SAD and Links to Light

SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder can happen in spring and summer as well as in autumn and winter, although it is usually connected with shorter days and the darker months.

What is good about this article is that it does clearly state the relationship to light.

Last year I was interviewed for an article in Natural Health Magazine, discussing SAD. While most rely on more traditional therapy such as light boxes, looking at natural care treatments that are not so traditional often can help improve your mood and your health. It was non-traditional homeopathy that I suggested in the article, what one might think about chemical elements that generate light.

Brain chemistry winter blues link
Scientists have pinpointed seasonal changes in brain chemistry which may cause some people to suffer from the winter blues.

Seasonal affective disorder, which can be debilitating, is linked to lack of light exposure on short winter days.

The latest study suggests this might make proteins which clear the brain of the mood-regulating chemical serotonin more active.

The University of Toronto study appears in Archives of General Psychiatry.

Seasonal affective disorder is linked to lack of energy, fatigue, overeating and a tendancy to sleep longer as well as depressed mood.

The condition affects thousands of people in the UK.

Writing in the journal, the researchers said it was common for people living in temperate zones to feel happier and more energetic on bright and sunny days, with many experiencing a decline in mood and energy during the dark winter season.

Brain scans

The researchers carried out brain scans on 88 volunteers between 1999 and 2003.

The scans were designed to assess the activity of a protein known as a serotonin transporter, which binds to serotonin and clears it from the spaces between brain cells.

The more active the protein, the lower the levels of serotonin in the brain, and the greater the likelihood of a depressed mood.

The researchers found that the protein was significantly more active in all areas of the brain examined by the scans in the autumn and winter.

They believe light may have a direct effect on the activity of the protein.

The researchers wrote: "These findings have important implications for understanding seasonal mood change in healthy individuals, vulnerability to seasonal affective disorder and the relationship of light exposure to mood.

"This offers a possible explanation for the regular reoccurrence of depressive episodes in fall and winter in some vulnerable individuals."

Dr Jonathan Johnston, a lecturer in neuroscience at the University of Surrey, said: "The data show a correlation between a serotonin transporter chemical and hours of sunshine, although how day-length might change transporter activity is not yet known."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7591342.stm
Published: 2008/09/02 07:54:07 GMT
© BBC MMVIII

Birth Control Pill Risk Takes Note by Pharmacist

See additional articles in this blog regarding the risks of BCP.

Health Warnings: Birth Control Pills - Still Hold Risks
by James B. LaValle 07/15/2008

Years ago I started educating health professionals and patients in my practice about birth control pills. If they — or their wives, daughters, or patients were taking them — they should make sure to supplement with a multivitamin and mineral containing higher dosages of B vitamins.

The reason? Studies have found that oral contraceptives deplete several nutrients including vitamins B2, B6, and B12, folate, vitamins C and E, magnesium, and even CoQ10.1-5 These nutrient depletions have far-reaching effects; they can contribute to everything from depression, migraines, and anemia — to cervical dysplasia — the precursor to cervical cancer.

Today it is common medical practice to discontinue the use of birth control pills for a few months before trying to get pregnant because the folate depletion they cause can increase the risks of a baby being born with spina bifida.

As recently as 2003, a study found that young women who took birth control pills had twice as much C-reactive protein (CRP) in their blood.6 CRP is a product of systemic inflammation and is known to cause narrowing and hardening of the arteries. This was a small study, but it showed that birth control pills promoted inflammation in the body — part of which is very likely due to the nutrients they deplete.

I emphasized the word “young” because this study showed that the inflammation is happening at a young age. While the authors stated that the study could not determine whether the elevated CRP would increase the risk of heart disease, it only stands to reason that the longer a woman lives with elevated CRP, the greater her risk will be of developing damage from it.

Many gynecologists today still believe the risks from birth control pills were mainly in the past when dosages of the hormones were higher. In fact, most gynecologists still encourage the use of birth control pills because some research suggests that they lower the risk of ovarian cancer and pelvic inflammatory disease.

While this is a very personal decision, I believe women should know that even today’s birth control pills can deplete nutrients — and that any woman using them should protect herself by taking a good multivitamin every day as well as extra CoQ10 (60 to 90 mg per day).

If you or your significant other uses birth control pills, protect yourself with extra nutrients, and measure your CRP levels to see if they are elevated. If they are, you should try to decrease other sources of inflammation to your body like high intake of sugars and other high glycemic index foods.

Taking the nutrients mentioned above plus additional antioxidants will help to reduce CRP levels. If CRP still doesn’t come down, you may need to consider other methods of birth control.

References

1. Webb, JL, J Reprod Med 25(4) (Oct 1980) : 150-56.
2. Ahmed, F et al., Am J Clin Nutr 28(6) (Jun 1975) : 606-15.
3. Bermond, P Acta Vitaminol Enzymol 1982;4(1-2):45-54
4. Seelig MS, J Am Coll Nutr, 1993 12(4):442-58
5. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (194, 5:e35-e38, 2006).
6. Dreon D, et al. American Physiological Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, 2003.

[Ed. Note: James LaValle, R.Ph, ND, CCN, is the founding Director of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, one of the largest integrative medicine practices in the country. He was named as one of the 50 most influential pharmacists in the US by American Druggist magazine.

Better not Rush

Not too soon after the report came out on the link between Vytorin and cancer the Big Pharma media vultures hit the deck running. They needed to make sure you didn't jump ship, but only to keep the high tide of money ebbing their way.

This, of course, wasn't the first connection between statin drugs and cancer reported. And, thankfully, this new report published in the NEJM wants you to still be wary.

For my mind, with all the effective ways to lower cholesterol naturally (email us if you'd like a copy of this report) I'd be hard pressed to want any of these dangerous drugs.

Just another case to boost income from those CPT and ICD billing codes for needless Rx from your health care provider.

Doctors say Vytorin-cancer link can't be ruled out
By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
2 September 08

Results so far from three studies of the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin are not enough to prove or rule out a possible link to a higher risk of cancer, so the drug should be used with caution until more is known, editors of a leading medical journal urged Tuesday.

The New England Journal of Medicine published results online from one study and an analysis of partial results from two others. They also were presented at a cardiology conference in Munich.

Vytorin is a combination of Merck's Zocor, a long-sold statin drug, and Schering-Plough's Zetia, a newer type of medicine that lowers cholesterol in a different way.

The possible cancer risk unexpectedly arose in July, when Dr. Terje Pedersen of Oslo, Norway, announced preliminary results from a study testing whether Vytorin could prevent damage to the heart's aortic valve from worsening.

The drug made no difference in heart attacks, strokes or surgeries related to the valve problem. But doctors saw a greater number of cancer cases in those taking it compared to others given dummy pills.

That prompted an interim analysis of results of two other ongoing studies of Vytorin by scientists at Oxford University in England. Their review found higher rates of cancer deaths among Vytorin users, but the number of cancer cases did not significantly differ.

"I don't think there is any evidence of hazard here," concluded Sir Richard Peto, a cancer epidemiologist who is helping lead one of the drug company-sponsored studies.

But editors of the medical journal noted that participants in these two studies have been followed for less than three years — a short time for risks like cancer to emerge — and concluded that a link could not be ruled out. Patients and doctors "are unfortunately left for now with uncertainty" about the safety and effectiveness of the drug, they wrote.

Other doctors also were not convinced that Vytorin is safe.

"The jury is still out as to whether there's a cancer signal," said Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, cardiology chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a spokesman for the American Heart Association. He was not connected to the research.

Pedersen's study involved 1,873 people in Europe and the United States who were starting to have problems with their aortic valves. They were either given Vytorin or a placebo in hopes that lowering cholesterol would ward off future heart problems.

Of those given Vytorin, 105 developed cancer, compared with 70 among those on placebo. That is higher than the 93 cases among Vytorin users and 65 in the others that scientists reported on a conference call in July when the issue first became known.

Cancer-related deaths were higher in all three studies. Editors of the medical journal, who combined the results and found 134 among Vytorin users and 92 in the others, said the increase cannot simply be chalked up to chance.

Some doctors said that although Vytorin may not have helped heart valve problems, it still might be useful for people who need their cholesterol lowered — if other drugs do not work.

"If I was on this medication and it was the only way to get my cholesterol down, I would not change my therapy based on this," said Dr. Douglas Weaver, president of the American College of Cardiology. The group has been asked by the U.S. Senate to account for the money it accepts from pharmaceutical companies, including Merck. The American Heart Association also accepts funding from Merck and other drug companies to finance ongoing operations.

The federal Food and Drug Administration is looking into the cancer concerns but has said that patients should not stop taking Vytorin because the evidence of any link is unclear.

With other options available for heart patients, some doctors said there was no obvious reason to take Vytorin. "There's no proof that this combination is working," said Dr. Christer Hoglund, a cardiologist at Sweden's Karolinska Institute.

"We don't know that this drug is bad, but we don't know that it's any good either."
___

AP Business Writer Linda A. Johnson in Trenton, N.J. and AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee, Wis. contributed to this report.
___

On the Net:
http://www.escardio.org
http://www.nejm.com
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Merger & Aquisition

If you have an interest in the current status of Big Pharma's mega corps, and the convoluted history of the multiple "mergers and acquisitions" involving Big Pharma's most ruthless megacorporations over the past few decades (that frustrate and confuse us), refer to this complete list of such corporate cannibalisms at the website below from a UK researcher and Big Pharma whistleblower, Dr. Aubrey Blumsohn:

Pharmaceutical Mergers

Aspartame Awareness Weekend, Sept 5-7

Here is the link to a wonderful new Podcast promoting Aspartame Awareness Weekend, Sept.5-7, 2008.

Just click on the burgundy arrow to listen.

I hope you will be able to link to this on your websites and that it will generate even more interest, for people to be able to listen to you.

Aspartame Awareness

You may also purchase a copy of The Artifically Sweetened Times from us for $2 USD including US postage and handling.

Drug companies: Big Pharma besieged from all sides

With the election loomimg, it strikes me as troubling that Senator Obama's wife is a hospital executive and nothing in his plan, or McCain's for that matter, includes health care coverage for those hundreds of thousands of people in the states that wish to rely on natural health care choices.

The record of the industry and the FDA, along with Big Insurance dictates that we not be considered or included in care.

"The outcome of the US election could have a significant impact. Senator Barack Obama wants Medicare to negotiate directly with companies to drive down drug prices that are on average twice as high as those in Britain."

Blockbusters are expiring, pipelines are emptying and watchdogs are growling

* by Julia Kollewe, The Guardian, Saturday August 30 2008

The pharmaceutical industry is under siege with the looming end of blockbuster drugs, imminent patent expiries on top-selling medicines and government pressure to lower prices amid accusations of profiteering.

GlaxoSmithKline's new boss, Andrew Witty, has likened discovering a blockbuster - with annual revenues of at least $1bn - to finding a needle in a haystack. Many of the big-selling medicines launched in the 1990s are about to come off patent, allowing generic drugmakers to make cheaper versions. Only four of the 10 major companies have enough products in their pipeline to plug the looming revenue shortfall.

"We've seen the end of the very big blockbuster, the likes of Lipitor," said Kate Moss at PricewaterhouseCoopers. "There's not enough time for a product to become a massive blockbuster. There's so much competition in the market."

The world's top-selling drug, Lipitor, will lose its patent in 2011, threatening Pfizer's $12.7bn (£7bn) annual sales from the anti-cholesterol drug.

Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, who chairs health watchdog Nice, infuriated the industry last week when he accused it of overpricing vital new medicines. But drugs companies reject the charge, pointing to initiatives on pricing. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) says UK drug prices have fallen by 21% in real terms over the past decade.

"It takes £550m - and 10-12 years - to bring a new drug to the patient," said a spokeswoman. "It's an investment in public health. It's only natural that the companies need to make a return on this initial investment."

Nice refused to approve expensive new kidney drugs for NHS use, saying they are not cost effective - despite an offer from Pfizer to pay for the first round of treatments.

The move highlights efforts by Big Pharma to be more flexible on pricing. Under an innovative funding scheme, Johnson & Johnson allowed the NHS to recoup the cost of its Velcade medicine for bone marrow cancer if patients show no or minimal improvement. At GSK, Europe's biggest drugmaker, Witty has proposed a "pricing for value" model. Under the formula, companies would be paid little for new drugs at the outset but would be reimbursed fully once their value is proven.

Richard Barker, ABPI director general, said: "Nice needs to combine pure economic arithmetic with other considerations: the severity of the condition, the availability of alternative treatments, the consequences of refusing treatment in terms of the length and quality of life, and the savings in the use of carers."

Nice and early

In another important move, the industry and Nice would get together at an earlier stage to discuss which drugs the government is likely to fund when they come to market. Under a recent pilot project, Swiss group Novartis discussed new drugs with Nice before clinical trials were designed. GSK now talks to the health watchdog from phase II of drug trials - the intermediate stage of development - rather than afterwards.

"The idea of early dialogue is now accepted on both sides," said Barker.

Moss pointed out that regulators at Nice will need to have the right skills to analyse early clinical data. Drugmakers, for their part, should carry out tests to determine which patients benefit from a drug so that their use can be targeted.

The cost of R&D has risen as companies chase fewer new molecules. Alan Sheppard at consultancy IMS Health reckons the chances of discovering a blockbuster have halved from 10-1 to 20-1. He cited competition, pricing, safety concerns and fewer unmet clinical needs. "The increased rigour in being able to get a product to market means that far more molecules have to be screened before a likely candidate can be positively identified," he said.

In response, companies are targeting niche drugs for cancers and neurological diseases - expensive treatments for relatively small numbers of patients.

"We can expect drug research in large, well-served areas like pain relief to be reduced," said Marc Gerstein, a former consultant to US firms Eli Lilly and Pfizer. "New drugs for niche conditions are likely to be fantastically expensive. In many cases, it will seem like blackmail. Without government assistance or insurance, treatment will simply not be affordable for many."

The outcome of the US election could have a significant impact. Senator Barack Obama wants Medicare to negotiate directly with companies to drive down drug prices that are on average twice as high as those in Britain.

The industry has also been hit by large-scale public health scares. In his recent book Flirting with Disaster: Why Accidents Are Rarely Accidental, Gerstein analyses US drugmaker Merck's Vioxx disaster - the painkiller had to be withdrawn in 2004 after causing thousands of heart attacks and strokes.

"Could this happen in the UK?" he asked. "The odds seem lower than in the US, but the pressures to enhance drug marketing and co-opt the regulators are ever present. There is a lot of money at stake."

In Britain, GSK had to issue new safety warnings after its diabetes drug Avandia was linked with an increased risk of heart attacks last year.

As blockbusters become rarer, drugmakers such as GSK have switched their focus to developing a range of "middle earners" with annual revenues of £200-300m. Witty declared in July: "GSK must change if it is to be successful in the future." There is a new focus on vaccines - which are hard to copy - and household brands like Ribena, Horlicks and Lucozade.

Biologics and generics

Companies are also investing heavily in developing biological medicines, which can often be used to treat several conditions and are harder to replicate than conventional chemical drugs. Roche offered more than $40bn to take full control of US biotech partner Genentech in July. AstraZeneca, the UK's second-largest drugmaker, has acquired biotech firms Cambridge Antibody Technology and MedImmune, and aims to derive 25% of its new drugs from biologics by 2010.

GSK set up a new biopharmaceuticals R&D division in June, headed by Ian Tomlinson, the former boss of the acquired antibodies firm Domantis. He described it as "a big move for GSK". He wants to take biological products from 6% to 20% of GSK's pipeline by 2015.

Companies are organising R&D into smaller groups of scientists, to operate more like speciality pharmaceuticals groups such as Shire, Britain's third-biggest drugmaker.

To boost revenues, Big Pharma is also venturing into the generics market. Global generic medicines are now worth $71.7bn, a tenth of the entire world drug market valued at $712bn.

As companies focus more on producing costly treatments for rare diseases or benefiting certain patient groups, the NHS will face new spending dilemmas. IMS Health's Sheppard wondered: "Are we still underfunding our health service? We get good value for money but if we put more money in, would people's health improve?"
At a glance

Medicines coming off patent

2011 Lipitor anti-cholesterol (Pfizer) Annual sales: $12.7bn

2011 Seroquel for schizophrenia (AstraZeneca) $4bn

2010 Advair for asthma (GSK) $6.4bn

2010 Arimidex for breast cancer (AstraZeneca) $1.7bn

(Patents typically expire 10-15 years after marketing approval is granted)

AMAZING photographs

This slide show has some amazing scientific photography!

Wellcome Image Awards 2008
From a fly on sugar to the internal structure of an HIV cell and the trachea from a silkworm, the Wellcome Image Awards 2008 highlights some of the boldest pictures taken during groundbreaking scientific research.