Studies show that aggressive treatment may not prevent heart attacks.An article in tomorrow's New York Times says that treatments like bypass surgery, angioplasty, and stents may be doing little or nothing to prevent heart attacks. Apparently most heart attacks do not originate with obstructed arteries. What's the answer if you're at high risk? Go with the boring old advice — stop smoking, change your eating habits, and take drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. This is thought-provoking, and worth a read or discussing with your doctor. 3:12:59 PM ![]() |
Don't Try This At Home: Supersize Me!Just in case you thought fast food is harmless, check out this article. "Morgan Spurlock decided to become a gastronomical guinea pig. His mission: To eat three meals a day for 30 days at McDonald's and document the impact on his health. Scores of cheeseburgers, hundreds of fries and dozens of chocolate shakes later, the formerly strapping 6-foot-2 New Yorker - who started out at a healthy 185 pounds - had packed on 25 pounds. Within a few days of beginning his drive-through diet, Spurlock, 33, was vomiting out the window of his car, and doctors who examined him were shocked at how rapidly Spurlock's entire body deteriorated. "It was really crazy - my body basically fell apart over the course of 30 days," Spurlock told The Post. His liver became toxic, his cholesterol shot up from a low 165 to 230, his libido flagged and he suffered headaches and depression. " 11:22:20 AM ![]() |
Got a Tough Problem? Sleep on It!
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Vitamins E & C protect from Alzheimer's BBC Health -- It may be possible to reduce the effects of Alzheimer's disease by taking the right combination of vitamins, US research suggests. Scientists have found vitamins E and C may protect the ageing brain - but only if taken together. They both mop up destructive molecules, called free radicals, released by the body's metabolic processes. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland announced their findings in the journal Archives of Neurology. Brain cells, known as neurons, are thought to be particularly sensitive to damage caused by free radicals. Lead researcher Dr Peter Zandi said: "These results are extremely exciting. Our study suggests that the regular use of vitamin E in nutritional supplement doses, especially in combination with vitamin C, may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease." Dr Zandi's team examined data on 4,740 people aged 65 years or older. Of these 304 showed signs of Alzheimer's disease. Approximately 17% of the study participants reported taking vitamin E or C supplements. Another 20% used multivitamins, but without a high dosage of vitamin E or C. The researchers found that taking a combination of vitamin E and C seemed to have a protective effect. People taking both vitamins were 78% less likely to show signs of Alzheimer's than those not taking the combination. They found no benefit from taking either of the vitamins in isolation, or from taking multivitamins alone. ... Multivitamins typically contain the recommended daily allowance of vitamin E (22 IU or 15 mg) and vitamin C (75-90 mg), while individual supplements contain doses up to 1,000 IU of vitamin E and 500-1,000 mg or more of vitamin C. ... It was possible that it was simply a dosage effect - taking two vitamins instead of just one meant more was circulating around the body. However, he said: "There is also evidence of a synergistic effect between the activities of vitamin E and C. "Vitamin E is lipid-soluble and thus sticks around in fat tissues of the body a relatively long time. In contrast, vitamin C is water-soluble and is rapidly excreted from the body. Vitamin C may act to recharge the antioxidant capacities of vitamin E so that the vitamin E can continue doing its job of soaking up free radicals and reducing oxidative stress." (01/21/04) |
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Nutrition Information.This powerpoint file introduces the nutrients, calorie value of the nutrients and basic nutrition. 12:54:58 PM ![]() |
Vitamin D may protect against MS.You didn't see this on television news and you probably didn't notice it in your newspaper. Approximately 350,000 Americans have MS, so this is not an insignificant group. The big drug companies pretty much control what you see and read, so it isn't surprising that a ten- to twenty-year study would get ignored -- especially if the results don't benefit the big drug companies. But that is just what is coming out of The Nurses Health Study. Click here to read one of the few accounts of this finding published in a newspaper. "A huge study testing a long-held theory about the cause of multiple sclerosis has found that women who took a vitamin D supplement cut their risk of developing the incurable neurological disorder 40 percent. ... Vitamin D from food sources did not seem to lower the incidence of MS." Take a good supplement, and don't take more than is in the supplement. Too much Vitamin D can be toxic. If you need the name of a good supplement, I can recommend one. Contact me through the mailto: link on this weblog. 10:20:20 AM ![]() |
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