Prevent cataracts using new information....

Today's Post: Friday, 5-20-2011

A compound, isocyanic acid, in smoke causes cataracts. (It also helps cause heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.)

This was in the health news earlier this week.

1. Colorado researchers have discovered that an acidic gas found in cigarette smoke also is a component of smoke from wildfires.

They also found some in the air in Los Angeles.

But, when they tested tobacco smoke, it was off the scale on the high side!

(Burning coal also produces isocyanic acid the article noted but did not give any data for people downwind of coal fired power plants or similar information.)

“Once isocyanic acid enters the body, it dissolves to a more health disruptive form, charged cyanate molecules. It is these molecules that, extremely soluble at human blood pH level, can cause heart, joint, and eye diseases. ….These can contribute to human health problems, including cardiovascular disease, cataracts and arthritis.”

These molecules produce cross linking in the proteins they encounter and sharply increase inflammation. That damage in the lens of your eyes causes cataracts. And, it also helps damage and irritate the lining of your blood vessels. That damage makes the lining less flexible which helps cause high blood pressure. It also causes your body to try to patch over the damage which causes the build up of plaque which directly causes heart disease.

So, to prevent cataracts, do what you can to avoid being downwind from wildfires and from coal burning that is inadequately filtered.

That will help some.

But the big thing to do is:

Stay as close to completely away from tobacco smoke as you possibly can!

(We posted this last time:

Cancer is the LITTLE problem from tobacco smoke! -- because all exposure whether from smoking or second hand smoke adds to your level of cardiovascular disease. Plus tobacco smoke also triggers heart attacks that people might have otherwise escaped. And, every exposure damages you at least some every time! Ouch !! (Even first time smokers and very light smokers are harmed. No exceptions, unfortunately.)

That said, tobacco smoke exposure causes about 30% of ALL cancers.”)

So this information begins to add to what we know about how tobacco smoke causes blood vessel and heart disease.

But it also can help you to avoid getting cataracts. If you’d prefer to avoid them, stay as close to completely away from tobacco smoke as you possibly can!

(Both my Mom and Dad smoked for over 20 years; and they both had cataracts. They also lived in a location where they were exposed to a lot of second hand smoke during those years.)

Other news this week is that tobacco smoke also helps cause AMD which gradually causes blindness by the damage it causes to the retina in your eyes.

2. As I’ve posted before, except for a small percentage of people with a certain genetic pattern, statin drugs only prevent heart attacks for 1 to 3 % of the people who take them. (People who do test to be in that small genetic subgroup and who are at very high risk from other factors or who have already had a heart attack, are the people who statins best help.)

The people who do the lifestyle upgrades to protect their hearts and take niacin and sterol supplements get dramatically better protection. In fact, they get so much better protection, even younger people in the subgroup who statins can protect might be well served to avoid taking them if they get that protection.

Why does this information help you prevent cataracts?

It seems that research has found that about 3 % of the people who take statins get cataracts they would otherwise have avoided.

Since with the exception of a small minority of people, there are better ways to prevent heart attacks, this means that a second way to prevent cataracts is to not take statin drugs.

Few people and far too few doctors know this information.

Eye protective foods & supplements….

Today's Post: Tuesday, 8-11-2009

Last month we did this post: Prevent cataracts, slow aging & more....Thursday, 7-23-2009. In it, we recommended several supplements and foods that either slow aging or protect your eyes or both. And we noted that the supplement carnosine tended to directly prevent cataracts. Since then I’ve discovered that carnosine is a more expensive supplement than many.

Then last Friday, 8-7, Total Health Breakthroughs had a very similar article. Since it had more information than I posted about on 7-23 on how many of these supplements directly help prevent cataracts besides the carnosine that I posted about on 7-23 -- but which cost less, I thought it well worthwhile to post that article today.

Here it is.:

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com ."

"The Nutrients that Best Protect Your Vision

by Victor Marchione, MD 08/07/2009

Protecting and preserving your vision as you grow older requires a bounty of nutrients that do it for you naturally. In the grocery store, head for the produce aisles. Keeping your diet full of colorful fruits and vegetables could help keep the eyes strong. Greens, oranges, reds, yellows the more colorful the produce is, the better it is for your eyesight.

For example, two carotenoid nutrients are at the top of any list for eyesight. They are lutein and zeaxanthin, found in a variety of vegetables, including dark green salad greens. Heard of carrots being good for eyesight? It’s because they are brimming with beta-carotene (providing the orange color). What does the body turn beta-carotene into? Vitamin A, which is needed by your eyes for healthy functioning. These are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the incredible antioxidant nutrients found naturally in fruits and vegetables.

That said, supplements are also a good idea for those who wish to ramp up their vision protection or for anyone who may be at greater risk for conditions such as cataracts and macular degeneration (or who perhaps are already forming one of these conditions).

Here are some additional vision-aiding supplements that also work great. Topping the list are lutein and zeaxanthin, found in any health store. People who have high levels of these nutrients in their bodies have been found to have a much lower risk of cataracts and of macular degeneration.1-3 Aim for 10 mg a day of each.1-3

Both vitamin A and vitamin C are excellent supplement ideas (at daily doses of 2,000 IU and 500 mg, respectively). Bilberry is a very common supplement for vision, as it contains a flavonoid that may help protect against cataracts. Studies have mostly homed in on its ability to improve night vision.4 Take 120 mg twice a day.

Two other supplements to round out your best choices are zinc (a mineral found in each retina naturally) and pine bark extract — 20 mg and 50 mg, respectively.

By giving your eyes the nutrients they need, you’ll go a long way in preventing the onset of age-related vision loss.

References

1. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2002;75: 540-9.
2. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1999: 70: 517-24.
3. JAMA 1994: 272: 1,413-20.
MediHerb Prof. Rev. 1997; 59:1-4.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Victor Marchione has been practicing medicine in New York and New Jersey for over 20 years and is a respected leader in the field of nutrition, smoking cessation and pulmonary medicine. He has been featured on ABC News, CBS Evening News, and the NBC Today Show. He is also the chief formulator of the Red Wine Pill from Bel Marra Nutritionals.]"

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Two notes are worth adding to this post plus the one I did on Thursday, 7-23.:

1. The carnosine that I posted about on Thursday, 7-23 that had such a strong effect on preventing or even reversing early stage cataracts possibly also tends to turn off a process called glycation.

Another supplement that has that effect is DMAE. So that might be useful to take also.

But of even greater importance is that glycation tends to be caused by too high levels of blood sugar.

So eliminating soft drinks and, as much as you can, eating foods made from refined grains plus limiting sugar and NOT eating foods with high fructose corn syrup may well also help prevent cataracts. (Eat nonstarchy vegetables, whole fresh fruit, health OK protein foods, and health OK oils instead -- & drink club soda, water, tea, green tea, coffee, -- and red wine in moderation – instead of soft drinks.)

Similarly, doing regular and vigorous strength training and interval cardio of some kind each week tends to keep your insulin level down, protect your blood vessels in several ways, and normalize blood sugar levels. So in addition to all its other benefits, that kind of exercise may also help prevent cataracts.

2. Bilberry is not only very strongly protective for your eyes by improving night vision, it also helps keep your eyes, brain, and heart healthy by helping to keep your blood vessels and circulation healthy.

And, Nature Way’s bilberry supplement also contains elderberry extract. While we are all worried about swine flu, it’s worth noting that elderberry has been shown to help keep flu symptoms moderate or get rid of them faster.

So Nature Way’s bilberry supplement is also a good eye protective supplement to consider that may also help protect you against regular flu and swine flu.

Prevent cataracts, slow aging & more....

Today's Post: Thursday, 7-23-2009

If you were born in 1959 or before or if you expect to live to be over 65, there are a number of eye diseases that can blind you or make your vision so poor, you can’t see much.

Recently it was reported that people who took multivitamins had telomeres 5% longer than people who didn’t. That means they aged more slowly and often looked and were 5% younger than the number of years old they actually were and very likely will live 5% longer or more.

The researchers think that this is because of the antioxidant vitamins and other nutrients such health oriented people often take as supplements or eat in vegetables and fruit they also tend to eat more of.

In addition to vitamin C and the natural form of vitamin E, the antioxidants, supplements, and foods that seem to most benefit your eyes keeping their circulation good and in other ways include blueberries, bilberries (a related berry to blueberries), bilberry extract, vitamin A, and the natural carotenes in foods that are orange or dark green such as Lutein & Zeaxanthin that are in such foods as sweet potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, and most greens from kale to collard greens to romaine lettuce. (Those foods also have a lot of fiber and tend to be very low in calories. And most have vitamin C.) Bilberry extract, grape seed extract, Pycnogenol, alpha lipoic acid, and other antioxidants are also good for your eyes.

People who eat these foods and take these supplements tend to not only live longer and age more slowly, they are less likely to develop most of the eye degenerative disease or to develop them if they do at much older ages. This includes both kinds of macular degeneration. Also, people who eat a lot of these vegetables AND exercise regularly AND avoid excess sugar and refined grains tend not to develop type 2 diabetes. Since type 2 diabetes can destroy your eye & optic nerve blood supply, it can blind you. So that too is significant.

But as they seem to be caused by accumulated damage from sunlight, it’s been uncertain that cataracts were affected by these other protective measures.

It is known that wearing a broad brimmed hat in sunny weather &/or wearing dark glasses in bright sunny weather help prevent cataracts.

We also know that taking steroids, beta blockers, and being around second hand smoke or smoking all help produce cataracts.

But all that said, it would be nice if there was a supplement that directly prevented cataracts or might possibly make them better once they develop.

The good news is that one may have been found recently.

We already know that the supplement carnosine tends to block a process called glycation which is a kind of oxidation that excess sugar or blood sugar tends to speed up. That means talking carnosine slows aging and is particularly protective for people with blood sugar that’s too high.

We also know that for people who do strength training, interval cardio, or other vigorous exercise, taking carnosine helps your body to repair your muscles and build them larger.

So, we already know carnosine was a good supplement to consider taking.

The NewsMax health email I got last Saturday, 7-18 listed a recent study that showed that in tissue samples carnosine not only prevented cataracts, it tended to reverse them!

Given carnosine’s known effects we just listed, it sounds like to me that this means taking carnosine and keeping your blood sugar in the desirable range by eating right and exercising may well go a long way towards preventing cataracts. And, it might even improve mild cataracts you already have.

Cloudy vision is obnoxious. Very cloudy vision to the place you have to pay for an operation to replace the natural lens in your eye with an artificial one to see well, is even more so.

So, cataracts are well worth preventing using the methods we’ve described. And taking carnosine supplements may really help do that.