Reprinted with permission of Life Extension

In an article published online on August 10, 2009 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, Harvard researchers report an association between higher plasma levels of vitamin B6 and a reduction in the risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) in women.

The study included 144 participants in the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study who were diagnosed with myocardial infarction. The women were each matched for age, smoking status and other factors with two participants in the same study who did not have a history of heart attack at the time of the heart attack cases’ diagnoses. Stored fasting blood samples were analyzed for plasma pyridoxal 5′ phosphate (PLP), which is the predominant form of vitamin B6 that exists in circulation, and homocysteine, an amino acid which, when elevated, has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Higher levels of PLP were correlated with greater dietary intake of vitamin B6, lower body mass index and lower levels of homocysteine. The researchers uncovered a significant association between plasma PLP levels and reduced heart attack risk. Women whose PLP levels were among the top one-fourth of participants at greater than 70 picomoles per milliliter had a 78 percent lower adjusted risk of undergoing a heart attack compared to those whose levels were lowest at less than 27.9 pmol/mL. When the women were analyzed according to age, those aged 60 and older whose PLP levels were among the top quarter were found to have a 64 percent lower risk than those in the lowest quarter, while those who were under 60 in the top fourth of PLP had a 95 percent lower risk.

The authors remark that the study’s findings are consistent with the role of vitamin B6 as a cofactor in the conversion of homocysteine to cysteine. The vitamin also plays a role in the transport of important minerals such as magnesium across cell membranes. The authors observe that the results of some research suggest that factors other than diet that control vitamin B6 levels could eventually be found to be more important in reducing heart attack risk.

The current prospective study is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to examine the relationship of vitamin B6 levels with heart attack in postmenopausal women. “Our investigation revealed that a lower fasting concentration of PLP is significantly associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction in predominantly postmenopausal women, a relationship that may be causal,” they write. “Future studies are needed to better understand both dietary and nondietary determinants of plasma and tissue vitamin B6 status and their role in the prevention of myocardial infarction and other chronic diseases.”

Reprinted with Permission of Life Extension

The results of a study conducted by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, published online on August 1, 2009 in the journal Pediatrics, reveal a disturbing presence of low levels of vitamin D among children in the U.S. “We expected the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency would be high, but the magnitude of the problem nationwide was shocking,” stated lead author Juhi Kumar, MD, MPH, who is a fellow in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

The researchers, led by Einstein assistant professor medicine Michal L. Melamed, MD, evaluated data from over 6,000 children aged 1 to 21 who participated in the National Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2004. “Several small studies had found a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in specific populations of children, but no one had examined this issue nationwide,” Dr Melamed observed.

Insufficient levels of vitamin D were defined as 15 to 29 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), and deficient levels as less than 15 ng/mL.Vitamin D insufficiency was revealed in 61 percent of the participants, a percentage which, if applied to the U.S. population, is equivalent to 50.8 million children. Deficiency was found in 9 percent of the subjects, equal to 7.6 million children. Although participants who consumed 400 international units of vitamin D per day were less likely to experience a deficiency, just 4 percent of the children used vitamin D supplements.

“The message for pediatricians is that vitamin D deficiency is a real problem with consequences not only for bone health but also potentially for long-term cardiovascular health.” Dr Kumar concluded. “Pediatricians should be screening children for vitamin D levels, especially in the high-risk populations.”

—D Dye

Reprinted with permission of Life Extension

In an article published online on July 10, 2009 in the journal Diabetes, researchers in Ontario, Canada report that naringenin, a flavonoid present in citrus fruit, prevents weight gain and components of metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes, in a rodent model.

For their study, Murray W. Huff of the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario and his associates used low density lipoprotein receptor null mice that exhibit disordered lipids, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and obesity when fed a high fat “Western” diet. The animals were divided to receive regular chow, a high fat diet, or high fat (42 percent of calories) diets containing 1 or 3 percent naringenin for four weeks, after which plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and insulin levels were measured, and other factors, including glucose and insulin tolerance, were assessed.

At the end of the treatment period, mice that received naringenin had lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels than with those that received the high fat diet without naringenin. Insulin resistance was prevented in the 3 percent naringenin-fed mice and glucose metabolism was normalized, compared to mice that received Western diets. “Furthermore, the marked obesity that develops in these mice was completely prevented by naringenin,” added Dr Huff, who is the Director of the Vascular Biology Research Group at Robarts. “What was unique about the study was that the effects were independent of caloric intake, meaning the mice ate exactly the same amount of food and the same amount of fat. There was no suppression of appetite or decreased food intake, which are often the basis of strategies to reduce weight gain and its metabolic consequences.”

The research team discovered that naringenin genetically reprograms the liver to burn extra fat as opposed to storing it. “We are examining the pharmacological properties of naringenin,” Dr Huff stated. “The next step is to find out if naringenin prevents heart disease in animal models and to explore the feasibility of clinical trials to determine its safety and efficacy in humans.”

“These studies show naringenin, through its insulin-like properties, corrects many of the metabolic disturbances linked to insulin resistance and represents a promising therapeutic approach for metabolic syndrome,” he concluded.

Reprinted with permission of Life Extension

How long we live may not be determined by what we eat so much as how much we eat. Of all the potential antiaging approaches, none have so far shown the promise of caloric restriction. Over the past 75 years, many studies have shown that caloric restriction extends life span in a wide variety of species, from invertebrates to rodents, to mammals.

People imagine that caloric restriction is associated with near-starvation and constant hunger, or malnutrition due to inadequate intake of dietary nutrients. In fact, caloric restriction, if undertaken correctly, is a healthy lifestyle that is accompanied by weight loss, only occasional hunger, optimal nutrition, and other health benefits. To stress the importance of a healthy lifestyle, caloric restriction will henceforth be referred to as “caloric restriction with optimal nutrition” or CRON.

Data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging suggests that long-lived humans exhibit some of the same physiological and biochemical changes that accompany caloric restriction in animals. Survival rates are highest in those with low body temperatures and low levels of circulating insulin (Roth GS et al 2002). In addition, levels of serum dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a presumed longevity marker (Kalimi M et al 1999), are also higher in long-lived individuals (Roth GS et al 2002). In primates undergoing CRON, DHEA levels are also conserved (Lane MA et al 1997).

Before going on a CRON program, the Life Extension Foundation recommends that you obtain a blood chemistry profile. This will allow you to monitor your progress through subsequent blood tests. During CRON, fasting blood glucose and insulin levels should fall, as should insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels. HDL should rise. Blood pressure, which can be measured at most pharmacies without charge, should fall. For more information on blood testing, call 1-800-544-4440. If you intend to practice severe caloric restriction (30 percent to 40 percent), we recommend that you do so under the care of a knowledgeable physician.

The Life Extension Foundation suggests that you reduce calories by eating plenty of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, soluble fiber, and lean protein.

Everyone knows that the road to flat, tight abs is paved with crunches. Lots and lots and lots of excruciating crunches. Or is it?

As it turns out, the exercises synonymous with strong, attractive abs may not be the best way to train your core—and may be doing damage to your back.

“We stopped teaching people to do crunches a long, long time ago,” says Dr. Richard Guyer, president of the Texas Back Institute.  That’s because the “full flex” movement—the actual “crunch” part of crunches – puts an unhealthy strain on your back at its weakest point. The section with the most nerves (and most potential for nerve damage) is in the back of the spine, which is the very part that bends and strains during a sit-up.

“There are only so many bends or a ‘fatigue life’,” in your spinal disks,” says Stuart M. McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo. Inside each disk is a mucus-like nucleus, he says, and “if you keep flexing your spine and bending the disk over and over again, that nucleus slowly breaches the layers and causes a disk bulge, or a disk herniation.”  A herniated disk won’t show through your swimsuit, but it’s no fun, and can cause persistent back and leg pain, weakness, and tingling.

Think of the oft-repeated advice for movers: bend at the hips and lift with your legs, not your back. And what is a sit-up but a back bend done in a lying position? “When people are doing curl up over gym balls and sit-ups, and this kind of thing, they are replicating a very potent injury mechanism on their back,” says McGill. “Every time they bend it they are one repetition closer to damaging the disk.”

And of course, when people do crunches, they rarely stop at one or two: in the quest for flat abs, they’ll churn out dozens at a time, bringing them ever closer to  “flex intolerance”—so much pain and stiffness that it’s difficult to tie one’s shoes or bend down to pick a penny off the ground.

But who cares about back health as bathing suit season approaches? Turns out, crunches might not be the best solution for a flat stomach, either. That’s because doing too many sit-ups at the expense of other, more comprehensive movements can lead to the dreaded “aerobic abs.”  That’s the term celebrity trainer Steve Maresca coined to describe the distended stomachs of those who focus only on the rectus abdominus muscles targeted by sit-ups and crunches. “They look great from the front, but when they turn to the side, their stomachs are extended,” he says. To get the long, lean look, one needs to work transverse abdominius, a large muscle that holds in those rectus abs, and is mainly unchallenged by traditional ab work (aka, the sit-up and crunches).

Doing a sit-up doesn’t train your ab muscles to do the job for which they were designed – keeping your spine straight and secure and providing power for your movements. In everyday life, “the abdominals are braces,” says McGill, author of “Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance” (Stuart McGill, 2004). When doing any athletic movement—even opening a door—“the spine is in a neutral posture, not flexed, and the abdominal muscles are contracted to brace the spine.”

The best way—for both your back and your beach body—to work your midsection is to do movements that challenge the muscles to perform the way they’re designed and expected to work in real life, and not to train muscles in isolation. “It’s important to have strong abs, but strong abdominals are not the only thing,” says Dr. Guyer. “You have your back extenders, your flexors, which are belly muscles, you have your oblique muscles.” Working all of these muscle groups—the anatomical association known as “the core”—is essential to both back health and general athleticism.

As a result, only training for good-looking abs won’t add to your athleticism or overall strength. On the other hand, moves not traditionally designed for good-looking abs can in fact help strengthen and tone those muscles.

Consider the pushup. Not usually thought of as a great ab move, the pushup forces you to work several muscles at once: it forces your core muscles to stabilize your trunk as your arms and back work to move the body up and down. “Do you see how a pushup is a full body challenge?” says McGill. “It challenges abdominals, front of your legs, your arms and your back. That is how you use those muscles in real life.”

Like the pushup, the best exercises for back health and a firmer stomach are ones that work your abs while holding your spine straight, like planks or leg drops (done when you lie flat on your back, with your hands at the base of your spine for added support. Raise your legs up at a 90 degree angle, then slowly lower until they’re only inches from the ground. Repeat until your stomach burns and you want to throw up). And because your core is the center of power for most other exercises, a long workout full of dynamic movements targeting legs, arms and back also translates to a good core workout. (For more examples of effective ab exercises, visit McGill’s site, backfitpro.com.)

Of course, it won’t matter how muscular your torso is if your body fat is too high. The best way to build strong, visible abs isn’t through repeated sit-ups, but by engaging in circuit training that has you working your entire core while you’re burning calories – and to keep yourself disciplined during meals. “If you want to burn your fat mass, make sure you have a combination of weight training and cardiovascular, but 90 percent of good abs is your nutrition,” says Maresca. However, he does offer a quick tip for those of us with a weakness for caloric food: standing up straight and pulling back your shoulders will instantly tighten your transverse abdominal muscle, making you look a little leaner. It’s not quite as impressive as showcasing a well-developed core via 10 percent body fat, but it does leave a lot more time and flexibility for hitting up happy hour.
by Kate Dailey, via Newsweek

Published in HealthDay

First came Nintendo thumb. Then, Guitar Hero wrist. Now, for the latest affliction of the wired age, it’s cell phone elbow.

Medically known as cubital tunnel syndrome, cell phone elbow is numbness, tingling and pain in the forearm and hand caused by compression of the ulnar nerve, which passes along the bony bump on the inside of the elbow.

One of the causes of pressure on the ulnar nerve? Too much gabbing, often brought on by those cell phone plans with unlimited minutes, experts say.

Prolonged flexing of the elbow, such as when you hold a cell phone to your ear while closing sales, talking to your mother or keeping tabs on your teens while you’re at work, puts tension on the ulnar nerve. In susceptible people, holding the bent-elbow position for extended periods can lead to decreased blood flow, inflammation and compression of the nerve.

“Repetitive, sustained stretching of the nerve is like stepping on a garden hose,” said Dr. Peter J. Evans, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Hand and Upper Extremity Center. “With the hose, you’re blocking the flow of water. With the elbow, you’re blocking the blood flow to the nerve, which causes it to misfire and short circuit.”

The first symptoms patients often notice include numbness, tingling or aching in the forearm and hand, a pain similar to hitting your “funny bone.” (The unpleasant sensation of hitting your “funny bone” is actually your ulnar nerve.)

As symptoms progress, they can include a loss of muscle strength, coordination and mobility that can make writing and typing difficult. In chronic, untreated cases, the ring finger and pinky can become clawed, Evans and colleagues note in a report in the May issue of the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.

Though there are no solid figures on how many people have cell phone elbow, hand specialists say the incidence is increasing along with the 3.3 billion cell phone service contracts active worldwide, Evans said.

Still, the disorder is less common than carpal tunnel syndrome, a related condition that causes pain in the hand and wrist. Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by compression of the median nerve that runs from the forearm into the hand.

“Cubital tunnel is the second most common compression syndrome we see,” said Heather Turkopp, an occupational therapist and certified hand specialist at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.

Most people who get cubital tunnel syndrome are middle-aged or older. Women get cubital tunnel syndrome more often than men — and it’s probably not because they talk more.

Although the precise reasons are unknown, women may be more susceptible due to hormonal fluctuations or their anatomy, Evans said.

And too much yakking isn’t the only cause of cubital tunnel syndrome. Other causes may include sleeping with the elbows bent and tucked up into the chest, sitting at a desk with the elbows flexed at an angle greater than 90 degrees and driving with your elbow propped on the window for extended periods, he said.

In most cases, minor lifestyle changes can help alleviate symptoms, including using a hands-free headset for your cell phone. If sleep position is the problem, an elbow pad to keep the arm straighter at night can help.

More serious cases are referred to an occupational therapist, who may use ultrasound to loosen scar tissue that can form around the nerve as a result of the inflammation, as well as stretching, deep massage and “nerve-gliding” exercises to reduce pressure on the nerve, Turkopp said.

Doctors may also use anti-inflammatory injections or surgery.

Seeing your doctor soon if you’re experiencing any numbness or tingling in your hand or forearm can prevent the problem from progressing to that point, Evans said.

SOURCES: Peter J. Evans, M.D., Ph.D., director, Hand and Upper Extremity Center, Cleveland Clinic; Heather Turkopp, OTR, CHS, occupational therapist, certified hand specialist, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich.; May 2009, Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine

If your cholesterol is over 300, you’ll want to add the following vitamins and minerals to your regimen for six months.  Most of these essential nutrients are antioxidants that help lower your LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels.

• Vitamin C: 1, 000 mg three times daily. If this high dose gives you diarrhea, back off the dose until it goes away.
• Magnesium: 300 mg daily
• Calcium: 200 mg daily
• Copper: 2 to 3 mg daily
• Vitamin E: 400 IU (Total 800 IU daily). In one study, ingesting this amount daily caused a 26% reduction in LDL cholesterol production.
• Psyllium: 1 to 2 teaspoons a day. Be sure to drink eight glasses of water a day, too!
• N-acetyl cysteine (NAC): 500 mg three times a day. This will help raise your glutathione levels, which will support your liver so it can more efficiently excrete cholesterol.
• Green tea: The active beneficial ingredients in green tea are called polyphenols, substances that act as antioxidants, neutralize harmful fats and oils, strengthen the liver, and lower LDL cholesterol while raising HDL levels. You can either drink green tea or take it in a concentrated form as a supplement.
• PCOs or proanthocyanidins: PCOs (grapeseed extract, for example) work specifically to stop “bad” cholesterol from forming and sticking to artery walls.
• Cayenne: This spice lowers cholesterol. Take a daily supplement of cayenne in capsules, or use it liberally on your food.
• Curry: Another spice that lowers cholesterol.
• Guggul: Taking this is a new but old way to lower cholesterol. Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient form of healing from India that relies largely on dividing people into body and personality types, and then prescribing a variety of treatmetns that include plant medicines. One of the best known Ayurvedic medicines is called guggul, a plant traditionally used mainly to treat arthritis and obesity. Studies have shown that guggul significantly reduces cholesterol levels without side effects.
• Red Yeast Rice: This is actually an ancient Chinese condiment made from specially fermented rice. The reaction between the rice and the yeasts used for fermentation yields natural statin substances. Red yeast rice has been used safely to strengthen circulation and help digestion in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years. Several studies have found that red yeast rices lowers blood cholesterol levels.
• Policosanol: Supplements containing this substance have been found to work well to balance cholesterol counts. It has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol levels by up to 20%, and it raises HDL by an average of 10% – without the side effects caused by statins. In one study, researchers enlisted 244 menopausal women for whom six weeks on a conventional cholesterol-lowering diet did no good. The women were given either a placebo pill or 5mg of policosanol each day for 12 weeks. The women given policosanol were then given 10mg for 12 more weeks. By the end of the study, the policosanol users had some amazing changes in their cholesterol levels: their LDL fell by 25.2%, their total cholesterol fell by 16.7%, and their ratio of total cholesterol to HDL fell by 27.2%!

From: Prescription Alternatives, Third Edition : Hundreds of Safe, Natural Prescription-Free Remedies to Restore and Maintain Your Health

Originally published in To Your Health

Tracking down a ball on the baseline, lunging at a passing shot, straining to reach a lob ­ almost every aspect of tennis involves a certain amount of risk. Even the repetitive motions of serving and hitting groundstrokes can cause painful injury, turning you from active participant to unhappy spectator.

According to an article in the Journal of Sports Chiropractic & Rehabilitation, stretching and strengthening exercises can help minimize your risk of sustaining a tennis-related injury.

The authors present various techniques in a photographic format with text explanations. Included is a review of easy exercises you can perform at home or in the gym, such as:

• torso stretch
• pelvic tilt
• hamstring stretch
• lumbar extension
• side bend
• shoulder rotation
• knee flexion
• hip extension
• scapular retraction

You’re probably familiar with some of these techniques already, but your doctor can give you more specific information and outline an exercise program to maximize health and reduce your risk of injury.

Reference:

Baron SH, Washington KW. Tennis injuries: lower the risk through stretching and strengthening. Journal of Sports Chiropractic & Rehabilitation 1999: Vol. 13, No. 4, pp164-70.

Originally published in To Your Health

Many energy drinks claim to increase energy and vitality. In making this claim, the manufacturers often load their concoctions with a variety of substances, including but certainly not limited to caffeine, herbs and various amino acids. That brings us to an interesting question: Do these drinks actually have health benefits, or are there hidden health dangers? Here’s the lowdown on energy drinks.

Energy drinks constitute big business these days. While Austrian-based Red Bull claims to own the lion’s share of the market, all signs point to that dominance changing in the near future. Monster, Adrenaline Rush, Venom and 5-Hour Energy are just a few of the estimated thousands of energy drink distributors worldwide, and they’re everywhere: in stores, schools, gyms and all manner of social environments.

Suffice it to say the popularity of these drinks is unquestionable; their health benefits is another story altogether. The big concern with the majority of energy drinks is their caffeine content: up to 80 mg of caffeine. According to Brown University, that’s more than twice the caffeine in a can of Mountain Dew and more than three times the caffeine in a can of Coca Cola Classic. Why is this important? Because too much caffeine can elevate the heart rate, increase blood pressure, and lead to insomnia (Some energy drink manufacturers have now come out with decaffeinated versions, although that hasn’t seemed to particularly impact the popularity of the caffeinated varieties.)

A recent study that investigated potential safety issues in energy drinks reveal that most energy drinks also contain some combination of natural products such as guarana, taurine and ginseng. Oh, and let’s not forget about sugar, one of the major ingredients in addition to caffeine. Average sugar content can exceed 35 grams per can, according to the study, published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. (Sugar-free versions of some energy drinks are now available, but remember, there are plenty of sugar-free sodas out there, and none of them are any good for you, either.)

Here’s perhaps the most telling point emphasized in the study: “The amounts of guarana, taurine, and ginseng found in popular energy drinks are far below the amounts expected to deliver either therapeutic benefits or adverse events. However, caffeine and sugar are present in amounts known to cause a variety of adverse health effects.”

Here are other things to keep in mind if you or someone you know consumes energy drinks, again courtesy of Brown University:

• Energy drinks should not be consumed while exercising; they tend to promote dehydration, which can be dangerous when combined with fluid loss from sweating.
• Energy drinks should not be combined with alcohol (they often are); the former is a stimulant and the latter is a depressant, which can be a bad combination.Users may not be aware of how impaired they are because the stimulant effects mask the effects of the alcohol. And again, both tend to promote dehydration.

The bottom line: Energy drinks probably aren’t doing you much good, and they could actually end up doing you some harm. Talk to your doctor for more information.

Check out these tips for healthy blood pressure from Dr. Earl Mindell:

• Maintain a healthy weight.

• Get some moderate exercise at least 30 minutes every day or 45 minutes three to four times a week.

• Eat a low-fat, low-sodium, low-sugar diet emphasizing whole, fresh foods, especially vegetables, grains, and plenty of fiber.

• Avoid refined, packages, and processed foods.

• Limit alcohol consumption to two drinks per day or less.

• Avoid coffee.

• Stop smoking.

• Avoid drugs that raise blood pressure.

• Drink plenty of water.

Daily vitamins (in addition to a good high-potency multiple vitamin)

• Vitamin C, 1,000 to 2,000 mg

• Vitamin E, 400 IU daily (800 IU total)

• Magnesium, 500 to 800 mg

• Calcium, up to 500mg

• Zinc, 10 mg daily

• Carnitine, up to 1,000 mg, three to four times daily between meals

• Coenzyme Q10, 30 to 90 mg daily

Herbs

You can take these herbs alone or in a formula that combines them. They come as tablets or capsules or in a liquid tincture. Check with your pharmacist about any herb-drug interactions that might be a concern if you’re taking one or more prescription or nonprescription medications.

• Cayenne

• Dandelion (acts as a diuretic)

• Dong Quai

• Garlic (eat fresh or take the odorless pill three times a day

• Gingko biloba (improves blood flow to the extremities)

• Ginsing

• Hawthorn (strengthens the heart)

Foods

• Fresh fruits and vegetables

• Fresh celery (four stalks a day has been known to significantly reduce blood pressure – try drinking carrot/celery juice mix daily)

• Cold-water, deep-sea fish (cod, mackerel, sardines, salmon, herring)

• Olive oil (instead of vegetable oils or butter)

• Onions

Mindell, Earl L., Virginia Hopkins. Prescription Alternatives. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (2003) pp. 141   [BUY]