Good News for Vitamin B and Your Brain

UPDATE: 19 October - Never too early to add B12 supplements as they commonly did half a century ago!

Vitamin B12 link to Alzheimer's backed by study  Evidence is mounting that levels of vitamin B12 may be connected to the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.  B 12

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I had a really happy morning begin when I read the following article -

Vitamin B 'puts off Alzheimer's'

And of course I was still shocked because it takes so long for mainstream health research to catch up with what I and others have known for decades.  I again have to suggest, first start in the stacks!

If you go back to the 1960s and earlier you will see that most doctors advised B12 shots and other vitamins along with natural thyroid support to people as they aged.  This of course acted to protect the brain and we rarely heard of dementia.

A colleague of mine from the Safe Harbor Project said in 1991 -

"Most cases of Alzheimer's dementia are actually missed B12 deficiency cases, because of the too-low normal range for B12," wrote John V. Dommisse, MD in 1991 in Medical Hypotheses. (3) Dommisse, who practices medicine in Tucson, Arizona, has confirmed (7,8,9) that Alzheimer's disease appears to result from too-low serum vitamin B12, and repletion of the vitamin succeeds despite other risk factors. Repleting B12, according to Dommisse, can reverse 75% of B12 deficiency dementias when the condition is discovered early enough. (10)
Other aspects of the therapy should be noted: The neurological and cerebral manifestations of B12 deficiency require dosages larger, (11) and extending over a longer time, (12) than to those needed to reverse hematologic effects. (13) B12 therapy appears to be perfectly safe; in other words, the risk of overdose is virtually nil. Patients of Dr. H.L. Newbold in New York City injected themselves three times daily with triple-strength doses of B12 (9,000 ug/micrograms/per day) indefinitely. Their serum B12 levels reached 200,000 pg/ml (100 times the normal level found in newborn babies and higher), but none had any significant side effects. (3) Complete article

As more and more focus came to look only at drug therapies, more and more problems in this area developed.  For example, look at one of the side effects of statins, dementia.  For more information read here.

Here's a list of the many articles found at Natural Health News about B vitamins.

• B vitamin depletion (4)
• B Vitamins (11)
• B vitamins and health (4)
• B vitamins and health during pregnancy (3)
• B12 (3)
• B17 (1)
• B3 (2)
• B6 (1) 

And there are some 76 B vitamin, Alzheimer's, and dementia related posts including those that address the related connection to fluoridated water, psychotropic drugs, diet, and other information.

Get the May 2007 issue of herbalYODA Says! on vitamin B12 with your donation

For your reference, here are a few -
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/vitamins-for-alzheimers.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/05/alzheimers-what-you-wont-see-on-hbo.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/11/vitamin-may-be-alzheimers-aid.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/additional-resources-health-vitamins.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/drugs-contribute-to-dementia-delirium.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/oldsters-and-bs.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/additional-resources-health-vitamins.html

My advice, look for high quality B complex food sources, like the organic nutritional yeast I get from Germany, high quality B complex supplements, B12 shots, or other healthy approaches for brain health as you age.

Taking Care of Your Brain is Possible!

Pauling Institute has this to say which may also interest Natural Health News readers. 

Natural Notes

B12 picture: bami

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Posted in: Alzheimers,B Vitamins,John Dommisse MD,natural health news,vitamins and Alzheimers

B vitamins and Methionine Improve Health

High levels of Vitamin B6 and the amino acid methionine cut lung cancer risk by half -

Methionine is a sulfur bearing amino acid that is necessary for health.  As a "methyl donor", methionine contributes to the formation of numerous important compounds in your body. This process is called "methylation". As a sulfur donor, methionine aids body detoxification processes, and assists in converting other sulfur-bearing amino acids - like glutathione - to S-adenosyl methionine (SAM-e).

SAMe is an active compound made from methionine and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). SAMe acts as a methyl donor in many biochemical pathways including detoxification of harmful products of metabolism.  It is needed to build neurotransmitters, cartilage, and glutathione.
Glutathione production is very important in anti-aging and helps reduce cellular oxidation, acting to prevent cancer. It mixes with toxins to form water soluble compounds that can be eliminated from the body.

Deficient "methylation" is implicated in mood deviation. Diets that are deficient in methionine may result in destructive tissue breakdown and poor protein metabolism.

Methionine is an essential amino acid and help make cysteine from food.  Its sulfur compounds promote healthy hair, skin, and nail growth. Sulfur increases bile flow, reduces liver fat and cholesterol, helps eliminate heavy metals and toxins, and protects your kidneys while blocking ammonia build-up in urine.
Methionine plays a key role in regulating the availability of folic acid (vitamin B9). Methionine deficiency interferes with your ability to use B9 and may cause a build up of unusable B9.

Food sources of methionine include Sunflower seeds, sesame seed, pumpkin seed, eggs, garlic, onions, yoghurt, cottage cheese, fish, sardines, beef, pork, chicken, lentils, Brazil nuts, peanuts, and almonds.

Soy is deficient in methionine.

Vegans or those eating low protein diets are at risk for deficiency.

Indications for use: Mood depression, excess alcohol use, liver health, antioxidant support, immune support, and to help maintain copper levels

Crystalline L-methionine is most readily absorbed, and it is best to take this amino acid in a combination with B complex, taurine, cysteine, vitamin B6, and folic acid.   Complete B complex vitamins and amino acids are available in our organic nutritional yeast.

More about methionine  and  also here


Creating Health Institue recommends taking a high quality multi-vitamin/mineral before adding additional supplements.

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Posted in: B Vitamins,cancer,lung cancer,methionine,natural health news

Prevention and Colon Cancer

Recently a study pointed to the usefulness of Omega 3 to help in the prevention of colon cancer.  Other studies looked at the preventive benefits of B complex vitamins like B9 and B6, and also the protective benefit of magnesium.

What hasn't been restudied of late is the well documented preventive effect against colon cancer from vitamin E.

This protective benefit was well covered in the 1990s and also in many studies from decades earlier.

Vitamin E (choose non-SOY) natural tocopherol and tocotrienol sources, as well as good foods. If you'd like vitamin consultation just get in touch with us for this service.

What foods provide vitamin E?

Walnuts are well established to provide a good source of vitamin E; raw and organic is the best choice, about 1/4 cup daily.  But do remember that walnuts are in the group of foods, like mustard greens and others in the brassica family, that effect the thyroid gland.

Excellent sources of vitamin E include mustard greens, turnip greens, chard, and sunflower seeds.

Very good sources of vitamin E include almonds and spinach.

Good sources of vitamin E include collard greens, parsley, kale, papaya, olives, bell pepper, brussels sprouts, kiwifruit, tomato, blueberries, and broccoli.  SOURCE

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Posted in: B Vitamins,cancer is preventable,colon cancer,vitamin E

Natural Cures for Clinton's Maladies

Now that we have been bombarded with Bill Clinton's health status for the last two days, I wonder just how many people won't get the kind of health care he has had during this time. It is something to think about as AP's Marilynn Marchione, AP Medical Writer, writes that he "...has a new lease on life, but there's no cure for the heart disease that has twice forced the former president to get blocked arteries fixed."

Clinton's taking anti-clotting medication which has long term problems of its own and he was admonished for stopping cholesterol medication. Of course it wasn't considered that cholesterol medication doesn't do too much for atherosclerosis, and nutritional depletion from the drugs was not even mentioned.

There may be no medical cure, but certainly we know that nature cures.

In case Bill reads this while he's recovering in Chappaqua, he'd do well to research the benefits of garlic, cayenne, vitamins B-C-E, and lecithin and how these natural supplements would actually lead to better prevention and cure.

We'd like his doctors to do the same.

FMI:Low micronutrient intake may accelerate the degenerative diseases of aging through allocation of scarce micronutrients by triage.

Lecithin from HEALTH MATTERS

Bruce Ames

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Posted in: atherosclerosis,B Vitamins,Bill Clinton,cayenne,garlic,Health Matters,lecithin,natural remedies,prevent plaque build up with vitamins,vitamin C,vitamin E

Vascular cognitive impairment linked to B vitamin deficiency

In the August 26, 2008 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at Tufts University's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) report that a deficiency of three B vitamins is associated with cognitive dysfunction in mice, as well as adverse effects on the brain's capillaries.

Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy assistant professor Aron Troen, PhD and colleagues fed mice one of two diets designed to result in high homocysteine levels over a ten week period. Elevated plasma homocysteine has been linked with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. The first diet contained a high amount of the amino acid methionine, which metabolizes to homocysteine, and the second diet was deficient in folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12, which help convert homocysteine back to methionine. A third group received normal diets.

"Mice fed a diet deficient in folate and vitamins B12 and B6 demonstrated significant deficits in spatial learning and memory compared with normal mice." Dr Troen reported. "The B vitamin-deficient mice also developed plasma homocysteine concentrations that were seven-fold higher than the concentrations observed in mice fed a normal diet."

Dr Troen's team additionally observed reductions in capillary length and density in the brains of mice that received B vitamin deficient diets. Mice that were given high methionine diets experienced similar effects, but to a lesser degree.

"The elevated levels of homocysteine that were associated with vascular cognitive impairment in the mice in our study are comparable to the levels that are associated in older adults with an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular disease, the latter of which manifests with conditions such as stroke and atherosclerosis," stated Irwin Rosenberg, MD, who is the director of the Nutrition and Neurocognition Laboratory at the HNRCA. "These findings may indicate that microvascular changes mediate the association between high homocysteine levels and human age-related cognitive decline."
Reported 9/08 LEF.ORG

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Posted in: B vitamin depletion,B Vitamins,B vitamins and health

Confusing you on purpose

B Complex vitamins do reduce heart risks, although a recent report opposes benefits -

A study published by the American Journal of Cardiology last month finds that cardiovascular patients with high homocysteine levels (above 15µmol/l) treated with B vitamins cut their risk of death by a quarter over ten years.

Among those not given B vitamins 32% had died, compared to only 4% of those given high dose vitamins. Homocysteine is now a proven marker for cardiovascular disease risk. For example, a recent meta-analysis concludes “each increase of 5 μmol/L in homocysteine levels increases the risk of CHD events by approximately 20%, independently of traditional CHD risk factors“. Lowering homocysteine levels with B vitamins has also been shown to reduce stroke risk.

Vitamin B12 is also a well established nutrient to help the fight against dementia.

Heart Disease: B-vitamin Pills Have No Effect, Review Finds

ScienceDaily (2009-10-20) -- B-vitamin supplements should not be recommended for prevention of heart disease, say scientists. A new review has shown these supplements do not reduce the risk of developing or dying from the disease. ... > read full article

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Posted in: B Vitamins,homocysteine,natural care,reduce heart disease,reduce stroke risk

Warning over fibroids treatment

I would really like to have someone justify the use of the procedure at a time when it is well known that fibroids are caused by estrogen excess and there are nutritional therapies and herbal therapies that will correct the problem.

I am referring to the use of B complex vitamins and herbs that balance hormones such as Vitex. Heavy bleeding can be helped with nettle, and vitamin E is also of great help.

None of these nutritional supplements lead to such serious problems in and after pregnancy as related to the surgical procedure. Consider as well generalized nutritional therapy.

I am also sure that the economic effect is much smaller as well.

Fibroids Treatment Warning

UK doctors say a treatment for heavy periods caused by fibroids can seriously harm a subsequent pregnancy.

An Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital study looked at the outcomes of 215 pregnancies following uterine artery embolisation (UAE) treatment.

The researchers found much higher rates of miscarriage, caesareans and heavy bleeding after delivery, and call for caution in recommending the treatment.

The study appears in the journal, The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist.

UAE has been available as a treatment in the UK since 1995.

Pregnancy problems

The doctors pulled together the data from five small studies carried out in the UK, Czech Republic and Canada.

Fibroids are small, benign lumps of smooth muscle in the womb.

THE UAE TECHNIQUE

A catheter or thin tube is inserted into the blood vessels in the groin which lead up to the womb
A gel is injected
This sets and blocks some of the blood vessels supplying the womb
Fibroids shrink

Sometimes, because of their number, size and location, they cause heavy period pain or difficulty in getting pregnant and treatment is needed.

Doctors at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital say as many as 40% of women of reproductive age have fibroids.

They found that the risk of miscarriage following UAE was 35% compared with a rate in untreated women of 10 to 15%.

The incidence of caesarean sections was much higher at 67% compared with a normal rate of 20 to 25%.

And bleeding after delivery was more than twice as common at 14% compared with 5%.

The babies tended to be smaller and they were more likely to present in an awkward position.

'Increase awareness'

Ertan Saridogan, who led the research, said although a large number of women had already undergone the procedure, there had been relatively little study of its long-term effects.

He said: "We do not offer it as a first-time treatment, but, for some women, surgery and other treatments do not work.

"We want to increase awareness of the pitfalls of this widespread procedure.

"I hope this will inform women before they make their decisions, so they can make an informed choice - they've been going at it blindly without realising what it might imply for their future pregnancies."

Henry Annan, from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said he agreed that care should now be taken in recommending the treatment.

"A proper randomised controlled trial of this procedure would take many years - it's important that patients should have some idea of the pros and cons of all the various treatments for fibroids."

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8310263.stm
Published: 2009/10/16 23:01:50 GMT © BBC MMIX

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Posted in: B Vitamins,fibroids,herbal therapy,nutritional therapy,vitamin E,Vitex

Why it pays to rely on nutritional supplementation

UPDATE: 11 June: BOO to BELO. BELO Broadcasting reports tonight on its KREM TV news outlet about Reglan yet makes no reference to safe B complex.
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One of the medical newsletters I receive arrived today with an article focused on the care of women who are pregnant.

The topic of the article was on treating a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) or severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

The medical model of today is to offer drugs. The drugs offered in this report were metoclopramide (Reglan) plus diphenhydramine (Benadryl). Reglan has a caution for use during pregnancy. Benadryl contains aspartame which is not recommended for use in pregnancy.

May 18, 2009 — A protocol including metoclopramide plus diphenhydramine may be helpful for hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), the most severe form of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, according to the results of a retrospective cohort study reported in the May issue of the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology.HG, the most severe form of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, is intractable vomiting associated with weight loss of at least 5% of prepregnancy weight, dehydration, ketonuria, and hypokalemia. Second only to preterm labor, HG is a leading cause of hospitalization during pregnancy.

There is no gold standard for HG treatment, but droperidol (Inapsine Pregnancy: Category C: INAPSINE administered intravenously has been shown to cause a slight increase in mortality of the newborn rat at 4.4 times the upper human dose. At 44 times the upper human dose, mortality rate was comparable to that for control animals. Following intramuscular administration, increased mortality of the offspring at 1.8 times the upper human dose is attributed to CNS depression in the dams who neglected to remove placentae from their offspring. INAPSINE has not been shown to be teratogenic in animals. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. INAPSINE should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.) and diphenhydramine have been used since 1998. Warnings about the cardiovascular toxicity of injectable droperidol, including QT prolongations, serious arrhythmia, and sudden death, were issued by the US Food and Drug Administration in December 2001 and subsequently by Health Canada. A new HG protocol replacing droperidol with metoclopramide has been used since June 2002 but has not previously been evaluated.
Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2009:143:43-49.

Depletion of B complex vitamins in pregnancy is related to nausea and vomiting as well as HG based on nutritional research.

The use of B vitamins will resolve this issue and they do not cause risk to the fetus or the mother's health.

Our nutritional powder, RK BioBlend, has helped many people over the years with this health concern in a safe and effective manner. The B vitamins also help prevent birth defects related to many issues especially neural tube defects (Spina Bifida).

Perhaps you'd like your toast and butter spread with nutritional yeast?

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Posted in: B Vitamins,B vitamins and health during pregnancy,BELO,Benadryl,hyperemesis gravidarium,Inapsine,KREM,natural health news,Regaln,RK BioBlend

Additional Resources: Health, Vitamins and Alzheimer's

While I am sure that the mainstream medical industry looks askance at vitamins, it seems sad to me that they fail to look at the cost of human suffering caused by their ignorance, and closed-mindedness about the health benefits of supplements.

I would like everyone to consider the view of my esteemed colleague, Steve Shackel of Australia.

He is a person living with ALS and has an amazingly in depth web site with a great amount of science backed data.

My early research was into B3. I met my first bona fide mad professor, who was convinced B3 deficiency was responsible for all neurodegenerative illnesses. He made many good points but as my research progressed I concluded that it was not a B3 deficiency so much as the ability to metabolise B3 in therapeutic quantities that was the problem. I could go on...

I'll update my info and provide a link to this (more recent) research. Thanks for forwarding it to me. All these things help to fill out the big picture!

And to further this position I am adding some additional data for your benefit -

REF: Vitamin B12: Vital Nutrient for Good Health

REF: High-dose vitamin B12 for at-home prevention and reversal of Alzheimer's disease and other diseases

REF: Vitamin C, E, Selenium

Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., writes about the JAMA study denouncing the benefit from Vitamins C and E. Fabricant comments concerning flaws in the study which have altered the results and reliability of the study in question:

“On the second page of the study, it references nine pooled studies that when using 700 milligrams per day of vitamin C showed a 25-percent reduction in the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD); yet this study only used 500 milligrams per day. Why wasn't the 700 milligrams per day amount used when that has been correlated with a reduction in occurrence in prior studies?

“Additionally, while the study did control for multivitamin intake to prevent overlap, intake of vitamin C and E from food was not controlled. With a population of health care professionals at an increased risk for CVD, these subjects most likely know the benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and thus rich in vitamins C and E, and may adjust their intake accordingly. This would most certainly confound the study.

“It is essentially a drug study but one without a positive control, which is necessary to ensure the experimental design can produce a positive result even if the intervention was unable to.”

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Posted in: Alzheimer's,B Vitamins,Daniel Fabricant PhD,health news,natural health news,natural news,vitamin C,vitamin E,vitamins for Alzheimer's

I Must Be In B Vitamin Heaven

I recall vividly the many times I accompanied my father to AMA Conventions while growing up. I am sure now it was a part of his plan to make sure I was brainwashed enough to go to med school and follow along his path.

At one convention, in Atlantic City, when I was about eleven years old, I brought home a treasured back scratcher (an advertising tool from Dome Chemicals, Inc. - ala Merck, Sharp and Dome in the old days) and a shot glass from Phospho-Soda (a shot glass was pretty important in this circle because of all the cocktail parties, especially good for a child with a proctologist father).

I still have these treasures and the memories.

Medicine in those days was less frenzied and treatments were more straight forward and simpler.

And certainly vitamins were not looked upon as voodoo.

Even B12 shots were a regular occurrence and no one needed a blood test to decide if you could get them. Of course now the blood test used - really to get a billable charge and avoid acting outside standards of care - is not the correct test. Remember you can't get hurt by B12 shots but if your provider demands a test it is the INTRACELLULAR B12 that is required.

And - for women only - the correct form and correct dose of injectable B12 can lower your blood pressure.

Pretty much, natural thyroid and B12 were very good at keeping aging folks from dementia, and no one flapped an eyelash over it.

I use B Complex daily and in a food form. I give the same to my animals and we all use organic nutritional yeast which is a fermented product. I think the aroma is to die for, it is such a heavenly aroma that wafts from the container when I open it in the morning at at dinner time.

I certainly am sure I get doses well beyond the fallacy of the RDA, but them I'm more of a follower of nutrition and orthomolecular health models so I'm not frightened that water soluble vitamins will harm me in any way.

I sort of look at the Big Pharma approach to make you think they are on top of things when B3 is added to a dangerous cholesterol drug as odd. Why don't they just admit that the whole cholesterol lowering thing is a scam. B3 does just fine to lower cholesterol on its own, and much less expensively.

I made the mistake of turning on to orthomolecular medicine when I began working in psychiatry as an RN in the early 1970s. With people like Carl C. Pfeiffer, Abrahm Hoffer and Melvin Werbach (all MDs) educating me along the way, added to to great integrated nutrition I had while studying nursing in college, I was way ahead of the pack.

Now after all these years we see maybe the first wave of a turning tide. The AMA reports that B vitamins are good to help older women prevent breast cancer.

Will wonders never cease.....

B vitamins may protect elderly women from cancerDecember 2008

Daily supplementation with B vitamins may reduce the risk of breast cancer and other invasive cancers in women over the age of 65. That’s what a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has to say.

Over 5,000 women at a high risk of cardiovascular disease took part in the study, which investigated the effects of a daily supplement of folic acid, vitamin B-6 and vitamin B-12 on cancer risk.

“If the finding [that cancer risk in women over 65 is decreased] is real and substantiated, the results may have public health significance because the incidence rates of cancer are high in elderly persons. The finding is biologically plausible because elderly individuals have increased requirements for these B vitamins,” wrote lead author Shumin Zhang from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Folate, vitamin B-6 and vitamin B-12 are thought to play an important role in cancer prevention. This is because the vitamins play an important role in maintaining the integrity of DNA and regulating gene expression, both critical processes in healthy cell function.

Another positive to take from the results is that they appear to support the safety of B vitamins, and particularly folic acid. Since 1998 the U.S. has required mandatory fortification of all grain products with folic acid—the synthetic, bioavailable form of folate—in order to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects—most commonly spina bifida and anencephaly.

Zhang and co-workers looked at the risk of cancer and B-vitamin consumption among the 5,442 participants (average age 62.8) of the Women’s Antioxidant and Folic Acid Cardiovascular Study. The women either had cardiovascular disease or three or more coronary risk factors.

Over the course of 7.3 years, half of the women received a daily supplement of folic acid (2.5 mg), vitamin B-6 (50 mg) and vitamin B-12 (1 mg), while the other half of the women received a placebo. The study began in 1998—the same year as mandatory folic acid fortification was introduced in the U.S.

During the study, 379 cases of invasive cancer were diagnosed—187 in the B-vitamin group and 192 in the placebo group. No differences were seen in the risk of developing total invasive cancer or breast cancer, when the participants were viewed in their entirety. However, in women over the age of 65 the supplementation was associated with significant 25% and 38% reductions in the risk of invasive and breast cancer, respectively.

Journal of the American Medical Association 300(17):2012-2021, 2008

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Posted in: AMA,B Vitamins,B12,B6,folic acid,health news,natural health news,natural news,prevent breast cancer

The Anti-Vitamin Train Keeps Rolling Along

UPDATE: Feb 09 -
AP writer LINDSEY TANNER has the inevitable position of meeting with my disdain over here story "Huge study boosts disappointment on multivitamins".
Her writing in my estimation is about the same low caliber as Carla Johnson another AP health writer who had worked at Spokane's Spokesman-Review.
Of course I don't look at these stories from the job oriented perspective of Johnson and Tanner; I look at them in a critical manner relevant to the factors that are known about the need for and effectiveness of using vitamin supplements.
It is unfortunate that AP fosters mainstream propaganda, rather than actually engaging in discovering whether or not the studies were good examples of junk science.
In this situation the studies were poorly designed, the schedule and dose of vitamins was not close to making a dent in the side of a Studebaker or Packard.

It will be a far sight better when we can get back to media stories with less or no bias, and until then we have ProPublica.org to help us keep on track, along with our own investigative efforts to substantiate fact.

You'll find many other posts here at Natural Health News discussing the benefits of vitamins for health and bogus studies via the search window.
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Personally I would like to see one of the investigators that do studies to show that vitamins are not helpful for health be required to do in-depth research on the vitamins prior to being funded. Maybe when the money train slows down they will approach their "research" from a different state of mind.

Double blind studies are a joke, and most serious researchers know this, but few will really say this is fact. All studies are affected by what is called the Rosenthal factor which has proven that all studies are altered in outcome by the mind-set of the lead investigator. A sharp skewer of data if I ever heard of one.

Vitamin E is an extremely effective anti-inflammatory vitamin and it helps oxygen (cancer doesn't like oxygen)cross the alveolar membrane in the lungs. Vitamin E also helps protect you from hair loss when undergoing standard medical cancer dictates. It also happens to have the effect of protecting you from colon cancer. And there are many more benefits, but it depends on the daily dose and the proper type of vitamin E supplement. (Not the synthetic or cheap stuff, but this seems to be what is relied on in most studies of late.)

Again, vitamin C reigns as one of the most beneficial vitamins for cancer prevention and treatment if you read the science that is found in nutrition journals or other journals that are "less aligned with maintaining the status quo".

Yet, while we see more and more anti-vitamin reports like this one -

Taking vitamin C or E does not reduce the risk of prostate cancers - or other forms of the disease, two large US studies suggest.

We also see some that seem to have a better insight on vitamin efficacy.

Vitamin E Shows Possible Promise In Easing Chronic Inflammation

ScienceDaily (2008-12-08) -- With up to half of a person's body mass consisting of skeletal muscle, chronic inflammation of those muscles -- which include those found in the limbs -- can result in significant physical impairment. Researchers have found that vitamin E shows promise in easing inflammation. ... > read full article

Just maybe the improved anti-inflammatory response is from the oxygen. And don't we already know that oxygen being a free radical scavenger, might just scavenge those cancer cells out from where they don't belong?

And as for selenium, this has been an effective anti-prostate cancer supplement, used in the correct form (selenomethionine) and in the correct dose for decades.

Without selenium, especially if you live in an area that is known geologically to have low selenium soil like the states bordering Canada, your thyroid won't function properly and low thyroid is clearly involved in immune issues, and may be a factor in cancer or other immune related dis-eases.

And then there is the need for zinc, but that's not a part of the study.

And, to counter the fallacious argument that all you have to do to get good nutrition is to eat a healthy diet, remember that food grown in low selenium soil is not healthy. Nor is that grown under stressful conditions with herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and fluoridated water.

Now you be the judge and I'd suggest you delve a bit deeper before accepting this story.

My observations are that these white coats are just asking the wrong questions.

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Posted in: B Vitamins,Cancer,health news,natural health news,natural news,prevention,prostate,selenium,vitamin C,vitamin E

Interferon Treatment for Hepatitis C depletes B Vitamin and Iron

I for one am very pleased to see this report.

I have worked over many years with people who have Hepatitis C. During this course of time I found it very clear that people with Hep C (PWHC) have an extraordinarily high need for B vitamins. This large amount is not supported by typically available B vitamin products sold today.

Successfully used to provide B complex in a form that is usable by PWHC is our BioSupplemente Naturalle.

One of our key projects for 2009 is to re-manufacture BioSupplemente in the powder form. It will be sold as a bulk powder for human and companion animal use, as it had been in the past. At this time I do not forsee that we will be manufacuring a capsule form.

Currently only the homeopathic liquid form of this product is available as RK BioDrops.

Drug Treatment for Hepatitis C depletes B Vitamin and Iron Stores

Reference: "Vitamins B depletion, lower iron status and decreased antioxidative defense in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated by pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin," Lin CC, Yin MC, et al, Clin Nutr, 2008 Nov 28; [Epub ahead of print]. (Address: Department of Internal Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan, Republic of China).

Summary: In a study involving 152 healthy subjects and 109 patients infected with hepatitis C (HCV), treatment with pegylated interferon combined with ribavirin was found to decrease levels of vitamin B6, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and iron. Infection with HCV was associated with reduced levels of vitamin B6 and folate, and the drug treatment further diminished B vitamin status, and was associated with a higher percentage of patients with insufficient iron status. Furthermore, HCV infection was associated with higher plasma levels of malondialdehyde and 8-isoprostane; drug treatment for HCV further exacerbated lipid oxidation. HCV infection was also associated with significantly lower vitamin C and glutathione levels; drug treatment was found to reduce alpha-tocopherol level and activity of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase. These results suggest that supplementation with B vitamins, iron, and vitamin C may be beneficial to patients with HCV, particularly those treated with pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin. Additional research is warranted.

Generally people are not provided with the information about Interferon that supports the damaging end result of its use such as liver and kidney failure.

There are also other nutritional needs we have found that are critical for PWHC. Again this information is not provided by mainstream medical providers.

While Interferon is a genetically modified product, properly prepared herbal extracts of St. John's Wort offers its use as an anti-viral and natural form of interferon.

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Posted in: B Vitamins,BioSupplemente,HCV,health news,HEPATITIS C,Interferon,Iron,natural health news,natural interferon,natural news,NUTRITIONAL STATUS,Ribavirin,RK BioDrops