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| Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on Blood Pressure |
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Wu SH, Ho SC, Zhong L.From the School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR. South Med J. 2010 Jul 8
Inconsistent findings from epidemiological studies have continued the controversy over the role of oral vitamin D supplementation in reducing blood pressure in normotensive or hypertensive populations. We performed a literature search up to December 2009, with no restrictions. Only double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of oral vitamin D supplementation in normotensive or hypertensive individuals with blood pressure measurements were included. From 244 retrieved papers, four RCTs involving 429 participants met our inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. Vitamin D supplementation reduced systolic blood pressure (SBP) by 2.44 mm Hg (weighted mean difference [WMD]: -2.44, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -4.86, -0.02), but not diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (WMD: -0.02, 95% CI: -4.04, 4.01) compared with calcium or placebo. Subgroup analysis suggested that the change of blood pressure did not vary markedly across the
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dose of vitamin D supplementation, study length, or intervention. Oral vitamin D supplementation may lead to a reduction in systolic blood pressure but not diastolic blood pressure. Given the small number of trials and small but statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure from this meta-analysis, further studies are required to confirm the magnitude of the effect of vitamin D on blood pressure reduction and define the optimum dose, dosing interval, and type of vitamin D to administer.
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| Study shows magnesium and vitamin B6 help ADHD symptoms |
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Abstracted by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, from “Improvement of neurobehavioral disorders in children supplemented with magnesium-vitamin B6. I. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders”. Magnesium Research, March 2006. Posted November 11, 2008.
As a disease that currently affects more than two million American children, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by impulsiveness, hyperactivity and inattention. While there are no figures available for the total cost that ADHD adds on our healthcare system, educational costs (sending ADHD kids to special schools) are $4 billion each year while “total treatment costs” for a child with ADHD averages $1800 per year.Due to the side effects of ADHD medications, which include decreased appetite, insomnia, and increased anxiety and irritability, more natural alternatives are constantly being sought. Now a new study has found that another way to help ADHD may be to supplement magnesium and vitamin B6 into the diet. In the study, 40 children with clinical symptoms of ADHD were given vitamin B6 in the amount of 6 mg per kg of bodyweight per day and magnesium in amount of 0.6 mg per kg per day or placebo for 8 weeks. They then scored symptoms of ADHD (hyperactivity, hyperemotivity/ aggressiveness, lack of attention at school) on a scale of 0-4 and also measured blood levels of magnesium At the end of 8 weeks, the researchers
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found that the magnesium and vitamin B6 regimen “significantly modified” the clinical symptoms of the disease, namely hyperactivity and hyperemotivity/aggressiveness. Both were reduced and attention in school was improved. What’s more, when the magnesium-B6 treatment was stopped, clinical symptoms of the disease reappeared in just a few weeks.For the researchers, “This study brings additional information about the therapeutic role of a Mg-B6 regimen in children with ADHD symptoms.
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| Zinc in pregnancy combats children's diarrhea |
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The Journal of Pediatrics, online March 15, 2010. In developing countries such as Peru, where zinc deficiency is common, giving pregnant women zinc supplements may help curb diarrhea-related illness in their babies, research hints.
In a study, Peruvian infants of women who took zinc while pregnant had fewer days with diarrhea, relative to infants of women who took a placebo. They were also less apt to have a bout of diarrhea lasting for more than a week.Millions of youngsters in the developing world suffer diarrhea, which can be life-threatening. Zinc deficiency increases the risk of death due to diarrhea, as well as pneumonia, malaria and infectious disease.
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Past studies have shown that giving zinc supplements to young children with diarrhea helps clear up the problem faster, researchers note in The Journal of Pediatrics. The World Health Organization now recommends zinc supplementation in combination with rehydration therapy in the treatment of acute diarrhea.
However, less is known about the period before birth "when zinc could potentially be most influential in later immune functioning," Dr. Laura E. Caulfield, of the Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore and colleagues point out.
In a prior study conducted in Bangladesh, zinc supplements given to pregnant women cut the risk of diarrhea in their infants by 26 percent and severe diarrhea by 64 percent.
In the current study, Caulfield's team tested whether zinc supplements taken by pregnant women living in a slum of Lima, Peru, would curb diarrhea-related illness in infants up to 12 months after birth. A total of 214 women took a daily supplement containing 15 milligrams zinc, 60 milligrams iron and 250 micrograms folic acid, while 207 matched "control" women took a similar-looking placebo supplement containing only iron and folic acid. About 420 infants were followed up for illness.From the ages of 6 months to 1 year, 80 percent of the infants had at least one bout of diarrhea. The range was 0 to 11 episodes.
According to the researchers, infants whose mothers took zinc while pregnant were sick about 6 percent of the days they were observed, whereas infants whose mothers took placebo were sick for around 8 percent of observation days.
In addition, infants of zinc supplemented moms were about 34 percent less likely to have an episode of diarrhea lasting more than a week or to have mucus in the stool -- a sign of more severe diarrhea. There was also some evidence of a reduction in cases of the skin disease scabies in infants whose mothers took zinc.
Diarrhea-related illness is "a leading cause of death globally," Caulfield and colleagues note in their report. Their study, they say, supports improving prenatal zinc nutrition, especially in resource-poor, under-nourished populations, as a means of protecting infants against diarrhea-related illness.
Still, they say, "many questions related to the benefits of supplementing pregnant women with zinc remain to be answered." Among them: Just how prenatal zinc exposure protects against diarrhea.
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Vitamin D May Lower Colon Cancer Risk
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High levels of vitamin D in the blood appear to be linked to lower risks of colorectal cancer, although it's not clear if higher intake of the vitamin actually prevents the disease, researchers say.Scientists found that those with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood had as much as a 40 percent lower risk for developing colorectal cancer than those with the lowest levels.
The research, published online Jan. 21 in BMJ, is based on a study of more than 520,000 people from 10 countries in Western Europe. The study participants gave blood samples and filled out diet and lifestyle questionnaires between 1992 and 1998.
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They were then tracked for several more years to see what happened to them. During the follow-up period, 1,248 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. These participants were compared with a similar group of 1,248 people who were not diagnosed with the disease.
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The study authors noted that current recommendations for preventing colorectal cancer include exercising, not smoking, reducing obesity and abdominal fat, and limiting consumption of alcohol and red and processed meats.
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SOURCE: BMJ, news release, Jan. 21, 2010
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Antioxidants could help preserve muscle strength
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In a study in older adults, dietary intake of vitamins C and E was linked with muscle strength, leading the researchers to suggest that a diet high in antioxidants could play an important role in preserving muscle function in older adults." Muscle strength is really a marker of aging," one of the investigators, Dr. Anne Newman of the University of Pittsburgh, told Reuters Health. "Muscle strength starts declining when people are in their 40s, but it decreases dramatically after age 60." This decline is "a major risk factor" for becoming frail and disabled, she said, but certain strategies may slow down the loss.In their current study, to evaluate the potential benefits of micronutrients, the researchers asked more than 2,000 men and women in their 70s about their long term eating habits.
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Researchers reported a significant positive link between dietary intake of vitamins C and E and subsequent change in muscle strength; regardless of participants' initial strength levels. At this point, it's not clear whether vitamins C and E specifically help preserve muscle strength, or if intake of these micronutrients is a marker of a healthy diet.The average daily dietary intakes of vitamins C and E in the study were 144 milligrams and 11 milligrams, respectively. "For vitamin E at least, our cohort's intake was on average a little lower than the recommended daily allowance," Newman pointed out. "So while it's possible to get enough of this micronutrient in the diet, you have to pay attention and be sure to include foods rich in that vitamin." The team is trying now to determine "the optimal level of physical activity and optimal nutrients in the diet that will preserve muscle strength," Newman said.
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Source: Reuters Health 2009
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Low selenium tied to throat, stomach cancers
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Getting enough selenium in your diet could help protect you from cancer of the esophagus, a large new study suggests. People with the highest levels of this antioxidant mineral were at the lowest risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, Dr. Jessie Steevens of Maastricht University Medical Center in The Netherlands and her colleagues found. There's some evidence for a link between selenium levels and stomach and esophageal cancer, and Steevens and colleagues say it's important to look at subtypes of these cancers separately because they are likely to have different causes. The researchers looked at the relationship between selenium levels and three different types of cancer: esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), which arises from the cells lining the upper esophagus; esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), which begins in gland cells located where the esophagus joins the stomach; and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA), which involves the upper part of the stomach.
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"EAC and GCA are specifically of interest," the investigators wrote in the journal Gastroenterology, because the incidences of these cancers have risen in the US and Europe during the past decades. The researchers looked at data from the Netherlands Cohort Study, which followed 120,852 men and women 55 to 69 years old for 16 years. They compared selenium levels in 64 patients who developed ESCC during follow-up; 112 EAC patients; 114 GCA patients; and 2,072 cancer-free controls. All had provided toenail clippings at the study's outset; the selenium content of a person's nails is considered to be an accurate measurement of their levels of the mineral over the previous year. The higher a person's selenium levels, the researchers found, the lower their likelihood of developing ESCC. GCA also was associated with selenium levels, but the relationship was "borderline significant"; it was stronger for women than for men.
Overall there was no relationship between selenium levels and EAC, but when the researchers looked separately at women and people who had never smoked, they did find an association between higher selenium levels and EAC risk. There was also a relationship between selenium intake and EAC risk in people with lower intakes of several antioxidant nutrients. The findings, conclude the researchers, suggest that low selenium levels may increase risk of ESCC and GCA, as well as EAC in women, never-smokers, and people with low antioxidant intakes. They caution, however, that the findings need to be confirmed by other researchers.
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SOURCE: Gastroenterology, online December 14, 2009.
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