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Copper Benefits—
Aneurysm may occur as a result of Copper deficiency. –Copper may help to prevent abnormal Blood Clotting.-Copper deficiency may cause Congestive Heart Failure. -Copper is involved in the production of Red Blood Cells (via its involvement in the production of Hemoglobin). -Copper (in correct dosages) may enhance the health of the Heart-Optimal Copper levels may help to prevent damage to the Cardiac Muscle (i.e. the Muscle of the Heart). —Cells–Impaired Growth may occur as a result of Copper deficiency. —Digestive System—Many Celiac Disease patients are found to be deficient in Copper (indicating that supplemental Copper may benefit Celiac Disease patients). –Infant Diarrhea may occur as a result of Copper deficiency. –Eyes/Vision—Optimal Copper levels may help to prevent Cataracts. — Increased susceptibility to Bacterial & Viral Diseases (infections) may occur as a result of Copper deficiency: references- Copper may be a useful treatment for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients (Copper inhibits HIV Protease, a component of the HIV virus)–However it has not yet been proven (nor disproven) that supplemental Copper can inhibit HIV Protease in vivo (within the body) as opposed to in vitro (in the test tube).—Optimal Copper levels may enhance the body’s resistance to Candida albicans proliferation. Copper may be essential for the proper function of the Immune System and damage to the Immune System may occur as a result of Copper deficiency—Copper deficiency may reduce the production of Antibodies. Copper may be essential for the production of Neutrophils – Neutropenia (low Neutrophils count) may occur as a result of Copper deficiency. – Copper is involved in the formation of Bones—Copper may be required for the healing of Fractures (due to Copper being an essential component of the Lysyl Oxidase enzyme that catalyzes the final step in the synthesis of Collagen which is essential for the healing of Fractures) and supplemental Copper may accelerate the healing of Fractures. People who are deficient in Copper may be more susceptible to Fractures.Osteoporosis may occur as a result of Copper deficiency. Copper is required for the health of Connective Tissues–Copper may stimulate the (desirable) cross-linking of Collagen fibers (by activating the Lysyl Oxidase enzyme). -Copper may stimulate the formation of Elastin in Connective Tissues. —33% of the body’s Copper concentrates in the Muscles.– Copper may alleviate Rheumatoid Arthritis—Copper bracelets may react with the Fatty Acids in the Skin to form Copper salts which are able to be absorbed into the Skin (this has been scientifically validated).—The Copper Salicylate form of Copper (consumed orally or applied topically) may be an effective treatment for the symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis and claimed to be the best form of Copper for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (due to it very closely mimicking the function of Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), a natural Antioxidant enzyme). Vitiligo may occur as a result of Copper deficiency. —
Copper—and how it Protects
Copper Can Help In The Battle Against Influenza A H1N1, Says Scientist
ScienceDaily (July 24, 2009) — A leading microbiologist from the University of Southampton has told a conference that his research has found copper is effective in inhibiting the influenza A H1N1 virus.—Copper appears to have broad spectrum antiviral activity because it is also effective, not only against RNA-based influenza, but also against DNA-based adenovirus 40/41 which causes gastrointestinal infections.—Speaking at the BIT Life Sciences 2nd Annual World Summit on Antivirals in Beijing, China this week, Professor Bill Keevil, from the University’s School of Biological Sciences, added that he believed copper could be used to reduce the spread of flu in public places.—“With the ongoing threat of contamination by influenza A viruses, such as H1N1, there is a real and pressing need to utilise all appropriate and effective measures with proven antimicrobial qualities,” commented Professor Keevil. “It is recognised that many infectious diseases are spread by hand contact and studies have now repeatedly shown that the use of copper as a surface material in key public places such as hospitals and food preparation areas offers the potential to substantially restrict and reduce the spread of harmful infection”. The influenza aspect of the study, completed in 2007, involved a series of experiments testing incubation of influenza A on copper and stainless steel surfaces. Results showed that, after incubation for 1 hour on copper, 75% of the virus was eradicated, and after 6 hours, less than 500 viral particles remained active (greater than 99.99% or 10,000-fold decrease). Similar inactivation rates have now been observed for adenovirus 40/41.–Professor Keevil added: “These public health benefits, supported by extensive antimicrobial efficacy testing, are underpinned by the fact that copper, brass and bronze are capable of killing a range of harmful and potentially deadly micro-organisms.”–The study has contributed further to the understanding of copper’s antimicrobial qualities, which actively inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi and viruses.–Story Source-The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Southampton, via AlphaGalileo.
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Copper Proves Effective Against New E. Coli Strains in New Study
ScienceDaily (June 2, 2011) — As the World Health Organisation suggests the E. coli outbreak in Germany is a strain never before seen in an outbreak — O104:H4 — laboratory science conducted at the University of Southampton indicates a role for copper in preventing the spread of such infections.—Professor Bill Keevil, Head of the Microbiology Group and Director of the Environmental Healthcare Unit at the University of Southampton, explains: “A study looking at copper’s efficacy against new strains of E. coli has just been completed. Although it did not specifically look at O104, all the strains investigated have died rapidly on copper.”—On a dry copper surface, the study shows 10 million E. coli bacteria are eliminated within 10 minutes. On a wet copper surface, one could expect a total kill within around 45 minutes. This antimicrobial property is inherent to the metal, and shared with alloys such as brass and bronze.—In the wake of this outbreak, hand washing and careful food preparation have been highlighted as key concerns, as has cross-contamination. Any raw food placed on a work surface can contaminate other food, or have bacteria transferred onto it from previous items resting there. Deployed as a touch surface in food preparation areas, copper will continuously kill any pathogens that settle on it, reducing the risk of cross-contamination, and helping to prevent the spread of infection.–Professor Keevil will be presenting his findings at the forthcoming WHO International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control in Geneva on 30 June.–Story Source-The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Southampton, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
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Dry Copper Kills Bacteria On Contact
ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2011) — Metallic copper surfaces kill microbes on contact, decimating their populations, according to a paper in the February 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. They do so literally in minutes, by causing massive membrane damage after about a minute’s exposure, says the study’s corresponding author, Gregor Grass of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. This is the first study to demonstrate this mechanism of bacteriocide.—“When microbes were exposed to copper surfaces, we observed contact killing to take place at the rate of tens to hundreds of millions of bacterial cells within minutes,” says Grass. “This means that usually no live microorganisms can be recovered from copper surfaces after exposure.”—Thus, such surfaces could provide a critical passive defense against pathogens in hospitals, where hospital-acquired infections are becoming increasingly common and costly, killing 50,000-100,000 Americans annually, and costing more than $8 billion, according to one estimate. Still, Grass cautions that “metallic copper surfaces will never be able to replace other hygiene-improving methods already in effect,” although they “will certainly decrease the costs associated with hospital-acquired infections and curb human disease as well as save lives.” However, he expects this strategy to be inexpensive, because “the effect does not wear off.”—Critically, the researchers provide strong evidence that genotoxicity through mutations and DNA lesions is not a cause of dry copper’s antimicrobial properties. This is important, because mutations can cause cancer in animals and humans, and the lack of such mutations in bacteria from copper means that copper does not endanger humans.—The relevant experiment was particularly interesting. The bacterium, Deinococcus radiodurans, is unusually resistant to radiation damage, as its DNA repair mechanisms are especially robust. The hypothesis: if metallic copper kills by causing DNA damage, D. radiodurans should be immune to copper. It is not.It is important to note that only dry copper surfaces are amazingly lethal to bacteria. The difference between dry and wet surfaces, such as copper pipes, is that only dry surfaces are inhospitable environments for bacterial growth. Bacteria can easily grow and reproduce in wet environments, and in so doing, they can develop resistance to copper. Resistance has not been observed to develop on dry copper surfaces.—-Story Source:– Journal Reference-C. E. Santo, E. W. Lam, C. G. Elowsky, D. Quaranta, D. W. Domaille, C. J. Chang, G. Grass. Bacterial Killing by Dry Metallic Copper Surfaces. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2010; 77 (3): 794 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01599-10
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Work With Germ-Killing Copper Could Save Thousands of Lives
Roberto del Rio Children’s Hospital, the oldest pediatric facility in Chile, installed antimicrobial copper surfaces in its intensive care and treatment rooms to reduce the risk of infection. The installation was a first for Latin America, following a growing number of installations in Europe, Asia and North America. –ScienceDaily (Sep. 7, 2012) — When Adam Estelle graduated from the University of Arizona’s materials science and engineering program four years ago, he had no idea he would be involved in saving thousands of lives.–Like most graduates, he was just hoping to find a job — preferably in Tucson, Ariz., because he wasn’t interested in big-city life. What happened next was a job offer from the Copper Development Association in New York City.–The technology is based on copper alloys that kill bacteria, fungi and viruses. The metals can be fashioned into everything from IV poles to sinks to bed rails — just about anything that is frequently touched in hospitals.—While these surfaces might look benign, they’re covered with organisms that contribute to hospital-acquired infections, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, killing more people than AIDS and breast cancer combined. That’s 2 million infections annually, and 100,000 deaths — one infection for every 20 people admitted to hospitals.–While disease-causing organisms can lurk on stainless steel surfaces for two weeks, according to a recent UA research study, 99.9 percent die within two hours on surfaces that contain at least 60 percent copper, Estelle says.—Estelle has been working with four other engineers at the Copper Development Association, a not-for-profit trade group, to develop a market for copper alloys in the health care industry. They also have been helping manufacturers gear up for producing copper alloy products.–Part of that effort has involved gaining EPA certification for the antimicrobial effects of copper so manufacturers can advertise the health benefits of these products. The second part, which has been Estelle’s major focus for the past two years, was to retrofit the Ronald McDonald House in Charleston, S.C., with copper alloy stair railings, door hardware, sinks, faucets, counter tops, kitchen tables, chair arms, and other surfaces that are frequently touched by patients, visitors and staff.–This has been a win-win for everyone, Estelle explained, creating a safer environment for families and children, while at the same time helping the first wave of manufacturers tool up and commercialize lines of copper products that can now be marketed to hospitals.–“One of our first commercial products is a beautiful seamless counter top and sink bowl manufactured by Elkay Commercial Products,” Estelle said. “We installed about forty of these in the Ronald McDonald House.” Elkay is among ten manufacturers now marketing antimicrobial copper alloy products to the health care industry.–Surfaces at the Ronald McDonald House were swabbed and tested for bacteria for ten weeks before the new copper alloy products were installed. “Follow-up tests on the items converted to copper showed they carried 94 percent fewer bacteria,” Estelle said. “We are now trying to recreate the Charleston project at other Ronald McDonald Houses around the world to create a safer living and working environment for the children, families and staff.”—Now, with the Ronald McDonald House pilot project completed and EPA approval secured, the next step is to convince hospitals to replace traditional surfaces that are not worn out with copper alloy ones. New policies from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that go into effect next year should help spur this changeover. Treatment for hospital-acquired infections costs between $35 billion and $45 billion each year in the U.S., and Medicare and Medicaid will no long reimburse hospitals for that treatment if the infections are judged to have been preventable and a hospital mistake.–But even without the new rules, the changeover makes economic sense, Estelle explained. Under today’s reimbursement system, individual hospitals spend $5 million on average each year to treat infections. “Even on the low end, it’s $30,000 per infection,” he said. Clinical trials at three hospitals funded by the U.S. Department of Defense have recently proved that copper surfaces can reduce infections in the intensive care unit by more than 50 percent.–Using published estimates, about 500,000 Americans will contract an infection this year in the ICU. This will cost our hospitals an additional $3.5 billion in treatment, and about 40,000 people will not survive the ordeal. The clinical trial results suggest that installing copper surfaces could cut these figures in half.—“By implementing these surfaces, hospitals can see real, continuous savings year after year,” Estelle said. “This is a passive way to prevent infection that doesn’t depend on human behavior, such as hand-washing or hydrogen peroxide vapor machines. There is no need for maintenance beyond the normal surface cleaning procedures that are already in place.”—,.”Story Source–The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Arizona College of Engineering, via Newswise.
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Copper Recipe —
Chlorophyll2 table spoons—vitamin C 3 grams and Zinc 30-50 mgs-manganese 8 mgs—-mix your Vitamin C and chlorophyll in a tiny glass—and consume them—cahse with water or juice or cool tea afterwards—this will Boost S O D in both the mitochandria and the cells—the combination should as well boost the immune system on several fronts and stabilizing Glutathione as well
Copper Colloidal—1 -2 tablespoon 3 grams of vitamin C and Salicyclic acid 50 mgs—and 2 oz of water –Mix well and consume this will alleviate pain in moments and will kill of viral and bacterial pathogens
You can also do this in dry form
3 grams of Vitamin C—2 mgs of copper and 30 mgs of zinc and the salicyclic acid 50 mgs-may find relief with this for hours
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Show Of the Month September 24-2012
How LOW Cholesterol Can Harm Your Health
Grain-Wheat-Chronic Poison
Nutritional Supplement Offers Promise in Treatment of Unique Form of Autism
Myocardial infarction in relation to mercury and fatty acids from fish
Supplement Your Stem Cells—how to look at this study
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How LOW Cholesterol Can Harm Your Health
You’ve heard for decades about the dangers of high cholesterol, but did you know that LOW cholesterol can lead to violence towards self and other, and has been linked to premature aging, death and other adverse health effects?–In a world gone mad with anti-cholesterol anxiety, and where gobbling down pharmaceuticals designed to poison the body into no longer synthesizing it is somehow considered sane behavior, it is refreshing to look at some of the research on the health benefits of cholesterol, or conversely, the dangers of low cholesterol.
Benefits of Cholesterol
Cholesterol Is Needed To Prevent Aggression
It has been known for almost 30 years that low serum cholesterol levels are associated with habitually violent tendencies of homicidal offenders under the influence of alcohol. Since then, there are at least 8 other studies that have either confirmed or explored the cholesterol-violence link, including both violence towards self and other. One of the possible explanations for this association was discussed in an article published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 1993: “One of the functions of serotonin in the central nervous system is the suppression of harmful behaviour impulses…Low membrane cholesterol decreases the number of serotonin receptors. Since membrane cholesterol exchanges freely with cholesterol in the surrounding medium, a lowered serum cholesterol concentration may contribute to a decrease in brain serotonin, with poorer suppression of aggressive behaviour”.[ii] Not surprisingly, several reports have now surfaced on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs contributing to irritability and/or aggression.
Cholesterol Is Needed To Fight Cancer
The inverse relationship between cholesterol levels and the risk for a variety of cancers, and mortality associated with cancer, has been known about since the late 80′s.[iii] Since then, the cholesterol-cancer connection has been confirmed over and over again. It is to be expected, therefore, that statin drug use would be linked with increased cancer incidence, which indeed it is.[iv] Even when you take so-called “bad” LDL-cholesterol and administer it to a culture of highly malignant, multi-drug resistant leukemia cells, the cells lose their resistance to chemotherapy.
Cholesterol Is Needed To Prevent Hemorrhagic Stroke
There are two types of stroke:
1) Ischemic, associated with lack of blood flow and oxygen to the brain
2) Hemorrhagic, associated with the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, and bleeding.
The risk for the former, in theory, could be raised in the presence of excessive oxidized cholesterol. However, it is the risk for the second, hemorrhagic stroke, which is increased when cholesterol levels are low. Noted as far back as 1994 in the British Medical Journal, in an article titled, “Assessing possible hazards of reducing serum cholesterol,” researchers found “The only cause of death attributable to low serum cholesterol concentration was haemorrhagic stroke.”[vi] Other studies can be viewed that confirm this association on our stroke-cholesterol link page.
Cholesterol Is Needed for Memory
Low HDL cholesterol has been identified as a risk factor for deficit and decline in memory in midlife. [vii] Even in Parkinson’s disease, higher total serum cholesterol concentrations are associated with slower clinical progression of the disease.[viii]Statin drugs, which inhibit the production of cholesterol, hence severely affecting the brain, are now required by the FDA to display the black box warning that they may adversely affect the memory.[ix] We have indexed over 50 studies from the National Library of Medicine’s bibliographic database, Medline, on the neurotoxicity of statin drugs, with six of these specifically addressing statin-induced memory impairment.
Cholesterol is Needed for Longevity
In a fascinating study published in PLoS in 2011, telomere length – the shoestring cap-like ends of the chromosomes which prevent DNA damage associated with cellular aging – was linked to higher LDL and total cholesterol levels. The longer the length of these protective caps, the higher the cholesterol.[x] Indeed, several studies indicate that lower cholesterol is associated with increased mortality.
Cholesterol Helps Us Fight Infection
It has been observed that a cholesterol-rich diet improves patients with tuberculosis, leading researchers to suggest “cholesterol should be used as a complementary measure in antitubercular treatment.”[xi] Cholesterol-lowering drugs, incidentally, exhibit immunosuppressive and potent immunotoxic properties, likely in part due to their cholesterol depleting effects.
Given that cholesterol is essential for all animal life and that each cell is capable of synthesizing it from simpler molecules, we should not be surprised by examples provided above of cholesterol’s significant health benefits. Nor should it be surprising that cholesterol-lowering drugs have over 300 adverse health effects. For now, suffice it to say, that conventional medical practice would do well to receive instruction from basic principles of biology, rather than simply the drug-company marketing copy it increasingly falls prey to.
Article Sources
M Virkkunen. Serum cholesterol levels in homicidal offenders. A low cholesterol level is connected with a habitually violent tendency under the influence of alcohol. Neuropsychobiology. 1983 ;10(2-3):65-9. PMID: 6674827
[ii] K Hawthon, P Cowen, D Owens, A Bond, M Elliott. Low serum cholesterol and suicide. Br J Psychiatry. 1993 Jun ;162:818-25. PMID: 7980726
[iii] P Knekt, A Reunanen, A Aromaa, M Heliövaara, T Hakulinen, M Hakama. Serum cholesterol and risk of cancer in a cohort of 39,000 men and women. J Clin Epidemiol. 1988;41(6):519-30. PMID: 3290396
[iv] GreenMedInfo.com, Focused Articles: Cancer-Statin Drug Link.
[v] Yu Shu, Hu Liu. Reversal of P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance by cholesterol derived from low density lipoprotein in a vinblastine-resistant human lymphoblastic leukemia cell line. Biochem Cell Biol. 2007 Oct;85(5):638-46. PMID: 17901905
[vi] M R Law, S G Thompson, N J Wald. Assessing possible hazards of reducing serum cholesterol.BMJ. 1994 Feb 5;308(6925):373-9. PMID: 8124144
[vii] Archana Singh-Manoux, David Gimeno, Mika Kivimaki, Eric Brunner, Michael G Marmot. Low HDL cholesterol is a risk factor for deficit and decline in memory in midlife: the Whitehall II study.Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2008 Aug;28(8):1556-62. Epub 2008 Jun 30. PMID: 18591462
[viii] Xuemei Huang, Peggy Auinger, Shirley Eberly, David Oakes, Michael Schwarzschild, Alberto Ascherio, Richard Mailman, Honglei Chen, . Serum Cholesterol and the Progression of Parkinson’s Disease: Results from DATATOP. PLoS One. 2011 ;6(8):e22854. Epub 2011 Aug 11. PMID:21853051
[ix] Weeks MD, Black box warning changes for statin drugs, March 4th, 2012
[x] Paul G Shiels, Liane M McGlynn, Alan Macintyre, Paul C D Johnson, G David Batty, Harry Burns, Jonathan Cavanagh, Kevin A Deans, Ian Ford, Alex McConnachie, Agnes McGinty, Jennifer S McLean, Keith Millar, Naveed Sattar, Carol Tannahill, Yoga N Velupillai, Chris J Packard. Accelerated Telomere Attrition Is Associated with Relative Household Income, Diet and Inflammation in the pSoBid Cohort. PLoS One. 2011 ;6(7):e22521. Epub 2011 Jul 27. PMID:21818333
[xi] Carlos Pérez-Guzmán, Mario H Vargas, Francisco Quiñonez, Norma Bazavilvazo, Adriana Aguilar. A cholesterol-rich diet accelerates bacteriologic sterilization in pulmonary tuberculosis.Chest. 2005 Feb;127(2):643-51. PMID: 15706008
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Grain-Wheat-Chronic Poison
(CBS News) Modern wheat is a “perfect, chronic poison,” according to Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist who has published a book all about the world’s most popular grain. -Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn’t the wheat your grandma had: “It’s an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the ’60s and ’70s,” he said on “CBS This Morning.” “This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there’s a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It’s not gluten. I’m not addressing people with gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. I’m talking about everybody else because everybody else is susceptible to the gliadin protein that is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite, such that we consume 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year.”–Asked if the farming industry could change back to the grain it formerly produced, Davis said it could, but it would not be economically feasible because it yields less per acre. However, Davis said a movement has begun with people turning away from wheat – and dropping substantial weight. –“If three people lost eight pounds, big deal,” he said. “But we’re seeing hundreds of thousands of people losing 30, 80, 150 pounds. Diabetics become no longer diabetic; people with arthritis having dramatic relief. People losing leg swelling, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and on and on every day.”–To avoid these wheat-oriented products, Davis suggests eating “real food,” such as avocados, olives, olive oil, meats, and vegetables. “(It’s) the stuff that is least likely to have been changed by agribusiness,” he said. “Certainly not grains. When I say grains, of course, over 90 percent of all grains we eat will be wheat, it’s not barley… or flax. It’s going to be wheat. –“It’s really a wheat issue.”–Some health resources, such as the Mayo Clinic, advocate a more balanced diet that does include wheat. But Davis said on “CTM” they’re just offering a poor alternative. –“All that literature says is to replace something bad, white enriched products with something less bad, whole grains, and there’s an apparent health benefit – ‘Let’s eat a whole bunch of less bad things.’ So I take…unfiltered cigarettes and replace with Salem filtered cigarettes, you should smoke the Salems. That’s the logic of nutrition, it’s a deeply flawed logic. What if I take it to the next level, and we say, ‘Let’s eliminate all grains,’ what happens then?—“That’s when you see, not improvements in health, that’s when you see transformations in health.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57505149/modern-wheat-a-perfect-chronic-poison-doctor-says/?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.8
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Nutritional Supplement Offers Promise in Treatment of Unique Form of Autism
ScienceDaily (Sep. 6, 2012) — An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego and Yale University schools of medicine, have identified a form of autism with epilepsy that may potentially be treatable with a common nutritional supplement.–The findings are published in the Sept. 6, 2012 online issue of Science.–Roughly one-quarter of patients with autism also suffer from epilepsy, a brain disorder characterized by repeated seizures or convulsions over time. The causes of the epilepsy are multiple and largely unknown. Using a technique called exome sequencing, the UC San Diego and Yale scientists found that a gene mutation present in some patients with autism speeds up metabolism of certain amino acids. These patients also suffer from epileptic seizures. The discovery may help physicians diagnose this particular form of autism earlier and treat sooner.–The researchers focused on a specific type of amino acid known as branched chain amino acids or BCAAs. BCAAs are not produced naturally in the human body and must be acquired through diet. During periods of starvation, humans have evolved a means to turn off the metabolism of these amino acids. It is this ability to shut down that metabolic activity that researchers have found to be defective in some autism patients.—“It was very surprising to find mutations in a potentially treatable metabolic pathway specific for autism,” said senior author Joseph G. Gleeson, MD, professor in the UCSD Department of Neurosciences and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “What was most exciting was that the potential treatment is obvious and simple: Just give affected patients the naturally occurring amino acids their bodies lack.”—Gleeson and colleagues used the emerging technology of exome sequencing to study two closely related families that have children with autism spectrum disorder. These children also had a history of seizures or abnormal electrical brain wave activity, as well as a mutation in the gene that regulates BCAAs. In exome sequencing, researchers analyze all of the elements in the genome involved in making proteins.—In addition, the scientists examined cultured neural stem cells from these patients and found they behaved normally in the presence of BCAAs, suggesting the condition might be treatable with nutritional supplementation. They also studied a line of mice engineered with a mutation in the same gene, which showed the condition was both inducible by lowering the dietary intake of the BCAAs and reversible by raising the dietary intake. Mice treated with BCAA supplementation displayed improved neurobehavioral symptoms, reinforcing the idea that the approach could work in humans as well.–“Studying the animals was key to our discovery,” said first author Gaia Novarino, PhD, a staff scientist in Gleeson’s lab. “We found that the mice displayed a condition very similar to our patients, and also had spontaneous epileptic seizures, just like our patients. Once we found that we could treat the condition in mice, the pressing question was whether we could effectively treat our patients.”—Using a nutritional supplement purchased at a health food store at a specific dose, the scientists reported that they could correct BCAA levels in the study patients with no ill effect. The next step, said Gleeson, is to determine if the supplement helps reduce the symptoms of epilepsy and/or autism in humans.—“We think this work will establish a basis for future screening of all patients with autism and/or epilepsy for this or related genetic mutations, which could be an early predictor of the disease,” he said. “What we don’t know is how many patients with autism and/or epilepsy have mutations in this gene and could benefit from treatment, but we think it is an extremely rare condition.”
Co-authors are Paul El-Fishawy, Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine; Hulya Kayserili, Medical Genetics Department, Istanbul University, Turkey; Nagwa A. Meguid, Rehab O. Khalil, Adel F. Hashish and Hebatalla S. Hashem, Department of Research on Children with Special Needs, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt; Eric M. Scott, Jana Schroth, Jennifer L. Silhavy, Neurogenetics Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Neurosciences, UC San Diego; Majdi Kara, Pediatric Department, Tripoli Children’s Hospital, Libya; Tawfeq Ben-Omran, Clinical and Metabolic Genetics Division, Department of Pediatrics, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar; A. Gulhan Ercan-Sencicek, Stephan J. Sanders and Matthew W. State, Program on Neurogenetics, Child Study Center, Department of Psychiatry and Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine; Abha R. Gupta, Child Study Center, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine; Dietrich Matern, Biochemical Genetics Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic; Stacy Gabriel, Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Larry Sweetman, Institute of Metabolic Disease, Baylor Research Institute; Yasmeen Rahimi and Robert A. Harris, Roudebush VA Medical Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine.–Funding for this research came, in part, from the National Institutes of Health (grants P1HD070494, R01NS048453, P30NS047101, RC2MH089956, K08MH087639, T32MH018268, U54HG003067), the Center for Inherited Disease Research, the Simons Foundation Research Initiative, Veterans Administration Merit Award, the German Research Foundation, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Pilot Research Award/Elaine Schlosser Lewis Fund and the American Psychiatric Association/Lilly Research Fellowship.—Story Source-The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California, San Diego, via Newswise. –Journal Reference-Gaia Novarino, Paul El-Fishawy, Hulya Kayserili, Nagwa A. Meguid, Eric M. Scott, Jana Schroth, Jennifer L. Silhavy, Majdi Kara, Rehab O. Khalil, Tawfeg Ben-Omran, A. Gulhan Ercan-Sencicek, Adel F. Hashish, Stephan J. Sanders, Abha R. Gupta, Hebatalla S. Hashem, Dietrich Matern, Stacey Gabriel, Larry Sweetman, Yasmeen Rahimi, Robert A. Harris, Matthew W. State, and Joseph G. Gleeson. Mutations in BCKD-kinase Lead to a Potentially Treatable Form of Autism with Epilepsy. Science, 2012; DOI: 10.1126/science.1224631
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Myocardial infarction in relation to mercury and fatty acids from fish: a risk-benefit analysis based on pooled Finnish and Swedish data in men1,2,3,4
Maria Wennberg,
Ulf Strömberg,
Ingvar A Bergdahl,
Jan-Håkan Jansson,
Jussi Kauhanen,
Margareta Norberg,
Jukka T Salonen,
Staffan Skerfving,
Tomi-Pekka Tuomainen,
Bengt Vessby, and
Jyrki K Virtanen
+ Author Affiliations
1From the Departments of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine (MW and IAB), Medicine (J-HJ), and Epidemiology and Global Health (MN), Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden (US and SS); the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland (JK, T-PT, and JKV); Metabolic Analytical Services Oy, Helsinki, Finland (JTS); and the Department of Public Health and Caring Science, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden (BV).
+ Author Notes
↵2 This article reflects the views of the authors only; the European Union is not liable for any use that may be made of the information. Funding sources had no role in the study design; the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; the writing of the report; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
↵3 Supported by the European Union [Sixth Framework Programme: PHIME (Public Health Impact of long-term, low-level Mixed Element Exposure in susceptible population strata); grant FOOD-CT-2006-016253] and the Swedish Research Council Formas. Additional support was provided by the Academy of Finland (grant 121206; to JKV), the Foundation of Medical Research in Skellefteå, and the Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Skellefteå Hospital.
↵4 Address reprint requests and correspondence to M Wennberg, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract
Background: Exposure to methylmercury from fish has been associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in some studies. At the same time, marine n−3 (omega-3) PUFAs are an inherent constituent of fish and are regarded as beneficial. To our knowledge, no risk-benefit model on the basis of data on methylmercury, PUFA, and MI risk has yet been presented.
Objective: The objective of this study was to describe how exposure to both marine n−3 PUFAs and methylmercury relates to MI risk by using data from Finland and Sweden.
Design: We used matched case-control sets from Sweden and Finland that were nested in population-based, prospective cohort studies. We included 361 men with MI from Sweden and 211 men with MI from Finland. MI risk was estimated in a logistic regression model with the amount of mercury in hair (hair-Hg) and concentrations of n−3 PUFAs (EPA and DHA) in serum (S-PUFA) as independent variables.
Results: The median hair-Hg was 0.57 μg/g in Swedish and 1.32 μg/g in Finnish control subjects, whereas the percentage of S-PUFA was 4.21% and 3.83%, respectively. In combined analysis, hair-Hg was associated with higher (P = 0.005) and S-PUFA with lower (P = 0.011) MI risk. Our model indicated that even a small change in fish consumption (ie, by increasing S-PUFA by 1%) would prevent 7% of MIs, despite a small increase in mercury exposure. However, at a high hair-Hg, the modeled beneficial effect of PUFA on MI risk was counteracted by methylmercury.
Conclusions: Exposure to methylmercury was associated with increased risk of MI, and higher S-PUFA concentrations were associated with decreased risk of MI. Thus, MI risk may be reduced by the consumption of fish high in PUFAs and low in methylmercury.
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Supplement Your Stem Cells—how to look at this study
ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2010) — A nutritional supplement could stimulate the production of stem cells integral for repairing the body. Research published in BioMed Central’s open access Journal of Translational Medicine suggests that a commercially-available supplement can increase the blood circulation of hematopoietic stem cells, which can give rise to all blood cells, and endothelial progenitor cells, which repair damage to blood vessels.—Thomas E. Ichim from Medistem Incorporated, USA worked with a team of 13 researchers from industry and academia to further investigate whether this supplement, containing a cocktail of green tea, astralagus, goji berry extracts, ‘good’ bacteria Lactobacillus fermentum, antioxidant ellagic acid, immune enhancer beta 1,3 glucan and vitamin D3, was able to increase the number of stem cells circulating in the blood. They recruited 18 healthy adults aged between 20 and 72 who stopped any other dietary supplements 4-5 days before starting a two-week course of this supplement, taking it twice daily. The researchers took blood from the participants before they started the course and on days 1, 2, 7 and 14 to test for signs of stem cell activity by looking for cells expressing the genetic stem cell markers CD133, CD34 and KDR. They then confirmed whether taking the supplement changed the overall levels of hematopoietic stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells in the blood by using HALO (Hematopoietic Assay via Luminescent Output) and colony forming assays respectively.—Hematopoietic stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells increased after taking the nutritional supplement, suggesting that the supplement may be a useful stimulator for both types of stem cells. In this study, the levels of these stem cells peaked at 2-7 days and started to drop at 14 days, suggesting that this supplement could be used for continuous treatment for conditions associated with decreases in these stem cells such as Alzheimer’s Disease. Other therapeutic treatments used to recruit hematopoietic stem cells are not viable as long-term solutions due to costs and increased health risks caused by the extremely high levels of stem cells that these treatments maintain in the blood.—“To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating profound mobilization effect with possible clinical significance by a food supplement-based approach,” say the authors, adding, “Indeed it may be possible that our supplement could be beneficial in conditions associated with reduced progenitor cells such as diabetes or in smokers which possess lower baseline values as compared to controls.” Although they are quick to add, “However, given commercial pressures associated with this largely unregulated field, we propose detailed scientific investigations must be made before disease-associated claims are made by the scientific community.”–Story Source-The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. –Journal Reference-Nina A Mikirova, James A Jackson, Ron Hunninghake, Julian Kenyon, Kyle WH Chan, Cathy A Swindlehurst, Boris Minev, Amit N Patel, Michael P Murphy, Leonard Smith, Famela Ramos, Doru T Alexandrescu, Thomas E Ichim and Neil H Riordan. Nutraceutical augmentation of circulating endothelial progenitor cells and hematopoietic stem cells in human subjects. Journal of Translational Medicine, (in press) [link]
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Show of the Month September 28 2012
Omega-3 Fish Oil Supplements May Not Offer Heart Benefits After All
Grape seed extract enhances neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in C57BL/6 mice
Grain-Wheat-Chronic Poison
18 Causes of Mineral Depletion
US and China Caught Secretly Testing GMO Rice on Children
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Omega-3 Fish Oil Supplements May Not Offer Heart Benefits After All
12 Sep 2012
A review of 20 studies covering nearly 70,000 participants finds no statistically significant evidence that supplementation with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), commonly referred to as fish oil supplements, is linked to a lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or premature death.–However, in their attempt to clarify the recent controversy surrounding the use of omega-3 supplements, the authors do not rule out the possibility that certain groups may benefit, and call for future studies to look more closely at this.–Evangelos Rizos, of the University Hospital of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece, and colleagues write about their findings in the 12 September issue of JAMA.—Omega-3 PUFAs are considered essential for healthy development of the heart and other parts of the body, and food sources rich in these include nuts and seeds, and oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring and sardines. As supplements they are typically given in the form of fish oil.—Although it is not clear how they help the heart and circulation, there are suggestions omega-3 PUFAs lower triglyceride levels, prevent serious arrythmias, reduce the clumping of platelets, and lower blood pressure.
However, the authors write that-“Considerable controversy exists regarding the association of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and major cardiovascular end points.”—For years, omega 3 fish oils have been recommended by health organisations to help reduce heart disease. However, a review of recent studies has questioned this. —Although some randomized studies suggest omega-3 PUFAs prevent heart disease, others refute this, they explain, noting also that many medical and health societies support their use for patients after heart attack (MI, myocardial infarction), either as supplements or through dietary advice.–Regulatory authorities also appear to have different views. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of omega-3 PUFAs only for lowering triglycerides in patients with overt hypertriglyceridemia, while some, but not all, European regulators have approved them for reducing cardiovascular risk.—“The controversy stemming from the varying labeling indications causes confusion in everyday clinical practice about whether to use these agents for cardiovascular protection,” write Rizos and colleagues.–Thus, in an attempt to clarify the situation, they carried out a large-scale statistical review of the available evidence from randomized controlled studies, looking at the link between omega-3 PUFAs and major cardiovascular outcomes such as stroke and heart attacks, and also premature death.—From a search of the well-known databases, they found 3,635 studies, from which 20 matched their criteria. These provided data for a pooled analysis on 68,680 randomized patients, and events that included 7,044 deaths, 3,993 cardiac deaths, 1,150 sudden deaths, 1,837 heart attacks, and 1,490 strokes.—Taking all the included supplement studies together, the researchers found no significant association between use of omega-3 PUFAs and all-cause mortality, cardiac death, sudden death, heart attack (MI), and stroke.———They conclude-“… omega-3 PUFAs are not statistically significantly associated with major cardiovascular outcomes across various patient populations.”–They suggest their findings “do not justify the use of omega-3 as a structured intervention in everyday clinical practice or guidelines supporting dietary omega-3 PUFA administration.”—However, they also note that as scientists continue to do more randomized studies in this field, it would be useful to do some that look more closely at how these supplements might benefit individual risk groups, and use more refined measures such as dose, adherence and baseline intake.—In other words, while looking at all the evidence as a whole does not appear to support the idea that omega-3 PUFA supplements benefit the heart, this broad-brush picture could be missing details: there may be certain groups that do benefit, and this may also depend on factors such as the supplement dose and how long they take it for.
Other studies on fish oils—Some other recent individual studies, published in Medical News Today, have also concluded that fish oils do not appear to provide some of the benefits people had previously taken for granted. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found that taking omega-3 fish oil supplements appears not to protect older people from cognitive decline.
In contrast, a study published on September 10th found that DHA intake may help improve reading and behavior in healthy but underperforming children. DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid. You can look up other studies related to omega-3 fish oils in our archive.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
References-“Association Between Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation and Risk of Major Cardiovascular Disease Events: A Systematic Review and Meta- analysis”; Evangelos C. Rizos, Evangelia E. Ntzani, Eftychia Bika, Michael S. Kostapanos, Moses S. Elisaf; JAMA, published online 12 September 2012; dDOI:10.1001/2012.jama.11374; Link to Abstract. Additional source: American Medical Association press release.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
MLA
Catharine Paddock PhD. “Omega-3 Fish Oil Supplements May Not Offer Heart Benefits After All.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 12 Sep. 2012. Web.
13 Sep. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/250142.php>
APA
Catharine Paddock PhD. (2012, September 12). “Omega-3 Fish Oil Supplements May Not Offer Heart Benefits After All.” Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/250142.php.
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Grape seed extract enhances neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in C57BL/6 mice.
Phytother Res. 2011 May;25(5):668-74–Authors: Yoo DY, Kim W, Yoo KY, Lee CH, Choi JH, Yoon YS, Kim DW, Won MH, Hwang IK
Abstract
The effects of grape seed extract (GSE), a major source of phenolic compounds, were examined on cell proliferation, neuroblast differentiation and integration into granule cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) of middle-aged (12 month-old) mice using Ki67, doublecortin (DCX) immunohistochemistry and 5′-bromo-2-deoxyguanosine (BrdU)/calbindin D-28k (CB) double immunofluorescence study, respectively. GSE (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) was administered orally for 28 days, and the animals were treated with 50 mg/kg BrdU intraperitoneally on the day of first GSE treatment. In the vehicle-treated group, Ki67 and DCX immunoreactivity was detected in the subgranular zone of the DG (SZDG). GSE treatment dose-dependently increased the number of Ki67 and DCX immunoreactive cells, particularly the number of DCX immunoreactive neuroblasts with well-developed (tertiary) dendrites. GSE also dose-dependently increased DCX protein levels. In addition, GSE treatment increased significantly the number of BrdU/CB double labeled granule cells. These results suggest that GSE significantly increases cell proliferation, neuroblast differentiation and integration into granule cells in the DG, and the consumption of GSE enhances the plasticity of hippocampus in middle-aged mice.—PMID: 21043032 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
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Grain- Wheat Chronic Poison
(CBS News) Modern wheat is a “perfect, chronic poison,” according to Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist who has published a book all about the world’s most popular grain. -Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn’t the wheat your grandma had: “It’s an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the ’60s and ’70s,” he said on “CBS This Morning.” “This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there’s a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It’s not gluten. I’m not addressing people with gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. I’m talking about everybody else because everybody else is susceptible to the gliadin protein that is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite, such that we consume 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year.”–Asked if the farming industry could change back to the grain it formerly produced, Davis said it could, but it would not be economically feasible because it yields less per acre. However, Davis said a movement has begun with people turning away from wheat – and dropping substantial weight. –“If three people lost eight pounds, big deal,” he said. “But we’re seeing hundreds of thousands of people losing 30, 80, 150 pounds. Diabetics become no longer diabetic; people with arthritis having dramatic relief. People losing leg swelling, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and on and on every day.”–To avoid these wheat-oriented products, Davis suggests eating “real food,” such as avocados, olives, olive oil, meats, and vegetables. “(It’s) the stuff that is least likely to have been changed by agribusiness,” he said. “Certainly not grains. When I say grains, of course, over 90 percent of all grains we eat will be wheat, it’s not barley… or flax. It’s going to be wheat. –“It’s really a wheat issue.”–Some health resources, such as the Mayo Clinic, advocate a more balanced diet that does include wheat. But Davis said on “CTM” they’re just offering a poor alternative. –“All that literature says is to replace something bad, white enriched products with something less bad, whole grains, and there’s an apparent health benefit – ‘Let’s eat a whole bunch of less bad things.’ So I take…unfiltered cigarettes and replace with Salem filtered cigarettes, you should smoke the Salems. That’s the logic of nutrition, it’s a deeply flawed logic. What if I take it to the next level, and we say, ‘Let’s eliminate all grains,’ what happens then?—“That’s when you see, not improvements in health, that’s when you see transformations in health.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57505149/modern-wheat-a-perfect-chronic-poison-doctor-says/?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.8
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18 Causes of Mineral Depletion
Soil Depletion
Antacids & Acid blockers
Low Stomach Acid/Hypochlorhydria
Cortisone
Pharmaceutical Drugs
Birth Control Pills
Coffee
Alcohol
Soda consumption
Sugar
Excess Insulin
Excess Estrogen
Hyperthyroidism
The Standard American Diet (S.A.D diet
Excess Grains
Dietary Insufficiency
Heavy Metal Toxicity
– Mercury – Aluminum – Lead
Radiation
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US and China Caught Secretly Testing GMO Rice on Children
Instead of putting genetically modified foods through proper trials as consumers have been demanding for years, it appears the United States Department of Agriculture in alliance with the Chinese government have instead chosen to secretly test their latest GMO rice on young Chinese children. What’s particularly interesting is the fact that the agencies decided they even needed to test the rice, after claiming that GMO rice and all other GM creations are virtually identical to natural foods.–
Currently under investigation by Chinese health officials, the research project was cracked wide open after Greenpeace reportedly corresponded with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to expose the ongoing research. Currently, Greenpeace is calling for a stop to the trials which are reportedly continuing in the field. Citing health and environmental risks, Greenpeace says that the studies are taking place on roughly 24 children aged between six and eight years old. It has also been said that the parents likely were completely unaware or misinformed.—The USDA seeks to examine the effects of the GMO rice on the young children, also known as genetically modified ‘golden rice’.—Shortly after the news came out, China’s version of Twitter exploded with outrage as Chinese government organizations went into overdrive to downplay the studies. A Tufts University PR spokesperson, the very university developing the rice, claimed to no knowledge of the event and decried it as inhumane and unethical. PR rep Andrea Grossman stated that the GMO rice creators had always placed the ‘highest importance’ on human health—We have always placed the highest importance on human health, and we take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of human research subjects.—One Chinese author indicated in the secret GMO rice trials, Shi-an Yin, was suspended from his work. The second claimed to have no idea the study was going on and was therefore not arrested or even suspended.—For the USDA to be secretly testing genetically modified foods on young children while disregarding all calls for real analysis in the United States shows just how the agency is trying to hide. After all, why would you not perform trials out in the open if the results were so favorable? Likely because their previous secret tests were not favorable, and the agency is determining just how detrimental new GMO rice really is.