Vitamin D: Asthma and Influenza

Vitamin D Helps Fend Off Flu, Asthma Attacks: Study

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online March 10, 2010

(Reuters Health) - In a study of Japanese schoolchildren, vitamin D supplements taken during the winter and early spring helped prevent seasonal flu and asthma attacks.

The idea for the study, study chief Dr. Mitsuyoshi Urashima, told Reuters Health, came from an earlier study looking at whether vitamin D could help prevent the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. The researchers in that study noticed that people taking vitamin D were three times less likely to report cold and flu symptoms.

This led Urashima, of Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, and colleagues to randomly assign a group of 6- to 15-year-old children to take vitamin D3 supplements (1,200 international units daily) or inactive placebo during a cold and flu season.

Vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol, is more readily absorbed by the body and more potent than vitamin D2, or ergocalciferol, the form often found in multivitamins.

During the study, conducted between December 2008 and March 2009, 31 of 167 children taking placebo caught influenza A, the most common form of the virus, compared with only 18 of 167 taking vitamin D.

The vitamin D group was 58 percent less likely to catch influenza A, the researchers report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Vitamin D also appeared to suppress asthma attacks in children with a history of asthma. Two children taking vitamin D had asthma attacks during the study, compared to 12 children taking placebo. Urashima admitted to being a bit surprised by this finding and hopes to confirm it in a randomized trial targeting children with asthma.

Dr. Adit Ginde, of University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study, told Reuters Health: "This is the first time a study has been done that rigorously shows that vitamin D supplementation can reduce a type of influenza in a dedicated clinical trial." Ginde and colleagues published a study a year ago showing that asthmatics with lower vitamin D levels were at five times the risk for colds and flu.

In the Japanese study, vitamin D supplementation did not prevent influenza type B, which tends to appear later in the flu season than the "A" flu variety.

Ginde said there is no solid explanation for why vitamin D prevented influenza A and not influenza B. "The immune system fights different viruses in different ways. This finding needs to be explored in more detail," Ginde said.

Based on the current study, giving kids vitamin D supplements during the winter may help reduce cases of influenza A, the researchers conclude. Urashima suggests that children could take 1,200 IU per day starting in September to prevent flu and asthma attacks during the flu season.

Taking one tablet of Cataplex D morning and evening will supply you with 1600 IU's of vitamin D.

Don

Sleep - not to long; not to short seems to be the key

Not more than eight (8) and not less than six (6) hours a night maybe the key in maintaining weight, living longer and reducing your risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Women's study finds longevity means getting just enough sleep

ScienceDaily (2010-10-01) -- A new study, derived from novel sleep research 14 years earlier, suggests that the secret to a long life may come with just enough sleep. Less than five hours a night is probably not enough; eight hours is probably too much. ... > read full article
 
Sleep Duration Related To Having Metabolic Syndrome

ScienceDaily (2008-05-01) -- Short and long sleepers are more likely to have metabolic syndrome, or a combination of medical disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. According to the results, the odds for having the metabolic syndrome increased by more than 45 percent in both short and long sleepers. ... > read full article

Aerobic exercise relieves insomnia

ScienceDaily (2010-09-15) -- Millions of middle-aged and older adults who suffer from insomnia have a new drug-free prescription for a more restful night's sleep. Regular aerobic exercise dramatically improves the quality of sleep, mood and vitality, according to a new study. ... > read full article


Long sleep duration linked to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome in older adults

ScienceDaily (2010-06-10) -- Participants reporting a daily sleep duration of eight hours or more including naps were 15 percent more likely to have metabolic syndrome. This relationship remained unchanged after full adjustment for potential confounders. Participants who reported a short sleep duration of less than six hours initially were 14 percent more likely to have metabolic syndrome; this association disappeared after controlling for potential confounders. Participants were 29,310 people 50 years of age or older in Guangzhou, China. ... > read full article
 

Chronic Insomnia With Short Sleep Duration Is Significant Risk Factor For Hypertension

ScienceDaily (2009-04-09) -- A new study is the first to demonstrate that chronic insomnia with objectively measured short sleep time is an independent and clinically significant risk factor for hypertension. ... > read full article
 

Short, Long Sleep Duration Is Associated With Future Weight Gain In Adults#

ScienceDaily (2008-04-04) -- Both short and long sleeping times predict an increased risk of future body weight and fat gain in adults. Short and long duration sleepers were 35 percent and 25 percent more likely to experience a 5 kg weight gain, respectively, as compared with average duration sleepers over six years. The risk of developing obesity was elevated for short and long duration sleepers as compared with average duration sleepers, with 27 percent and 21 percent increases in risk, respectively. ... > read full article
 

Too Much Or Too Little Sleep Increases Risk Of Diabetes

ScienceDaily (2009-04-23) -- Scientists have found that people who sleep too much or not enough are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance. The risk is 2.5 times higher for people who sleep less than seven hours or more than eight hours a night. ... > read full article

Sleep May Be Factor In Weight Control

ScienceDaily (2009-05-19) -- Could sleep be a critical component to maintaining a healthy body weight? According to new research, body mass index is linked to length and quality of sleep in a surprisingly consistent fashion. ... > read full article
 
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine offers the following tips on how to get a good night's sleep:


•Follow a consistent bedtime routine.

•Establish a relaxing setting at bedtime.

•Get a full night's sleep every night.

•Avoid foods or drinks that contain caffeine, as well as any medicine that has a stimulant, prior to bedtime.

•Do not bring your worries to bed with you.

•Do not go to bed hungry, but don't eat a big meal before bedtime either.

•Avoid any rigorous exercise within six hours of your bedtime.

•Make your bedroom quiet, dark and a little bit cool.

•Get up at the same time every morning.
 

 

Valerian Root and Passion Flower can also assist in calming you down at bed time; Valarian Root Complex from Mediherb Valerian Complex contains Valerian, Passion Flower and Zizyphus spinosa. Together these herbs and their constituents can help the body to: support nervous system health and obtain relief from occasional sleeplessness; use one to two tablets 20-30 min before bed . The use of a blood sugar stabilizing product such as A-F Betafood from Standard Process can also assist in sleep maintenance; by assisting the body in creating glycogen stores thus providing a constant source of fuel during sleep; use two to four tablets 20-30 min before bed time. Increased lactic acid and its subsquent build up is also a strong adrenal stimulant causing patients to awaken and then being unable to return to sleep.Cataplex B can assist this condition. (from Walther).

Book - "The Promise of Sleep" Dr William C. Dement, M.D., Ph.D. great resourse.

Review  - Healthful sleep has been empirically proven to be the single most important factor in predicting longevity, more influential than diet, exercise, or heredity. And yet we are a sleep-sick society, ignorant of the facts of sleep--and the price of sleep deprivation. In this groundbreaking book, based on decades of study on the frontiers of sleep science, Dr. William Dement, founder and director of the Stanford University Sleep Research Center, explains what happens when we sleep, when we don't, and how we can reclaim the most powerful--and underrated--health miracle of all.

Don

Probiotics - Lactic Acid Yeast

Lactic acid bacteria are among the most important groups of microorganisms used in food fermentations. They contribute to the taste and texture of fermented products and inhibit food spoilage bacteria by producing growth-inhibiting substances and large amounts of lactic acid. As agents of fermentation LAB are involved in making yogurt, cheese, cultured butter, sour cream, sausage, cucumber pickles, olives and sauerkraut, but some species may spoil beer, wine and processed meats.

Fermentation of Foods by Lactic Acid Bacteria
Many human foods are plants or animal products which have been fermented by lactic acid bacteria, since these bacteria possess properties that can benefit food production or conversion. The acidic and organoleptic properties of fermented foods result from the metabolic activities of these microorganisms. Foods such as ripened cheeses, fermented sausages, sauerkraut and pickles have not only a greatly extended shelf life compared to the raw materials from which they are derived, but also aroma and flavor characteristics contributed directly or indirectly by the fermenting organisms.

Because they obtain energy only from the metabolism of sugars, lactic acid bacteria are restricted to environments in which sugars are present. They have limited biosynthetic ability, having evolved in environments that are rich in amino acids, vitamins, purines and pyrimidines, so they must be cultivated in complex media that fulfill all their nutritional requirements. Most are free-living or live in beneficial or harmless associations with animals, although some are opportunistic pathogens. They are found in milk and milk products and in decaying plant materials. They are normal flora of humans in the oral cavity, the intestinal tract and the vagina, where they play a beneficial role.

Recent research suggests that reestablishing the balance between the number and proportion of different bacterial species present in the gastrointestinal tract can normalize the permeability, motility, metabolism, immune response and other functions of the gut. One natural way to achieve this goal is by ingesting adequate number of selected species of lactic acid bacteria (i.e. Lactobacilli, Streptococcus) and Bifidobacteria.


Lactic Acid Yeast from Standard Process
Purpose: Convert Carbohydrates in food to lactic acid, thereby acidifying the GI tract and inhibiting pathogenic bacterial growth. (Lactobacillus acidophilus, the analogous bacterium, only converts milk sugar to lactic acid.) Promotes intestinal absorption of Ca.


From the Clinical Reference Guide: Intestinal flora support, acidification of GI tract, converts all carbohydrate to lactic acid, protein and mineral (especially Ca, Zn, Fe) assimilation.

USE: Disruption of intestinal flora, antibiotic therapy adjunct, flatulence (2 hrs after meals), halitosis, toxemia, malassimilation disorder, constipation.

Question: What actually is yogurt?

John Courtney: Yogurt is a bacillus that is naturally found in sour milk—one of many. To make yogurt you would sterilize milk then seed it with a culture of whatever bacillus you choose. Different strains of bacillus produce different flavors. Yogurt is good for you but sour milk is even better because it hasn't been cooked. Tests have been conducted showing the effects of pasteurization. The bacteria count in pasteurized milk is way down real low compared to raw milk. But if you keep both under ideal conditions and test again after 12 to 48 hours the bacteria count in the pasteurized milk will be much higher than in the raw milk. Why? Because the protective factors normally found in milk are destroyed by cooking allowing the bacteria to increase. So pasteurized milk is a very inferior product— it often causes constipation along with other problems. Most of the nutrients which were present in the milk to begin with are destroyed or rendered unacceptable to the human body by the pasteurization process. So much for that. The lactic acid yeast organism that we use in our Lactic Acid Yeast wafers does the same thing that lactic acid bacillus does with one difference. Lactic acid bacillus only changes milk sugar to lactic acid whereas lactic acid yeast organism changes any carbohydrate to lactic acid. I don't think anyone else uses the lactic acid yeast organism; other companies use lactic acid bacillus. We also put a few additional food factors into Lactic Acid Yeast to make sure that it builds the patient up.

Reasearch Studies Supporting the Efficacy of Lactic Acid Yeast (Probiotics)

Gionchetti P. et al. Oral bacteriotherapy as maintenance treatment in patients with chronic pouchitis. Gastroenterology 2000; 119(2):305-309.

Gionchetti P. et al. Prophylaxis of pouchitis onset with probiotic therapy. Gastroeterology 2003; 124(5):1202-1209

Venturi A. et al. Impact on the composition of the fecal flora by a new probiotic preparation. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 1999; 13(8):1103-1108

Campieri M. et al. Combination of antibiotic and probiotic treatment is efficacious in prophylaxis of post-operative recurrence of Crohn's disease. Gastroenterology 2000; 118:A4179

Delia P. et al. Prevention of radiation-induced diarrhea with the use of VSL#3, a new high-potency probiotic preparation. Am. J. Gastroenterology 2002; 97(8):13-15.

Kim HJ. et al. A randomized controlled trial of a probiotic, VSL#3, on gut transit and symptoms in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2003; 17:895-904

Bazzocchi G. et al. Changes in symptoms, distension-stimulated colonic motility and in fecal microbiological features after oral bacteriotherapy in patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS (D-IBS) or with functional diarrhea (FD). Am. J. Gastroenterology 2002; 97(9):A847

Mimura T. el al. Once daily high dose probiotic therapy maintains remission and improved quality of life in patients with recurrent or refractory pouchitis. Gastroenterology 2002; 122:A81

Brigidi P. et al. Effects of probiotic administration upon the composition and enzymatic activity of human fecal microbiota in patients with irritable bowel syndrome or functional diarrhea. Res. Microbiol. 2001; 152:735-41.

Balfour RB. Editorial: Probiotics in Chronic Pouchitis: Restoring Luminal Microbial Balance. Gastroenterology 2000: 119(2):584-585.

Katz JA. Editorial: Prevention is the Best Defence: Probiotic Prophylaxis of Pouchitis. Gastroenterology 2003; 124(5):1535-1537.