XTEND-15sec-NEWSt
30th July 2004
Please click on the summary link of interest:
Scientists call for calcium, Vitamin D fortification...n1
A US cancer prevention expert says that if government required calcium and vitamin D to be added to foods, it could achieve a 20 per cent reduction in colon cancer deaths and osteoporosis-related fractures.
Harold Newmark is calling on the US Food and Drug Administration to add calcium and vitamin D to the existing FDA-mandated enrichment mix in products such as bread and pasta. He contends the measure could save 11,000 lives and an estimated $3 billion in US health care costs annually. To read the article click here.
Warren Matthews comments: I wouldn't argue about the desirability of increasing individuals intakes of both Calcium and Vitamin D... but in bread, cereals and pasta? When will the 'experts' start educating the population on the correct way of getting their essential nutrient intake? Combining additional nutrients in sugar laden refined and processed foods as they propose is potentially counterproductive as many people will get the impression that these foods are good for your health... which they are certainly not!
Get the bulk of your essential nutrients from vegetables and to a lesser extent fruits. Use quality supplements to make up for the nutrient shortfall from your diet (which applies to almost everyone). Don't rely on fortified foods to provide these nutrients as these types of foods will not only make you fat but they will damage your overall health.
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Members of Cholesterol Panel have ties to Drug Manufacturers...n2
The latest US guidelines for cholesterol levels have become even lower. In fact in the opinion of many creditable scientists and medical experts, they are now too low! What is motivating the 'Cholesterol Panel' to recommend such artificially low levels of cholesterol which if followed would put a significant percentage of the American population at risk, and thus candidates for the statin drugs?
Nicholas Regush the editor of Red Flags Daily (RFD) has some thoughts on the matter when he cites that 6 of the 9 members of the Cholesterol Panel have financial ties to the drug industry who are being handed a financial bonanza on a golden platter. Read what he has to say by clicking here.
Warren Matthews comments: This is a serious problem. There is no doubt that high cholesterol is a definite factor in heart disease and must be kept within reasonable limits. If this was not the case we would not have developed our new generation cholesterol lowering formula which is the most advanced in the world today.
However, cholesterol is only one of the markers for cardiovascular disease! If your triglycerides are OK, your homocysteine is normal and so is your C-Reactive Protein, then you don't have to panic if your cholesterol is a little high. Certainly you don't have to rush and accept a prescription for a statin drug with all the inherent risks associated with it.
We are seeing an increasing number of subscribers being pressured by their Doctors to go onto a statin drug even though their overall health is good. Remember that cholesterol is an important substance which is why your liver manufactures 80% of it and only 20% comes from diet. If your cholesterol becomes abnormally low which can happen with a statin drug your risk of a stroke is increased exponentially. So... be cautious about accepting a statin unless your cholesterol is way out of control and you are in imminent danger!
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More on the 'aspirin a day' phenomenon!n3
We have over the last couple of years made a number of comments about the dangers of the 'aspirin a day' therapy. You can find these comments in past issues of both the Xtend-15sec-News and Xtend-Your-Life.
Here's a new interesting twist to this ongoing saga. It now appears that if you are on 'aspirin therapy' and you combine it with over the counter pain relievers (OTC's) that your risk of dying from a heart related disease will double!
At least this is what a study of 7000 patients conducted by Britain's Medical Research Council found over an eight year period. This study was reported in the Lancet medical journal.
It appears that a common pain relieving drug such as Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) will increase your odds of having a heart attack due to the way that these OTC's interact with Aspirin.
Warren Matthews comments: Aspirin as with all OTC drugs should be treated with respect and caution. They are powerful substances! Only use them to relieve pain on a temporary basis. If you feel the need to continue taking them, talk to a qualified professional and try to determine the cause of the pain and then take measures to rectify it. Don't continue to rely on these drugs to suppress symptoms and ignore the cause.
Keep in mind that these OTC's cause over 150,000 people in the US alone to end up in their hospital emergency departments each year... and over 16,000 of them never leave! Don't become one of them!
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Important notice: All material provided within XTEND-15sec-NEWS is for informational and educational purposes only, and is not to be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action should be taken solely on the contents of this publication. Consult your physician or a qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health and wellbeing or on any opinions expressed within this newsletter. The information provided in this newsletter is believed to be accurate based on the best judgment of the editor but the reader is responsible for consulting with their own health professional on any matters raised within.
Scientists call for calcium, vitamin D fortification (Full Article)f17/28/2004 - A US cancer prevention expert says that if government required calcium and vitamin D to be added to foods, it could achieve a 20 per cent reduction in colon cancer deaths and osteoporosis-related fractures.
Harold Newmark is calling on the US Food and Drug Administration to add calcium and vitamin D to the existing FDA-mandated enrichment mix in products such as bread and pasta. He contends the measure could save 11,000 lives and an estimated $3 billion in US health care costs annually.
In an article appearing in the 1 August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (p64), Newmark and colleagues at Rutgers University propose these nutrients be added to the current enrichment programme for cereal-grain products.
"The benefits would be a significant reduction in the incidences of osteoporosis and colon cancer over time and an overall improvement in health at a modest financial cost and with minor modification of existing technology," the paper concludes.
Their requests are based on the widely understood role of calcium in bone health and growing knowledge of its its effect in the colon. In the presence of high-fat diets - increasingly common in the developed world - calcium helps inactivate the resulting fatty acids in the colon that produce irritation, cell damage and other effects that can lead to cancer, Newmark says. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of dietary calcium by the body.
For decades, researchers have recognized the role of calcium in reducing the risk of diseases such as osteoporosis and colon cancer, but this has not been reflected in federal regulations, he argues further.
US Department of Agriculture surveys cited in the paper show that Americans consume inadequate dietary calcium and vitamin D - far below the recommended levels established by the Food Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
The US requires the enrichment of certain cereal-derived food products with vitamins and minerals such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and iron, but calcium and vitamin D are optional and consequently ignored by producers, the authors contend.
"For about 10 cents per person per year, we can use existing technology to correct all this," Newmark says. "We believe that the time has come for a full scientific review of cereal-grain enrichment with calcium and vitamin D as a low-cost, safe and useful route for the reduction of osteoporosis and colon cancer in the United States in both men and women."
In Europe however campaigners are still battling to have folic acid added to the required vitamins included in flour. Mandatory calcium and vitamin D could be a long way off but there is increasing evidence that low intake of vitamin D may be damaging health.
Recent studies have found vitamin D intake to be inversely associated with rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. It has also been found to reduce colon cancer risk and been linked to heart disease.
There is enough evidence of the vitamin's association with a number of diseases to carry out further studies investigating optimal levels for our health, Sue Fairweather-Tait, head of nutrition at the UK's Institue of Food Research, told NutraIngredients.com in a recent interview.
"Fortification, if done sensibly, is the only way to achieve optimum vitamin D levels. The best source of vitamin D at the moment is fortified cereals," she said.
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f2
Cholesterol Panel Issuing New Aggressive Guidelines Pointing To Wider Use Of Statins Does Not Reveal Ties To Drug Companies Manufacturing Those Drugs
(Full Article)
By RFD Editor Nicholas Regush The latest U.S. cholesterol guidelines have no value. There is no point in mincing words about this. Of nine panel members, six had financial ties to the drug industry. Did someone simply forget to cite these ties? The chairman of the national Cholesterol Education Program, a division of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, referred to the omission as an "oversight." This is hard to swallow. Furthermore, even if the ties had been revealed, what difference would this make? Are we to feel comfortable that most of the panel members pushing highly aggressive cholesterol guidelines have ties to manufacturers? What nonsense this is to put together a panel with the drug industry sitting on the shoulders of these so-called experts.
It's hard to know what to do about all this. The emotional brain cries out to see these people fired from their academic posts for engaging in what many people will feel is a high-level swindle. They are playing with human lives - although they clearly do not see it. Given past statements made by those caught in the same circumstances, it appears that many doctors and scientists think they somehow have the ability to push aside powerful influences and make up their minds in an "objective" manner (whatever that could possibly mean these days).
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