Spring 2006In This Issue:
The Case Against VitaminsDr. Noel Peterson, ND John and his wife have doctored with me for over a decade. A robust and fit 86 year old with a quick intellect, he believes he owes much of his good health to a healthy natural diet and 30 or more years of daily supplements. So he was distressed when he read "The Case Against Vitamins," in his morning Wall Street Journal. For years he had dismissed the claims calling vitamins “useless” and the cause of “expensive urine”, but the Journal heading was hard to ignore: "Recent studies show that many vitamins not only don't help, They may actually cause harm." After I read the article, it was clear to me that the WSJ had been irresponsible and had cited a select handful of poorly conducted and widely criticized studies to support its case. At the same time they ignored the tens of thousands of scientific studies that have demonstrated the benefits of nutritional supplements. The WSJ begins by quoting cardiologist Edgar R. Miller, who has claimed common doses of vitamin E boost death rates 4% to 6%. Recognized experts in vitamin E research have called his analysis a laughable example of the misuse of statistics. Dr. Jeffrey Blumberg, chief of antioxidant research at Tufts University points out that if Dr. Miller’s conclusions were true, it would mean that taking vitamin E is more deadly than smoking. Dr. Blumberg was joined by other scientist who took out a full page add in the New York Times, the Washington Post and USA Today, denouncing Miller's assertions that vitamin E was unsafe. Dr. Blumberg also teamed up with 12 other international authorities to state that vitamin E is safe and effective at doses up to 1600 IU a day, in the April, 2005 issue of the prestigious American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Among those condemning Miller's conclusions are world-renowned antioxidant and vitamin E researchers, Lester Packer PhD, University of Southern California, and Maret Traber, PhD, Oregon State University and authority on vitamin E toxicity for the National Academy of Sciences. Miller's study, in fact, was exposed as bogus soon after it came out. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) found no serious adverse effects in 40,000 women who took 600 IU of vitamin E every other day for ten years. Contrary to Miller's predictions, the NIH study revealed that heart disease deaths dropped 24% in women who took vitamin E. And in women 65 and over, prime targets of heart attacks, vitamin E slashed death rates nearly in half--an incredible 49%! According to Dr. Traber. taking vitamin E could save over 200,000 women’s lives a year in the US. Dr. NG Stevens and researchers at the Department of Medicine, Cambridge University, published their Cambridge Heart Antioxidant Study (CHAOS) in the Lancet, Oct 30, 1999. They found in a double-blind randomized study of 2002 patients with pre-existing heart disease that 400-600 iu vitamin E daily reduced non-fatal heart attacks by 36% after only one year of supplementation! Just imagine: If a drug could slash heart death rates by 49%, and non-fatal heart attacks by 36% in one year of use in patients at the highest risk of heart attack, it would be heralded as a miracle cure! An eye for an E And that’s not all. Double blind studies have shown at least a 50% reduction in cataract incidence in those who take vitamin E supplements. Forty-five percent of Americans develop cataracts by age 85, and cataract extraction is the most frequently performed surgery in the elderly costing 3.5 billion dollars annually, the single largest Medicare expenditure. And even more importantly, not all vitamin E is the same. We know that supplementing with “mixed-tocopherols”, the compounds found naturally with vitamin E in foods, has an even greater effect. Imagine if these studies had been conducted with mixed tocopherols! A case against A The WSJ "Case Against Vitamins," calls vitamin A one of the causes of hip fractures, citing a 2002 Harvard nurses' study, that "associated" high vitamin A from foods, multivitamins and supplements, with a 48% higher risk for hip fractures. Once again the WSJ ignores the lion’s share of the evidence. In a 2004 large-scale, 9.5-year study of 34,703 postmenopausal women, University of Minnesota researchers made it clear there was "no evidence" that women who took the highest doses of vitamin A supplements were at greater risk to break a hip. Their statistics even suggested that higher vitamin A might actually be tied to fewer fractures. (Lim LS, Osteoporosis Int, 2004 Jul;15(7):552-9) Three more recent studies that sampled blood for vitamin A content, either have found no bone-hazard from vitamin A--or a LOWER risk of fractures. British researchers at the University of Sheffield, scrutinized the blood of some 1200 women over age 75, searching for evidence that vitamin A induced fractures. No such thing. Women with the highest blood levels of vitamin A were 15% LESS apt to suffer a fracture of any bone, including the hip, than those with the lowest blood vitamin A. Women taking multivitamins (including vitamin A) or vitamin-A-dense cod liver oil were even better off--24% less apt to break a bone. (Barker ME, J Bone Miner Res.2005 Jun;20 (6):913-20. Vitamin C and “the big C” "Like other vitamin studies, research into vitamin C has been disappointing," recites the WSJ's Case Against Vitamins" saying it might not prevent colds or fight cancer, as Nobel prize-winner Linus Pauling promised it would 30 years ago. But you’d have to be blind to miss the research on the benefits of vitamin C. For example, a new Japanese study says taking 500 mg of vitamin C daily for 5 years cut odds of getting three or more colds by 66%. (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (August, 2006) 60, 9–17.) And new research has confirmed Linus Pauling’s assertion that vitamin C is a promising cancer treatment. Far from encouraging cancer growth, as the Wall Street Journal's distorted article implies, vitamin C selectively targets and kills cancer cells, leaving normal cells unharmed, says the latest research by Mark Levine, MD at the National Institutes of Health. In fact, high doses of intravenous vitamin C rapidly killed 100% of human lymphoma cells, reports Levine, as well as 9 other cancer cells, including breast, ovarian, lung, kidney and colon. Moreover, Levine notes that some doctors-including Dr. Peterson at the Center for Traditional Medicine-already give high- dose intravenous vitamin C to help stop cancer. The evidence for increased survival and safety is so impressive, even in advanced late-stage cancer that Dr. Levine has called for a "re-evaluation of vitamin C as cancer therapy." For example, doctors at the University of Kansas gave two women with late-stage 3 ovarian carcinoma 60,000 mg of vitamin C intravenously twice a week, as well as conventional chemotherapy. Their tumors vanished and they have shown no signs of cancer 3 1/2 years later. More amazing: Dr. Levine and NIH colleagues personally documented three cases of advanced cancer in which vitamin C alone shrank tumors, dramatically increasing survival:
It's hard to fathom how the Wall Street Journal missed these facts. But as Mark Twain said, there are 3 types of lies: “Lies, damn lies, and statistics.” For more reliable information on the benefits of nutrition, natural hormones, and supplements, visit our website www.myctm.org
How Can I Keep My Immune System Strong?Dr. Lori Horan Soule, ND, LAc I am hearing questions with increasing frequency these days from my patients: how worried should I be about a lethal flu pandemic, and what can I do to protect myself? No one knows the future or if a human-to-human avian flu will even materialize. What we do know is a few things about how the immune system works. When we want to avoid colds, flu and bacterial infections of any kind, we do well to practice “Prevention is the best medicine.” Microscopic wars are happening constantly within your body but you are normally not aware that these incessant battles against infection are going on. Ideally, your immune system automatically provides legions of defenders, a wonderful network of organs and specialized cells that are constantly vigilant, forever fighting to keep you healthy. But sometimes your defenders are caught in a weakened state, and you develop symptoms. Prevention is the Best Medicine. When our bodies come into contact with an external pathogen, we need B-lymphocytes to form plasma cells which produce large amounts of antibodies, and T-cells to regulate other defensive cells, known as macrophages and neutrophils. T-cells release a variety of chemicals to produce other cell-mediated and antibody-mediated responses. With so many different components, it is not surprising the immune system requires multiple nutrients. Cells of the immune system generally turn over rapidly, which means high nutrient requirements. Inflammation generates free radicals and other reactive chemical species that damage membrane lipids, impair T-cell function and injure tissues. Consequently, a wide variety of antioxidants are needed to protect immune system cells. Needless to say, we need to promote optimal nutritional support of the body’s innate ability to maximize the state of immune system readiness and functionality. What Weakens the Immune System? The factors that contribute to a weakening of your immune system are basically physical, psychological and emotional stress, poor physical conditioning, lack of sleep, rest and relaxation, and a poor diet. While all of these factors should be addressed, the following is a focus on the nutrients necessary to properly supply immune support. Diets that rely on highly processed fatty foods may not supply enough vitamins to ensure long-term health and antioxidant production. Other things that are known to negatively affect your immune system are: high sugar intake, too little protein, overuse of caffeine, alcohol, junk food and preservatives, excess fat intake, and food sensitivities. How Does Nourishment Affect Immunity? Many scientific studies show that when your nutritional stores become depleted, your immune system becomes less able to provide defense against pathogens. The most important nutrients are:
Good nutrition is the single most important factor in developing a healthy immune system. When diets are not optimal in their content, supplementation is highly recommended for enhancing an effective immune response against any pathogen. If you suspect you have a weak immune system and want to be evaluated, or simply want to optimize your health, please call for an appointment with Dr. Horan.
Sweet Relief: Prolotherapy is as good for your mind as it is for your joints!Dr. Noel Peterson, ND Just about everyone of us who enjoys playing sports has experienced injuries, and when these injuries don’t heal and become chronic, we are often told to stop what we are doing. “if it hurts, don’t do it”. For some of us this is just not an option. Our sports mean much more than just exercise. To us, it is an essential link to our mental health. I happen to be very passionate about windsurfing and my two sons Graham and Stefan are almost as passionate about it as I am. It affords us another way to connect and share experiences, an activity that the three of us are totally stoked about, a reprise from the demands of work, school and household chores. Windsurfing well requires us to harness the dynamic tension between wind, sail, board and water. Speed is achieved not by fighting the wind, but by balancing the rig. The stronger the wind, the more one must relax. A good day together on the water is priceless. Injuries that don’t heal can be frustrating. Last Memorial Day weekend I had launched at the Hatchery in the Columbia River Gorge and was enjoying an epic day of wind and swell. An hour into the session I got launched and while I was thrown one direction, my board and sail rig flew another. Unfortunately, my wetsuit bootie prevented my foot from releasing from the footstrap and my left foot was wrenched severely. At first I thought I had broken my foot, but I soon realized I had torn the ligaments in the bottom of my foot. It was the beginning of the season, the wind remained strong for another 2 weeks and there was no way I could stay out of the water. With the help of some duct tape I was able to continue sailing, but the pain hampered my performance. My foot was not improving, and it was painful to walk. Finally, in early July I was able to get my own foot treated. Just one treatment injecting dextrose, MSM and procaine into the torn ligaments turned my injury around, and my surfing season was saved! I’m often asked how is it that injecting a sugar solution into a ligament can fix a tear and relieve pain? Dextrose is a natural sugar which when injected in a strong enough concentration into the fibro-osseous junction, induces a hyper-osmotic effect which mimics the chemical changes of trauma and inflammation and initiates the migration of fibroblasts to the site of injection, where they get to work repairing and strengthening the tissues. Dextrose can create growth without inflammation. Research on a variety of human cells exposed to as little as 0.3% to 0.6% dextrose (the normal cell has 0.1% dextrose in and around itself) indicates that within minutes to several hours the cells begin to produce growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor-beta (TGFB), epidermal growth factor (EGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (BFGF), and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). Early last season a friend of mine was catapulted out of the foot straps and slammed into the boom. Fortunately he’s a big-boned boy and the collarbone did not break. Unfortunately he did partially separate from his shoulder at the AC joint. His right shoulder was hypermobile, painful and clicked when he reached overhead. Windsurfing was painful, his shoulder felt weak, sleeping on his right side was out of the question, and the pain was not going away. We did two injection sessions two weeks apart, and he continued to windsurf. His AC joint healed beautifully, and he had a great pain-free windsurfng season, progressing with some groovy new moves on the water. I often see athletes nursing a “bad” back, wrapping a painful elbow, or bracing an unstable knee. They duct-tape their fingers, ankles, and wrists so they can get back on the water or on the tennis court. They put up with pain and risk re-injury just to experience the rush of windsurfing, skiing, tennis, or golf. I know exactly what is going on in their minds. While I can’t help all the cases that come to me, I also can’t help but think that all they need is a little sweet relief.
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