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Use of vitamin D in clinical practice. Cannell JJ, Hollis BW. Altern Med Rev. 2008 Mar;13(1):6-20. PMID: 18377099

A heat-stable extract of white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) with potential chemopreventive and immunomodulating activities. Phytochemicals, such as polysaccharides and especially beta-D-glucans found in the white button mushroom extract, bind to and inhibit the activity of aromatase, an enzyme responsible for the conversion of androgens to estrogens and which is often upregulated in breast cancer cells. The consequent decrease in estrogen production may result in the suppression of estrogen-dependent cellular proliferation. In addition, this extract may promote dendritic cell (DC) maturation, increase interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) production, and may enhance natural killer (NK) cell activity, thus amplifying both innate and T cell-mediated immune responses against cancer cells. Check for active clinical trials or closed clinical trials using this agent.

The results of a year long clinical trial examining the effects of mushroom supplementation in patients with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) have recently been presented at congress. Dr. Jose Silva Couto and Dr. Daniel Pereira da Silva of the Cervical Pathology Unit of the Portuguese Institute of Oncology in Coimbra, Portugal presented their findings at the 20th European Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, in Lisbon Portugal. This study provides a promising set of results and demonstrates proof-of concept for the question as to whether immunonutrition supplements can be successfully used to improve HPV status in patients.

Hypovitaminosis D among rheumatology outpatients in clinical practice.\nMouyis M, Ostor AJ, Crisp AJ, Ginawi A, Halsall DJ, Shenker N, Poole KE.\nRheumatology (Oxford). 2008 Sep;47(9):1348-51. Epub 2008 May 22.\nPMID: 18499714 \ndoi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken203

Clinical aspects of vitamin D in the management of rheumatoid arthritis.\nLeventis P, Patel S.\nRheumatology (Oxford). 2008 Nov;47(11):1617-21. Epub 2008 Aug 5. Review.\nPMID: 18682414 \ndoi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken296 \n

Ethyl-eicosapentaenoic acid for the treatment of psychological distress and depressive symptoms in middle-aged women: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial.\nLucas M, Asselin G, Mérette C, Poulin MJ, Dodin S.\nAm J Clin Nutr. 2009 Feb;89(2):641-51. Epub 2008 Dec 30.\nPMID: 19116322 \ndoi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26749

(NaturalNews) 30 years ago the famous Nobel laureate Linus Pauling said that vitamin C supplements can prevent cancer, a highly controversial statement at the time. Now a team of Johns Hopkins scientists have shown that vitamin C stops the growth of some tumors in mice. The Study The study was lead by Chi Dang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and oncology and Johns Hopkins Family Professor in Oncology Research. Their work is detailed in Cancer Cell, Volume 12, Issue 3, 230-238, 11 September, 2007. They found that the antioxidants' actual role may be to destabilize a tumor's ability to grow under conditions where there isn't enough oxygen to feed it. The conventional belief is that vitamin C helps prevent cancer growth by grabbing up volatile oxygen free radical molecules and preventing the damage they do to our DNA. "The potential anticancer benefits of antioxidants have been the driving force for many clinical and preclinical studies," Says Dang. "By uncovering the mechanism behind antioxidants, we are now better suited to maximize their therapeutic use."

SAN DIEGO, May 20 -- The effects of exposure to secondhand smoke in childhood may persist for decades, a researcher said here. In a large cohort of nonsmokers, early signs of emphysema were noticeable on CT scans among those who had lived with one or more smokers in childhood, according to Gina Lovasi, Ph.D., of Columbia University. Those signs -- a significant increase in the number of "air-like spaces" -- were not accompanied by any clinical symptoms, Dr. Lovasi said at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society.

A natural compound, called inositol pentakisphosphate, which is found in most legumes as well as in wheat bran and nuts, blocks the activity of the enzyme "phosphoinositide 3-kinase."

The Vitamin D Pandemic and its Health Consequences\nPresented by Michael Holick, PhD, MD, Professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics and director of the General Clinical Research Center at Boston University Medical Center\nKeynote address at the opening ceremony of the 34th European Symposium on Calcified Tissues, Copenhagen 5 May, 2007\n

LYSAKER, Norway, April 11, 2008-An increased intake of vitamin K2 may reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 35 per cent, suggest results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). The findings, based on dietary intake from 11,319 men taking part in the EPIC Heidelberg cohort, are published in this month's issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

I imagine most readers of this blog would expect a group of subjects to do better on a Paleolithic diet as compared to a standard American diet, but there are few studies actually making the comparison. One was posted yesterday in the Advance-0nline-Publication section of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition that shows subjects following a Paleolithic diet made major metabolic changes, and made them rapidly

see more articles reviewed on my blog: drjohndc.tumblr.com

ScienceDaily (May 12, 2009) - The more pills a dialysis patients takes, the worse their health-related quality of life, according to a new study. The findings indicate that increasing the number of medications to control patients' disease may interfere with their ability to enjoy normal activities. Kidney disease patients undergoing dialysis must take more pills than most patients with other chronic diseases. While these medications are important for controlling patients' disease, at some point taking too many pills (with their ensuing side effects) may negatively affect patients' health-related quality of life, or their perceived physical and mental health. Rajnish Mehrotra, MD and Yi-Wen Chiu, MD (Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute), and their colleagues conducted a study to see if "pill burden" affects dialysis patients' health-related quality of life. They studied 233 chronic dialysis patients from three clinics in different geographic areas in the United States. The investigators found that patients took an average of 19 pills a day and that a quarter of the patients took more than 25 pills a day. Patients with a high pill burden had lower perceived physical health. Medications called phosphate binders, which control the level of phosphorous in the blood, accounted for about half of the daily pill burden. Sixty-two percent of the patients did not take these medications as directed. The more phosphate binders a patient was prescribed, the less likely they were to take their medications as directed and the less likely they were to have their blood phosphorous levels under control. These findings indicate that increasing the number of prescribed pills does not seem to improve control of phosphorous levels and may come at the cost of poorer health-related quality of life. The authors note that any attempts to tackle dialysis patients' pill burden must address the number of phosphate binders a patient is prescribed on a daily basis. Dr. Mehrotra has re

Th1/Th2 balance: the hypothesis, its limitations, and implications for health and disease. Kidd P. Altern Med Rev. 2003 Aug;8(3):223-46. Review. PMID: 12946237 Th1 pathways typically produce activation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (Tc), NK cells, macrophages, and monocytes, all of which can attack cancer cells and generally defend against tumors. 55 IFN-gamma and other Th1 cytokines are typically lower in advanced cancer patients, while the Th2 marker IL-4 can be higher or unchanged.56 Nodules of non-small cell lung cancer freshly removed from patients expressed a marked imbalance toward Th2, as did biopsy samples from basal cell carcinoma.57 In prostate cancer patients IL-2 was low (Th1) and IL-10 high.58 IL-10 is a confirmed Th1-suppressive cytokine, and heightened IL-10 is a common factor in cancer.55 IL-10 has a variety of suppressive effects that include inhibiting Th1 cytokine production, down-regulating APC and NK cell function, and lowering overall T-cell proliferation.57 Especially under the influence of IL-4 (Th2), tumor cells apparently up-regulate IL-10 that suppresses nearby killer cells. Tumor-derived IL-10 has been documented in lymphoma, ovarian carcinoma, melanoma, neuroblastoma, and renal cell and colon carcinoma.57 IL-12 is another cytokine that can be up-regulated by Th1 activity and inhibited by Th2.59 A low IL-12/IL-10 ratio was found in cervical cancer patients.55 Recent clinical studies suggest elevated IL-10 is predictive of a poor prognosis. 57 With both IL-4 and IL-10 being proven inhibitors of Th1 and promoters of Th2 activity, the recognized capability of cancerous tissue to suppress immunity is readily rationalized.

This week sees the publication of yet another study showing the superiority of the low-carbohydrate diet as compared to the low-fat diet. This study, published in the prestigious American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, demonstrates that subjects following the low-carb diet experience a decrease in triglyceride levels and an increase in HDL-cholesterol (HDL) levels; and that these changes are accompanied by a minor increase in LDL-cholesterol (LDL), which prompts the authors to issue a caveat. Yes, although just about all the parameters that lipophobes worry about improved with the low-carb diet, the small increase in LDL has caused great concern and has prompted the authors to gravely announce that this small increase is troublesome and should be monitored closely in anyone who may be at risk for heart disease. Since most people who go on low-carb diets do so to deal with obesity issues, and since obesity is a risk factor for heart disease, it would appear that this small increase in LDL often seen in those following a low-carb diet could put these dieters at risk. Does it? We'll see.

Sulbutiamine (brand name: Arcalion) is a precursor to thiamine (i.e., vitamin B1). As a dimer of two structurally modified thiamine residues, sulbutiamine retains many of the features of thiamine. However, the thiazole rings are open, the alcohol groups are esterified, and a disulfide bridge connects the two thiamine analogues. Sulbutiamine is indicated for the treatment of asthenia.[1] Its ability to reduce fatigue is also considered desirable by athletes, and it is available for over-the-counter sale as a nutritional supplement. In one study of chronic fatigue patients, sulbutiamine did not demonstrate sustained benefits over the placebo, which raises doubts about its clinical efficacy.[2] However, the authors of that study suggest that additional research is needed to evalulate the potential usefulness of sulbutiamine in the treatment of chronic fatigue. Sulbutiamine may be beneficial for cognition. Indeed, the demonstrated ability of sulbutiamine to improve memory in rats[3] and patients of schizophrenia[3] suggests that it is a nootropic. Recent research also shows support for the use of sulbutiamine in the treatment of erectile dysfunction

new (March 24th) report in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, shows that Omega-3 fatty acids appear protective against advanced prostate cancer. Dr. John S. Witte, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco, says that previous research has shown protection against prostate cancer, but that this is one of the first studies to show protection against advanced prostate cancer.

June 9, 2009 -- Genetic testing confirms that high levels of a type of cholesterol known as lipoprotein(a) are associated with an increased risk for heart attacks, but the clinical implications of the finding are unclear. Lipoprotein(a) has long been suspected of contributing to cardiovascular risk. But this new research offers the strongest evidence yet identifying it as an independent risk factor for heart attack. The study appears in the June 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Floyd Chilton and colleagues wanted to examine whether theses fatty acids might have other effects, and developed a dietary intervention strategy in which 27 healthy humans were fed a controlled diet mimicking the w6/w3 ratios of early humans over 5 weeks. They then looked at the gene levels of immune signals and cytokines (protein immune messengers), that impact autoimmunity and allergy in blood cells and found that many key signaling genes that promote inflammation were markedly reduced compared to a normal diet, including a signaling gene for a protein called PI3K, a critical early step in autoimmune and allergic inflammation responses. This study demonstrates, for the first time in humans, that large changes in gene expression are likely an important mechanism by which these omega fatty acids exert their potent clinical effects