Dr. John's Health Matters
Welcome to Dr. John's Health Matters blog.
The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
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Posts tagged "liver"
Tuesday, Sep 1st, 2009 ↓Caution on mix of cholesterol-lowering meds →
Sept 1, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Combining a prescription cholesterol-lowering medication with omega-3 supplements may not be the best approach, a new review suggests.
Statins are medications that prevent the liver from producing cholesterol, which can help reduce the risk of heart attacks. Every year, Canadian doctors write more than 12 million prescriptions for statins, making them the most-prescribed drugs in the country. Omega-3’s are heart-healthy oils that some evidence suggests help reduce the risk of coronary disease.
In the Nov. 3 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Mukul Sharma, medical director of the Regional Stroke Centre at the Ottawa Hospital, and his team reviewed five different cholesterol-lowering medications that can be combined as well as omega-3 supplements sold over the counter. They concluded there is little evidence to support mixing them.
Bad cholesterol increase
In one case, the researchers found taking prescription medication with omega-3 had the opposite effect.
“Your bad cholesterol, the LDL, actually goes up,” Sharma said. “There isn’t a benefit in terms of heart disease, stroke or mortality.”
Most cholesterol patients may be better off taking higher doses of one drug instead of multiple medications, since there may be less chance of side-effects and long-term problems developing, he said. People are also less likely to take their medications the more that are prescribed.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: cholesterol increase risk danger LDL prescription cardiovascular blood heart statin medication liver heart attack prevention coronary disease
Defend Against Disease with Broccoli Juice →
Aug 28, 2009 (NaturalNews.com)— Broccoli is a member of the cauliflower family or a Brassica. It is a diverse super food that is delicious when steamed or can be finely chopped and sprinkled on food for added nutrition. Juicing is a great way to get the most out of this amazing food. By drinking broccoli juice daily, we can prevent disease and transform our health.
Broccoli juice offers a whole array of amazing benefits that help us to enjoy optimum health. It contains glucoraphanin that converts into sulphoraphane, a powerful anticancer agent. It contains isothyocyanate, the chemical that activates our natural cancer inhibiting genes. The sprouted seeds and the broccoli juice help to fight prostate cancer. It contains compounds that help to detox the liver from cancer causing toxins.
With high levels of selenium and fiber, the juice of Broccoli offers protection from stomach and bowel cancer.
Broccoli juice contains compounds that protect cells from ultraviolet light. It helps to increase the production of protective enzymes that protect cells against different aspects of UV damage by working inside the cells. It helps in prevention of skin cancer.
Glucoraphanin present in the broccoli juice promotes antioxidant defenses in the body that help lower blood pressure and harmful inflammation in the heart and arteries.
The phytochemical sulforaphane helps the body defend against H. pylori, a bacteria that causes gastrointestinal problems. Thus, it helps to prevent stomach ulcers and painful bloating.
Broccoli juice contains fibers which help to maintain a healthy gastrointestinal GI tract. It reduces cholesterol levels in the blood. Calcium present in the Broccoli juice promotes healthy bones and helps to burn fat. It decreases the production of cortisol, which is a stress hormone, relating to food cravings and stomach fat.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: prevention disease broccoli juice benefit glucoraphanin sulphoraphane antioxidant anticancer cancer prostate detox liver selenium fiber stomach bowel uv damage skin bacteria gastrointestinal inflammation heart arteries bloating ulcer pain cholesterol blood
Toxins in Fish Linked to Diabetes →
Aug 27, 2009 (Mercola.com)—A new study of Great Lakes boat captains over 15 years found a correlation between the chemical DDE and diabetes. Those who ate more fish had more DDE in their blood, and were more likely to develop diabetes.
DDE is produced in the bodies of small bottom-feeding fish from ingesting the prevalent pesticide DDT. The chemical transfers to bigger fish when they eat smaller fish and then accumulates in the fat and liver of people who eat lots of what they catch. Charter boat captains tend to catch and eat more fish than the average recreational fisherman.
Exactly how DDE may lead to diabetes is unknown. Another pesticide, Agent Orange, can cause diabetes, but it’s believed to do so in a different way than DDE.
Sources: 
Chicago Tribune August 23, 2009
Tags: toxin diabetes risk fish ddt pesticide blood fat dde liver fisher agent orange
Blueberry Leaves May Heal Hepatitis C →
Aug 15, 2009(NaturalNews.com) —Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease resulting from infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Although the infection can be mild and not even produce noticeable symptoms, once established in the body chronic hepatitis C infection can progress to fibrosis (when the liver is scarred), cirrhosis, liver failure and even liver cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the virus becomes persistent and chronically infects the liver in about 85 percent of those who contract HCV. Persistent infection is treated by western medicine with medications like peginterferon and ribavirin. And while it’s true these drugs can wipe out the infection, they are only effective about half the time and they can produce very severe, debilitating side effects. So people who aren’t cured by the drugs and who go on to develop cirrhosis or liver cancer may face death from the infection or require a liver transplant.
But now there’s another avenue of hope for the 270 to 300 million people who are infected with hepatitis C worldwide. Research just published in the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Journal of Biochemistry (JVC) concludes a chemical found in blueberry leaves actually blocks the replication of the hepatitis C virus, shutting it down. This finding could open up a new and natural avenue for treating chronic HCV infections, according to scientist Hiroaki Kataoka and colleagues at the University of Miyazaki in Japan.
Because HCV is localized in the liver and can take two decades or more to develop into significant disease, Kataoka and colleagues reasoned a dietary supplement might help slow or stop disease progression over the years. They decided to screen around 300 different agricultural products for potential compounds that might be effective at suppressing HCV replication. The results? They uncovered a strong candidate for a natural HCV fighter — the leaves of the rabbit-eye blueberry, a plant native to the southeastern US.
For full aticle see link above.
Tags: blueberries cirrhosis liver virus cancer treatment hepatitis c infection supplement proanthocyandin
Tags: hangover asparagus extract function enzyme liver metabloism alcohol leaf bioactive A. officinalis toxic shoot toxicity hydrogen peroxide nutrition amino acid mineral
Hepatitis Healing Power Of Blueberry Leaves →
Aug 7, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—A chemical found in blueberry leaves has shown a strong effect in blocking the replication of the Hepatitis C virus, opening up a new avenue for treating chronic HCV infections, which affect 200 million people worldwide and can eventually lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Among the areas of especially high Hepatitis C incidence is the Miyazaki prefecture of southern Japan, a trend that led Hiroaki Kataoka and colleagues at the University of Miyazaki and elsewhere in Japan on a search for better treatment options. Currently, there is no vaccine for HCV, and though a combination drug regimen can clear HCV infection, this treatment is only about 60% effective on average and poses risks of severe side effects.
Kataoka and colleagues believed that since HCV is localized in the liver and can take 20 years or more to develop into disease, a dietary supplement might help slow or stop disease progression. So they screened nearly 300 different agricultural products for potential compounds that suppress HCV replication and uncovered a strong candidate in the leaves of rabbit-eye blueberry (native to the southeastern US).
They purified the compound and identified it as proanthocyandin (a polyphenol similar to the beneficial chemicals found in grapes and wine). While proanthocyandin can be harmful, Kataoka and colleagues noted its effective concentration against HCV was 100 times less than the toxic threshold, and similar chemicals are found in many edible plants, suggesting it should be safe as a dietary supplement. In the meantime, the researchers now hope to explore the detailed mechanisms of how this chemical stops HCV replication.
Journal reference:
- Masahiko Takeshita, Yo-ichi Ishida, Ena Akamatsu, Yusuke Ohmori, Masayuki Sudoh, Hirofumi Uto, Hirohito Tsubouchi, and Hiroaki Kataoka. Proanthocyanidin from Blueberry Leaves Suppresses Expression of Subgenomic Hepatitis C Virus RNA. J. Biol. Chem., 2009; 284: 21165-21176 [link]
Tags: blueberry leaves leaf blocking hepatitis C virus infection liver cancer cirrhosis prevention supplement diet progression proanthocyandin polyphenol
Heavy Drinkers Face Significantly Increased Cancer Risk →
Aug 4, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Heavy drinkers of beer and spirits face a much higher risk of developing cancer than the population at large, says a group of Montreal epidemiologists and cancer researchers. Their findings show that people in the highest consumption category increased their risk of developing oesophageal cancer sevenfold, colon cancer by 80% and even lung cancer by 50%.
In all, the researchers found statistically significant relationships between heavy consumption of beer and spririts and six different cancers. Moderate drinking (i.e. less than daily) and wine consumption did not show the same effects, however.
The research was conducted by Dr. Andrea Benedetti of McGill University, Dr. Marie-Elise Parent of INRS-Institut Armand Frappier and Dr. Jack Siemiatycki of the Université de Montréal.
“We looked at the data in two ways,” said Benedetti, an assistant professor at McGill’s Departments of Medicine and of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health. “We compared people who drank heavily to our reference group, who abstained or drank only very occasionally. We also looked for trends across our categories: non-drinkers, weekly drinkers and daily drinkers.
The results were astounding. “We saw increased risk for esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer,” Benedetti added. “The strongest risk was for esophageal and liver cancer.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: alcohol drinking cancer risk danger stomach esophageal colon liver pancreatic lung prostate
Coffee helps brain, liver to function better →
July 27, 2009 (Presstv.com)—The latest studies by German researchers have shown positive effects of coffee on human health, saying it improves functions of liver and brain.
The studies run by Germany’s Green Cross points out that coffee accelerates digestion, and prevents age-related diabetes, chronic liver disease and replacement of liver tissue by fibrous scar tissue.
Drinking at least four cups of coffee a day is also reported to reduce the risk of liver cirrhosis by up to 80 percent.
The report says coffee can help reverse some elements of memory impairment commonly seen in Alzheimer sufferers and improves concentration.
Health promoting ingredients of coffee like chlorogenic acid also play important roles too. Chlorogenic acid is one of the antioxidants found in coffee that can cut nearly in half the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease.
For full article see link above.
Tags: liver function coffee digestion diabetes disease cirrhosis memory concentration ingredient antioxidant alzheimers prevention
Tags: obesity overweight weight citrus weighloss fruit diabetes 2 flavonoid liver triglyceride cholesterol appetite antioxidant naringenin insulin metabolic glucose
Health Tip: Don't Abuse Alcohol →
July 17, 2009 (Therapytimes.com)—An occasional glass of beer or wine may help you relax, but excessive alcohol consumption is dangerous.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says drinking too much increases the risk of:
- Accident and injury, including car accidents, drowning and falling.
- Miscarriage and stillbirth.
- Physical and mental birth defects for your baby.
- Alcohol poisoning.
- Neurologic problems and dementia.
- Cardiovascular issues, including heart attack and high blood pressure.
- Anxiety and depression.
- Cancer.
- Liver disease.
- Gastrointestinal tract problems.
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Tags: drinking risk danger alcohol abuse addiction accident miscarriage birth defect posioning dementia cardiovascular anxiety depression liver kidney GI tract
Eating High Levels Of Fructose Impairs Memory In Rats →
July 16, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Researchers at Georgia State University have found that diets high in fructose — a type of sugar found in most processed foods and beverages — impaired the spatial memory of adult rats.
Amy Ross, a graduate student in the lab of Marise Parent, associate professor at Georgia State’s Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, fed a group of Sprague-Dawley rats a diet where fructose represented 60 percent of calories ingested during the day.
She placed the rats in a pool of water to test their ability to learn to find a submerged platform, which allowed them to get out of the water. She then returned them to the pool two days later with no platform present to see if the rats could remember to swim to the platform’s location.
“What we discovered is that the fructose diet doesn’t affect their ability to learn,” Parent said. “But they can’t seem to remember as well where the platform was when you take it away. They swam more randomly than rats fed a control diet.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: diet nutrition additive fructose memory sugar risk liver triglyceride blood brain insulin
Critical Link Between Obesity And Diabetes Discovered →
July 9, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—A Monash University study has proven a critical link between obesity and the onset of Type 2 diabetes, a discovery which could lead to the design of a drug to prevent the disease.
The findings were published July 8 in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The team, led by Associate Professor Matthew Watt, discovered that fat cells release a novel protein called PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor), which triggers a chain of events and interactions that lead to development of Type 2 diabetes.
“When PEDF is released into the bloodstream, it causes the muscle and liver to become desensitised to insulin. The pancreas then produces more insulin to counteract these negative effects, ” Associate Professor Watt said.
This insulin release causes the pancreas to become overworked, eventually slowing or stopping insulin release from the pancreas, leading to Type 2 diabetes.”
“It appears that the more fat tissue a person has the less sensitive they become to insulin. Therefore a greater amount of insulin is required to maintain the body’s regulation of blood-glucose,” Associate Professor Watt said.
“Our research was able to show that increasing PEDF not only causes Type 2 diabetes like complications but that blocking PEDF reverses these effects. The body again returned to being insulin-sensitive and therefore did not need excess insulin to remain regulated.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: obesity fat tissue insulin diabetes type 2 prevention PEDF protein trigger development pancreas liver desensitised overweight
Exercise Fights Fatty Liver Disease →
July 7, 2009 (Mercola.com)—Counseling patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease on how to increase physical activity leads to health benefits that are independent of changes in weight.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common form of chronic liver disease in developed countries. It is associated with obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, and is characterized by elevated liver enzymes.
Currently, patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are encouraged to alter their lifestyles, but the focus has been on weight loss through dietary changes. But when patients were encouraged to be active for at least 150 minutes per week, they showed improvements in liver enzymes and other metabolic indices which were not connected to weight loss.
Sources:
Eurekalert July 1, 2009Tags: fatty liver damage disease prevention diet nutrition activity nonalcoholic diabetes insulin enzyme lifestyle obesity exercise
FDA Changes Tylenol Warnings →
July 3, 2009 (Mercola.com)—FDA advisers have recommended lowering the maximum dose of over-the-counter acetaminophen — the key ingredient in Tylenol, Excedrin and many other pain-killing medications.
The advisers’ vote followed the release of a report last month which found that severe liver damage and even death can result from a lack of consumer awareness that acetaminophen can cause such injury.
Many people may take more than the recommended dose of acetaminophen-based pain relievers in the mistaken belief that taking more will be more effective without posing health risks. And consumers may also not know that acetaminophen is present in many over-the-counter products, including remedies for colds, headaches and fevers, making it possible to exceed the recommended acetaminophen dose accidentally.
Risk Of Liver Cancer In Women With Hepatitis B Virus Infection Varies With Number Of Pregnancies →
July 3, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Risk for hepatocellular carcinoma, a primary malignancy of the liver, was statistically significantly higher among women with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection than among women without the virus, according to a new study.
Because hepatocellular carcinoma mostly occurs in men, few women have been included in long-term studies of the association between HBV infection and this carcinoma.
In this study, Chien-Jen Chen, Sc.D., of the Genomics Research Center in Taipei, Taiwan, and colleagues used a nationwide cohort of more than 1.5 million pregnant Taiwanese women tested from 1983 to 2000 to study relationships of HBV infection and parity with hepatocellular risk.
The researchers found that risk for hepatocellular carcinoma during follow-up was statistically significantly higher among pregnant women who had chronic, active, or persistent HBV infections (and even in those who had seroclearance for hepatitis B surface antigen during follow-up) than among women who were not carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen at study entry.
For full article see link above.
