Fibromyalgia: “Why Won’t The Pain Stop?”

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic condition that does not limit itself to just one area but rather, it manifests as a generalized, whole body condition where basically, everything hurts. The diagnosis is typically made by exclusion or, by eliminating all other possible conditions as there is no single blood test for FM and unless other conditions that are test sensitive are present at the same time, most tests come back negative. Of course, this leaves the FM patient upset because, “….no one can figure out what’s wrong with me.” We all seem to want a test to prove what we have is “real.” Unfortunately, in the real world, no blood test, x-ray, or exam procedure is 100% accurate (sensitive and specific), so even when tests return positive, there can be “false positives” that are caused by many things such as drug induced test alterations and/or other conditions that alter the same test. On the other hand, there are “false negatives,” so even though the test came back negative, it’s still possible that the problem one is present but the test may just not be sensitive (accurate) enough to detect it. FM is one of those conditions where only after a myriad of tests have been run and come back negative, can the diagnosis of FM be made with some degree of confidence. Essentially, we have to prove that you don’t have something else causing similar symptoms before we can confidently (or at lease more confidently) diagnose you with fibromyalgia. To complicate this further, in “secondary FM,” the cause of FM is known and is due to an underlying condition such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, hypothyroid, HIV, cancer, as well as physical trauma such as after a car accident or a work injury. When an accident is involved, the symptoms may be more confined to one area (then called “regional FM”) making the diagnosis even more challenging as the classic 11 of 18 tender points may not hold up in these cases. Finally, there are doctors out there that simply don’t “believe in” the condition and may say to the FM patient, “…there is no such thing, it’s all in your head, you simply have learn how to live with it. There’s nothing that can be done.” Well, they actually may be partially right – that is, the “…it’s all in your head” part (don’t get mad… just wait!). Another finding that is well-published in peer review literature is the concept called central and peripheral “sensitization.” This occurs when increased incoming sensory information from injured skin, muscles, and/or organs, in a sense bombard areas in the central nervous system (spinal cord and brain) leaving it “sensitized” or, more sensitive to “normal” incoming information. This is because the threshold or tolerance to normal incoming sensory stimuli is reduced and results in increased muscle pain commonly described by patients with FM. To better illustrate this, hypersensitivity or central sensitization was found in people after a whiplash injury. They recruited 14 whiplash patients and 14 “normals” to compare their responses when stimulating the leg (the non-injured area) as well as the neck (injured area). Theoretically, if central sensitization didn’t exist, the responses to the exact same stimulus on the healthy leg of both the whiplash patients and the normal subjects would be equal. Instead, what was found was that the whiplash patients had significantly lower pain thresholds for 2 of 3 tests (a single electrical stimulus in the muscle, repeated electrical stimulation in the muscle and on the skin, but not from heat when applied to the skin). Each pain threshold was measured at the neck and leg before and after local anesthesia was applied to the painful, sore neck muscles. In the whiplash cases, the lower pain threshold was found when stimulating both skin and muscles at the healthy leg and at the injured anesthetized neck equally. That proves that the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) has a “pain memory” which lowers the threshold so the whiplash patients feel pain more intensely and quicker than the non-injured people. This can help patients understand the answer to the question, “…why won’t this pain go away?” This pain memory or hypersensitization is similarly found in FM patients. If you, a friend or family member requires care for FM, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services!

http://killeenwhiplash.com/ This is a link to my whiplash information site. If you have been injured in a car accident this site has a lot of the information you need to know about what to do after the accident.

New Sites

I haven't posted to this blog for a while. I have a new one at http://drrustydornblog.com/ Also have a new whiplash site up at http://killeenwhiplash.com/ Check them out.

Fibro and Inflammation

Let me start off by saying that fibromyalgia is not currently considered an inflammatory condition. However, there is some evidence that inflammation plays a role in fibro.

I have discussed the neuroinflammatory basis of "fibro fog" in another post. There is also some thoughts that inflammation of muscle fascia plays a role in some of the muscle pain of fibro. Many people dealing with fibro also have gut dysfunction. This often presents as diarrhea, constipation and abdominal pain or some combination of the above. This may be related to food sensitivities that leads to gut inflammation. There are many health risks associated with inflammation that go beyond fibro. This includes increased risks of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular problems.

I have seen many patients show dramatic improvements in their fibro complaints by getting on an anti-inflammatory diet and adding supplements to help minimize inflammation.

Some relatively simple dietary changes that you can make to help reduce the inflammatory load on your body include:

Cut back on junk foods, high-fat meats and highly processed foods.

Cut back on trans fats and saturated fats.

Decrease refined white flours in bread and pasta. Go whole wheat or gluten free instead.

Cut back on consumption of sugar.

Avoid Aspartame and other artificial sweetners. Aspartame is neuroexcitatory and is neurotoxic. STAY AWAY FROM ASPARTAME!

Consider getting a water ionizer.

Consider lab testing or an elimination diet to identify food sensitivities.

Some supplements that can help minimize inflammation include omega 3 oils, curcumin and vitamin C. Increased intake of antioxidants can also help. Probably the ultimate antioxidant for this purpose is glutithione. Unfortunately taking glutithione orally is pretty much worthless as it is very poorly absorbed via that route. I use a nebulizer or a topical version for my patients to get around the absorption issue.

Bruce Lipton Describes Epigenetics in One Minute

Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized authority in bridging science and spirit. His research as a cellular biologist at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, between 1987 and 1992, revealed that the environment, operating though the membrane, controlled the behavior and physiology of the cell, turning genes on and off. His discoveries, which ran counter to the established scientific view that life is controlled by the genes, presaged one of today’s most important fields of study, the science of epigenetics. He is regarded as one of the leading voices of the new biology. Dr Lipton’s work summarizing his findings is entitled The Biology of Belief.

The book is one of my favorites and I have read it several times. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a better understanding genetics and epigenetics. It is a great introduction to, and explanation of the fact that genes represent tendencies NOT destinies.

This link takes you to a short video in which he explains the basic concept in a very brief segment.

http://oneminuteshift.com/videos/bruce_lipton/healing_perceptions

GeneWize Press Release

MVP Empowerment Group Teams Up with Revolutionary GeneWize Life Sciences DNA Guided Nutrition For Au

(PRWEB) July 25, 2008 -- 'Genewize Life Sciences:' a subsidiary of publicly traded Genelink, --with the launch of its DNA Guided Nutrition System, in conjunction with ThedNaMovement.com Marketing Group, is a category creator as it sphere heads a whole new way of customizing nutritional supplements based on an assessment of an individual's DNA.

World renowned economist and prolific author for New York Times Best Sellers: Paul Zane Pilzer in his recent study: "The Wellness Revolution," reminds us that one-seventh, $1.5 trillion, of the U.S. economy today is devoted to the healthcare business, or what Paul Zane Pilzer better describes as the "Sickness Industry." However, by the year 2010, it is believed that an additional $1 trillion of the economy will be devoted to products and services that keep us healthy, make us look or feel better, will slow down the effects of aging, and will help in preventing diseases from developing altogether. With the technological breakthrough of DNA Guided Nutrition, and other developments in Bio-Genetic research, the implications of the shift to proactive wellness are far reaching from health to beauty to food to medicine.

Harkening back to 1908, Henry Ford's Model T launched the trillion-dollar automobile industry. Likewise in 1981, IBM's PC launched the trillion-dollar personal computer industry, which grew so fast that PC sales surpassed U.S. auto sales in only ten years.

With the launching of GeneWize DNA Guided Nutrition, in conjunction with Dream Team Marketing organizations like: ThedNaMovement.com. and Jonathan Budd, the trillion-dollar industry of the twenty-first century has arrived, and it promises to similarly revolutionize our lives and offer entrepreneurs and investors the opportunity to amass great fortunes.

This next big thing is the wellness industry, and The Wellness Revolution shows you how to state your claim now while the market is ripe..... In The Wellness Revolution, Paul Zane Pilzer--a world renowned economist, lay-rabbi, presidential advisor, college professor, and entrepreneur--shows us how to tap into this next trillion-dollar revolution. Already a $200 billion business, with most of its revenue coming from vitamin sales and health club memberships, the wellness industry is just now taking off. In just ten years, an additional $1 trillion of the U.S. economy will be devoted to providing healthy people products and services to maintain their health.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, investor, or distributor, Paul Zane Pilzer, featured speaker at the August 1st GeneWize Launch in Orlando, demonstrates how to get in on the ground floor of this burgeoning industry which is best illustrated in the launching of the GeneWise DNA Guided Nutrition System, and promoted by dedicated marketing organizations like MVPGeneWise and the DNA Movement Dream Team, headed up by Michael Barrett & Angela Giles in conjunction with Jonathan Budds incredible Mastermind marketing strategies.

Featured members of the dNa Movement /MVP GeneWize team include: Christina Hessel (the Traveling Nanny), Texas based Savanna Moss, Dr. Rusty Dorn, Richard Rizza, who heads up our Scenic Northeast division, and a host of other top leaders and income earners, too numerous to mention at this time. Needless to say, the DNA Movement team is exploding, and is off and running as it attracts the best-of-the-best marketers and health care professionals who are joining by droves to take advantage of the time sensitive benefits which can only be enjoyed by pre-launch founding GeneWise affiliates, who join before August 1st.

How does it work? Three Simple Steps:

1. Assess, Don't Guess - GeneWize offers the only patented, FDA reviewed, non-invasive, self-administered DNA collection system available. The process is easy to understand. It is simple to do and takes just a few minutes. An individual simply swabs the inside of their mouth (the inner cheek), and mails the swab back to the Genewise laboratory in the special envelope provided Everything, along with easy-to-follow instructions, are included. An individual can now find out for the very first time what's right for them as they are nourishing their body with the ultimate personalized formula.

2. Customized: Their product is created specifically for them. NO more one size fits all!

Consumers will receive a comprehensive personal formula created just for them, utilizing over 177,000 possible ingredients combinations. Nothing but product ingredients is stocked on our shelves. All our formulas are made to order. Basically, it works like this:

....For less than $200 a consumer can get their DNA assessed (This only needs to be done once. Your DNA never changes) After that the costs is about $80-$100 per month to have a vitamin/supplement specifically made to support their genetic code. No more guessing.

Barrett & Giles, having been involved in marketing health products in the past, have never seen anything as effective and powerful as this, due to the DNA based personally customized nutritional feature. GeneWise is especially attractive to experienced marketers and distributors because of its generous compensation plan. This is the way of the future for health and nutrition.

To learn more about this exciting technological breakthrough with Genetic Sciences and the GeneWise DNA Guided Nutritional System and Once-in-a-lifetime Business Opportunity, log onto:

http://www.mygenewize.com/?ID=doctordorn

Good News In Our DNA: Defects You Can Fix With Vitamins And Minerals

This is some exciting stuff. There is now a company that can do genetic testing and then prepare a custom formulation made to compliment your inate strengths and strengthen your weak areas. If you would like to know more go to the link below. This company is the first and only one to bring supplementation technology into the 21st century. Check it out.

Dr. R. Dorn

doctordorngenewize.com

Good News In Our DNA: Defects You Can Fix With
Vitamins And Minerals



ScienceDaily (Jun. 3, 2008) — As the cost of sequencing a single
human genome drops rapidly, with one company predicting a price
of $100 per person in five years, soon the only reason not to look
at your "personal genome" will be fear of what bad news lies in
your genes.
University of California, Berkeley, scientists, however, have found
a welcome reason to delve into your genetic heritage: to find the
slight genetic flaws that can be fixed with remedies as simple as
vitamin or mineral supplements.
"I'm looking for the good news in the human genome," said Jasper
Rine, UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology.
"Headlines for the last 20 years have really been about the triumph
of biomedical research in finding disease genes, which is
biologically interesting, genetically important and frightening to
people who get this information," Rine said. "I became obsessed
with trying to decide if there is some other class of information that
will make people want to look at their genome sequence."
What Rine and colleagues found and report in the online early
edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (PNAS) is that there are many genetic differences that
make people's enzymes less efficient than normal, and that simple supplementation with vitamins can often restore
some of these deficient enzymes to full working order.
First author Nicholas Marini, a UC Berkeley research scientist, noted that physicians prescribe vitamins to "cure"
many rare and potentially fatal metabolic defects caused by mutations in critical enzymes. But those affected by these
metabolic diseases are people with two bad copies, or alleles, of an essential enzyme. Many others may be walking
around with only one bad gene, or two copies of slightly defective genes, throwing their enzyme levels off slightly
and causing subtle effects that also could be eliminated with vitamin supplements.
"Our studies have convinced us that there is a lot of variation in the population in these enzymes, and a lot of it affects
function, and a lot of it is responsive to vitamins," Marini said. "I wouldn't be surprised if everybody is going to
require a different optimal dose of vitamins based on their genetic makeup, based upon the kind of variance they are
harboring in vitamin-dependent enzymes."
Though this initial study tested the function of human gene variants by transplanting them into yeast cells, where the
function of the variants can be accurately assessed, Rine and Marini are confident the results will hold up in humans.
Their research, partially supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S.
Army, may enable them to employ U.S. soldiers to test the theory that vitamin supplementation can tune up defective
enzymes.
"Our soldiers, like top athletes, operate under extreme conditions that may well be limited by their physiology," Rine
said. "We're now working with the defense department to identify variants of enzymes that are remediable, and
ultimately hope to identify troops that have these variants and test whether performance can be enhanced by
appropriate supplementation."
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In the PNAS paper, Rine, Marini and their colleagues report on their initial analysis of variants of a human enzyme
called methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, or MTHFR. The enzyme, which requires the B vitamin folate to work
properly, plays a key role in synthesizing molecules that go into the nucleotide building blocks of DNA. Some cancer
drugs, such as methotrexate, target MTHFR to shut down DNA synthesis and prevent tumor growth.
Using DNA samples from 564 individuals of many races and ethnicities, colleagues at Applied Biosystems of Foster
City, Calif., sequenced for each person the two alleles that code for the MTHFR enzyme. Consistent with earlier
studies, they found three common variants of the enzyme, but also 11 uncommon variants, each of the latter
accounting for less than one percent of the sample.
They then synthesized the gene for each variant of the enzyme, and Marini, Rine and their UC Berkeley colleagues
inserted these genes into separate yeast cells in order to judge the activity of each variant. Yeast use many of the same
enzymes and cofactor vitamins and minerals as humans and are an excellent model for human metabolism, Rine said.
The researchers found that four different mutations affected the functioning of the human enzyme in yeast. One of
these mutations is well known: Nearly 30 percent of the population has one copy, and nine percent has two copies.
The researchers were able to supplement the diet of the cultured yeast with folate, however, and restore full
functionality to the most common variant, and to all but one of the less common variants.
Since this experiment, the researchers have found 30 other variants of the MTHFR enzyme and tested about 15 of
them, "and more than half interfere with the function of the enzyme, producing a hundred-fold range of enzyme
activity. The majority of these can be either partially or completely restored to normal activity by adding more folate.
And that is a surprise," Rine said.
Most scientists think that harmful mutations are disfavored by evolution, but Rine pointed out that this applies only to
mutations that affect reproductive fitness. Mutations that affect our health in later years are not efficiently removed by
evolution and may remain in our genome forever.
The health effects of tuning up this enzyme in humans are unclear, he said, but folate is already known to protect
against birth defects and seems to protect against heart disease and cancer. At least one defect in the MTHFR enzyme
produces elevated levels in the blood of the metabolite homocysteine, which is linked to an increased risk of heart
disease and stroke, conditions that typically affect people in their post-reproductive years.
"In those people, supplementation of folate in the diet can reduce levels of that metabolite and reduce disease risk,"
Marini said.
Marini and Rine estimate that the average person has five rare mutant enzymes, and perhaps other not-so-rare
variants, that could be improved with vitamin or mineral supplements.
"There are over 600 human enzymes that use vitamins or minerals as cofactors, and this study reports just what we
found by studying one of them," Rine said. "What this means is that, even if the odds of an individual having a defect
in one gene is low, with 600 genes, we are all likely to have some mutations that limit one or more of our enzymes."
The subtle effects of variation in enzyme activity may well account for conflicting results of some clinical trials,
including the confusing data on the effect of vitamin supplements, he noted. In the future, the enzyme profile of
research subjects will have to be taken into account in analyzing the outcome of clinical trials.
If one considers not just vitamin-dependent enzymes but all the 30,000 human proteins in the genome, "every
individual would harbor approximately 250 deleterious substitutions considering only the low-frequency variants.
These numbers suggest that the aggregate incidence of low-frequency variants could have a significant physiological
impact," the researchers wrote in their paper.
All the more reason to poke around in one's genome, Rine said.
"If you don't give people a reason to become interested in their genome and to become comfortable with their personal
genomic information, then the benefits of much of the biomedical research, which is indexed to particular genetic
states, won't be embraced in a time frame that most people can benefit from," Rine said. "So, my motivation is partly
scientific, partly an education project and, in some ways, a partly political project."
Marini and Rine credit Bruce Ames, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of molecular and cell biology now on the
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research staff at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, with the research that motivated them to look at
enzyme variation. Ames found in the 1970s that many bacteria that could not produce a specific amino acid could do
so if given more vitamin B6, and in recent years he has continued exploring the link between micronutrients and
health.
"Looked at in one way, Bruce found that you can cure a genetic disease in bacteria by treating it with vitamins," Rine
said. Because the human genome contains about 6 billion DNA base pairs, each one subject to mutation, there could
be between 3 and 6 million DNA sequence differences between any two people. Given those numbers, he reasoned
that, as in bacteria, "there should be people who are genetically different in terms of the amount of vitamin needed for
optimal performance of their enzymes."
This touches on what Rine considers one of the key biomedical questions today. "Now that we have the complete
genome sequences of all the common model organisms, including humans, it's obvious that the defining challenge of
biology in the 21st century is not what the genes are, but what the variation in the genes does," he said.
Rine, Marini and their colleagues are continuing to study variation in the human MTHFR gene as well as other folate
utilizing enzymes, particularly with respect to how defects in these enzymes may lead to birth defects. Rine also is
taking advantage of the 1,500 students in his Biology 1A lab course to investigate variants of a second vitamin
B6-dependent enzyme, cystathionine beta-synthase.
He also is investigating how enzyme cofactors like vitamins and minerals fix defective enzymes. He suspects that
supplements work by acting as chaperones to stabilize the proper folding of the enzyme, which is critical to its
catalytic activity. "That is a new principle that may be applicable to drug design," Rine said.
Coauthors with Rine and Marini are UC Berkeley research assistant Jennifer Gin and Janet Ziegle, Kathryn
Hunkapiller Keho, David Ginzinger and Dennis A. Gilbert of Applied Biosystems, which also funded part of the
study. The work was supported by a University of California Discovery Grant, DARPA and the National Institutes
of Health.
Adapted from materials provided by University of California - Berkeley.
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
APA
MLA
University of California - Berkeley (2008, June 3). Good News In Our DNA: Defects You Can Fix With Vitamins
And Minerals. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 7, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com
/releases/2008/06/080602214135.htm

For more on the Genewize Supplements go to- http://www.mygenewize.com/?ID=doctordorn

Interesting Thoughts on Weight Loss

Tough Talk about You and Weight Loss

By Dr. Matthew Anderson

I want to have an in-your-face, heart-to-heart, conversation with you. If I can get my point across then you will make some significant progress on your journey to complete weight loss. If I fail at this then you might just stay fat for the rest of your life.

Here are some hard facts about people who are consistently overweight. Are they true about 100% of overweight people? Of course not. Are they true about you? Probably.

If you decide that you are an exception to my rule you will be just like most people who are overweight and have a hard time losing it. They imagine that the rules do not apply to them. So they get to stay fat. You get to decide for yourself. Are you one of us (consistently weight-challenged persons) or not? Take a chance and join in. You only have fat to lose.

Here are some tough facts about many overweight persons.

1. You are overweight because you eat too much -- and you eat too much because you would rather eat than deal with yourself and life.
2. You frequently feel one or more of these feelings: inadequate, incompetent, afraid, overstressed, or angry in relationship to normal life. When you feel these and related uncomfortable emotions, you eat whether you are hungry or not and most of the time that food is comfort (fattening) food.
3. If you attempt to take the weight loss journey alone you will probably fail. Losing weight can be tough and most of us, including you, need lots of support. If you join or create a weight loss support group you will greatly increase your chances of succeeding. Tell your Ego to shut up and get support.
4. If you are chronically at least 20 lbs overweight you are a food addict. If you think of yourself this way you will become far more serious about how and when you lose weight. Admit it and get on with the process of recovery.
5. Successful recovery from addiction of any kind (especially food addiction) requires a relationship with a Divine Source. Develop one immediately. I know I sound like a 12-stepper, but what can I say except that they really got this part right.
6. Always remember that the idea that you can simply “eat less and exercise more” and lose weight is a mantra of diet morons. There are four basic and required ingredients/categories for long term healthy weight loss -- Physical (diet and exercise), Mental, Emotional and Spiritual. And the “eat less and exercise more” mantra lacks the other three.

Enough tough talk. Make the appropriate changes in your weight loss practices and you will be well on your way to success.

[Ed. note: Dr. Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships. To find tough-minded, outside-the-box guidance for taking charge of your life and/or your weight including Eating to Kill, click here.]

The Healthy Way to Good Health

The Healthy Way to Good Health

To use an oft-repeated cliché, health is wealth, and if we don’t start safeguarding this, there’s no joy in living. To use another, prevention is better than cure, and these natural health improvement tips work wonders in not only keeping illness at bay, but also in keeping you young and fit.

1. A little exercise holds a lot of benefits: Work out, take a walk, go for a jog in the park, take up a game – exercise in any form provides you with good health the natural way. An hour a day is enough to get you in shape and keep sickness away. Even small things count – take the stairs instead of the elevator and walk a few blocks instead of driving to get there. Relaxation techniques like yoga and Tai Chi also help when you’re trying to lose weight and improve your body’s natural processes.

2. Eating right is the key: You are what you eat; your body is a mirror that reflects all that you take in, both good and bad. So do yourself a favor and include more vegetables and fruits in your diet; cut back on the fats and carbohydrates. Find more energy to sustain you through the day with energy-rich foods like nuts, yoghurt, eggs (the white only if you’re prone to high cholesterol levels), beans and lentils and seeds. If you have a sweet tooth or crave junk food, you don’t have to deny yourself. Satisfy cravings with self-control – eat two bites of a piece of chocolate cake instead of the whole slice or half a slice of pizza instead of three. Do not stuff yourself during any meal; instead, increase the number of meals per day and reduce the quantity you take in during each. Limit your caffeine intake, switch to green tea instead; the latter is rich in anti-oxidants that delay aging and prevent cancer.

3. Fill up with fluids: Our body is 80 percent water, so it’s only natural that you drink as much as you can. Water hydrates your skin and leaves it soft and supple. It also flushes out toxins from your body and cleanses your system.

4. Avoid direct and harsh sunlight: While mild sunshine is good for your Vitamin K levels, too much of it tends to give you sunburns and strokes. Exposure to harmful UV rays in the sunlight causes premature aging of the skin and suppresses your immune system leading to skin cancer and melanoma.

5. Maintain your BMI: Your Body Mass Indicator (BMI) is a good reflector of how trim and fit your body is. The ideal BMI, which is the ratio of your weight (in pounds) to the square of your height (in inches), is 25; a BMI under 18.5 indicates malnutrition while one above 30 labels you obese. So if you’re short, you have a lot of work to do to shed those excess pounds of flesh.

6. Harness the power of positive thinking: The stress and tension of day-to-day life cause more damage than you may realize. Ulcers, migraines, nervous breakdowns and insomnia are just a few of the illnesses associated with someone who’s stressed all the time. It’s not easy to take things easy, but if you work at it, the benefits are worth it. Practice relaxation techniques like yoga and Tai Chi, think positive thoughts and rein in your temper.

7. Massage your body and your mind: A body massage or a hot bath at the end of a long day works wonders in relaxing you. At the same time, treat yourself to a mind massage – give yourself an ego boost from time to time by reassuring yourself that you are good at what you do.

8. Say no to drugs and tobacco: Smoking kills in more ways than one and drugs are a definite way to disaster. Alcohol, while in moderation is not very harmful, tends to become an addiction if you do not hold on to your self-control.

9. Stay pollution free: Easier said than done with most cities and towns being inundated with cars and vehicles polluting the atmosphere. But make it a point to get some fresh air everyday – beat the heat and the crowds by waking up at the crack of dawn and taking a walk in the park. Steer clear of restaurants or public areas that allow smoking.

10. Fasting is good once in a while: Every once a month or so, your body needs time to heal itself from all the abuses you put it through. Undergo a detoxification routine – stay home, eat only fresh fruits and vegetables, drink lots of fluids, sleep, meditate and avoid work for a couple of days. Your whole system is rejuvenated.

11. Medicines don’t always help: Stop popping that pill for every common ailment that afflicts you. A simple headache can be cured by a walk in the fresh air or a cup of hot coffee; a cold is reduced with warm fluids and plenty of rest.

A little common sense mixed with a little effort is all it takes to stay healthy and happy.

By-line:

This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of Care Plans. She invites your questions and writing job opportunities at her personal email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com.

Malic Acid and Magnesium in Fibro

Malic Acid and Fibromyalgia by Source: Nutritional News ImmuneSupport.com 12-01-1995 Fibromyalgia Syndrome (fibromyalgia) is a condition which affects principally middle-aged women, characterized by a syndrome of generalized musculoskeletal pain, aches, stiffness, and tenderness at specific anatomical sites. This condition is considered primarily when there are no obvious causes. Since it was first described, fibromyalgia has become recognized as a fairly common rheumatic complaint with a clinical prevalence of 6 to 20%. Additionally, fibromyalgia has been associated with irritable bowel syndrome, tension headache, mitral valve prolapse, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Numerous treatment modalities have been attempted to treat patients with fibromyalgia, but unfortunately the results have been poor, due to a lack of understanding of the condition’s etiology. In recent years, evidence has accumulated to suggest that fibromyalgia is the result of local hypoxia to the muscles. For instance, patients with fibromyalgia have low muscle-tissue oxygen pressure in affected muscles, and to a lesser degree the same is true of other tissues. Muscle biopsies from affected areas showed muscle tissue glycolysis is inhibited, reducing ATP synthesis. This stimulates the process of gluconeogenesis, which results in muscle tissue breakdown and mitochondrial damage. Additionally, low levels of the high-energy phosphates ATP, ADP, and phosphocreatine were found. It is hypothesized that in hypoxic muscle tissue, glycolysis is inhibited, reducing ATP synthesis. This muscle tissue breakdown, which has been observed in muscle biopsies taken from fibromyalgia patients, is hypothesized to result in the muscle pain characteristic of fibromyalgia. Malic acid is both derived from food sources and synthesized in the body through the citric acid cycle. Its importance to the production of energy in the body during both aerobic and anaerobic conditions is well established. Under aerobic conditions, the oxidation of malate to oxaloacetate provides reducing equivalents to the mitochondria through the malateaspartate redox shuttle. During anaerobic conditions, where a buildup of excess of reducing equivalents inhibits glycolysis, malic acid’s simultaneous reduction to succinate and oxidation to oxaloacetate is capable of removing the accumulating reducing equivalents. This allows malic acid to reverse hypoxia’s inhibition of glycolysis and energy production, possibly improving energy production in fibromyalgia, and reversing the negative effect of the relative hypoxia that has been found in these patients. Because of its obvious relationship to energy depletion during exercise, malic acid may be of benefit to healthy individuals interested in maximizing their energy production, as well as those with Fibromyalgia, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. As a result of the compelling evidence that malic acid plays a central role in energy production, especially during hypoxic conditions, malic acid supplements have been examined for their effects on fibromyalgia. Subjective improvement in pain was observed within 48 hours of supplementation with 1200-2400 mg. of malic acid, and this improvement was lost following the discontinuation of malic acid for 48 hours. While these studies also used magnesium supplements, due to the fact that magnesium is often low in fibromyalgia patients, the rapid improvement following malic acid, as well as the rapid deterioration after discontinuation, suggests that malic acid is the most important component. This interesting theory of localized hypoxia in fibromyalgia, and the ability of malic acid to overcome the block in energy production that this causes, should provide hope for those afflicted with fibromyalgia. The potential for malic acid supplements however, reaches much farther than fibromyalgia. Additionally, many hypoxia-related conditions such as respiratory and circulatory insufficiency, are associated with deficient energy production. Therefore, malic acid supplements may be of benefit in these conditions. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has also been found to be associated with fibromyalgia, and malic acid supplementation may be of use in improving energy production in this condition as well. Lastly, malic acid may be of use as a general supplement, ensuring an optimal level of malic acid within the cells, and thus, maintaining an optimal level of energy production. Reprinted with permission from Nutritional News, December 1995. By: http://www.ImmuneSupport.com

Key vitamin deficiency linked to tripled risk of dementia: study

Lack of folate, also called vitamin B-9, may triple the risk of developing dementia in old age, according to a study published Tuesday.

Researchers in South Korea measured naturally occurring folate levels in 518 elderly persons, none of whom showed any signs of dementia, and then tracked their development over 2.4 years.

At the end of the period, 45 of the patients had developed dementia, including 34 diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, said the study, published by the British Medical Association's Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

When the researchers, led by Jin-Sang Yoon of Chonnam National University in Kwangju, South Korea, remeasured folate levels, they uncovered a strong link with the dementia.

Even after other factors were taken into account -- including age, disability, alcohol consumption, weight change -- "the onset of dementia was significantly associated with an exaggerated decline in folate," the researchers concluded.

Folate and folic acid, another form of the compound, are essential for the creation of new cells in the body.

The compound occurs naturally in leafy vegetables such as spinach, turnip greens, lettuces, dried beans and peas and in certain fruits.

An study published last year in The Lancet showed an improvement in short-term memory, mental agility and verbal fluency among persons over 50 who took a daily dose of 800 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid. The US recommended daily dose is 400 mcg.

Taking folic acid before conception and throughout the first trimester helps a mother ensure that her child will not develop certain brain and spinal cord defects, including spina bifida, according to previous research.

Monthly fasting may help heart

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

Mormons have less heart disease — something doctors have long chalked up to their religion's ban on smoking. New research suggests that another of their "clean living" habits also may be helping their hearts: fasting for one day each month.

A study in Utah, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is based, found that people who skipped meals once a month were about 40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with clogged arteries than those who did not regularly fast.

People did not have to "get religion" to benefit: non-Mormons who regularly took breaks from food also were less likely to have clogged arteries, scientists found.

They concede that their study is far from proof that periodic fasting is good for anyone, but said the benefit they observed poses a theory that deserves further testing.

"It might suggest these are people who just control eating habits better," and that this discipline extends to other areas of their lives that improves their health, said Benjamin Horne, a heart disease researcher from Intermountain Medical Center and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

He led the study and reported results at a recent American Heart Association conference. The research was partly funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Roughly 70 percent of Utah residents are Mormons, whose religion advises abstaining from food on the first Sunday of each month, Horne said.

Researchers got the idea to study fasting after analyzing medical records of patients who had X-ray exams to check for blocked heart arteries between 1994 and 2002 in the Intermountain Health Collaborative Study, a health registry. Of these patients, 4,629 could be diagnosed as clearly having or lacking heart disease — an artery at least 70 percent clogged.

Researchers saw a typical pattern: only 61 percent of Mormons had heart disease compared to 66 percent of non-Mormons. They thought tobacco use probably accounted for the difference. But after taking smoking into account, they still saw a lower rate of heart disease among Mormons and designed a survey to explore why.

It asked about Mormons' religious practices: monthly fasting; avoiding tea, coffee and alcohol; taking a weekly day of rest; going to church, and donating time or money to charity.

Among the 515 people surveyed, only fasting made a significant difference in heart risks: 59 percent of periodic meal skippers were diagnosed with heart disease versus 67 percent of the others.

The difference persisted even when researchers took weight, age and conditions like diabetes or high cholesterol or blood pressure into account. About 8 percent of those surveyed were not Mormons, and those who regularly fasted had lower rates of heart disease, too.

Horne speculated that when people take a break from food, it forces the body to dip into fat reserves to burn calories. It also keeps the body from being constantly exposed to sugar and having to make insulin to metabolize it. When people develop diabetes, insulin-producing cells become less sensitive to cues from eating, so fasting may provide brief rests that resensitize these cells and make them work better, he said.

But he and other doctors cautioned that skipping meals is not advised for diabetics — it could cause dangerous swings in blood sugar.

Also for dieters, "the news is not as good as you might think" on fasting, said Dr. Raymond Gibbons of the Mayo Clinic, a former heart association president.

"Fasting resets the metabolic rate," slowing it down to adjust to less food and forcing the body to store calories as soon as people resume eating, Gibbons said.

7 Reasons to Drink Green Tea

The steady stream of good news about green tea is getting so hard to ignore that even java junkies are beginning to sip mugs of the deceptively delicate brew. You'd think the daily dose of disease-fighting, inflammation-squelching antioxidants - long linked with heart protection - would be enough incentive, but wait, there's more! Lots more.

CUT YOUR CANCER RISK
Several polyphenols - the potent antioxidants green tea's famous for - seem to help keep cancer cells from gaining a foothold in the body, by discouraging their growth and then squelching the creation of new blood vessels that tumors need to thrive. Study after study has found that people who regularly drink green tea reduce their risk of breast, stomach, esophagus, colon, and/or prostate cancer.

SOOTHE YOUR SKIN
Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little leftover green tea? Soak a cotton pad in it. The tea is a natural antiseptic that relieves itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed breakouts and blemishes, sunburns, even puffy eyelids. And that's not all. In the lab, green tea helps block sun-triggered skin cancer, whether you drink it or apply it directly to the skin - which is why you're seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.

STEADY YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
Having healthy blood pressure - meaning below 120/80 - is one thing. Keeping it that way is quite another. But people who sip just half a cup a day are almost 50 percent less likely to wind up with hypertension than non-drinkers. Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as ECGC). They help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising blood pressure.

PROTECT YOUR MEMORY, OR YOUR MOM'S
Green tea may also keep the brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-there adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea's big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

STAY YOUNG
The younger and healthier your arteries are, the younger and healthier you are. So fight plaque build-up in your blood vessels, which ups the risk of heart disease and stroke, adds years to your biological age (or RealAge), and saps your energy too. How much green tea does this vital job take? About 10 ounces a day, which also deters your body from absorbing artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.

LOSE WEIGHT
Oh yeah, one more thing. Turns out that green tea speeds up your body's calorie-burning process. In the every-little-bit-counts department, this is good news!

Do Diet Sodas Make You Fat?

The short answer(s) to this question is no and, maybe, yes. One recent study has shown that people who drink diet soda still have a 41 percent chance of being overweight.

What is even more interesting about this research is that these diet-soda drinkers have a greater risk for obesity than do those who drink regular sodas.

How is this possible? It can't be that the diet sodas are causing obesity, since they contain no calories.

Some researchers believe that the problem with diet sodas is this: When people consume diet drinks, they think they're doing something "good" for their body — and then they feel free to splurge on other, high-calorie items.

For example, if you are eating at McDonald's and order a diet soda in place of a regular soda, you may think, "Now I can super-size my meal." People don't do this intentionally; it just happens and we don't pay attention to it — and then the extra pounds slip on board and stow away.

There is also some research that suggests diet sodas may actually stimulate the appetite. This explanation of the relationship between diet sodas and obesity is that the overly sweet taste of diet drinks actually creates a craving for still more sweet things, thus upping calorie consumption.

What then should you do about your drink choices?

First, remember: Everything in moderation. If you are drinking a lot of regular or diet soda each day, decreasing your intake of either may help you lose weight. Also, think about when during the day you drink diet sodas; do you then tend to splurge on other calories?

Although escaping the obesity epidemic isn't as easy as avoiding diet sodas, you should think about what you drink.

Honey for Kids Coughs

Study: Try honey for children's coughs

Carla Johnson

A teaspoon of honey before bed seems to calm children's coughs and help them sleep better, according to a new study that relied on parents' reports of their children's symptoms.

The folk remedy did better than cough medicine or no treatment in a three-way comparison. Honey may work by coating and soothing an irritated throat, the study authors said.

"Many families are going to relate to these findings and say that grandma was right," said lead author Dr. Ian Paul of Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine.

The research appears in December's Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine

Federal health advisers have recently warned that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines shouldn't be used in children younger than 6, and manufacturers are taking some products for babies off the market.

Three pediatricians who read the study said they would tell parents seeking alternative remedies to try honey. They noted that honey should not be given to children under age 1 because of a rare but serious risk of botulism.

For the study, researchers recruited 105 children with upper respiratory infections from a clinic in Pennsylvania. Parents were given a paper bag with a dosing device inside. Some were empty. Some contained an age-appropriate dose of honey-flavored cough medicine containing dextromethorphan. And some contained a similar dose of honey.

The parents were asked about their children's sleep and cough symptoms, once before the bedtime treatment and once after. They rated the symptoms on a seven-point scale.

All of the children got better, but honey consistently scored best in parents' rating of their children's cough symptoms.

"Give them a little time and they'll get better," said Pat Jackson Allen, a professor at Yale University School of Nursing.

The study was funded by a grant from the National Honey Board, an industry-funded agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency had no influence over the study design, data or results, Paul said.

Depressed? Get off the couch.

By Amy Norton

Exercise seems to increase the production of naturally occurring brain chemical with antidepressant effects in mice, researchers reported Sunday.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, point to potential new ways to treat depression in people.

Studies have found that exercise can help ease depression symptoms, but the reasons for the benefit have not been clear. For the new study, scientists used a tool called a microarray to examine how exercise changed gene activity in the brains of mice.

They focused on a brain region known as the hippocampus, which has been implicated in mood regulation and in the brain's response to antidepressant medication.

The researchers found that mice that had a week's worth of workouts on a running wheel showed altered activity in a total of 33 genes, the majority of which had never been identified before.

In particular, exercise enhanced activity in the gene for a nerve growth factor known as VGF. Nerve growth factors are small proteins important in the development and maintenance of nerve cells.

Moreover, when the researchers infused a synthetic version of VGF into the brains of the mice, it produced a "robust antidepressant effect" in standardized tests of animals placed in stressful situations.

"The major finding is that we have identified a key factor that underlies the antidepressant effects of exercise -- information that could be used for the development of novel therapeutic agents," said senior researcher Dr. Ronald S. Duman of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Exercise "clearly has effects on the brain," he told Reuters Health, and they are both direct and indirect. It's possible, he explained, that the current findings reflect a direct effect of exercise on nerve cells in the hippocampus, or more general changes in the brain, like better blood flow or increased hormonal activity.

Besides offering more support for the benefits of exercise, the findings also point to VGF as a target for new antidepressants, according to Duman and his colleagues. Such medications, they point out, would work by an entirely different mechanism than existing antidepressants, which are effective for about 65 percent of patients.

Aspartame Don't Even Consider It

In the keynote address by the EPA at the World Environmental Conference, it was announced that there was an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and system lupus and they did not understand what toxin was causing this to become rampant across the United States. "When the temperature of aspartame exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in aspartame converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which, in turn, causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics multiple sclerosis; thus, people are being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in error. Multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence; methanol toxicity is. "Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially in Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. With methanol toxicity, the victims usually drink three to four 12 oz cans per day, some even more. In the cases of systemic lupus, which is triggered by aspartame, the victim usually does not know the aspartame is the culprit. The victim continues its use and aggravates the lupus to such a degree, that it sometimes becomes life threatening. When people quit using aspartame, those with systemic lupus usually become asymptomatic. Unfortunately, this disease cannot be reversed. On the other hand, in the case of those diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, (when in reality, the disease is methanol toxicity), most of the symptoms disappear. In some cases, vision and hearing have returned. This also applies to cases of Tinnitus. If you are using aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision or memory loss, you probably have "Aspartame Disease". "The Ambassador of Uganda noted that their sugar industry is adding aspartame. He continued by saying that one of the industry leader's sons could no longer walk due in part to product usage. This is a very serious problem. Additionally, during a visit to a hospice, a nurse said that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke drinks, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! "Here is the problem. There were Congressional Hearings when aspartame was originally included as a sweetener in 100 different products. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings. Nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Now, there are over 5,000 products containing this chemical and the patent has expired. At the time of this first hearing, people were going blind. The methanol in the aspartame converts to formaldehyde in the retina of the eye. Formaldehyde is grouped in the same class of drugs as cyanide and arsenic - deadly poisons. Unfortunately, it just takes longer to quietly kill, but is killing people and causing neurological problems. Aspartame changes the brain's chemistry. It is the reason for severe seizures. This drug changes the dopamine level of the brain. Imagine what this drug does to patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. This drug also causes birth defects. "There is absolutely no reason to use this product. It is "not a diet product"/ The Congressional record said, "It makes you crave carbohydrates and will make you FAT." Dr. H. J. Roberts, a diabetic specialist and expert on aspartame poisoning, states that when he took patients off of aspartame, their average weight loss was 19 pounds per person. Aspartame is especially deadly for diabetics. All physicians know what wood alcohol will do to a diabetic. We find that physicians believe that they have patients with retinopathy when, in fact, it's caused by the aspartame. The aspartame keeps the blood sugar level out of control, causing many patients to go into a coma. Unfortunately, many have died. It was reported at the Conference of the American College of Physicians that those patients that switched from saccharin to an aspartame product had eventually gone into a coma. Their physicians could not get their blood sugar levels under control. The patients suffered acute memory loss, and, eventually, coma and death. Memory loss is due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are neurotoxins without the other amino acids found in protein. Thus is goes past the blood brain barrier and deteriorates the neurons of the brain. Dr. Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgeon, said "The ingredients stimulate the neurons of the brain to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees." "Dr. Blaylock and Dr. Roberts will be writing a position paper with some case histories and it will be posted on the Internet. According to the Conference of the American College of Physicians, "We are talking about a plague of neurological diseases caused by this deadly poison." Dr. Roberts realized what was happening when aspartame was first marketed. He reported, "My diabetic patients are suffering memory loss, confusion and severe vision loss." At the Conference, doctors admitted not knowing why. They had wondered by seizures were rampant (the phenylalanine in aspartate breaks down the seizure threshold and depletes serotonin, which causes manic depression, panic attacks, rage and violence). Just before the Conference, Norway asked for a possible antidote for this poison because they are experiencing so many problems in their country. This poison' is now available in 90 plus countries worldwide. Fortunately, speakers and ambassadors at the conference from different nations have pledged their help. Take anything that contains aspartame back to the store. Monsanto, the creator of aspartame, knows how deadly it is. They fund the American Medical Association, American Dietetic Association, Congress and the Conference of the American College of Physicians. On November 15, l996 the New York Times ran an article on how the American Dietetic Association takes money from the food industry to endorse their products. Therefore, they cannot criticize any additives or tell about their link to Monsanto. How bad is this? A mother who had a child on NutraSweet was told to get off the product. The child was having grand mal seizures daily. The mother called her physician, who called the ADA and was told not to take the child off of NutraSweet. The mother can not be convinced that the aspartame is causing the seizures. Every time someone gets off aspartame, seizures stop. There are 92 documented symptoms of aspartame, from coma to death. The majority of them are neurological because aspartame destroys the nervous system. Aspartame Disease is partially behind some of the mystery of the Desert Storm health problems. The burning tongue and other problems discussed many cases can be directly related to the consumption of aspartame. Several thousand pallets of diet drinks were shipped to the Desert Storm troops. (Remember: heat can liberate the methanol from the aspartame at 86 degrees F). These diet drinks sat in the 120 degree F Arabian sun for weeks at a time on pallets. The serviceman and women drank them all day long. All of their symptoms are identical to aspartame poisoning. Additionally, Dr. Roberts says, "Consuming aspartame at the time of conception can cause birth defects." According to Dr. Louis Elsas, Pediatrician and Professor of Genetics at Emory University, in his testimony before Congress, the phenylalanine concentrates in the placenta, causing mental retardation. In the original lab tests, animals developed brain tumors; phenylalanine breaks down in DKP, a brain tumor agent. When Dr. Esposito was lecturing on aspartame, one physician in the audience, a neurosurgeon said, "When brain tumors are removed and studies, high levels of aspartame were found in them." "Stevia or Xylitol, a sweet food and "not an additive" helps in the metabolism of sugar. It would be ideal for diabetics and has now been approved as a dietary supplement by the FDA. For years, the FDA has outlawed this sweet food, because of their loyalty to Monsanto. If it says "sugar free" on the label - do not even consider it." Andrea McCreery, Ph.D. is located in Fair Oaks, CA. She may be contacted at www.life-sources.com or 916 536-9930. http://www.wnho.net/aspartame_no_hoax.htm Two reports by Doctors H. J. Roberts and Russell Blaylock regarding Multiple Sclerosis: MS (Multiple Sclerosis) or Aspartame Disease, by H. J. Roberts, M.D., http://www.mpwhi.com/ms_or_aspartame_disease.htm The MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and Aspartame Connection by Russell Blaylock, M.D., http://www.wnho.net/ms_and_aspartame.htm 13 new studies showing Aspartame Toxicity in 24 months: http://www.mpwhi.com/13_aspartame_research_studies.htm Read more proof at the World Environmental Conference: www.dorway.com/nomarkle.html Dr. Russell Blaylock's article: "What To Do If You Have Used Aspartame" www.wnho.net/wtdaspartame.htm Dr. Ralph Walton's article on psychiatric disorders and aspartame: http://www.mpwhi.com/aspartame_and_psychiatric_disorders.htm The timeline on Aspartame from the Ecologist: http://www.mpwhi.com/ecologist_september_2005.pdf

Obesity and and Cancer

Report stresses link between obesity and cancer

Keeping slim is one of the best ways of preventing cancer, as is avoiding excessive amounts of red meat and wine, a landmark study has revealed.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) said the link between body fat and cancer is closer than generally realized.

It found convincing evidence of a link to six types of cancer, five more than in its last report, 10 years ago.

Among the new types are colorectal (bowel) and post-menopausal breast cancer.

Professor Michael Marmot, chair of the panel of 21 eminent scientists who compiled the report, said: "We are recommending that people aim to be as lean as possible within the healthy range, and that they avoid weight gain throughout adulthood."

The report, which selected 7,000 studies from a worldwide pool of 500,000 written since records began in the 1960s, includes five key findings.

They are that processed meats, such as ham and bacon, increase the risk of colorectal cancer, and should be eaten sparingly.

Another is the link between red meat and colorectal cancer, for which the evidence is stronger than ever. People should not eat more than 500g of cooked red meat a week -- or between 700g and 750g for "blue" or uncooked meat.

A further finding was the strongest evidence yet that alcohol is a cause of cancer. If people must drink, the report said, they should limit their intake to two units a day for a man or one for a woman. A unit is a half pint of beer or a small glass of wine.

The report recommended mothers breastfeed exclusively for the first six months after birth followed by complementary breastfeeding, after evidence showed breastfeeding protects the mother against breast cancer.

It did not recommend dietary supplements as prevention.

"This report is a real milestone in the fight against cancer, because its recommendations represent the most definitive advice on preventing cancer that has ever been available anywhere in the world," said Professor Martin Wiseman, project director of the report.

Scientists believe there are several reasons for the link between body fat and cancer.

One is the relationship between excess fat and the hormonal balance in the body.

Research has shown that fat cells release hormones such as estrogen, which increases the risk of breast cancer, while fat around the waist encourages the body to produce growth hormones, which can increase levels of risk.

Evidence of a link is most convincing for cancer of the esophagus, pancreas, colorectum, endometrium (womb), kidney and post-menopausal breast cancer.

The report makes 10 recommendations including 30 minutes of moderate activity a day, rising to 60 minutes; drinking water rather than sugary drinks; eating fruit, vegetables and fiber and limiting salt consumption.

The WCRF report can be found at: http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/

Body Mass and Headaches

This study confirms something I have believed for a number of years, that
migraines headaches are more prevalent in persons who are overweight.
Though this study doesn't answer the why, I believeit has to do with the
hormonal influences from adipose tissue.




Marcelo E. Bigal, MD, PhD; Amy Tsang; Elizabeth Loder, MD; Daniel Serrano, PhD; Michael L. Reed, PhD;Richard B. Lipton, MD; for the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Advisory Group

Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:1964-1970.

Background We investigated the influence of the body mass index (BMI [calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared]) on the frequency, severity, and patterns of treatment of migraine, probable migraine (PM), and severe episodic tension-type headache (S-ETTH).

Methods A validated questionnaire was mailed to 120 000 households selected to be representative of the US population. The participants were divided into 5 categories based on BMI: underweight (<18.5),> (25.0-29.9), obese (30.0-34.9), and morbidly obese (>35.0). Analyses were adjusted by covariates that included demographic variables (age, sex, race, and income), duration of illness, comorbidities, use of preventive medication, and use of opioids.

Results The response rate was 65%. We identified 18 968 individuals with migraine, 7564 with PM, and 2051 with S-ETTH. The distribution of very frequent headaches (10-14 d/mo) was assessed by BMI. Among individuals with migraine, very frequent headaches (10-14 d/mo) occurred in 7.4% of the overweight (P = .10), 8.2% of the obese (P < .001), and 10.4% of the morbidly obese (P < .0001) subjects, compared with 6.5% of those with normal weight, in adjusted analyses. Among individuals with PM and S-ETTH, the differences were not significant (P = .20). The disability of migraineurs, but not of those with PM or S-ETTH, also varied as a function of BMI. Among migraineurs, 32.0% of those with normal weight had some disability compared with 37.2% of the overweight (P < .01), 38.4% of the obese (P < .001), and 40.9% of the morbidly obese (P < .001) subjects.

Conclusion These findings support the concept that obesity is an exacerbating factor for migraine but not for other types of episodic headaches.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Neurology (Drs Bigal and Lipton) and Epidemiology and Population Health (Dr Lipton), Albert Einstein College of Medicine and The Montefiore Headache Center (Drs Bigal and Lipton and Ms Tsang), Bronx, New York; The New England Center for Headache, Stamford, Connecticut (Dr Bigal); Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, Massacusetts (Dr Loder); and Vedanta Research, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Drs Serrano and Reed).

Acupuncture and Back Pain

Study: Acupuncture works for back pain

By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press WriterMon Sep 24, 11:09 PM ET

Fake acupuncture works nearly as well as the real thing for low back pain, and either kind performs much better than usual care, German researchers have found. Almost half the patients treated with acupuncture needles felt relief that lasted months. In contrast, only about a quarter of the patients receiving medications and other Western medical treatments felt better.

Even fake acupuncture worked better than conventional care, leading researchers to wonder whether pain relief came from the body's reactions to any thin needle pricks or, possibly, the placebo effect.

"Acupuncture represents a highly promising and effective treatment option for chronic back pain," study co-author Dr. Heinz Endres of Ruhr University Bochum in Bochum, Germany, said in an e-mail. "Patients experienced not only reduced pain intensity, but also reported improvements in the disability that often results from back pain and therefore in their quality of life."

Although the study was not designed to determine how acupuncture works, Endres said, its findings are in line with a theory that pain messages to the brain can be blocked by competing stimuli.

Positive expectations the patients held about acupuncture — or negative expectations about conventional medicine — also could have led to a placebo effect and explain the findings, he said.

In the largest experiment on acupuncture for back pain to date, more than 1,100 patients were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture, sham acupuncture or conventional therapy. For the sham acupuncture, needles were inserted, but not as deeply as for the real thing. The sham acupuncture also did not insert needles in traditional acupuncture points on the body and the needles were not manually moved and rotated.

After six months, patients answered questions about pain and functional ability and their scores determined how well each of the therapies worked.

In the real acupuncture group, 47 percent of patients improved. In the sham acupuncture group, 44 percent did. In the usual care group, 27 percent got relief.

"We don't understand the mechanisms of these so-called alternative treatments, but that doesn't mean they don't work," said Dr. James Young of Chicago's Rush University Medical Center, who wasn't involved in the research. Young often treats low back pain with acupuncture, combined with exercises and stretches.

Chinese medicine holds that there are hundreds of points on the body that link to invisible pathways for the body's vital energy, or qi. The theory goes that stimulating the correct points with acupuncture needles can release blocked qi.

Dr. Brian Berman, the University of Maryland's director of complementary medicine, said the real and the sham acupuncture may have worked for reasons that can be explained in Western terms: by changing the way the brain processes pain signals or by releasing natural painkillers in the body.

In the study, the conventional treatment included many methods: painkillers, injections, physical therapy, massage, heat therapy or other treatments. Like the acupuncture patients, the patients getting usual care received about 10 sessions of 30 minutes each.

The study, appearing in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, used a broad definition for low back pain, but ruled out people with back pain caused by spinal fractures, tumors, scoliosis and pregnancy.

Funding came from German health insurance companies, and the findings already have led to more coverage in Germany of acupuncture.

In the United States, some health plans cover acupuncture for some conditions, but may require pre-approval, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. An acupuncture session can cost $45 to $100, Young said.

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On the Net:

Archives: http://www.archinternmed.co