LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

CVD

BREAST CANCER INCIDENCE AFTER HORMONAL INFERTILITY TREATMENT – (08-17-09)

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Breast cancer incidence after hormonal infertility treatment in Sweden

Regular readers of updates know how strongly I am against infertility treatment in all but a few cases. Almost all cases of infertility can be managed with aggressive, safe lifestyle changes. If a couple (yes–you men are to blame as well because YOUR health plays a role in fertility as well) is NOT willing to make the hard decisions to clean up their lifestyles to have a healthy child the way Mother Nature intended, maybe, just maybe…they’re not ready.

Hard statements, but looking at the health risks these babies have (prematurity, increased rates of CVD and diabetes….) it needs to be said. Now, if that wasn’t bad enough, we see some pretty massive increases in the rates of breast cancer in these women treated with clomid to force fertility. Breast cancer is already likely in this group, since being pre-diabetic is a strong cause of infertility. Use of fertility agents led to a double or tripling of the risk for breast cancer.

Read entire article here

ASSOCIATION OF URINARY BISPHENOL A CONCENTRATION WITH MEDICAL DISORDERS – (05-25-09)

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Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration With Medical Disorders and Laboratory Abnormalities in Adults

Interestingly, despite evidence over the years, the EPA’s stance on BPA is that it is safe at levels of normal exposure. You can even find a wonderful website highlighting the joy and benefit that BPA brings to our lives that is funded by the chemical companies that manufacture plastics containing BPA.

Despite this rosy picture, the research disagrees, including this current study in a very prestigious journal finding an increase in CVD, diabetes and elevated liver enzymes (most likely linked to the prediabetic state) in those with the highest exposure to BPA based on urine levels. Now does this sound safe, and safe enough to be used in products our pregnant moms, infants and toddlers are exposed to?

Read entire article here

LINK BETWEEN OXIDATIVE STRESS BIOMARKERS, PLAX AND CVD – (05-18-09)

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Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 activity is associated with coronary artery disease and markers of oxidative stress

The Plax test is slowly gaining ground as a strong marker for CVD risk. This article further affirms this relationship and goes further, linking oxidative stress biomarkers, Plax and CVD, with almost 2.5 times the risk for CVD when both were present in the highest levels.

Read entire article here

ESTIMATED CONVERSION OF A-LINOLENIC ACID – (05-18-09)

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Estimated conversion of a-linolenic acid to long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is greater than expected in non fish-eating vegetarians and non fish-eating meat-eaters than in fish-eaters

There has also been discussion about just how much ALA from plant sources gets converted to DHA/EPA. The concerns have been that ALA intake is not enough to keep elevated levels of DHA/EPA without additional supplementation.

Two comments here…first, the conversion seems to be greater than originally thought in several studies, including this one. Second, ALA has it’s own benefits in clinical studies on cancer risk and CVD. The bottom line is that I feel we should get a strong balance of plant based and fish based EFAs. Of course, we could then point out that the ultimate origin of fish based EFAs is algae.

Read entire article here

WHAT ARE THE INDICATORS FOR BRAIN DAMAGE IN MIGRAINE – (05-18-09)

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Attack Frequency and Disease Duration as Indicators for Brain Damage in Migraine

Regular readers of updates know that I have a serious issue with the way we treat migraines and seizures in today’s medical environment. We don’t look at the whole person, we just try to suppress the outward manifestation of the disease state, and yet time and time again we see that this approach is NOT affecting the real problem.

These authors call migraines a progressive brain disease. What a novel but appropriate viewpoint. The overall idea is that patients with migraines need to take a serious look at their lifestyle and understand that, if changes are not made, not only their brain is at risk but also the cardiovascular system.

Read entire article here

HOW TO PREVENT DEATHS FROM CVD?

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Cardiovascular Risk Estimation and Eligibility for Statins in Primary Prevention Comparing Different Strategies

It’s always funny when we put things into perspective.  Statins are given out seemingly like candy and viewed as the best thing for prevention of CVD in this country.  Here is yet another study putting things into perspective.

For those at the very highest risk of CVD, assuming perfect compliance with medication dosage (which is NOT common), we have to treat 285 people to prevent a single death from CVD.  Keep in mind that numbers for most drugs are preferred to be on the range of UNDER 10 to 1….This really shows just how incredibly ineffective this class of drugs is at preventing CVD.

Compare this to exercise, healthy diet, stress reduction, fish oil supplementation or Vit D (let alone all combined!).  A NNT of 285 compared to these is laughable.  THEN, factor in the cost difference and we stop laughing and begin to cry…

Read entire article here

SHOULD YOU DRINK TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT?

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SHOULD YOU DRINK TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT?  Given all the research piling up about the benefits of moderate alcohol intake, that might not be such a bad idea.  Of course, “moderation” is the key work here.  As far as wine intake, “moderate” in the medical literature is equal to about 1/2 bottle per day.

Of course, the greatest benefit is going to come from red wine, but this particular study looked at overall alcohol consumption on the risk of heart disease on those older than 39 and found that, for the average 39-50 yr old male, the risk was cut by a whopping 42%.  Keep in mind that their risk is already somewhat low (although, with the population’s health declining rapidly, this will be changing) so 42% lower risk may not really translate into all that many less cases of heart disease.  But it does give one incentive to have a wonderful healthy meal in a relaxed setting accompanied by a glass of red wine…