Prevent Alzheimer’s; survive the swine flu; & protect your heart....

Today's Post: Friday, 8-28-2009

This post was going to be titled, Why vitamin D protects your heart. That’s because it does and we now know why.

But today I learned that a very similar effect to the one that prevents heart disease means that vitamin D also directly prevents and might even help reverse early stage Alzheimer’s disease.

And, today, I got some information that shows that vitamin D protects your brain and heart in another way. And, in that article was a hint that whether or not you die or have to be hospitalized for Swine flu may depend in part on whether or not you have a high enough blood level of vitamin D.

As you may know, most people before 100 years ago rarely had a deficiency of vitamin D. Your body will make upwards of 10,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day if you are outside when the sun is shining. When most people worked on farms and those who worked off the farm walked all or big chunk of the way to their workplace, most people not only got a lot more exercise, they also got lots of vitamin D each summer & even tended to get some vitamin D even in the winter.

1. Why vitamin D protects your heart

The online supplement sales company at www.vitacost.com periodically sends out a free informational email. The one yesterday had this:

“For Your Health eNewsletter

Dr. Allen S. Josephs Co-Founder & Chairman, Vitacost.com
8/27/2009”

" ....vitamin D is in the news again. It has been well known that low levels of vitamin D increased the risk of poor cardiovascular health in individuals with known elevated blood sugar. The underlying mechanism for this until recently was unknown. However, a report in the August 25, 2009 issue of the journal Circulation found that vitamin D appears to inhibit the uptake of cholesterol in cells called macrophages. Dr. Leon Bernel-Mizrachi, the lead researcher in this study, indicated that when people are deficient in vitamin D, their macrophage cells eat more cholesterol and can't get rid of it. The macrophages get clogged with cholesterol and become what scientists call foam cells which are the earliest markers of the declining health of the circulatory system."

In plain language, if you lack adequate vitamin D, we now know that’s 2,000 to 3,000 iu a day at least, your immune system’s macrophages don’t work correctly. They tend to convert the cholesterol in your blood vessels to plaque that builds up enough to narrow or even close them.
(This may also explain why people who get adequate vitamin D get sick less often and are less likely to get most cancers. When your macrophages aren’t stuffed up with cholesterol they can’t get rid of, they literally eat up bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells and get rid of them for you.)

2. Vitamin D also directly prevents and might even help reverse early stage Alzheimer’s disease.

So, after reading that article yesterday, I found the article in today’s Total Health Breakthroughs issue extremely interesting.

We already know that taking turmeric or the curcumin that is one of its active ingredients tends to prevent the build up of the amyloid plaques that cause Alzheimer’s disease and may even remove them in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Now we know that vitamin D has much the same effect. And, it looks like taking both vitamin D3 AND turmeric may work better than either one by itself!

In the article from Total Health Breakthroughs, you’ll see the overlap of the explanation of the way this happens and the story on preventing heart disease. It’s the macrophages again.

Here’s the article.:

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs which offers alternative health solutions for mind, body and soul."

You can get a free subscription to their email at http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com -- at the upper right hand corner of their home page.)

Is This Why Some Cultures Have Less Alzheimer’s?

by Joseph F. McCaffrey

08/28/2009

Did you know that only 25% of people with Alzheimer’s have a genetic tendency to the disease? Genetics don’t appear to play a role in the other 75% of victims — the cause is uncertain. That means the vast majority of people who develop Alzheimer’s are most affected by lifestyle and environmental factors.

While that statistic may be alarming, the good news is that we can reduce our risk of AD by making some simple changes — especially to our diet. A recent study suggests that two readily available and safe supplements may help prevent Alzheimer’s. I’ll tell you about them in a moment, but first a little background…

While we don’t know the cause of Alzheimer’s, the final effect on the brain is the buildup of a protein called amyloid. The amyloid forms plaques which cause cognitive decline that worsens steadily as the build up progresses.

Researchers have found that in some people macrophages (specialized white blood cells that we think of more often as fighting bacteria) “attack” and remove amyloid as it forms. As you might expect, this finding raised the possibility of somehow using these cells to prevent or treat Alzheimer’s. That led to the following experiment.

Researchers collected white blood cells that transformed into macrophages from nine patients with Alzheimer’s, as well as from controls. They incubated these white blood cells in the presence of amyloid and then added vitamin D3 and curcumin to the mix, both individually and together.1

The results were impressive. Both vitamin D and curcumin improved how macrophages remove amyloid plaque from the brain. In some patients the effect was enhanced by using the two substances together.

The researchers were quick to point out that this is a laboratory study and that the research is still in its early stages. They’re making no clinical recommendations at this time.

On the other hand, we already know the importance of having healthy levels of vitamin D to support the immune system. This research suggests one more important reason to make sure we’re getting enough vitamin D every day.

And curcumin is the main biologically active phytochemical in turmeric. Populations who traditionally use turmeric in their cooking, such as those of India and Southeast Asia, have lower rates of Alzheimer’s then we see in the West. This may be the reason.

So even though there’s no definitive clinical trial as yet, it makes sense to check your vitamin D levels and get more sun or take a supplement if you need to. You can also add curcumin for a spicy twist to your cooking. And consider taking it as a supplement, as well.

Reference:

1. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 17(3):703-717, 2009

[Ed. Note: Joseph F. McCaffrey, MD, FACS is a board-certified surgeon with extensive experience in alternative medicine, including certification as a HeartMath Trainer. His areas of expertise include mind-body interaction and cognitive restructuring. Dr. McCaffrey strives to help people attain their optimum level of vitality through attention to all aspects of wellness.....]"

3. Whether or not you die or have to be hospitalized for Swine flu may depend in part on whether or not you have a high enough blood level of vitamin D.

We already know that vitamin D3 helps to keep your immune system strong. That means that if you have an adequate blood level of D3, you are less likely to get swine flu and may be more likely to have a milder case if you do. And, I saw an article that I already posted about that found that people who have enough vitamin D3 also tend to not have their immune systems cause excess inflammation when fighting disease agents.

Since the people who die from the swine flu die from that kind of immune system driven over-reaction, I wrote that it looks likely that taking vitamin D3 of 2,000 to 5,000 iu a day may protect you from dying from swine flu.

Today, I discovered there may be direct evidence of that, I found a story that was in AP online health news dated yesterday with this title.: “Swine flu sends more blacks, Hispanics to hospital”

This was the key information.: "Blacks with swine flu were hospitalized at a rate of 9 per 100,000, and Hispanics at a rate of 8 per 100,000. For whites, the rate was 2 per 100,000, the study found."

Then separately, I saw a story that low levels of vitamin D tended to cause kidney disease and that this problem was more prevalent in dark skinned people since their skins were darker they got less vitamin D from sunlight.

Any one of these 3 items, let alone getting less of all kinds of cancers, would be a compelling reason to take 2,000 to 5,000 iu of vitamin D3.

All 3 together are incredibly compelling.

The even better news is that vitamin D3 is quite inexpensive. You can get 100 capsules each having 1,000 iu of vitamin D3 for just $6 or $7. And, 2,000 iu capsules and 5,000 iu capsules are just a little bit more.