, opinions appear to be divided. The safety office is recommending that Foradil and Serevent no longer be used for asthma, and that none of the drugs be used by children 17 and under. But the head of the FDA office that oversees respiratory medications has written that banning the drugs would be "an extreme approach," and could backfire by leading to more cases of uncontrolled asthma.

The companies that make the medications say they are safe, and that at least some of the medical evidence that has raised questions from the FDA is of poor quality. Doctors who treat asthma patients are worried that the drugs could be banned.

"We would lose a medicine that patients find helpful," said Dr. Paul Greenberger of Northwestern University in Chicago, president-elect of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. "We would be going backward, and the consequences of that would be more untoward effects of asthma. That's a major deal, because asthma hospitalizations continue to be too high."

The four drugs contain a kind of long-acting medication known as a LABA (for "long-acting beta 2-adrenergic agonist"). The drug relaxes tight muscles around narrowed airways. Medical guidelines for treating moderate to severe asthma recommend use of a LABA together with a steroid, which treats inflammation deep inside the airways.

Foradil and Serevent are LABA-only products. Advair and Symbicort combine a LABA and a steroid in one inhaler that patients use every 12 hours. Asthma patients must also carry a "rescue" inhaler to deal with the sudden onset of symptoms.

Some experts believe that using a LABA drug alone can mask developing symptoms, and unexpectedly get patients in trouble. That's why medical guidelines call for LABA medications to be used along with a steroid.

In preparation for the meeting, the FDA analyzed findings from 110 clinical trials involving nearly 61,000 patients, comparing patients who took a medication containing a LABA with those who used a steroid alone to control their asthma. Experts looked for deaths, hospitalizations and cases in which a patient had to have a breathing tube inserted.

The analysis found 20 deaths from asthma complications, of which 16 were in patients taking a LABA-only drug, Serevent.

Advair, a widely used medication made by GlaxoSmithKline, did not appear to have a higher rate of serious complications when compared with treatment on steroids only. Foradil, Serevent and Symbicort all had higher rates of problems, but the increase was statistically significant only in the case of Serevent.

About 22 million people in the United States suffer from asthma, and children account for nearly one out of every three patients. Asthma claims nearly 3,600 lives a year in the U.S.
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press

Oh, I know, you are one of those health nuts

UPDATE: 11 May 2010 - Diabetes associated with statin use Reported Sattar N, Preiss D, Murray HM, et al, Lancet. 2010;375:735-742. Epub 2010 Feb 16.
Certainly the risk of diabetes is not one which you may wish to undertake. Changing foo and lifestyle can do many great things for health, and help you reduce cholesterol without risk of diabetes.

And from another source here's more old news about the benefits of raw nuts for health. I wonder how many times the same studies are done before the findings trickle down to the everyday public...

Nuts, by the way, in addition to containing vitamin E for cardiovascular health, do contain a fat that is found in deficient levels in people suffering with wheat allergy.

Remember, it's just 1/4 cup daily of raw nuts to help you reap a multitude of benefits to help you avoid using problematic drugs.

Eating nuts may help lower cholesterol levels, US research suggests.
The review of 25 studies, involving nearly 600 people, showed eating on average 67g of nuts - a small bag - a day reduced cholesterol levels by 7.4%.
The US Loma Linda University team believes nuts may help prevent the absorption of cholesterol.
UK experts said the research showed nuts were an important part of a healthy diet, but warned against eating nuts covered in sugar or salt.
Previous work has indicated eating nuts regularly is beneficial, but the Archives of Internal Medicine study set out to put an accurate figure on the effect.

“ The effects of nut consumption were dose related, and different types of nuts had similar effects ” Lead researcher Joan Sabate

The people involved ate 67g of nuts a day on average, over a period of three to eight weeks.
As well as improving cholesterol levels, it also reduced the amount of triglyceride, a type of blood fat that has been linked to heart disease.
However, the impact was least pronounced among the overweight.
It is not yet clear why nuts have this effect, although one suggestion is that it is down to the plant sterols they contain, which are thought to interfere with cholesterol absorption.
Lead researcher Joan Sabate said increasing nut consumption as part of a healthy diet should be recommended.
He added: "The effects of nut consumption were dose related, and different types of nuts had similar effects."
Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, agreed, but she urged people to go for unsalted nuts.
"Apart from salted peanuts at the pub, nuts in sugary cereals or the traditional Christmas selection, nuts have been largely lacking in our diets in the UK," she added.
The study was carried out by independent researchers, although it was partly funded by the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation.

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8673208.stm
Published: 2010/05/10 23:31:27 GMT © BBC MMX
12.15.08 - Nutty for sure but up on healthy foods for longer than most people ever thought of this so-called "new" report on why eating nuts is good for health.

About a dozen years ago I taught one of my seminars at Edmonds Community College about heart health. I had just found an excellent study about how just 1/4 cup daily of raw walnuts would go a long way to keep your heart healthy. Plus they would give you a food source of health promoting vitamin E.

Now someone has gone again and gotten some money to do research about something that could have been found in a thorough search of the literature.

So here you go, since it is "news", a few more facts on nuts.

Please note that the health benefits refer to using raw nuts and organic would be the best choice.

Walnuts

In addition to their omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts are an important source of monounsaturated fats — approximately 15% of the fat found in walnuts is healthful monounsaturated fat. A host of studies have shown that increasing the dietary intake of monounsaturated-dense walnuts has favorable effects on high cholesterol levels and other cardiovascular risk factors.

and

Did you know that just one-quarter cup of walnuts contains over 90% of the daily value for those hard-to-find omega-3 essential fatty acids? They are called .essential. because they are a special protective type of fat that cannot be manufactured by our body and therefore must be supplied by the foods we eat. Researchers believe that about 60% of Americans are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, and about 20% have so little that tests cannot even detect any in their blood. The list of benefits derived from omega-3s is impressive, ranging from improving cholesterol levels and reducing the risk of stroke to acting as anti-inflammatory agents and improving bone density. Enjoying walnuts as part of your Healthiest Way of Eating not only adds wonderful taste and texture to your meals, but it is an easy way to include more omega-3s into your diet. Walnuts also contain ellagic acid a compound that supports the immune system and appears to have anticancer properties.

and don't forget that walnuts do have a thyroid lowering effect so perhaps this will aid those with hyperthyroid conditions who aren't sold on slaying their gland with radioactive iodine.

Health Risks and Industrial Wind Turbines

UPDATE: 28 April, 2010 - Wind farm off Cape Cod approved
Perhaps Barry is ignorant of the risks of wind turbines.

SAVE OUR SOUND announces law suits to be filed

ORIGINAL POST 1/24/09
Dr. Magda Havas Ph.D., Associate Professor of Environmental and Resource Studies at Peterborough’s Trent University and one of the world’s leading research experts in the areas of electromagnetic pollution, radio frequency radiation, ground current and dirty electricity delivered alarming warnings about the dangers to human and animal health, posed by Industrial Wind Turbines.

full article

Wind Farm raising issues on Nantucket Sound

UPDATE: 3 March, 09
Wind Turbine Syndrome

Vitamin A and Arsenic Effectively Treat Leukemia, Also Vitamin C

UPDATE: 27 March 2010 - In 1974 the US Cancer Institute presented scientific papers on the findings that Vitamin A was effective  in preventing cancer as well as preventing cellular proliferation.  Additionally, later in 1974 other scientific papers reported that vitamin A is definitively an anti-cancer supplement offering cellular protection and offers protection from malignant growth.  The scientist found that vitamin A reversed the cellular damage caused by the carcinogen and it helps your body's defense mechanism to destroy cancer cells.  This is definitely a substance that offers protection against and reversal of cancers according to the findings.

One must ask exactly what is behind the major effort against using nutritional supplements in the prevention and treatment of cancer today.

UPDATE: 31 March: Vitamin C for Leukemia

Get your copy of CHI's Vitamin C Healthy Handout with your tax deductible donation to learn how to do high dose vitamin C therapy at home.
---------------------------
ORIGINALLY POSTED 17 FEB 09
This is a very interesting report because it offers an option that is less toxic than standard chemotherapy. It also shows that vitamins are effective and helpful in cancer care.

Leukemia patients treated with arsenic, vitamin A
"The treatment was effective ... and worked better than either drug given alone."
Mon Feb 16, 2009
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Doctors appear to have safely and successfully treated patients with cancer of the blood and bone marrow with a combination of arsenic and vitamin A, according to long-term study in China.

In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the doctors said they prescribed the regimen to 85 patients and monitored them for an average of 70 months.

Of these, 80 patients went into complete remission and the researchers did not find any associated long-term problems in their heart or lungs and there was no development of secondary cancers.

"Two years after their treatment, the patients had arsenic blood and urine levels well below safety limits, and only slightly higher than controls," they wrote.

"The treatment was effective ... and worked better than either drug given alone."

The authors recommended that the treatment be given to patients with blood and bone marrow cancer, or acute promyelocytic Leukemia.

While vitamin A is regarded by some experts as a viable treatment, this is the first time that its use has been monitored for such an extended period of time.

Since the 18th century, arsenic compounds have been used as medicines to treat certain ailments. The US Food and Drug Administration approved it for the treatment of people with blood and bone marrow cancer in 2000.

(Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Eye on ocular health in the computer era

UPDATE: 6/28/11

Computer Vision Syndrome and helpful gear

UPDATE: 2/7/10 - SEEING CLEARLY

Natural Eye Care

Health and Homeopathy - Information about dry eyes

More on eye health

UPDATE: 1/28/10

Fact is that eye diseases among the aging population are on the rise, and your chances of becoming a statistic continue to grow each year. But the news isn’t all bad—in fact, many causes of vision impairment are preventable, if you know the right steps to take.


Take cataracts, for example: While partially attributable to aging, this clouding of the eye lens is also strongly linked to diabetes—and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) play no small role in this connection. Research shows that AGEs and oxidative stress markers are elevated in both diabetic and non-diabetic elderly patients with cataracts, while remaining significantly lower in young control subjects.


Luckily, several nutrients are known to neutralize these dangerous AGEs and reduce the free radical damage that can produce cataracts over time. The naturally occurring dipeptide L-carnosine is one of these AGE-blocking substances—along with botanicals like guava and Yerba Mate.


The antioxidant vitamins C and E, the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, and procyanidin-rich grape seed extract (all found in Extension Vision) have been shown to inhibit the progression of cataract development in animal studies—while the flavonoid quercetin has emerged as a valuable supplement for individuals with diabetic cataracts.


Some of these same substances—namely lutein and zeaxanthin—are also critical for the prevention of another common vision-robbing condition: Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). Clinical studies indicate that high intake of these two carotenoids can decrease your risk of ARMD by as much as 57 percent, while increasing macular pigment density (a crucial factor in visual acuity) by as much as 43 percent


Vitamins A, C, and E protect your lens and retina from oxidative damage and support proper moisture levels—and the iron-binding protein lactoferrin can help to fight bacteria in the eye, a common concern of contact lens wearers.13-14 Meanwhile, herbs like turmeric provide anti-inflammatory protection in the eye’s aqueous layer, and omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids (in the form of GLA and fish oil) offer vital lubrication.

Ginkgo biloba, another clinically proven ally in the fight against ARMD—not to mention other common causes of blindness. Controlled trials have shown that extracts of this herb can significantly improve visual acuity in ARMD patients within six months of use.10 And both animal and human studies have revealed that Ginkgo extract can help to prevent retinal detachment, while increasing antioxidant activity in patients’ blood, tears and plasma. 

Thanks to CP for this informative information.

UPDATE 12/21

Eat fruits and vegetables for better vision
ScienceDaily (2009-12-19) -- Carotenoids, found in green leafy vegetables and colored fruits, have been found to increase visual performance and may prevent age-related eye diseases, according to a new study. ... > read full article

UPDATE: 12/12

More about vision     Natural Nutrition

5/27/10 From THE EYES HAVE IT: NUTRITIONAL NEEDS, THAT IS, on AOL

No, eating carrots won't give you eagle eyes. But a sound nutritional program can help protect your eyes over time. Here's a winning list of nutrients based on our research, and where to find them:
Vitamin A: cod liver oil, liver, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash
Lutein and zeaxanthin: spinach, kale, collard greens
Vitamin C: sweet peppers (red or green), kale, strawberries, broccoli, oranges, cantaloupe
Bioflavonoids: citrus fruits, cherries, grapes, plums
Vitamin E: sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts
Selenium: brazil nuts, yeast, seafood
Zinc: oysters, hamburgers, wheat, nuts
Fatty acids: cold-water fish (salmon, mackerel, trout)-

UPDATE: 2 August - From the web site of one of my former students, Wasilla Chiropractor, Dr. Stacey Lowe.

Do You Suffer From Computer Vision Syndrome?
Believe it or not, there really is a condition known as Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). Surprised? Well you shouldn’t be given the fact that it is likely to affect those who spend more than two hours a day in front of a computer screen. We all know at least a few people who fit that category!


How many hours each day do you stare at a computer screen? If you use the computer and wear glasses, invest in some glasses designed for computer use.


The symptoms of CVS include:
Blurred or double vision
Headaches
Dry eyes
Neck and/or shoulder pain
Difficulty focusing
Sharp or dull pain
Light sensitivity


Why does CVS occur? It seems that your eyes react much differently to computer-generated images than they do to images in printed materials. Computer–generated images are made up of small dots called pixels, and your eyes find it difficult to adjust to focusing on them.


Computer users who wear bifocals have a particularly difficult time. Bifocals force the wearer to tilt their head backward so they can view the computer monitor through the lower portion of the lens. Prolonged head tilt can lead to neck, shoulder pain and back pain and headaches.


Most eyeglasses and contacts are designed for print reading and not for computer work. However, many optometrists are beginning to recommend eyeglasses and contacts that are specifically designed for reading at computer monitor distance. They may very well be worth the investment, especially if they reduce the impact of CVS-related eye problems.

UPDATE: 22 JUNE - Another report on how effective supplements are for health:

Supplements slow blindness in elderly

BELFAST, Northern Ireland, June 20 (UPI) -- An eye care expert in Northern Ireland suggests vitamin supplements may slow sight loss in the elderly.


Usha Chakravarthy of Queen's University Center of Vision and Vacular Science in Belfast says an anti-oxidant supplement may help prevent early age-related macular degeneration in elderly patients from progressing to late age-related macular.


Patients with late age-related macular degeneration lose their central vision and are unable to read, watch television or recognize people's faces.


Chakravarthy headed a five-year trial involving 400 people in Ireland of the supplement CARMA -- Caroteneoids and Co-antioxidants in Age-related Maculopathy -- which contained the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin as well as zinc and vitamins C and E.


The study found participants taking high levels of both carotenoids preserved the macular pigments, while macular pigments of those in a placebo group declined steadily.


"These findings are important because this is the first randomized controlled clinical trial to document a beneficial effect through improved function and maintained macular pigments," Chakravarthy said in a statement.

UPDATE: 10 March -

Lutein May Stop Damage Resulting From a Common Modern-Day Problem


The carotenoid lutein, long studied for its possible role in protecting against age-related macular degeneration, may have another role to play in eye health, researchers have found.


In modern society people often spend many hours in front of a computer, a practice that strains the eyes. Lutein is a nutrient known to support eye health. Therefore, scientists examined the effect of different doses of lutein supplementation on visual function in subjects with long-term computer display light exposure. Thirty-seven healthy subjects who ranged in age from 22 to 30 years and who were regular computer users were randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group received 6 mg of lutein per day, another group received 12 mg lutein per day and a third group received a placebo.


At the study’s start and on week 12, the scientists measured levels of serum lutein and visual performance indices such as visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and glare sensitivity in the subjects.


After 12 weeks of lutein supplementation, there was an increase in serum lutein concentrations in the groups given 6 mg per day and 12 mg per day. In the group taking 12 mg lutein per day there was a trend toward increase in visual acuity. Both lutein groups experienced improvements in regards to sensitivity to contrast on a computer screen, said the researchers, with the improvements reaching statistical significance in the high-dose group.


According to the researchers, "Visual function in healthy subjects who received the lutein supplement improved, especially in contrast sensitivity, suggesting that a higher intake of lutein may have beneficial effects on visual performance."


Reference:
Maa L, Lina X-M, Zoua Z-Y, Xua X-R, Lia Y, Xua R. A 12-week lutein supplementation improves visual function in Chinese people with long-term computer display light exposure. British Journal of Nutrition. 2009 February 19. Published Online Ahead of Print.

UPDATE: 17 February, 2009 - While we know cell phone use is connected to cataract and other eye health concerns, here is some additional inforamtion on this subject from the UK. And don't overlook eye exercises and using pinhole glasses.

From The Times
February 14, 2009
Doctor, Doctor: Sore eyes
With so many of us spending our working day in front of computers, there is an epidemic of dry, sore eyes, says the ophthalmic optician Charles Babumba


People come to my clinic with a range of problems, but when I examine them I find that about 80 per cent have dry-eye syndrome. Their eyes feel uncomfortable and gritty because they are not producing enough tears or their tears are drying up too rapidly. On examination you can see that their eyes are red and inflamed.


These days almost everything we do is screen-based, which has an effect on the eyes. There is no evidence that working at a screen damages your sight, but it certainly causes eye dryness. This is because when we're looking at the screen we blink less and provide less lubrication to our eyeball. The problem particularly affects people who wear contact lens,and it is especially bad at this time of year, when office heating can make us dehydrated.


If you get dry, sore or itchy eyes, do not rub them. This may provide temporary relief, but the friction and heat caused has been linked to a condition called keratoconus, when the cornea becomes misshapen. In severe cases keratoconus can cause vision loss. Much better, if you have uncomfortable eyes, is to use lubricating eye drops, such as Systane (available from opticians).


Even better, make a conscious effort to blink while you're looking at the computer screen, and try to look away from the screen for a few seconds every five minutes. Drink lots of water - not just tea or coffee - throughout the day to prevent deyhydration.


And if you get sore or dry eyes regularly, visit an optician to check that there isn't some underlying cause. Remember that if you use computers at work, you are entitled to free eye tests at regular intervals, paid for by your employer.


www.cityeyesopticians.com

Some time ago I was asked to write a brief story on health health and Edgar Cayce treatments for A.R.E.

I hit the Senior Section this year and still don't wear glasses. I do however believe that my flat panel computer monitor is the cause of my eyestrain issues.

I started up my juicer for some carrot juice a few time each week and take a daily Day and Night Eyes supplement that helps with computer eyestrain.

I am also sure that s fellow I know in his twentys, not willing to try my pin hole glasses or other natural treatment, went to spectacles because of his almost day long use of his computer. Laptops seem to be worse.

I'm for carrots, vitamin C, bilberry, eyebright, vitamin A, Day and Night Eyes, pinhole glasses and exercising eyes. Palming the eyes is a useful yoda technique that rests and strengthens the eyes.

I'm not always for sunglasses because of the health benefits of sunlight through the eyes.

In the interim I rely on the magnifying readers a friend bought for me at the Dollar Store.

Computers cause sight problems
TAKE A BREAK: An ophthalmologist said that presbyopia could be delayed by resting for three out of every 30 minutes when using computers, and by eating more carrots
By Shelley Huang
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Nov 08, 2008
The increased use of computers in recent years has caused presbyopia — a common vision condition that normally affects people over 40 years old — to be diagnosed at a younger age, an ophthalmologist said yesterday.


Presbyopia is a condition where the eye gradually loses its ability to focus on close objects.


“I now have patients in their 30s coming to me with symptoms of presbyopia,” said James Liau (廖士傑), chief of the Shu-Tien Ophthalmology Clinic.


Common symptoms include difficulty reading under low lighting, experiencing pain in the eyebrow area after reading for long periods of time and momentarily blurred vision when switching between looking at far and near objects, Liau said.


“[People with severe presbyopia] say their arms have become too short, because they must hold whatever they are reading at farther and farther distances,” he said.


While people with myopia, or nearsightedness, may not develop presbyopia until they are as old as 50, it will eventually develop as one gets older, similar to graying hair.


Various factors and habits could cause presbyopia to develop at a younger age than normal, such as hyperopia, or farsightedness, poor reading habits and using the computer for long periods of time without resting, Liau said.


The most common way of dealing with presbyopia is corrective lenses, available as eyeglasses or contact lenses.


As the condition becomes more advanced, the prescription needs to be changed in order to “catch up” with the worsening abilities of the eye, Liau said.


When presbyopia becomes severe, a method called monovision can be used, he said.


Monovision involves the patient using contact lenses to correct one eye for near vision and the other for far vision.


“The brain will automatically filter and choose the correct image perceived by both eyes,” Liau said.


However, some patients using the monovision method say they have difficulty adjusting because the method affects depth perception, making it harder to judge whether something is near or far, he said.


The US Food and Drug Administration is researching techniques to cure presbyopia through surgical techniques.


If surgical reversal of presbyopia were approved, patients would not need to wear corrective lenses, Liau said.


Even though presbyopia cannot be prevented, it can be delayed by habits such as improving reading conditions, letting the eyes rest for three minutes every 30 minutes when using computers, massaging the temples, consuming dark-colored vegetables — such as tomatoes and carrots — and wearing sunglasses to avoid ultraviolet exposure, Liau said.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/11/08/2003428018

Greetings for 2010 and Our RE-Commitment to Good Journalism

We're starting our sixth year at Natural Health News.  For new readers, this blog is a continuation of work we started many years before through on-line broadcasts with These Orwellian Times, and our Health Matters© publications we began in 1991.

Other than the fact that our work didn' t just pop up because of a trend, or constant digital piracy like some other sites, you can be sure that our health (35+ years) and natural health (50+ years) background offers our readers a sound basis for our comments and selection of articles we believe to be important for your health.

Natural Health News invites you to follow us here and through our other venues, as well as to participate in the discussion.

A REVIEW OF 900 MAINSTREAM MEDIA NEWS ARTICLES FROM 2009  -
• 71% fail to adequately discuss costs.

• 71% fail to explain how big (or small) is the potential benefit.

• 66% fail to explain how big (or small) is the potential harm.

• 66% fail to evaluate the quality of the evidence.

• 60% fail to compare new idea with existing options.
Source: Health News Review

We hope to do much better because your health depends on it.

Conflict between what may be simplistically termed " the old and the new"  is far from ended.  The recent and on-going battle for public health care shows us this as 2010 begins.

We' re still faced with health insurance reform bills that do not address the core of health care but only the ruling dictocrats who aren't wiling to give up anything.  It may be that all that gets delivered is something that shows onlt that the system (as corrupt as it is) worked, because a bill was produced.  After the bill may come the reality that the system isn't working too well for the common man; it only has its focus on more moneyed corporate interests that are at stake: profits for Big Insurance and Big PhRMA.

Obama's stock falls as Medicare-for-all is abandoned 
The Guardian, Friday 1 January 2010 An increasing number of Americans are voicing their disillusionment over the current healthcare legislation (Democrats in final push for healthcare bill, 21 December). It's a pity President Obama has largely taken a hands-off approach and meekly allowed the Republicans to shred the bill. Behind the scenes, the administration met secretly with the health insurance and drug companies and negotiated terms favourable to their continued high profitability. Predictably, the stock for insurance companies has soared to a 52-week high in anticipation of a measure that will force over 25 million Americans to buy health insurance.  Millions of dollars have been doled out to lawmakers to cajole them into compliance. In the rush to pass a poorly crafted bill and declare "a healthcare victory", the Democrats have created an albatross around the neck of their party. It is tragic that support for a public option, or Medicare-for-all, which has overwhelming public support, has been abandoned. This is another shameful example of deeply entrenched business special interests triumphing over the aspirations of the American people. Jagjit Singh

For this reason, with our commitment to your best health, during 2010 the focus at Natural Health News, and for all of our web and print work will be health and healing, because your " Health Matters©".

Natural Heakth News wishes you the best of health in the coming year and we hope you'll continue to be one of our many loyal followers.  Tell your friends about us too...

And please consider supporting Natural Health News with your purchases and tax-deductible donations.  It takes a great amount of work to keep our projects going.

Vitamins for Alzheimer's

July 2011







Ranks now in the TOP10 out of 3.9 M

Access the May 2007 issue of herbalYODA Says! that focuses on vitamin B12 with a donation to help us continue this work.

Elder Health

Updated from May 09
2004 Article,  Don't Overlook There ALZ Remiders, Related NHN article  This post ranks 1 of 1.23 Million about vitamins for Alzheimer's

Food and Life

for information on how to use B3 therapeutically, contact us for our fact sheet

UPDATE: 4 May, 2009

No wonder vitamin E works, it is antioxidant and carries O2 across the cell wall membrane as well as offering a myriad of other remarkable healing attributes.

Another FAT soluble vitamin to the rescue!

Use the search window to learn more about vitamin E on Natural Health News

Vitamin E may slow Alzheimer's disease By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – An analysis of "real-world" clinical data indicates that vitamin E, and drugs that reduce generalized inflammation, may slow the decline of mental and physical abilities in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) over the long term.

"Our results are consistent for a potential benefit of vitamin E on slowing functional decline and a smaller possible benefit of anti-inflammatory medications on slowing cognitive decline in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Alireza Atri told Reuters Health.

Atri, at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the VA Bedford Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, led the National Institutes of Health-sponsored research. The findings, reported at the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society in Chicago, stem from data on 540 patients treated at the MGH Memory Disorders Unit.

All of the patients were receiving standard-of-care treatment with a drug intended to help patients with Alzheimer's. As part of their clinical care, 208 patients also took vitamin E but no anti-inflammatory, 49 took an anti-inflammatory but no vitamin E, 177 took both vitamin E and an anti-inflammatory, and 106 took neither.

While the daily dose of vitamin E ranged from 200 to 2000 units, the majority of patients were given high doses that ranged from 800 units daily to 1000 units twice daily.

Each patient's performance on cognitive tests and their ability to carry out daily functions such as dressing and personal care were assessed every 6 months. After an average of 3 years, "there was a modest slowing of decline in function in those patients taking vitamin E," study investigator Michael R. Flaherty noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health.

Flaherty, a second-year student at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine, presented the findings at the meeting. He added that the treatment benefit from vitamin E was "small to medium" but increased with time.

Taking an anti-inflammatory medication was associated with "very consistent but generally only small effects on slowing long-term decline in cognitive functioning," Atri told Reuters Health.

However, in patients who took both vitamin E and anti-inflammatory medications, there appeared to be an additive effect in terms of slowing overall decline.

Given that past studies have produced equivocal results, the investigators conclude that further studies are needed to assess the long-term balance of risks versus benefits for people with Alzheimer's disease from taking vitamin E and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited.

-------------------------

UPDATE: 23 MARCH, 2009

Niacin Protects against Alzheimer's Disease and Age-related Cognitive Decline

Niacin (vitamin B3) is already known to lower cholesterol. Now, research published in the August 2004 issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry indicates regular consumption of niacin-rich foods also provides protection against Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline.

Researchers from the Chicago Health and Aging Project interviewed 3,718 Chicago residents aged 65 or older about their diet, then tested their cognitive abilities over the following six years.

Those getting the most niacin from foods (22 mg per day) were 70% less likely to have developed Alzheimer's disease than those consuming the least (about 13 mg daily), and their rate of age-related cognitive decline was significantly less. In addition to eating the niacin-rich foods, another way to boost your body's niacin levels is to eat more foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan. Your body can convert tryptophan to niacin, with a little help from other B vitamins, iron and vitamin C. Foods high in tryptophan include shrimp, crimini mushrooms, yellowfin tuna, halibut, chicken breast, scallops, salmon, turkey and tofu. As you can see, several foods rich in tryptophan provide two ways to increase niacin levels as they are also rich in the B vitamin.(August 23, 2004)

UPDATE: 12 March, 2009

Another supplement to help Alzheimer's: "One of the newer drugs developed in Europe apparently 'works' by protecting brain cells from damage by over-production of glutamate, one of the well known actions of lithium.

Other research findings strongly suggest that lithium may protect against Alzheimer's disease and slow the progression of the disease. Lithium inhibits beta-amaloid secretion and protects against damage caused by beta-amyloid protein after it has formed.

Over-activation of tau protein in the brain also contributes to neuronal degeneration in Alzheimer's disease, as does the formation of neurofibrilary tangles. Lithium inhibits both of these.

People with Alzheimer's have excess aluminum accumulation in brain cells. Lithium can help protect against aluminum accumulation through chelation and easier removal from the body."

See also a related B3 article I posted in November - xref: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

-----------------------------

While we are on this thread of natural help for dis-ease isn't it timely that I just received this article about how "High Doses of Vitamins Fight Alzheimer's Disease".

And now I am sharing it with you, for your education, and then you can ask your doctor why they aren't recommending them.

Vitamin B3 is also used successfully for schizophrenia, rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, reducing plaque of arteriosclerosis and cholesterol reduction. It has an excellent anti-inflammatory action.

(OMNS, December 9, 2008) The news media recently reported that "huge doses of an ordinary vitamin appeared to eliminate memory problems in mice with the rodent equivalent of Alzheimer's disease." They then quickly added that "scientists aren't ready to recommend that people try the vitamin on their own outside of normal doses." (1)

In other words, extra-large amounts of a vitamin are helpful, so don't you take them!

That does not even pass the straight-faced test. So what's the story?

Researchers at the University of California at Irvine gave the human dose equivalent of 2,000 to 3,000 mg of vitamin B3 to mice with Alzheimer's. (2) It worked. Kim Green, one of the researchers, is quoted as saying, "Cognitively, they were cured. They performed as if they'd never developed the disease."

for information on how to use B3 therapeutically, contact us for our fact sheet

Specifically, the study employed large amounts of nicotinamide, the vitamin B3 widely found in foods such as meat, poultry, fish, nuts and seeds. Nicotinamide is also the form of niacin found, in far greater quantity, in dietary supplements. It is more commonly known as niacinamide. It is inexpensive and its safety is long established. The most common side effect of niacinamide in very high doses is nausea. This can be eliminated by taking less, by using regular niacin instead, which may cause a warm flush, or choosing inositol hexaniacinate, which does not. They are all vitamin B3.
HealthDay Reporter mentioned how cheap the vitamin is; the study authors "bought a year's supply for $30" and noted that it "appears to be safe." Even so, one author said that "I wouldn't advocate people rush out and eat grams of this stuff each day." (1)
The BBC quoted Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the UK Alzheimer's Research Trust, who said, "Until the human research was completed, people should not start taking the supplement. . . . people should be wary about changing their diet or taking supplements. In high doses vitamin B3 can be toxic." (3)
The Irish Times reiterated it: "People have been cautioned about rushing out to buy high dose vitamin B3 supplements in an attempt to prevent memory loss . . . The warnings came today one day on from the announcement . . .Vitamins in high doses can be toxic." (4)
Their choice of words is quaint but hardly accurate. There is no wild "rush;" half of the population already takes food supplements. And as for "toxic," niacin isn't. Canadian psychiatrist Abram Hoffer, M.D., asserts that it is actually remarkably safe. "There have been no deaths from niacin supplements," Dr. Hoffer says. "The LD 50 (the dosage that would kill half of those taking it) for dogs is 5,000-6,000 milligrams per kilogram body weight. That is equivalent to almost a pound of niacin per day for a human. No human takes 375,000 milligrams of niacin a day. They would be nauseous long before reaching a harmful dose." Dr. Hoffer conducted the first double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of niacin. He adds, "Niacin is not liver toxic. Niacin therapy increases liver function tests. But this elevation means that the liver is active. It does not indicate an underlying liver pathology."
The medical literature repeatedly confirms niacin's safety. Indeed, for over 50 years, nutritional (orthomolecular) physicians have used vitamin B3 in doses as high as tens of thousands of milligrams per day. Cardiologists frequently give patients thousands of milligrams of niacin daily to lower cholesterol. Niacin is preferred because its safety margin is so very large. The American Association of Poison Control Centers' Toxic Exposure Surveillance System annual reports indicates there is not even one death per year due to niacin in any of its forms. (5)
One the other hand, there are 140,000 deaths annually attributable to properly prescribed prescription drugs. (6) And this figure is just for one year, and just for the USA. Furthermore, when overdoses, incorrect prescription, and adverse drug interactions are figured in, total drug fatalities number over a quarter of a million dead. Each year.
The BBC's curious mention that we should even be "wary about changing our diets" is especially odd. More and more scientists think our much-in-need-of-improvement diets are what contribute more than anything to developing Alzheimer's. "There appears to be a statistically significant link between a low dietary intake of niacin and a high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. A study of the niacin intake of 6158 Chicago residents 65 years of age or older established that the lower the daily intake of niacin, the greater the risk of becoming an Alzheimer's disease patient." The group with the highest daily intake of niacin had a 70 percent decrease in incidence of this disease compared to the lowest group. "The most compelling evidence to date is that early memory loss can be reversed by the ascorbate (vitamin C) minerals. Greater Alzheimer's disease risk also has been linked to low dietary intake of vitamin E and of fish." (7)
Nutrient deficiency of long standing may create a nutrient dependency. A nutrient dependency is an exaggerated need for the missing nutrient, a need not met by dietary intakes or even by low-dose supplementation. Robert P. Heaney, M.D., uses the term "long latency deficiency diseases" to describe illnesses that fit this description. He writes: "Inadequate intakes of many nutrients are now recognized as contributing to several of the major chronic diseases that affect the populations of the industrialized nations. Often taking many years to manifest themselves, these disease outcomes should be thought of as long-latency deficiency diseases. . . Because the intakes required to prevent many of the long-latency disorders are higher than those required to prevent the respective index diseases, recommendations based solely on preventing the index diseases are no longer biologically defensible." (8) Where pathology already exists, unusually large quantities of vitamins may be needed to repair damaged tissue. Thirty-five years ago, in another paper, Hoffer wrote: "The borderline between vitamin deficiency and vitamin-dependency conditions is merely a quantitative one when one considers prevention and cure." (9)
As there is no recognized cure for Alzheimer's, prevention is vital. In their article, the Irish Times does admit that "Healthy mice fed the vitamins also outperformed mice on a normal diet" and quoted study co-author Frank LaFerla saying that "This suggests that not only is it good for Alzheimer's disease, but if normal people take it, some aspects of their memory might improve." (4) And study author Green added, "If we combine this with other things already out there, we'd probably see a large effect."
The US Alzheimer's Association's Dr. Ralph Nixon has said that previous research has suggested that vitamins such as vitamin E, vitamin C and vitamin B12 may help people lower their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. At their website (although you have to search for it), the Alzheimer's Association says, "Vitamins may be helpful. There is some indication that vitamins, such as vitamin E, or vitamins E and C together, vitamin B12 and folate may be important in lowering your risk of developing Alzheimer's. . . One large federally funded study (10) showed that vitamin E slightly delayed loss of ability to carry out daily activities and placement in residential care."
But overall, at their website http://www.alz.org/index.asp the Alzheimer's Association has strikingly little to say about vitamins, and they hasten to tell people that "No one should use vitamin E to treat Alzheimer's disease except under the supervision of a physician." ( http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_10428.asp ) "They write as if these safe vitamins are dangerous drugs, not be used without a doctor's consent," comments Dr. Hoffer. "I have been using them for decades."
Niacin and nerves go together. Orthomolecular physicians have found niacin and other nutrients to be an effective treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, psychotic behavior, and schizophrenia. New research confirms that niacinamide (the same form of B3 used in the Alzheimer's research) "profoundly prevents the degeneration of demyelinated axons and improves the behavioral deficits" in animals with an illness very similar to multiple sclerosis. (11)
A measure of journalistic caution is understandable, especially with ever-new promises for pharmaceutical products. Drugs routinely used to treat Alzheimer's Disease have had a disappointing, even dismal success rate. So when nutrition may be the better answer, foot-dragging is inexplicable, even inexcusable. Nutrients are vastly safer than drugs. Unjustified, needlessly negative opinionating is out of place. Over 5 million Americans now have Alzheimer's disease, and the number is estimated to reach 14 million by 2050. Potentially, 9 million people would benefit later from niacin now.
"Man is a food-dependent creature," wrote University of Alabama professor of medicine Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D.. "If you don't feed him, he will die. If you feed him improperly, part of him will die."
When that part is the brain, it is dangerous to delay the use of optimum nutrition.

References:

(1) Vitamin Holds Promise for Alzheimer's Disease. Randy Dotinga, HealthDay Reporter, Nov 5, 2008.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110502796.html and also http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/vitaminholdspromiseforalzheimersdisease.html

(2) Green KN, Steffan JS, Martinez-Coria H, Sun X, Schreiber SS, Thompson LM, LaFerla FM. Nicotinamide restores cognition in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice via a mechanism involving sirtuin inhibition and selective reduction of Thr231-phosphotau. J Neurosci. 2008 Nov 5;28(45):11500-10.

(3) BBC, 5 Nov 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7710365.stm

(4) Donnellan E. Caution urged over using vitamin B3 to treat Alzheimer's. Wed, Nov 05, 2008. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1105/breaking91.htm

(5) Annual Reports of the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poisoning and Exposure Database (formerly known as the Toxic Exposure Surveillance System). AAPCC, 3201 New Mexico Avenue, Ste. 330, Washington, DC 20016. Download any report from1983-2006 at http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/NPDS/AnnualReports/tabid/125/Default.aspx free of charge. The "Vitamin" category is usually near the end of the report.

(6) Classen DC, Pestotnik SL, Evans RS, Lloyd JF, Burke JP. Adverse drug events in hospitalized patients. Excess length of stay, extra costs, and attributable mortality. JAMA. 1997 Jan 22-29;277(4):301-6.

(7) 21. Hoffer A and Foster HD. Feel Better, Live Longer With Vitamin B-3: Nutrient Deficiency and Dependency. CCNM Press, 2007. ISBN-10: 1897025246; ISBN-13: 978-1897025246. Also: Foster HD. What Really Causes Alzheimer's Disease. Trafford, 2004. ISBN 1-4120-4921-0.

(8) Heaney RP: Long-latency deficiency disease: insights from calcium and vitamin D. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003; Nov; 78(5):912-9.

(9) Hoffer A. Mechanism of action of nicotinic acid and nicotinamide in the treatment of schizophrenia. In: Hawkins D and Pauling L: Orthomolecular Psychiatry: Treatment of Schizophrenia. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. 1973; p. 202-262.

(10) Sano M, Ernesto C, Thomas RG et al. A controlled trial of selegiline, alpha-tocopherol, or both as treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study. N Engl J Med. 1997 Apr 24;336(17):1216-22

(11) Kaneko S, Wang J, Kaneko M, Yiu G, Hurrell JM, Chitnis T, Khoury SJ, He Z. Protecting axonal degeneration by increasing nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide levels in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis models. J Neurosci. 2006 Sep 20;26(38):9794-804. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed See also: Vitamins fight multiple sclerosis. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 4, 2006.

For More Information:

A complete copy of Dr. Harold D. Foster's What Really Causes Alzheimer's Disease is available in PDF format, free of charge: http://www.hdfoster.com/Foster_Alzheimers.pdf

To access a free archive of peer-reviewed medical journal papers on the safety and efficacy of vitamin therapy: http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/

Review of nutritional approaches to Alzheimer's Disease: http://www.doctoryourself.com/alzheimer.html

Additional Reading:

Klenner FR. Response of peripheral and central nerve pathology to mega-doses of the vitamin B-complex and other metabolites. Journal of Applied Nutrition, 1973. http://www.tldp.com/issue/11_00/klenner.htm

Morris MC, Evans DA, Bienias JL, Tangney CC, Bennett DA, Aggarwal N, Wilson RS, and Scherr PA. Dietary intake of antioxidant nutrients and the risk of incident Alzheimer's disease in a biracial community study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2002. 287(24), 3230-3237.

Morris MC, Evans DA, Bienias PA, Scherr A, Tangney CC, Hebert LE, Bennett DA, Wilson RS, and Aggarwal N. Dietary Niacin and the Risk of Incident Alzheimer's Disease and of Cognitive Decline. J Neurology, Psychiatry 2004; 75: 1093-1099.

Bobkova NV. The impact of mineral ascorbates on memory loss. Paper presented at the III World Congress on Vitamin C, 2001, Committee for World Health, Victoria, BC, Canada.

Galeev A, Kazakova A, Zherebker E, Dana E, and Dana R. Mineral ascorbates improve memory and cognitive functions in older individuals with pre-Alzheimer's symptoms. Copy of paper given to authors by R. Dana and E. Dana, Committee for World Health, 20331 Lake Forest Drive, Suite C-15, Lake Forest, California 92630, USA.

Bobkova NV, Nesterova IV, Dana E, Nesterov VI, Aleksandrova IIu, Medvinskaia NI, and Samokhia AN (2003). Morpho-functional changes of neurons in temporal cortex in comparison with spatial memory in bulbectomized mice after treatment with minerals and ascorbates. Morfologiia, 123(3), 27-31. [In Russian]

Engelhart MJ, Geerlings MI, Ruitenberg A, van Swieten JC, Hofman A, and Witteman JC (2002). Dietary intake of antioxidants and risk of Alzheimer's disease: Food for thought. Journal of the American Medical Association, 287(24), 3223-3229.

Grant WB. Dietary links to Alzheimer's disease: 1999 update. Journal of Alzheimer's disease, 1999, 1(4,5), 197-201.

Barberger-Gateau P, Letenneur L, Deschamps V, Pérès K, Jean-François Dartigues JF, and Renaud S (2002). Fish, meat, and risk of dementia: Cohort study. British Medical Journal, 325, 932-933.

Vogiatzoglou A, Refsum H, Johnston C, Smith SM, Bradley KM, de Jager C, Budge MM, Smith AD. Vitamin B12 status and rate of brain volume loss in community-dwelling elderly. Neurology. 2008 Sep 9;71(11):826-32.

September 2010 Good News for B Vitamins and Your Brain

Vitamin D may help prevent Alzheimer's

SENDAI, Japan, July 12 (UPI) -- Low levels of vitamin D may be involved in age-related decline in memory and cognition as well as Alzheimer's disease, researchers in Japan say.
Tetsuya Terasaki of Tohoku University in Japan found vitamin D injections improved the removal of amyloid beta -- the build-up of the peptide amyloid beta in the brain is linked to Alzheimer's disease -- from the brain of mice.
"Vitamin D appears [to] increase transport of amyloid beta across the blood brain barrier by regulating protein expression, via the vitamin D receptor and also by regulating cell signaling," Terasaki says.
These findings, published in the journal Fluids and Barriers of the CNS, lead the way toward new therapeutic targets in the search for prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

© 2011 United Press International, Inc 

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/07/12/Vitamin-D-may-help-prevent-Alzheimers/UPI-96871310443412/#ixzz1Rv4pC2TT