UnSymmetrical

Over 460,000 people per year are now dying of a disorder called of sudden cardiac death according to CDC statistics. This is a condition striking otherwise healthy people, who have experienced no obvious symptoms of heart disease prior to their deaths. An alarming number of these deaths are occurring in young athletes, both in high schools, colleges, as well as among professional athletes.

While cardiologists have found coronary disease and suspect previous scars from silent heart attacks in a number of these individuals, one mechanism is getting no attention at all, and that is excitotoxic damage caused by food additives and the artificial sweetener aspartame. This is despite growing evidence that the excitotoxic mechanism plays a major role in cardiac disease.

Previously, it was thought that excitotoxin food additives, such as monosodium glutamate and aspartic acid in aspartame, cause their damage in the cardiovascular centers in the brain stem and/or by over stimulating sympathetic centers in the hypothalamus of the brain. Both of these mechanisms have been shown to result in sudden cardiac death in experimental animals.

Continue reading "Sudden Cardiac Death and Food Excitotoxin Additives" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 06:19 AM | Permalink

A new study has found that when kids consume high levels of dairy, they develop greater bone density and more bone-mineral content. The study, out of Boston University School of Medicine, followed 106 children, aged three to six, over a 12-year period. At the conclusion of the research, the children who had consumed at least two servings of dairy daily had bone mineral content 175 grams higher than those who consumed less than that. Plus, the kids who ate at least four ounces of meat or other protein a day in addition to two servings of dairy had bone-mineral content a whopping 200-grams higher than the kids who ate less dairy and meat.

The findings generated headlines announcing, for instance, that "Childhood Dairy Intake May Improve Adolescent Bone Health" (Science Daily) and "Childhood Dairy Intake Boosts Bone Health Later On," (US News and World Report). Meanwhile, chief researcher Dr. Lynn Moore points out, "...dairy is a key source of proteins, calcium, and other micronutrients including phosphorus and vitamin D." The implication is that kids should gulp down the moo juice so that they grow up strong, healthy, and tough.

Holy cow! I'm ready to hang it up and go out and eat an 18-ounce steak and drink a quart of milk! Or not.

What we have here is an example of how facts can be misleading. Because while it may be true that drinking lots of milk builds up bone density in kids, it's also true that dense bones in childhood don't necessarily equate to healthy bones as you age. Surprise, building up bone density by consuming dairy for years on end sets you up for a greater likelihood of osteoporosis later on.

Continue reading "Drink Milk For Healthy Bones...Or Not!" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 11:05 PM | Permalink

In a major shot fired across the bow of the statin marketing machine, the levels of LDL cholesterol that are the artificial targets of “health” promoted by the American Heart Association (AHA) are now found to be associated with a significant increased risk of cancer and death.

The AHA recommends an LDL level of 100 for prevention and 70 for high risk patients. In the new study an LDL level of 107 was associated with a 33% increased risk of cancer and death, an LDL level of 87 was associated with a 50% increased risk. As the LDL goes lower the risk keeps getting worse. These arbitrary AHA levels for LDL cholesterol were established by “experts” with direct financial ties to the statin industry, who knew full well that reaching their artificially low target levels for LDL would require double and triple doses of statin drugs, thus dramatically increasing sales (which has indeed happened).

The Vytorin fraud has pointed out quite clearly that lowering LDL cholesterol to very low levels does not reduce cardiovascular disease. Another Vytorin study also shows doing so increases cancer risk by 64%. The new study paints the clear picture that lowering LDL too low actually increases the rate of death from any cause. This new study also points out the statistical shenanigans that the statin industry uses to hide the actual risks of these drugs in the studies that have been published.

Continue reading "Low Cholesterol Increases Cancer And Death Risk" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 05:15 AM | Permalink

Drinking water disinfected by chlorine while pregnant may increase the risk of having children with heart problems, cleft palate or major brain defects, according to a study published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health.

This finding, based on an analysis of nearly 400,000 infants in Taiwan, is the first that links by-products of water chlorination to three specific birth defects.

Water chlorination is a widely used and efficient method to disinfect drinking water and reduce the occurrence of waterborne diseases. However, numerous studies have revealed the presence of many chlorination by-products in the water. Recent research suggests that prenatal exposure to these by-products may increase the risk of birth defects.

A research team led by Jouni Jaakkola from the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Birmingham, UK, gathered data on almost 400,000 infants born in Taiwan. The researchers used statistical analyses to see if drinking tap water containing high, medium or low levels of chlorination by-products increased the risk of 11 common birth defects.

Although the researchers found no direct link between the prevalence of any birth defect and the level of exposure, their calculations revealed that exposure to high levels of by-products substantially increased the risk of three common defects: ventricular septal defects (holes in the heart), cleft palate, and anencephalus (where neural development fails, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp).

Continue reading "Is Tap Water Safe for Expectant Mothers?" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 05:48 PM | Permalink

Hairdressers and barbers are at increased risk of developing cancer – because of their use of hair dyes. And the risks could extend to personal use of the dyes, according to international experts.

A review of the evidence by a panel of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France, has found a “small but consistent risk of bladder cancer in male hairdressers and barbers".

A second review of the evidence on personal use of hair dyes found some studies suggesting a possible association with bladder cancer and with lymphoma and leukaemia.

But the panel found that the evidence was inadequate and concluded that personal use of hair dyes was “not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans".

The panel was composed of 17 scientists who met last February to consider the latest evidence and update advice last issued by the agency in 1993.

Continue reading " Hair Dyes Found to Increase Cancer Risk" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 01:16 PM | Permalink

The good cholesterol that scientists have thought helped unclog arteries had no effect on heart disease in a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, casting doubt on a theory drugmakers have spent more than $1 billion pursuing, Bloomberg News writes.

Researchers studied people who have a genetic condition that causes them to produce very low levels of HDL cholesterol, expecting they’d be about twice as likely to have heart disease. Instead, they had no greater risk, throwing into question the notion that raising HDL helps reduce plaque in arteries, a theory Pfizer, Merck and Roche have all pursued at various times, the wire notes.

“There is really no evidence that this method is going to work,” Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen, a study and clinical biochemistry researcher at Copenhagen University Hospital, tells Bloomberg. “This theory has been around for a long time, but this study just doesn’t support it.” The reason may be that other HDL research examined patients with high levels of triglycerides, not low HDL levels, may have caused their increased heart risk, she adds. Here is the abstract.

Continue reading "HDL Cholesterol May Not Help The Heart After All" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 10:18 PM | Permalink