Headlines (Scroll down for complete
stories):
1. Glycine Supplements Prevent Degenerative
Diseases
2. Avocados May Help Prevent Oral Cancer
3.
Chiropractic Care May Help Adult ADHD
4. Two Drug Combo Treats
Type 2 Diabetes
5. Some Pain Meds May Cause Sleep Apnea
1. Glycine Supplements Prevent Degenerative
Diseases
The amino acid glycine can help prevent degenerative diseases
such as osteoporosis and arthrosis, according to a new Spanish
study. In addition, the study found that glycine supplementation may
be required by most people because of the body’s limited ability to
synthesize it.
Glycine, which occurs naturally in fish, meat, and dairy
products, is used by the body to make collagen and cartilage. The
breakdown of cartilage, which leaves bones in joints exposed, is the
hallmark of degenerative diseases. There is no cure for such
diseases, and the only current treatments are painkillers, which do
nothing to repair damaged cartilage.
The new study, conducted by the University of Granada and the
Cellular Metabolism Institute in Tenerife, analyzed the effect of
glycine supplementation on a group of 600 volunteers, average age
45, suffering from degenerative joint pain brought on by
osteoporosis, arthrosis, or physical injuries. The study showed some
improvement in all cases. Study leader Dr. Patricia de Paz Lugo
said, “We concluded that many degenerative diseases such as
arthrosis can be treated as deficiency diseases due to the lack of
glycine, since supplementing a diet with this amino acid leads to a
notable improvement in symptomology without the need to take
painkillers.”
The researchers believe glycine should be considered an essential
amino acid, and that many degenerative diseases are in fact
deficiency diseases brought on by the lack of glycine. They
concluded that a daily 10 gram dose of glycine divided into two
doses of five grams in morning and evening will lead to improvement
in pain over a period of time ranging from two weeks to four months.
Editor's Note:
2. Avocados May Help Prevent Oral Cancer
Nutrients taken from avocados are able to thwart oral cancer
cells, killing some and preventing pre-cancerous cells from
developing into actual cancers, according to researchers at Ohio
State University.
Researchers found that extracts from Hass avocados kill or stop
the growth of pre-cancerous cells that lead to oral cancer. Hass
avocados are year-round fruits known for their distinctive bumpy
skin that turns from green to purplish-black as they ripen.
While there are more than 500 varieties of avocados grown
worldwide, Hass avocados are the most readily available at
supermarkets nationwide. Similar research has not been conducted on
other varieties of avocados.
The findings are published online in the journal Seminars in
Cancer Biology.
Studies have long associated the consumption of fruits and
vegetables with a reduced risk for various types of human cancer.
The protective effect is attributed to the high levels of
phytonutrients or phytochemicals — plant compounds thought to
have health-protecting qualities — that are often found in dark
colored fruits and vegetables.
“As far as we know, this is the first study of avocados and oral
cancer,” says D’Ambrosio. “We think these phytochemicals either stop
the growth of precancerous cells in the body or they kill the
precancerous cells without affecting normal cells. Our study focuses
on oral cancer, but the findings might have implications for other
types of cancer. These are preliminary findings, and more research
is needed.”
D’Ambrosio, who collaborated with researchers in Ohio State’s
College of Pharmacy, found that phytochemicals extracted from
avocados target multiple signaling pathways and increase the amount
of reactive oxygen within the cells, leading to cell death in
pre-cancerous cell lines. But the phytochemicals did not harm normal
cells.
“These studies suggest that individual and a combination of
phytochemicals from the avocado fruit may offer an advantageous
dietary strategy in cancer prevention,” says Ding, who is a member
of the division of radiobiology, department of radiology.
Avocados are chock-full of beneficial antioxidants and
phytonutrients, including vitamin C, folate, vitamin E, fiber and
unsaturated fats. They are naturally sodium-free, contain no trans
fats and are low in saturated fat, making them a healthy addition to
any diet, D’Ambrosio says.
“The future is ripe for identifying fruits and vegetables and
individual phytonutrients with cancer preventing activity,” writes
D’Ambrosio in the journal’s editorial. “As we identify the molecular
mechanisms and targets by which individual phytonutrients prevent
cancer, we may be able to improve upon nature by formulating
phytonutrient cocktails for specific cancers and individual
susceptibility and risk.”
Other Ohio State researchers involved in the study are Young-Won
Chin in the College of Pharmacy and A. Douglas Kinghorn in the
Comprehensive Cancer Center. The California Avocado Commission
provided the Hass avocados for the research.
Editor's Note:
3. Chiropractic Care May Help Adult ADHD
A pilot study, published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation
Research (www.jvsr.com), suggests that chiropractic care may help
adults suffering from concentration problems and attention deficit
(ADD/ADHD).
The study was performed by Yannick Pauli, DC, director of the
"Centre Wellness NeuroFit" in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dr. Pauli is a
chiropractor specializing in wellness neurology.
"In this pilot study, we used objective outcome measures to
evaluate attention in nine adult patients before and after two
months of wellness chiropractic care. All patients experienced
significant improvement in concentration and 88% normalized parts of
the test," explained Dr. Pauli. "Although the results are
preliminary and more research is needed, the outcome of the study
suggests that patients suffering from attention deficit benefited
from chiropractic care."
Research has shown that the ability to concentrate is affected in
a number of disorders such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD), traumatic brain injuries, dementia, Alzheimer's
disease and Parkinson's disease.
In the United States, between 1-6 percent of adults and 3-10
percent of children suffer from ADHD. Problems with attention go far
beyond the ability to concentrate. Epidemiological studies have
shown that individuals suffering from ADHD suffer greater risks
associated with daily living such as higher rates of car accidents,
increased risk of substance abuse, greater risk of failing school,
increased likelihood of divorce and even greater difficulty managing
money.
According to Pauli, concentration problems affect all parts of
our life and even possibly our ability to heal. Although most people
think of attention as the ability to focus on the external world
only, new health paradigms indicate that we can direct our attention
inward as well. The clinical experience of Pauli and his colleagues
suggests that our ability to heal is highly dependent upon the
ability of our brain to pay attention to what is going in the body.
"Studies done with people suffering from post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) suggest that those patients suffer when parts of
their brain become deactivated, such as the prefrontal cortex, while
others become hyperfunctioning," Pauli noted." Our hypothesis is
that this leads to an inability for the brain to pay attention to
the body's internal processes, resulting in decreased body awareness
and decreased ability to access healing resources. Our study is part
of a first attempt to document whether chiropractic care could be
helpful to improve attention, and therefore all areas of life that
are dependent upon this crucial cognitive function."
Usually, attention deficit is a clinical diagnosis. But to avoid
potential subjectivity, Pauli used an objective measure of
attention, called a continuous performance test. "It is a
computer-based evaluation that objectively measures various
parameters of attention" he explained. "This system is also used by
some neurologists and psychiatrists to find the exact dosage of
medication they are going to prescribe for attention deficit
sufferers. Our preliminary results suggest that attention can be
improved naturally with chiropractic."
The connection between attention, a process occurring in the
brain, and chiropractic, which is generally associated with spinal
health, is not readily obvious to most people. Yet, the research
emphasizes the direct link between the spine and brain activity.
"As a chiropractor specializing in wellness neurology, I
understand that the spine is as much about neurology as it is about
biomechanics" Pauli states.
The articulations and the muscles of the spine are rich in
mechanoreceptors, which are sensors that send information to the
nerve system. "Each time we work with the spine, we activate
neurological circuits in the direction of the brain and bring the
nerve system into balance," the researcher says.
Pauli also notes that chiropractors affect, in particular, a
small part at the back of the brain called the cerebellum. Studies
have shown that this structure is involved in attention. "Higher
parts of the brain are also dependent upon the proper balance and
function in the cerebellum," he elaborated. "If the cerebellum does
not function at par, the rest of the brain becomes somewhat clumsy
and by activating the spinal receptors and balancing the cerebellum,
we help the brain function better."
According to Matthew McCoy, DC, editor of the Journal of
Vertebral Subluxation Research, "this preliminary study is exciting.
It is part of an increasing amount of research suggesting that
chiropractic care may be an effective natural choice for people
suffering from ADD/ADHD. It offers the possibility of a new option
for millions of children and adults that are seeking to manage their
conditions naturally."
Editor's Note:
4. Two Drug Combo Treats Type 2 Diabetes
In people with type 2 diabetes, the combination of two
anti-diabetes drugs — sitagliptin and metformin — improves
blood sugar control in a synergistic fashion, a study shows.
In type 2 diabetes, a person becomes less sensitive to the
effects of insulin, a hormone that helps the body use sugar for
fuel. The drug metformin works by making the body more responsive to
insulin, while the drug sitagliptin works to boost the body's
ability to lower elevated blood sugar levels.
Because sitagliptin and metformin lower blood sugar "through
different, but potentially complementary, mechanisms" the
combination "should provide effective, potentially additive," blood
sugar control, Dr. Debora E. Williams-Herman of Merck Research
Laboratories, Rahway, New Jersey and colleagues write in the journal
Diabetes Care.
To investigate, they randomized 1,091 type 2 diabetics to
sitagliptin plus metformin, metformin alone, sitagliptin alone or
inactive placebo. At the start of the study, the average A1C
level — a common measure of blood sugar control — was 8.8
percent, which is considered high.
All patients on active treatment had "meaningful" reductions in
blood sugar levels compared with those on placebo. At 24 weeks, 66
percent of patients treated with sitagliptin and metformin had an
A1C of less than 7 percent, and 44 percent of this group reached a
value of less than 6.5 percent.
This was significantly better than results with a single drug,
the team notes, and "demonstrated an additive response."
There was a low incidence of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar,
which was not significantly different from that in the placebo
group.
This study shows that the combination of sitagliptin and
metformin provides "substantial and additive" improvement in blood
sugar levels and is "generally well tolerated," the team concludes.
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, August 2007.
© 2007 Reuters.
Editor's Note:
5. Some Pain Meds May Cause Sleep Apnea
Opioid-based pain medications may cause sleep apnea, according to
an article in the September issue of Pain Medicine, the journal of
the American Academy of Pain Medicine.
“We found that sleep-disordered breathing was common when chronic
pain patients took prescribed opioids,” explains lead author Lynn R.
Webster, MD, from Lifetree Clinical Research and Pain Clinic in Salt
Lake City, Utah. “We also found a direct dose-response relationship
between central sleep apnea and methadone and benzodiazepines, an
association which had not been previously reported.”
Opioids, effective medications for chronic pain treatment, are
often used for cancer patients, but are now gaining widespread
acceptance as long-term therapy for chronic pain unrelated to
cancer. An increasing number of patients with nonmalignant chronic
pain are receiving around-the-clock pain relief through opioid
therapy.
The researchers studied sleep lab data on 140 patients taking
around-the-clock opioid therapy for chronic pain to assess the
potential and prevalence sleep apnea in opioid treated pain
patients. All patients were on opioid therapy for at least six
months with stable dosing for at least four weeks.
The investigators say that their results show a higher than
expected prevalence of sleep disordered breathing in opioid treated
chronic pain patients. Obstructive and central sleep apnea syndromes
occurred in the studied population at a far greater rate (75%) than
is observed in the general population, where obstructive sleep apnea
is known to be underdiagnosed but has been estimated at roughly 2%
to 4%. Central sleep apnea is estimated at 5% in people older than
65 years and from 1.5% to 5% in men less than 65 years old.
People who stop breathing during sleep because of faulty brain
control have central sleep apnea as opposed to obstructive apnea,
which is triggered by obesity and other health problems and
accompanied by loud snoring.
The investigators comment that the absence of
crescendo-decrescendo breath size commonly associated with central
sleep apnea suggests that the central sleep apnea mechanism is
different for people taking opioids than the general public. They
suggest it could be related to the direct effects of opioids on the
part of the brain that controls respiration.
The authors also note that if opioid medications increase sleep
apnea risk as their research suggests, then chronic pain patients
who are prescribed opioids have a higher risk of morbidity and
mortality.
“The challenge is to monitor and adjust medications for maximum
safety, not to eliminate them at the expense of pain management,”
Dr. Webster concludes.
“The recent flurry of news reports of deaths associated with
methadone use, and the synergy of opioids and benzodiazepines in
causing respiratory depression, highlight the importance of Dr.
Webster’s research. Clearly we need more studies of these mechanisms
as well as ways of identifying those at risk. Doctors and patients
who are considering opioid medication for pain control, must balance
this risk against the potential for improved quality of life,”
comments Rollin M. Gallagher, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Pain Medicine.
Editor's Note:
Editor's Notes:
