May 2008

May2008

Naturalremedies vs. the superbugs!

The fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria (socalled "superbugs") is increasingly in our minds as reports ofhospital-based infections flood the media. What's not often reported, however, isresearch showing that a few natural remedies have shown promise.

One of the major superbugs is MRSA (methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus), which occurs most frequentlyamong patients who undergo invasive medical procedures or who have weakened immunesystems. Hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers are the majortransmission sites. MRSA can cause serious and even life-threateninginfections, such as bloodstream infections, surgicalsite infections or pneumonia. MRSA can also infect otherwise healthy people inthe community, typically as a skin infection.

Tea treatment?

Egyptian scientists have recently shown that drinkinggreen tea helps vital antibiotics in their fight against resistant superbugs,making them up to three times more effective. While testing 28 disease-causingbacteria to see if green tea would have any negative interaction withantibiotics, they found the quite the opposite.

"In every single case green tea enhanced thebacteria-killing activity of the antibiotics," says Dr MervatKassem from Alexandria University.

Greentea also made 20% of drug-resistant bacteriasusceptible to one of the cephalosporin antibiotics. These are importantantibiotics that new drug resistant strains of bacteria have evolved to resist.

"Our results show that we should consider moreseriously the natural products we consume in our everyday life," says Dr Kassem.

Sweet but strong!

Another such "everyday" natural product ishoney. For several years now medical experts from the University of Bonnhave been clocking up largely positive experience with what is known as medihoney. Even chronic wounds infected withmulti-resistant bacteria are often healed within a few weeks. It has alreadybeen proved that medihoney is effective againstmulti-resistant germs such as MRSA. So far, trials suggest the superbug doesnot develop resistance to the natural product. In a recent study, Irishscientists reported that honey was able to reduce the MRSA cultures to anon-detectable level within only 24 hours. One type of honey, known as Manuka, appearsto be particularly affective against a broad range of bacteria.

More against MRSA

Other common remedies showing promise against MRSAinclude garlic and tea treeoil. A compound in garlic called allicinis extremely effective in this regard, according to Ronald Cutler, a UK lecturer in microbiology at the University of East London.

"Allicin simply blowsenormous holes through MRSA," says Cutler, who has formulated allicin into skin products such as creams and soaps and hasachieved success in destroying the microbes in laboratory tests.

In another small experiment, a tea tree oil nasalointment and a body wash were compared to similar standard antibiotictreatments against MRSA. The researchers concluded that "the tea tree oilcombination appeared to perform better than the standard combination,"although larger trials are necessary to establish effectiveness and treatmentprotocols.

Sources: Society for GeneralMicrobiology, Mar 30, 2008; University of Bonn, July 27, 2006;Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2008 May;14(2):77-82. Epub 2008; J Hosp Infect. 2000 Nov;46(3):236-7

Folic acid: not just for women

Woman of childbearing age are commonly advised to consumefolate in order to help prevent birth defects, shouldthey conceive. Now it appears that men's folateintake also affects reproductive health.

In addition, folate (a nutrientalso known as folic acid) has recently been shown to blunt the damaging effectsof heart attack when given in short-term, high doses to test animals.

Californiaresearchers examined the sperm of men who consume less folatein their diets and found that healthy men who report lower levels of folate consumption have higher rates of chromosomalabnormalities in their sperm.

"Recent studies have suggested that paternal dietaffects sperm count and motility, which is important for conception, but thisnew study takes it further to say that male diet may be important for healthyoffspring as well," study coordinator Susanne Young says.

A separate study conducted by an international team ofheart experts reports that rats fed 10 mg per day of folatefor one week prior to heart attack had smaller attacks than rats that took nosupplements.

The amount of muscle tissue exposed to damage and scarredby arterial blockage was reduced, on average, to less than a 10th.

"We want to emphasize that it is premature forpeople to begin taking high doses of folic acid," studyinvestigator Dr. David Kass says.

"But if human studies prove equally effective, thenhigh-dose folate could be given to high-risk groupsto guard against possible heart attack or to people while they are havingone."

Sources: University of California, Berkeley,Mar 19, 2008; John Hopkins Medicine, Mar 27, 2008

Combination eases blood pressure

Taking garlic and vitamin C may bring marginally highblood pressure back to normal, new research shows.

A pilot study from Albany, New York involved six people withmarginally elevated blood pressure. The individuals underwent four 10-dayinterventions with one-week breaks in between. First they received a placebo,next 2,000 mg per day of vitamin C, then 650 mg per day of garlic tabletscontaining bulb powder, and finally vitamin C and garlic tablets incombination.

Vitamin C alone did not affect blood pressure. Garlicalone significantly lowered mean systolic but not diastolic blood pressure. Butgarlic taken incombination with vitaminC reduced mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

"The effect of garlic ingredients or garlicingredients and antioxidants on endothelial cell nitric oxide production mightexplain the effects of garlic and vitaminC in lowering marginally high blood pressure,"the researchers concluded.

Endothelial cells are thin cells that line the inside surfacesof blood and lymph vessels.

Source: NutrRes, 2007; 27(2): 119-123

Minerals may help with low thyroid

If your thyroid is low, consider talking to your doctorabout a zinc and iron connection. Taking zinc supplements can help improvethyroid function; and conversely, iron deficiency impairs thyroid metabolism,research indicates.

A recent case study explored the role of zinc by givingeach of two physically active college women about 25 mg per day of zinc.

After four months, the women were no longerzinc-deficient. As well, zinc supplementation appeared to have a favourable effect on thyroid hormone levels, especiallytotal T3; and resting metabolic rate, the researchers found. T3, the mostpowerful thyroid hormone, affects almost every process in the body, includingbody temperature, growth, and heart rate.

An unrelated Iranian study examined thyroid status inrelation to low iron levels, building on extensive human and animal dataindicating that iron deficiency impairs thyroid metabolism. Having collectedurine and blood samples from about 100 iron-deficient adolescent girls,researchers found a significant correlation between T4 and ferritin,and between TSH and ferritin.

T4 is a thyroid hormone that helps regulate growth andcontrol the metabolic rate, or rate of chemical reactions in the body. TSH, ahormone produced by the pituitary gland, stimulates the thyroid gland toproduce more thyroid hormones. Ferritin is aniron-carrying protein considered to be a more accurate measure of long termbody iron status than the blood iron level, which varies with diet.

The study's total findings indicate that the degree of irondeficiency may affect thyroid hormone status in iron-deficient adolescentgirls.

Sources: Ann NutrMetab. 2007;51(2):188-94 Epub 2007 May 30; Asia PacJ Clin Nutr. 2006;15(1):50-5

Vitamin E: benefits for the elderly

Taking vitamin E can improve immunity in the elderly, newresearch suggests. As well, higher vitamin E levels in the blood may help protectelderly people against cognitive impairment and dementia.

Spanish researchers studied otherwise healthy elderly menand women whose immune functions were impaired compared to a control group.However, taking 200 mg (about 300 IU) of vitamin E for three monthssignificantly improved immune functions among members of the group, bringingtheir levels close to those of the controls.

These findings "suggest that supplementation withvitamin E can produce an improvement of immune functions and therefore ofhealth in aged people," researchers concluded.

Earlier research conducted in Italy points to the possible roleof vitamin E in protecting against cognitive impairment and dementia.

In this study, about 1,000 people age 65 and up receivedclinical and neuropsychological examinations, donated blood for vitamin Eanalysis and had their diets assessed.

Participants with the lowest blood levels of vitaminE had a significantly higher probability of beingdemented and of suffering from cognitive impairment, compared to those with thehighest vitamin E levels.

Before conducting the study, researchers were faced withconflicting evidence that antioxidants contribute to the maintenance ofcognitive function. However, the findings of this study led them to concludethat the antioxidant vitaminE does appear to serve in this capacity.

Sources: Free RadicRes. 2008 Mar;42(3):272-80; NeurobiolAging. 2005 Jul;26(7):987-94. Epub2004 Nov 5

Berries may reverse memory loss

If you're getting forgetful as you get older, then aresearch team at Peninsula Medical Schoolin the Southwest of England may have good news for you.

They have found that phytochemical-richfoods, such as blueberries, are effective at reversing age-related deficits inmemory, according to a study soon to be published. The researchers supplementeda regular diet with blueberries over a 12-week period, and found thatimprovements in spatial working memory tasks emerged within three weeks andcontinued throughout the period of the study.

Blueberries are a major source of flavonoids,in particular anthocyanins and flavanols.Although the precise ways in which these molecules affect the brain areunknown, they have been shown to cross the blood brain barrier after dietaryintake. It is believed that they exert their effects on learning and memory byenhancing existing neuronal (brain cell) connections, improving cellularcommunications and stimulating neuronal regeneration.

Source: The Peninsula Collegeof Medicine and Dentistry , Apr 10, 2008

Chinese researchers report that omega-3s may offer an alternative toantidepressant medications during pregnancy. The double-blind,placebo-controlled study involved 24 pregnant women with major depressive disorder.From one month prior to starting the study, no medications were used by thepatients, who were then randomized to receive 3.4 g/d of omega-3 or placebo for8 weeks. By six and eight weeks, those in the omega-3 grouphad significantly lower scores for depressive symptoms on three common ratingscales, compared with women taking placebo. The authors conclude that"Omega-3...may have therapeutic benefits in depression duringpregnancy" and recommend further study.

Source: Clin Psychiatry, 2008, Mar 18; [Epubahead of print]

Getting more vitamin K2 may reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 35%,according to results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancerand Nutrition (EPIC). The German researchers noted that the potential benefitsof K2 were more pronounced for cases ofadvanced prostate cancer. The study adds to a growing awareness of thepotential health benefits of vitamin K2,most notable for bone and blood health, but also recently linked to improvedskin health.

There are two main forms of vitamin K: phylloquinone(vitamin K1) and menaquinones (vitaminK2). The protective effect in this study was onlynoted with the K2 type.

Source: AmericanJournal of Clinical Nutrition, Apr 2008

Hyaluronic acid

What is it? A lubricating andprotective substance found in the fluid of joints.

Why use it? To reduce pain andimprove symptoms of arthritis; to help heal wounds.

What's the research?Studies show that the HA content in osteoarthritic cartilage is reduced and thatsupplementation eases pain and improves joint function. Lab studies show that HA canstimulate chondrocyte metabolism, the processresponsible for joint cartilage production and maintenance.

According to UK Researchers at the Imperial College London, getting higher dietarylevels of phosphorous, calcium and magnesium can help prevent or control highblood pressure. Their study involved 4,680 men and women from Japan, China,United Kingdom and Unites States,and used blood pressure measurements and food diaries.

Source:Hypertension, 2008; 51(3): 669-75

US researchers from the Department of Nutrition atthe Harvard School of Public Health report that taking a daily multivitamintablet can reduce the risk of ovulatory infertility(not developing and releasing a mature egg every month). Their 8-year study involved 18,555 married, premenopausal women without ahistory of infertility. They found that women taking two or less multivitamintablets per week had a 12% reduced risk of ovulatoryinfertility; women taking three to five multivitamin tablets per weeks had a31% reduced risk; and women taking six or more multivitamin tablets per weekhad a 41% reduced risk, compared to women who did not use multivitaminsupplements. The risk reduction was partly explained by folic acid, say theresearchers.

Source: Fertil Steril, 2008; 89(3):668-76

Researchers from Italyreport that, compared to subjects with normalcognitive function, those with dementia were found to have lower omega-3 fatty acidlevels, particularly alpha-linolenic acid levels.

Source: J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2007; 62(10): 1120-6.

University of Rochester researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in grapeskins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to thecell's core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function. Thestudy also showed that when the pancreatic cancer cells were doubly assaulted(pre-treated with the antioxidant, resveratrol, and irradiated) the combinationinduced a type of cell death called apoptosis, an important goal of cancertherapy. It appears that