by S. L. Baker, features writer
(NaturalNews) Periodontitis is an extremely common, and often painful, inflammatory disease of the gums. It causes tissue to separate from teeth, resulting in the accumulation of bacteria and potential bone and tooth loss. Mainstream medicine typically treats the chronic disease with strong antibiotics, vigorous mechanical scraping of the teeth and even surgically cutting away diseased gum tissue. But a new study just published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association shows there's a natural way to not only prevent and also treat periodontitis -- consume polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially the omega-3s found in cold water fish like salmon and certain nuts.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center pointed out that PUFAs such as those found in fish oil and some nuts are known to have anti-inflammatory properties and that could explain some of their power in fighting gum disease. Bottom line: the scientists discovered that the higher the intake of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly those known as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), the lower the incidence of periodontitis in the US population.
"To date, the treatment of periodontitis has primarily involved mechanical cleaning and local antibiotic application. Thus, a dietary therapy, if effective, might be a less expensive and safer method for the prevention and treatment of periodontitis," Asghar Z. Naqvi, MPH, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Department of Medicine said in a press statement. "Given the evidence indicating a role for omega-3 fatty acids in other chronic inflammatory conditions, it is possible that treating periodontitis with omega-3 fatty acids could have the added benefit of preventing other chronic diseases associated with inflammation, including stroke as well."
Naqvi and his team studied data from over 9,000 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The research participants all received dental examinations between 1999 and 2004 and also kept track of their diets and use of supplements such as fish oil. The NHANES study collected extensive demographic, ethnic, educational and socioeconomic data, as well. That permitted the researchers to see if there were any other factors that might cloud the results.
Overall, about 8.2 percent of the research subjects had periodontitis -- but for those with the highest consumption of DHA, there was a 20 percent reduction in gum disease. Participants with a higher consumption of EPA had a slightly smaller reduction in gum disease. According to Elizabeth Krall Kaye, PhD, a professor in Boston University's Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, who wrote an editorial which accompanied the periodontitis study, a major finding of the new research is the fact significantly reduced odds of periodontal disease were achieved in people who only consumed very modest amounts DHA and EPA. That raises the question of whether higher, optimal doses of omega-3s might have an even more dramatic protective and therapeutic effect.
The new study backs up similar findings in animals. For example, earlier this year, University of Kentucky scientists also found that relatively low doses of omega-3s put the brakes on the growth of gum disease-causing bacteria in mice. That was the first study that clearly showed omega-3s appear to have a direct anti-bacterial effect on oral pathogens.
For more information:
http://www.naturalnews.com/fish_oil...
http://www.adajournal.org/
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
A Nutrient that Eliminates 50% of All Cancer Deaths?
Did You Know...
... that there's a nutrient that could eliminate 50% of all deaths from cancer and prevent other diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives every year?
... that there's a nutrient that could eliminate 50% of all deaths from cancer and prevent other diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives every year?
That nutrient is ... Vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin," which is now recognized by traditional and natural doctors alike as one of the most powerful, inexpensive ways to prevent disease.
Vitamin D is found in small amounts in some foods, such as milk, eggs, fish, and fortified orange juice -- but the most important, natural source of vitamin D comes from exposure to sunlight.
Vitamin D influences over 2,000 of the 30,000 genes in the body, which explains why it has been found to inhibit the onset and spread of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, autism, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis, to name a few.
This common vitamin has the potential to help millions avoid some of the worst diseases on the planet -- but people simply don't realize how critical vitamin D is to normal cellular function throughout the body.
In the United States, Vitamin D deficiency is a public health crisis of epidemic proportion. Even those who are aware of the deficiency usually do not fully understand the serious health implications that occur when the body's level of vitamin D drops.
Vitamin D is found in small amounts in some foods, such as milk, eggs, fish, and fortified orange juice -- but the most important, natural source of vitamin D comes from exposure to sunlight.
Vitamin D influences over 2,000 of the 30,000 genes in the body, which explains why it has been found to inhibit the onset and spread of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, autism, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis, to name a few.
This common vitamin has the potential to help millions avoid some of the worst diseases on the planet -- but people simply don't realize how critical vitamin D is to normal cellular function throughout the body.
In the United States, Vitamin D deficiency is a public health crisis of epidemic proportion. Even those who are aware of the deficiency usually do not fully understand the serious health implications that occur when the body's level of vitamin D drops.
Next to smoking, not getting enough vitamin D is the No. 2 risk factor of cancer! Every year, 30% -- or two million people worldwide (200,000 in the U.S. alone) -- could be spared of dying from cancer if they would just take the proper amounts of vitamin D.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, an Osteopathic physician and New York Timesbestselling author, "Groundbreaking studies proved that 600,000 cases of cancer could be prevented every year just by increasing your levels of vitamin D. And without question, the best way to obtain your vitamin D is by UVB sunlight falling on unexposed skin in doses that do not cause sunburn. Beyond cancer, increasing levels of vitamin D could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year."
When the body absorbs vitamin D, it converts it into a hormone called calcitriol. The body's organs use this hormone to regulate cell growth and repair cellular damage, includingmalignant cancer cells.
Dr. Michael Holick, one of the world's most respected authorities on Vitamin D and author of The UV Advantage explains that "Vitamin D is made in the skin, gets into the bloodstream, and then goes into the liver and kidneys where it is activated into a hormone called 125-dihydroxy (calcitriol). It is this activated vitamin D that has biological, disease-prevention effects, such as preventing prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and colon cancer."
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, an Osteopathic physician and New York Timesbestselling author, "Groundbreaking studies proved that 600,000 cases of cancer could be prevented every year just by increasing your levels of vitamin D. And without question, the best way to obtain your vitamin D is by UVB sunlight falling on unexposed skin in doses that do not cause sunburn. Beyond cancer, increasing levels of vitamin D could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year."
When the body absorbs vitamin D, it converts it into a hormone called calcitriol. The body's organs use this hormone to regulate cell growth and repair cellular damage, includingmalignant cancer cells.
Dr. Michael Holick, one of the world's most respected authorities on Vitamin D and author of The UV Advantage explains that "Vitamin D is made in the skin, gets into the bloodstream, and then goes into the liver and kidneys where it is activated into a hormone called 125-dihydroxy (calcitriol). It is this activated vitamin D that has biological, disease-prevention effects, such as preventing prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and colon cancer."
Thousands of dollars are often spent on health problems caused by a simple vitamin D deficiency. It can take months, sometimes years, of intense vitamin D treatment (i.e. 50,000+ IU's a day) to reverse the effects of disease.
The proper amount of vitamin D in the body helps to:
| ==> stop mutated cells from forming and spreading; ==> cause diseased cells to commit "cell suicide" -- i.e., cause them to literally self-destruct; ==> causes the differentiation of cells (Cancer cells are often undifferentiated, and this causes them to reproduce faster); ==> reduce the probability that dormant tumors will regenerate into cancerous cells by inhibiting the growth of blood vessels in those areas. Absorption is the key. Dr. William Grant, Ph.D., Director of the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center, and an expert on the effects of the environment and diet on chronic disease, recommends that adults get 2,000 to 4,000 IU's of vitamin D every day from the sun or from vitamin D supplements to prevent cancerous or dysfunctional cellular activity. However, most people get less than 300 IU's a day.
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