Month: September 2007

There are many factors that are leading causes of the epidemic of diabetes. Chief among these causes are over-consumption of sugar, high fructose corn syrups in many over-processed “foods,” and over-prescription of some drugs. “What? What was that last item? You you saying certain drugs can cause diabetes?” Well, the article at the link below makes just that claim!

Is diabetes caused by pharmaceuticals?

“On July 31st, Patrick Bills filed a lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb claiming that its drug, Tequin, the brand name of gatafloxacin, caused his diabetes. The New England Journal of Medicine reported on March 30, 2006 that gatifloxacin causes both hypo- and hyperglycemia, the precursor of diabetes. Is this drug unique, or is it possible that many drugs increase the chance of this debilitating and fatal disease? The number of people becoming diabetic is increasing dramatically. According to Express Scripts, in the U.S. it doubled in 5-19 year olds between 2002 and 2005. In a study for the Financial Times, Medco found that type 2 diabetes more than doubled in children between 2001 and 2005. The most common explanation for this very troubling increase is that it’s dietary, the result of eating too much and eating unhealthy food. Is this, though, the only reason? Atypical antipsychotics, modern drugs used to control symptoms of schizophrenia, are known to cause diabetes—but is it possible that other drugs do, too? Could it be that unnecessary prescribing is a factor in the explosive increase in diabetes? Jeni Dingman, founder of PULSE America (Persons United Limiting Substandards and Errors in Healthcare), responds, ‘There has been an alarming increase in children taking medications. It makes someone wonder if there’s a link.’

These commonly prescribed drugs have the chemical characteristic that may cause diabetes:

* Antibiotics: penicillins, cephalosporins, erythomycin
* Tranquilizers: barbiturates, benzodiazepines (such as Valium)
* Others: syntocinon (labor inducer), ergometrine (stops postpartum bleeding), acetaminophen (Tylenol)

Dr. Landymore-Lim says that she is unaware of any studies to determine whether these drugs can be definitively implicated for inducing diabetes. Her research documents how such drugs may induce diabetes and that areas in which they are prescribed more have a higher incidence of diabetes Ultimately, though, it will require funding and the cooperation of the medical profession to provide the research needed to definitively document whether these common drugs cause diabetes.

The diabetes epidemic may be partially caused by the medical profession’s overuse of drugs. How can parents protect their children against unnecessary or dangerous prescriptions? Jeni Dingman suggests, ‘My advice is that everyone should be very informed as a patient. You should never take anything you’re told by your medical professional at face value when it concerns medication. Always learn for yourself by using the internet and going to the website of the companies that make the medications and learn all about side effects, interactions, and other potential problems with medications.'”

We have seen that Vitamin D has long been misunderstood and we have been further deprived of it by the media scare against going out in the sun (the sun interacting with your skin produces Vitamin D in your body.) But, now, new research is indicating it may lengthen you life!

Vitamin D Supplements May Lengthen Life

“Vitamin D supplements could prolong your life, a new European study suggests. “The intake of usual doses of vitamin D seems to decrease mortality from any cause of death,’ said lead researcher Dr. Philippe Autier, from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. The new finding, published in the Sept. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, is a bit of an anomaly, because the benefits of vitamin supplements remains uncertain at best. While they are often touted as a means of reducing risks for cancer and heart disease, some studies have found supplements have no effect on these conditions. For example, other studies have shown that vitamin E has no effect on cancer, Autier said. And prior research suggests that multivitamin supplements do nothing to reduce cancer risk, he added. But vitamin D may be the exception, according to the results of this new study. ‘This is the first study that shows that taking one vitamin has an impact on mortality,’ Autier said. ‘If you want to increase your vitamin D intake by taking supplements, it looks like a great idea.’ In the study, Autier, and his colleague Sara Gandini, from the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, looked at data from 18 trials involving more than 57,000 people. Doses of vitamin D in the trials varied from 300 to 2,000 international units (IUs), with an average dose of 528 IUs. Over a follow-up of almost 6 years, 4,777 of the people in the studies died. Those who took vitamin D supplements had a 7 percent lower risk of death compared with those who didn’t take the supplement, Autier and Gandini found. Nine of the trials had collected blood samples. Those subjects who took the supplements had a 1.4- to 5.2-fold higher level of vitamin D in their blood compared to those who did not, the researchers note. This finding could lead to new drugs to fight cancer and other diseases, Autier said. ‘Vitamin D can reduce the proliferation of cells; the proliferation of cells is something you see in cancer,’ he said.

Note that from the quotes in the story, they were trying very hard NOT to believe that vitamins supplementation was beneficial, yet the results STILL proven to be valid… and they call it “an anomaly!” No, they just have yet to admit that nutritional supplementation can be a benefit to health!

Are your kids hyperactive? Do they fidget all the time? Then cut out the artificial preservatives, flavorings, colors, and other ingredients in their junk food… and, let’s face it, most of their food IS junk!

Hyper Kids? Cut Out Preservatives

“Parents who suspect that artificial ingredients in food are affecting their children’s behavior can now point to some cold, hard proof. A carefully designed study released Thursday in The Lancet, a leading British medical journal, shows that a variety of common food dyes and the preservative sodium benzoate — an ingredient in many soft drinks, fruit juices, salad dressings and other foods — causes some children to become more hyperactive and distractible than usual. ‘In terms of a question that’s been raging for years, it’s the best study to date — an extremely good study,’ says Dr. Philip Shaw, a research psychiatrist in the Child Psychiatry branch of the National Institute of Mental Health. The study prompted Britain’s Food Standards Agency to issue an immediate advisory to parents to limit their children’s intake of additives if they notice an effect on behavior. In the U.S., there’s been no such official response, but doctors say it makes sense for parents to be on the alert.”