Research Suggests Omega-3 Fatty Acids Could Prevent And Treat Nerve Damage

Posted on January 14, 2012 by admin

Research from Queen Mary, University of London suggests that omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, have the potential to protect nerves from injury and help them to regenerate.

When nerves are damaged because of an accident or injury, patients experience pain, weakness and muscle paralysis which can leave them disabled, and recovery rates are poor.

The new study, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience*, suggests that omega-3 fatty acids could play a significant role in speeding recovery from nerve injury.

The study focused on peripheral nerve cells. Peripheral nerves are the nerves which transmit signals between the brain and spinal cord, and the rest of the body.

These nerves have the ability to regenerate but, despite advances in surgical techniques, patients usually only have good recovery when their injury is minor.

Omega-3 fatty acids are vital for the body’s normal growth and development and have been widely researched for their health benefits. Because the body cannot manufacture omega-3 fatty acids, they have to be consumed in foods such as oily fish.

In the new study, researchers first looked at isolated mouse nerve cells. They simulated the type of damage caused by accident or injury, by either stretching the cells or starving them of oxygen. Both types of damage killed a significant number of nerve cells but enrichment with omega-3 fatty acids in cells gave them significant protection and decreased cell death.

Next the researchers studied the sciatic nerves of mice. They found that a high level of omega-3 fatty acids helped mice to recover from sciatic nerve injury more quickly and more fully, and that their muscles were less likely to waste following nerve damage.

The research was carried out by a group led by Adina Michael-Titus, Professor of Neuroscience at Barts and The London Medical School and lead of the Neurotrauma and Neurodegeneration group in the Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma, Queen Mary, University of London.

She explained: “Our previous research has shown that these fatty acids could have beneficial effects in a number of neurological conditions. This new study suggests that they could also have a role in treating peripheral nerve injuries.

“More work is needed but our research indicates that omega-3 fatty acids can protect damaged nerve cells, which is a critical first step in a successful neurological recovery.”

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Calories Raise Body Fat When People Overeat, Not Protein

Posted on January 6, 2012 by admin

04 Jan 2012

In a study published in the January 4 issue of JAMA, researchers assessed 25 healthy individuals who were randomized to different levels of overconsumption on protein diets whilst living in a controlled setting. They found that those who consumed the low-protein diet gained less weight compared with those eating normal and high protein diets. Furthermore, they established that calories alone and not protein seemed to contribute to increases in body fat and that protein did contribute to changes in energy expenditure and lean body mass.

According to background information in the article, “Obesity has become a major public health concern with more than 60 percent of adults in the United States categorized as overweight and more than 30 percent as obese.” However, which role the composition of a diet plays in response to overeating and energy dissipation remains unclear.

George A. Bray, M.D. and team decided to establish whether the level of dietary protein differentially affected body composition, weight gain, or energy expenditure under tightly controlled conditions. They conducted a randomized controlled trial in 25 healthy, weight-stable American male and female volunteers who were aged between 18 to 35 years with a body mass index between 19 and 30 at an inpatient metabolic unit. The first volunteer was admitted in June 2005 with the last one joining in October 2007.

Following a weight-stabilizing diet, the researchers randomized the participants to receive a diet containing 5% of energy from low protein, 15% from normal protein or 25% on a high protein diet. During the last 8 weeks of their 10- to 12-week stay at the inpatient metabolic unit, the researchers overfed the volunteers. The protein diets provided a raised energy intake of about 40 % translating to 954 calories per day in comparison to the energy intake the volunteers received during their weight stabilization period.

The researchers observed an increase in weight in all participants, irrespective of sex. They established that those in the low protein diet group gained considerably less weight compared with the other two groups, i.e. 6.97 lbs. (3.16 kg) compared with 13.3 lbs (6.05 kg) in volunteers of the normal protein diet group and 14.4 lbs or 6.51 kg in participants in the high protein diet group.

According to the researchers:

“Body fat increased similarly in all 3 protein diet groups and represented 50 percent to more than 90 percent of the excess stored calories. Resting energy expenditure, total energy expenditure, and body protein did not increase during overfeeding with the low protein diet.”

The findings showed that the lean body mass (body protein) in the low protein group was lowered by 0.70 kg (1.5 lbs) during the overeating period compared with a gain of 2.87 kg (6.3 lbs) in the normal protein diet group and 3.18 kg (7 lbs) in volunteers in the high protein diet group. In addition, the researchers noted that the resting energy expenditure of 160 calories per day in a normal protein diet and 227 calories per day in a high protein diet increased substantially in the normal and high protein diet groups.

The researchers conclude:

“In summary, weight gain when eating a low protein diet (5 percent of energy from protein) was blunted compared with weight gain when eating a normal protein diet (15 percent of energy from protein) with the same number of extra calories. Calories alone, however, contributed to the increase in body fat. In contrast, protein contributed to the changes in energy expenditure and lean body mass, but not to the increase in body fat. The key finding of this study is that calories are more important than protein while consuming excess amounts of energy with respect to increases in body fat.”
Editorial: Overeating and Overweight – Extra Calories Increase Fat Mass While Protein Increases Lean Mass

Drs. Zhaoping Li, and David Heber, of the University of California in Los Angeles comment in an accompanying editorial, that the results of this study:

“Inform primary care physicians and policy makers about the benefits of protein in weight management. The results suggest that overeating low protein diets may increase fat deposition leading to loss of lean body mass despite lesser increases in body weight. Policy makers and primary care physicians need to understand the role of the Western diet in promoting overweight and obesity.

Because this diet increases the risks of over nutrition through fat deposition beyond that detected by body mass index, the method used to assess the current obesity epidemic and the magnitude of the obesity epidemic may have been underestimated. Clinicians should consider assessing a patient’s overall fatness rather than simply measuring body weight or body mass index and concentrate on the potential complications of excess fat accumulation. The goals for obesity treatment should involve fat reduction rather than simply weight loss, along with a better understanding of nutrition science.”

Written by Petra Rattue
Copyright: Medical News Today

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In adults at risk of type 2 diabetes, short-term supplementation with vitamin D improved β cell function.

Posted on November 29, 2011 by admin

Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Aug;94(2):486-94. Epub 2011 Jun 29.

Effects of vitamin D and calcium supplementation on pancreatic β cell function, insulin sensitivity, and glycemia in adults at high risk of diabetes: the Calcium and Vitamin D for Diabetes Mellitus (CaDDM) randomized controlled trial.

Mitri J, Dawson-Hughes B, Hu FB, Pittas AG.

Source
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111, USA.

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
A suboptimal vitamin D and calcium status has been associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes in observational studies, but evidence from trials is lacking.

OBJECTIVE:
We determined whether vitamin D supplementation, with or without calcium, improved glucose homeostasis in adults at high risk of diabetes.

DESIGN:
Ninety-two adults were randomly assigned in a 2-by-2 factorial-design, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial to receive either cholecalciferol (2000 IU once daily) or calcium carbonate (400 mg twice daily) for 16 wk. The primary outcome was the change in pancreatic β cell function as measured by the disposition index after an intravenous-glucose-tolerance test. Other outcomes were acute insulin response, insulin sensitivity, and measures of glycemia.

RESULTS:
Participants had a mean age of 57 y, a body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) of 32, and glycated hemoglobin (Hb A(1c)) of 5.9%. There was no significant vitamin D × calcium interaction on any outcomes. The disposition index increased in the vitamin D group and decreased in the no-vitamin D group (adjusted mean change ± SE: 300 ± 130 compared with -126 ± 127, respectively; P = 0.011), which was explained by an improvement in insulin secretion (62 ± 39 compared with -36 ± 37 mU · L(-1) · min, respectively; P = 0.046). Hb A(1c) increased less, but nonsignificantly, in the vitamin D group than in the no-vitamin D group (0.06 ± 0.03% compared with 0.14 ± 0.03%, respectively; P = 0.081). There was no significant difference in any outcomes with calcium compared with no calcium.

CONCLUSION:
In adults at risk of type 2 diabetes, short-term supplementation with cholecalciferol improved β cell function and had a marginal effect on attenuating the rise in Hb A(1c). This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00436475.

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BPA Levels Rise 1,221% After 5 Days Eating Canned Soup

Posted on November 25, 2011 by admin

Volunteers who had one can of soup per day for five days had urine BPA (bisphenol A) levels rise by over 1,221% compared to the same people who had consumed freshly made soup daily for five days, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health reported in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). The authors say their study is one of the few to measure human BPA levels after consuming canned products.

Lead author, doctoral student, Jenny Carwile, who studies at the faculty’s Department of Epidemiology, said:

“Previous studies have linked elevated BPA levels with adverse health effects. The next step was to figure out how people are getting exposed to BPA. We’ve known for a while that drinking beverages that have been stored in certain hard plastics can increase the amount of BPA in your body. This study suggests that canned foods may be an even greater concern, especially given their wide use.”

Bisphenol A (BPA)

Bisphenol A or BPA, molecular formula C15H16O2, is an organic compound that is used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, among other things. BPA is an estrogenic – it has properties which can mimic the effects of the human hormone estrogen – it is an endocrine disruptor.

BPA is added to the lining of foods and drinks cans and, according to studies, interferes with reproductive development in animals, including humans. BPA levels in humans have been associated with a higher risk of developing several diseases and conditions, including obesity, diabetes type 2, and cardiovascular diseases.

BPA has also been found in polycarbonate bottles, which are identified by recycling number seven, as well as dentistry sealants and composites.

In 2008, concern regarding BPA became a public theme in the media after the governments of several nations questioned its safety – many retailers in North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australasia made moves to remove BPA-containing food products from their shelves.

A 2010 US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) report expressed concern regarding exposure of BPA to fetuses, infants and young children. Canadian authorities declared BPA a toxic substance in 2010 – the first country to do so. BPA is banned in baby bottles in the European Union and Canada.

Prenatal exposure to BPA has been associated with subsequent neurological difficulties.
The Harvard Study on the impact of canned soup on human BPA levels

Jenny Carwile and Karin Michels set out to determine whether the consumption of canned soup might raise concentrations of urinary BPA, compared to the consumption of freshly-made soup.

Their 75 volunteers consisted of students and staff from the Harvard School of Public Health. They were divided into two groups:

One group ate a 12-ounce serving of canned soup (vegetarian), one a day for five days. Then they washed-out for two days. This was followed by a same-sized portion of 100% freshly-made soup once a day for five days.

The other group did the same, but the other way round; starting off with daily freshly made soup, followed by a two-day washout, and then five days of daily canned soup.
The urine sample results from the two groups were similar, and showed that at the end of the five days on canned soups their HPA urine concentrations were 1,221% higher, compared to levels at the end of five days on freshly-made soup.

Further studies are required to determine how long urine levels remain high, the researchers stressed. They suspect the higher BPA levels may be temporary.

Senior author, Karin Michels, said:

“The magnitude of the rise in urinary BPA we observed after just one serving of soup was unexpected and may be of concern among individuals who regularly consume foods from cans or drink several canned beverages daily. It may be advisable for manufacturers to consider eliminating BPA from can linings.”

Funding: the Allen Foundation and the Environmental Epidemiology from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences both provided grants to pay for this study.

Written by Christian Nordqvist

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Omega-3 Supplementation May Reduce Joint And Cognitive Side Effects Of Breast Cancer Treatments

Posted on November 25, 2011 by admin

“I know I need this medicine to help lower my chance of cancer recurrence, but it makes my joints ache and stiff. It makes me feel old and I am not sure I can take this medication much longer.”

It’s a story that oncologists across the country hear frequently from patients taking aromatase inhibitors, a medication that reduces circulating estrogen levels, which leads to lower breast cancer recurrences. Dr. Maryam Lustberg, an assistant professor at the Ohio State College of Medicine, knew the pain made some of her patients less compliant, possibly giving the cancer a foothold.

“Up to a third of my patients were reporting joint symptoms on aromatase inhibitor therapy which was impacting their quality of life and some had to stop taking the medication,” says Lustberg.

Lustberg attended a seminar hosted by Ohio State’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) designed to bring new TL-1 award recipients together to share research interests. There, she met Tonya Orchard, a doctoral student in nutrition working on a CCTS-funded study with post-menopausal women and the consumption of fatty acids a nutrient essential to human health that had also been linked to reducing joint pain related to osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

“Dr. Lustberg approached me with what she was seeing in her clinic and we quickly became excited about the prospect of working together to address the problem,” recalls Orchard, now a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Ohio State. “We put together a grant proposal and the Cancer and Leukemia Group B awarded us pilot funding to see if omega-3′s could help women taking these estrogen-blocking drugs.”

This study due to be completed in Spring 2012 adds another chapter in Orchard’s career that has included working with patients suffering from osteoporosis in a clinical setting and researching the health impacts of omega-3 fatty in post-menopausal women.

“Early on, I was fascinated with research showing a correlation between omega-3′s and bone mineral density, but it was really after seeing my grandmother suffer from several lumbar fractures, a hip fracture and ultimately ending up in a nursing home that my interest in fatty acids was solidified,” says Orchard.

The interest is continuing through the Women’s Health Initiative working group at Ohio State, where Drs. Lustberg and Orchard are also collaborating with neuroscientist Dr. Courtney DeVries to investigate the effects of omega-3 supplementation on cognitive symptoms associated with chemotherapy. As many as one-third of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy will experience problems with memory and verbal fluency, but these women’s health researchers believe that the anti-inflammatory properties of fatty acids may provide a solution.

“Fatty acids are present in every cell of the body. They alter the production of signaling hormones and how cells communicate with each other in ways that may impact inflammation,” says Orchard. “Omega-3 supplementation has been shown to be safe during chemotherapy and may offer solutions to multiple issues associated with cancer therapies where inflammation may be involved.”

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FDA Commissioner announces Avastin decision

Posted on November 18, 2011 by admin

SILVER SPRING, Md., Nov. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –FDA Commissioner

Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., said today she is revoking the agency’s approval of the breast cancer indication for Avastin (bevacizumab) after concluding that the drug has not been shown to be safe and effective for that use.

Avastin will still remain on the market as an approved treatment for certain types of colon, lung, kidney and brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme).

“This was a difficult decision. FDA recognizes how hard it is for patients and their families to cope with metastatic breast cancer and how great a need there is for more effective treatments. But patients must have confidence that the drugs they take are both safe and effective for their intended use,” Dr. Hamburg said. “After reviewing the available studies it is clear that women who take Avastin for metastatic breast cancer risk potentially life-threatening side effects without proof that the use of Avastin will provide a benefit, in terms of delay in tumor growth, that would justify those risks. Nor is there evidence that use of Avastin will either help them live longer or improve their quality of life.”

Avastin’s risks include severe high blood pressure; bleeding and hemorrhaging; heart attack or heart failure; and the development of perforations in different parts of the body such as the nose, stomach, and intestines.

Today’s decision, outlined in Dr Hamburg’s 69-page opinion, involves Avastin used in combination with the cancer drug paclitaxel for those patients who have not been treated with chemotherapy for their form of metastatic breast cancer known as HER2 negative. This indication must now be removed from Avastin’s product labeling.

Dr. Hamburg’s decision is based on an extensive record, which includes thousands of pages submitted to a public docket, data from several clinical trials and the record from a two-day hearing held in June, 2011.

Avastin was approved for metastatic breast cancer in February 2008 under the FDA’s accelerated approval program, which allows a drug to be approved based on data that are not sufficiently complete to permit full approval. The accelerated approval program provides earlier patient access to promising new drugs to treat serious or life-threatening conditions while confirmatory clinical trials are conducted. If the clinical trials do not justify the continued approval of the drug or a specific drug indication, the agency may revoke its approval. In this case, the accelerated approval was based on promising results from one study that suggested that the drug could provide a meaningful increase in the amount of time from when treatment is started until the tumor grows or the death of the patient.

After the accelerated approval of Avastin for breast cancer, the drug’s sponsor, Genentech, completed two additional clinical trials and submitted the data from those studies to the FDA. These data showed only a small effect on tumor growth without evidence that patients lived any longer or had a better quality of life compared to taking standard chemotherapy alone – not enough to outweigh the risk of taking the drug.

FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which is responsible for the approval of this drug, ultimately concluded that the results of these additional studies did not justify continued approval and notified Genentech it was proposing to withdraw approval of the indication.

Genentech did not agree with the Center’s evaluation of the data and, following the procedures set out in FDA regulations, requested a hearing on the Center’s withdrawal proposal, with a decision to be made by the Commissioner. That two-day hearing, which took place June 28-29, 2011, included recommendations from the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC), voting 6-0 in favor of withdrawing approval of Avastin’s breast cancer indication. After the hearing, the public docket remained open until Aug. 4, 2011. (In an earlier meeting of the ODAC, that committee had voted 12-1 in favor of the removal of the breast cancer indication from the Avastin label).

“FDA is committed to working with sponsors to bring promising cancer drugs to market as quickly as possible using tools like accelerated approval,” Dr. Hamburg said. “I encourage Genentech to consider additional studies to identify if there are select subgroups of women suffering from breast cancer who might benefit from this drug.”

For more information:
Avastin Decision

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/UCM279485

FY2011 Innovative Drug Approvals

http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ReportsManualsForms/Reports/ucm276385.htm

Media Inquiries: Karen Riley, 301-796-4674,
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
SOURCE U.S. Food and Drug Administration

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Low Vitamin C Levels May Raise Heart Failure Patients’ Risk

Posted on November 17, 2011 by admin

14 Nov 2011

Low levels of vitamin C were associated with higher levels of high sensitivity C-Reactive protein (hsCRP) and shorter intervals without major cardiac issues or death for heart failure patients, in research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2011.

Compared to those with high vitamin C intake from food, heart failure patients in the study who had low vitamin C intake were 2.4 times more likely to have higher levels of hsCRP, a marker for inflammation and a risk factor for heart disease.

The study is the first to demonstrate that low vitamin C intake is associated with worse outcomes for heart failure patients.

Study participants with low vitamin C intake and hsCRP over 3 milligrams per liter (mg/L) were also nearly twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease within one year of follow-up.

“We found that adequate intake of vitamin C was associated with longer survival in patients with heart failure,” said Eun Kyeung Song, Ph.D., R.N., lead author of the study and assistant professor at the Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, in the University of Ulsan in Korea.

The average age among the 212 patients in the study was 61, and about one-third were women. Approximately 45 percent of the participants had moderate to severe heart failure.

Participants completed a four-day food diary verified by a registered dietitian and a software program calculated their vitamin C intake. Bloods tests measured hsCRP.

Researchers divided participants into one group with levels over 3 mg/L of hsCRP and another with lower levels. Patients were followed for one year to determine the length of time to their first visit to the emergency department due to cardiac problems or death.

Researchers found that 82 patients (39 percent) had inadequate vitamin C intake, according to criteria set by the Institute of Medicine. These criteria allowed the researchers to estimate the likelihood that the patient’s diet was habitually deficient in vitamin C based on a four day food diary. After a year follow-up, 61 patients (29 percent) had cardiac events, which included an emergency department visit or hospitalization due to cardiac problems, or cardiac death.

The researchers found that 98 patients (46 percent) had hsCRP over 3 mg/L, according to Song.

Inflammatory pathways in heart failure patients may be why vitamin C deficiency contributed to poor health outcomes, the data suggests.

“Increased levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein means a worsening of heart failure,” Song said. “An adequate level of vitamin C is associated with lower levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. This results in a longer cardiac event-free survival in patients.”

The use of diuretics may also play a role because vitamin C is water soluble and diuretics increase the amount of water excreted from the kidneys, said Terry Lennie, Ph.D., R.N., study author and associate dean of Ph.D. studies in the College of Nursing at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

“Diet is the best source of vitamin C,” Lennie said. “Eating the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables a day provides an adequate amount.”

More randomized controlled trials and longitudinal prospective studies are needed to determine the impact of other micronutrients on survival or rehospitalization, Song said.

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237604.php

Dr Wdowin’s Notes:
Linus Pauling won a Nobel Prize for his work with vitamin C and he took 18,000mg a day. I am not taking that much yet I believe we need a bit more vitamin c than just from our diet. With the stress and toxicity we are all exposed to in this world I recommend people take at least 1000mg (1 gram) of vitamin C a day with a meal.

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Low Vitamin D Common In Spine Surgery Patients May Delay Recovery

Posted on November 12, 2011 by admin

A new study indicates that many patients undergoing spine surgery have low levels of vitamin D, which may delay their recovery.

In a study of 313 patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery, orthopaedic surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that more than half had inadequate levels of vitamin D, including one-fourth who were more severely deficient.

The researchers report their findings today at the 26th Annual Meeting of the North American Spine Society. The study was chosen as one of the meeting’s best papers.

“Our findings suggest it may be worthwhile to screen surgery patients for vitamin D,” says Jacob M. Buchowski, MD, the study’s principal investigator. “We think those with insufficient levels of vitamin D may benefit from taking 50,000 international units of the vitamin once a week for eight weeks before surgery as this may help the recovery after spinal fusion surgery.”

Vitamin D helps with calcium absorption, and patients with a deficiency can have difficulty producing new bone. They are at risk for a condition called osteomalacia. Unlike osteoporosis or osteopenia, which result from low bone mineral density, osteomalacia interferes with new bone formation.

All the patients in the study had spinal fusion surgery. In that procedure, surgeons remove discs between two or more vertebrae. The bones in the spine are then attached with hardware and treated with growth factors. As the spine heals, new bone begins to form, and the vertebrae fuse together.

Buchowski became aware of the vitamin D problem when a patient in her 40s experienced a slow recovery after spinal fusion surgery.

“I was examining her and trying to figure out why the vertebrae didn’t fuse,” he says. “She mentioned that she had recently been diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency, and it was like a ‘light bulb’ went off.”

As a result, Buchowski, an associate professor of orthpaedic surgery and of neurological surgery, and his Washington University colleagues at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, started routinely screening spinal fusion surgery patients for vitamin D deficiency.

Low vitamin D levels are known to be common in elderly patients. Surprisingly in this study, the patients most likely to have inadequate levels of the bone-building vitamin were younger.

“We rarely think about deficiency in younger patients,” Buchowski says. “More of the older patients in this study had a history of taking supplements, and as a result, they had less risk for vitamin D deficiency than younger patients.”

Although an earlier study had shown inadequate vitamin D levels in 43 percent of patients undergoing orthopedic procedures, this is the first look solely at spine surgery patients.

Those in the study averaged 55 years of age, 56 percent were female, 41 percent were obese, and 95 percent were white. One quarter of the participants had taken vitamin D supplements in the past.

The researchers found that the main risk factors for inadequate vitamin D were smoking, obesity, disability prior to surgery and never having taken vitamin D or multivitamin supplements.

As a follow-up, Buchowski and his colleagues are planning a study to see whether there is a link between low vitamin D and poor outcomes following spinal fusion. In the meantime, he’s recommending that patients having orthopedic surgery ensure they’re getting enough vitamin D.

Sun exposure is one of the best ways to get the body to produce vitamin D. He also recommends that if they are not getting enough vitamin D, patients consume dairy products fortified with the vitamin and begin taking a vitamin D supplement prior to and following surgery.

“Vitamin D is inexpensive and easily stored in the body,” Buchowski says. “My hunch is that having adequate levels may help the spine fuse following surgery.”

To maintain bone health and normal calcium metabolism, the Institute of Medicine established a recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin D of 600 international units. Buchowski says patients should work with their doctors to determine what supplemental level is appropriate for them.

Dr. Wdowin’s notes:
600 iu’s of vitamin D is typically not enough. Some of our patients have needed doses of over 10,000 iu’s per day for an extended period of time to improve their serum 25 hydroxy-vitamin d levels. Please ask your doctor to run blood work to evaluate your levels before and after large doses of vitamin d supplementation.

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Association Of Alcohol With Risk Of Breast Cancer: New Analysis From The Nurses’ Health Study

Posted on November 12, 2011 by admin

06 Nov 2011

A well-done analysis by Chen WY et al, published in JAMA assesses the association of moderate alcohol consumption during adult life, drinking patterns, and breast cancer risk. The authors use prospectively collected data from the 105,986 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study followed up from 1980 until 2008 with an early adult alcohol assessment and 8 follow ups.

The International Scientific Forum of Alcohol Research comments ‘A large percentage of observational prospective studies have shown that women who consume alcohol show an increase in their risk of developing breast cancer. In general, the relation seems to be stronger for women who drink in binges, are also taking post-menopausal hormonal therapy, and/or have low intakes of dietary folate. Most studies have shown that heavier drinkers are at the greatest risk’.

In this study, the risk of breast cancer was found to be modestly increased among consumers of alcohol, even those whose total alcohol consumption was reported to be in the range of 3 to 6 drinks/week. Similar small increases in the risk of breast cancer have been found from alcohol consumption in the majority of previous studies observational studies. A strength of this study was the very large number of subjects, permitting the investigators to attempt to determine if both the amount of alcohol and the frequency of consumption were important in this association; strong effects were not found for either. When adjusting for the cumulative lifetime consumption, there was no effect of the frequency of consumption (1-2, 3-4, or 5-7 days per week).

A weakness in the paper, is a failure to report on the effects of diet and folate intake on the association between alcohol and breast cancer risk; the same investigators have previously shown that folate is a potential moderator of the effects of alcohol on breast cancer risk.

The authors describe well the dilemma that women face regarding alcohol intake, which may increase slightly the risk of breast cancer but markedly decrease the risk of other more common diseases, especially cardiovascular conditions. For example, the authors state that regarding breast cancer, “We did find an increased risk at low levels of use, but the risk was quite small.” The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research commented on the study “The results are plausible from the pathophysiological point of view: alcohol intake increases estrogen levels and this means that women have a slightly lower risk for osteoporosis and a slightly higher risk for breast cancer. When we tell the public that current data suggest small to moderate amounts of alcohol protect against cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, and vascular dementia, we should also state that breast cancer risk in women is slightly increased.”

The authors of this paper put their findings into perspective when they conclude: “An individual will need to weigh the modest risks of light to moderate alcohol use on breast cancer development against the beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease to make the best personal choice regarding alcohol consumption.”

Posted in Breast Cancer, Diet | Comments Off