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The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism has just recently published a study in their March issue regarding the now epidemic level of worldwide vitamin D deficiency.  This new research has found that 59% of the world’s population is deficient in vitamin D, and almost 25% of those studied are extremely low on the vital mineral.  While certainly staggering, these numbers gain even more weight when combined with another study from the University of Copenhagen and the Department of International Health, Immunology, and Microbiology.  Their studies have determined that vitamin D is linked directly to the body’s immune function by actually arming it.

T cells are white blood cells, or lymphocytes that play a large role in immunity.  This research has shown that without vitamin D, they often lay dormant and provide little protection against viruses.  When optimal levels of vitamin D are present, these cells are much more active and seek out these foreign bodies.  With such a large part of the population affected by this deficiency it’s entirely possible to say that the H1N1 flu epidemic could have been avoided by supplementing vitamin D rather than vaccines that caused a plethora of other problems once administered, especially when taking into consideration that nearly all who died from H1N1 flu were chronically deficient in vitamin D.

This new research may not seem like a real breakthrough on its own, but again when combined with other information it gathers steam.  The fact that nearly all patients suffering from kidney failure, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and multiple sclerosis are dangerously low in vitamin D says that the deficiency could single handedly be the determining factor in so many diseases.

You should already be getting plenty of vitamin C for immune health, so pairing this with more vitamin D could help activate the immune response you’ve been fortifying already.  The best source for vitamin D is of course direct sun exposure, just be sure not to shower right away as it can take a few hours for your skin to properly absorb and process it.  The best food sources are fresh fish like salmon, mackerel, and tuna, fortified dairy products like milk, and cheese, and eggs.  There are numerous supplements on the market to help as well, but be sure to check the labels because some of them like cod liver oil remove the vitamin D.

As technology advances and medical research moves forward, more and more links to deadly diseases are unearthed.  Recently, a number of factors for heart disease have been discovered, but did you know that one of them could be your mood?  The International Journal of Epidemiology has published research that suggests that chronic boredom can lead to an early death.

The research doesn’t say that strictly being bored is a killer, but rather symptoms associated with it.  For example, people who are bored tend to eat more.  In these situations, they’re probably not running for the healthiest snacks either.  Boredom can be associated with depression in some cases, which also has been linked to heart disease.  People who are bored, depressed, or both are often in poor health already.  In part, this can be due to lack of motivation to live a heart healthy lifestyle including eating well and getting regular exercise.

Questionnaires that were filled out between 1985 and 1988 by 7,500 people aged 35-55 were studied in this project.  The questions centered on whether they had felt “bored at work” during the previous month.  In 2009, researchers followed up on the forms and found that the people who had stated that they had been very bored were more than twice as likely to have died from heart problems as those who weren’t.

Boredom has also been linked to anger suppression which elevates blood pressure and suppresses the natural immunity of the body.  Winter months are the hardest to cope with because of low temperatures and low amounts of vitamin D we get from limited sun exposure.  As we begin to thaw out try to get outside and get active to help live a healthier and more content life.

Keep it dark
If you’re having trouble sleeping already, be wary of turning on the TV or the computer to try to make yourself drowsy again.  The light from the screen can actually reset your internal clock and make it much harder to fall asleep again.  Keep this in mind too if you get up to go to the bathroom or to get a drink in the middle of the night.  Avoid turning on overhead lights at all costs.  Try keeping a book light or small flashlight next to your bed, or put night lights in the areas where you may need help seeing in the dark to limit your eyes light exposure.

Stay on schedule
Your body’s internal clock, also known as circadian rhythm, is not only affected by light and darkness, but routine as well.  The biggest trap that most fall into is keeping later nights and mornings on weekends than during the week.  This can throw off your sleep schedule and leave you with insomnia on Sunday night, which will start your week off in a greatly exhausted state.  If you do sleep in, make sure that it’s no more than a couple of hours difference than you would normally get up to prevent your body from being confused.

Going problem or growing problem?
According to the National Sleep Foundation, 65% of older adults are deprived of sleep because of frequent urination through the night.  The body’s natural aging process can cause this as diuretic hormones decrease over time, but it can potentially point to prostate problems in men or urinary tract issues in women.  Talk to your doctor about those tests, but in the meantime try to limit liquid intake for at least 3 hours before bed, and cut back on coffee and tea because they can irritate the bladder.

Pistachios
Pistachios are high in a form of vitamin E called gamma-tocopherol that has been shown to be protective against certain types of cancer, including lung.  Participants of a recent study who ate roughly two ounces of pistachios a day for four weeks showed a significant increase in gamma-tocopherol.  Your best bet is to try to have a few handfuls daily.

Onions
When researchers compared the 10 vegetables that are most frequently consumed in the US, onions had the 3rd highest level of phenolic compounds, which are thought to be among the most potent anticancer substances in foods.  A Finnish study of men who frequently ate onions and other foods high in phenolic compounds showed that they were 60% less likely than those who ate smaller amounts.

Pumpkin
All varieties of winter squash are extremely high in beta-carotene.  A long running Japanese study of over 57,000 people found that the participants who ate the most pumpkin had the lowest rates of gastric, breast, lung, and colorectal cancers.  Alternatives to pumpkin are carrots, broccoli, and all winter squashes, including butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squash.

Tea
A recent study showed that people who drank two or more cups of either black or green tea daily reduced their risk for squamous cell carcinoma by 30%.  This effect seems to grow over time, as some study participants who had drank tea daily for up to 47 years reduced their risk by 51%.  It is believed that anti-oxidants in tea can counter free radicals that are triggered by sun exposure.

Your Weight
Being overweight is the most well known risk for developing diabetes.  The more excess weight you carry increases the insulin resistance of cells, and that raises levels of blood glucose.  What may be surprising is that unexplained weight loss can be just as big an indicator for diabetes.  This can occur due to lack of glucose energy supplied to the body’s cells, and loss of calories related to glucose due to excessive urination.

Dehydration
Excess blood glucose draws water from the tissues of the body.  This can cause dry and itchy skin that is prone to flaking or cracking, especially in the legs, feet and elbows.  Fluids can also be drawn from the lenses of the eyes, blurring vision and making it more difficult to focus.  Typically, people will feel thirsty a large amount of the time when they’re affected like this.  This thirst is rarely ever quenched, which causes the person to drink more, and thusly urinate more.

Slowed Immune Response
A high level of blood glucose interferes with the body’s ability to heal itself and fight off infection.  This can result in slow healing cuts, sores, or bruises and frequent infections.  Because this healing ability is compromised, people who suffer from diabetes or pre-diabetes are more prone to poor oral health conditions as well.  Symptoms such as gum inflammation with red, swollen, tender, and even bleeding gums can and often does occur.

Sleepiness After Eating
Within an hour of eating, your body converts food into glucose.  In cases of diabetes or pre-diabetes the process is greatly exacerbated.  Levels of blood glucose spike, and the body releases a large amount of insulin to attempt to regulate it.  This surge is usually ineffective, and can cause drowsiness.

Drink Coffee
Though many will say to avoid coffee for a healthy liver, some recent studies have shown otherwise.  A study among people who had already developed liver disease, those who drank 1-3 cups of coffee a day were 40% less likely to develop cirrhosis than those who did not drink coffee.  People who drank 4 or more cups a day decreased their risk by roughly 80%.

Load Up On Antioxidants
Green vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, kale, and brussel sprouts are chock full of antioxidants, which help the liver and its natural detoxification functions.  They’re also loaded with nutrients that support the immune system like vitamin C, vitamin, E, B vitamins, zinc, and magnesium.  Load up on these mean greens to help stop tissue damage from free radicals.

Don’t Use Antacids
Your stomach is full of beneficial bacteria that help to eliminate toxins.  This decreases the work load of your liver by a great deal, and will help it perform more efficiently.  The natural acidity of the stomach is necessary for proper and complete digestion as well, so let it do its job whenever possible. Skip the chalky tablets unless you have serious issues with heartburn and indigestion, in which case you should consult with your doctor.

Cancer Fighter
Lab studies of human cells show that rosemary may help prevent certain types of cancer! The rate at which human leukemia and brest cancer cells multiplied was reduced when researchers exposed the cells to rosemary extract. Here's the catch though, as with all spices, the active ingredients deteriorate with storage and processing. After 3 months of storage, paprika's levels of antioxidants dropped 75%. Lesson? Eat fresh rosemary for best results

Trouble Sleeping?
Getting older in age brings on sleeping problems. One thing you may want to think about is taking Valerian. Its a natural tranquilizing herb that helps reduce insomnia and possibly anxiety. It triggers the same receptors as Valium…but no big drug company to pay.

Hearts On Fire
Is your heart always on fire? We're not talking about fiery love, but heartburn. STOP drinking sodas. It resonates in your system and irritates your heart (especially in a laying down position). Soda also will cause night time acid reflux over time. So stop drinking soda, but if you're addicted keep from drinking it 3 hours before bedtime.

Hangover Help
If you drink excess alcohol you're bound to experience a hangover. Hangovers are determined by the amount of alcohol in a given time, your body's enzymic capacity, and your age. Drinking Gatorade, a dose of Maalox and bananas can quickly act upon the excess chemicals alcohol leaves behind which causes the hangover. Depending on the severity you can be hangover free in just 30 minutes.

In 2005, Brad Gursky was going through the final stages of kidney failure.  After years of intravenous dialysis treatments, it appeared that the end was nigh for the then 51 year-old.  Then it got weird.  In mid June, he finally received the call he was waiting for.  Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York had a perfect match for him to receive a transplant, until 24 hours later when they discovered that there had been a mistake by the donor network.  Their apology letter referred to it as an "unfortunate situation".  It seemed that all hope was lost, so as a last ditch effort Gursky placed a newspaper ad looking for a kidney donor.  Did I mention it was an Israeli newspaper?

Enter Nick Rosen. 35 year-old movie/video editor/director.  Born in New York and moved to Israel as a child, he once offered to donate a kidney to a playwright friend who was actually writing a play about dialysis at the time.  Nick responded to Gursky's ad by calling the phone number attached to it, and the ball never stopped rolling after that.  Whirlwinds of medical tests were performed to guarantee matching status and before you could blink, Rosen was off to "visit a friend" in New York.  A story was concocted that the two men were cousins, and all of the hospitals panels and screening processes were passed with flying colors.  A few months after the ad was placed, Nick Rosen awoke in his hospital bed after donating his kidney to Brad Gursky.  He awoke next to an envelope containing $20,000.

Black markets for human organs have existed for ages, but are usually in lesser populated, more desolate areas of the world.  It's no wonder that it's a profitable market for those interested in such seedy transactions.  Last year alone over 4,500 Americans died while waiting for kidneys.  Perhaps donors aren't as abundant becase as Americans, we always have to pose the question "what's in it for me?".  In the case of organ donation, the answer is usually little more than knowing you did a good deed.  The call for some kind of compensation for donors isn't that outlandish when you consider the time lost due to testing, the procedure itself, and the healing/adjusting phase afterwards.  This compensation question is one of the main reasons Rosen "donated" in this instance.  The entire process was documented on video, and was even available online for quite some time.  He also claims that he did it because he "knew it was right".  That may be a little harder to believe if you've seen the clip of him lying on his bed, money all around him, saying "this is what $20,000 looks like".

Right or wrong status aside, it's hard to imagine that in the current state of US health care things could get much worse.  However, it's looking like if you're savvy enough you can manipulate the system to look less like a black market organ deal and more like a high priced call girl.  Like the song says, "ain't that America?".

Back on June 16 we posted an article about how a small consumer group called Consumers For Dental Choice had sued the FDA to make a ruling about mercury levels in silver amalgam dental fillings.  They were given until July 28 to make an official statement regarding the safety of these fillings, here's what they said.

The FDA's dental products director, Dr. Susan Runner said that "The best available scientific evidence supports the conclusion that patients with dental amalgam fillings are not at risk for mercury-associated adverse health effects."  They concluded that the only people who should be concerned about mercury, are those who are allergic to it.  One fact that wasn't addressed is that mercury is a poison, so everyone is allergic to it.

This decision actually comes as quite a surprise, as a separate lawsuit settlement from a year ago prompted the FDA to post on it's website that there were still questions as to whether the amount of mercury in fillings was enough to harm developing fetuses or small children.  The least expectation was to have a warning against using silver fillings in pregnant women or young children, as the USA is the only country that doesn't do so.

For more information about the dangers of mercury fillings, visit Dr. Tom McGuire at www.dentalwellness4u.com