LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Vit C

ß-Carotene or Mixed Carotenoids Protects from UV-Induced Erythema – (01-09-03)

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ß-Carotene or Mixed Carotenoids Protects from UV-Induced Erythema

Remember all the hoopla about the increase in melanoma in children and adolescents? We heard alot about it here in AZ. All the experts were saying that we need to limit sun exposure and use more sunscreen. Not only person in the news approached this news with any grain of common sense. Does anyone out there actually think kids are getting more sun exposure now than we did 30 years ago??? Kids are plopped in front of computers and video games. Kids are coated with sunscreens (did they even MAKE sunscreen 30 years ago?) and told to stay out of the sun. So, while the logical person would say that sun exposure is actually less, those same people would ask why the increase in skin cancers? This article is a portion of the answer. Protection from the sun comes from inside. Substances like Vit C, bioflavonoids and carotenoids protect us from the sun and our kids are getting less and less of these in their diets.

nutrition.org — Abstracts: Heinrich et al. 133 (1): 98

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Trial of Antioxidant Supplementation in Critically ill Surgical Patients – (01-09-03)

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Trial of Antioxidant Supplementation in Critically ill Surgical Patients

Shhhhh!!! We wouldn’t want word of this getting out!! The use of Vit E and C helped improve outcome and shorten hospital stay in critically ill surgical patients. Lets see…(the dosages were not noted here) the best quality supplements (which are usually NOT used in clinically studies) would probably cost at the absolute max $50 per month. Most likely this intervention would cost about $20 total for high quality, $10 for all others. And the safety of an intervention like this is unquestionable. So do we think there’ll be a rash of antioxidant supplementation use in the surgical arena?

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Long-Term alpha-Tocopherol and Vit C Have No Detectable Anti-Inflammatory Effects in Healthy Men – (04-16-03)

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Long-Term alpha-Tocopherol and Vit C Have No Detectable Anti-Inflammatory Effects in Healthy Men

Thought I would comment on this one in case any readers come across this article first. Basically, Vit E and C had no effect on inflammatory markers such as TNF-alpha, IL-6 or CRP. Many would use this as another opportunity to denounce these supplements in disease prevention, but I would disagree. I generally do not consider these supplements as having direct anti-inflammatory effects. Rather, these antioxidants serve more of a protective function; protecting cells and cellular components from damage from oxidation from both normal and pathological processes.

nutrition.org — Abstracts: Bruunsgaard et al. 133 (4): 1170

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Easy on the Antioxidants – (06-26-00)

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Easy on the Antioxidants

This editorial suggests dangerous side effects of high levels of antioxidants. Such as diarrhea with more than 2000 mg of Vit C. First of all, how “dangerous” is diarrhea (which is purely from osmotic pressure holding water in the colon and stops once the Vit C is removed) compared to the some 98,000 deaths from prescription drugs?? We need to keep things in perspective here. Herbs and vitamins are held to a much, much higher standard than pharmaceutical agents. And besides, it is a very rare occurrence to get diarrhea from a dosage of Vit C as low as 2000 mg. Granted, care needs to be taken with high levels of anything, but the medical profession is notoriously uninformed about what these levels are.

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Ascorbate Restores Vasodilation Impaired by Acute Hyperglycemia – (04-30-01)

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Ascorbate Restores Vasodilation Impaired by Acute Hyperglycemia

Where do we start with this one? It’s always good to see our old friend Vit C supported in the medical literature. In this study, Vit C protected against the vasoconstriction caused by high glucose levels in the bloodstream. This information can have a major impact on the risk of CVD in diabetics with poorly controlled blood sugar. A few things to take home…the glycosylation of proteins from high blood sugar has consistently shown to be a factor in aging and that the damage from these high blood sugar may in part be due to oxidative damage (which can be prevented or reduced with antioxidant therapy).

Circulation — Abstracts: Beckman et al. 103 (12): 1618

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Green Tea Preparations Protect Skin From UV Radiation Damage – (04-19-01)

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Green Tea Preparations Protect Skin From UV Radiation Damage

This article looks at topically applied green tea extract on UV associated skin damage. It would be interesting to see if oral preparations would have a similar effects. It has been shown previously that Vit C in high doses can raise the minimal erythemic dose (time to develop redness) and potentially protect against sunburn. Remember, a sunburn is basically inflammation caused by oxidative stress produced by the UV rays, and any therapy geared towards lowering inflammation and/or oxidative stress should have a protective effect.

J Am Acad Dermatol 2001;44:425-432 Topically applied extracts from green tea appear to reduce the number of sunburn cells and protect epidermal Langerhans cells from damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Dr. Craig A. Elmets, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used extracts from green tea or one of its constituents to treat areas of the skin in six healthy volunteers. Using concentrations of the green tea preparations that ranged from 1% to 10%, the researchers applied the preparations to the backs of their subjects 30 minutes before exposing the treated areas to a “2 minimal erythema dose solar stimulated radiation.” The green tea extracts cause the erythema response to UV radiation to be inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, the researchers report. The 10% solution offered almost complete protection at 48 and 72 hours, while the 2.5% solution “was found to provide excellent protection, and in some subjects even a 0.5% solution was able to produce a significant reduction in the sunburn response,” Dr. Elmets’ group found. The polyphenolic fractions that were the most efficient at inhibiting erythema were (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate and the (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate, however, there was little effect from (-)-epigallocatechin and (-)-epicatechin, according to the report. In addition, using the green tea extracts also reduced DNA damage, formed after UV radiation. “In an era in which the incidence of the adverse effects of UV radiation is rising at an alarming rate, the introduction of green tea preparations and other natural chemopreventive agents may prove to be a new alternative for protection from exposure to UV radiation,” Dr. Elmets and colleagues conclude.

‘Safe’ Blood Lead Levels Can Cause Cognitive Deficits – (05-28-01)

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‘Safe’ Blood Lead Levels Can Cause Cognitive Deficits

I’ve mentioned before that heavy metals are a seldom-sought after component of many of today’s chronic diseases. This article suggests that, even at dosages generally considered “safe,” that IQ suffers in suseptable children. Think of todays’ “disordered” children with ADD and ADHD–could lead be a contributing factor? Vit C is known to reduce the absorption of lead from the GI tract–could todays’ kids be absorbing more lead because the intake of Vit C from fresh fruits and veggies is at an all time low? Personally, the concept of having a “safe” level of most heavy metals is beyond me. “Safe”, when it comes to the US Government, means that no obvious disease state occurs at that level of exposure.

Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting in Baltimore Lead can cause cognitive deficits in children even when blood levels are well below the officially sanctioned 10 µg/dL mark, according to study results presented Monday at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting in Baltimore. The concentration for defining lead intoxication has been lowered progressively from 60 µg/dL to 10 µg/dL over the past three decades, explained Dr. Bruce Lanphear from Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. But he described the choice of 10 µg as arbitrary, saying that it remains unclear whether lower levels are actually harmless. Dr. Lanphear and his associates measured blood lead levels during the first 5 years of life and IQ at 60 months in 276 children and adjusted their comparisons for factors with a recognized influence on child IQ (sex, birthweight, maternal IQ, in utero tobacco exposure, and so on). Dr. Lanphear reported that the mean blood lead level at 60 months was 6.1 µg/dL and the mean IQ was 90. The mean blood lead level rose from 1.9 µg/dL at 6 months of age to peak at 9.3 µg/dL at 24 months, when 33.8% of children had levels above the 10 µg/dL “safe” cutoff, Dr. Lanphear said. “There was a consistent inverse association between blood lead level and IQ,” Dr. Lanphear noted, “which proved statistically significant beginning at 36 months of age.” Overall, Dr. Lanphear said, there was a 5.7-point drop in IQ for each 10-µg/dL increase in blood lead level. But among children with lower lead levels, the effect of rising lead levels was more striking: an 11.5-point drop for those whose levels were initially below 10 µg/dL and more than a 15-point drop for children whose lead levels were initially below 5 µg/dL.

Glutathione rescues homocystine-induced endothelial dysfunction – (11-05-01)

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Glutathione rescues homocystine-induced endothelial dysfunction

This is a perfect example of why a natural approach can be so effective. Any natural approach to cardiovascular disease is going to take homocysteine into account an ensure adequate intake of folic acid, Vit B6 and Vit B12. In addition, antioxidant therapy to include high intakes of Vit C and fresh fruits and veggies would also be a part of this plan. This study suggests that, in the presence of high levels of homocysteine, high levels of glutathione peroxidase (an enzyme that quenches free radicals) may counteract the damage that would otherwise have occurred. High levels of Vit C are known to regenerate glutathione levels.

PNAS — Abstracts: Weiss et al. 98 (22): 12503

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