Vitamins
What You Don’t Know About Magnesium
“Doctor, am I taking enough or too much calcium?” It’s a question I’m often asked by patients. But I can’t recall a single instance when a patient has asked the same question about magnesium. It’s ironic as studies show that many North Americans are not obtaining sufficient amounts of this important mineral. In some cases this can be a fatal error. Now there’s a simple, natural way to prevent this. Calcium has always enjoyed star status for good reason. Without sufficient calcium bones develop osteoporosis in which a minor fall, or a big hug, can snap a bone. But few realize that magnesium is required for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. For instance a magnesium deficiency can result in...Read More
Vitamins
Think You Know Everything About Arthritis?
It’s arthritis month and millions of North Americans are suffering from osteoarthritis, the wear and tear type, associated with aging. Why does this happen, and why does one remedy never hit the headlines? A French professor started his class by saying, “This has been said before, but must be said again, because no one listened.” So it must be said again about osteoarthritis because not enough people listened! An aphorism states, “If you keep going to hell, you’ll eventually get there.” Millions of people eventually get to an arthritic hell because they’re obese. How can anyone not expect to develop painful hips and knees when they are subjected day after day to 50 or more extra pounds of stress?...Read More
Vitamins
Vitamin K2 Essential For Good Bones and Hearts
What do the Japanese eat for breakfast that could help North Americans? Every year 7.5 billion packages of Natto are sold in Japan. The government has made it an integral part of the school breakfast program. Natto contains vitamin K2, a largely unknown vitamin on this continent and it packs a whammy. Studies show that K2 helps to prevent osteoporosis (brittle bones) and cardiovascular disease. In 1929, Danish scientist Dr. Henrik Dam, discovered vitamin K. Later, Japanese researchers reported that women living in Tokyo, where Natto, a centuries old Japanese food is a popular, had increased bone density. But women living in Western Japan where Natto is not popular showed a decline in bone density. Further research determined that vitamin...Read More
Cardiovascular, Vitamins
Former President Clinton’s Restenosis
BEST COLUMN OF 2010 Five years ago I wrote in this column, "Former President Clinton has joined 400,000 Americans who required coronary bypass surgery in the last year". Clinton had high blood cholesterol and took cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs). But in spite of these drugs, along with superb medical care, they failed to prevent a blocked artery. Again, recently the insertion of two stents (tiny structures like scaffolding) were required to reopen one coronary artery after he experienced chest pain. Five years ago, following his bypass, I wrote to the former President. I suggested he should discuss with his cardiologists the merit of high doses of vitamin C and lysine to prevent a recurrent blockage (restenosis) of his coronary arteries. I did not...Read More
Vitamins
Vitamin C and Alzheimer’s Disease
What causes Alzheimer’s Disease? No one knows the answer. But a recent report in the journal, Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, claims there is an important link between heart disease and Alzheimer’s Disease. The link is atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries). What amazes me is that since it’s been shown that vitamin C can reverse atherosclerosis in coronary arteries, why isn’t any one advocating its use in trying to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease? Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center in Oakland, California, and the University of Kuopio in Finland, tracked 10,000 people for 40 years. They found that high blood cholesterol was associated with a 66 percent higher risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. More worrying was that those with borderline levels of blood cholesterol...Read More
Vitamins
A Natural Cure For Constipation
What's the only cure for alcoholics? Alcoholics Anonymous. It advises people to pour alcohol down the drain. What we need is another organization, called Constipation Anonymous, to preach the same message to those who cripple their bowels by the chronic use of laxatives. But there is a safe, cheap, natural cure, unknown to 99.9 percent of the population, that cures daily grunting on the John. Barnum and Bailey, the circus promoters, used to say, "There's a sucker born every day". They could be referring to people who fall prey to high-powered ads and spend millions of dollars treating constipation. Busy doctors usually have little time to discuss this common malady with patients. So all too often patients with constipation seek out their...Read More
Vitamins
Vitamin D and Boston’s Floating Hospital
In the 19th century how were children treated who suffered from rickets due to a lack of vitamin D? If they were fortunate to live in New England, they were taken for long trips on Boston's Floating Hospital. This hospital ship exposed them to prolonged periods of sun, nature's way of producing vitamin D. Today not many people develop rickets. But how much D do you need, when should you take it, and can it protect you from a variety of problems? Here are some facts you should know. Does Vitamin D Prevent Cancer? Dr. Jo Ann Manson, Professor of Medicine at The Harvard Medical School, reports strong evidence that higher blood levels of vitamin D help to protect against colon cancer....Read More
Infection, Vitamins
The Case Of The Dilated Pupil
What causes the most problems for patients? Ask Dr.Jerome Groopman, Chief of Experimental Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He's author of the book "How Doctors Think" which outlines a study of 100 incorrect diagnoses. Dr. Groupman was interviewed by Dialogue, a publication of The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. He says that the wrong diagnosis isn't usually due to the doctors' ignorance, but by failing to ask the right questions. For instance, Dr. Groopman relates the story of a 80 year old man who had been seen by four specialists. The man had only one complaint? He said he suffered from "poor stamina". During several months specialists carried out cardiovascular, pulmonary function tests along with an...Read More
Infection, Vitamins
Why Has This Treatment (Vitamin C) For H1N1 Collected Dust?
A recent newspaper headline read, "Researchers look to common, cheap medications to help H1N1 patients". Viral experts are wondering whether cholesterol-lowering drugs and steroids could help to save the sickest H1N1patients. If these researchers studied history, they would learn how Dr. Frederick R. Klenner saved an important patient, and many others, from life-threatening viral infections. In, "The Clinical Guide to the use of Vitamin C", Dr. Lendon Smith details the clinical experiences of Frederick R. Klenner. Dr. Klenner had cured case after case of viral disease by massive doses of vitamin C. And when you read these cases, it boggles the mind why this research has collected so much dust. 56 years ago, a seven year old boy had been ill for...Read More
Cardiovascular, Vitamins
Vitamin C Prevents Hypertension?
"Is my blood pressure OK, doctor?" is a question asked day after day by patients. They worry their pressure is too high or too low. So this week, Course 101 in hypertension. And why is it that doctors do not prescribe vitamin C to prevent this silent killer? What is normal blood pressure? Normal is 120/80. The first number represents the force of the blood when the heart contracts. The second figure is the pressure between beats. What causes hypertension or high blood pressure? Often doctors are unable to pinpoint any specific cause for this condition. But high blood pressure is usually associated with patients who are obese with resulting Type 2 diabetes. This disease causes atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries) which increases...Read More
Cardiovascular, Vitamins
Vitamin C Prevents Heart Attack
Why would I travel to snowy England in January? I had the chance to spend a week studying with Dr. Sydney Bush, a distinguished English professor of optometry. This week why I believe his research on the cause of coronary artery disease deserves a Nobel Prize and how you can benefit from his research. What causes coronary attack? Authorities say it's due to increased blood cholesterol. But I've always questioned this theory since interviewing Dr. Linus Pauling (the only person to receive two Nobel Prizes). Years ago Pauling told me animals manufacture vitamin C, but humans do not. For instance, goats produce 13,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily! Humans lost this ability during the course of evolution. That's why cats survived voyages...Read More
Nutrition, Vitamins
What You Don’t Know About Calcium
How many of us are not taking calcium supplements today? Not many if my patients are a good sample of what's happening. But do you know that calcium supplementation may cause an increased number of hip fractures? And can meat help to make stronger bones? Dr. Bischoff-Ferrari, Professor of Clinical Research at the University Hospital in Zurick, Switzerland, is a world authority on calcium metabolism. She's also visiting professor at Tufts University in Boston and says the science behind calcium is as simple as most people believe. Bischoff-Ferrari reports in Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter that two major studies have come up with contradictory findings. The first study analyzed 19 different trials and found no overall benefit to taking greater than average amounts...Read More
Vitamins
Vitamin D Therapy: Course 101
A reader remarked, "I remember your column on vitamin D of several years ago. The one that said you could stand out naked all day in winter and never benefit from the sun. What is your current thinking about this vitamin?" Others ask, "how much vitamin should I take?" Here are the facts you should know about the sunshine vitamin. One In the 1900's researchers discovered that a lack of D caused rickets. The result was bow-legs and knock-knees. Today rickets is rare due to better nutrition. But reports from Boston show that rickets is on the rise again. For instance, in a study at The Harvard Medical School, 24 percent of teenagers of both sexes 11 and 18 years of age...Read More
Alcohol, Cardiovascular, Nutrition, Vitamins
The Red Wine Pill
How do the French differ from North Americans? They're noted for enjoying fat-rich, calorie-packed baked goodies which are not heart healthy. Yet they're less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than North Americans. It's called "The French Paradox", believed to be linked to resveratrol, a substance found in red wine. Now, a study shows that a red wine pill provides more health benefits than drinking hundreds of glasses of the sweet nectar of the gods. Dr. David Sinclair, a researcher at The Harvard Medical School, has developed a concentrated form of resveratrol. He's tested the effects on mice and believes it will help to offset the effect of high fat diets, decrease the chance of diabetes and slow down aging in...Read More
Vitamins
Vitamin C If It’s Good For Gorillas Why Not Us?
Are you headed for a heart attack because of "marginal scurvy", a condition resulting from a lack of vitamin C? Moreover, if vitamin C is sound medicine for gorillas, why isn't it good for us? And in the 16th century, why did the ship's cat survive long sea voyages when its sailors died from scurvy? Today we know that sailors of old, lacking vitamin C, died of this preventable disease. A shortage of fresh fruit in their diet resulted in degeneration of blood vessels, hemorrhage and death. Today scurvy is considered past history. But recent evidence shows that some people are suffering from marginal scurvy. Dr. Carol S. Johnston, Associate Professor at Arizona State University, reports that 7 per cent of Canadians, 13...Read More
Vitamins
Why Are Gorillas In Captivity Dying?
Why is the recent epidemic of heart disease in captive gorillas important to humans? Surely we have enough human medical problems without wasting time on our close ancestor. But biologically we share with gorillas one startling similarity. Gorillas and humans lack an enzyme L-gulonolactone which is necessary to convert sugar glucose into vitamin C. You might say, "So what?" Well, before you go back to enjoying your morning coffee, consider this point. Lions, tigers, cats, cows, dogs, chickens and elephants all make their own vitamin C. They make a lot of C, from 3,000 to more than 13,000 milligrams (mg) a day. Unlike humans they also don't suffer from the same cardiovascular disease in the wild. But recently gorillas in captivity have...Read More
Cardiovascular, Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Vitamins
Your Heart Is Slowly Dying From Chronic Scurvy
Why is research that could save countless lives unknown to Canadian and U.S. doctors? This week, a report that Dr. Sydney Bush, an optometrist in Hull, England, has made an historic discovery. He claims that atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries) can be reversed. And his research, which could save millions from heart attack, should have made headlines around the world. It's been said that the eye is the window to the heart. It's the only part of the body through which doctors can see arteries and veins during an eye examination. This allows doctors to see changes in retinal vessels, the result of aging, hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis. And it's been believed for years that blockages in arteries due to cholesterol deposits...Read More
Gastroenterology, Vitamins
Treating The Rocky Bowel For 15 Cents – Big Errors with Fibre
What's the best way to determine whether a patient's diet contains sufficient fiber? Luckily, there's no need to order expensive CT scans, MRIs or ultrasounds. A quick rectal examination that finds rock-like stools will provide the answer. And every day in my office I make this diagnosis. What patients don't realize is they've committed a nutritional sin, an omission endangering their health. Humans don't learn from history. Dr. Denis Burkitt, a British researcher, showed that African natives who consumed large amounts of fiber did not suffer from constipation, appendicitis or problems of the large bowel, such as diverticulitis (hernias of the colon). Students of history may remember the story of the battle ship King George V chasing Germany's battleship, the Bismark. But...Read More
Vitamins
Vitamins: Too much or Too Little?
"Do you want Ford or Cadillac vitamins?", I asked readers in a previous column. It triggered many requests, revealing much confusion about vitamins. Some readers had stopped taking vitamin E due to scary headlines. Others had tossed out calcium as being ineffective. Still others wondered if it's possible to get too much of a good thing, and where to obtain more information on vitamins. An excess of anything can be poison to the human body. Too much vitamin A can cause fetal defects in pregnant women and in others, severe liver damage. Hunters who eat bear's liver which contains large amounts of vitamin A have suffered from liver failure. We need no more than 10,000 IU of A daily. You can also...Read More
Vitamins
Do You Want Ford Or Cadillac Vitamins
"What brand of vitamins should I buy?" is a question readers often ask when I write about them. I've never been able to provide any good answer with so many brands available. But I recently read "A Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements" written by Lyle MacWilliam. I was shocked to learn that some well known brands I'd often purchased failed to make the grade. As a Scot, wanting to get value for the dollar, I interviewed MacWilliam who gave me course 101 on how to buy vitamins. MacWilliam, a biochemist, used the published recommendations of seven nutritional authorities to determine what vitamins, minerals and other nutrients should be present in a multivitamin pill considering our state of scientific knowledge. He then...Read More
Vitamins
Even Taking Off Your Clothes Is Useless
If you asked anyone to stand outside naked during the winter months from sunrise to sunset, they would think you'd gone bonkers. But even if willing to be arrested for doing it, they would still not receive enough sunshine to produce vitamin D. Today we're constantly urged to keep out of the sun for fear of skin cancer. But most people are unaware that too little vitamin D from the sun may increase the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Dr. Catherine Gordon, a pediatrician at The Harvard Medical School, recently reported a shocking finding to The Endocrinology Society. Gordon and her colleagues tested the vitamin D levels of 307 teenagers between 11 and 18 years of age. 24 per...Read More
Vitamins
To E Or Nor To E
Should I believe the study that links vitamin E to a possible premature death? I couldn't resolve this question and finally gave up. Possibly I needed a holiday from deadlines as during a cruise along the west coast of Mexico on Holland America's Ryndam, the sea air cleared my mind. It occurred to me that researchers had forgotten vital historical facts. The study causing all the hubbub was a Johns Hopkins report that analyzed 19 clinical trials. It concluded that 400 or more international units (IU) of vitamin E per day increased the risk of dying from all causes by about four percent. In addition, a Canadian study showed that more people taking vitamin E developed heart failure. So it appeared...Read More
Vitamins
The “Red” Power of Tomatoes
Thank God I don't have to eat broccoli! Thank God that I love tomatoes. Red tomatoes contain lycopene, a natural pigment and powerful antioxidant. And recent research indicates that loving tomatoes fights prostate cancer and other malignancies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that during 2004 over 340,000 North American males will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. 45,000 will die from it. Dr. Omer Kucuk, Professor of Medicine and Oncology at Wayne State University of Michigan, is an authority on the "Red power" of tomatoes. He studied 26 patients who were scheduled to undergo surgery for cancer of the prostate. Some of these patients were prescribed a lycopene supplement, 15 milligrams (mg) twice daily, (the equivalent of three large tomatoes) prior...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Vitamins
Lutein For Healthy Eyes
Today seven million North Americans Suffer from a devastating disease, macular degeneration. No longer can they enjoy the simple pleasures of reading or watching TV. These unfortunate people have lost their central vision. But there is a way to reduce the risk of this disabling problem. The retina acts like the film of a camera conveying images to the brain. The big picture is sent by sensitive detectors present throughout the retina. The small picture, namely central vision is sent by the macula. It's situated directly behind the lens, densely packed with visual detectors about the size of the "o". Stare someone in the eye at a distance of 20 feet and your looking at the macula. All the rest is peripheral...Read More
Gastroenterology, Neurology, Vitamins
How To Keep Your Brain In Shape
Are there some days you believe you need a brain transplant? You're getting those senior moments even though you're only 40 years age? Or starting to worry that at 70 you're forgetting things you shouldn't forget? These days with so much talk about Alzheimer's Disease it's easy to assume you may be losing it. Fortunately most people who worry about this disease don't have it. But today there are ways to keep the brain in better shape? Here's a story that shows you don't have to be a neurologist to understand what's happening to the brain. Rather, Dr. Robert Russell a gastroenterologist and Director of the Human Research Center at Tuft's University, cured this woman with a single pill. The patient, 70...Read More
