Latest News: July, 2009 - New Treatments

• GLA Improves Comfort in Contact Lens-Related Dry Eye
• AREDS Plus Omega-3 for AMD
• AMD & Omega-3 Protection
• Montsanto Hypes GMO Seed Benefits
• Green tea shows potential, and limits, of natural cancer treatment
• Vitamin Supplementation and Reduced Risk of Miscarriage Study
• New Model for Treating Cancer

GLA Improves Comfort in Contact Lens-Related Dry Eye

In this dry eye study, it shows that the GLA group showed a significant improvement in the specific symptom of ?dryness? at 3 and 6 months (p < 0.01) as well as significant improvement in overall lens comfort at 6 months (p < 0.01). Tear meniscus height was increased in the GLA group at 6 months relative to baseline (p < 0.01), although all other objective signs were unchanged.

GLA (gamma-linolenic acid), an omega-6 fatty acid with anti-inflammatory properties can be found in oils derived from black currant seeds and the evening primrose plant. Several small trials testing GLA and linoleic (LA) oil in dry eye syndrome with an inflammatory component report reduced ocular surface inflammation and symptom improvement.

Related Studies:

1. Barabino, M et al. Systemic linoleic and gamma-linolenic acid therapy in dry eye syndrome with an inflammatory component. Cornea 22:97?101, 2003.
2. Aragona P, et al. Systemic omega-6 essential fatty acid treatment and PGE1 tear content in Sjogren?s syndrome patients. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 46:4474-9, 2005
3. Kokke KH, et al. Oral omega-6 essential fatty acid treatment in contact lens associated dry eye. Contact Lens Anterior Eye 31:141-6, 2008.
4. Macri A, et al. Effect of linoleic acid and gamma-linolenic acid on tear production, tear clearance and on the ocular surface after photorefractive keratectomy. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 241: 561-6, 2003.

AREDS Plus Omega-3 for AMD

A compilation study from Tufts University, University of Wisconsin, and the EMMES Corporation researched the effects of taking the AREDS supplement plus omega-3 and reducing dGI (dietary glycemic index) on AMD (age-related macular degeneration). The trial spanned 8 years and studied 3,000 eligible AREDS AMD trial participants.

Looking at the risk of advanced AMD, the study found that the AREDS supplement plus higher intakes of omega-3 (DHA and EPA), and reducing dietary glycemic index (dGI), helped reduce progression of the disease.

Editor's Note: For an excellent eye multivitamin that serves as both a multivitamin and eye formula, go to www.naturaleyecare.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=1754

Here's a high quality fish oil.

AMD & Omega-3 Protection

The leading cause of blindness in people over 60 is age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A recent Australian study called the Blue Mountain Eye Study examined about 2500 participants over a 5 and 10 year period.

The study found that reducing trans-fats and increasing consumption of fish, nuts, olive oil and other foods containing omega-3 fatty acids could significantly lower the risk for AMD. It may be that healthy fatty acids prevent the buildup of plaque in the arteries and reduces inflammation, blood vessel formation and oxygen-related cell damage in the retina, helping to protect the eyes.

Here's a high quality fish oil.

Montsanto Hypes GMO Seed Benefits

A recent ad sponsored by Montsanto touted how Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) seeds are going to save the world from environmental catastrophe and human hunger.

In actuality, eighty-five percent of all GM seeds are engineered for herbicide tolerance, most of these being Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” cotton, corn, soy, and canola seeds. This allows plants to withstand significant amounts of pesticides being sprayed on it, in effect promoting pesticide use. As a result, there has been an increase in pesticide use in the United States since the introduction of GM seeds. Since the introduction of GM crops in the United States, more than 120 million pounds of additional pesticides were used.

At the same time, not a single GM crop has been commercially introduced that is intended to increase yield. Agronomists and plant scientists made far greater advances in yields through conventional breeding methods than they ever have with GM crops. In fact, there have been several studies which show that there are actually yield losses associated with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybeans. GM crops are not feeding the world, and they are not enabling us to produce more.

Information from article by Dr. Mercola

Editor's Note: In its infinite wisdom, in 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a five-to-four decision allowed large corporations to patent seeds and bacterium. This opened the door for corporations such as Monsanto to start patenting seeds and controlling good production.

In the past, farmers would save their seeds from one harvest and replant them the following year (an age old practice). Farmers who buy Monsanto’s patented Roundup Ready seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seed produced after each harvest for re-planting, or to sell the seed to other farmers. This means that farmers must buy new seed every year. Those increased sales, coupled with ballooning sales of its Roundup weed killer, have been a bonanza for Monsanto.

At present, there is an army of private investigators and enforcers going after farmers, farmers’ co-ops, seed dealers—anyone it suspects may have infringed its patents of genetically modified seeds. This includes farmers affected by seeds blowing over onto their farm from other farms using Montsanto seeds.

Food production (along with water rights) are too important to be controlled by large corporations, obligated to produce as much profit for shareholders as possible.

Also read the Vanity Fair article.

Green tea shows potential, and limits, of natural cancer treatment

A recent study by Mayo Clinic researchers found that high doses of green-tea extract can have a positive effect on Hudson's type of cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Although the results of the study just found one of 33 patients improved enough to be classified "in remission", the dozen patients with enlarged lymph nodes (one of the hallmarks of the disease), of the dozen patients 11 saw them shrink by more than half in six months.

The study patients were given 2,000 mg per day of green tea in supplement form (the equivalent of approximately 100 cups of green tea).

Vitamin Supplementation and Reduced Risk of Miscarriage Study

Recent study provides evidence "that vitamins may reduce the risk of miscarriage. The researchers found that the risk for miscarriage was 57 percent lower among women who took vitamins, compared to those who did not."

"These results need to be replicated before formal conclusions are drawn," emphasized Dr. Reem Hasan, at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, whose team ran the study.

SOURCES:
American Journal of Epidemiology, June 2009
Joene Hendry Reuters Health NEW YORK

Note: This study was unable to account for dietary factors or healthy lifestyle behaviors, and did not differentiate between prenatal vitamin and multivitamin use. Therefore, Hasan's group calls for further investigations into how these factors might alter miscarriage risk.

Editor's Note: This study is in addition to the large body of studies showing the importance of specific supplementation to help support the growing fetus. This includes the mother supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids which helps in the formation of the retina in the fetus, aids in building the brain, and helps in developing the nervous system. Folic acid help prevent certain types of birth defects and other problems during pregnancy (the U.S. Public Health Service recommends that women of childbearing age get at least 400 milligrams of folic acid each day, through food sources and/or supplements).

Here's a high quality fish oil.

New Model for Treating Cancer

In an article scheduled to appear in the Annals of Epidemiology, epidemiologist Cedric Garland, DrPH and his associates at the University of California San Diego's Moores Cancer Center propose that cancer, rather than commencing with genetic mutations, is initially caused by a reduction in the of ability of cells to stick together.

Research has shown that inadequate vitamin D can result in a loss of stickiness between cells as well as a loss of differentiation, which causes cells to revert to a stem cell-like state. Additionally, extracellular calcium ions are necessary for intercellular adherence.

"The first event in cancer is loss of communication among cells due to, among other things, low vitamin D and calcium levels," explained Dr Garland, who is a professor of family and preventive medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. "In this new model, we propose that this loss may play a key role in cancer by disrupting the communication between cells that is essential to healthy cell turnover, allowing more aggressive cancer cells to take over."

"Vitamin D may halt the first stage of the cancer process by re-establishing intercellular junctions in malignancies having an intact vitamin D receptor," Dr Garland noted. "Vitamin D levels can be increased by modest supplementation with vitamin D3 in the range of 2000 IU/day."

Dr Garland has authored several studies concerning the relationship between low sunlight exposure and vitamin D levels with an increased risk of breast, colorectal, ovarian and kidney cancers. He notes that over 200 epidemiological studies have associated certain cancers with reduced vitamin D. Mechanisms cited for vitamin D and calcium in lowering cancer incidence and mortality include upregulation of adherence and signaling between epithelial cells, contact inhibition of proliferation, differentiation, cell cycle stabilization, apoptosis promotion, anti-angiogenesis, and various effects on proteins involved in the development of cancer.

www.annalsofepidemiology.org/ - Annals of Epidemiology - www.lef.org - Full article can be read at Life Extension's Website