News
70% of Europeans suffer from low vitamin D levels
A group of experts has prepared a report on vitamin D supplementation for menopausal women after it was revealed that Europeans have suffered an alarming decrease in their levels of this vitamin. In their opinion, the ideal would be to maintain blood levels above 30 ng/ml. Vitamin D is essential to the immune system and processes such as calcium absorption.[1]
The team of experts analysed the conditions and diseases that are associated with vitamin D deficiency and recommended the intake of supplements in postmenopausal women. As well as stimulating calcium and phosphorus absorption, the vitamin D system has numerous functions. Low vitamin D levels are linked to rickets, osteomalacia, osteoporosis and the risk of bone fracture, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, infections and degenerative diseases.
“In healthy postmenopausal women, we have seen that a good level of vitamin D is linked to good physical fitness and has an effect on body fat mass as well as muscle strength and balance,” state the authors of the article published in the Maturitas journal.
The researcher explains that patients with risk factors associated with hypovitaminosis (obesity, pigmented skin, intestinal malabsorption syndromes and living in regions close to the North and South poles) should increase their intake to up to 4,000 IU per day. There is scientific evidence that a daily dose of 4,000 IU/day is not poisonous in healthy people.
Reference
[1] Faustino R. Pérez-López, Marc Brincat, C. Tamer Erel, Florence Tremollieres, Marco Gambacciani, Irene Lambrinoudaki, Mette H. Moen, Karin Schenck-Gustafsson, Svetlana Vujovic, Serge Rozenberg, Margaret Rees. “Vitamin D and postmenopausal health”. Maturitas, 71, 83-88, Jan 2012. View Full Paper
Does Your Daily Slice of Bacon With A Sausage Cause Pancreatic Cancer
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The thought that part of the British Breakfast may be nibbling away at our pancreatic cells integrity is bound to put a shock wave through households across the country – or is it? We as a nation along with most other advanced nations consider that our diet is no one else’s business and that eating processed meats is a perfectly acceptable part of the daily diet, despite long term questions about their health risks.
Functional Medicine, A Systems Wide Approach To Health Care
Over the time that man has worked to meet the medical needs of our various populations dealing with problems such as diseases and trauma the various cultures on our crowded planet have evolved differing philosophies, scientific explanation and style of medical practice.
The last 120 years or so has predominately favoured what is referred to as the western or reductionist approach, during which time we have seen tremendous gains in knowledge and comprehension of physiology, biochemistry and immunology. The results have been seen in the development of vaccines, medicines and sewerage management, all of which have contributed to substantial benefits in limiting the destruction wreaked on our populations from numerous diseases, infectious agents and trauma.
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Health Map Tracks Infectious Diseases
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HealthMap, a team of researchers, epidemiologists and software developers at Children’s Hospital Boston founded in 2006, is an established global leader in utilising online informal sources for disease outbreak monitoring and real-time surveillance of emerging public health threats.
XMRV Researcher Jailed
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As many readers and people with an interest in Chronic Fatigue will have read over the last few months, the researcher Judy Mikovits has been having a hard time finding labs to replicate her controversial findings regarding the XMRV virus.
Diet and Nerves: The Impact of Maternal Feeding on Newborn Intestinal Permeability
A possible link between what a mother eats during pregnancy and the risk of her child developing allergies has been identified in new research published in Septembers; The Journal of Physiology.[1]
This paper identified that if the maternal diet is rich in PUFA’s or poly unsaturated fats such as those found in flaxseed, walnuts and fish their offspring’s digestive tract develops differently than in those progeny lacking these PUFAs.
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Fever: It’ll Help You Fight off Infection
One of the key naturopathic and Darwinian medicine concepts[i],[ii] is that suppression of a normal response by the body to a pathogen may reduce the effectiveness of outcome.
Naturopathic Medicine is a form of alternative medicine based on a belief in vitalism, which posits that a special energy called vital energy or vital force guides bodily processes such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, and adaptation. Naturopathic philosophy favours a holistic approach, and, like conventional medicine seeks to find the least invasive measures necessary for symptom improvement or resolution, thus encouraging minimal use of surgery and unnecessary drugs.[iii]
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Mega Dose Vit D – Really?
Vitamin D supplementation, and what levels to use are common discussions amongst Nutritional Therapists. I have written a number of commentaries and reviews on this subject over the last couple of years and a recent paper published in the Journal: Joint Bone Spine presents a very interesting take on mega supplementation to restore Vit D status.[1]
Rather than looking at the results as a directive for vigorous upfront Vit D supplementation, as there are obvious considerations that make this as a universal approach very questionable, it remains clinically relevant, and may provide a degree of confidence. What is of greater interest is the rapidly declining levels of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD) after the first month and the differences noted in the weight of the patient.
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Bile Acids – Wide Ranging Benefits Including Psoriasis
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Bile. Also known as gall. Memorialised as “that green monster” in Shakespeare. Bile is a bitter-tasting, dark green to yellowish brown liquid produced by our liver, stored in the gallbladder, and known to aid in the digestion of lipids and fats in the small intestine. Bile acids are actually steroids derived from cholesterol.
Methylfolate and Methyl B12 Play a Profound Role in Health
Read the rest of this page »Surprising new research demonstrates that diabetic neuropathy, an extremely painful condition, may respond to supplementation with the active forms of three b vitamins: methyl B12, methylfolate, and the active form of vitamin B6 (pyridoxal-5′-phosphate). In a 2011 study in the Review of Neurological Diseases, researchers reported that eleven diabetic patients with diabetic neuropathy were placed on these three supplements, and tested by means of punch biopsy before treatment and after six months of treatment. An astounding 73% of patients showed actual improvement in tissue on biopsy, and 82% reported reduced frequency and intensity of pain and numbness.(1)
The immune system is prone to the same grave misfortunes as any defense system handling weapons: collateral damage that comes with the destruction of the enemy on one’s own territory and friendly fire due to mistaken identity. Whereas the collateral damage is the price we pay for clearance of infections, autoimmunity is a pathological process. Nevertheless, the effector mechanisms involved in both processes are the same. Whether environment can be a cause, a trigger or an amplifier of an autoimmune disease are questions that are being intensively investigated.
