Norway is first to ban mercury in teeth

Mercury has been banned from all dental fillings in Norway. Dentists in the country had to start using safer alternatives as a matter of law from the beginning of this year. The metal has also been banned from all products, including measuring instruments.

The country had previously restricted the use of amalgam fillings, especially in children and pregnant and nursing women, but is the first in the world to enforce a complete ban.

Announcing the ban, Norway’s Minister of Environment and Development Erik Solheim said: “Mercury is among the most dangerous environmental toxins. Satisfactory alternatives to mercury in products are available, and it is therefore fitting to introduce a ban.”

Norway is concerned that mercury in our teeth and in the environment is extremely dangerous, and can harm the development of children.

Townsend Letter, 2008; 297: 33

Vytorin, Zetia should be drugs of last resort, panel urges

The blockbuster drugs Vytorin and Zetia should be used only after all other cholesterol-lowering drugs fail until research proves that the medications work, a panel of heart specialists recommended.The panel, convened by the American College of Cardiology, based its assessment on detailed evidence from a controversial study showing that Vytorin worked no better than a statin drug now sold as a cheap generic.

"There is absolutely no difference … between the two treatment groups," said lead investigator John Kastelein of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam at the group's annual scientific session.The panel's spokesman, Harlan Krumholz of Yale University, said: "Our strongest recommendation is that people need to go back to statins. … If you were put on this drug before you were fully treated on a statin, you should go back."The study's results also were released online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Both Zetia and Vytorin are made up of a drug, ezetimibe, that blocks the absorption of bad cholesterol, LDL, in the gut. Vytorin also contains the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin. "It was a disastrous outcome for this drug," says Robert Califf of Duke University, co-leader of an 18,000-patient trial called Improve-It, which will be the first to measure whether ezetimibe prevents heart attacks and deaths. The results are due in 2011.Enrico Veltri, a Schering-Plough vice president, said the trial in "no way changes LDL as a primary target of cholesterol therapy based on medical guidelines. We need to have treatment options available."

In a second study in the New England Journal, Krumholz and his co-workers examined prescribing practices in the USA, where a $200-million-a-year consumer advertising campaign helped build Vytorin and Zetia into blockbusters, and Canada, where direct-to-consumer advertising is banned.The promotion effort helped the drug capture 15% of the market for cholesterol-lowering drugs vs. 3% in Canada, the study found.

Steve - this is a follow-up to the news that broke several months ago. What drove us to tag this story was the last paragraph having to do with consumer advertising campaigns for drugs. Before Zetia and Vytorin were ever truly deemed safe and truly effective in long-term studies, their manufacturers flooded the market with advertisements, turning them into blockbusters almost overnight. Not only do consumer drug campaigns push the envelope in portraying them as "miracle workers," but puts tremendous strain on doctors who have to defend not prescribing them to consumers who desire them after watching the ads. The government has talked about taking action against these practices, but have not followed up the talk with any action.

Mushrooms high in vitamin D2

An LA Times article on Sunday was lauding the benefits of mushrooms as the only natural fruit or vegetable source of vitamin D. However, the article did not mention that for many people with mold/fungus allergies, or yeast imbalance/overgrowth, mushrooms are poison.

High fevers in kids seem scarier than they usually are

Courtesy of Dr. Helen Minicotti of The Daily Herald.

Fevers can make kids and parents uncomfortable, but they are merely symptoms of infection, not diseases in and of themselves. While a high temperature can signal the presence of a significant illness, other factors help distinguish true disease severity.

When a parent calls to report that a child has a fever, it's also helpful to know how long it's lasted and whether the fever is increasing or decreasing. Other important information includes how alert the child is, whether he's eating or drinking, if the illness includes vomiting or diarrhea, or whether the child has a rash. Illnesses among family members or classmates can also give clues to what a sick child has been exposed to.

When your child comes down with a fever, start jotting down a few notes on a sheet of paper. If you don't and the illness lasts a few days, you'll find that the details quickly blur together. Tracking temperatures as well as the timing of fever reducers helps keep you from inadvertently overdosing your child and keeps your thoughts organized in case you need to seek medical care.

For children younger than 3, the American Academy of Pediatrics generally advises taking temperatures rectally to get a more accurate reading. Older children are unlikely to cooperate with rectal temperature taking, so using a thermometer in the mouth or under the arm are acceptable alternatives. Mercury thermometers should not even be in the household as mercury is considered an environmental toxin.

Though high fevers can be scary, experts at the National Institutes of Health stress that they actually serve a function in combating illness. A rise in body temperature helps kick a child's immune system into high gear to help fight off infection. Don't get hung up on the notion that a high temperature must be driven all the way down to normal. The real goal is to lower a child's temperature to keep him comfortable while he's sick.

That being said, if your child has a fever and you don't like the way the illness is progressing, put in a call to the doctor. Even when your sick child looks reasonably good, contact the pediatrician if you have an infant less than 3 months old with a rectal temperature of 100.2 or higher, or if you have a child of any age with a fever higher than 105 degrees.

As fevers are signs of infectious illness, children with rectal temperatures over 100.5 are considered contagious to others and should not attend school. A good rule of thumb is that a child should be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to the classroom. (And, no, it doesn't count if he's fever-free with the help of Tylenol or Motrin!).

Older women should eat plenty of protein.

As women's bodies age, they find it much harder than men to replace lost muscle. Differences in the way male and female bodies metabolize food means older women do not use protein as effectively. Women over 65 should eat foods like lean meat and eggs and do resistance exercise, researchers write in PLOS One. Researchers speculated that the inability of the female body to perform the same function as effectively was linked to the hormonal changes of the menopause.

Bonnie - the findings of this study are right on.

Prenatal omega-3 may aid babies' brain development

Expectant mothers who eat enough omega-3 fats late in pregnancy may give their babies a brain-power boost. Researchers found that among 109 Inuit infants they followed, those whose umbilical-cord blood was higher in docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 acid, at birth did better in tests of infant brain and eye development at the ages of 6 and 11 months. Because of the fat's vital role in brain development, experts have recommended that pregnant women get an average of 300 milligrams of DHA daily. The new findings, reported in the Journal of Pediatrics, highlight the particular importance of DHA in the mothers' diet during the third trimester, when fetal brain development accelerates. Pregnant and breast-feeding women are advised to avoid some fish, however, due to potentially high levels of mercury. These include shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tile fish.

Pesticide Parkinson's link strong

There is strong evidence that exposure to pesticides significantly increases the risk of Parkinson's disease. Another study, published in the BMC Neurology journal, has made the link to the neurological disease. The US researchers found those exposed to pesticides had a 1.6 times higher risk after studying 600 people. The US team, which involved scientists from Duke University, Miami University and the Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Center of Excellence, quizzed 319 patients about their pesticide use. The answers were compared to over 200 family members and other controls who did not have the disease. Related individuals were chosen as they would share many environmental and genetic backgrounds in a bid to isolate the impact of the pesticides. They found those exposed to pesticides had a 1.6 times greater risk of developing the disease. Heavy use, classed as over 200 days exposure over a lifetime, carried over double the risk. And the study also revealed herbicides and insecticides were the pesticides most likely to increase risk.

Apples may help ward off colon cancer

Apple pectin and polyphenol-rich apple have an anticarcinogenic effect on the colon, encouraging the production of suspected chemopreventative metabolite butyrate, say researchers. Butyrate is a short chain fatty acid (SCFA) that has been found to be a major factor contributing to healthy colon mucosa. The study, published in the April issue of Nutrition, looked at human faecal matter fermented with apple constituents and found a significantly increased yield of SCFA, most notably butyrate.

Children Whose Mothers Take Prescription Acid Blockers More Likely to Have Asthma

A review of data on nearly 30,000 children was presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), showing that those whose mothers took prescription acid-blocking drugs during pregnancy were 51% more likely to suffer from wheezing, breathing difficulties, and other symptoms of asthma.

The researchers looked only at heartburn drugs, including H2 blockers like Axid, Pepcid, Tagamet, and Zantac, and proton pump inhibitors such as Prilosec, Prevacid, Aciphex, Protonix, and Nexium.

Elizabeth Yen, MD, a child health specialist at Harvard and Children’s Hospital Boston says the medications should only be taken "if you're having persistent heartburn that is interfering with your quality of life. And even then, always check with your doctor first."

Former AAAAI president William Busse, MD, head of the allergy section at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, says a link between the use of acid-blocking drugs in pregnancy and childhood asthma makes sense from a physiological point of view. "We know that some immune system regulation that protects us against asthma has its origins in the [acidic] GI tract," he says. "So one has to wonder that if you take drugs that suppress acid in the GI tract, you may be modifying the normal immune surveillance."

Low Inflation Diet

by Bonnie Minsky MA, MPH, LDN, CNS and Steve Minsky

Many believe that to eat healthy, the deck is stacked against us monetarily. While this may have been true as recently as 2006, it certainly is not now.

Last week, the USDA released a study showing that the cost of high-calorie, nutrient-empty foods are less likely to be affected by inflation and, on average, cost less than low-calorie, nutrient-dense foods. Showing yet again how behind the times they are, the USDA failed to mention that the study was performed using 2004 and 2006 retail prices, well before the cost of grain, corn and wheat in particular, have skyrocketed.

Thanks in large part to the increased demand for corn to make ethanol for fuel rather than food and feed, food prices are rising at twice the rate of inflation. In addition, high energy costs and reduced domestic commodities due to increased exports pushed US retail food prices up 4% in 2007, the highest gain in 17 years. The forecast for 2008 is a similar rise according to USDA Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum.

The biggest price gains in 2008 will be grain-based foods and oils (corn and soybean). Corn doubled in the past year. The price of wheat has more than tripled during the past 10 months, pushing the price of cereals and baked goods up nearly 9 percent higher over the same time last year. Milk and cheese are up 21% to its highest price since World War II.

One thing is for certain. On a dollar-per-nutrient basis, healthy food is not more expensive. Lab studies have shown that fruits and vegetables are also more satiating--they make you feel fuller than junk food even though they have fewer calories. Making these changes will ultimately save you thousands in future health care costs!

With a little no-how and careful planning, you can adhere to a Low Inflation Diet while improving your health and maybe even drop a few pounds!

Low Inflation Healthy Alternatives? Let's Compare Equivalent Foodstuffs.

Milk Alternative:
1 Liter Gerolsteiner Sparkling Mineral Water (rich in naturally-occurring calcium) at Trader Joes - $1.69
VS.
1 Quart Dean's Milk - $1.79

Ground Beef Alternative:
Tallgrass Grass-Fed Beef at Peapod - $4.24/pound
VS.
90% Lean Ground Sirloin at Jewel - $4.49/pound

Water (20oz.):
Filtered Tap Water (Brita) - $0.02
VS.
Dasani (Bottled Tap Water) - $0.99

Grain Carb Alternative:
One Fuji Apple on special at Dominick's - $0.33
VS.
One Bagel on special at Dominick's - $0.50

Vegetable Oil Alternative (48 oz.):
Mazola Canola Oil - $5.29
VS.
Wesson Vegetable (Soybean) Oil - $6.99 OR
Mazola Corn Oil - $5.29

Salty Snack Alternative:
Woodstock Farms Natural Sunflower Seeds Roasted No Salt 16 oz. - $3.79
VS.
Doritos Tortilla Chips Cool Ranch 12. 5oz. - $3.49

Soda Alternative:
Filtered Tap Water (288 oz.) - $0.29
VS.
24 pack Diet Coke Cans (288 total oz.) - $7.99

Tips to Avoid Inflation and Stabilize Your Food Costs

1. Eat less.
   
2. Limit corn and soybean vegetable oils.
   
3. Limit wheat, corn, and soybean products.
   
4. Choose grass-fed meat and flaxseed-fed poultry.
   
5. Consume local fruits and vegetables at farmer's markets, co-ops, or at your grocery stores. Buy produce that's fresh and in season is less expensive.
6. Drink filtered tap water instead of bottled water.
   
7. Choose foods that satiate (nuts/seeds, fruits and vegetables) over foods that ravenate (translation: food that creates a ravenous state).
8. Limit milk. Choose instead naturally-occurring calcium water or calcium-enriched nut milks.
9. Skip Buying Sugary/Salty Snacks. They tend to be overpriced in proportion to the nutritional value they provide and don’t have much usability factor (they can’t be re-used in recipes).
10. Make A Grocery List - And Stick To It. Don’t control your grocery list when shopping, let it direct you. Sticking to it will seriously guarantee that you buy less items that you don’t need. That’s what a grocery list is supposed to be after all, a list of things you NEED from the market. Not a list of things you feel like getting once you’re in the store and surrounded by tempting food. That leads into what I think is one of the most important rules for grocery shopping which is:
11. DO NOT go grocery shopping on an empty stomach! If you are hungry, you will buy what you don’t need. If you are hungry, you will tend to buy in bulk because you really feel like eating it lots of it. If you’re hungry you’re going to tend to buy more snack items. If you’re hungry, you’re in a hurry so you’ll forget you have coupons. If you’re hungry, you will mentally throw your budget AND grocery list out the window.
12. Eliminate Dessert foods (replace with fruit) and Sugary/Artificially Sweetened Drinks (replace with good old filtered water; flavor it with a little fresh lemon, lime, or juice).
13. Replace one meat/poultry dinner weekly with beans.
    
14. Use your freezer and get an extra one for storage. You can stock up on good deals on meats and other frozen items as well as accommodate doubling or tripling up on recipes!
15. At health food stores, think private label products. Whole Foods 365 brand and Trader Joe's brands are often comparable to conventional grocery store equivalents.

If you have any other ideas to add, please type in the comments section!

Copyright 2008, Nutritional Concepts

Cod Liver oil 'cuts arthritis drug use'

A daily dose of cod liver oil can cut painkiller use in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Taking 10g of cod liver oil a day reduced the need for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by 30%, Dundee University researchers say. Concerns about side-effects of NSAIDs has prompted research into alternative. Rheumatologists said the study, in Rheumatology journal, was small but showed fish oil could benefit some patients. Patients in the trial were either given cod liver oil or placebo and after 12 weeks asked to gradually reduce their use of NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen.

Almost 60 patients completed the nine-month trial which found 39% taking cod liver oil reduced their daily dose of NSAIDs compared with 10% taking a placebo. The reduction in drug use was not associated with any worsening of pain or the disease, the researchers reported. The research team at the University of Dundee, aided by colleagues at the University of Edinburgh, have now completed three studies which have all shown patients are able to cut down their NSAID use when taking cod liver oil. It is thought fatty acids in the fish oil have anti-inflammatory properties.

Bonnie - the dosage used in this study was the equivalent of 2.5 tsp. of the Carlson's Cod Liver Oil liquid I recommend.

Grocers call in the nutritionists

Excerpts from the Orange County Register

The Albertson's chain Healthy Eaters tour – a program launched this month, includes 44 markets in Orange County. The field trips are designed to educate children – and their parents – how to make healthier food choices. Last year, Albertson's hired the chain's first corporate nutritionist. "With the grocery store being one of the most visited destinations in our everyday lives, we have a tremendous opportunity to educate children and their families about nutrition," Diller says. Last year, Stater Bros. also hired its first corporate dietician to remind shoppers that good-for-you foods can be found at the chain. The move by both chains represents a seismic shift in strategy for traditional supermarkets, which are not commonly viewed as the No. 1 destination for health-conscious shoppers. But, with alternative stores such as Whole Foods Market, Henry's Farmers Market and Trader Joe's eating away at market share, industry experts say traditional markets are smart to offer free and easy nutritional advice for consumers.

Steve - this is all well and good as long as the shopper is getting the right advice. As we have seen in the past, a nutritionist/dietitian's knowledge varies greatly depending upon the individual.

More Vitamin D in Childhood Cuts Later Diabetes Risk

Children who take vitamin D supplements may be less likely to develop type 1 diabetes later in life. The researchers found that children who were given additional vitamin D were about 30 percent less likely to develop type 1 diabetes than children who didn't receive vitamin D supplements. The evidence also indicated that the higher and more regular the dose of vitamin D, the lower the risk of developing diabetes. The findings were published online in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Steve - another ringing endorsement for supplementing with Cod Liver Oil!

Wal-Mart milk to have no artificial growth hormones

Wal-Mart Stores said that its private-label Great Value milk is now being sourced only from cows that have not been treated with artificial growth hormones, such as recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST). The retailer said its Sam's Club chain also is offering milk selections from suppliers that have pledged not to treat cows with rbST. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that milk from cows treated with rbST poses no risk to human health, Wal-Mart said it made the change in response to customer demand.

Steve - I wonder if Monsanto will try to take on Wal-Mart like they are all the little Mom and pop dairies.

Am J Clinical Nutrition Highlights

March 2008:

• Bifidobacterium (beneficial strain of probiotic) levels in normal weight children were significantly higher than overweight/obese children. Further study should be performed for preventive and therapeutic applications in weight management.
  
  
• Despite residing in a region with high chronic sun exposure, adults in southern Arizona are commonly deficient in vitamin D.
  
  
• Alkaline diets, especially those rich in potassium-rich fruits and vegetables, may favor the preservation of muscle mass in older men and women.
  
  
• Cruciferous vegetable intake may reduce breast cancer risk, especially in those with a GSTP1 genotype.
  

Less Prescribed Medicine Can Help Those With Dementia

When those with dementia act out, the most common treatment for prevention is prescribing strong antipsychotic drugs. This cavalier attitude toward antipsychotic drugs has made them one of the most paid for drug categories by Medicaid and are prescribed to at least 1/3 of those in nursing homes. Medicaid officials are alarmed at this improper use of antipsychotics. These prescribed drugs can worsen conditions of dementia. It could lead to more violent situations or cause those with dementia to become more confused.

Usually, dementia patients act out to communicate how they are feeling. There are now centers that advocate less use of prescribed drugs and focus more on why those with dementia behave alarmingly. And this approach seems to work. Most of the time, the patients in these centers are less agitated when they are off the drugs.

Caution regarding Chia Seeds

Bonnie - For our clientele especially, be wary of consuming chia. While it is a wonderful foodstuff for some, the fact that it is a salicylate (in the mint family) makes it intolerable for some. I have had numerous clients complain about gastrointestinal complaints due to chia consumption.

Diet Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis

Bonnie - Last week, Jane Brody of the New York Times wrote about the link between consumed foods and how it affects those with multiple sclerosis. She refers to a new book called the "MS Recovery Diet." In vulnerable people, some of the digested proteins stimulate an immune response that causes antibodies to mistakenly attack the myelin. The goal of this diet is to know which foods cause this reaction and to take it away from consumption. A reduction in the degeneration of myelin sheaths would result. Other foods that one with MS should look out for are grains with gluten, yeast, eggs, and other specific food sensitivities an individual may have.

Uh, Jane, this was discovered over 30 years ago! It is greatly unfortunate that MS doctors have not included this information in their medical libraries. However, it has been part of my protocol for MS patients for 23 years.

A Revolution In Depression Tests

Instead of waiting weeks before finding out whether the depression drug they take will work, many people may be able to find out within days. A study done at the University of Illinois of Chicago found a protein in the brain (called Gs alpha) that changes location in a cell membrane when the depression drug is working. The signaling protein is trapped in a viscous area of the cell membrane and therefore not effective in directing neurotransmitters. However, if the antidepressants worked, it moved the protein into another area of the cell where it could direct the chemicals that carried messages. If this research continues to pan out, one only needs to do a simple blood test in order to determine if the drug will give them relief.

Bonnie - this would finally offer a way to prevent depressed people from being guinea pigs. Confirming whether depression is really the issue is groundbreaking. But this begs the question, if an antidepressant is given for an off-label use (i.e. for menopausal symptoms) to a non-depressed person, why wouldn't it work? The answer is probably what we've seen in other studies...a placebo effect.

Antibiotics inefficient for common infection

Doctors usually prescribe antibiotics for sinusitis when the patient has been sick for seven to ten days. The reason why they wait after a certain amount days is because many doctors believe the longer illness duration, the greater the chance the patient has a viral infection. However, studies have shown that prescribing antibiotics based on how long a patient has been ill is not accurate. A Lancet study from Switzerland looked at the amount of time 2,600 people were ill before receiving antibiotics. Based on the evidence, the study showed that out of fifteen patients who were sick for ten days, only one would be cured with antibiotics. The researchers go on to say that not only are antibiotics not proven to help cure most people, they has side effects, high prices, and chances of resistance.