In Part 1 of my Special Report , I shared with you the fact that Potassium Iodide protects against only one specific radioactive material.

Does Potassium Iodide Protect My Entire Body?

No it doesn’t. While many may have the belief that taking Potassium Iodide protects them against all radiation exposure, that is not true.  Potassium Iodide is the only approved treatment for radiation poisoning.  But when you take Potassium Iodide per medical recommendations (of the FDA and CDC),  you should know that it only protects your thyroid against exposure to radioactive iodine. Click Here Now, Get Iodine

There are other radioactive materials that are released from nuclear power plants. A Japanese scientist, Dr. Akizuki experimented on rats with two radioactive isotopes, the iodine-131 and the cesium-134, elements produced in nuclear reactor accidents. When the human body is exposed to radiation, the iodine-131 is absorbed in the thyroid gland, and the cesium-134 accumulates in intestinal tract and muscles.

What Else Can I Do to Protect My Body From Radiation?

Believe it or not, remarkably, there eating a few simple foods can reverse the impact of radiation exposure. After the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, a hundreds of thousands perished from radiation poisoning. Remarkably, many hospital patients at St. Francis’ Hospital in Nagasaki survived acute radiation poisoning sickness even though the hospital was only one mile from the blast site!

At that time, Tatsuichiro Akizuki, M.D. was Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Francis’s Hospital in Nagasaki. After the atomic bombing of Nagasaki (August 9 1945), he gave his staff and patients a strict diet of brown rice, miso and tamari soy soup, wakame, kombu and other seaweed, Hokkaido pumpkin, and sea salt and prohibited the sugar and sweets consumption because they suppress the immune system. The records documenting the health of his patients and staff are remarkably encouraging.

The citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced severe diarrhea after the atomic bomb blasts because of the massive destruction of these cells due to radiation. However, because of this diet — which was rich in sea vegetables — everyone in his hospital lived while many other survivors perished from the radiation sickness!

A study investigating the impact of radiation, found when X-rays at levels lethal to humans were given to the mice 60 percent of them survived as opposed to nine percent of the mice that were not fed miso soup.

What is Miso Soup?

Akihiro Ito, head of one of the research teams at Hiroshima University, also found that miso helps eliminate toxins from the body through stimulation of the circulatory and metabolic systems, which may possibly make miso useful when undergoing chemotherapy.

People who eat miso regularly may be up to five times more resistant to radiation than those who do not eat miso. That is the conclusion of a team of researchers at Hiroshima University’s atomic bomb radiation research center.

Miso is produced by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus called kōjikin. The most frequent use of miso is the miso soup, misoshiru.

It is a major part of Japanese cuisine. Miso is a living, natural food, rich in enzymes and beneficial bacteria. Miso is available in a variety of diverse flavors, each having a distinct taste, color, texture and aroma. In Japan over 70 percent of the population start the day with a cup of miso soup instead of coffee. Miso soup has a warming, healthful and alkalizing effect and can provide an enduring source of energy and nutrition.

Remarkably, Dr. Kazumitsu Watanabe, professor of cancer and radiation research investigated the radioprotective effect of miso, by testing small intestine cells of lab mice. These cells absorb nutrients and are particularly sensitive to radiation, which can easily destroy these cells.

The researchers from the Hiroshima University Medical Center discovered that several hours after being exposed to radiation, compared to the control group, the group of rats fed with miso were having in the blood a level of iodine-131 diminished by 50%.
In another experiment, a lethal dose of radiation was given to rats. Over 80% of the animals from both groups died after a week, but in the group that was given miso, the degree of inflammation in their organs (the expected bodily response to radiation exposure) was less pronounced.

Click here and, you can find more information about miso soup and miso radiation treatment.

Do Other Sea Weeds Have Radioprotective Properties?

Yes, they do! Of the two types of radiation the most dangerous form, ionic radiation, that is emitted in nuclear accidents, is the most concerning, because of its high levels. In the mid 1990’s in Russia, spirulina began its use as a specific immune enhancer in the treatment of children affected by the Chernobyl disaster. Children living in highly radioactive areas, due to their exposure, developed chronic radiation poisoning and high levels of Immunoglobulin E (IgE). A group of some 30 plus children were given about 5 grams of spirulina each day for one and a half months. This food decreased their IgE blood levels and also notably lowered all of their allergic reactions.

Physicians in the Chernobyl area, where radiation levels in Ukraine have been very high since the accident, have shown that consuming spirulina every day for 20 days lead to a 50% drop in radiation levels in patients’ urine. The testing that was conducted in 1990 in Belarus determined that spirulina intake stimulates the release of radioactive nucleotides from the body. Other research studies found that eating spirulina also caused lowered radiation radiation level of cesium and strontium, radioactive nucleotides, found in radioactive contaminated foods.  This is very significant because many people are concerned about eating contaminated foods due to aerial contamination of crops through wind and rain.

One of the most significant damaging effects of radiation exposure is the destruction of the immune system. Both chlorella and spirulina reverse these effects and rebuild the immune system. Japanese studies determined that chlorella has been has anti-tumor effects. The most significant impact of chronic exposure to radiation is the development of cancer this is a very important piece of information.

Other beneficial things to do are to eat whole grains, which absorb a lot less radiation and which have good fiber and phosphorous, that help the body detox from radiation and because of the high fiber content, that detox process will be faster. They also have good levels of vitamin E and selenium that help prevent tissue damage.

All in all a vegetable and whole grain based diet will expose you to much less radiation that an animal based diet that concentrates heavy metals and radiation in fat tissues.

How Does Something as Simple as Spirulina Protect Against Radiation?

In 1968 Canadian researchers reported that sea vegetables contained a starch (polysaccharide) substance that selectively bound radioactive strontium and helped eliminate it from the body. In laboratory experiments, sodium alginate prepared from kelp, kombu, and other brown seaweeds off the Atlantic and pacific coasts was introduced along with strontium and calcium into rats. The reduction of radioactive particles in bone uptake, measured in the hip bone (femur), reached as high as 80%, with little interference with calcium absorption. GET SPIRULINA and GET CHLORELLA

How Whole Grains Protect Your Body

Whole grains help to protect us from the damaging health effects of acute radiation poisoning radiation exposure in five ways:
1) Grains are low on the food chain. Although they may have been exposed to pollution and radiation, they do not have the concentration of contaminants that is found in meat and large fish, which are at the top of the food chain.
2) Important with respect to radiation protection is the high fiber and phosphorous contents in grains. The binding ability of these substances helps the body to remove poisons.
3) The bulking factor of grains lessens the intestinal transit time and so hasten the elimination of all toxins.
4) Being neither very acid nor very alkaline, grains help us to maintain the middle-range pH that has been found to increase our resistance to radiation.
5) Whole grains provide vitamin B6, which is indispensable for the thymus. In addition, their calcium content guards against uptake of radioactive strontium, and their vitamin E and selenium prevent cellular damage caused by free radicals.

What Foods Should I Avoid?

Just as whole grains are healthy and protect our organ systems against the radiation toxicity, processed foods, do the opposite, by triggering inflammation, that suppresses the immune system, they render us more susceptible its damaging effect.  Foods to avoid include:
1) Refined, genetic modified and processed foods
2) Fatty foods (meat, dairy products)
3) Simple sugars (white sugar), soft drinks

if you don’t have iodine, here’s a link to a very reliable source: BUY IODINE, CLICK HERE NOW

And here’s links to for you to GET SPIRULINA Spirulina
and GET CHLORELLA.

Tomorrow I will share with you some of the latest research on a variety of natural substances from vitamins to herbs that have natural radioactive properties.

Yours in Good Health,

Elaine R. Ferguson, MD

A week after the largest earthquake in to hit Japan in history, four of the six nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station are still in various stages of meltdown and continue to deteriorate. The unbelievable disastrous chain of events triggered by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent Tsunami that devastated the northeast coast of Japan has raised concern for the possible ramifications of radiation swept into the jet stream that have arrived on the US West Coast.

According to the New York Times, even the best case scenario could mean that radioactive release of steam from the crippled plants will continue for weeks, months or even years.

The first signs and symptoms of treatable radiation sickness are usually nausea and vomiting. The amount of time between exposure and when these symptoms develop is an indicator of how much radiation a person has absorbed.
• Stage 1 (N-V-D stage): The classic symptoms for this stage are nausea, vomiting, as well as anorexia and possibly diarrhea (depending on dose), which occur from minutes to days following exposure. The symptoms may last (episodically) for minutes up to several days.
• Stage 2 (Latent stage): In this stage, the patient looks and feels generally healthy for a few hours or even up to a few weeks.
• Stage 3 (Manifest illness stage): In this stage the symptoms depend on the specific syndrome and last from hours up to several months.
• Stage 4 (Recovery or death): Most patients who do not recover will die within several months of exposure. The recovery process lasts from several weeks up to two years.
Indeed, virtually all suppliers of potassium iodide have sold out, the U.S. Surgeon General recommended that West Coast residents stock up.
• Iodine  leaves your body within 24 – 72 hours after taking it
Where can I buy Iodine?
• Potassium iodide can be found in many health food stores and drug stores.
Elaine R. Ferguson, MD

Since the emergence of this nuclear crisis, I’ve received queries from across the country as to what to do from a medical perspective. First and foremost, I think it is critical for everyone to be informed and to make intelligent decisions, based on credible information.

The jet stream is carrying radioactive material that ‘s already reached the West Coast and is heading east. According to government reports thus far the levels are so low that they will not impact us. But there are unknowns, such  as to how long this crisis will last, and the cumulative impact of radiation.

This is the first of a series of reports that will address the major health issues surrounding this global crisis. Today we will focus on acute radiation exposure, poisoning and using potassium iodide, the only FDA approved treatment intervention.

Where Can I Get Reliable Information About the Nuclear Crisis?

Here are a few resources to keep you informed:

You can visit the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)and get information radiation.

Also, the radiation network www.radiationnetwork.com provides current radiation levels in the US.

Here’s the link to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with answers to numerous questions about radiation and nuclear power plants nuclear power plant accidents.

CNN has a page on Twitter for the latest information on the nuclear power plant crisis in Japan.

What are the Symptoms of Radiation Poisoning?

The sickness first presents itself with nausea, vomiting, rashes and diarrhea, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The symptoms may follow just minutes or even days after exposure.

After the first round of signs and symptoms, a person with radiation sickness may have a brief period with no apparent illness, followed by the onset of new, more serious symptoms.

A time of serious illness – marked by the loss of appetite, fever, and extreme fatigue – can be relatively brief or continue for a long period of time. Death is often the final outcome.

The severity of signs and symptoms of radiation sickness depends on how much radiation you’ve absorbed. How much you absorb depends on the strength of the radiated energy and the distance between you and the source of radiation.

There is a measurement known as radiation absorbed dose (rad), that gives an idea about the effects of radiation that bombards a human body. 50 to 150 rad causes alterations in the blood with symptoms like nausea, fatigue and vomiting. In case of exposure between 150-1100 rad amount, if not treated immediately, an exposed person can die in 30 days. For all levels above this, the central nervous system of the body fails, and causes the lose of control over all of the body’s functioning, and can trigger death to happen rapidly, within a few hours or days.

In general, the higher your radiation exposure, your symptoms will occur quicker and more severely. Radiation poisoning also known as radiation sickness is an acute illness caused by irradiation of the entire body (or most of the body) by a high dose of penetrating radiation in a very short period of time, usually in a few minutes.

Radiation poisoning usually severely damages 3 major organ systems.

Bone marrow syndrome (sometimes referred to as hematopoietic syndrome) The bone marrow cells destroyed, resulting in impairment of the immune system, and blood, resulting in bleeding and infection.

Gastrointestinal (GI) syndrome: Survival is extremely unlikely with this syndrome. Destructive and irreparable changes in the GI tract and bone marrow usually cause infection, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalance. Death usually occurs within 2 weeks.

Cardiovascular (CV)/ Central Nervous System (CNS) syndrome: Death occurs within 3 days. Death likely is due to collapse of the circulatory system as well as increased pressure in the confining cranial vault as the result of increased fluid content caused by swelling, inflammation of the blood vessels, and meningitis.

The four stages of Acute Radiation poisoning are:

So it is critical to take healthy proactive measures to protect yourself and your family.

Can I Protect Myself From Developing Acute Radiation Poisoning?

Yes,  depending on the level of radiation you are exposed to. Fortunately, regarding this particular crisis, for those of us outside of Japan, currently the answer is a resounding yes.  And tomorrow I will share with you an amazing discovery that protected people near ground zero in Nagasaki from developing radiation poisoning while thousands nearby died from it!

Residents of the US West coast are understandably very concerned for a good reason about their exposure to the nuclear radiation emitted from the plant. Because it is 5,000 miles away, the likelihood of developing acute radiation poisoning are extremely low and currently are non-existent.

Should I Take Potassium Iodide?

Potassium iodide, a mineral formulation composed of potassium and iodine  is the recommended treatment by the FDA. It is used to protect the thyroid gland from being damaged by radioactive iodine. Thyroid damage is irreversible, if the thyroid isn’t protected. .

Potassium Iodide can only protect the thyroid gland, should be taken as soon as possible after exposure to radiation. One dose lasts 24 hours.

Potassium iodide is the only drug recommended by the CDC to protect the thyroid gland against radioactive iodine. It does not protect against all types of radiation exposure. And it’s protection is short term, as is the exposure to radioactive iodine as it deteriorates in a few days.

You don’t need a doctor’s prescription. Most health food stores and drug stores carry over the counter Potassium iodide. And there are online sources. BUY IODINE, CLICK HERE NOW

Experts agree that it is safe for a pregnant woman to take potassium iodide when instructed to do so by a doctor. The dosage apparently also protects the thyroid of the baby.

Fortunately, an easy form of protection is potassium iodide, a simple compound typically added to table salt to prevent goiter and a form of mental retardation caused by a dietary lack of iodine.

If ingested promptly after a nuclear accident, potassium iodide, in concentrated form, can help reduce the dose of radiation to the thyroid and thus the risk of cancer. In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommends that people living within a 10-mile emergency planning zone around a nuclear plant always have access to potassium iodide tablets.

You must have adequate iodine levels BEFORE this radioactive fallout reaches your location.

The CDC recommends using iodine to prevent injury from radioactive iodine fallout. BUY IODINE, CLICK HERE NOW

While the focus on taking Potassium Idodide is critical, it should be noticed that it only protect the thyroid gland and do not provide protection from any other radiation exposure! Taking it protects the thyroid gland only against the impact of radioactive iodine but it will not protect other parts of the body from other radioactive materials that may be released.

Only a few companies manufacture Potassium Iodide and every time there’s a nuclear emergency somewhere, their inventory stock becomes instantly depleted so you have to order it ahead of time and keep it in ready storage yourself. Potassium Iodide tablets can be stored for at least 5 years without losing their potency, and LIO3 even longer. BUY IODINE, CLICK HERE NOW

Don’t try to drink or swallow iodine such as iodine water purification tablets, tincture of iodine, or Povidone-iodine solutions (like the Betadine® brand solution). If you do that you are going to get sick because iodine is a poison. That’s why iodine bottles are marked poisonous!

If you do not have any potassium iodide, DO NOT TAKE IODINE TABLETS OR TINCTURE OF IODINE. It is poisonous.

Please understand that Potassium Idodide is protective only against the absorption of radioactive idodine. Frankly, you don’t want to be exposed to any type of radioactive cloud whatsoever and when exposed, KI is not going to do everything … just protect your thyroid a bit.

There is no medication that will effectively prevent nuclear radiations from damaging the human body cells that they strike. Potassium iodide is only protective against radioiodines for the thyroid — and only if taken in time. It has no impact on the uptake by the body of other radioactive materials and provides no protection against external irradiation of any kind.

The FDA emphasizes that the use of Potassium Iodide should be as an adjunct to evacuating a contaminated area, sheltering away from any radioactive clouds (that’s why you close your windows), and controlling the foods you eat so as to eliminate the likelihood of eating products that are contaminated with Iodine-131.

Potassium iodide should only be taken in a radiation emergency that involves the release of radioactive iodine, such as an accident at a nuclear power plant or the explosion of a nuclear bomb.

If radioactive iodine is not present, then taking Potassium Iodide will not protect you. If radioactive iodine is present, then taking Potassium Iodide will help protect your thyroid gland from the radioactive iodine.

Remember, taking Potassium Iodide will not protect you from other radioactive substances that may be present along with the radioactive iodine. I will share with you tomorrow information about powerful radioprotective foods, that helped save lives after the nuclear bombing in 1945 was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

If public health officials tell you to take Potassium Iodide, then take it as soon as possible after the announcement. The regular dose is 130 mg every 24 hours. BUY IODINE, CLICK HERE NOW

What’s the Best time to take Iodine?

• Immediately before the radiation reaches your area

You can also get it through this link:

BUY IODINE, CLICK HERE NOW

What people usually overlook is the fact that there will also be many other types of dangerous radioactive material released along with the radioiodine in an atomic explosion or nuclear meltdown. The thyroid blocking activity of potassium iodide tablets is geared to just one type of radioactive contaminant — iodine-131.

As to adverse reactions, based on the FDA adverse reaction reports and an estimated 48 million, 300-mg doses of potassium iodide administered each year the NCRP (National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements) estimated it has an adverse reaction rate of from about 1 in a million to 1 in 10 million doses.

If you haven’t already, sign up for my free Holistic Medicine newsletter, in the box on the right hand side of the page, and you’ll receive the latest updates on the health related issues surrounding the nuclear crisis.

Tomorrow, I will share with you more information regarding how to naturally protect yourself from acute radiation with certain foods that protect against acute radiation.  Our third report will explore protection from  long term low level radiation exposure, perhaps an even greater danger, several natural remedies that have been proven to counter the impact of radiation exposure.

Yours in good health,

Experimental studies have shown that green tea components and theanine prevent influenza infection, while clinical evidence remains inconclusive.  Researchers at the University of Shizoka in Japan undertook a study to ascertain if green tea catechins and theanine could prevent the flu and human spirit.

Led byKeiji Matsumoto, PhD, of the Department of drug evaluation and informatics, the researchers conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 200 health care workers for five months from November 2009 through April 2010 in three health care facilities for senior citizens.  The group that received green tea and the inane capsules and the control group received a placebo.

The primary outcome was the incidence of clinically defined flu infection.  Secondary outcomes were laboratory-confirmed influenza measured viral antigen and the time for which the patient was free from defined influence and affection, meaning the period between the start of the intervention.  In the first diagnosis of influenza infection, based on clinically defined influenza infection.

The researchers reported that eligible health care workers were enrolled in randomly assigned to an intervention; 98 were placed in the experimental group receiving the green tea and the inane and 99 were in the placebo group.

The rate of clinically defined influenza was significantly lower in the group receiving the supplements.  Only four participants developed the flu, 4.1%, compare with 13 participants in the placebo group, 13.1%.  The incidence of influenza infection that was confirmed by laboratory tests was lower in the green tea group.  One participant in that group, compared to five in the placebo group were diagnostically confirmed, but this difference was not considered to be statistically significant.

The time from which the patient was free from clinically defined influenza infection was significantly different between the two groups.

The researchers conclude that health care workers for the elderly, benefited from taking green tea catechin and theanine because it may be an effective prophylaxis i.e., it is preventative for influenza infection.

Source: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Many people get massages as a part of their wellness and healing programs.  Getting a massage might alter the body’s immune response and lower stress-related hormones, a new U.S. study suggests. 

A small study, the blood of 29 people who received 45-minute Swedish massages was tested five minutes and one minute before the massage began, then one, five, 10, 15, 30 and 60 minutes after the massage, using intravenous catheters. 

Swedish massage is a form of deep tissue massage. 

The blood of recipients who received 45 minutes of light touch massage — a much less intense form of massage — were also tested, and saliva samples were taken from both groups. 

The massage therapists all used the same massage pattern and were audiotaped for quality control. 

According to the researchers from Cedars-Sinai Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences Swedish massages reduced the hormone, arginine vasopressin, a hormone that causes the stress hormone cortisol to increase. The massages also lowered coritsol levels itself in the body. 

Study participants also had lower cytokines — proteins released by stimulated white blood cells when danger is present — lower, suggesting that during massage the body relaxes and doesn’t perceive itself as being attacked. 

While the Light touch recipients experienced a slight increase in their cytokine levels. 

Massage can help to manage inflammation and autoimmune conditions, a situation in which the immune system overreacts, and attacks various cells in the body as if it was a foreign invader. 

“This research indicates that massage doesn’t only feel good, it also may be good for you,” said Rapaport, the principal investigator of the study and the Polier Family Chair in Schizophrenia and Related Disorders, in a release. “More research is ahead of us, but it appears that a single massage may deliver a measurable benefit.” 

The authors recommend a larger study should now be undertaken to replicate the results. 

The study will be published in the October issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 

Source:  http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/09/08/massage-immune-study.html?ref=rss#ixzz0zEMH9WZw

Scientists at Arizona State University conducted a review and analysis of several published scientific reports involving over 6400 participants found that Tai Chi and Qigong provide numerous health benefits, both mental and physical, which improve the quality of life, heart and immune system.

Linda Larkey, PhD,  and her colleagues found 77 published reports of scientific studies that looked at the two wellness practices and compared them to other exercises or to a sedentary state. The studies, published between 1993 and 2007, evaluated Tai Chi and Qigong and their response on various outcomes, including health, quality of life, physical function, falls, one’s feeling of self-efficacy, immune system functioning, psychological symptoms, and other factors.

Both forms of activity include a wide variety of physical movements and slow, meditative, dance-like movements, Dr. Larkey writes. Both also involve meditation postures and gentle or vigorous shaking of the body. They emphasize regulation of breath and mind coordinated with body regulation.

The review, Dr. Larkey says provides a ”stronger evidence base” for the activities and their positive effects on bone health, cardio-respiratory fitness, physical functioning, balance, quality of life, fall prevention, and psychological health.

Although it was not possible to combine all the study results statistically and come up with a number describing the effect, the evidence of benefits is consistent, she says.

Exactly how do tai chi and qigong impart their benefits? “This combination of self-awareness with self-correction of the posture and movement of the body, the flow of breath, and mindfulness, are thought to comprise a state that activates the natural self-regulatory (self-healing) capacity,” Larkey writes. That, in turn, helps trigger beneficial brain hormones and “a wide array of natural health recovery mechanisms.”

Source:
The study is published in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

For most people, over time, during the latter decades of life, their immune system function declines.

Tocotrienols, a form of vitamin E may enhance the function of certain cells in the immune system, and help ensure healthy immune system functioning.

 The study recently published in the Journal of Nutrition. “This is the first study, to our knowledge, reporting that tocotrienol enhances T cell function,” a Wu of Tufts University.

Wu and his co-workers divided mice into two groups, based on age. They received either a normal diet or a diet supplement with a tocotrienol/soybean oil mixture. 

Initial results found the ability of the immune cells to reproduce was lower in older mice compared to the younger ones.   They were given the supplements for 6 weeks, the proliferation capacity increased significantly in the older mice receiving the tocotrienols, compared to the mice of similar age who were maintained on a normal diet.

“While further studies are needed to determine the mechanism of tocotrienols and the relative efficacy compared to tocopherols as well. As its clinical implications, the data described here present novel findings showing for the first time that tocotrienols enhances T cell function in old, mice,’ Dr. Wu concluded.

Source:  http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Vitamin-E-shows-immune-boosting-potential-Study?utm_source=RSS_text_news

During the last few years research reports continue to be reported about the deleterious effects consumption of soft drinks Reports continue that soft drinks have a deleterious effect on our health, including increasing the risk for obesity, metabolic syndrome (pre Diabetes and bone loss (high acidification).  Regular consumers of sugary soft drinks are at higher risk for pancreatic cancer than fruit juice drinkers or the general population, a new Singaporean study has found.

Chinese men and women living in Singapore who drank two or more soft drinks per week were 87% more likely to contract pancreatic cancer after the researchers adjusted for factors such as smoking (95% CI 1.10 to 3.15), according to the report published Feb. 8 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

“In this large prospective cohort of Chinese men and women in Singapore, those who reported regular soft drink consumption were at increased risk of pancreatic cancer when compared with those who largely abstained,” Mark Pereira, PhD, of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, and colleagues wrote. “There was no association between consumption of juice and risk of pancreatic cancer.”

While pancreatic cancer is relatively rare, it is one of the most deadly cancers, with less than 5% of patients surviving five years after diagnosis. Although rates have generally plateaued in the U.S., they continue to climb in some Asian countries, including Singapore

“This increase may reflect demographic and socioeconomic shifts as well as a transition towards a more westernized lifestyle and diet,” the authors wrote.

Research has shown that insulin promotes pancreatic cancer cell growth, and some researchers think sugary foods could result in blood sugar and insulin fluctuations that expose the pancreas to high concentrations of insulin.

While fruit juices contain sugar, soft drinks are the major sources of added sugar in the U.S. diet and major contributors to hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia.

Pereira and colleagues followed 60,524 men and women who enrolled in the Singapore Chinese Health Study between April 1993 and December 1998 and were followed for 14 years.

At enrollment, the participants completed a 146-question food frequency questionnaire, which contained three items related to soft drinks and juice. The questions asked the participants how much, if any, they drank of soft drinks such as Coca-Cola and 7-Up, orange juice, and other fruit and vegetable juices.

The dietary data was later cross-referenced with records from the Singapore Cancer Registry and the Singapore Registry of Births and Deaths, to determine which of the participants had died of pancreatic cancer and whether it might be related to their soft drink or juice consumption.

Overall, researchers found that 140 participants had contracted pancreatic cancer.

The results were largely consistent with three of four previous U.S. studies on the links between pancreatic cancer and soft drinks. Three of the U.S. studies found an association between soft drinks and cancer.

The author acknowledged that soft drink consumers are more likely than abstainers to participate in other unhealthy behaviors, including smoking and overeating, which makes it difficult to determine that soft drink consumption is an independent risk factor for pancreatic cancer.

For instance, smokers in their study were at higher risk for pancreatic cancer. “We could not rule out the possibility of residual confounding by factors associated with the habit of drinking soft drinks or other unascertained factors such as waist circumference,” they wrote.

They also noted that the study was limited in statistical power because pancreatic cancer is rare, which limited the sample size of cancer cases. “Also, because we were unable to collect repeated dietary measurements in this study, we were unable to account for changes in consumption of soft drinks and juices,” they wrote, “especially when the diagnosis of diabetes occurred after the baseline interview.”

Source:  http://professional.cancerconsultants.com/oncology_main_news.aspx?id=44606

Once more, scientists report  that low levels of vitmain D are associated with increased risk of death, all causes and from heart disease.

“Our results provide a rationale for future studies to test whether vitamin D supplementation reduces mortality and/or cardiovascular diseases in persons with vitamin D deficiencey, Stefan Pilz from the Medical University of Graz in Austria.

This research follows similar findings reported in Nutrition Research by Johns Hopkins University researchers. They evaluated the active form (1,25 dihydoxyvitamin D) levels linked to a range of effects including control of inflammatory compounds, regulating the immune system and blood pressure, or reducing hardening of the arteries.

Prior to this, a study published in the Archives of Internal medicine grabbed headlines around the world when it reported that.  This earlier study used date from13,331 men and women participating in the Third national and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANESIII).

The new study used data from 614 people. After 6years of follow-up, 51 deaths were documented, 20 which wer due to cardiovascular disease.

The people with the lowest vitamin D levels were  to be  at 124 percent increased risk of mortality of all causes and 378 percent increased risk of cardiovascular motrtality.

Apart from the maintenance of muscular and skeletal health, vitamin D may also protect against cancer, infections, automimmune and vascular disease, suggesting that vitamin D deficiency might contribute to a reduced life expectancy.”

In adults vitamin D deficiency may precipitate or worsen bone thinning, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, common cancers, autoimmune disease, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases.  There is also some evidence that the vitamin may reduce the incidence of several types of cancer and type 1 diabetes.

Source:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19226272

In the midst of the frenzy surrounding the H1N1 pandemic, in October, I asked you to take a deep breath, and promised you that we would get through. I shared with you information that lead me to believe, it was not going to be the predicted pandemic. And now mid-January, H1N1 has fallen off the media’s reporting radar, and from most of our thoughts.

As predicted by Purdue University mathematicians, the infections peaked in late October. There were reported projections that 90,000-300,000 people would die and over 30 million would be infected. Now, a recent ABC news report question if the media coverage “oversold” the swine flu pandemic. Again, while it appears to represent pandemic means an infection has appeared in several countries.   It has nothing to do with the number of people infected.

The study reported an analysis conducted at Harvard University and the Medical Research Council in England.  A new analysis, examining H1N1 deaths in the US in the spring found a typical or possibly even milder flu season than average, should’ve been projected. Projected likely outcomes,  demonstrated a typical – or possibly even a milder flu season than average (which this one appears to have been), should’ve been expected.

Source:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/swine-flu-blown-proportion/story?id=9270149&cid=yahoo_pitchlist

Mindfulness meditation is a practice that essentially involves focusing the mind on the present moment. Mindfulness allows you to become aware of, without judgment of your thoughts and actions that are happening in the here and now. Because it breaks the common chronic negative thinking many people experience, it relaxes the body, improves mood, decreases stress, and enhances immune system functioning.

During the last 30 years, Mindfulness Meditation has been increasingly utilized by doctors and psychologists to help alleviate several physical and psychological conditions.

A study conducted at the University of Wisconsin conducted a study because the underlying changes that occur with mindfulness meditation, the biological processes that are associated with reported changes in mental and physical health have not been systematically explored.

Researchers performed a randomized, controlled study on the effects on brain and immune function of a well-known and widely used 8-week clinical training program in mindfulness meditation applied in a work environment with healthy employees.

The study measured brain electrical activity before and immediately after, and then 4 months after an 8-week training program in mindfulness meditation. Twenty-five subjects were tested in the meditation group. A wait-list control group (N = 16) was tested at the same points in time as the meditators. At the end of the 8-week period, subjects in both groups were vaccinated with influenza vaccine.

The study found for the first time significant increases activation in the left side of the brain, a pattern known to exert a positive effect, among the meditators compared with the nonmeditators. It also found significant increases in antibody titers to influenza vaccine among subjects in the meditation compared with those in the wait-list control group. Finally, the magnitude of increase in left-sided brain activation corresponded with the size of the antibody level increase to the vaccine.

The researchers concluded that these findings indicated a short program in mindfulness meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immune function. They also suggest that meditation may change brain and immune function in positive ways and underscore the need for additional research.

SOURCE:

Psychosom Med. 2003 Jul-Aug;65(4):564-70.