An excellent new study was just published demonstrating a nearly 50% reduction in the incidence of the flu in children supplementing with vitamin D.  The study followed more than 300 children for 4 months of a school year.  Half of the students received 1200IU of vitamin D3 daily, and the other half received a placebo.  By the end of the study 18.6% of the placebo group had, at some some point, tested positive for flu, compared to 10.8% of the vitamin D3 group.

It was also of note that in children with a previous diagnosis of asthma, "asthma attacks as a secondary outcome occurred in 2 children receiving vitamin D₃ compared with 12 children receiving placebo".  That is 6 times fewer asthma attacks!

It's a good idea to supplement your child with vitamin D during the winter months.  Also, If you have not had a vitamin D test in the past year I recommend that you get one!  Vitamin D can affect your immune system, your thyroid and energy levels, and your bone health. 

I have an excellent vitamin D product in my office, and kids like it!

Read the article here.

Tamiflu has shown up in rivers and sewage treatment plants.  What this could mean is we've added one more "stressor" to the influenza virus.  Influenza reacts to such stressors by mutating.  The researchers who reported on the study say "The recent increase in OP (the active metabolite of tamiflu) resistance in influenza A virus (H1N1; commonlly called “swine flu”) has raised questions about the widespread use of Tamiflu in seasonal epidemics and the potential ecotoxicologic risk associated with its use in the event of a pandemic."

This quote is scary for two reasons: first, the H1N1 is already resistant to tmiflu, meaning it has mutated due to exposure, and second, the concern regarding possible toxic effects of tamiflu in the envirnment.  Perhaps we should think about supporting the immune system with Andrographis and vitamin D rather than waging chemical warfare against the influenza virus?

Read the study here.

 I recently posted an article on the benefits of vitamin D, and the recent realization that a high percentage of people are deficient.  Research is showing that among other functions, vitamin D has the ability to up-regulate and down-regulate genes.  In other words, when we have suboptimal levels of vitamin D our genes are not turned and off appropriately.  Genes are used to create proteins which are the building blocks of nearly everything in our body--from our structure (bone, ligament, tendon, etc) to neurotransmitters, hormones, blood, etc.  

This wide range of effects translates a host of problems linked to vitamin D deficiency including poor immune function, less vitality, and decreased athletic function.   Specific to athletic function, a recent New York Times article highlighted the following:

"In one of the studies, four Russian sprinters were doused with artificial, ultraviolet light. Another group wasn’t. Both trained identically for the 100-meter dash. The control group lowered their sprint times by 1.7 percent. The radiated runners, in comparison, improved by an impressive 7.4 percent." (**note that ultraviolet light causes the formation of vitamin D).

"when researchers tested the vertical jumping ability of a small group of adolescent athletes, Larson-Meyer says, “they found that those who had the lowest levels of Vitamin D tended not to jump as high,” intimating that too little of the nutrient may impair muscle power. Low levels might also contribute to sports injuries, in part because Vitamin D is so important for bone and muscle health. In a Creighton University study of female naval recruits, stress fractures were reduced significantly after the women started taking supplements of Vitamin D and calcium."

I highly recommend having your vitamin D level checked with your next blood work.  If it is low supplement with 2,000IU of vitamin D for 6 weeks and recheck.  With my family I have everyone supplement with about 1,000IU for about three weeks, then we take about a three week break.  WE also get plenty of sunshine!  If you are local, I have an excellent product in my office.

Vitamin D has been getting a lot of press lately, and rightly so.  If your read my blog you know that supplementing with some vitamins increases your chance of disease--specifically, supplemental vitamin C has been shown to increase cancer and cardiovascular death, vitamin E increases death rates in smokers, and vitamin A is toxic at high levels.  Vitamin D, however, is coming out looking like a gem--supplementation boosts the immune system, builds bone, decreases cancer, gives resistance to the flu, and decreases death rates significantly (read this study).

Further, we now know that vitamin D requirements are higher than we once thought.   New research shows that "the actual observations in both younger and older adults show that to ensure the goal of a vitamin D of 80 nmol/L in almost all adults, 100 mcg/d is required."  This dosage in I.U. (which is how most vitamin D supplements are labled), is 4,000 I.U.

For these reasons I now carry an excellent vitamin D supplement in my office.  In addition to a high dose of emulsified vitamin D, it contains Cod Liver oil, Genistein, and cofactors for absorption.  Check it out!

Another study demonstrates the benefits of omega-3's in the treatment of autism.  The study was small, involving 9 children given 1 gram of omega-3's per day for 12 weeks.  Eight of the 9 children had significant improvement on a well studied Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist, averaging 33% improvement.  The authors also noted "None worsened and no side effects were reported."  I highly recommend all children to take omega-3's, and it is critically important in children with autism, ADD, ADHD, Asperger's, and other learning impairments.  An excellent product, specially formulated for children, is available in my store.

Read the study here.

With flu season about to arrive, and increased worry due to the swine flu, I wanted to remind you about Andrographis Paniculata.  This herb, known as Kan Jang in China and as Kalmegh in India, is potent against the flu.  One study conducted on 540 people with the flu demonstrated the following:

"The differences in the duration of sick leave and frequency of post-influenza complications indicate that the Kan Jang phytopreparation not only contributes to quicker recovery, but also reduces the risk of post-influenza complications."

Other studies have demonstrated Andrographis to be more effective than Echinachea in fighting viral infections.  There is also a large amount of research on Andrographis for the common cold--all of it positive (do a search on my site for "Andrographis" for more research).

I carry an excellent Andrographis in my store and at my office--I recommend having some on hand to take if you're around people with cold/flu, or at the first sign of illness.

I am providing a link here to an excellent review of gut bacteria published by the National Institutes of Health--check it out--its good.  It has great pictures and accurate information regarding the dangers of antibiotics.  Here are a few quotes:

The microbiota is similar to an organ in that it performs functions essential for our survival. And just as with the heart or the lungs, when an environmental agent alters the function of the microbiota, the result can be disease.

Both human and animal studies have shown that even a one-time antibiotic treatment can lead to long-term shifts in microbial populations. The health consequences of these long-term shifts are still largely unknown.

“The incidence of [H. pylori] infection has been declining in the United States and other developed countries, which may contribute to the increasing incidence of [esophageal adenocarcinoma].”

In a study reported by Johan Dicksved et al. in the April 2007 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, children raised according to the “anthroposophic” lifestyle touted by philosopher Rudolf Steiner—with restricted antibiotics and plenty of microbe-rich fermented foods—showed higher microbial diversity than farm children, whose diets included more farm-produced animal products.

Psychological stress appears to reduce the numbers of Lactobacilli species in the human gut while increasing the growth of pathogens such as Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas species, as reported by Femke Lutgendorff et al. in the June 2008 issue of Current Molecular Medicine. 

"Helena Parracho and colleagues reported in the October 2005 Journal of Medical Microbiology that 91.4% of 58 autistic children studied had a GI disorder, compared with 25% of otherwise-healthy siblings..."

Several studies have reported a strong correlation between disrupted microbial composition and allergies and asthma. Infants with atopic eczema had lower microbial diversity in their guts as well as fewer species of Bifidobacteria, compared with healthy infants, according to a study by Mei Wang et al. in the January 2008 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

The bacteria in a gut, to a larger extent than I think we appreciate, both reflect and determine the state of your health.  Antibiotics are incredibly over-prescribed to the detriment of the user.

It's in everything--high fructose corn syrup.  This is a sugar that exists in nature which man has figured out how to produce cheaply in large quantities, and at a great expense.  One new study shows that the more high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) you eat, the more food you want to eat.  The authors concluded that "The fact that fructose metabolism by the brain increases food intake and obesity risk raises health concerns in view of the large and increasing per capita consumption of high fructose sweeteners, especially by youth."  It is likely that soda makers and other marketer's of HFCS know that the products make you eat more, and that is precisely why they use them--the more you eat, the more you want.  Read the study here.

Another study that just came out demonstrates that consuming a diet high in fructose for just seven days causes "ectopic lipid deposition in liver and muscle and fasting VLDL-triacylglycerols and decreased hepatic insulin sensitivity."  This means that fat is deposited in the liver and in muscle where it shouldn't be, and that the riskiest type of cholesterol changes occur, and that insulin resistance begins.  This is the beginning of the road to diabetes, heart disease, fatigue, and other chronic illness.  Read the study here.

I suggest eating sugars in moderation, and only in there natural form; agave nectar, molasses, maple syrup, and fruits are good alternatives to precessed sugars.  And, quit eating high fructose corn syrup! 

A new study found that in children with autistic spectrum disorders visual convergence is often affected.  Convergence is the ability to "cross the eyes" when focusing on a near object.  This is a very interesting study from a neurological and chiropractic perspective.  The nerve cells the coordinate convergence are very midline in the brainstem--they are in the same column of nerve cells that is responsible for "core muscles" of the spine.  This midline column of cells requires exquisitely tuned inputs from the body to generate appropriate output (coordination).  If you think of the central nervous system as a computer, this means that without comprehensible input (you typing and using your mouse appropriately), your computer will be unable to generate appropriate output.  Similarly, in humans, if the spine and brain are unable to appropriately process sensory input, output cannot be appropriately generated and dysfunction occurs.  

The single greatest input into your nervous system is gravity--input occurs from conception until your last breath.  This input sets the stage by creating a "background hum", priming the nervous system for all other inputs.  Without this "background", other sensory inputs cannot reach an appropriate threshold at an appropriate time to create a level of input that accurately reflects reality at any given moment. 

In chiropractic neurology, we spend a great deal of time examining the eyes--this is because you can easily see the coordination or lack of coordination in eye movments during an exam--its basically an incredibly precise muscle test.  With this information, a treamtent plan, including adjusments and other forms of stimulation can be created that can literally change your perception of reality!  If you or someone you know suffers from ADD, ADHD, Asperger's, or autism, I highly recommend consulting with a chiropractic neurologist--it can be life changing!

Read the new study here.

New research shows that pynogenol, an extract from pine bark, significantly decreases pain and inflammation related to arthritis.  The study followed 156 patients with painful arthritis of the knee; 77 were given 100mg of pycnogenol per day, while the remaining 79 were given a placebo.  After 3 months the treatment group outperformed the placebo group with less pain, increased walking distance, less edema (swelling) in the foot, and 58% less anti-inflammatory use.  

A follow-up to that study found large reductions in CRP (an inflammatory marker in the blood), fibrinigen (an indicator of inflammation and fibrosis), and free radicals following pycnogenol use (read the study here).

Keeping in mind that the diseases that plague modern man are all associated with inflammation and free radical production, on would expect pycnogenol to be helpful in other disorders as well.  A review of the literature over just the recent pasts reveals the following (you can click each topic to read the research): pycnogenol is very effective in the treatment of diabetes, fertility disorders, ADD/ADHD, and dementia (pycnogenol improves memory).

Read the study on knee arthritis.