Fish Oil

As many of you know one of the dietary supplements that we are constantly reminding our patients of the importance of is Fish Oil – Omega 3 Fatty Acids. A number of new studies have come out that re-enforce this view (my comments in italics):

• “Fish oil may help prevent onset of psychosis” – Archives of General Psychiatry
Omega-3 fatty acids make up a large portion of your nervous system including your brain and the coverings of your nerves. It makes complete sense that people who are lacking in Omega 3, and thus need supplementation, are prone to psychotic disorders.

• “Mercury, Fish Oils, and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction” – New England Journal of Medicine,

Conclusions: The toenail mercury level was directly associated with the risk of myocardial infarction, and the adipose-tissue DHA level was inversely associated with the risk. High mercury content may diminish the cardioprotective effect of fish intake.
• Association of Marine Omega-3 Fatty Acid Levels With Telomeric Aging in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease – Journal of American Medical Association

Conclusion: Among this cohort of patients with coronary artery disease, there was an inverse relationship between baseline blood levels of marine omega-3 fatty acids and the rate of telomere shortening over 5 years.

• Cholesterol Drug Lowers LDL-C Levels But Again Fails to Show Clinical Benefit – Journal of American Medical Association

These studies support the idea that cholesterol levels do not determine risk for heart disease – the inflammatory state of the body does. People with high levels of blood Omega 3 fatty acids benefit from their anti-inflammatory properties – they prevent damage to blood vessel walls. If those walls aren’t getting damaged then cholesterol deposition and plaqueing doesn’t occur. While people with heart disease tend to have high cholesterol, that correlation doesn’t equal causation. This is the reason that the drug doesn’t affect heart disease rates even though it lowers cholesterol levels, yet the fish oil supplements work – the fish oil addresses the true cause, a pro-inflammatory state in the body, while the drug doesn’t. Be sure to comment or talk to us in the office if you have any questions on how to pick the right fish oil supplement for you!

Medical Ethics

• Antipsychotics, Nursing Homes and the Feds’ Case Against J&J from WSJ.com: Health Blog

The feds say J&J paid kickbacks to a big nursing-home pharmacy company to get the company to prescribe more of its drugs, including the antipsychotic Risperdal. The allegation isn’t a huge surprise: The pharmacy company, Omnicare, paid $98 million last year to settle allegations that it had solicited and received kickbacks from J&J in exchange recommending the company’s antipsychotic drug Risperdal.

• “FDA More Pro Industry Than Any Time in 35 Years” By MERRILL GOOZNER, THE HEALTH CARE BLOG
So says Jim Dickinson, editor of FDAWebview, an industry newsletter that closely follows enforcement issues at the agency.

• Feds Accuse Doc of Faking Research On Pfizer & Merck Drugs by Wall Street Journal Blog

Federal prosecutors accused Reuben of health-care fraud for allegedly faking data that suggested after-surgery benefits from painkillers including Merck’s Vioxx and Pfizer’s Bextra and Celebrex, the Justice Department said yesterday. The Justice announcement said he faces as much as a 10-year sentence and a $250,000 fine.

Remember, health care is big business, in fact it is the biggest business. While most doctors want the best for their patients, corporations such as health insurance companies and big pharmaceutical firms have as their sole motivator the bottom line. The ties between government and these businesses run deep. For example, as we talked about in our Good, Bad, Ugly workshop, the most recent head of the CDC, the person who spearheaded the effort to mass vaccinate against the swine flu, recently left to take a position as the head of vaccination for Merck. Is she being rewarded for her efforts? Efforts that made vaccine companies billions as governments were scared into buying vaccines for a “pandemic” that never really materialized. This is why it is best to take your health into your own hands, be proactive, and live a healthy lifestyle so you don’t need to take Vioxx, or Celebrex, or Phen-Phen, or any of the hundreds of other drugs that we find out are ultimately not safe.

Finally to end on a positive note: Here’s a link to five healthy salad recipes to start you on your way! (Note: Those of you on detox/purification will need to modify these to meet your program parameters)

What should you be taking?

The answer, of course, is that everyone is different; depending on your lifestyle, your food intake, your environment you may need different levels and types of help – because that’s what supplements are, additional help to add to your healthy diet, not a substitute for a healthy diet.

If you’re like me you love living in Chicago.  We get to experience world class culture and art, the lakefront, all in all a vibrant environment to live in.  One consequence of our decision to live in Chicago are the long, grey winters.  This is especially important in the realm of health and Vitamin D.

Vitamin D may be one of the most overlooked vitamins, many people come into our office taking some sort of supplement – we see lots of Vitamin B and C’s for example.  We don’t see a lot of Vitamin D.

Most people know of Vitamin D from the milk we all drank in grade school – fortifide with Vitamin D.  Vitamin D is, as the Vitamin D Council explains

“Technically not a “vitamin,” vitamin D is in a class by itself. Its metabolic product, calcitriol, is actually a secosteroid hormone that targets over 2000 genes (about 10% of the human genome) in the human body. Current research has implicated vitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more.”

Why Vitamin D is a major concern to us living in Chicago is that your body makes Vitamin D when exposed to direct sunlight.  This is great for us in the summer, but unfortunately it leads to deficiency when we begin our winter “hibernation”  from the cold.

The answer to this is supplementation.  According to the Vitamin D Council we should maintain a blood level of 50–80 ng/mL.  In order to achieve this they recommend supplementing 5000 IU of Vitamin D3 each day for 2-3 months then testing your blood levels.  (Please note:  Vitamin D toxicity can occur if you take too much, as always you should consult with your health care professional on appropriate dosage and supplementation for your individual needs).

One of our collegues, Dr. Meyer Eisenstein of Homefirst Health in Rolling Meadows, is on the forefront of Vitamin D supplementation.  Here’s a video from a presentation he gave on Vitamin D.

The number 1 health issue of the past year is obviously the so-called swine flu pandemic.  Vitamin D plays a huge role in the function of your nervous system and your ability to fight off the flu.  I’ll let Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council explain.

Supplements are not a substitute for a good diet.  But in cases such as the winter in Chicago, they are necessary for body to function properly.  If you have any questions whether or not Vitamin D is right for you please click here to send us a message, or talk to us at your next visit.

Here are some links with more info on Vitamin D.

Vitamin D Council

Recent JAMA Article

HomeFirst – Dr. Meyer Eisenstein

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