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CCH Health Review
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Adequate Amounts of Vitamin D Needed to Reduce Risk of Falls
In 2009 a review study was published in the British Medical Journal examining the effects of oral vitamin D supplementation on risk of falls among older people. Doses of vitamin D between 700 and 1000 IU/d were found to reduce the risk of falls by 23%, while doses below 700 IU/d were "NOT" found to exert a protective effect. Data from 2,426 subjects, were included in the analysis. These results suggest that the existing recommendations...
Milk Thistle Extract Helps Manage Blood Sugar in Diabetics
A recent study was published in Phytotherapy Research (Phytother Res 2006;20:1036-9). 51 adults with type 2 diabetes were given either silymarin (a milk thistle extract) or a placebo for four months. The average fasting blood glucose level fell 15% in the silymarin (milk thistle) group, compared with an increase of 13% in the placebo group. Other markers of diabetes management improved in the silymarin group but did not change or worsened in the placebo...
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Joint Pain Disappears
We wrote recently in HEALTH NOTES about our success with Niacinamide (a B vitamin) for patients with anxiety. Not long ago a Center doctor saw a patient named Deb who is a 28-year-old accountant. She has been taking Niacinamide 750mg one capsule twice daily. The doctor spoke with her on the phone a few weeks after she started the Niacinamide and she reported "I am cool, calm and collected and have felt this way...
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Antacid Drugs Increase Risk of Hip Fractures and Weak Bones
A large study has found that taking stomach acid blocking drugs (Aciphex, Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec, Protonix), increases the risk of osteoporosis and bone fracture. People over 50 who took these drugs for more than one year had a 44% increased risk of breaking a hip and higher doses for longer periods more than doubled their risk. Blocking stomach acid impairs calcium and mineral absorption leading to weak bones. If you or someone you know uses...
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Folic Acid as Brain Food
Two new exciting studies have illustrated more health benefits of folic acid. We have known for a while the importance of folic acid supplementation during pregnancy, as it is needed for the normal development of the nervous system, including the brain. Two recent large studies have illustrated the importance of folic acid in older people as well. In a study of 965 patients over age 65, the participants with the highest intake of folic acid...
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Spring Cleaning? Think Spring Cleansing of Your Body!
After months of winter, many clean their homes and open their windows to let the fresh air in. Why not take the same approach to your health? Leave holiday indulgences and the dark days of winter behind. Jumpstart a healthy spring and summer - sign up for our upcoming cleanse. This three-week program is designed to reduce the toxic burden on your body. Every day, we are all exposed to toxins and our body...
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Remember the Probiotics!
We frequently see children with eczema in our practice. Eczema is a noncontagious inflammation of the skin, often caused by an allergy and characterized by itching, scaling, and blistering. Most of the therapeutic focus for eczema is on dietary improvements, supplementation with omega 3 (fish oil & flax oil) and/or omega 6 fatty acids (evening primrose, borage or black currant seed oil) and the daily use of a high potency hypoallergenic multivitamin. We also...
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Does Asthma Really Exist?
According to research recently published in the British medical journal The Lancet (2006;368:705), asthma may not really be an illness. The diagnosis of asthma, especially in children, has increased dramatically over the past two decades. Now researchers are admitting that the term may actually be used to describe a variety of symptoms that have multiple causes - most of them allergy related. Environmental changes with the introduction of huge numbers of toxins in our...
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Glutamine Eases Chemotherapy Nausea
I have seen another case of chemotherapy induce nausea disappear with the use of Glutamine powder. Within a few days of starting treatment, MaryAnn experienced intense nausea throughout the day with no vomiting episodes. She was taking oral Zeloda for the treatment of colon cancer. I started her on fairly large doses of Glutamine Powder 2 times daily. It made a world of difference for her. She has been on this regimen for the...
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Intense Skin Itching
I seem to be seeing an increasingly large number of patients who react to exercise or the cold weather with intense itching of exposed areas or with a rash and hives which can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. This type of reaction is thought to be caused by the chemical histamine. I have recently had complete success with two patients, both experiencing exercise induced itching. The regimen I gave them included:...
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Ginkgo Extract and Ovarian Cancer
At the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting in Baltimore last year, Ginkgo was highlighted for its use in the prevention of ovarian cancer. Both initial laboratory and epidemiological evidence demonstrated that women who took Ginkgo supplements for six months or longer were shown to have a 60 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer. Lab experiments showed that the ginkgo extract caused ovarian cancer cells to stop growing. The researchers observed an 80% growth...
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Aromatherapy for Menstrual Cramps
Plant Essential oils have many healing properties and they have an added benefit of smelling really good! A recent study found that a blend of specific essential oils massaged into the abdomen reduced menstrual cramps by 50%. I just read the study and have only prescribed the treatment to two patients, but both of them reported success with the treatment, which they both said helped within a half hour of the application. Even if Advil...
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Menstrual Cramps Revisited
I often report on cases of dysmenorrhea for two reasons. The first is personal. I freely explain that the reason I became interested in alternative medicine was because of my own history of menstrual cramps. The second reason is because I see many women who have monthly recurrent debilitating symptoms causing missed work, and more importantly, they miss out on well being. Patients tell me they schedule vacations, dinner out with friends, family events...
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Over 40? Get Your Vitamin D Level Checked
I saw a patient last week who had given a copy of her blood work that I ordered to her primary care physician. She is a woman in her late 50's with a very fair complexion, a family history of osteoporosis and is mildly hypertensive. She explained to me how baffled her physician was at my ordering a vitamin D level on her as part of a routine blood work up and told her he...
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Osteoporosis Reversal - A Case History
Karen has been coming to the office for two years now. She first consulted me at the age of 55 with chronic IBS and low energy. Just prior to her initial consultation, she had been experiencing heartburn so an endoscopy was performed and showed mild inflammation of the esophagus. Her gastroenterologist prescribed the acid blocker Prilosec. Her IBS symptoms worsened and she decided to seek out another approach. I won't get into the process...
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More Good News for Green Tea
Researchers from the University of Minnesota performed a meta-analysis of 13 studies and concluded that the consumption of green tea does lower the risk of breast cancer. It was also determined that the women who had the highest intake of green tea had the biggest reduction in the risk of developing breast cancer compared to the women with the lowest intake. I generally recommend 2-4 capsules daily of Vital Nutrients Green Tea Extract for...
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Niacinamide for Anxiety
Barbara is a 44-year-old physician's assistant who came to me with concerns over increasing anxiety, restlessness and sleep disturbance. Her intense schedule at her medical practice certainly contributed to irregular hours and disrupted patterns of sleep as she worked in a very busy obstetrical practice. Her on-call schedule varied week to week and she was juggling this schedule with her home routine with a husband and two teenage children. Barbara was using Ambien several...
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Toxic Metals and Inflammation
Karina is a 61 year old woman who came to my office after being diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica. She appeared healthy and fit and expressed confusion about the diagnosis and upset about her treatment plan from the rheumatologist. Karina had been on 10-20mg of Prednisone daily for almost 1 1/2 years. Her pain was tolerable on that dose but without it and even at a reduced dose, she described incapacitating pain throughout her joints....
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Pedicures and Heart Disease
A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology in June 2005 (162(2):157-16found that low chromium levels are associated with an increase risk for myocardial infarction. The researchers actually measured chromium in toenail clippings because they found that it better assessed long term chromium intake over a blood test. Findings indicate that among 1,400 men, those who suffered a heart attack had chromium levels about 15% lower than those who did not. In addition, those...
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Hormones and Migraines
More and more women come to see me with concerns about headaches; particularly migraines. Most of these women have been worked up by neurologists and have tried numerous prescription drugs that are either ineffective or cause unacceptable side effects. Nancy, age 46, described years of migraine occurrences that started shortly after menarche. The timing was a big clue for me. Although she experienced the headaches in a random and frequent pattern, she ALWAYS had...
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