Antioxidants Improve End Stage Cancer Survival
There remains controversy in the medical fields about the value of antioxidants, or risk of antioxidants in patients with cancer. In the Journal of International Medical research a pilot trial followed 41 patients over a 9 year period who had been diagnosed with end stage cancer. During this time they were given a mix of antioxidants including; Coenzyme Q10, vitamin C, selenium, folic acid and betacarotene.
The treatments were well tolerated and produced a > 40% increase in survival time with 76% of the patients surviving far longer than predicted. Whilst the study accounted for all participants and the disease course was well illustrated in all of the patients, there is a lack of retrospective design, matched controls and no blinding.
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How Can We Cure NO/ONOO− Cycle Diseases? A Review
Approaches to Curing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Fibromyalgia, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Gulf War Syndrome and Possibly Many Others by Martin L. Pall, PhD
From the Townsend Letter
February / March 2010
Abstract
The NO/ONOO− cycle is a biochemical vicious cycle that is thought to cause such diseases as chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), fibromyalgia (FM), and possibly a large number of other chronic inflammatory diseases. The chemistry/biochemistry of the cycle predicts that the primary mechanism is local such the depending on where it is localized in the body, it may cause a variety of different diseases. Previous studies have shown that agents that lower such cycle elements as oxidative stress, nitric oxide, inflammatory responses, mitochondrial dysfunction, tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) depletion and NMDA activity produce clinical improvements in CFS/ME and FM patients, consistent with the predictions of the cycle mechanism. Multiagent protocols lowering several aspects of the cycle appear to be the most promising approaches to therapy. These include an entirely over-the-counter nutritional support protocol developed by the author in conjunction with the Allergy Research Group. However, such
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Expensive Urine or Effective Triage?
Victor Herbert, the outspoken Harvard nutrition scientist, was quoted by the United States well read Time magazine in a famous 1992 cover story about nutrition as saying that vitamins just gave one “expensive urine.”
This one liner has acted as a simple rebuke to the consumption of additional nutrients as food supplements – or at least the water soluble ones. It is repeated by the medical community wedded to the model that food will supply all we require, and by the skeptics who seek an easy one liner to dismiss thousands of research papers that contradict this simplistic and invalid statement.
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Chronic Fatigue Responds to Antioxidants
Many researchers have investigated effective treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), but Martin Pall, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences at Washington State University, and author of Explaining “Unexplained Illnesses”, is the first to suggest a plausible underlying cause and therapeutic method of treatment. Pall, who came down with a severe case of CFS in 1997 and fully recovered in 18 months, has dedicated the rest of his career to understanding and treating these illnesses.
Pall has discovered that abnormal levels of nitric oxide (NO), high levels of peroxynitrite (ONOO-) and superoxide activate the disabling and widely varying symptoms that characterise this entire group of unexplained illness. The fundamental approach: reducing NO-related free radical activity.
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Minerals and Vitamins Reduce the Risk of Bladder Cancer
Micronutrient deficiencies could provide a possible explanation for why an estimated 25% of the US population who consume the least fruit and vegetables have double the cancer rate.[1] The aim of our study was to investigate the association between major dietary minerals and vitamins and the risk of bladder cancer in a US population from a region with a high incidence rate.[2]
Objective: Although the effect of fruit and vegetables on the risk of bladder cancer has been widely studied, little is known about their micronutrient components. Our aim was to investigate associations between minerals and vitamins and bladder cancer.
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MultiVitamin & Mineral – Why?
One of the most common questions asked by patients and people in general is why should I take a multivitamin and multimineral supplement? Dr Alex Vasquez addresses this question in a 10 minute video exploring 5 papers in a simplified format – an ideal place to send suitable questioners?
Revolutionary Advances in the Prevention of Demyelinating Diseases.
Vit D Essential for MS Patients
This collective review focuses on three major factors that influence the incidences of multiple sclerosis (MS) to include ultraviolet radiation (UVR), vitamin D3 supplementation, and vitamin D receptor gene (VDRG) polymorphisms.
In general, the rate of MS increases with latitude. Individuals tend to carry their original risk with them if they migrate to a different latitude after adolescence. It is important to emphasise that UVR increases the synthesis of vitamin D3, which has a known immune suppressant action via the VDRG. Clinical studies have pointed out that vitamin D deficiency may exacerbate the development of MS.
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A Conversation with Dr. Abram Hoffer
In December 2008, IFM had the opportunity to film an interview between Dr. Jeffrey Bland and Dr. Abram Hoffer, a founding father of orthomolecular medicine and recipient of the 14th Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Award. Excerpts from this video first aired at last May’s symposium on mood disorders on the day following news of his death at age 91.
In honour of Dr. Hoffer and his lifetime of work advancing the fields of psychiatry and functional medicine, The Institue of functional Medicine is making this video available to you on their website.
(Please allow few minutes for the video to load)
New paradigms, Bland observed after the interview, are often generated by “the ability to tolerate criticism and rejection from colleagues who are comfortable with the status quo. It is inspiring to know that people like Dr. Hoffer represent the legacy that is the foundation of our field.”
Vitamin D: Summary Papers To Provide Relevant Clinical Update
A summary of 6 papers exploring the various relationships discovered between Vit D status, health and disease risk.
Vitamin D Supplementation Improves Glycmic Control in Diabetes
Regular dosing of vitamin D (2000 IU/day) in early childhood has been shown to reduce the risk of developing Type 1 diabetes (up to an 80% reduction projected over the next 30 years),
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Lifestyle Choices Impact Positively on Second Breast Cancer Risk
Breast cancer survivors might be able to reduce their risk for contralateral breast cancer by making lifestyle modifications. A new study published online September 8 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology has found that obesity, alcohol use, and smoking all significantly increase the risk for second primary invasive contralateral breast cancer among breast cancer survivors.
Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, found that obese women had a 50% increased risk for contralateral breast cancer, and those who consumed 7 or more alcoholic drinks per week had a 90% increased risk. Survivors who currently smoked had a 120% increased risk of developing a second breast cancer.
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