D is for dieting

At The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting, held this month in Washington, D.C., University of Minnesota assistant professor of medicine Shalamar Sibley, MD, MPH reported that men and women with higher vitamin D levels experienced a greater amount of weight loss when dieting compared to those with lower levels.

For their study, Dr Sibley and colleagues measured plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (the precursor and hormonal forms of vitamin D) in 38 obese subjects prior to and following an 11 week diet plant that provided 750 calories less per day than the participants' estimated needs. Fat distribution and body composition were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography before and after the treatment period.

The participants' vitamin D levels were found to be insufficient on average. The researchers observed a linear relationship between baseline vitamin D levels and weight loss, with close to an additional half pound of weight loss associated with each 1 nanogram per milliliter (ng/mL) increase in plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D, as well as nearly one quarter pound loss with each nanogram increase in 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. Higher levels of both forms of the vitamin were associated with more abdominal fat loss, and neither form was associated with lean mass loss. Continue Reading

New model of cancer development proposed

In an article scheduled to appear in the Annals of Epidemiology, epidemiologist Cedric Garland, DrPH and his associates at the University of California San Diego's Moores Cancer Center propose that cancer, rather than commencing with genetic mutations, is initially caused by a reduction in the of ability of cells to stick together.

Research has shown that inadequate vitamin D can result in a loss of stickiness between cells as well as a loss of differentiation, which causes cells to revert to a stem cell-like state. Additionally, extracellular calcium ions are necessary for intercellular adherence.

"The first event in cancer is loss of communication among cells due to, among other things, low vitamin D and calcium levels," explained Dr Garland, who is a professor of family and preventive medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine "In this new model, we propose that this loss may play a key role in cancer by disrupting the communication between cells that is essential to healthy cell turnover, allowing more aggressive cancer cells to take over." Continue Reading

Higher vitamin D levels associated with speedier brain processing

In an article published on May 21, 2009 online in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, European researchers report that men with higher vitamin D levels performed better on a test of attention and speed of information processing than those with lower levels of the vitamin.

Dr David M. Lee of the University of Manchester's School of Translational Medicine and his associates administered 3 tests of cognitive function to 3,369 men aged 40 to 79 from 8 centers participating in the European Male Aging Study (EMAS). Fasting blood samples collected from the subjects were analyzed for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.

Men whose vitamin D levels were higher were found to perform better on all three tests, although the Digit Symbol Substitution test, which measures psychomotor speed and visual scanning, was the only test whose scores were associated with vitamin D levels after adjustment for several factors. Further analysis revealed that higher test scores were particularly associated with increased vitamin D levels in older men. Continue Reading

Asthma severity in children associated with low vitamin D levels

In the May 1, 2009 issue of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and women's Hospital in Boston report a link between insufficient levels of vitamin D and increased severity of asthma in children.

Asthma which is characterized by airway hyper-responsiveness to certain stimuli, results in coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. For unknown reasons, the prevalence of asthma is increasing, particularly in industrialized nations. Juan Celedón, MD, DrPH, Augusto Litonjua, MD, MPH, and colleagues measured serum allergy markers and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in 616 children aged 6 to 14 living in the central valley of Costa Rica, an area that has a high incidence of asthma. Lung function tests and allergy skin testing were also conducted. Continue Reading

Inflammation reduced in those with higher vitamin D levels

In light of a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine which found vitamin D inadequacy in 75 percent of Americans, University of Missouri College of Environmental Sciences assistant professor Catherine A. Peterson announced the finding of research conducted at the University's Department of Nutritional Sciences which correlated low vitamin D levels with an increased marker of inflammation. The study was described in the July, 2008 issue of the Journal of Inflammation.

The study included 69 healthy women, aged 25 to 82, classified as being high or low in vitamin D based on ultraviolet-B exposure. Blood samples were analyzed for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, hormone levels, and inflammation markers. Not surprisingly, mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were significantly greater in those with increased sun exposure compared with those in the low D group. Dr Peterson, along with colleague Mary E Hefferman, found that the inflammatory marker tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) averaged 0.79 picograms per milliliter (pg/mL) in the high vitamin D group and 1.22 pg/mL among those categorized as low in the vitamin.

Higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were also correlated with lower TNF-alpha levels. The relationship remained after adjusting the analysis for other factors. In their discussion of the findings, the authors write that although it is difficult to discern vitamin D's mechanism, a previous study found that vitamin D down-regulated TNF-alpha-associated genes. Continue Reading

Meta-analysis concludes vitamin D supplements help prevent fractures

The March 23, 2009 issue of the American Medical Association journal Archives of Internal Medicine reported the results of a meta-analysis conducted at the University of Zurich in Switzerland which concluded that supplementing with vitamin D was effective for preventing fractures in older men and women, as long as higher dose supplements were used.

Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, DrPH, University Hospital, Zurich, and his associates selected twelve clinical trials which investigated the effect of oral vitamin D supplements on non-spinal fractures that included a total of 42,279 participants aged 65 or older. Eight of the trials examined the supplements' effect on hip fractures.The pooled analysis found a 14 percent decrease in nonvertebral fracture risk and a 9 percent decrease in hip fracture for subjects who received vitamin D supplements.

When data from the nine trials which tested a dose of vitamin D greater than 400 international units per day were combined in a separate analysis, a 20 percent reduction in nonvertebral fractures and an 18 percent decrease in hip fracture risk were revealed. For the three high quality trials in which the dose of vitamin D was 380 international units or less, no effect on fracture risk was noted. Continue Reading

Lower vitamin D levels associated with common cold

An article published in the February 23, 2009 issue of the American Medical Association journal Archives of Internal Medicine revealed an association between lower levels of serum vitamin D and decreased resistance to upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), otherwise known as the common cold.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Children’s Hospital, Boston, and the University of Colorado analyzed data from 18,883 participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) of U.S. participants aged 12 and older. Physical examinations following enrollment obtained blood samples and information including the occurrence of recent upper respiratory tract infections. Stored blood samples were analyzed for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.

Nineteen percent of the participants reported having a recent cold. For those whose serum vitamin D levels were lower than 10 nanograms per milliliter, the incidence was 24 percent, for subjects whose levels were 10 to less than 30 ng/mL the incidence was 20 percent, and the rate dropped to 17 percent among those with levels of 30 ng/mL or higher. After adjustment for demographic and other characteristics, those whose vitamin D levels were lowest experienced a 36 greater risk of URTI, and those whose levels were 10 to less than 30 ng/mL experienced a 24 percent greater risk compared with participants whose levels were at least 30 ng/mL. The association was significantly stronger for those with asthma. Continue Reading

Vitamin D deficiency: emerging cardiovascular disease risk factor

A review published in the December 9, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology describes the involvement of deficient vitamin D levels in common risk factors for cardiovascular disease (including high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity) and in cardiovascular events.Vitamin D deficiency is estimated to affect up to half of all adults and 30 percent of children in the United States.

While the vitamin’s role in bone health has long been known, a flurry of recent studies have uncovered associations between deficient levels of the vitamin and a number of diseases, including cardiovascular disease. In their review, Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD and colleagues note that insufficient levels of vitamin D activate the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which can lead to hypertension and thickening of the heart and blood vessel walls.

Altered hormone levels related to a deficiency of vitamin D (which is also a hormone) increase the risk of diabetes, which is a well known risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. In 15,088 subjects from the NHANES III national cohort registry, higher vitamin D levels were related to a lower risk of diabetes as well as hypertension, high triglycerides, and obesity. And among Framingham Heart Study participants who had levels of vitamin D of less than 15 nanograms per milliliter upon enrollment, the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events was twice as great as the risk experienced by those with higher levels of the vitamin. Continue Reading

Large study links poor vitamin D status with greater risk of dying over 8 year period

Readers of Life Extension Update will recall the June 24, 2008 issue which reported the finding of Austrian and German researchers that men and women with higher serum levels of vitamin D had a reduced risk of dying from all causes over a seven year period.

The study, which included 3,258 patients scheduled for coronary angiography, was reported in the June 23, 2008 issue of the American Medical Association journal Archives of Internal Medicine. Now, in the August 11/25, 2008 issue of the journal, researchers in the U.S. report the results of a significantly larger study involving healthy men and women which found a similar association. The study is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to examine the association between vitamin D levels and mortality in the general population.

For the current study, Michal L. Melamed, MD, MHS, of the Bronx’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, along with researchers from Johns Hopkins University evaluated data from 13,331 participants in the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III). Serum 25-hdyroxyvitamin D levels were measured between 1988 and 1994, and subjects were followed through 2000.Over the 8.7 year median follow-up period, 1,806 deaths occurred, including 777 from cardiovascular disease, 424 from cancer, and 105 due to infectious causes.



Participants with the lowest serum vitamin D levels were found to have the greatest risk of dying from any cause over follow-up. Among those whose levels placed them among the lowest 25 percent of participants at less than 17.8 nanograms per liter, there was a 26 percent higher risk of dying compared with those whose levels were in the top 25 percent. Continue Reading

Study finds high incidence of vitamin D insufficiency in breast cancer survivors

In article published in the July, 2008 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, the National Cancer Institute, and other research centers report a high incidence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency among female breast cancer survivors.

The current study utilized data from 790 participants in the multiethnic Health, Eating, Activity, and Lifestyle (HEAL) study of breast cancer patients, which sought to determine the effect of diet, hormones, and other factors on breast cancer prognosis and survival. Blood samples collected within three years following the participants’ breast cancer diagnosis were analyzed for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, the primary biomarker used to evaluate vitamin D status. Dietary questionnaires were used to obtain information concerning vitamin D intake levels from food and supplements. Continue Reading

DEPRESSION, MENTAL ILLNESS CURED WITH NUTRITION

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 7, 2005

Mental Health Treatment That Works
(OMNS) Doctors report that mental health problems including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, anti-social and learning disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorders often have a common cause: insufficient nutrients in the brain. Nutritionally-oriented physicians assert that the cure for these problems is to give the body the extra nutrients it needs, especially when under abnormal stress.

Orthomolecular medical researchers say the future of psychiatry is in nutrition because nutrition has such a long, safe and effective history of correcting many mental problems. Nutrients such as the B-vitamins are most successful when taken regularly, taken in relatively high doses, and taken in conjunction with vitamin C, the essential fatty acids (EFA’s), and the minerals magnesium and selenium.

A summary of what has worked for many people follows below. The safety of vitamins and minerals is extraordinary, and the expense of trying them is much less than the cost of hazardous pharmaceutical drugs. These nutrients can be purchased in a discount or heath store.

Taking 1,000 mg of vitamin B-3 three times a day often cures mild to moderate depression. Dramatic results are often achieved within one week of beginning this nutritional program, especially in alcoholics. (1)

Sometimes a simple deficiency of vitamin D causes depression. 3,000 I.U./day from all sources can alleviate the problem. (2)

3,000 mg/day or more of niacin (vitamin B-3), along with the same quantity of vitamin C, taken in divided doses throughout the day can successfully treat both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. (3)

Vitamins B-3, B-6, C and the minerals magnesium and zinc frequently produce a good response in ADHD and autistic children. (4)

Vitamins B-6, folate, and B-12 taken together lower elevated homocysteine levels in the elderly while improving mental function. (5)

As pointed out by chemistry professor and vitamin discoverer Roger J. Williams, PhD (6), each individual has different nutritional needs and responds differently to nutrients. Are you tired of being depressed, suffering from anxiety, paying huge prescription drug bills for unsafe prescriptions that don’t solve the problem or produce undesirable side effects? Are you tired of the piece-meal trial and error approach to finding a solution to your mental or emotional problems? If so, adults should consider the following nutritional protocol, which will bathe your brain and nerves in natural nutrients and may well produce dramatic results. The cost of trying the program below is less than the cost of a typical doctor’s office visit. It is safe and convenient. All of these nutrients can be purchased at large discount stores. Continue reading >>

Niacin (Vitamin B3) Lowers High Cholesterol Safely

OMNS - There is a safe, inexpensive, nonprescription, convenient and effective way to reduce high cholesterol levels and reduce heart disease risk: niacin. Niacin is a water-soluble B-complex vitamin, vitamin B-3. One of niacin's unique properties is its ability to help you naturally relax and to fall asleep more rapidly at night. It is well established that niacin helps reduce harmful cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. Niacin is one of the best substances for elevating high density lipoprotein cholesterol (the "good cholesterol) and so decreases the ratio of the total cholesterol over high density cholesterol.

The finding that niacin lowered cholesterol was soon confirmed by Parsons, Achor, Berge, McKenzie and Barker (1956) and Parsons (1961, 1961a, 1962) at the Mayo Clinic, which launched niacin on its way as a hypocholesterolemic substance. Since then it has been found to be a normalizing agent, meaning it elevates high density lipoprotein cholesterol, decreases low density and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol and lowers triglycerides. Grundy, Mok, Zechs and Berman (1981) found it lowered cholesterol by 22 percent and triglycerides by 52 percent and wrote, "To our knowledge, no other single agent has such potential for lowering both cholesterol and triglycerides."

Elevated cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of developing coronary disease. In addition to niacin, a typical diet generally recommended by orthomolecular physicians will tend to keep cholesterol levels down in most people. This diet can be described as a high fiber, sugar-free diet which is rich in complex polysaccharides such as vegetables and whole grains.

With adequately high doses of niacin, it is possible to lower cholesterol levels even with no alteration in diet. E. Boyle, then working with the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C., quickly became interested in niacin. He began to follow a series of patients using 3 grams (3,000 milligrams) of niacin per day. He reported his conclusions in a document prepared for physicians involved in Alcoholics Anonymous by Bill W (1968). In this report, Boyle reported that he had kept 160 coronary patients on niacin for ten years. Only six died, against a statistical expectation that 62 would have died with conventional care. He stated, "From the strictly medical viewpoint I believe all patients taking niacin would survive longer and enjoy life much more." His prediction came true when the National Coronary Drug Study was evaluated by Canner recently. But Boyle's data spoke for itself. Continuous use of niacin will decrease mortality and prolong life. Continue reading >>

VITAMIN C KILLS CANCER CELLS

Intravenous Vitamin C is Selectively Toxic to Cancer Cells
(OMNS) National Institutes of Health scientists have confirmed the concepts that vitamin C is selectively toxic to cancer cells and that tumor-toxic levels of vitamin C can be attained using intravenous administration. The article, published in the September 12, 2005 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (1) concluded, “These findings give plausibility to intravenous ascorbic acid in cancer treatment.”

Orthomolecular medical researchers, including Nobel laureate Linus Pauling, have long recognized the great importance of vitamin C in fighting cancer. (2) Scientists associated with the Bio-Communications Research Institute (BRCI) in Wichita, Kansas have published 20 scientific articles on the subject. (3) BCRI researchers first reported in 1995 that vitamin C in sufficient amounts is selectively toxic to tumor cells. The authors concluded that tumor-toxic levels of vitamin C could be achieved only by giving the vitamin intravenously. Subsequent research from BCRI, published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2001 (4), was the first to describe in detail the pharmacokinetics of high doses of intravenous vitamin C.

"It is gratifying to have our research on vitamin C and cancer confirmed by scientists at the prestigious National Institutes of Health," said Neil Riordan, Ph.D., BCRI’s Research Director. “The findings reinforce our goal and commitment to pursue cutting edge cancer research,” added Michael Gonzalez, Ph.D., D.Sc. of the University of Puerto Rico.

BCRI’s vitamin C research was headed by its founder Hugh D. Riordan, M.D. The research team includes Dr. Xiaolong Meng, Dr. Joseph Casciari, Dr. Nina Mikirova, Dr. Jie Zhong, Dr. James A. Jackson, Dr. Don Davis, Dr. Jorge Miranda, Dr. Michael Gonzalez, Dr. Neil Riordan, and Mr. Paul Taylor.

What is Orthomolecular Medicine?
Linus Pauling defined orthomolecular medicine as "the treatment of disease by the provision of the optimum molecular environment, especially the optimum concentrations of substances normally present in the human body." Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org/

Continue reading >>

HIGH-DOSE VITAMIN C FIGHTS ASTHMA

(OMNS) People with severe asthma have low blood concentrations of ascorbate (vitamin C), particularly men [1] and children [2].

Effective asthma treatment is readily available with cheap, safe and convenient vitamin C. The only requirement is to take enough vitamin C to be effective. Typical dietary quantities and low supplemental doses do not work. Robert F. Cathcart III, M.D., who has treated many asthma sufferers, says “Asthma is most often relieved by bowel tolerance doses of ascorbate (vitamin C). A child regularly having asthmatic attacks following exercise is usually relieved of these attacks by large doses of ascorbate. So far all of my patients having asthmatic attacks associated with the onset of viral diseases have been ameliorated by this treatment.”[3]

If you want asthma relief, consider trying this:

Go to a discount store and buy a large bottle of 1,000 mg vitamin C tablets. The cost should be less than $15.

Beginning when you awake in the morning, take 1,000 to 2,000 mg of vitamin C every 30 minutes and continue doing so until you have a single episode of loose stool (not quite diarrhea). If you haven’t had loose stool after 15 hours on this dosage, increase the vitamin C to 3000 mg every 30 minutes.

After you have a loose bowel movement, reduce the dosage to 2,000 mg of vitamin C every hour. You will quickly find the dosage that is right for you. Adjust the dosage of vitamin C downward to stay below the dosage that will cause loose stool and adjust it upward to relieve asthma symptoms. The usual maintenance dosage to remain asthma-free is 15,000 to 50,000 mg of vitamin C per day taken in eight equally divided doses.

People with asthma should also avoid tobacco smoke, minimize stress in their lives and minimize their consumption of junk foods, meat and dairy products.

Remember:
Vitamin C replaces antibiotics, antihistamines, antipyretics, antitoxics, and antiviral drugs at saturation (bowel tolerance) levels. It reduces inflammation.

A vitamin can act as a drug, but a drug can never act as a vitamin. Continue reading >>

Doctors Report Vitamin C Cures Shingles

OMNS - Shingles can be cleared up by using a safe, convenient, inexpensive, nonprescription treatment of vitamin C. Vitamin C is anti-viral and anti-toxin and inactivates the virus that causes shingles. If you have shingles and want relief, you can try this:

Go to a discount store and buy a large bottle of 1000 mg vitamin C tablets. The cost should be less than $15.

Begin when you wake in the morning by taking 3000 mg of vitamin C every 30 minutes and continue until you have a single episode of loose stool (not quite diarrhea). If you haven't had loose stool after 15 hours on this dosage, increase the vitamin C to 4000 mg every 30 minutes.

After you have a loose bowel movement, reduce the dosage to 2000 mg of vitamin C taken every hour. You will quickly find the dosage that is right for you. Adjust the dosage of vitamin C downward to stay below the dosage that will cause loose stool and adjust it upward to relieve shingles symptoms. Continue the oral vitamin C therapy until the shingles disappear.

It sounds too simple to be true, doesn't it? But it works in the majority of cases, as recently reconfirmed by Thomas E. Levy, M.D., J.D. (1)

Sometimes it's necessary to take vitamin C intravenously (IV) for massive shingles outbreaks. (2) Much higher concentrations of vitamin C in the blood can be achieved intravenously than when taken orally. As early as 1950, the medical literature reported that one physician had confirmed intravenous vitamin C curing shingles in 327 patients within 72 hours. (3) Ask your doctor if he or she offers vitamin C IV and, if not, ask friends or search the Internet to find a doctor or facility that does offer this treatment.

Vitamin C blood serum levels of individuals fall during periods of high stress and they develop sub-clinical scurvy (depleted vitamin C levels). This situation can set the stage for a shingles attack.

Remember, a vitamin can act as a drug, but a drug can never act as a vitamin.
With vitamin therapy, at any given quantity, frequently divided doses are more effective than one large single dose.

The reason one nutrient can cure so many different illnesses is because a deficiency of one nutrient can cause many different illnesses.

What is Orthomolecular Medicine? Continue reading >>

Narrator: A person afflicted with the disease has inherited two sickle cell genes from his parents. This realization, that the two genes manufacture the abnormal hemoglobin, set the stage for Dr. Pauling's entry into the field of molecular medicine.

Dr. Pauling: Well, when Doctors Itano, Singer, and Wells, and I published our paper in 1949, we gave it the title: "Sickle Cell Anemia: A Molecular Disease." Now of course, in fact, one might say that any inborn error of metabolism, any hereditary disease, is a molecular disease because it involves an abnormal gene. And the gene we know, almost certainly, is a molecule of DNA, deoxyribose nucleic acid.

The abnormal molecule of deoxyribose nucleic acid that is inherited by the child, prospective patient, causes the trouble for him, and the hereditary disease is accordingly a molecular disease.

Vitamin E: Safe, Effective, and Heart-Healthy

Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States, and the evidence supporting vitamin E's efficacy in preventing and reversing heart disease is overwhelming.

Two landmark studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine [1][2] followed a total of 125,000 men and women health care professionals for a total of 839,000 person study-years. It was found that those who supplement with at least 100 IU of vitamin E daily reduced their risk of heart disease by 59 to 66%.

The studies were adjusted for life-style differences (smoking, physical activity, dietary fiber intake, aspirin use) in order to determine the heart effect of vitamin E supplementation alone. Because a diet high in foods containing vitamin E as compared to the average diet further showed only a slight heart-protective effect, the authors emphasized the necessity of vitamin E supplementation.

Researchers at Cambridge University [3] in England reported that patients who had been diagnosed with coronary arteriosclerosis could lower their risk of having a heart attack by 77% by supplementing with 400 IU to 800 IU per day of the natural (d-alpha tocopherol) form of vitamin E.

Pioneer vitamin E researchers and clinicians Drs. Wilfrid and Evan Shute treated some 30,000 patients over several decades and found that people in average health received maximum benefit from 800 IU of the d-alpha tocopherol form of vitamin E. Vitamin E has been proven effective in the prevention and treatment of many heart conditions. "The complete or nearly complete prevention of angina attacks is the usual and expected result of treatment with alpha tocopherol" according to Wilfrid Shute, M. D., a cardiologist. Shute prescribed up to 1,600 IU of vitamin E daily and successfully treated patients for acute coronary thrombosis, acute rheumatic fever, chronic rheumatic heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, diabetes mellitus, acute and chronic nephritis, and even burns, plastic surgery and mazoplasia. Read the full story>>

Antibiotics and Vitamins Work Together

(OMNS Dec 3, 2007) The benefits of using vitamin C together with antibiotics are considerable. In a controlled trial with dairy cows with infected udders, high dose vitamin C has been shown to have synergistic effects when used with antibiotics. [1]

The cows were divided into two groups. One group was treated with antibiotics alone, and the other group was treated with antibiotics and the human equivalent of 10,000 mg/day injections of vitamin C. The vitamin C group got well much sooner: in just over half the time.

In humans, an astoundingly high 120,000 mg/day (nearly 2,000 times the RDA) of vitamin C delivered intravenously has been demonstrated to accelerate healing of burned skin in a blinded clinical trial. [2] 1,000 to 3,000 mg/day (100 times the RDA) of niacin is a standard treatment for controlling cholesterol. [3] Similar doses of niacin have been demonstrated to reduce inflammation [4] and to reduce injury to the brain after strokes. [5]

Extensive evidence shows that vitamin D serves as an important regulator of immune system responses. [6] Many of these regulatory pathways are optimized when vitamin D is present in the bloodstream at levels considerably higher than average values in the American population. Regular vitamin D supplementation, by taking a daily multivitamin and an additional daily 1,000 IU of vitamin D, is recommended. In addition, a one-time dose of up to 5,000 IU of vitamin D at the onset of a serious bacterial infection should be considered. Physicians now have access to routine tests of vitamin D status. Periodic blood testing is recommended for anyone regularly taking very large amounts of vitamin D. Read the full story >>

Vitamins Reduce the Duration and Severity of Influenza

(OMNS, March 19, 2008) Vitamins fight the flu by boosting the body’s own immune response and by accelerating healing. Individuals can be better prepared for an influenza epidemic by learning how to use vitamin supplements to fight off ordinary respiratory infections. The most important vitamins are vitamins C, D, niacin, and thiamine.

Vitamin D Vitamin D has known anti-viral properties [1] and has been directly associated with fighting influenza in a recent scientific review. [2] Extensive evidence now shows that vitamin D serves as an important regulator of immune system responses. [3] The most dramatic evidence is a recent double-blind trial proving that vitamin D prevents cancers [4], supported by two recent epidemiological studies. [5,6] Vitamin D has been part of a supplement combination proven effective against HIV in a recent double-blind trial. [7]

During a viral infection, the body can draw on vitamin D stored in the body to supply the increased needs of the immune system. The withdrawn supplies of vitamin D are quickly replenished with 4,000 to 10,000 IU/day doses for a few days. Due to biochemical individuality, we recommend vitamin D blood testing as a routine part of a yearly physical exam.

Niacin Niacin has known anti-viral properties. The most persuasive evidence comes from recent work with HIV patients.[8-12] Niacin is required for cells to generate the energy they use to perform virtually all biological functions.

Niacin’s effectiveness fighting viruses may have to do with accelerating wound healing as well as improving immunity. Accelerating tissue repair limits collateral damage and minimizes the risk of secondary infection. Niacin has been proven to promote healing of damaged skin in double-blind trials. [13] Other recent findings (niacin reduces injury to the brain after strokes and reduces inflammation in general) also provide evidence of healing. [14,15] Read the full story >>

Prenatal vitamins shown to reduce children's risk of cancer

M.T. Whitney Key concepts: folic acid, vitamins and prenatal vitamins

(NaturalNews) Taking folic acid and multivitamins while pregnant can nearly halve the chance of a child getting a common cancer before the age of 18, new evidence from a Toronto children's hospital shows.

The study, from Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, was spurred when officials at the hospital noticed a drop in neuroblastomas five years ago, after the Canadian government started requiring flour manufacturers to add folic acid to their product in 1998.

What you need to know
• Folic acid and multivitamins were shown to lower the chance of leukemia in children by 39 percent.

• The same one-two punch can lower the risk of a child developing a brain tumor by 27 percent.

• The risk of a child getting a neuroblastoma, which attacks the nervous system, was lowered by 49 percent.

• For spina bifida, a spinal condition, the risk is lowered by 80 percent with folic acid supplements.

• Most folic acid supplements, easily found for just pennies a day, will give you between 600 and 1,000 milligrams for the day, more than the government-recommended 400 milligrams.

• Only 40 percent of Canadian mothers take the right amount of folic acid supplements during pregnancy, Dr. Gideon Koren, the study's principal investigator, told The Toronto Star.

• The study was published in the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (February, 2007).

• "To our amazement and surprise, all available studies today from different parts of the world ... showed a similar trend (to the one in Ontario)," Koren told the Toronto Star.

Sadly, most doctors and hospitals still don't teach nutrition to patients, and expectant mothers are rarely told about the multitude of health benefits derived from nutrients like folic acid or vitamin D. The current message on folic acid supplementation focuses solely on spina bifida and fails to mention the vitamin's anti-cancer effects.


Bottom line
• Mothers who take folic acid and prenatal vitamins may reduce risk of cancer in their children.

How Vitamin C Stops Cancer

ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2007) — Nearly 30 years after Nobel laureate Linus Pauling famously and controversially suggested that vitamin C supplements can prevent cancer, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists have shown that in mice at least, vitamin C - and potentially other antioxidants - can indeed inhibit the growth of some tumors ¯ just not in the manner suggested by years of investigation.

The conventional wisdom of how antioxidants such as vitamin C help prevent cancer growth is that they grab up volatile oxygen free radical molecules and prevent the damage they are known to do to our delicate DNA. The Hopkins study, led by Chi Dang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and oncology and Johns Hopkins Family Professor in Oncology Research, unexpectedly found that the antioxidants' actual role may be to destabilize a tumor's ability to grow under oxygen-starved conditions. Their work is detailed this week in Cancer Cell.

"The potential anticancer benefits of antioxidants have been the driving force for many clinical and preclinical studies," says Dang. "By uncovering the mechanism behind antioxidants, we are now better suited to maximize their therapeutic use."

"Once again, this work demonstrates the irreplaceable value of letting researchers follow their scientific noses wherever it leads them," Dang adds.

The authors do caution that while vitamin C is still essential for good health, this study is preliminary and people should not rush out and buy bulk supplies of antioxidants as a means of cancer prevention.
The Johns Hopkins investigators discovered the surprise antioxidant mechanism while looking at mice implanted with either human lymphoma (a blood cancer) or human liver cancer cells. Both of these cancers produce high levels of free radicals that can be suppressed by feeding the mice supplements of antioxidants, either vitamin C or N-acetylcysteine (NAC).

However, when the Hopkins team examined cancer cells from cancer-implanted mice not fed the antioxidants, they noticed the absence of any significant DNA damage. "Clearly, if DNA damage was not in play as a cause of the cancer, then whatever the antioxidants were doing to help was also not related to DNA damage," says Ping Gao, Ph.D, lead author of the paper.

That conclusion led Gao and Dang to suspect that some other mechanism was involved, such as a protein known to be dependent on free radicals called HIF-1 (hypoxia-induced factor), which was discovered over a decade ago by Hopkins researcher and co-author Gregg Semenza, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Program in Vascular Cell Engineering. Indeed, they found that while this protein was abundant in untreated cancer cells taken from the mice, it disappeared in vitamin C-treated cells taken from similar animals.

"When a cell lacks oxygen, HIF-1 helps it compensate," explains Dang. "HIF-1 helps an oxygen-starved cell convert sugar to energy without using oxygen and also initiates the construction of new blood vessels to bring in a fresh oxygen supply."

Some rapidly growing tumors consume enough energy to easily suck out the available oxygen in their vicinity, making HIF-1 absolutely critical for their continued survival. But HIF-1 can only operate if it has a supply of free radicals. Antioxidants remove these free radicals and stop HIF-1, and the tumor, in its tracks.

The authors confirmed the importance of this "hypoxia protein" by creating cancer cells with a genetic variant of HIF-1 that did not require free radicals to be stable. In these cells, antioxidants no longer had any cancer-fighting power.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Authors on the paper are Dean Felsher of Stanford; and Gao, Huafeng Zhang, Ramani Dinavahi, Feng Li, Yan Xiang, Venu Raman, Zaver Bhujwalla, Linzhao Cheng, Jonathan Pevsner, Linda Lee, Gregg Semenza and Dang of Johns Hopkins.

Adapted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.