Month: July 2006

Healthy adults taking maximum doses of Tylenol for two weeks had abnormal liver test results in a small study, researchers found, raising concerns that even recommended amounts of the popular painkiller might lead to liver damage. In the study, 106 participants took four grams of Tylenol — equivalent to eight extra-strength Tylenol tablets — each day for two weeks. Some took Tylenol alone and some took it with an opioid painkiller. Dummy pills were given to 39 others. There were no alarming liver test results among the people who took the placebos. But nearly 40 percent of people in all the other groups had abnormal test results that would signal liver damage, according to the study that appears in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.”

Tylenol Can Adversely Effect Your Liver!

I, personally, use a natural, herbal painkiller, if needed: White Willow Bark (Salix alba.) Willows have been used for centuries for pain relief and reduction of fever. The leaves can be chewed, and contain salicylic acid. This compound has been synthesized into acetylsalicylic acid, otherwise known as aspirin. Natural salicylic acid is nearly as potent as aspirin, however, the compound salicin from willow does not cause gastric or intestinal upset or bleeding as aspirin can, This is because willow does not block prostaglandins in the stomach or intestines.

The liver is the major “filter” for the whole body. Suppressed liver function can lead to many serious conditions.

Diarrhea can be a dibilitating condition. You can’t go anywhere or do anything because you are “tied” to a bathroom! A new study suggests that probiotics can be a treatment for this condition! Based on a meta-analysis of 34 randomized trials, probiotics reduced the incidence of antibiotic-related diarrhea by 52 percent. Generally, probiotics lowered the risk of diarrhea among adults (26 percent) and children (57 percent.) However, probiotics didn’t do nearly as much good for travelers’ diarrhea, according to the study, reducing it only by 8 percent.

New Study: Probiotics and Diarrhea

The study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 6, Issue 6, June 2006, Pages 374-382, says in part, “Evaluating the evidence by types of acute diarrhoea suggests that probiotics significantly reduced antibiotic-associated diarrhoea by 52% (95% CI 35–65%), reduced the risk of travellers’ diarrhoea by 8% (−6 to 21%), and that of acute diarrhoea of diverse causes by 34% (8–53%). Probiotics reduced the associated risk of acute diarrhoea among children by 57% (35–71%), and by 26% (7–49%) among adults. The protective effect did not vary significantly among the probiotic strains Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and other strains used alone or in combinations of two or more strains. Although there is some suggestion that probiotics may be efficacious in preventing acute diarrhoea, there is a lack of data from community-based trials and from developing countries evaluating the effect on acute diarrhoea unrelated to antibiotic usage.”

In severe cases of diarrhea, try taking large doses of probiotics over time, I have seen the effects reduced in hours by this method!

You know that as a Naturopath, I am always fascinated by how natural, non-chemical approaches keep turning out to be the best methodology for treating conditions and, generally, solving problems. Well, here’s a natural approach to the age-old problem of repelling mosquitoes! The American beautyberry plant, Callicarpa americana, that may keep the chomping insects away.

Scientists Confirm Folk Remedy Repels Mosquitoes

“Three repellent chemicals were extracted during the 12-month study: callicarpenal, intermedeol and spathulenol. The research concluded that all three chemicals repulse mosquitoes known to transmit yellow fever and malaria. Mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus were not tested as part of the study, but the USDA-ARS has since filed a patent application to use callicarpenal as an anthropod repellent.”

“Drinking a daily eight ounce glass of pomegranate juice can significantly slow the progress of prostate cancer, a study suggests. Researchers say the effect may be so large that it may help older men outlive the disease. Pomegranates contain a cocktail of chemicals which minimise cell damage, and potentially kill off cancer cells. The study, by the University of California in Los Angeles, appears in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.”

Pomegranate Juice Slows Prostate Cancer Growth