August 2008 News Articles
Lower Risk for Colon Cancer
Vitamin B6, calcium, and vitamin D lowered risk for colon cancer, and the herb Boswellia serrata eased colitis, in four new studies.
In a vitamin B6 study, researchers analyzed the diets of 4,750 participants with colorectal cancer (CRC). After ad-justing for age, sex, genetic risk, and cancer location, doctors found that those who consumed the most vitamin B6 had 20 percent lower risk for CRC. The scientists also reviewed previously-published studies and found that the combined risk for CRC was 19 percent lower in those who consumed the most vitamin B6 compared to those who con-sumed the least.
In another vitamin B6 study, researchers followed 81,184 Japanese men and women for an average of five years, during which time there were 526 new cases of CRC, and found that men who consumed the most vitamin B6 were 31 percent less likely to have CRC than men who consumed the least.
In a calcium and vitamin D study, researchers followed 191,011 American men and women of all major ethnicities, aged 45 or older, for an average of seven years. After adjusting for age, smoking, body-mass, and fiber in the diet, doc-tors found that those who consumed at least 611 mg of calcium per 1,000 calories were 33 percent less likely to have CRC than those who consumed less than 288 mg of calcium per 1,000 calories. For vitamin D, men who con-sumed at least 276 IU of vitamin D per 1,000 calories were 28 percent less likely to have CRC than those who con-sumed the least, 39 IU of vitamin D per 1,000 calories.
In a Boswellia serrata study, 26 participants with chronic diarrhea and thickened colon (collagenous colitis), took 400 mg of Boswellia serrata or a placebo three times per day. After six weeks, 64 percent of those in the Boswellia serrata group had no diarrhea compared to 27 percent for placebo. Five out of seven participants who continued Boswellia serrata for another six weeks also stopped diarrhea.
Reference: Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention: 2008; Vol. 17, No. 1, 171-82.
Happy Knees
People with osteoarthritis (OA) walked farther, had less pain and inflammation, better blood circulation, and took fewer OA drugs, in several new studies on pycnogenol and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM).
In a pycnogenol study, 156 participants with osteoarthritis, average age 48, took 100 mg per day of pycnogenol, or a placebo, for three months. Participants could also take OA pain medicationsóNSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as Advil and Cox II inhibitors such as Celebrexórecording each drug dose in a diary.
After 90 days, the pycnogenol group reported 56 percent fewer OA symptoms compared to 10 percent for placebo, were able to walk 142 yards farther compared to 25 yards for placebo, and reduced OA drugs 58 percent versus 1 percent for placebo. Side effects from OA drugs such as stomach upset decreased 63 percent with pycnogenol versus 3 percent for placebo. Foot swelling due to poor circulation decreased 79 percent in the pycnogenol group, and 1 percent for placebo.
In another pycnogenol study, 37 participants with OA of the knee took 50 mg of pycnogenol three times per day, or a placebo. After three months the pycnogenol group had 43 percent less pain, 35 percent less stiffness, 52 percent better physical ability, and took significantly fewer OA drugs while the placebo group showed no significant improvements in pain, stiffness, or physical ability, and took more OA drugs. Doctors believe that pycnogenol reduces inflammation.
In an MSM study, 50 men and women with OA of the knee, aged 40 to 76, took 6 grams of MSM in two 3-gram doses per day, or a placebo. After 12 weeks, the MSM group had significantly less pain and improved physical ability in all activities of daily living compared to placebo. There were no major side effects.
In a lab MSM study, researchers from the University of California at San Diego, took cartilage from healthy and osteoarthritic knees of cadavers and found that MSM reduced inflammatory chemicals known as cytokines. Researchers said MSM may help protect cartilage from OA.
Reference: Phytotherapy Research: 2008; Vol. 22, No. 4, 518-23.
Healthier Gut, Healthier Life
Probiotics eased stomach pain, cut lung infections, and boosted immunity, three new studies reveal. In a stress study, researchers recruited 75 healthy volunteers, aged 18 to 60, who had at least two stress symptoms including being anxious, nervous, irritable, or having sleep trouble or digestive tract problems in the last 30 days and who were not taking medications for the symptoms. Participants took a blend of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium, or a placebo, once per day for three weeks. At the end of the study, the probiotic group reported significantly less abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting compared to placebo—without side effects.
In a study of endurance athletes during a four-month winter training period, 20 healthy male distance runners took Lactobacillus capsules or a placebo twice per day with food for 28 days. After pausing for 28 days without treatment, the runners reversed Lactobacillus and placebo for the next 28 days. An independent third-party research team assigned the Lactobacillus and placebo treatments so that neither the runners nor study researchers knew which was which.
At the end of the study, seven runners in the placebo group had a combined total of 72 days with respiratory illness symptoms compared to three runners in the Lactobacillus group who had a combined total of 30 days with respiratory illness symptoms, and those symptoms were less severe in the Lactobacillus group. Doctors found that the disease-fighting response from white blood cells appeared to be twice as strong in the Lactobacillus group compared to placebo.
In a diarrhea study, 24 women with HIV/AIDS, aged 18 to 44, took three ounces of yogurt per day, with or without Lactobacillus added, for 15 days. The women were not taking antiretroviral therapy or any other dietary supplements. Within two days, 100 percent of the women in the Lactobacillus group reported no diarrhea, flatulence, or nausea compared to 16 percent of the women in the placebo group. Doctors measured a type of white blood cell (CD4) destroyed by HIV and found that levels stayed the same or increased in 92 percent of the Lactobacillus group compared to 25 percent for placebo.
In the early 1900s, Russian scientist and Nobel laureate Eli Metchnikoff, a professor at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, theorized that aging results from foods decomposing in the gut, producing harmful microbes, and that helpful microbes—now known as probiotics—could replace these bad bacteria, prolonging life.
Reference: Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology: 2008; electronic publication ahead of print.
Hope for the Eyes
Antioxidants and carotenoids cut risk for cataracts and improved vision, two new studies reveal.
In the first study of its kind to measure the effects of lutein and zeaxanthin on cataracts, researchers analyzed the diets of 35,551 female health professionals who did not have cataracts and followed the women for 10 years. After adjusting for smoking, drinking, body-mass, and other factors, researchers found that compared to women who consumed the least lutein and zeaxanthin, women who consumed the most lutein and zeaxanthin were 18 percent less likely to develop cataracts. Women who consumed the most vitamin E were 14 percent less likely to develop cataracts than were those who consumed the least vitamin E.
In an antioxidant and carotenoid study of 27 men and women, average age 70, with early-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), researchers gave a daily supplement to 15 of the participants and a placebo to the other 12, for one year. Doctors also compared those in the supplement group to 15 healthy people of similar age at the start of the study. At the end of the study, those in the supplement group had significantly better eyesight in the center of the field of vision, while the placebo group had not improved.
Reference: Archives of Ophthalmology: 2008; Vol. 126, No. 1, 102-9.
Folic Acid for Young and Old
Folic acid cut high blood pressure, inflammation, and premature births in pregnant moms, and older adults with high folate levels avoided mental decline, in three new studies.
In a folic acid study, researchers recruited 2,951 women who were between 12 and 20 weeks pregnant. Compared to those who did not take multivitamins, women who took multivitamins containing folic acid had lower homocysteine levelsóa sign of inflammationóand were 63 percent less likely to develop a high-blood-pressure pregnancy disorder called pre-eclampsia. Doctors suggested large doses of folic acid during early pregnancy could cut pre-eclampsia risk.
In another folic acid study of 38,033 pregnant women, those who took folic acid supplements for at least one year before conceiving were 70 percent less likely to deliver before 28 weeks, and 50 percent less likely to deliver before 33 weeks. Commenting on the remarkably large benefit from folic acid, lead researcher Radek Bukowski noted, "In medicine, usually we do not see big differences like this."
In a folate study, researchers followed 518 men and women, average age 73, for two-and-a-half years and found that, compared to those with higher folate levels at the start of the study, those with lower folate levels were more likely to suffer mental decline (dementia) by the end. Those who were deficient, with very low levels of folate at the beginning, were 3.5 times more likely to develop dementia. Those whose folate levels dropped during the study were also more likely to suffer dementia. Folate is the form folic acid takes in the body. Doctors also noted that during the study, those whose vitamin B12 levels declined or whose homocysteine levels increased were more likely to develop dementia.
Reference: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology: 2008; Vol. 198, No. 1, 45.
Cushion Those Joints!
Hyaluronic acid—a molecule that occurs naturally in the body and helps cushion joints—helped relieve pain in osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, a new study reveals. Researchers recruited 20 participants, aged 40 or older, who suffered from symptoms of knee OA for at least six months, and who were in pain for at least 15 days during the last month. Participants took 48 mg of hyaluronic acid per day, or a placebo, for eight weeks. Both groups reported less pain and stiffness, and better physical ability, but after eight weeks the hyaluronic acid group reported significantly less OA pain and better physical ability compared to placebo.
Reference: Nutrition Journal: 2008; Vol. 7, No. 3, electronic publication ahead of print.
Alpha Lipoic Acid
Alpha lipoic acid (ALA), an antioxidant that helps produce energy in every human cell, slowed Alzheimer's disease (AD) more effectively than AD drugs, in a new study. In an earlier phase of this study, nine participants with AD who were taking a standard treatment of choline-esterase inhibitors (CEI) also took 600 mg of ALA per day. After 12 months, researchers found that mental decline had stopped. In the current phase of this study, researchers included 43 participants who took ALA for up to 48 months and found that symptoms in those with mild AD progressed extremely slowly. In those with moderate AD, symptoms progressed twice as fast as in mild AD, but doctors noted that the rate of decline for those taking ALA was dramatically lower than the rate of decline in a concurrent study of AD sufferers who were not being treated or who were taking CEI.
Reference: Journal of Neural Transmission Supplement: 2007; Vol. 72, 189-93.
