November scene

It’s that time again…

I’m going to do something a little different to show my appreciation and gratitude for all of you. In keeping with the spirit of the season, and honoring our human need to be closer to loved ones and farther from our computers, I want to keep this  as short and (stevia) sweet as possible. After all, the powerful healing effect of slowing down, resting, and coming together with loved ones does wonders for our immune system and overall health.

I have still compiled all the top reads for this gobble-gobble month, but I’m going to give you the cliff notes version. For those who want a second helping of more information, the link to the original source is included.

For those who aren’t feeling the cozy-feeling of family gatherings, I’ve written a quick-read blog on two tools you can use to ward-off holiday stress here.

Have a beautiful holidayHappy thanksgiving pilgrim turkey bird, everyone. Thank you to all my readers and clients for empowering yourselves and for all your feedback and sharings.

Oh, and before I forget, Thomas Turkey, OrT (Organic Turkey) asked to pass on a special holiday message to you:

“Remember to support your body, the health of my family, and our environment by choosing, organically-raised-happy turkeys.”

Here’s the top news:

HEALTH

The Sad State of Our Nation

55% of World Projected to be Diabetic by 2035

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) — the umbrella organization for 200 diabetes associations in more than 160 countries — just released its 2013 Diabetes Atlas. It cites current statistics and the rise of diabetes worldwide… Type 2 diabetes, which many consider an epidemic currently, is increasing worldwide predominantly due to poor diet, sedentary lifestyle and the fact that we are living longer.

Greenburg, R. IDF Releases New Dire Diabetes Stats and Projections HuffingtonPost.com. November 15, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riva-greenberg/diabetes-stats_b_4273505.html

US Preterm Birth Rate Drops But Still Earns a “C” on the Report Card

Baby bath

Alaska, California, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont — earned an “A” on the March of Dimes 2013 Premature Birth Report Card as their preterm birth rates met the March of Dimes 9.6 percent goal. The US preterm birth rate improved to the lowest rate in 15 years, but the change wasn’t enough to earn it a better grade. The nation again earned a “C” on the Report Card.

Science Daily. US Preterm Birth Rate Drops to 15-Year Low. Science Daily (sciencedaily.com). November 1, 2013. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131101091908.htm

Genetic Roulette with Our Food Supply

Jeffrey Smith, founder of Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) and Dr. Joseph Mercola supplied free streaming of Genetic Roulette for the week of 11/2-11/9/13. Some scary stuff of the manipulation of our food in this 1 hour film. Dr. Mercola writes:

  • The health dangers of genetically engineered (GE) foods are masterfully presented in this documentary by Jeffrey Smith, one of the world’s leading authorities on GE foods
  • Americans get sick more often than Europeans or people from any other industrialized nation, and scientific evidence suggests a significant factor may be the genetic engineering of our food supply
  • GE foods trigger immune attack because your body recognizes them as foreign invaders rather than food; this immune response can lead to chronic inflammation, raising your risk for multiple additional health problems

Mercola, J. Genetic Roulette—The Gamble of Our Lives. mercola.com. November 2, 2013. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/11/02/genetic-roulette.aspx

Good Medical Studies, Overstated Reporting

Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham looked at papers published about nutrition and obesity in leading medical and public health journals. They tracked how often authors overreached in the summary of their findings….Results from so-called observational studies – which can’t prove cause-and-effect – are often used to make potentially inappropriate recommendations without better data, the researchers said. One study showed half of press releases on more rigorous trials also overstated their results.

Jegtvig. S. Some nutrition and diet studies may overstate results.reuters.com. October 31, 2013. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/31/us-nutrition-diet-studies-idUSBRE99U15M20131031

The Media Weighs In

Escape Fire: The War to Rescue Our Health

By John Weeks, publisher-editor of the Integrator Blog News & Reports

Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare debuted on CNN in March of 2013 to great fanfare from the integrative health and medicine community. … Ours is a disease management system, not a healthcare system. Lifestyle issues are at the basis of our health and cost problems. We need deeper reforms than a change in payment or expansion of access.

Weeks, J. Revisiting Escape Fire: The War to Rescue Our Health. integrativepracticioner.com. October 30, 2013 E-blast (Integrative Practitioner).

Updates on Gender Differences & Health Risk

Heart Health-It’s a Girl Thing

Clinicians need to recognize there are significant gender differences in the mechanisms underlying CHD symptoms. In women, symptoms often have more to do with microvascular angina and stress cardiomyopathy, noted Houston. The most common symptom of a heart attack in women is sweating, and while 60% experience pain, pressure, or chest discomfort, 40% of women having a heart attack have no pain, Houston said. He added that primary treatment with statins is less effective in women than in men, he added.

Otrompke, J. For Women with CVD, Lipid-Centric Strategies Often Fail. Upshots: Holistic Primary Care October 2013.holisticprimarycare.net. October 30, 2013.

Breast Cancer Pink Ribbon Set/eps

New (Unsurprising) Blood Markers for Breast Cancer Risk

“At this point in time, however, no hormones are included in breast cancer risk prediction models,” she said in a news release. However, the new study suggests that adding in levels of three hormones — estrone sulfate, testosterone and prolactin “may provide the biggest improvement in risk prediction for breast cancer,” Tworoger said. In the new study, her team analyzed breast cancer risk for a group of 473 postmenopausal women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, as well as 770 women without the disease.

Health Day. Hormone Levels May Help Predict Breast Cancer Risk, Study Finds: Higher blood concentrations of testosterone, estrogens seem tied to higher odds for the disease. consumerhealthday.com. October 29, 2013.

More Health News

Low Moods Age Our Bodies

The cells of people who have had depression may age more quickly, a new study suggests.Dutch researchers compared cell structures called telomeres in more than 2,400 people with and without depression. Like the plastic tips at the ends of shoelaces, telomeres cap the ends of chromosomes to protect the cell’s DNA from damage. Telomeres get a bit shorter each time a cell divides, so they are useful markers for aging.

Goodman, B. Cells Show Signs of Faster Aging After Depression: Study found structures called telomeres were shorter in people with the condition. HealthDay. November 12, 2013.

Breastfeeding and Allergies

Giving babies solid food while still breast-feeding, and waiting until 17 weeks to do so, might protect the infants from food allergies, British researchers say.The overlap between starting solid foods while still breast-feeding teaches the immune system that food is safe and prevents food allergies, the researchers theorized.

Reinberg, S. Breast Milk With Solid Foods Might Stave Off Allergies-Study also found waiting until 17 weeks to introduce solids is key. HealthDay News. November 18, 2013.

Gut Bug Linked to Arthritis

Researchers have linked a species of intestinal bacteria known as Prevotella copri to the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the first demonstration in humans that the chronic inflammatory joint disease may be mediated in part by specific intestinal bacteria. The new findings by laboratory scientists and clinical researchers in rheumatology at NYU School of Medicine add to the growing evidence that the trillions of microbes in our body play an important role in regulating our health.

Science Daily. Intestinal Bacteria Linked to Rheumatoid Arthritis. sciencedaily.com. November 5, 2013.

 

Thanksgiving Dinner

 

NUTRIGENOMICS

You May Want to Do Salmon for Thanksgiving?

Or..Just Take Your Fish Oils…

Omega 3 Fatty Acids Effect Gene Expression

Specifically, omega-3s promote SIRT-6’s ability to alter the “expression” of important genes, by physically manipulating the genome…By keeping them tightly packed, SIRT-6 helps curb the expression of genes that promote inflammatory, metabolic, and age-associated diseases…Omega-3 fatty acids bind to and make SIRT-6 about 35 times more active in repressing genes known to promote chronic inflammation and metabolic dysfunctions.

Weatherby, C. Omega-3s Show Genetic Benefits: Landmark study adds new reason for the healthful effects of omega-3-rich diets. Vital Choice Newsletter. November 7, 2013.

Breast cancer awareness icons

Breast Cancer Risk Found to Be Reduced with Omega-3-Fatty-Acids

 What is already known on this topic

  • Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers and the leading cause of cancer death among women in the world
  • Epidemiological studies suggest that fish and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids intake have a protective role in breast cancer, though results from prospective studies are inconsistent

What this study adds

  • High intake of marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is associated with 14% reduction in risk of breast cancer
  • Each 0.1 g/day or 0.1% energy/day increment of intake was associated with a 5% reduction in risk

Zheng, J-S, Hu, X-J, Zhao, Y-M, Yang, J, & Lil, D. Intake of fish and marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of breast cancer: meta-analysis of data from 21 independent prospective cohort studies. BMJ 2013; 346 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f3706

Breast Cancer and Soy-Do They Mix?

A controversial topic with breast cancer is whether to recommend soy products to women with a history of this type of cancer. This is due to the isoflavone content of soy, a compound capable of modulating the amount of estrogen in women. Positive studies tend to focus on the Asian population and there is concern as to if Americans respond similarly and if the type of soy consumed is comparable.  Magee and Rowland suggest soy has differeing effects depending on the tumor type and that interactions between soy isoflavone intake and  genetic individuality in genes exist, particularly MDM2 and CYP1B1. Furthermore, the effect of changes in gene expression from the environment also play a part.

Bland, J & Minch, D. Personalized Lifestyle Medicine (PART 3): Relevance for Nutrition and Lifestyle Recommendations. A Special Slideshow by ModernHCP.com(modernhcp.com). November 2, 2013.

Is It the Soy or Mushrooms?

We conclude that higher dietary intake of mushrooms decreased breast cancer risk in pre- and postmenopausal Chinese women and an additional decreased risk of breast cancer from joint effect of mushrooms and green tea was observed. More research is warranted to examine the effects of dietary mushrooms and mechanism of joint effects of phytochemicals on breast cancer.

Zhang M, Huang J, Xie X, Holman CD. Dietary intakes of mushrooms and green tea combine to reduce the risk of breast cancer in Chinese women [abstract]. Int J Cancer. 2009. Mar 15;124(6):1404-8. doi: 10.1002/ijc.24047.

Probiotic Tags

Can Probiotics Prevent Gluten Reactions?

In a startling paper discussing treatment alternatives for celiac disease, research from George Washington University School of Medicine finds that probiotics provide a viable solution for gluten digestion and intestinal health – and likely their absence provides the smoking gun for the cause of gluten sensitivities.

Adams, C. Probiotics Prevent Gluten Sensitivity and Intestinal Damage from Gliadin.realnatural.com.

Fiber, Gut Bugs, and Immune Regulation

Published in the journal Nature today, the Japanese study shows that butyrate, a by-product of the digestion of dietary fiber by gut microbes, acts as an epigenetic switch that boosts the immune system by inducing the production of regulatory T cells in the gut. Previous studies have shown that patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease lack butyrate-producing bacteria and have lower levels of butyrate in their gut.

Science Daily.Fatty Acid Produced by Gut Bacteria Boosts the Immune System.sciencedaily.com. November 13, 2013.

DRUG  UPDATES

Drugs and Money

Top 100 Drugs Sold Through September Reported

Statin, Abilify, Nexium, Cymbalta, Humira, and Crestor are Top 5.

The cholesterol-lowering drug rosuvastatin (Crestor, AstraZeneca) was the nation’s most prescribed drug over the course of last 12 months, through September, whereas the antipsychotic aripiprazole (Abilify, Otsuka Pharmaceutical) racked up the highest sales — almost $6.4 billion, according to a new report from research firm IMS Health on the top 100 selling drugs in the United States.

The 10 top-selling drugs reflect hardly any change since calendar year 2012, according to IMS Health.

Lowes, R. Top 100 Selling Drugs Through September Reported. Medscape Medical News (medscape.com). October 31, 2013.

Toxic Effects of These Two Drugs Combined

The antibiotic clarithromycin prescribed for patients already taking antihypertensive calcium-channel blockers is associated with increases in hospitalization for acute kidney injury, hypotension, and death, according to new research.

Melville, N. Antibiotic and Calcium-Channel Blocker a Fatal Combination. Medscape Medical News > Conference News. November 13, 2013.

Painkillers Linked to Depression Risk

  • People who took opioid pain-relieving drugs for 90 to 180 days had a 25 percent increased risk of depression, while those who took opioids for 180 days or longer were at a 53 percent increased risk of developing depression
  • The drugs may reset your brain’s reward pathway to a higher level, making it more difficult to experience pleasure from natural rewards like food

Mercola, J. Risk of Depression Increased by Long-Term Use of Prescription Painkillers. Mercola.com. November 14, 2013.

Herbal Supplement Quality is Risky if You Don’t Know the Source

This is why we discourage purchasing from Amazon or not directly from a practitioner:

Using a test called DNA barcoding, a kind of genetic fingerprinting that has also been used to help uncover labeling fraud in the commercial seafood industry, Canadian researchers tested 44 bottles of popular supplements sold by 12 companies. They found that many were not what they claimed to be, and that pills labeled as popular herbs were often diluted — or replaced entirely — by cheap fillers like soybean, wheat and rice…Of 44 herbal supplements tested, one-third showed outright substitution, meaning there was no trace of the plant advertised on the bottle — only another plant in its place.

O’Connor. A. Herbal Supplements Are Often Not What They Seem. New York Times (nytimes.com). November 3, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/science/herbal-supplements-are-often-not-what-they-seem.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&

Newmaster, S. Grguric, M, Shanmughanandhan, D, Ramalingam, S, & Ragupathy, S. DNA barcoding detects contamination and substitution in North American herbal products [abstract].BMC Medicine 2013, 11:222  doi:10.1186/1741-7015-11-222.

Vaccination Headlines

With the rise in antibiotic resistance, more vaccines are entering the market. Many consumers are becoming more concerned on the rise in numbers of vaccines and their safety, yet healthcare workers are questioning why many are refusing them.

Vaccines

Hold the Second Shot (and Third?)

Just one dose of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine may be enough to provide long-term protection against cervical cancer in women, a new study suggests. The HPV vaccine is currently recommended as a three-dose series, but doctors have found it difficult to finish out the series for many girls.

Thompson, D. Single Dose of HPV Vaccine May Be Enough to Guard Against Cervical Cancer: Researchers found women who only got 1 of 3 recommended Cervarix doses still showed immune response 4 years later. Health Day. November 4, 2013.

Are Vaccinations Safe in Pregnancy?

According to NVIC:

You have to look no further than information in the vaccine manufacturer product inserts and posted online by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to quickly answer that question.

FACT: Drug companies did not test the safety and effectiveness of giving influenza or Tdap vaccine to pregnant women before the vaccines were licensed in the U.S.12 13 and there is almost no data on inflammatory or other biological responses to these vaccines that could affect pregnancy and birth outcomes.14

Read more here.

Fisher, B. Vaccination During Pregnancy, Is It Safe? mercola.com. November 10, 2013.

Hep B Vaccine Effectiveness Questioned in One Study

In the researchers’ own words: “The results of this large prospective longitudinal study show that 42% of babies born of HBsAg-positive mothers develop occult HBV infection, which is not prevented by administration of recombinant HBV vaccine to the newborn.” [italics added]

Ji, S. FAIL: Infant Hep B Vaccines Perform Shamefully; Time To End Them? GreenMedInfo.com. November 16, 2013.

Anti-Obesity Vaccine?

You can decrease ghrelin with proper sleep, exercise, and changing processed foods for organic, whole foods.

Weight Loss Shot

A research group at TSRI led by Kim Janda, Ph.D., has developed a technology to fight obesity-exploiting antibody-mediated neutralization of the hunger-stimulating peptide hormone ghrelin. When tested on rodents, the technology reportedly demonstrated statistically significant effects including reduced food intake and body weight loss.

GEN. Sorrento, Scripps Unite to Develop Obesity-Fighting Vaccines and Antibody Therapeutics. GEN News Highlights. Nov 5, 2013.

New Recommendations for Statins

The nation’s leading heart organizations released new guidelines on Tuesday that will fundamentally reshape the use of cholesterol-lowering statin medicines, which are now prescribed for a quarter of Americans over 40. Patients on statins will no longer need to lower their cholesterol levels to specific numerical targets monitored by regular blood tests, as has been recommended for decades. Simply taking the right dose of a statin will be sufficient, the guidelines say.

Kolata, G. Experts Reshape Treatment Guide For Cholesterol. The New York Times. November 12, 2013.

Sesame Seeds Trump Tylenol for Knee Pain

Considering that treatment was comprised of little over an ounce and one half of sesame seeds, the results were truly remarkable. As presented in Table 1 above, there was a significant difference in pain intensity between the two groups after treatment, with the sesame group seeing the largest drop from 9.5 before treatment to 3.5 after treatment, and the control group seeing a more modest drop from 9 before treatment to 7 after treatment.

Ji, S.Eating Sesame Seeds Superior To Tylenol for Knee Arthritis. greenmedinfo.com. November 10, 2013.