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Combating the Effects Of Long-Term Stress and Illness

People who are under a great deal of stress in their lives often have a more difficult time staying healthy than those who lead a more relaxed lifestyle. Caregivers, soldiers, astronauts and business managers are just some who fall into this group with high stress lifestyles. Now, research at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) sheds some light on why people in situations of long-term high stress may find it difficult to ward off illness.

It all starts with the release of the hormone cortisol into the blood stream during situations of stress. Cortisol is produced by the body in the outer layer of the adrenal glands. “When the body is under stress, it boosts production of cortisol to support a ‘fight or flight’ response,” according to Rita Effros, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “If the hormone remains elevated in the bloodstream for long periods of time, though, it wears down the immune system.” And this is what happens to people who are subjected to long-term stress.

Researchers found that cortisol has a negative effect on the length of telomeres in immune cells. Telomeres are a region of DNA at the end of a chromosome that protect the genetic coding from shortening during each cell division. According to previous research, an enzyme called telomerase in each cell helps the telomere to retain its normal length as it continues to divide.

To make a long story short, cortisol in the system suppresses the ability of the immune cells to activate telomerase. When this occurs, it opens the door to the shortening of telomeres. Persons under constant stress were found to have shorter telomeres, which made them more susceptible to all sorts of illness and diseases including HIV, osteoporosis, heart disease and aging.

According to Ms. Effros, the UCLA research has a goal of improving people’s health and their future susceptibility to illness, particularly if they are under a great deal of stress. “We are testing therapeutic ways of enhancing telomerase levels to help the immune system ward off cortisol’s effect. As her research is being conducted through a school of medicine, she had this to add: “If we’re successful, one day a pill may exist to strengthen the immune system’s ability to weather chronic emotional stress.”

An alternate and much safer solution to the “pill of the future” would be a vitamin supplementation which is already available today. Vitamin makers and the natural healthcare field have developed a number of products that work to provide stress relief and adrenal support through supplementation. Speak to you natural healthcare provider to see what recommendations might be available to help combat and counteract the effects of both short-and long-term stress on the body – and, stay healthy!

Source: The University of California Los Angeles. “UCLA Study Identifies Mechanism Behind Mind-body Connection." July 2008. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-07/uoc--usi071508.php and ScienceDaily. "Mechanism Behind Mind-body Connection Discovered.” July 2008. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715152325.htm

Good News for Young Adults: Some of the Biggest Contributors to Future Health Problems are Preventable

Vol. 13 Issue 90

As science gets more and more sophisticated, it can seem like the list of illnesses being diagnosed gets longer and longer by the year. There’s just hundreds of ways to get sick! Fortunately, many of these illnesses can be prevented. Unfortunately, most of today’s young adults are not headed in the right direction!

Among the top killers are chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease including heart attacks and stroke, chronic lung diseases, cancer and diabetes. In 2004, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services stated that, “Three factors – tobacco use, poor nutrition, and lack of physical activity – are major contributors to the nation’s leading killers. America’s poor eating habits and lack of physical activity are literally killing us. Even worse, America’s children are more sedentary and overweight than ever before. The prevalence of overweight has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents, and there are indicators that suggest that diabetes rates among children are also increasing…The total cost of obesity is up to $117 billion per year.”

In little more than a decade, the numbers of young adults (ages 18 to 29) who are obese rose from 8 percent to 24 percent. The CDC National Center for Health Statistics, published a report in 2009 called, “Latest Report on the Nation’s Health Focuses on Young Adults,” which found that only around a third of young men and women engaged in regular physical activity, and a third of young men and one fifth of young women took part in strength training at least twice a week.

But unlike some factor such as genetics or mutating viruses, obesity and inactivity can be remedied at home, normally without major medical intervention or cost. Healthy lifestyles that include fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins, cooked at home, usually cost less than eating out and buying sugary snacks. Community exercise and sports activities are ordinarily very low in cost. By changing one’s lifestyle as a young adult, a person can count themselves as very smart to do everything they can to prevent chronic, dangerous diseases later in life!

Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics “Latest Report on the Nation's Health Focuses on Young Adults,” February 18, 2009, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/09newsreleases/hus08.htm, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus08.pdf#listfigures, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/, Testimony by Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary Department of Health and Human Services on Preventing Chronic Disease throught Heathly Lifestyle before the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, July 15, 2004, http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/t040715.html
 
 

Pharma Researcher Fakes Positive Results of Drug Trials
Vol. 14 Issue 34

The pharmaceutical industry must have been rocked back on its heels with the news that a prominent medical researcher has admitted to fabricating the results of his studies on pain relievers.

In an incredible black eye for several large pharmaceutical companies, medical journal Anesthesia & Analgesia retracted 21 studies they had published from Dr. Scott Reuben, formerly the chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts. The statement by the journal stated that the data in the retracted articles had been “fabricated.”

Fabricated doesn’t mean altered. It means it was invented in order to trick people.

In these articles, Dr. Reuben offered his support for Toradol® from the big pharma Hoffman-LaRoche®, Bextra® and Celebrex® from Pfizer, and Vioxx® from Merck, among others.

Vioxx is a drug that was pulled from the market in 2004 due to dangerous side effects. And Bextra is a drug from Pfizer that was also pulled from the market due to dangerous side effects in 2005. How much of a role did Dr. Reuben’s fake studies have in allowing these dangerous drugs to stay on the market?

It’s interesting to note that in 2004, the Food and Drug Administration asked Pfizer to “voluntarily suspend (direct-to-consumer) advertising on Celebrex during the time the Agency is obtaining and evaluating the new and conflicting scientific data on adverse events associated with the drug.” Were they reading reports from Dr. Reuben and noting that his results didn’t match those from other studies?

In federal court, Dr. Reuben was charged with healthcare fraud. The charges allege that, “Reuben solicited and obtained research grants from pharmaceutical companies to perform research studies on pain management, often associated with various surgical procedures, but that he did not actually perform the research studies. Instead, he made up patient data, submitted it to medical journals and caused false articles to appear in a number of medical journals.”

Let’s hope Dr. Reuben is looking for a new career path!

Source: Anesthesia & Analgesia, Letter of Retraction, February 20, 2009, http://www.aaeditor.org/HWP/Retraction.Notice.pdf

Source: U.S. States Attorney’s Office, Springfield Anesthesiologist Charged with Falsifying Medical Research, January 14, 2010, http://www.justice.gov/usao/ma/Press%20Office%20-%20Press%20Release%20Files/Jan2010/ReubenScottPR.html

Source: Food and Drug Administration, FDA Statement on Celebrex DTC Promotion, December 20, 2004, http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2004/ucm108386.htm

Source: FDA Statement, Food and Drug Administration, FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Vioxx as its Manufacturer Voluntarily Withdraws the Product, September 30, 2004, http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2004/ucm108361.htm

Source: FDA Statement, Food and Drug Administration, Public Health Advisory - FDA Announces Important Changes and Additional Warnings for COX-2 Selective and Non-Selective Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, January 26, 2010, http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm150314.htm

Chiropractic is the Most Popular Form of Alternative CarE

Vol. 14 Issue 28

A recent survey completed by the Centers for Disease Control showed that America has more people using Chiropractic to attain and maintain good health than any other form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

The purpose of the survey that contacted 75,764 people was to determine how many people were using Chiropractic, Acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, hypnosis, massage, biofeedback and other forms of treatment. The survey then went on to assess the relative costs of these different forms of treatment.

Out of the 38,146 people who visited a CAM practitioner in the year before the survey, the largest group had visited a chiropractor, with 18,740 people making this their choice.

Not only that, the study stated that, “One of the lowest per-person, out-of-pocket costs is associated with visits to practitioners of chiropractic…” While some people visiting CAM practitioners paid as much as $75 out-of-pocket for their visit, those utilizing Chiropractic paid $24 or less about half the time.

This analysis agrees with a review of Workers’ Compensation claims in North Carolina during 2004,which found that almost $2,900 was saved every time an injured worker was cared for by a doctor of Chiropractic rather than a medical doctor. Not only that, injured workers treated by chiropractors were able to return to work almost six times as fast as injured workers who chose a medical doctor for their care. This was no limited study, either. The review included 43,000 claims over a nineteen-year period of time.

More studies can and will surely be done, but the results are certain to be the same: Chiropractic improves health and saves money – and more and more Americans know it.

Source: National Institutes of Health, National Health Statistics Report, Costs of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Frequency of Visits to CAM Practitioners, July 30, 2009, http://nccam.nih.gov/news/camstats/costs/nhsrn18.pdf

Source: Dynamic Chiropractic, Work Comp Study, Chiropractic Less Expensive, More Effective Than Medical Care, November 18, 2004, http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?t=9&id=46515