Fish Oils Reduce Athletes Lung Troubles
Using Vitamin E and C Supplements Together May Reduce Risk of Alzheimer Disease
IBS Sufferers Hypersensitive to Common Foods
Links to other websites containing recent studies
Citrus Fruit Nutrient Combats Prostate Cancer
Santa Rosa, Calif.- A new phase II study published in today’s edition of the Nature Publishing Group’s Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases Journal (www.nature.com/pcan) validates that men diagnosed with recurring prostate cancer in which conventional therapies have failed, may benefit from modified citrus pectin (MCP), a nutrient derived from citrus fruits.
The study tested 10 men on the rate of their prostate-specific antigen doubling time (PSADT) before and after taking PectaSol® MCP (Guess, B.W., Strum, S. et al. 2003. Modified citrus pectin (MCP) increases the prostate-specific antigen doubling time in men with prostate cancer: a phase II pilot study. Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases Journal. 6(4): 301-304.).
The patients, ages 57 to 79, had undergone prior conventional medical treatments including radical prostatectomy, external beam radiation, or cryosurgery and experienced a recurrence of cancer as determined by rising PSA levels. In this 12-month study, 70 percent (seven) of the patients experienced a significant lengthening in their PSADT, which correlates to slower cancer progression and can lead to prolonged life.
“It is hoped that by slowing the PSADT with MCP we can delay the need for more aggressive therapy and perhaps enhance the quality of life of those patients exhibiting PSA recurrence after surgery or radiation therapy,” says Stephen B. Strum, MD, FACP, a co-author of the study.
Modified citrus pectin is derived from the peels and pulps of fruits, such as oranges and grapefruits, which contain citrus pectin, a naturally occurring soluble fiber. Citrus pectin is processed or “modified” into shorter chain molecules that are more easily absorbed from the digestive tract and into the bloodstream. This modified citrus pectin, once in the bloodstream, becomes a powerful cancer-fighting nutrient, binding to cancer cells and preventing growth and metastasis.
MCP is considered to be one of the top “Super-Eight Natural Medicines for Cancer Treatment” in a book endorsed by the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (Murray, Michael,; Birdsall, Tim,; Pizzorno, Joseph,; and Reilly, Paul, How To Prevent and Treat Cancer with Natural Medicine, New York: Riverhead Books, 2002.). MCP was selected by the authors’ based on five specific criteria: clinical evidence of effectiveness, scientific rationale, safety, compatibility with conventional therapies and the authors’ clinical experience.
MCP binds to galectin-3 molecules, which are over-expressed in certain types of cancer. In a separate published clinical study, MCP has been shown to reduce metastasis in a wide range of other cancers, including breast, colon and lung cancer. MCP has also been shown in a published study to remove heavy metals and carcinogens such as mercury, lead and cadmium from the body, which may contribute to its anti-cancer properties.
“While MCP shows promise to treat a wide range of cancers, this study focused on prostate cancer, since disease progression is easily measured through PSA levels,” says Isaac Eliaz, M.D., L.Ac., a nationally respected cancer expert, clinical practitioner and formulator of Pecta-Sol® MCP, which was used in the study. “This phase two study with MCP has clearly shown effectiveness.”
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer found in men, second only to skin cancer. Each year more than 220,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer including Rudy Giuliani and more recently Robert De Niro. More than 30,000 men died of prostate cancer last year compared to approximately 40,000 deaths of women due to breast cancer.
Fish Oils Reduce Athletes Lung Troubles
Wed November 19, 2003 06:58 PM ET
By Merritt McKinney
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Athletes who experience shortness of breath and other asthma-like symptoms after exercise may benefit from fish oil capsules, researchers report.
In a small study, elite athletes who normally experienced asthma-like symptoms after exercising had less severe symptoms after adding fish oil capsules to their diet.
“If you experience asthma-like symptoms after exercise, such as breathlessness and a tight chest, then taking fish oil supplements which contain omega-3 fatty acids may help you breathe better during and after exercise,” Dr. Timothy D. Mickleborough of Indiana University in Bloomington told Reuters Health.
For many people with asthma, exercise can trigger wheezing, chest tightness, cough and breathlessness, but these symptoms may also occur in people who do not have asthma.
In fact, research suggests that elite athletes are more likely to experience asthma-like symptoms after exercise than less accomplished athletes and the general population. Why this is the case is uncertain, but prolonged exercise may increase exposure to allergens and substances that can irritate the airways as well as increase inhalation of cold, dry air.
In most cases, asthma-like symptoms that occur after exercise are treated with medications, but there is some evidence that making dietary changes can reduce symptoms.
Because substances called omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that are found in fish oils can produce anti-inflammatory effects, there has been interest in seeing whether PUFAs may improve asthma symptoms.
So far, the evidence on the effect of PUFAs in people with asthma is mixed and the one study that looked at the effect of fish oil supplements on asthma did not show any benefits.
Now, in a study that tested the effect of fish oil supplements in athletes with exercise-induced asthma-like symptoms, Mickleborough and his colleagues report that fish oils seem to reduce the severity of symptoms.
The study included 20 elite athletes, half of whom experienced asthma-like symptoms after exercise but who did not have asthma. For three weeks, participants were randomly assigned to take fish oil capsules or placebo capsules that contained olive oil. After a two-week washout period, volunteers switched groups.
Before exercise, there were no significant differences in lung function between the fish oil and placebo groups, the researchers report in the November 15th issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
But the decline in lung function that normally occurred after exercise was reduced by almost 80 percent in athletes on the fish oil diet. These athletes also needed less asthma medication when taking fish oil supplements.
Fish oil supplements did not seem to affect lung function at all in athletes who did not usually experience symptoms after exercise.
The authors of a related editorial caution that the study was small and does not mean that fish oil supplements will help people with asthma.
Several pieces of evidence suggest that the airway narrowing that occurs in some elite athletes differs from symptoms that affect people with asthma after they exercise, according to Drs. Jonathan Sadeh and Elliot Israel at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.
“Use of a fish oil diet to prevent such episodes does not appear to be helpful in garden variety asthma, and may still be a little fishy even for elite athletes,” the editorialists conclude.
But the mixed results of studies of fish oil in people with asthma “may be related to dosage and duration of the supplementation period and whether mild, moderate and severe asthmatics were used,” Mickleborough said.
SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, November 15, 2003.
Using Vitamin E and C Supplements Together May Reduce Risk of Alzheimer Disease
CHICAGO – Elderly persons who take individual vitamin E and C supplements together may reduce their risk of Alzheimer disease (AD), according to an article in the January issue of The Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
According to the article, the public health threat of AD will continue to grow as people live longer. Previous studies have shown that antioxidant vitamins may protect the brain against damage caused by free radicals and other reactive oxygen species – molecular byproducts of basic cellular metabolism. Neurons are especially sensitive to damage caused by free radicals, which is believed to be partially responsible for the development of AD. Incorporating antioxidants (which help to neutralize these free radicals) into the diet through food or supplementation may help protect neurons.
Peter P. Zandi, Ph.D., of The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, and colleagues examined the relationship between antioxidant supplement use and risk of AD.
The researchers assessed the prevalence of dementia and AD in 4,740 elderly (65 years or older) residents of Cache County, Utah in 1995 to 1997 and collected information about supplement use. These residents were followed-up in 1998 to 2000 for new cases of dementia or AD. The researchers identified 200 cases of AD (prevalent cases) between 1995 and 1997, and 104 new cases (incident cases) of AD during follow-up.
The researchers categorized participants as vitamin E users if they reported taking an individual supplement of vitamin E or a multivitamin containing more than 400 IU (international units) of vitamin E. Vitamin C users reported taking vitamin C supplements or multivitamins containing at least 500 micrograms of ascorbic acid. Individuals were classified as multivitamin users if they reported taking multivitamins containing lower doses of vitamin E or C.
The researchers found the greatest reduction in both prevalence and incidence of AD in participants who used individual vitamin E and C supplements in combination, with or without an additional multivitamin. “Use of vitamin E and C (ascorbic acid) supplements in combination reduced AD prevalence [by about 78 percent] and incidence [by about 64 percent],” the authors write.
The researchers also found “no appreciable association with the use of vitamin C alone, vitamin E alone, or vitamin C and multivitamins in combination,” and prevalence of AD.
“The current… recommended daily allowance for vitamin E is 22 IU (15 micrograms), and for vitamin C (ascorbic acid), 75 to 90 micrograms,” the researchers write. “Multivitamin preparations typically contain these approximate quantities of both vitamins E and C (more vitamin C in some instances), while individual supplements typically contain doses up to 1,000 IU of vitamin E and 500 to 1,000 micrograms or more of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Our findings suggest that vitamins E and C may offer protection against AD when taken together in the higher doses available from individual supplements.”
IBS Sufferers Hypersensitive to Common Foods
LONDON–Research indicates sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may be hypersensitive to antigens contained in wheat, beef, pork and lamb, according to a study in the July issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology [epub ahead of print].
British researchers studied the effects of 16 common foods in 108 IBS patients (52 diarrhea-predominant; 32 constipation-predominant; 24 alternating) and 43 controls using IgG4 and IgE titers and skin prick testing (SPT). Data results and patients’ IBS symptoms were correlated.
Researchers found IBS patients had significantly higher IgG4 titers to wheat, beef, pork and lamb compared to controls. These differences were maintained across all three subgroups. Antibody titers to potatoes, rice, fish, chicken, yeast, tomato and shrimps were not significantly different and no significant difference in IgE titers was observed between IBS and controls. No correlation was seen between the pattern of elevated IgG4 antibody titers and patients’ symptoms, such as pain bloating and stool frequency.
Researchers concluded serum elevated IgG4 antibodies to wheat, beef, pork and lamb may be the result of physiological damage caused by IBS.
“The response to exclusion diet based on elevated food-specific IgG4 in future studies may be useful in establishing the significance of these findings,” wrote the study authors.
