Friday, July 18, 2008

Antacids for indigestion

If you’re about to reach for that bottle of antacids after the Christmas blow-out - think again. New research suggests that the world’s most popular drugs, used for heartburn and indigestion, can double the risk of pneumonia.

This is because these drugs suppress gastric acids, thereby allowing viruses and bacteria in the upper gastrointestinal tract to migrate up into the respiratory tract. read the whole study.

This comes from an English website called what Doctors Won't tell you. There is a lot of interesting information on this site.

Alex says: Antacids do a whole lot more than increase the potential for infection. They block the breakdown of proteins and inhibit mineral absorption (not good if you have osteoporosis). There are other ways to handle reflux that get at the root of the inflammatory problem without just symptomatically covering up the problem

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Vitamin D May Help Patients Survive Cancer

Vitamin D May Help Patients Survive Cancer

New Report Suggests Sunshine Vitamin May Have Significant Cancer Benefits

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When Joanna Fuchs was diagnosed with colon cancer last year, a blood test revealed she was severely deficient in vitamin D.

sun
Natural sunlight is one way you can get vitamin D.
(Jean Desy/First Light/Getty Images)

"I was obviously very concerned and very worried," Fuchs said.

So, too, was her husband, Dr. Charles Fuchs of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, who is the senior author of a study published today that found colon cancer patients deficient in vitamin D were almost twice as likely to die over a 10-year period than patients with healthy levels of the nutrient.

"These findings make considerable sense," Dr. Fuchs said, "because in the laboratory we find that vitamin D reduces the growth of colon cancer cells, prevents its spread to other organs, and actually reduces the growth of blood vessels to these tumors."

Related

Fuchs' work is just the latest in a wave of new studies on vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a greater risk of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. It has also been linked to a doubling of heart attack risk among men, a 73 percent greater risk of dying from breast cancer, and more frequent asthma attacks among children.

"Vitamin D seems to be very helpful in making your immune system do what it is supposed to do," Dr. Tanya Edwards, director of Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

The government recommends getting 200 to 600 international units of vitamin D a day. But those levels were set 11 years ago, primarily to keep bones healthy. To prevent other diseases, many researchers now say more is needed.

Alex's comment: I recommend 2000 IU's and if you have an autoimmune disease 5,000 Iu's. It is a cheap add on to a blood test and well worth getting checked out.