Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that helps prevent rickets in children and severe bone loss in adults, and researchers believe it has the potential to lower the risk of a host of diseases including cancer and diabetes.

Sunlight is generally the greatest source, but synthesizing vitamin D from the sun gets more difficult as we age, Kojima said, so older people are advised to eat more foods rich in vitamin D or take supplements. Good sources include fortified milk and breakfast cereals, fatty fish and egg yolks.

Study participants included 7,385 Japanese-American men living on Oahu, Hawaii. All were participants of the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program, a study of stroke and coronary heart disease in Japanese-American men that began in 1965 which was conducted at the Kuakini Medical Center.

Participants were 45 to 68 years old in the mid- to late-1960s when they were first examined and interviewed about what they had eaten in the previous 24 hours. Food models and serving utensils were used to help participants determine their portions accurately.

Researchers separated the participants into four groups of approximately 1,845 each depending on how much vitamin D they had consumed. They then analyzed their records through 1999, roughly 34 years after the initial exams, to determine the incidence of stroke. New strokes occurred in 960 men during the follow up period.

Researchers calculated risk while adjusting for age, total calorie intake, body-mass index, hypertension, diabetes, cigarette smoking, physical activity, cholesterol levels and alcohol intake. Men who consumed the least dietary vitamin D had a 22 percent higher risk of stroke and a 27 percent increase risk of ischemic (blood-clot related) stroke compared to those consuming the highest levels of vitamin D. There was no difference for hemorrhagic stroke.

Stroke ranks fourth among the leading causes of death in the United States. New or recurrent strokes strike about 795,000 Americans annually. Ischemic strokes account for 87 percent of all strokes, and 10 percent are from an intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain). The remaining 3 percent result from bleeding in the subarachnoid space between the brain and the tissues covering it.

Kojima said it is unclear whether the study results could be applied to different ethnic groups or to women.

While previous studies focused on blood concentrations of vitamin D, this investigation used dietary intake.

Co-authors are Christina Bell, M.D.; Robert D. Abbott, Ph.D.; Lenore J. Launer, Ph.D.; Randi Chen, M.S.; Heather Motonaga, M.D.; G. Webster Ross, M.D.; J. David Curb, M.D.; and Kamal Masaki, M.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Aging funded the study.

The American Heart Association offers information on Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations. For information on stroke visit strokeassociation.org.
Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association’s policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.heart.org/corporatefunding.

Currently, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Gate Pharmaceuticals, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, and Teva Pharmaceuticals have gained FDA approval for 300mg clopidogrel tablets. Apotex Corporation, Aurobindo Pharma, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Roxane Laboratories, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Torrent Pharmaceuticals have received approval for 75mg clopidogrel tablets.

Plavix is a platelet aggregation inhibitor indicated in reduction of atherosclerotic events in: recent myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke, established peripheral arterial disease; non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (unstable angina/non-ST-elevation MI) or ST-elevation MI.

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After 20 months, Henry Wolf decided to contact a lawyer instead, claiming that the seat on his BMW motorcycle gave him an erection lasting nearly two years. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Wolf filed a lawsuit against BMW North American and Corbin-Pacific claiming that the “ridged seat” on his 1993 motorcycle left him with mental and emotional anguish after allegedly causing an extreme case of priapism, also known as a long-lasting erection… read more here

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and worldwide.   In the USA, lung cancer accounts for 31% of all cancer deaths in men and  26% of all cancer deaths in women.

So what are your chances of developing lung cancer?   The answer may surprise you.   Believe it or not, 1 in 13 men and 1 in 16 women will  be affected by lung cancer- in which tobacco use accounts for 80% to 90% of all the cases.

Smoking, which causes oxidative damage to the body, overwhelms the DNA of our cells transforming them from normal healthy cells to unhealthy and unregulated cells which begin to grow uncontrollably, evading the body’s immune system which is supposed to “kill them”.

While having access to quality healthcare is crucial, having an optimistic attitude is also very important, especially when you or a loved one is diagnosed with cancer.

The study evaluated  534 people who were diagnosed with lung cancer. 48% women, 52% were men. Their average age was 67.   85% percent of the participants had non-small cell lung cancer while the other 15% has small cell lung cancer.

The study showed that those who were more optimistic had a 6 month survival advantage when compared to those who were less optimistic.  However, this study showed the benefit of optimism only in people who were diagnosed with an early stage of the lung cancer (Stage 1 and 2). Those diagnosed with an advanced stage of lung cancer (Stage 3 & 4) did not have the same survival benefit.

After five years,  33% of those with optimistic attitudes were still alive while only 21% of those with negative attitudes survived. The study’s author stated that more research still needs to be done to evaluate the connection more thoroughly.

Source: Journal of Thoracic Oncology: March 2010 – Volume 5 – Issue 3 – pp 326-332

While studies show darvocet is not any more effective than acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain, it has been judiciously prescribed by healthcare providers for decades.

Other studies have shown that darvocet and the generic equivalent, increase what is called the QT interval, leading to life threatening irregular heartbeats in those who are susceptible. It is unknown how many people have actually died from this drug but surely the number is in the thousands.

Ask your doctor what other medicines are available if you need something for pain. Your doctor may consider tramadol or Tylenol with codeine as options. As with all medicines, side effects must be considered.

Also, consider asking your healthcare provider if fish oil supplements are ok take. Studies have shown that omega 3 fish oil pills have anti-inflammatory effects, similar to naproxen and Celebrex. There is no evidence life threatening side effects from fish oils, like there are with other leading anti-inflammatories (remember Vioxx?).

In 2009, it was estimated that 10 million people were taking propoxyphene (Darvocet) containing products.

Your doctor will tell you it is either normal or high. Blood pressure is the amount of force your heart muscle needs to exert as it pumps the blood through your arteries (not veins).   A blood pressure reading consists of 2 numbers and is expressed as “120 over 80″ or “120/80″.

The 120 (bigger number) is called your systolic pressure while the  80 (smaller number) is the diastolic pressure. Both numbers are important. Normal blood pressure is 120/80 or less.

If your blood pressure is >140/90 on two or more occasions, you have high blood pressure and need to see your physician.

High blood pressure increases your risk for heart attacks and strokes, so controlling it is very very important.  Diet, exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, eating a lot of fruits and vegetables can all help lower blood pressure. You many also need to be on blood pressure medicine.

Bright Ideas for Treating the Winter Blues

Mercury especially targets the liver, the immune system and the pituitary gland. Numerous studies have associated chronic mercury exposure with elevated risks for autism, mental impairment and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Previous research by U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) researchers estimated that chronic mercury exposure caused between 300,000 and 600,000 American children to be born with elevated risks of neurodevelopmental disorders between 1999 and 2000...read more here…

The agency is stopping short of a phased withdrawal from the market as demanded by a Public Citizen petition filed in 2006.

To reduce the likelihood of overdose, the FDA will now require that manufacturers of propoxyphene-containing medications strengthen their label and include a boxed warning on the potential for overdose. Manufacturers will also be required to develop a medication guide for patients stressing that they use the medication as directed. Propoxyphene has been on the market since 1957.

Between 1969 and 2005, an FDA database has linked a total of 91 deaths in persons taking propoxyphene related to accidental overdoses and suicide attempts, although a direct link to propoxyphene is difficult to establish because multiple drugs and other conditions were involved, the agency said.

The FDA is currently working with several organizations, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Veterans Health Administration, to collect data for a new safety study that will assess the cardiotoxic effects of propoxyphene at higher doses, particularly in elderly populations; findings from this study could lead to additional regulatory action. At this time, the FDA is looking at how Americans are using medications containing propoxyphene, and in which combinations.

Janet Woodcock, MD, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told reporters during a press briefing that propoxyphene is an accepted option for pain treatment at this time. “Pain is an important issue — it’s the fifth vital sign. Millions of people suffer from pain; it is so prevalent that 1 in 10 people have chronic pain, and the FDA is committed to appropriate treatment of pain. At this time, propoxyphene is an acceptable choice for the treatment of mild to moderate pain when taken as directed.”

Dr. Woodcock noted that after last week’s advisory meeting on acetaminophen safety, the FDA heard from hundreds of patients concerned about the availability of their medications that contain acetaminophen.

“When it comes to acetaminophen or opioids, the FDA is constantly balancing benefit vs risk,” she said.

The FDA said that in cases of overdose, propoxyphene can be a fatal medicine; however, most of the deaths connected to the drug in the FDA’s database were in cases of ingestion of multiple drugs.

The consumer group Public Citizen petitioned the FDA in February 2006, asking that propoxyphene-containing products, sold primarily as a generic drug, be removed from the market. The FDA declined today to take action on the petition. The drug was withdrawn from the UK market in 2005, however, when the British government said it was unimpressed with the efficacy of the drug and that the risk of toxicity in cases of overdose — both intentional and accidental — were unacceptable.

The FDA defended its position in not removing the drug from the market, pointing out that there are not a lot of alternative drugs without similar adverse effects...read more here..

In what may be among the longest-running and widest-ranging cases of academic fraud, one of the most prolific researchers in anesthesiology fabricated much of the data underlying his research, said a spokeswoman for the hospital where he works.

The researcher, Dr. Scott S. Reuben, an anesthesiologist in Springfield, Mass., who practiced at Baystate Medical Center, fabricated data in some or all of the 21 journal articles dating from at least 1996, said Jane Albert, a spokeswoman for Baystate Health.

The reliability of dozens more articles he wrote is uncertain, and the common practice — supported by his studies — of giving patients aspirinlike drugs and neuropathic pain medicines after surgery instead of narcotics is now being questioned.

Paul Cirel, a lawyer for Dr. Reuben, said that he could not discuss the case because Baystate had investigated it as part of a confidential peer-review process. Baystate officials “were aware of extenuating circumstances,” Mr. Cirel said.

The drug giant Pfizer underwrote much of Dr. Reuben’s research from 2002 to 2007. Many of his trials found that Celebrex and Lyrica, Pfizer drugs, were effective against postoperative pain.

“Independent clinical research advances disease treatments and improves the lives of patients,” said Raymond F. Kerins Jr., a Pfizer spokesman. “As part of such research, we count on independent researchers to be truthful and motivated by a desire to advance care for patients. It is very disappointing to learn about Dr. Scott Reuben’s alleged actions.”

Drug companies routinely hire community physicians to conduct studies of already-approved medicines. In some cases, prosecutors have charged companies with underwriting studies of little scientific merit in hopes of persuading doctors to prescribe the medicines more often…read here…