Fitness Archives

Jul

2015

Two Is Better Than One: Omega-3 And Krill Oil

By Ray Schilling | Alzheimer’s disease, Arthritis, Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes, Fitness, heart attack, Inflammation, Osteoporosis, Stroke

Omega-3 fatty acids have gotten a lot of limelight in the press; krill oil was kept more in the background by the media. But both omega-3 and krill oil are important for your health.

What can confuse you is the following paragraph that I picked up from Facebook:

“I cannot believe that in the last 7 days 3 Doctors have asked me what krill omega-3 is. One would think that those who look after our health would realize that the high levels of mercury in the regular omega-3 has reached dangerous levels. Krill oil is harvested from pristine waters of the Antarctic Ocean and tested to be free from harmful levels of mercury. If you have not heard of it, it is for brain, heart, joint and immune health.”

Clarification of what Omega-3 fatty acids are

Depending on where fish is within the ocean’s pecking order of feeding, the levels of mercury of the fish oil that contains omega-3 fatty acids will be higher or lower. Tuna, for instance is one of the predator fish on top of the line. They are large predator fish, and as a result, not a fish you want to eat as it has very high levels of mercury. Salmon on the other hand is lower in the line of predator fish. That’s why it is still recommended to eat salmon two or three times per week. Fish oil is pooled from various fish and then molecularly filtered through a special filter that removes heavy metals like mercury, cadmium and others. Knowing these facts, the Facebook text above may be accurate in stating, “regular omega 3 has reached dangerous levels”, but it is inaccurate for the molecularly filtered omega-3 fish oil, which is the only one I would recommend as a supplement. Having said that there are still significant differences in quality according to a report online that tested 51 common products in the US. The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA are stored in the membranes of platelets and in circulating plasma triglycerides, which is useful for the functioning of the lining of our arteries. This is called endothelium and needs to be healthy to lower blood pressure and prevent hardening of the arteries. Omega-3-fatty acids support the cardiovascular system foremost and the brain secondarily.

Where does Krill oil come from?

Krill oil comes from tiny crustaceans called krill that provides additional benefits that are not found in fish oil alone. Although the initial concentration of raw krill oil has less mercury per milliliter than omega-3 fatty acid fish oil, it still needs to be molecularly filtered to remove heavy metals. Also bear in mind, that the tiny crustaceans live in the same polluted ocean waters as other fish. It is a sad fact that our oceans are no longer pristine! The same is true for the Antarctic Ocean. After the filtering process both krill oil and omega-3 fatty acid fish oil are equal in their quality (free of mercury, other heavy metals, PCB and dioxins).

The omega-3 fatty acids of krill oil have an affinity to bind with phospholipids in red blood cells. This enables krill oil to cross the blood-brain barrier and get into the brain cells providing support for the brain. In this respect krill oil has an edge over omega-3 fatty acids to support the brain. But secondarily it is also good for your heart and the lining of the arteries.

Benefits of marine oils like krill and fish oil

It is best to think about krill oil and omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) as complementary marine oils that have multiple beneficial effects on the body.

Studies have shown that arthritis and osteoarthritis are helped by krill oil, but also by fish oil. Similarly, heart attacks and strokes are prevented with both krill oil and omega-3 fatty acids. It appears that both oils reduce inflammation in the arteries that are associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and the metabolic syndrome in obese people. C-reactive protein measuring inflammation was reduced by krill oil up to 30% compared to placebo within 30 days. Patients with arthritis had 20% and more reduction in stiffness and pain.

Krill oil is well absorbed into the brain and can prevent age-related brain shrinkage, preserve cognitive function and memory, prevent dementia and also possibly depression.

Other health conditions improve on both krill oil and omega-3 fatty acids like osteoporosis (in combination with vitamin K2, vitamin D3 and calcium), a weak immune system, diabetes, high triglyceride levels and cholesterol problems. Both marine oils prevent LDL cholesterol from being oxidized, which helps to prevent atheroma formation and hardening of the arteries. This prevents heart attacks and strokes.

Fear mongering Facebook write-ups

In this context let me clarify the fear mongering Facebook write-up cited at the beginning of this blog. It is a misconception to think that krill oil is devoid of mercury. It is only so, if it was molecularly filtered, which removes all of the mercury and more, but it leaves the beneficial DHA and EPA (omega-3 fatty acids) intact. In the same vein omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil are initially more mercury containing, but after molecular filtration are entirely mercury free, the same as krill oil after molecular filtration. But the mix of omega-3 fatty acids is slightly different with krill oil being a bit richer in DHA and attaching to red blood cells easier while fish oil omega-3’s attach to triglycerides in the liquid phase of the blood, called plasma and also to platelet membranes. So neither krill oil or omega-3 fatty acids are better than the other; they are slightly different and that’s why you benefit from a mix of both. It would be a big mistake to follow the Facebook advice above and only take krill oil by blindly trusting the quotation. In my opinion it is simply a marketing plot to get you switched from fish oil to krill oil.

What combination of Krill oil and omega-3 fatty acid should I take?

Most trials with krill oil have been done with 300 mg of krill oil per day. I take a dosage of one capsule per day of 300 mg. There are several manufacturers that produce similar products. I also take 3 capsules of omega-3 fatty acids twice per day. Each capsule has 647 mg of EPA and 253 mg of DHA, which translates into a daily dose of 3882 mg of EPA and 1518 mg of DHA. Again, there are several products from which you can choose. The reason I take a relatively high dose of fish oil is the fact that I come from a family background with severe arthritis that started in several relatives at an age of 50+. I have no sign of arthritis at age 70. It may be the result of taking these supplements and staying away from sugar and starchy foods. I need my joints to do ballroom and Latin dancing and I also need them to attend the gym regularly. Exercise by itself has been shown to prevent arthritis and prevent heart attacks and strokes. We need the benefit from all these things in combination: good nutrition, supplements and exercise.

Two Is Better Than One: Omega-3 And Krill Oil

Conclusion

Both krill oil and fish oil (omega-3 fatty acids) are needed as supplements to prevent arthritis, strokes, heart attacks, osteoporosis, diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer’s and inflammation. The key to a good krill oil or fish oil supplement is to buy the more expensive products that are molecularly distilled and therefore more concentrated, but also free of heavy metals and other contaminants. These supplements are only a small part of your overall anti-aging program that needs to include good nutrition (organic food), exercise, other supplements and if necessary bioidentical hormone replacement.

Reference: Dr. R. Schilling: “A Survivor’s Guide to Successful Aging“. Paperback through Amazon.com, 2014. This text explains the anti-aging program I follow and includes recipes composed by my wife for 1 week.

Jun

2015

Seventeen Causes Of Blood Vessel Disease

By Ray Schilling | Fitness, heart attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Hormones, Inflammation, kidney disease, lifestyle, Nutrition, Prevention, Stroke, Vitamins and supplements

This article is about seventeen causes of blood vessel disease. We tend to ask the question: “What is the cause of blood vessel disease”? Would you have expected that at this point there are not just one cause, but seventeen causes of blood vessel disease identified that can all be treated? In the May 2015 issue of the Life Extension Magazine one of the causes, high homocysteine has been stressed as being an important risk factor that not every health professional has yet appreciated.

In the following overview I will briefly address all of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and then summarize what can be done to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

17 risk factors of blood vessel disease

1. Excess cholesterol: Too much cholesterol can lead to clogged arteries. When we eat too much red meat too often, this extra dietary cholesterol can elevate your total blood cholesterol.

2. High LDL cholesterol: The LDL cholesterol is often labeled the “bad cholesterol”. In reality it is the cholesterol that is being transported from the liver to all of the body cells, which utilize it to replace the aging membranes that envelop the cells. What is important to know is that sugar and starchy foods (pasta, cakes, cookies, noodles, white rice, potatoes, pizza, muffins etc.) lead to a surge of blood sugar, which stimulates the liver to produce more LDL cholesterol. Any excess sugar in the blood will oxidize the LDL cholesterol, which leads to accelerated hardening of the arteries.

Low HDL cholesterol

3. Low HDL cholesterol: HDL is the type of cholesterol that is transported from the cells back to the liver. Any oxidized LDL cholesterol is also mopped up by HDL cholesterol. HDL cholesterol has been dubbed the “good cholesterol”. It is important that LDL and HDL cholesterol are balanced. It is noteworthy that HDL cholesterol is much higher in athletes and those who exercise on a regular basis (like 5 to 7 times per week). This means that there is a surplus of the protective HDL cholesterol, which prevents hardening of the arteries.

4. Oxidized LDL: As explained above sugar and starchy foods oxidize cholesterol, so does radiation. A Mediterranean diet including olive oil will stabilize your metabolism and protect LDL from being oxidized.

High blood sugar

5. High blood sugar: In pre-diabetes and diabetes, the blood sugars are high, but they are normal in people with a normal metabolism. As explained before it is this scenario, which leads to oxidation of LDL cholesterol and accelerated hardening of arteries. This is the reason why diabetics have severe blood vessel disease with closure of major arteries like the one going to the legs. If arterial by-pass surgery is not feasible because of the severity, often a physician has no other choice but to amputate a lower leg.

6. Excess triglycerides: People with excessive weight have a change in metabolism called metabolic syndrome, where triglycerides are high. But diabetics also often have high triglyceride levels in their blood. This is an independent risk factor to develop hardening of the arteries.

Chronic inflammation

7. Elevated C-reactive protein: Dr. Paul Ridker published a landmark study in 2002 where he concluded that the blood test C-reactive protein was a reliable indicator to identify people who were at risk of developing a heart attack. It measures inflammation in the body. What is inflamed here is the lining of the arteries from oxidized LDL cholesterol. You can see a pattern. Some of these points are actually connected.

8. Low blood EPA/DHA: Essential fatty acids are not contained in processed foods. Instead the food industry puts omega-6-fatty acids into processed foods, as this is much cheaper and leads to a longer shelf life of the processed food products. Omega-6 fatty acids are the precursor for arachidonic acid, which causes inflammation, hardening of the arteries and arthritis. By introducing fish oil or wild salmon two or three times per week you can achieve a counter balance to omega-6-fatty acids. Our bodies want us to balance omega-6 fatty acids with omega-3.

Excess insulin

9. Insulin is too high: with type 2 diabetes there is a high fasting insulin level. This leads to inflammation of the blood vessel wall and triggers accelerated hardening of the arteries. It also causes narrowing of the brain arteries, and as a result the brain develops Alzheimer’s and dementia. Alzheimer’s now also has the name “type 3 diabetes”. An overweight or obese person who cuts out sugar in the diet and exercises can often control excessive weight, lower insulin and normalize cognitive deficits.

10. Excess fibrinogen: Your liver produces blood clotting factors and fibrinolytic factors that circulate in the blood balance this. In certain conditions like diabetes, or the metabolic syndrome there is too much fibrinogen production. This can lead to blood clots.

Excess homocysteine

11. Homocysteine blood level too high: Some people are born with gene defects that program our cells to run abnormal biochemical reactions in our cells. Correct methylation pathways are important for normal cell function. However, if there is a methylation defect, abnormalities set in and homocysteine accumulates. As we age, there is also a weakening of certain enzymes that facilitate the methylation pathway. With any of these enzyme defects you need to use appropriate supplements to normalize this metabolic defect. Vitamin B2, B6 and B12 supplementation will often stabilize methylation defects and homocysteine levels return to normal. Methyl folate 1 mg per day is also very useful. Some people in older age cannot metabolize folate very well. This is important as severe, familial cardiovascular disease, where people often suffer heart attacks during the best years in their lives, can be postponed this way by several years or decades.

High blood pressure

12. High blood pressure: Many people are not aware that high blood pressure is a disease where inflammation of the lining of the arteries leads to a lack of production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a signaling substance contained in many vegetables, particularly in red beets. Nitric oxide is the body’s tool to keep blood pressure normal by widening the diameter of arteries. High blood pressure leads to accelerated hardening of the arteries, because the oxidized LDL cholesterol deposits itself right under the diseased lining of the arteries. Just lowering the blood pressure with medications will not remove the other risk factors; the physician will tell the patient that they have to address them separately. Nutritional researchers developed the DASH diet as a tool to lower elevated blood pressure.

Low nitric oxide

13. Low nitric oxide: Too much sugar and starch in one’s diet cause oxidation of LDL cholesterol as explained and this causes a dysfunction of the lining of the arteries resulting in less production of NO (nitric oxide). The lack of nitric oxide causes constriction in the arteries throughout the body, which will in turn elevate the blood pressure. Exercise will also lead to more nitric oxide production, but the right diet is the other factor. There is a supplement you can buy, called NEO40. The dosage is one or two Neo40 per day as a supplement, available on Amazon in the US, in health food stores in Canada. But make no mistake: it’s not about supplements; it is about the proper diet and lifestyle!

Low vitamin D3 intake and low vitamin K2 consumption

14. Vitamin D3 deficiency: I have blogged about the importance of vitamin D3 before. Researchers now consider vitamin D3 as a hormone, as all cells have receptors for this molecule. It has anti-inflammatory qualities. It helps in the prevention of heart attacks and strokes.

15. Low vitamin K2: In this blog I have explained that vitamin K2 and vitamin D3 co-operate in removing calcium from the blood and transporting it into the bone. This way they both help in the prevention of osteoporosis. A co-factor in the prevention of osteoporosis is estrogen in women and testosterone in men.

Low testosterone

16. Low free testosterone: Researchers established low free testosterone as an independent risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. In the man there are a lot of testosterone receptors located in the heart and in the brain; this explains why with a lack of testosterone there is not only erectile dysfunction, but also the risk of developing a heart attack or a stroke.

High estrogen

17. Excess estrogen: When a woman approaches menopause, her menstrual cycles can become irregular due to the fact that there are anovulatory cycles, and the progesterone production is starting to slow down. Dr. John Lee gave this hormonal state the name “estrogen dominance“, because estrogen dominates over progesterone. In other words, the ratio of progesterone over estrogen is less than 200 to 1 (progesterone/estrogen ratio) when the physician measures saliva hormone levels. This is a risk factor for hardening of the arteries. In males with a “beer belly” there is too much estrogen floating around due to an enzyme in fatty tissue, called aromatase. This enzyme manufactures estrogen out of testosterone and contributes along with other factors to causing heart attacks in that scenario.

How can we protect ourselves from these factors?

As already indicated above, there are lifestyle issues that need to be addressed as follows.

First adopt a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, which includes olive oil. No sugar, no bread, pasta, potatoes, and go extremely easy on certain fruit that is high in sugar, such as dried fruit, mango, bananas and grapes, because we do not want to oxidize our LDL cholesterol for reasons explained already.
Exercise regularly. If you like, go to a gym (my wife and I do this regularly). If you are insecure, ask a trainer initially to guide you through the exercise equipment. It really is not that difficult to do. You develop a routine that is good for you. Alternatively, you may want to go for a brisk walk, run or participate in dancing. If you find a particular activity boring, rotate the activities, but do not skip days, let alone weeks! Remember that your heart works 24/7!
Take some vitamins and supplements: I mentioned the importance of vitamin B2, B6, B12 and methyl folate before. Take vitamin D3 in a good dose like 5000 IU per day or more and vitamin K2 200 micrograms per day. Omega-3 supplements (EPA/DHA) are very useful to keep inflammation under control. For more on vitamins and supplements follow this link.

Have your hormones checked. Some doctors do not feel comfortable about this; maybe you want to see a naturopath about it instead. Your body needs the hormone receptors satisfied by adequate bioidentical hormone levels; otherwise you age prematurely and give up body functions that you would rather keep. Normal hormone levels prevent osteoporosis, premature hardening of the arteries, Alzheimer’s, erectile dysfunction and premature wrinkles.

Seventeen Causes Of Blood Vessel Disease

Conclusion

All of these 17 factors explained above are independent risk factors for developing hardening of the arteries, which affect mainly the heart, brain and kidneys. All you need is one of these factors, and you could develop a heart attack, stroke or kidney failure. You have no problem accepting a preventative maintenance program for your car. Think of having appropriate tests at least once a year done through your doctor. There are blood tests available to monitor hormone and vitamin levels, as well as C-reactive protein and homocysteine levels. Here are also three tests that will assess your heart function.

Your doctor may not order the tests spontaneously. Ask for it!

More info about heart attack prevention: http://nethealthbook.com/cardiovascular-disease/heart-disease/heart-attack-myocardial-infarction-or-mi/prevention-heart-attack/

More info about stroke prevention: http://nethealthbook.com/cardiovascular-disease/stroke-and-brain-aneurysm/stroke-prevention/

More on arteriosclerosis (blood vessel disease):http://nethealthbook.com/cardiovascular-disease/heart-disease/atherosclerosis-the-missing-link-between-strokes-and-heart-attacks/

Jun

2015

Preserving Our Energy

By Ray Schilling | alcohol, andropause, Anti-aging medicine, Cancer, Fitness, Health, heart attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Hormones, Inflammation, Insomnia, Menopause, mitochondria, Mortality, Nutrition, Obesity, Prevention, Stress management, Stroke, Vitamins and supplements

We are all aging, and as we do we are gradually losing energy until we reach our last breath. Here I like to review where our energy comes from and what we can do to preserve our energy. When we preserve our energy we are in fact also slowing down the aging process and this in essence is the approach to anti-aging.

Mitochondria are power packs of energy

Each of our body cells has many mitochondria to give us energy. Some organs are more demanding. They are the main players in our body like the brain, the heart, the liver or the kidneys. Their cells have thousands of these energy packages. Without the mitochondria there would be no energy available to these key organs to perform all the work they do. They allow us to think and produce brain hormones, to contract our heart muscle and pump the blood through our arteries. They are organs like the liver that are in charge of all of the major metabolic reactions or the kidneys that filter our blood for impurities and eliminate them in urine. Mitochondria can be likened to our power bundles that give our organs and us energy to get through life.

Get enough sleep

Sleep is an energy rebuilder. But it has to be deep enough and long enough, and there has to be enough REM sleep to give us the feeling that we had a refreshing sleep. As we age some of our hormone production slows down. One of those substances is melatonin. It is crucial for good and restful sleep. If our body is not producing enough, we can supplement with small dosages like 3 mg orally to help our body to initiate sleep. It is not an addictive substance. It is the body’s own hormone. Should you wake up later in the night, you could take another 3 mg of melatonin. There is no risk either to feel tired or “hung over” after taking melatonin.

Exercise regularly

The cheapest energy you can get is by exercising regularly. When you exercise on a treadmill, go jogging or go for a brisk walk you condition your heart, improve your lungs; in short you develop cardiovascular fitness. At the same time your muscles are strengthened with isometric exercises. You are optimizing your energy flow. In the process of exercising you create a stimulus for your mitochondria to multiply in the affected tissues. This applies as much to your muscles as it does to your heart and to your lungs. You will find that your muscle strength increases. With exercise you spend energy, but you feel more energetic from it because your body is being tuned up.

Manage stress

Self-hypnosis is a simple way to allow your whole body to relax. However, the various forms of yoga will do the same thing for you. Meditation is another way of finding peace and tranquility. All of these methods will re-energize you. They calm your brain, help you to cope with stress and rebalance your hormones at the same time.

Lifestyle

You need a lifestyle that is conducive to keeping your energies. Listed here are several factors that interfere with energy production.

Smoking: If you smoke, you burn up energy with every cigarette you consume. You interfere with the oxygen transport through your lungs, but the chemicals that poison your system also poison the mitochondria of the cells. By smoking you are destroying your power packs. Pollution damages your lungs in a similar fashion as smoking does, but it is a slower process. There are a number of big cities with severe air pollution and they may not be worthwhile visiting.
Sugar and starchy foods: Back in the 1970’s based on the Framingham Heart Study it was thought that hardening of arteries would be due to an accumulation of cholesterol from fat in the diet. Saturated fatty acids were accused to be the culprit. A low fat diet was supposed to be the solution. But the end result was the obesity and diabetes wave that we still see now. There had to be another explanation of where hardening of the arteries came from. Banning fats did not lead to better statistics. The new observation was that a low carb/medium fat diet was associated with low heart attack rates, low stroke rates, and even low cancer rates. Researchers also found the real culprit: They are sugar, starchy foods and processed foods. Sugar and starchy foods are metabolized in the liver into LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and they also oxidize LDL cholesterol. This starts a vicious process of inflammation of the lining of the arteries with fat deposits into the wall of the arteries. By eating the wrong foods we interfere with our body chemistry to the point where free radicals are produced that attack everything in us including our mitochondria. I have blogged about this many times before. You can read about it here.
Alcohol: the famous one glass of red wine for women and two glasses of red wine for men is supposedly keeping us younger for longer. This is true for the resveratrol in the red wine, which is a powerful antioxidant. But to say that alcohol itself would prolong your life is a white lie. Alcohol is a nerve and cell poison; it robs you of energy. I take the resveratrol as a supplement from the health food store to protect my system. I stay away from alcohol.

Keep the arteries open

We need healthy arteries to pump blood through all of the branches and deliver oxygen and nutrients to the body cells. Unfortunately, as we age our arteries tend to get deposits that make them more narrow, and this could also raise our blood pressure. The end result is that less nutrients and oxygen will reach our body cells. We perceive that something is wrong by not feeling as energetic as usual. Simple lifestyle changes as mentioned below can improve our circulation and lower our blood pressure. Chelation therapy has also been shown as helpful in the TACT study.

Get rid of inflammation

Dr. Paul Ridker found that approximately 50% of patients with heart attacks had a normal cholesterol level. He was looking for a more meaningful screening test and found it in the C-reactive protein. If the test result was higher than 3 there was a high probability that there was inflammation somewhere in the body, but a test result of less than 1 was normal. In the meantime scientists have learnt that the C-reactive protein is a very sensitive tool to measure inflammation in the body, but it is not specific for heart attacks. It is also positive in people with arthritis, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. Chronic inflammation is also destroying immune cells: this explains the development of cancer as the end stage of chronic inflammation.

Chronic inflammation robs you of energy. We can do a lot with natural anti-inflammatory supplements to quench inflammation.

Preserve your immune system

We can strengthen our immune system by exercise, taking vitamin C regularly and by taking vitamin D3 supplements to just name a few. DHEA, the precursor hormone from the adrenal gland also helps stimulate the immune system.

Balance your hormones

As we age we loose hormones one by one. With melatonin this starts happening after the age of 20, with DHEA and growth hormone after you are in your mid thirties. Women start to get into menopause at the age of 45 to 55, but this can occur earlier or later. Men are going through their hormone change (andropause) at the age of 55 to 60. Both, women and men know when they are entering their hormone change because of a lack of energy and a few other unpleasant symptoms. Women get hot flashes. Men get grumpy, have erectile dysfunction, a lack of sex drive, week muscles and slower thinking. If you feel those symptoms, seek the help of a naturopath who is knowledgeable on bioidentical hormone replacement. Chances are that your regular doctor will want to prescribe synthetic hormones unless you can find an anti-aging physician. If your blood tests show deficiencies in the sex hormones, you will need to get a bioidentical hormone prescription. They are usually dispensed as creams, which you apply to your chest wall or non-hairy forearms in the morning. After 4 weeks your energy will be back, and your body will function normally again. All the body functions that you thought were gone forever just needed that extra stimulus from the missing bioidentical hormones.

Organic, GMO free food

I was tempted to just write “good food”. But this may be confusing to people. It is difficult anywhere in the world to get good food. Often insecticides and pesticides contaminate fruit and vegetables, which function as xenoestrogens blocking hormonal receptors. These residues are toxic for your body, and they are destructive to your energy. Organic food with the USDA certification or any independent certification is the best way to ensure that you get a good food product. I take this seriously and pay the extra dollar. We do not need plates heaped with foods. Small helpings of good quality foods are more important for our well-being.

Treat depression and mental disease

People who are depressed will complain of a lack of energy. Their brain circuits are constantly in overdrive being busy with negative thinking. Cognitive therapy can help depressed patients to face their negative emotions. It is a learning process of thinking step by step to distinguish what is real and what is magic thinking. It is important to seek qualified help. Depressed patients distort the way they think, but cognitive therapy sets their thinking straight (Ref.1). When the thinking is normalizing, the drained energy returns, people sleep better again and they can use the energy to move forward.

Positive thinking

Negative thoughts are draining you of energy. You want to stay optimistic within what’s reasonable. Be thankful for all the good things in your life. Minimize what’s negative, but think about positive solutions to get rid of energy draining parts in your days. Do this persistently until it becomes part of your life and you will have extra energy that you didn’t waste in negative thinking or by getting caught up in needless anxiety. Worrying does not get us anywhere, but it depletes our energy.

Preserving Our Energy

What can we do to prevent aging?

It follows from all that I said that anything that preserves energy would also prevent premature aging.

As mentioned, it is important to exercise regularly (gym, swimming, dancing, fast walking, jogging etc.). Have good, balanced nutrition, preferably organic food. Some supplements are also helpful: resveratrol, Co-Q-10; pages 100 to 103 of my book contain more vitamins and supplements (Ref.2). Here is a link to my website NetHealthBook, which also addresses vitamins and supplements (scroll down to table). Avoid sugar and starchy foods to avoid oxidizing LDL cholesterol. Use bioidentical hormones to replace what is missing. Get your 7 to 8 hours of sleep and don’t forget relaxation. Detoxify to get rid of toxins that would slow you down. Infrared saunas are one way to detoxify. It is helpful to consider chelation treatments. Last but not least have a positive outlook on life.

Conclusion

Our energy that we feel tells us whether we are staying healthy or whether we are at the verge of getting sick. It is best to maintain your energy at all times by doing a combination of things outlined above. You will retain youthful energy; you prevent cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and even cancer. Most of all you have the energy to do the things you want and love to do.

I prefer to work on staying well and in the process I have the energy to do the things I want to do. Part of it is blogging, part of it is writing books, and part of it is dancing. The key is that I like what I am doing. I invite you to do what will keep you energized. Listen to your body.

References:

1. David D. Burns, MD: “feeling good – the new mood therapy” 1999, Harper Collins.

2. Dr. Schilling’s book, March 2014, Amazon.com:“A Survivor’s Guide To Successful Aging: With recipes for 1 week provided by Christina Schilling”

May

2015

Be Creative, Prevent Dementia

By Ray Schilling | Alzheimer’s disease, Fitness, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Inflammation, lifestyle, Nutrition, Prevention, Vitamins and supplements

Here is a recent research finding from the Mayo Clinic that caught the media’s attention: be creative, prevent dementia. The study found that when people engage in creative things they could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia. There are a number of various causes of dementia. But the end result is that there is an inflammatory condition within the brain that leads to a loss of nerve cells and nerve cell connections. When brain cells and nerve cell connections are lost, memory fades, particularly in the frontal brain and in the hippocampus area.

The study

In an April 8, 2015 publication from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and Scottsdale , AZ 256 participants aged 85 years and older (median age 87.3 years, 62% women and 38% men) were followed for 4.1 years. The researchers measured mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with psychological tests. At the time of recruitment into the study all of the tests for MCI were normal. As the study progressed it became apparent that there were various risk factors that caused the onset of MCI, which is the immediate precursor of dementia/Alzheimer’s disease. There was an association with the genetic marker APOE ε4 allele and a risk of 1.89-fold to develop MCI. Subsequently these patients developed Alzheimer’s disease.

Factors that can cause mild cognitive impairment

If there were currently symptoms of depression present at the time of being enrolment into the study, the risk of MCI development was 1.78-fold. Midlife onset of high blood pressure led to a 2.43-fold increase of MCI development. A history of vascular diseases had an association of 1.13-fold higher MCI development. The good news was that four activities had an association of a lower risk to develop MCI with aging. When the person participated in artistic activities in midlife or later in life the risk for MCI development was reduced by 73%. Involvement in crafts reduced the risk for MCI by 45%. Engagement in social activities reduced the risk of for MCI by 55%. In a surprise finding the use of a computer late in life had an association with a 53% reduction in MCI development. These are very significant observations.

What we can learn from the study

When you get older it is important that you prepare yourself for an active retirement. You may want to enrol in dance classes, as this combines physical activity with brain activity. Here you have to remember learnt responses (from old moves you know). You also learn new dance moves (therefore creating new nerve cell connections). You could start a hobby where you create something (arts and crafts, painting etc.). Grandma Moses did this, and she not only became famous with her artwork, but she aged gracefully; she turned 101 years old).

Treat your brain with respect

We have to treat our brain with respect. We need to give it proper nutrition and avoid cardiovascular disease as it is known that whatever is good for the heart is good for the brain.

Eat a Mediterranean diet and avoid junk foods including processed foods. If at all possible eat organic foods. Take your fish oil supplements (omega-3 and DHA), as the DHA will provide the material necessary to build up new brain cells. The omega-3 fatty acids are necessary for a healthy heart and healthy blood vessels.

Exercise regularly, cut out sugar from your diet, seek mental stimulation

Regular exercise will improve your brain circulation. If you take the steps mentioned you will prevent arthritis. And by cutting out sugar and starchy foods your brain will stay sharper for longer. Nurses in care homes for Alzheimer’s patients have known for a long time that Alzheimer’s patients crave sugar and sweets. This leads to hyperinsulinism and Alzheimer’s disease. So, let’s take the consequences and cut out sugar and sweets to prevent Alzheimer’s.

Various publications described the benefit of physical exercise. But now an additional tool is to have the aging persons enrol in crafts courses, journal clubs, discussion groups, walking groups, bridge groups or religious gatherings. That will stimulate the brain to form new circuits and buildup new memories. Artistic activities and learning the use of the computer are additional things that will reduce the risk of developing MCI and later dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Be Creative, Prevent Dementia

Conclusion

As the baby boomers age and enter into the old age category these observations are very important. We should think about doing some of these things now, so we do not have to overcome inertness later. The worst you can do is to become a couch potato and watch TV all of the time. Watching other people doing sports activities does nothing for you unless you walk on a treadmill while you watch TV. I do not intend to be hard on you; I am just passing on these new research findings and practicing them myself. The final choice is up to you.

Reference

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/09/health/creativity-socializing-delay-dementia/index.html

Incoming search terms:

can creativity delay age of onset in dementia

Feb

2015

Preserve Your Memory

By Ray Schilling | Alzheimer’s disease, Anti-aging medicine, Diabetes, Fitness, Heart Disease, lifestyle, Nutrition, Prevention, Vitamins and supplements

At the 22nd Annual A4M Las Vegas Conference in mid December 2014 Pamela Smith gave a presentation entitled ”How To Preserve Your Memory At Any Age”. She gave a comprehensive overview of what you can do to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The better we understand the causes of Alzheimer’s the more we can interfere with the biochemical processes that lead to Alzheimer’s or dementia. Various parts of the brain have different functions like pattern recognition, interpreting auditory and visual stimuli and so on. In the past researchers thought that after the brain development it would be stationary until we die. But they have now shown that instead the brain continues to develop even after the teenage years. New brain cells can develop as long as we live and new synapses, the connections between brain cells can form all the time.

A lack of sleep causes insulin levels to rise, which causes a lack of memory. Alzheimer’s disease has been termed diabetes type 3 because of this close connection of memory loss and uncontrolled blood sugar levels. In fact diabetics are three times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Subunits of the brain and neurotransmitters

There are several subunits of the brain like the hypothalamus, thalamus, hippocampus and the amygdalae, which are important for normal brain function and memory. The hippocampus in particular is a major memory-processing unit, which indexes, constructs and rearranges memories.

Apart from the anatomy of the brain, neurotransmitters are important for the proper functioning of the various parts. Although there are more than 100 of them the most important neurotransmitters are acetylcholine, GABA, glutamate, dopamine and serotonin. Each of these neurotransmitters binds to only one specific receptor before a neuron sends a signal to the next. There is a decline in the speed of neurotransmission with age and also a memory decline. Compared to the memory in a young person a person at the age of 75 has a decline in memory function of about 40%.

Why do people experience memory decline?

Apart from genetic predisposition the majority of people who come down with Alzheimer’s disease do so because of neglecting the body and their brain. Neglecting elevated blood pressure by not treating it properly with medication will lead to vascular dementia. As already mentioned earlier hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin in the blood) from obesity, untreated type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome is another mechanism.

There is an association of lack of exercise with a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s, so is insomnia and a lack of sleep (less than 7 hours per night). With aging there is often poor nutrition, lack of absorption of nutrients, inflammatory bowel conditions with poor absorption of nutrients and body inflammation. A significant portion of the population is deficient for various enzymes in the methylation pathway, which can lead to high homocysteine levels and the danger of premature heart attacks and vascular dementia. Psychological health also affects memory loss, as do depression and anxiety. Toxins like heavy metals, fuels, pesticides, solvents and fluoride can over time lead to memory loss and Alzheimer’s as well.

Lifestyle habits and Alzheimer’s

There are many lifestyles that cause memory loss: too much stress (from high cortisol levels that damage the hippocampus); smoking that damages acetylcholine receptors; chronic alcohol abuse leads to memory problems from the toxic effect of alcohol on brain cells, which in turn causes a disbalance of serotonin, endorphins and acetylcholine in the hippocampus.

Lack of exercise is an independent risk factor for the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Exercise increases the blood supply of the brain, strengthens neural connections and leads to growth of neurons, the basic building blocks of the brain. Mood-regulating neurotransmitters are increased (serotonin, endorphins).

Sleep deprivation leads to memory loss, but so does the use of aspartame, the artificial sweetener of diet sodas.

Sugar consumption and too much pasta (which gets metabolized within 30 minutes into sugar) causes oxidization of LDL cholesterol and plaque formation of all the blood vessels including the ones going to the brain. On the long-term this causes memory loss due to a lack of nutrients and oxygen flowing into the brain.

Hormone changes

A lack of testosterone in men and estrogen in women interferes with cognition and memory. For this reason it is important after menopause and andropause (=the male menopause) to replace what is missing with the help of a knowledgeable health professional.

Too much DHEA from stress can decrease memory, but too little DHEA from aging can also do this. Alzheimer’s patients have DHEA levels that are 48% lower than men and women of the same age who have normal memories. Pregnenolone is a precursor of DHEA, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Dr. Smith called pregnenolone the “hormone of memory in the body”. At an age of 75 most people have a 65% lower level of pregnenolone than a persons in the mid 30’s. Pregnenolone keeps your brain balanced between excitation and inhibition, helps you to cope with stress and gives you energy.

Ask for input by hormone specialist

But before you consider supplementing with a pregnenolone hormone level, this should be ordered by a knowledgeable health professional. Dosing can be tricky as too much pregnenolone can result in too much DHEA, estrogen, progesterone or testosterone.

Progesterone is manufactured inside the brain, spinal cord and nerves from its precursor, pregnenolone, but in women it also comes from the ovaries until the point of menopause. Progesterone is needed in the production of the myelin sheaths of nerves and it has a neuroprotective function. In menopausal women bioidentical progesterone is a part of Alzheimer’s prevention.

Melatonin is a hormone, a powerful antioxidant and a neurotransmitter at the same time. It helps in the initiation of sleep, stimulates the immune system and protects from the toxic effects of cobalt, which has been found to be high in Alzheimer’s patients.

Other factors contributing to Alzheimer’s

Any inflammatory condition can trigger destruction of neurons, so do the beta-amyloid proteins associated with Alzheimer’s. Contributory factors can be food allergies, disbalance of gut bacteria, recreational drugs (particularly ecstasy) and certain medications. Dr. Smith stated that the most common foods causing allergies that affect the brain are: sugar, wheat, dairy, eggs, shellfish, potatoes, beef, tomatoes, corn, coffee, peanuts, roasted soy beans and yeast.

Dr. Smith mentioned that these medications can affect memory: statins, sedatives, steroids, levodopa, muscle relaxants; antihypertensive drugs, antidepressants, antibiotics, anticonvulsants, anti-arrhythmic drugs, pain relieving drugs (analgesics) and antihistamines. If you are on any of these, you may want to discuss alternatives with your doctor. Dr. Perlmutter mentioned in Ref. 1 that statins interfere with brain function and can lead to Alzheimer’s.

Promoting brain health

Medication helps only to stall further memory loss for up to 6 months, so Dr. Smith said about medications only: “much research is still needed in this area”.

On the other hand she stated that many foods, vitamins and supplements in combination could improve memory and prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease. She spent considerable time in the remainder of her talk on details regarding foods, vitamins and supplements.

Dr. Smith said that we need to eat foods that are rich in antioxidants like blueberries, apples, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries; cherries, cranberries, cooked kale, garlic, grapes, prunes, raisins and raw spinach. But at the same time she stressed that we cannot trust the food industry anymore, and we need to buy organic foods. She gave an example of the “dirty dozen” as defined by the environmental working group (contaminated fruits and vegetables).

Food intake also applies to portions:eat 5 to 6 smaller meals per day. Consume red meat only three times per week.

The brain needs fats like nuts and seeds: walnuts, almonds, pine nuts etc.

Fish also contains healthy omega-3 fatty acids and DHA. The problem with predator fish like tuna or swordfish is that they are contaminated with mercury. But wild salmon and mackerel are still OK. A good alternative is to supplement with pharmaceutical grade EPA/DHA omega-3 capsules. They are molecularly distilled, which means they are not contaminated with mercury or PBC’s and they are more concentrated; they typically contain 1000 to 1400 mg of EPA/DHA per capsule. One to two capsules twice per day (a total of 2 to 4 per day) would be a good anti-inflammatory dose.

Specific food recommendations

Use olive oil and coconut oil for cooking; avoid the omega-6 oils (safflower oil, grape seed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil to just mention a few). These latter oils, which are heavily advertised by the food industry, create too much arachidonic acid leading to body inflammation. Your brain is very sensitive to inflammation, which causes Alzheimer’s. For the same reason avoid deep fried foods and processed foods.

There is more you need to watch for: no food additives, no artificial food colorings, no preservatives, flavors and MSG. Be alert about the food industry’s alternative “language” or terminology for MSG: “natural flavor”, “yeast extract” etc.

Preserve Your Memory

Brain nutrients

Dr. Smith reviewed a long list of brain nutrients that support the brain in its metabolism and prevent the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

I will only highlight the most effective and established nutrients here.

DHA: It has been known since 1999 that Alzheimer’s patients are missing DHA in their system. Molecularly distilled fish oil with high omega-3 fatty acids (both EPA and DHA) is one of the mainstays of prevention of inflammation in the body and the brain. 2 capsules twice per day of the concentrated 1000mg to 1400 mg capsules is desirable to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Phosphatylserine (PS): This phospholipid is part of the membrane of brain cells and controls what nutrients enter into them. It also increases the neurotransmitters acetylcholine, serotonin, norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine. Dr. Smith mentioned that PS is naturally present in foods like brown rice, fish, soy and green vegetables (particularly the leafy ones). The daily dosage recommended by Dr. Smith is 300 mg (note: some people develop a bothersome, but harmless bitter taste in the mouth at this dose; in this case take a lower dose like 100 or 200 mg per day).

Other supplements like Ginkgo biloba, alpha lipoic acid and others

Ginkgo Biloba: It improves blood flow to the brain and counteracts shrinkage of the hippocampus with age. Dr. Smith recommends 60 mg to 240 mg daily.

Alpha Lipoic Acid: Alpha lipoic acid is an antioxidant, helps stimulating the sprouting of new nerve cells and nerve fibers. Take 100 mg of alpha lipoic acid daily for memory.

Dr. Smith recommended many other supplements, which I will not explain in detail here: B vitamins, vitamin E and C, carnosine, acetyl-L-carnitine, boron, ginger, coenzyme Q-10 (or CoQ-10), curcumin, vinpocetine, zinc, grape seed extract, blueberry extract, Ashwaganda, glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline, SAMe, huperzine A and DMAE.

Dr. Smith discussed the benefits of CoQ-10 supplementation and reminded the audience that “whatever is good for the heart, is good for the brain”. She recommended to read Dr. Perlmutter’s book from which this phrase was borrowed (Ref. 1).

Genetic factors

Dr. Smith pointed out that there are about 5 genes that have been detected that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease and in addition the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4). About 30% of people carry this gene, yet only about 10% get Alzheimer’s disease. This shows you how important lifestyle factors are. Physicians call this epigenetic factors. The can suppress the effect of the APOE4 gene. She also stated that our genes contribute only about 20% to the overall risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. This leaves us with 80% of Alzheimer’s cases where we can use the brain nutrients discussed above and exercise to improve brain function.

Conclusion

Don’t wait for Big Pharma to develop a magic pill. Follow the simple steps in combination that Dr. Pamela Smith talked about in her presentation: Exercise, have organic food to keep toxins out of your body and brain, replace missing hormones with bioidentical ones and take supplements that are known to be effective (link for male menopause). In other words provide the right environment for your genes to work properly without getting Alzheimer’s disease.

Reference

1. David Perlmutter, MD: “Grain Brain. The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, And Sugar-Your Brain’s Silent Killers.” Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2013.

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Jan

2015

Telomere Length A Telltale Sign Of Aging

By Ray Schilling | Alzheimer’s disease, Anti-aging medicine, Arthritis, Autism, Cancer, Diabetes, Fitness, heart attack, Nutrition, Osteoporosis, telomeres, Vitamins and supplements

Dr. Sandy Chang gave a talk at the 22^nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine in Las Vegas Dec. 10-14, 2014 entitled “Telomere measurement as a diagnostic Test in cardiovascular and Age-related disease”, but a shorter title would be “telomere length a telltale sign of aging” (my choosing).

Dr. Chang pointed out that it is now well established that telomere length is directly related to health. The shorter the telomeres are the higher the probability to get the following: early menopause, infertility, diabetes, wrinkles, arthritis, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, cancer, stress and a lack of stem cells. In this BMJ study from 2014 it was shown on a large population basis that shorter white blood cell telomeres lead to a higher risk of coronary heart disease causing heart attacks. Decreased telomere length is also associated with the development of breast cancer, cancer of the ovary and uterus, cancer of the prostate and skin cancer.

Because of these connections it makes sense to determine a person’s telomere length. If it is short, do check-ups more often to detect any cancer early when it can still be treated.

Telomere length measurements are now done in many infertility clinics as short telomeres both in the male and female is associated with infertility.

The newest finding and perhaps the most important is that a healthy lifestyle, vitamins and supplements can elongate telomeres while a poor lifestyle leads to shortening of telomeres.

Here are the factors that lead to shortening of telomeres:

– Chronic stress

– Poor diet and nutritional habits

– Chronic inflammatory diseases

– Metabolic disorders

– Lack of consistent exercise/sedentary lifestyle

– Obesity, high BMI and body fat

– Smoking

– Over consumption of alcohol

– Lack of sleep / insomnia

When short telomeres are detected, it is important for the physician to look at lifestyle changes to protect telomeres from decreasing their length even further. This has the potential of preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s when it comes to brain health. It can prevent osteoporosis and metabolic diseases (diabetes, metabolic syndrome). Telomerase is the buzzword today, which is an enzyme that all of our cells have. The purpose why we have telomerase in our cells seems to be helping us build up and repair telomeres. Any substance that preserves telomerase or prevents the breakdown of telomerase will prevent shortening of telomeres and will also prevent the above-mentioned diseases.

These supplements lead to lengthening of telomeres:

-Vitamin C and E

-Omega-3 and polyphenols

-Vitamin A and D3

-All of these help controlling oxidative stress, reduce DNA damage, reduce inflammation and build up telomere length.

-A good diet and nutrition (Mediterranean type diet) will prevent telomere shortening as well and also lead to telomere lengthening.

-T-65, an extract from astragalus has been shown in vitro to lengthen telomeres, but there is no publication yet about in vivo effects in humans.

-Resveratrol is useful to prevent shortening of telomeres as well.

-Exercise also is a simple means to prevent telomere shortening.

Telomere Length A Telltale Sign Of Aging

Another talk on telomeres was given by Dr. Harvey Bartnof with the title “Telomere Shortening and Modulation: Case Studies From The Clinic”.

This talk was a comprehensive review of what is known about telomeres, about the fact that many diseases are due to telomere shortening, about animal experiments, ways of how to lengthen telomeres and finally some data on human studies with regard to telomere lengthening.

In the following I will briefly review all of these areas that were discussed. Some of this material overlaps with Dr. Chang’s lecture.

What produces telomere shortening? Dr. Bartnof showed 4 slides that listed all of the conditions and diseases that are associated with telomere shortening. Telomere shortening is associated with twice the risk to die from a heart attack when compared to people with normal telomeres.

a) Known genetic conditions in humans associated with telomere shortening

There are three known genetic conditions due to telomere shortening: A premature aging syndrome, called dyskeratosis congenitalis; patients with this condition die prematurely from cancer, or from bone marrow failure.

People with Werner syndrome who have a genetic telomere loss have a mean life expectancy of only 54 years.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is another genetic condition with shortened telomeres due to mutations.

b) Telomere shortening associated with these health conditions

Professor Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD who is one of the three researchers who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for their work on telomeres in 2009 stated the following: “Telomere shortness is associated with just about all the major diseases of aging… from cardiovascular disease, death from cardiovascular disease, risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, diabetes risks such as insulin resistance, vascular dementia, to osteoarthritis.”

An enormous amount of clinical investigations have been done since in cohort groups like people with diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and cancer.

There is natural shortening of telomeres due to the aging process. When we compare telomere length of body cells of a 20-year old and call this 100%, the telomeres of a 100-year old person are on average only 40%. A study from the Karolinska Institute found in a group of matching twins where one twin had shortened telomeres, this twin had a 2.8 times greater risk of death than the twin with normal telomere length.

However, as already mentioned a number of other factors can lead to shorter telomeres like chronic stress in workers who look after Alzheimer patients, being of the Caucasian race (compared to African-American), having had less education, chronic unemployment, depression, pessimism, single people versus married people, phobic anxiety in women and hostility in men, poor sleep and too little sleep, migraine headaches in women, low physical activity, smoking cigarettes and alcohol consumption. The list does not stop here. Other conditions are associated with telomere shortening like heroin abuse, exposure to smog, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and lead, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cirrhosis of the liver, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, chronic kidney disease and disability in the elderly.

c) Effects of medications on telomere length

Antidepressants used against depression have a telomere lengthening effect, but NSAID’s, aspirin and interferon-alpha shorten telomeres. Other telomere shortening effects come from cancer chemotherapy.

d) Telomerase activation elongates telomeres

Successful experiments in various mouse strains showed that special strains that were telomerase deficient, could be reconstituted to normal by reinserting telomerase: atrophied organs regrew back to normal size and function. In humans it was shown that increased physical activity elongated telomeres, so did vitamin C, E and vitamin D3 supplementation, resveratrol, a Mediterranean diet, marine omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, higher fiber intake, bioidentical estrogen in women and testosterone in men, relaxation techniques like yoga and meditation. The Astragalus-derived telomerase activator TA-65 has been shown in animal experiments to elongate telomeres. The human data about TA-65 is still spotty or not available (it is also very expensive and may be unnecessary given the fact that so many other agents are known to lengthen telomeres).

e) Human data on telomere lengthening

Much can be achieved by changing one’s lifestyle: cut out toxins like cigarette smoking and alcohol abuse. Get involved in a regular exercise program, which has been shown to increase HDL cholesterol and to elongate telomeres. Adopt a Mediterranean type diet including olive oil; take vitamin E, D, C and supplements with resveratrol and murine omega-3 fatty acids, all of which elongate telomeres. Get enough sleep (7 to 8 hours per night) and do yoga and meditation. Avoid distress and tone down your stress level to eustress (normal stress level associated with every day living). An older person should use bioidentical hormones to replace missing hormones. All of this taken together will create a milieu in your body where telomeres get elongated and you live longer without disease. Several clinical conditions were mentioned where baseline telomere length was assessed initially and was found to be too short; simple lifestyle changes were then initiated, which were able to improve telomere length and treat these diseases successfully. In addition TA-65 (also termed T-65) was given in some of these cases, but in a subsequent discussion Dr. Bartnof admitted that he could not comment on how effective TA-65 by itself was as it was only one component of many other effective telomerase stimulators given. Till further research is out on this substance, it may be just very costly without spectacular benefits on its own.

Conclusion

I gave a summary of the talks by Dr. Chang and Dr. Bartnof regarding telomeres, but these were not the only talks about telomeres, although quite representative for the others. Both speakers pointed out how powerful lifestyle is for our body functions as this is what lengthens our telomeres and allows us to live longer, disease-free lives. Stem cells also have telomeres, but they are on average longer than the rest of the body cells (called somatic dells). An improved lifestyle will keep our stem cells in good shape, so they are there when needed to replace aging somatic cells.

The new logic of a healthy lifestyle is:

A healthy lifestyle causes healthy telomeres of somatic cells and of stem cells; this causes health until a ripe old age. In the next few weeks I will blog about more topics from the 22^nd Anti-Aging Conference in Las Vegas. Stay tuned.

Jan

2015

Lifestyle Has Profound Changes On Our System

By Ray Schilling | Cancer, Diabetes, Fitness, Health, Heart Disease, lifestyle, Nutrition, Obesity

Dr. David Katz delivered a keynote address where he said that lifestyle has profound changes on our system. This took place at the 22^nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine in Las Vegas Dec. 10-14, 2014. His talk was entitled “Integrative Medicine: A Bridge Over Healthcare’s Troubled Waters”.

He started the 1 hour talk with showing a slide of six blind men and the elephant. The conclusion was that each of the blind men saw only one aspect of the elephant, but no one saw the true elephant. With healthcare it is a bit like that.

Causes of death

Dr. McGinnis et al. in 1993 published the “Actual causes of death in the United States”.

Ten factors were responsible for chronic disease, but the first three things on McGinnis list were the most important ones: tobacco use, diet and lack of exercise.

Mokdad in 2004 noted that the revised list of “Actual causes of death in the United States”: tobacco was no longer number one.

Effect of healthy lifestyle

Ford et al. in 2009 stated: “Healthy living is the best revenge…Nutrition-Potsdam study”

Although there is no magic pill for reducing disease, lifestyle is exactly “the magic pill” that reduces mortality by almost 80%.

Fastforward to 2014: Akkeson et al. came to the same conclusion when examining what would be able to prevent heart attacks. They stated that LIFESTYLE is what matters.

We live in the “epigenetic age: dinner is destiny!” With this Dr. Katz meant to say that our genes get switched on and off depending on what we put into our mouths. This determines whether we live shorter or longer lives.

He went on to say: “Feet (exercise), forks (diet), fingers (cigarettes) are what matters.” Oncogenes can get turned off in prostate cancer with the help of exercise, the right food intake and quitting to smoke.

Food addiction and obesity

Dr. Katz mentioned the book by Michael Moss “Salt, sugar, fat”, which made it to the cover story of Time Magazine in 2013. In it is described how the food industry employs PhD’s to include agents in processed foods to ensure that consumers get addicted to the food products. Food addiction leads to obesity; the CDC statistics show that it is effective! We have put up with this for far too long. There are differences of obesity rates between countries, here Canadian and US statistics shown.

Dr. Katz asked the audience to raise up their hands, if they had a person close to them die of cancer, a heart attack or a stroke. Almost all of the more than 500 participants in the Hall raised their hands.

Lifestyle Has Profound Changes On Our System

Children education programs

So what is the ONE thing that can fix everything? He answered this rhetoric question by saying that there is no one thing that fixes everything. But we can start at a young age by educating our children. Dr. Katz has started a program for school kids called “ABC for fitness for kids” to prevent obesity. The program teaches children healthful food choices. Dr. Katz commented that a website, NuVal uses a nutritional value rating system to monitor food quality and manufacturers have improved the content of their products because the composition of their products were displayed on that website. We need to be vigilant and read labels.

Change one thing at a time

But we can only change one thing at a time, like we walk one step at a time on a spiral staircase to get to the next floor. We ask ourselves about our lifestyle: what is the first thing to fix? We fix this point (like exercise more), then we fix the second (adopt a Mediterranean diet), the third (take specific vitamins and supplements) and so on; in other words we approach one thing at a time. Integrative medicine, the fusion of conventional and non-conventional medicine, can help to solve problems one step at a time.

Effect of CoQ10

Despite a bias in the North American medical literature saying that CoQ10 was “useless”, the European Heart Journal reported in 2013 that CoQ10 decreases all-cause-mortality in patients with heart disease. Here is a link to a more recent article (Dec. 2014) regarding a two year trial with congestive heart failure patients taking only 100 mg of CoQ-10 three times daily that found that all-cause-mortality was reduced significantly.

Blue zones

There is a new wave going around the United States: It is the idea to copy the lifestyle of the blue zones around the world. Blue zones are areas in the world where the life expectancy is 100 years or more. This link leads you to a information about blue zones that is worth watching.

It explains how Blue Zones are being established all around America. Dr. Katz explained that lifestyle is the medicine and the environment is the spoon. In Blue Zones the environment is such that people who live long, healthy lives influence you positively. They spoon it to you non-verbally by their example. Organic vegetables in stores are cheaper in Blue Zones, so it is easier to eat more of them; people socialize more with each other, they exercise more and dance. This is what people do who live longer than 100 years. In other words, you change the culture, you change your lifestyle, you exercise more, you stop smoking, you eat healthy and you live longer.

You must decide on which pathway to go

Dr. Katz ended his lecture with the image of you walking along and coming to a fork. To go further you must decide to go on the pathway to your right or on the pathway to the left. You turn on the right pathway by deciding to adopt the principles of the Blue Zones; you make the decision to want to turn older than 100 years and keep your vitality until it is time for you to pass on. In the meantime you enjoy every day, you are not disabled and your mind and body stay healthy. The other pathway was the one that the majority of the industrialized Western nations has taken in the last few decades. Which path will it be that you decide to take?

Conclusion

At the conference Dr Katz and a number of other speakers pointed out how powerful lifestyle is for our body functions. Other speakers stressed the importance of telomeres, the caps of the chromosomes, which comprise the end of the double stranded DNA. With every cell division our telomeres shorten. Stem cells also have telomeres, but they are on average longer than the somatic dells. It probably is like this to be able for stem cells to replace the aging somatic cells.

There is a new logic of a healthy lifestyle is. It says that a healthy lifestyle causes healthy telomeres of somatic cells and of stem cells. This causes health until a ripe old age. I will be blogging about some of the other key talks of the conference in the near future to clarify this point further.

Sep

2014

Two Approaches To Heart Disease

By Ray Schilling | Anti-aging medicine, Fitness, heart attack, Heart Disease, Hormones, Nutrition, Prevention, Stroke, Vitamins and supplements

Over the years I noticed that there are two approaches to heart disease that people and physicians seems to subscribe to.

1.The conventional approach to heart disease

The patient essentially ignores health advice, may smoke cigarettes and eat in a lot of fast food restaurants. People who do not care about their heart drink sodas, eat lots of sugar, starch and processed foods. They may think that they are invincible. Famous politicians have subscribed to this type of approach including former vice president, Dick Cheney.

But the big surprise comes when acute chest pain hits and an ambulance has to be called. We are lucky in the industrial countries where a 911 service is available. You call that number when in distress and an ambulance with all the modern equipment will rush to you. The problem though is that you have neglected your arteries for all those years and it is likely that one or two of the three coronary heart vessels are severely narrowed so much that your heart reported chest pain. This pain signals that one area of the heart muscle was not getting enough oxygen and nutrients.

On arrival at the hospital the emergency physician sees you. Nurses put monitors up, attach electrodes to you, and IV-lines are put into your veins, just in case things get worse and they would need to give you quick life-saving medicine intravenously. They have also given you an oxygen mask, and after 30 minutes or so you feel much better. A cardiologist has been called in by the emergency physician and will assess you.

This will very likely be the verdict: “We have to do a coronary arteriogram where I advance a thin catheter through your femoral artery backwards to where the coronary arteries originate from. We can then study each coronary artery separately and determine whether an angioplasty needs to be done.” Upon your questioning he explains that an angioplasty is a procedure where a catheter is advanced through a new clot that often forms during a heart attack and a stent is left behind that will keep the previously blocked off coronary artery open.

Within an hour the procedure will be completed. The cardiologist will explain that he found significant narrowing, such a san 85% narrowing in the anterior descending coronary artery and a second lesion in the right coronary artery with maybe 55% narrowing. He has stented both of these arteries successfully. But he warns you that the stents may close off, if you are unable (or rather unwilling) to change your lifestyle. He also will be very specific with what he meant: Quit smoking immediately, get into a regular exercise program and adopt a strict heart healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet. They would keep you overnight just to observe your heart rhythm and blood pressure. In the morning, if everything is OK he will likely discharge you.

Comment: Unfortunately this scenario is all too familiar to me having worked as a family physician doing my rotations as an emergency physician in a community hospital for 16 years. I found that people tended to NOT think preventatively unless they were forced to. When an acute event like a heart attack happens, a higher percentage of people is committed to prevention, but medical people call this “secondary prevention” as this prevention was only started after a close call. Our sample patient above could have developed a serious arrhythmia (irregular heart beats after a heart attack) and suddenly slipped into a coma and died before the interventional cardiologist could have placed the stents.

Primary prevention is much more powerful and this is what I like to cover next.

Two Approaches To Heart Disease (Placement Of Stent Shown)

2. The preventative approach to heart disease

Most people never have to be rushed to the hospital with chest pain. They engage in various ways of “primary prevention”. So, what exactly is this?

They keep very active, like walking or jogging, dancing, working out in a gym, biking or swimming etc.

They also like a healthier than normal lifestyle: eat at home as much as possible, and many adopt to buy only organic food. Why, you may ask? Organic food does not contain insecticide residues that resemble estrogenic substances (so-called “xenoestrogens” which accelerate hardening of the arteries). But organic food also does not contain GMO (genetically modified food). We know enough about GMO now to indicate to us that autoimmune diseases with inflammation of the arteries and the gut can occur. But the full impact on people’s health will not be known for several more decades. So why experiment with yourself? Buy organic instead. It is known to be safe.

Vitamins and minerals can be very useful supplements that also prevent premature aging of our blood vessels.

Anti-aging research has shown that with aging come various hormone defects. Melatonin is one of the first to go (in your twenties). But melatonin tables that are widely available in drug stores and health food stores can come to your rescue: 3mg of melatonin at bedtime will give you a good night sleep and provide powerful anti-oxidant effects. DHEA is an adrenal gland hormone that can be measured in your blood (or in saliva). In case it is low, it can be easily replaced with supplements. In the 50’s or 60’s women and to a lesser degree men will start to show thyroid under-functions. We call this hypothyroidism. Have your TSH and T4 levels checked and talk to you doctor about whether you need thyroid replacement, if the values are off.

It is somewhat more difficult to explain the rest of the hormones. But you know that women get into menopause and men about 10 to 15 years later will hit andropause, which is the male equivalent of menopause in women. An easy way to check this out is by doing a hormone panel from just one tube of spit. Yes, it is a saliva hormone panel I am talking about. For women it is estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, DHEA and testosterone that should be analyzed. For men it is testosterone, DHEA, cortisol, estrogen and progesterone. I am aware that these are the same 5 hormones, but I listed them in the order of importance for women and men. In this blog you find more details about bio-identical hormone replacement.

I have followed a primary heart attack prevention program since 2001 and it seems to suit me well. Just to check things out I had a carotid intima test, which showed no hardening of the arteries. Just two weeks ago my optician took images of the retinal vessels and found hardly any hardening of my retinal arteries. I scored high on a Bruce treadmill protocol in March of 2013 and my lipid VAT values were excellent indicating a low risk for a heart attack.

I have delved into this subject in more detail in my book entitled “A Survivor’s Guide to Successful Aging” (Ref. 1).

Conclusion

Prevention of a disease is always better than curing a disease, this applies to heart attacks as well. While you do something good for your heart, you are at the same time preventing strokes and many degenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease. In addition you also prevent cancer. It really is a good deal!

More information on prevention of heart disease: http://nethealthbook.com/cardiovascular-disease/heart-disease/heart-attack-myocardial-infarction-or-mi/prevention-heart-attack/

Reference:

1. Dr. R. Schilling: “A Survivor’s Guide to Successful Aging“. Paperback through Amazon.com, 2014.

Last edited Nov. 8, 2014

Aug

2014

Keep Your Muscles In Older Age

By Ray Schilling | Fitness, fractures, Health, Heart Disease, Men's Health, Obesity, Women’s Diseases

Intuitively you may have noted that older folks who have very little “meat” on them are not as healthy as people of the same age with well-developed muscles.

A research team under the supervision of Dr. Preethi Srikanthan and Dr. Arun S. Karlamangla from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA decided to measure the muscle mass index instead of the body mass index. They did this using bioelectrical impedance (simple electronic body composition bathroom scales) and they wanted to see whether there would be any correlation with regard to mortality statistics in an older population.

The study group consisted of 3659 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (average age for males 55 and older, females 65 and older). The survey took place between 1988-1994. Mortality rates were computed by the end of 2004. The median length of follow-up per person was 13.2 years.

The authors of the study compared mortality curves for four subgroups of muscle mass from low to high: 0-25%, 25-50%, 50 to 75% and 75 to 100%. When the lowest muscle mass group was compared to the highest muscle mass group, there was a 20% increased mortality rate for the lowest muscle mass group.

This study had careful controls built in and could demonstrate that the difference was not due to better or worse LDL cholesterol values or triglycerides; it was not due to differences in diabetic rates or other factors. This is the first study that shows in a US based population that a lower than average muscle mass is an independent risk factor for premature death in an older population.

The authors were aware of Danish study that had previously shown that a lower muscle mass was associated with a higher mortality rate in 50 to 64 year-olds.

I like to comment regarding this study by putting it into the context of other medical findings.

Keep Your Muscles In Older Age

1. Older people tend to have more falls

Several studies have shown over the years that older people fall more often because of a combination of balance problems with slower reaction time, and also because of poorer muscle development when compared to a younger age group. The medical costs are staggering when older people reach the age of 85 where about 20% of that subpopulation experience serious falls resulting in hip fractures and hospitalizations. There is a mortality of about 25% associated with hip fractures in that age group. And about 50% of those who survive will not be living independently at 1 year following a hip fracture. Fortunately fractures from falls can largely be prevented by making physical changes to the home to prevent tripping and having extra guard rails where needed. But another important factor is to exercise regularly within the capabilities of the older person to maintain muscle mass, which will balance the body and control upper and lower extremity strength as the person moves around.

2. Fit people live longer

A Stanford University study followed 6000 middle-aged men for 10 years and found that the fittest who exercised regularly were 12% more likely to stay alive for every metabolic equivalent; this is the energy that a sitting person uses in terms of oxygen consumption. They also found that the least fit had a 4.5-fold higher death rate within 6 years from the beginning of the study compared to the fittest.

To put this into perspective: a regular walk at less than two miles an hour would be equivalent to 2 metabolic equivalents, a brisk walk at 4 miles per hour is worth 5 metabolic equivalents and running 6 miles an hour is worth 8 metabolic equivalents. This is how the math works: a regular walk every day translates into 2×12% = 24% more likelihood of staying alive in the next 6 years compared to a sedentary person. A person exercising with a brisk walk with a speed of 4 miles per hour every day would be 5×12% = 60% more likely to be alive in 6 years compared to a sedentary person who does not exercise. Not smoking and having a normal weight would add to your probability of living longer. Pushing yourself to the extreme (running 6 miles per hour) may be problematic for the majority of us as there are issues of getting into adrenal gland insufficiency that can develop, if you over-stress yourself. (This is my comment, not part of the study).

Now you may have wondered about the woman’s side (as the previous study was an all-male study). The answer comes from a recent paper that studied 10 clinical trials throughout the world (US, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Taiwan and Japan) involving only postmenopausal women. Yes, there is the same surprising finding that regular brisk exercise makes the women live longer with less disabilities and less mortality!

The bottom line: exercise regularly and live.

3. Exercise develops your muscles and maintains them

We were born to use our muscles daily (designed as hunter/gatherers), but in the meantime this is what we do: sitting in front of the computer or TV, in cars, in class (school, university, work) or in the movie theatre. So we need to discipline ourselves to get into a routine that balances all of the other activities. Muscle strength exercises or activities as indicated in this link are the answer.

The earlier we adopt this type of a routine, the better off we are when we reach the golden years of retirement. I am one of the examples of former non-exercisers. Apart from liking to go for long walks 3 to 4 times per week I did no formal exercises until 8 years ago when my wife and I got into ballroom and Latin dancing inspired by “Dancing with the stars”. But it is only about 2 years now that we took up regular gym workouts for 45 to 60 minutes every day. It is now easier for me to walk up on a steep hill in our neighborhood that has an 18% incline than 2 years ago. Muscles need regular exercise. You put a limb in a cast and within 3 weeks most of the muscle strength has melted away. You remove the cast and it will take 3 to 6 weeks of regular exercise to regain the muscle strength. So why not maintain your muscle strength in the first place?

4. Exercise develops cardiovascular fitness

The aerobic part of my daily exercise program (treadmill) develops cardiovascular fitness as the lungs have to work harder and the heart is being activated. Doing this regularly is mimicking going through the landscape looking for food and hunting. Of course most of us drive in our cars to the grocery store and get our food that way. So my balance is to go to the gym and at least once a day get that work-out. What can we expect from fitness training? An NIH study showed that with a moderate work-out of only 2.5 hours per week you will gain 4.5 years of life due to cardiovascular fitness. This is better than money in the account. It is free healthy additional life!

5. Sensible nutrition will help preserve muscle mass

No, I am not taking your food away. I am suggesting that we watch the quality of the food we are consuming. If you are like the average consumer, you may be eating too many carbs in form of pasta, bread, rice and potatoes. Some of you have read in past blogs that my wife and I cut out sugar and starchy foods as well as wheat since 2001. We both lost 50 pounds and kept it down. I know that if I would restart sugar and starchy foods, my fat content would go up, my muscle content down and the BMI up. How do I know? I weigh myself every day on body composition scales (which works by the principal of bioelectrical impedance analysis), which show all of these indicators. Recently I got into some organic Bing cherries. They were delicious, but it also is a fruit with significant sugar content! Within a day I knew that I’d better watch the quantities I consume (fat composition was up, muscles mass down). It took 3 days for my values to be back to normal.

When it comes to muscle mass, overconsumption of refined carbs is one problem; however, our bodies do need quality lean meat and some fish (salmon, mackerel; low mercury fish) as a source of protein. I buy organic meats to get away from the problem of pesticide pollution as much as possible. Some people like vegan food, they may need to supplement with protein supplements.

Conclusion:

It may sound like common sense that a body with well-developed muscles will live longer. You may want to compare this to a well-maintained car (less rust, good maintenance) and the car will still drive well once it has a high mileage.

We have bodies that need maintenance (exercise) and good nutrition (no junk food, sensible diet). If we make this our regular lifestyle, we will develop and maintain muscles. It will keep us in the group with a lower mortality rate compared to sessile persons and junk food consumers.

Nothing happens without any effort. We need to earn muscle fitness for ourselves! Think about it, improve where you need to improve and then maintain it. More than anything else this will pay dividends well into your future.

More information on:

1. Exercise (fitness): http://nethealthbook.com/health-nutrition-and-fitness/fitness/

2. Arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries and how to avoid it): http://nethealthbook.com/cardiovascular-disease/heart-disease/atherosclerosis-the-missing-link-between-strokes-and-heart-attacks/

Last edited Nov. 8, 2014

May

2014

Forty Percent Of Premature Deaths Can Be Prevented

By Ray Schilling | Cancer, Diabetes, Fitness, Health, heart attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Lung Disease, Nutrition, Obesity, Prevention, Stroke, Vitamins and supplements

A new report from the CDC (Center of Disease Control) in the US has revealed that up to 40% of premature deaths could be prevented by simple lifestyle changes. As this link shows every year about 900,000 premature deaths occur in the US, which are due to 5 major diseases that in the opinion of the CDC can be prevented by 20 to 40%. Here are the diseases that kill: cancer, heart disease, COPD/emphysema, stroke and accidents/injuries. These conditions were responsible for 63% of all deaths in the US in 2010.

Let’s discuss each of these conditions and how one could lower the risk of dying from them.

1. Cancer:

The Framingham Heart Study has shown that smoking and cancer are closely related. Smokers who quit can significantly reduce their risk of getting cancer. We also know that exercise and prophylactic supplements like fish oil and vitamin D3 have cancer preventative effects.

Antioxidant supplementation that included beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E daily or on alternate days for 1 to 12 years, along with selenium supplementation reduced the incidence of cancer of the esophagus, colon, pancreas, stomach or the liver. Insulin resistance due to sugar and starch overconsumption is causing cancer, particularly breast cancer, colorectal cancer and endometrial cancer. I have discussed this in a recent blog.

Pollution has been linked to increased lung cancer risks as discussed here.

2. Heart disease:

Heart disease can be caused by several factors in combination. Lifestyle issues are important: Smokers need to quit smoking as the Framingham Heart Study has shown more than fifty years ago that smoking causes heart attacks. Obesity and diabetes also contribute significantly to the risk of heart disease. Often these are connected to faulty nutrition, which is another lifestyle issue that comes to mind when too much sugar and starchy foods are taken in; your liver will convert these into fatty acids, triglycerides and elevated, oxidized LDL cholesterol, which gets deposited under the lining of the arteries. A lack of exercise adds to this problem as a lack of exercise lowers the protective HDL cholesterol and fat is deposited under the lining of the arteries. Start exercising and your protective HDL cholesterol will rise, your total cholesterol to HDL ratio will lower to healthier levels and your risk for hardening of the arteries and for getting a heart attack will fall. If you have diabetes, it is important that you manage your blood sugars well; this means that if you inject insulin, you want the blood sugar tests to be within the normal range and the hemoglobin A1C values to be below 5.5%. Poorly controlled diabetes is an important cause of heart attacks and strokes. High blood pressure is also an important cause of developing heart attacks and strokes. It is important to control your blood pressure by taking blood pressure lowering pills and also by exercising regularly. Exercise seems to send a signal to relax the blood vessels thus lowering the blood pressure, which in turn prevents heart attacks.

Forty Percent Of Premature Deaths Can Be Prevented

3. COPD/emphysema:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema is mostly caused by chronic exposure to cigarette smoke from smoking. The earlier you can quit, the better your chances that your breathing will not be the limiting factor when you age. But it is also important to avoid exposure to other noxious gases, such as from welding and from exposure to pollution. This may involve a decision to move to a less polluted area. Or it might involve a job retraining. Those who are suffering from COPD can be helped to a certain extent by a portable oxygen tank with nasal prongs.

4. Stroke:

As mentioned before, quitting smoking, controlling high blood pressure and controlling blood sugar, if you suffer from diabetes have been shown to stabilize your blood vessels including the ones that supply your brain. The key is to prevent hardening of the arteries by a healthy lifestyle. Exercising and keeping your weight under a body mass index of 25.0 have been shown to be effective stroke prevention. Healthy nutrition as indicated above under “heart disease” is equally important for stroke prevention. Go green (eat more vegetables, consume more green smoothies), cut down grains, sugar and starchy foods and you will live longer without strokes and heart attacks. Remember, what’s good for your heart is good for your brain!

5. Unintentional accidents/injuries:

Wearing helmets when bicycling, wearing seat belts when driving in a car, avoiding risky behaviors are all measures that save lives. One factor stands out in all of this: if you drink too much, you run the risk of being involved in unintentional accidents or injuries. People may not like to hear this, but your brain lacks the natural inhibitory impulses when you are under the influence of alcohol, so you become more daring and you may not pay attention for the split second that could have prevented an injury or accident. People react very differently to alcohol. Some people feel inebriated after only ½ a glass of wine or beer whereas others can drink more before they make mistakes. The best is to be sober when you drive, ski, use power tools or walk in traffic. Even climbing ladders requires a clear mind!

Conclusion:

As the CDC said 20 to 40% of premature deaths (deaths that occurred before the age of 80) could have been prevented, if the above-mentioned recommendations were followed. Let me rephrase this: 180,000 to 360,000 premature deaths every year in the US before the age of 80 could have been prevented! Curative medicine cannot help with these statistics as a heart attack or stroke has happened when it has struck you. Cancer and end stage lung disease are similar conditions that you are suddenly faced with when they occur and unintentional accidents just seem to happen. This is where the importance of prevention can be seen, because these little baby steps every day are adding up to something formidable, a force to be reckoned with. Be part of the solution, think prevention!

More information on:

1. Cancer mortality: http://nethealthbook.com/cancer-overview/overview/cancer-mortality-rate/

2. Higher vitamin D3 intake lowers mortality from heart attacks, strokes, cancer, fractures due to osteoporosis: http://nethealthbook.com/news/higher-vitamin-d-levels-associated-lower-risk-mortality/

Last edited Nov. 8, 2014

17 risk factors of blood vessel disease

Low HDL cholesterol

High blood sugar

Chronic inflammation

Excess insulin

Excess homocysteine

High blood pressure

Low nitric oxide

Low vitamin D3 intake and low vitamin K2 consumption

Low testosterone

High estrogen

How can we protect ourselves from these factors?

Conclusion

The study

Factors that can cause mild cognitive impairment

What we can learn from the study

Treat your brain with respect

Exercise regularly, cut out sugar from your diet, seek mental stimulation

Conclusion

Reference

Incoming search terms:

Subunits of the brain and neurotransmitters

Why do people experience memory decline?

Lifestyle habits and Alzheimer’s

Hormone changes

Ask for input by hormone specialist

Other factors contributing to Alzheimer’s

Promoting brain health

Specific food recommendations

Brain nutrients

Other supplements like Ginkgo biloba, alpha lipoic acid and others

Genetic factors

Conclusion

Reference

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Causes of death

Effect of healthy lifestyle

Food addiction and obesity

Children education programs

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You must decide on which pathway to go

Conclusion

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