Posted on 08/20/2008 7:53:21 PM PDT by neverdem
Reviewed By Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC
13 Million Americans Are Exposed to Dangerous Levels of Arsenic Through Drinking Water
Exposure to arsenic, typically through drinking water, is linked to diabetes, according a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Thirteen million Americans — and millions more worldwide — are exposed to drinking water contaminated with more inorganic arsenic than the Environmental Protection Agency has deemed safe. The EPA standard is 10 micrograms per liter.
Researchers, led by Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, studied 788 adults who had their urine tested for arsenic exposure in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants with type 2 diabetes had a 26% higher level of total arsenic in their urine than those without the disease. Levels of organic arsenic, called arsenobetaine, which is often found in seafood, were similar between two groups. Arsenobetaine is considered nontoxic.
After adjusting for diabetes risk factors and seafood intake, researchers found that participants in the top one-fifth of total urine arsenic levels (16.5 micrograms per liter) had 3.6 times the odds of having type 2 diabetes as those in the lowest one-fifth (3 micrograms per liter).
Researchers also looked at levels of dimethylarsinate, a compound created when inorganic arsenic is metabolized before excretion. Participants in the top one-fifth of urine dimethylarsinate levels (6 micrograms per liter) had 1.6 times the odds of having type 2 diabetes as those in the lowest one-fifth (2 micrograms per liter.)
There are several reasons that inorganic arsenic may contribute to diabetes. Insulin-sensitive cells that are exposed to insulin and sodium arsenic appear to take in less glucose than cells exposed only to insulin. Arsenic could influence genetic factors that interfere with insulin sensitivity and other processes. Arsenic also may contribute to oxygen-related cell damage, inflammation, and cell death, all of which are linked to diabetes.
The study adds more evidence that inorganic arsenic in drinking water is dangerous. Previous research has linked arsenic to cancer and other health problems.
"Given widespread exposure to inorganic arsenic from drinking water worldwide, elucidating the contribution of arsenic to the diabetes epidemic is a public health research priority with potential implications for the prevention and control of diabetes," the authors conclude.
An accompanying editorial written by Molly L. Kile, ScD, and David Christiani, MD, MPH, both of the Harvard School of Health, highlights the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes, which affects 7.8% of Americans (24 million individuals). Most research focus has been on prevention through medication and lifestyle changes, but additional research needs to be done on environmental factors, the authors write.
In the meantime, Kile and Christiani write, "It is prudent to minimize arsenic exposures while its effect on metabolic diseases continues to be researched."
SOURCES: Navas-Acien, A., TheJournal of the American Medical Association, Aug. 20, 2008; vol 300. Kile, M., Christiani, D., The Journal of the American Medical Association, Aug. 20, 2008; vol 300. News release, The Journal of the American Medical Association.
©2008
LAY OFF THE PROCESSED CARBS!
That is all. (White bread is poison)
/johnny
And, as she as radically controlled her carb consumption, her blood sugar readings have normalized (and she's lost over 70 lbs).
Do you get your water through a filter? Like a PUR filter or a reverse-osmosis filter? They usually take out arsenic.
While it may be true that there is a relationship between arsenic and type 2 diabetes, the whole refined carbs/sugars issue is a much bigger one than the arsenic, I believe.
Celiac is far more serious than Type II diabetes.
At the same time, having one or the other is often associated with the other. That is, you can have the gene for Celiac or similar condition AND an increased probability of having Type II, or Type I diabetes.
If you have both the odds are good you have a porphyria or two which is mediated through the action of a gene ordinarily used to construct heme. There are, currently, 83 known variants of this same gene.
I suspect this arose during a period when folks in the far North ate a lot of seal. Those critters have 25 times as much iron in their tissues as the next highest ranking animal (the reindeer).
You could be short the gene for "blue" retinal cones, have extra copies of the gene for "red" retinal cones, and a square shaped heart with extra large atrial chambers (which is kind of like having an extra heart in cold weather because it allows you to reduce your airflow while enhancing your ability to gather oxygen from the air sacs in your lungs).
Taken all together, it's rather far fetched to even begin to think that higher than healthy background arsenic levels have anything to do with many cases of Type II diabetes.
Wait a minute - arsenic is dangerous?
Many years ago I read that the nation with the highest rate of type II diabetes was Kuwait. Type II diabetes is a lifestyle issue (not that lifestyle is a guaranteed cure after it manifests itself).
I just decided that I would change the way I eat after watching “You are what you eat” on the BBC...I have cut out almost all processed carbs...except whole wheat bread...which I eat in moderation...lots of veggies and some fruit...a little meat now and than but I don’t go overboard and some dairy. I eat veggies until I am full..and in little over 2 months I have lost 31 lbs. I have a lot more energy...even getting back on my bike and taking a spin or two around town. I feel great, my thinking is clearer...and for some reason that nagging craving for sweets has disappeared. I was afraid of developing diabetes because of my weight...my son in law has it and just went through a horrendous time with cellulitis...the doctors had to remove a good portion of his belly because it was dead. He almost died from it.
Looking at what I ate and changing my thinking about food is probably the best decision I have ever made.
(Note - I didn't spend 15 bucks to read the JAMA article, and science reporting is notoriously uneven, so maybe the underlying JAMA article is not snark-worthy).
I wonder if they thought of the possibility that having diabetes could render your body less capable of excreting arsenic.
I guess avoiding that whole issue of deciding cause and effect makes fear-mongering so much easier, and certainly makes it easier to call for "prudent" restrictions. /sarc
My type 2 diabetes was not the result of overeating, or a genetic disposition, or consuming a boatload of carbs.
Thanks to the government (from whom too many ignorant people want their healthcare), my diabetes is the result of Agent Orange exposure in ‘Nam. It’s only ONE symptom of Agent Orange exposure . . . . . . . along with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), cystic fibrosis, fibromyalgia, muscular dystrophy and a host of other delightful diseases.
Despite many “wise and knowledgeable folks who make stqatements about overeating and obesity, those aren’t the only ways people get Type II Diabetes.
Sometimes, the government REALLY is . . . “here to HELP you!”
/sarc (last line only)
Yes, but (soft) white bread with French butter is so GOOOOOOD. (Heidi’s Grandmother was right).
Sounds like BS to me.
Im sure it doesnt have a thing to do with all the sodas and sugar people are pumping through their systems
Amazing.
Males with colorblindness actually are color-shifted to infra-red. Not much, but enough. But I don't have to write a paper to justify a great big grant for it.
So it doesn't count.
My advice remains the same. Eat whatever is in season, and isn't too easy to catch.
In Central NW Texas, that would be italian and mexican poverty foods. Beans, corn, 'maters, onions. Cheese. Lots of cheese. And goats and squirrel.
/johnny
IIRC, yes.
I was thinking the same, so many cause and effects left unanswered.
Yes, it is good. And I'm qualified to bake in a bunch of institutions, all over the world. But I don't make bread much.
And never simple white bread.
Sourdough only, or at least pre-ferment, some token rye.
But it IS good. And I have creme fraise in the box, along with a little bit of seasoned goat cheese.
No! covers a lot of answers around here right now.
I may sneak some chevre on crackers with roasted garlic later..... ;)
/johnny
anyone, did they develop an inhalant for treatment of diabetes. If so, what happened?
The Fox News website has a link to a video from Shepard Smith's program on Wed., where he discusses the story with a doctor, who quotes the price of $3500 for the kind of water purifier you'd need for your house to be safe.
FWIW :
Welcome Home...
That's a symptom of diabetes called polydipsia. How well is your blood sugar controlled?
I prefer my Arsenic with “Elderberry Wine” thank you...
It's fairly safe used topically, if you are near New Orleans. And it does get rid of the creepy crawlies.
Your mileage may vary.
I am not a government scientist.
/johnny
Thanks for posting and thanks to every poster on this thread sharing personal experiences/information/links.
Health/life BUMP!
D.A.: "When you poisoned your husband, did you ever feel any misgivings about what your were doing"?
Witness: "Only after he tasted it, understood what it was, and asked for seconds.... I felt a little sad then, but he seemed so happy."
/johnny
Waitasec. Just today I was reading how Type 1 diabetes may actually be an evolutionary adaptation for cold weather:
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16791319
That is, the higher blood levels of some of the chemicals associated with diabetes act like antifreeze.
Importantly, for every white American, 1.6 black Americans suffers from diabetes. The actual figures for black Americans may be even higher, because there is a serious shortfall in diabetes diagnosis for black Americans:
http://www.blackhealthcare.com/BHC/Diabetes/Description.asp
But that sort of goes against the “antifreeze” theory.
And here’s another twist: Geologically, North America is a young continent. Its topsoil is full of salts and metals. Europe is also young, and so people with European origins living in America tend to be far less sensitive to salts and metals.
However, geologically Africa is a very old continent, and most of the salts and metals have been leached out of its topsoil. For this reason, people with African ancestry are much more sensitive to salts and metals and their effects.
For example, it is known both that black children are more susceptible to injury from the intake of metallic lead than non black children, though it is generally bad for all. Black Americans also have a much higher rate of high blood pressure, likely associated with a lower tolerance for salts.
However, across the US, with its high amounts of salts and metals, the *types* of salts and metal varies considerably. In some areas, water wells cannot be drilled because of sky high arsenic in the ground water. Other places have very little indeed. But this is not limited to arsenic. It is true also of lead, cadmium (which is very toxic), mercury, uranium, chromium, thallium, antimony, copper, nickel, and selenium.
Right now, an entire city in Oklahoma has been condemned because it used to host a lead mine. People don’t have to leave, but nobody new is allowed to move in.
Arsenic Levels in Water: A Clinton Trap
http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/arsenic-levels-in-water-a-clinton-trap/
I would need a cite for that, because I don't believe it. The more you turn over a soil, the more crap you turn up. That's observation over the years.
/johnny
Arsenic is found in magmatic rocks and leach out naturally.
You can get filters for it. No big deal.
However, arsenic would explain why so many Democrats are brain-damaged.
Leenie, what a great story you have!
Good on you (and keep the "mo").
I have a $itch that goes on 50% off twice a year and her name is Godiva.
We are talking some serious years here.
North America was formed during the Phanerozoic Era, within 545 million years ago. We are still in that era.
Africa was formed during the Neoproterozoic Era 542-1000+ million years. It didn’t stop forming until we had just begun forming.
And there are limits to how much “stuff” you can turn up in topsoil before the topsoil is gone, washed or blown away, and new topsoil is formed. Salts and metals may exist down deep, but the substantial quantities concentrated near the surface are gone.
New method of growing human embryonic stem cells may revolutionise Parkinson's therapy
Scared Senseless (book review)
New Way to Kill Viruses: Shake Them to Death
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Before getting diabetes, my thirst was insatiable. Always was and everyone always asked if I was checked for diabetes. During routine physicals, the blood sugar was always perfect.
Then, even though I do not take any meds for it and have only made slight modifications to my diet, my thirst is dramatically less.
This seems to be the opposite of what you just cited. Strange disease, huh?
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I'm reminded of that myth about how the fall of Rome could be attributed to lead pipes. Thanks neverdem. |
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Elderberry extract is touted as a treatment for influenza, Clemenza. Is there a term for that besides rhyming?
Anyway, it's sold in drug stores. The Israeli's did some studies on it, IIRC. The trade name escapes me.
I never got an answer about the Texan’s blood glucose control.
Nothing erases a mistake/stray dust in a pastel painting as well as a soft blob of fresh white bread.
It also does a great job of picking up tiny broken glass splinters, if you have broken a light bulb, for example.
So, it’s not *totally* worthless......;]
ping
Amen!
LOL! That’s awful. :)
ping
Are you familiar with Hereditary Hemachromatosis (the (the overbinding of iron)? Its kind of the reverse of what you just explained... common in Northern Europeans...genetically my ancestors adapted to the harsh growing conditions by overstoring the minute amounts they were exposed to given their almost constant diet of root vegetables.
In today’s world, w/iron fortifying mosts processed foods, the storage of excess iron leads to diabetes, cancers, athritis, heart problems’ etc.
To anyone reading this, if you are of Irish, English, or Welsh ancestry, have your doctor order the simple blood test to screen for HH. It is very a very common genetic disorder...yet not often screened for.
Anyway, it's sold in drug stores. The Israeli's did some studies on it, IIRC. The trade name escapes me.
Great stuff, works every time! Sambucol
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