Newsletter - June 20, 2005

June 20, 2005 - In this Issue

Scan effective at finding clogged arteries - study
by Reuters
Super Water Kills Bugs Dead
by Skip Kaltenheuser – Wired News
Stem Cells Made to Order
by Kristen Philipkowski – Wired News
Study discounts hair dye, cancer link
by Delthia Ricks - Staff Writer – Newsday
Longevity Evaluations Available at Frontier Medical Institute
U.S. unprepared against new flu - experts
by Maggie Fox – Health & Science Correspondent - Reuters
Heart drug reduces colon cancer risk - study
by Reuters
The Pill May Cause Permanent Loss of Sex Drive
by Jeremy Laurance - Health Editor – The Independent
Megadose Vitamin D Helps Prevent Fractures
by Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, and Keith I. Mart – Journal Watch June 3, 2005
A Chocolate Shake That Tastes Good and Is Good For You (and your kids)

Scan effective at finding clogged arteries - study
by Reuters

An imaging device that scans slices of the body diagnosed clogged arteries about as well as the traditional method where dye is injected through a catheter threaded into the body, researchers said on Tuesday.

The scanning method, called multislice computed tomography, was performed on 103 patients suspected of having coronary artery disease and the accuracy of diagnoses were only percentage points lower than traditional invasive coronary angiography.

"With rapidly improving technology, (this type of scan) may well evolve from a useful complement to invasive angiography to a clinically viable alternative," lead author Martin Hoffmann of University Hospital, Ulm, Germany, wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Angiography can be an uncomfortable procedure requiring follow-up treatment. In it a thin tube is threaded through a blood vessel in the groin or arm toward the heart, a dye is injected, and an X-ray taken. The resulting angiogram helps gauge the need for an angioplasty or surgery.

Dr. Grossman's Comments:
If I were a conventional cardiologist, I would be very concerned about the effects that full implementation of this technology would have on my future income. But I would be glad about what it could do for the health of my patients.

At present, the overwhelming majority of studies performed to find out if there is blockage of the coronary arteries involve coronary artery catheterization, an invasive procedure in which an incision is made in the groin and a flexible plastic tube inserted and threaded up into the arteries of the heart and dye injected In addition to being painful, this procedure is associated with a small percentage of bleeding complications, perforations of the heart arteries and death, and it is also extremely expensive. The multislice computed tomography (CT) examination of the coronary arteries, on the other hand, is completely noninvasive and will be much more affordable.

By combining a noninvasive method such as multislice CT for diagnosing coronary artery disease (the number one killer in the United States today) with some newly developed non-invasive therapies for the treatment of coronary artery disease, an entirely new paradigm will be possible. These noninvasive therapies may include chelation therapy, which is currently undergoing a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled National Institutes of Health trial, but is not yet an accepted medical therapy for the treatment of coronary artery disease. Another noninvasive treatment is EECP or external extracorporeal counterpulsation, which is FDA approved for treatment of advanced coronary artery disease.

We may be on the verge of an entirely new paradigm in which coronary artery disease is no longer regarded as a simple plumbing problem that can only be corrected with a surgical, rotorooter therapy such as the balloon angioplasty or with bypass surgery.

Super Water Kills Bugs Dead
by Skip Kaltenheuser – Wired News

A California company has figured out how to use two simple materials -- water and salt -- to create a solution that wipes out single-celled organisms, and which appears to speed healing of burns, wounds and diabetic ulcers.

The solution looks, smells and tastes like water, but carries an ion imbalance that makes short work of bacteria, viruses and even hard-to-kill spores.

Developed by Oculus Innovative Sciences in Petaluma, the super-oxygenated water is claimed to be as effective a disinfectant as chlorine bleach, but is harmless to people, animals and plants. If accidentally ingested by a child, the likely impact is a bad case of clean teeth.

Oculus said the solution, called Microcyn, may prove effective in the fight against superbugs, crossover viruses like bird flu and Ebola, and bioterrorism threats such as anthrax.

The company has just been granted approval in the United States to test the solution in the treatment of wounds, and already has government approval in Europe, Canada and Mexico for diverse uses, from disinfectant to wound irrigation.

Dr. Grossman's Comments:
The simplest solutions to complex problems are often the most powerful and the most elegant. How about saltwater to treat superinfections unresponsive to our most powerful antibiotics, bird flu and Ebola, and bioterrorism? With the increasing problems of drug resistance associated with misuse and overuse of antibiotics, this is the development that certainly merits close observation.

Stem Cells Made to Order
by Kristen Philipkowski – Wired News

Korean scientists have used cloned human embryos to derive tailor-made stem cells, a breakthrough with dramatic implications for the development of useful therapies that could help shift the debate over human cloning.

The researchers derived stem cells from patients with spinal cord injury, a congenital immune disorder and juvenile diabetes. The advance, announced Thursday, raises the stakes in the political and ethical argument surrounding embryonic stem-cell research. Once a pie-in-the-sky possibility, human cells now exist that could theoretically be transplanted back into patients without the fear of immune rejection, since as cloned cells they would be a genetic match.

Researchers must test the cells in animals before they can try the therapy in humans. But embryonic stem-cell researchers were shocked and delighted by the advance, which many had referred to as a distant possibility until they saw this study by Woo Suk Hwang and his colleagues at Seoul National University, which appears in the May 20 issue of Science. A little more than one year ago, Hwang and his colleagues derived the first stem cells from a cloned human embryo.

Dr. Grossman's Comments:
Patients with diseases for which there are currently inadequate therapies (a grouping will include everyone now alive at some point in time) can be grateful to Woo Suk Hwang and his colleagues at Seoul National University. These Korean scientists are moving forward very quickly to find the holy grail of stem cell therapy, the ability for an individual to create a pure culture of their own stem cells.

While research into embryonic stem cell therapy continues to move forward slowly in United States due to the “religious objections” of the Bush Administration, research is proceeding very quickly elsewhere in the world. Hwangs’s team has created a line of stem cells out of a patient’s own cells, avoiding any possibility that these cells might trigger an immune rejection response.

The next step is learning to harness the untapped potential of these stem cells to differentiate into specific cell lines to repair injured tissues or replace diseased ones. If this can be done successfully, the prospects for finding treatments for many currently incurable diseases is a tantalizing possibility.

Read more... Stem Cells Made to Order

Study discounts hair dye, cancer link
by Delthia Ricks - Staff Writer – Newsday

(May 25, 2005 An analysis of nearly four decades' worth of research on health and hair dyes suggests today's coloring agents pose only a nominal risk of cancer, if any.

Hair dye risks have been long linked to a family of carcinogenic chemicals, aromatic amines, most of which have been removed from the dyes. A team of Spanish and Canadian scientists, which pooled results from 80 studies, found certain cancer-causing compounds are no longer used, lowering health risks.In the 1970s, dye makers were using more toxic chemicals, such as 2,4-diaminotoluene and 2,4-diaminoanisole, which are no longer used," said Mahyar Etminan, an epidemiologist at Royal Victoria Hospital in Quebec, whose work helped deem the dyes safer than thought.

In today's Journal of the American Medical Association, Etminan and Dr. Bahi Takkouche of the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain reported that in North America and Europe, about 33 percent of women and 10 percent of men use hair dyes.

Longevity Evaluations Available at Frontier Medical Institute

We are entering a new frontier of medicine wherein you can now take control of your health, discover your genetic tendencies, and make INDIVIDUALIZED lifestyle choices that will extend your life. Dr. Grossman, our medical director, developed our longevity program after working with thousands of patients from all over the world during the past 10 years.

By undergoing one of our Longevity Evaluations, you will join individuals who have come to visit us from all parts of the U.S. and around the world to gain the knowledge and tools to live longer, healthier, and younger lives. You will accomplish this by undergoing a comprehensive series of the latest medical tests available.

U.S. unprepared against new flu - experts
by Maggie Fox – Health & Science Correspondent - Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States still has no licensed vaccine to prevent avian flu and has nowhere near enough drugs to treat the sick if there is an epidemic, experts told Congress on Thursday.

Hospitals have too little capacity to deal with the huge numbers of people who would become sick and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department does not have a plan for dealing with an epidemic, the experts said.

"Although many levels of government are paying increased attention to the problem, the United States remains woefully unprepared for an influenza pandemic that could kill millions of Americans," said Dr. Andrew Pavia, chairman of the Infectious Disease Society of America's Pandemic Influenza Task Force.

"Clearly, we need a much larger supply of drugs and vaccine to control a flu pandemic. We need to build up U.S. manufacturing capacity so that we are not dependent on other countries to meet our needs," Pavia said in remarks prepared for a hearing of the health subcommittee of the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee.

Dr. Grossman's Comments:
We have tools today to prevent a potential pandemic such as the 1918 outbreak from killing so many people. In 1918 they did not have safe and effective vaccines, nor did they have antiviral medications -- both of which we have today.

The trick is allocating resources to create enough vaccine and antiviral treatments for hundreds of millions in the U.S. and billions around the world. There are signs that the governement has begun to acknowledge the gravity of the situation and is now gearing up to stockpile supplies. If a serious effort is made, we should have enough time to do so.

Heart drug reduces colon cancer risk - study
by Reuters

People taking statin drugs to stem the progression of heart disease may be getting an extra benefit: protection from colorectal cancer, according to research released on Wednesday.

The findings, published the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that taking cholesterol-lowering medicine cuts the risk of colon cancer by 47 percent.

According to several other studies released in the past two months, statins also appear to cut the risk of prostate, pancreatic and throat cancers.

Dr. Grossman's Comments:
The statins are drugs whose primary purpose is to lower cholesterol. In my practice, I have found that these drugs are unnecessary in most cases where patients follow the diet and nutritional supplement program we recommend. Yet, I am beginning to feel that this family of drugs may have value as a preventive therapy.

Statins help prevent cholesterol deposits along the arterial wall from becoming oxidized and, thus, can help prevent heart attacks. This is a completely different effect than lowering of blood levels of cholesterol, the FDA-approved purpose of these drugs. Another “off-label” use of stain drugs may be to help prevent colon and other types of cancer as this study suggests. Further study needs to be done before recommending that people take statins for cancer prevention, but these results are intriguing. In addition, people who take statins need to remember that statins also block the body’s production of coenzyme Q-10 and anyone on statins needs to take supplemental CoQ-10.

The Pill May Cause Permanent Loss of Sex Drive
by Jeremy Laurance - Health Editor – The Independent

The contraceptive pill, celebrated for liberating women's sexuality, may do the opposite, according to American researchers who have warned that women who take the Pill may experience a permanent decline in sexual desire.

Loss of libido is a well-known side-effect of oral contraceptives in some women and is listed in the leaflet on the contraceptive pill handed out by the Family Planning Association. But the research suggests the effect might be long-lasting or even permanent.

Dr. Grossman's Comments:
Needless to say, this is a very unfortunate consequence of birth control pills. But, there are already a large number of reasons that women should avoid taking BCPs in most cases. They include increased risk of blood clots, stroke, blood pressure problems, migraines and many other potentially negative sideaffects.

Early in my medical training, I witnessed an 18 year old mother of twins suffer a brainstem stroke that left her completely paralyzed for life as a consequence of BCPs. BCPs are unquestionably convenient and effective, but women need to also realize that they can also be extremely dangerous and ruin their ability to enjoy (for life) the very act for which they are taking this medication. There are numerous other safer methods of contraception.

Megadose Vitamin D Helps Prevent Fractures
by Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, and Keith I. Mart – Journal Watch June 3, 2005

Low-dose vitamin D (400 IU daily) had no effect on risk for hip fractures, but high-dose supplementation (700-800 IU daily) was associated with a 26% relative risk reduction and a 2% absolute risk reduction (number needed to treat [NNT], 45). For all nonvertebral fractures, high-dose supplementation was associated with a 23% relative risk reduction and a 4% absolute risk reduction (NNT, 27). Again, low-dose supplementation provided no benefit.

Dr. Grossman's Comments:
It is useful to realize that vitamins and other nutritional supplements have value above and beyond prevention of deficiency diseases. They can be used to prevent and treat other conditions, but often the dose needed far exceeds RDA amounts. This study showed that taking the RDA amount of Vitamin D (400 IU) had no effect on preventing bone fractures from osteoporosis. By taking 175 – 250 percent of the RDA (700-800 IU), the rate of fractures was reduced 26 percent. There is a time and place for RDA amounts, but there is also a time and place that it should be exceeded.

A Chocolate Shake That Tastes Good and Is Good For You (and your kids)

Over 60% of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. One popular way to control calories without sacrificing nutrition is using low calorie meal replacement beverages.

The problem is that most of the products on the market are loaded with ingredients that are anything but healthy ... such as artificial sweeteners, colorings, flavorings and preservatives. Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman spent over a year developing Ray & Terry's Deep Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake, a product that is not only delicious ... it is blended with ingredients just the way nature gave them to us.

Ray & Terry’s Deep Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake is intended for use as a complete meal replacement, using healthy, natural, non-artificial ingredients to fill you up and inhibit your need for additional food for several hours. It also provides a high source of vitamins, minerals, fibers and proteins to create a nutritionally balanced diet as part of a weight control and maintenance program.

Each of the ingredients contained in Ray & Terry’s Deep Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake is natural -- and the formulation contains no artificial ingredients (e.g., colors, sweeteners, etc.)

One serving of the meal replacement composition provides:

10 g of carbohydrates of which 7 g are fiber for a net carbohydrate yield of 3 g
4 g of fat of which 0 g are trans fats and 1.5 g are saturated fat
18 g of protein
200 mg of sodium
Total calories are 117 of which 35 calories (30%) are from fat

When mixed with sugar-free soy milk, the shake is still only has 185 calories. And it’s made with Ghiardelli cocoa and tastes great. Your kids will love it too!