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How many times did your parents make you go outside and play? You should call and thank them... A new study suggests vitamin D might also might lead to aggressive behavior in adolescents. University of Michigan researchers say they have found a link between vitamin D deficiency in young kids and aggression in adolescents. According to their study of schoolchildren in Bogotá, Columbia, almost young kids with low levels of the vitamin were nearly twice as likely to exhibit aggression as they got older. "Children who have vitamin D deficiency during their elementary school years appear to have higher scores...

Abstract It is proposed that proteins/enzymes be classified into two classes according to their essentiality for immediate survival/reproduction and their function in long-term health: that is, survival proteins versus longevity proteins. As proposed by the triage theory, a modest deficiency of one of the nutrients/cofactors triggers a built-in rationing mechanism that favors the proteins needed for immediate survival and reproduction (survival proteins) while sacrificing those needed to protect against future damage (longevity proteins). Impairment of the function of longevity proteins results in an insidious acceleration of the risk of diseases associated with aging. I also propose that nutrients required for...

Stem cell-based therapies are becoming increasingly common, especially in the treatment of blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia. In these cases, the patient's cancerous blood stem cells are removed and replaced with new, healthy ones. However, up to a quarter of cases end in death because replenishing of blood cells is too slow. Scientists already know that stress causes HSCs to slow down—reconstituting the entire blood-cell supply system can be overwhelming. In terms of biology, this stress causes increased activity in mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles of the cell. To meet the high demands of rebuilding blood cells, the mitochondria of...

The child’s pediatrician recommended the family go to the emergency room to get an X-ray, and though the report says they didn't find large amounts of metal in her body the family said it did show metal in her intestines. Andersen said she’s since researched how metal could end up in food products, but isn’t satisfied as to why. "Food is mass produced these days and metal machines will break apart and I guess pieces will fall into the production line, but there's supposed to be people or tools to catch those things," she said. "The FDA is aware and...

The findings are reported in the April 19, 2018 online issue of PLOS One. The scientists studied a cohort of 903 healthy adults (mean age: 74) with no indications of either pre-diabetes or diabetes during clinic visits from 1997 to 1999, and then followed the participants through 2009. Vitamin D levels in blood were measured during these visits, along with fasting plasma glucose and oral glucose tolerance. "We found that participants with blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D that were above 30 ng/ml had one-third of the risk of diabetes and those with levels above 50 ng/ml had one-fifth of the...

High doses of vitamin C injected into the blood stream could help treat cancer, new research from scientists suggests. Injecting patients with a dose 1,000 times higher than the recommended level could target tumour cells and make radiation and chemotherapy more effective. Scientists gave eleven brain cancer sufferers regular dosages of vitamin C every week for nine months while receiving typical radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Tests showed the extra vitamin – usually found in oranges, green vegetables, broccoli and strawberries – made cancer cells more susceptible to treatment. It also appeared to be safe, producing mild side effects such as frequent...

BEIJING — Fear of mortality is one reason Americans spend so much on “antioxidant” products, including Vitamin C supplements and beta-carotene, which promise a longer healthier life. According to the National Institutes of Health, more than half of adults in the U.S. consume some kind of antioxidant product, spending $37 billion each year. But a study conducted in China – where aging is akin to a national obsession these days – claims that antioxidants don’t work as billed. The study is published in the journal Redox Biology. A new study finds that antioxidant supplements may be more harmful to the...

Of the fifty-one thousand products introduced since 1994, only 170 (0.3 percent) have any documentation of their safety Americans spend more than $32 billion a year on more than 85,000 different combinations of vitamins, minerals, botanicals, amino acids, probiotics, and other supplement ingredients. 1 While it costs millions of dollars to develop and substantiate a pharmaceutical product, selling supplements requires no such investment. And new products are easily sold as supplements. The only common feature among them, as defined by the FDA, is that these are edible things not intended to treat, diagnose, prevent or cure diseases. However, this is...

October 25, 2016 A simple Google search for "what does vitamin D do?" highlights the widely used dietary supplement's role in regulating calcium absorption and promoting bone growth. But now it appears that vitamin D has much wider effects—at least in the nematode worm, C. elegans. Research at the Buck Institute shows that vitamin D works through genes known to influence longevity and impacts processes associated with many human age-related diseases. The study, published in Cell Reports, may explain why vitamin D deficiency has been linked to breast, colon and prostate cancer, as well as obesity, heart disease and depression....

The Far East’s Ginseng root is best known for its medicinal (and aphrodisiacal) qualities. The root, in its natural state, is wildly popular in Asia—but also in short supply. To sate this demand, a black market for wild ginseng has cropped in the most unlikely of places: Appalachia. Currently, the global market for wild ginseng is around $2 billion. Long a staple in China and Korea, the root is finding new popularity in Singapore and Malaysia now, too. Most ginseng is grown in factory-like settings on a mass scale. But wild ginseng is considered more potent and, thus, more expensive....

By Up to three-quarters of American adults take some kind of vitamin or supplement, so there's a pretty good chance you're one of them. That's a lot of people purchasing substances that aren't evaluated by the FDA, and for the most part don't work. What's more, vitamins and supplements are only getting more popular, with sales growing 50% faster than those of over-the-counter drugs over the past several years. Basically, most of you are throwing money away on magical beans -- stop it already! There's not a whole lot of regulation, which is good for sales pitches One of the...

MONDAY, April 4, 2016 -- Regular doses of vitamin D3 may improve heart function in heart failure patients, a new British study suggests. "These findings could make a significant difference to the care of heart failure patients," said study leader Dr. Klaus Witte, from the University of Leeds School of Medicine. "It is the first evidence that vitamin D3 can improve heart function of people with heart muscle weakness -- known as heart failure."

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Bottles of Walmart-brand echinacea, an herb said to ward off colds, were found to contain no echinacea at all. GNC-brand bottles of St. John's wort, touted as a cure for depression, held rice, garlic and a tropical houseplant, but not a trace of the herb. In fact, DNA testing on hundreds of bottles of store-brand herbal supplements sold as treatments for everything from memory loss to prostate trouble found that four out of five contained none of the herbs on the label. Instead, they were packed with cheap fillers such as wheat, rice, beans or houseplants.

CHIMNEY ROCK, N.C. — Authorities say Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, who published research based on the medically disproved claim that vaccines cause autism, has been found dead in an apparent suicide in North Carolina. The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release issued this week that Bradstreet died of what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. Bradstreet, who was from Braselton, Georgia, was found in the Rocky Broad River in Chimney Rock on June 19. His body was found by a fisherman. The sheriff’s department said Tuesday that a handgun was also pulled from the...

Beer lovers, rejoice! Not only does beer taste great, and make you feel "buzzed" on life, beer is also good for you. Well, in moderation. As pints are poured in bars and restaurants across the country, know that drinking beer has real health benefits.* 1. Decreased incidence of heart disease There are more than 20 well-done, large international studies that all demonstrate the heart benefits of moderate alcohol consumption. One study, conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) noted a 20 to 40 percent decrease in coronary artery disease in moderate alcohol drinkers. Now, that doesn’t...

Newswise — SAN DIEGO, CA (March 16, 2015) - Researchers at UC San Diego and Creighton University have challenged the intake of vitamin D recommended by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Institute of Medicine (IOM), stating that their Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D underestimates the need by a factor of ten. In a letter1 published last week in the journal Nutrients the scientists confirmed a calculation error noted by other investigators, by using a data set from a different population. Dr. Cedric F. Garland, Dr.P.H., adjunct professor at UC San Diego’s Department of Family Medicine and Public...

TEANECK, NJ — The former Ivy League student who vanished in December lost touch with reality after an addiction to energy supplements and penis enlargement pills, Timothy Hamlett's family tells The Daily Beast. The family believes supplements like Pygeum, Ginseng Panax, Vitalikor Male Enhancement, Big Jim and the Twins Penis Enlargement were responsible for the 20-year-old developing psychosis shortly before his disappearance. Hamlett, a former track star at the University of Pennsylvania, hopped a jitney near his Teaneck home into Washington Heights in Manhattan on Dec. 26. It's the last time he's been seen or heard from. "Our son did...

When it comes to beverages with benefits, wine always seems to get the credit. If you're a brew lover, that might make you want to cry in your beer. But before you do, you'll be glad to learn that, like wine, beer delivers some decided perks as well. "A cold beer is the perfect way to relax at the end of the day, it tastes great and, in moderation, it can even be good for you," says Ethan A. Bergman, PhD, RD, CD, FADA, past president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Here are five ways your favorite brew...

In a game of cat and mouse with health and safety officials, Americans profit off panic with modern versions of snake oil treatments, like vitamins branded ‘Ebola-C’ First of all, Steve Barwick wants you to know that Ebola is a government conspiracy. “This current ‘Ebola crisis’ is … a massive psy-ops campaign,” he wrote in an (undated) blogpost on his website, The Silver Edge. “In other words, the threat is largely being manufactured and planted into the minds of the American public, through the federal government/news media axis.” Barwick, to his credit, points out correctly that the likelihood of coming...

It is clear that this is no longer an outbreak of Ebola, it's a breakout of Ebola. We are now living in a post-containment world. Fortunately, this virus has vulnerabilities, and we can quickly improve our immune defense. When the protective suits and procedures fail to keep Ebola at arm's length, it becomes a fight between the organism and the defense. As there is no vaccine and there are no Ebola-specific drugs, it's time to help Americans understand what can be done. We have two types of immune defense: adaptive defense, which allows us to utilize preformed antibodies and anti-viral...