Dear Friends and Patients:
This newsletter heralds the resumption of our quarterly articles on health and healing. The March 2007 issue never went to print due to the untimely passing of Carolyn Floyd, my long-time nurse and friend in February of this year. I again want to thank our many patients and friends for their kind words and understanding during the past several difficult months.
Please welcome all the new faces at the Center who are here to serve you. Donna Nussel, R.N., is a former hospice nurse who joined our staff in September 2006. Kim Lipsey also came on board in September 2006, and is in charge of our front office. Her smile will welcome all of you as you come in for your appointments. Keren Conner joined our front office staff in March 2007 and will help you when you call or come to the Center. Our newest staff member is Louann Mauldin, LPN, who has worked in Pediatrics at Shands Teaching Hospital for many years. We are excited to have her as part of our Preventive Medicine Center team.
In this issue of the newsletter I will discuss the acid/alkaline theory of disease and share new information on DNA and nutrition. I will also in the next several newsletters share information from the Spring 2007 ACAM (American College for Advancement in Medicine) conference I attended in Chicago in April of this year. This was one of the best integrative medicine conferences I have attended with outstanding, nationally renouned speakers. Some of the topics to be covered will be vitamin C and cancer treatment by Dr. Mark Levine of the National Institute of Health; vitamin D and its role in cancer formation by Dr. Cynthia Browne, a practicing board certified radiation oncologist, who is the director of complementary cancer care at The Van Elslander Cancer Center in Detroit, Michigan; and metals and cardiovascular disease by Dr. Eliseo Guallar, a cardiologist from Johns Hopkins University College of Medicine.
The Acid/Alkaline Theory of Disease - A Myth
One of the diets that has been around for a long time is the acid/alkaline theory of disease. This diet is prevalent in alternate health circles and contends one must keep one's body at the proper pH by eating primarily “alkaline forming foods.” By doing this in some way your body will become “more alkaline” and healthy. Alternative practitioners may use systems that measure urine pH plus other factors to assess metabolism. Also, some measure saliva pH. Salivary pH is effected by bacteria in the mouth. Neither method determines the internal pH of the body, and I do not give much credence to this theory for a number of reasons.
What is pH and Why is it Important?
Inside the human body, the acid-alkaline balance is important because many functions in the body occur only at a specific pH. pH is the amount of free hydrogen that is measured on a scale of 1 to 14, and denotes the level of acidity or alkalinity. A pH value of 7 is neutral; below 7 acid and above 7 alkaline. Different parts of the body have different levels of acidity and alkalinity. For instance, the blood is alkaline, with a pH between 7.35 - 7.45. Urine pH can vary between 4.5 - 8.0, so it can be either acid or alkaline. Heart pH varies between 7.0 - 7.4 and is alkaline. Muscle pH is between 6.9 and 7.2 and saliva pH 6.0 - 7.4
All chemical reactions in your body are initiated by enzymes, and all enzymes function in a very narrow pH range. If your blood changes its acidity or alkalinity for any reason, your body physiology is programed to quickly change your pH back to normal. For example, when you hold your breath, carbon dioxide accumulates in your bloodstream and very rapidly turns your blood acidic. You will become uncomfortable or even pass out. This forces you to start breathing again, and the pH returns to normal.
Alkaline and Acid Foods
There is confusion between the terms acid or alkaline ash and acid and alkaline forming, as they are often used interchangeably. Alkaline ash foods are those that contain large quantities of magnesium, calcium, potassium and/or sodium. Acid ash foods are those that contain chloride, phosphorus, sulphur, or other minerals that form acid compounds. In investigating how different foods might affect the acid-alkaline balance, various foods were burned to ash in the laboratory and the pH of the resulting ash was measured. These foods were then classified as acid, alkaline, or neutral ash foods. As far back as 1919, one of the studies performed at the University of Minnesota Medical School, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, evaluated the effect of diet on the alkaline reserve of the blood and found that “the alkaline-reserve in man is not endangered by acid-forming diets.” For purposes of our discussion, I will refer to acid or alkaline forming foods. We have studies on the effects of food and urine pH. All animal products, beans, seeds and grains tend to have an acidifying effect, while fresh vegetables and fruits, with a few exceptions, have an alkalinizing effect (on the urine). Plums, cranberries, and prunes leave acid residues in the body because they contain benzoic acid which is not oxidized. Cranberries help prevent recurrent urinary tract infections, not because of their acidity, but because they contain chemicals that prevent bacteria from sticking to urinary tract cells.
The Acid-Base Balance in the Body
No matter whether a food leaves an acid or alkaline ash, when it enters your stomach it will become acidic. All foods that leave the stomach are acidic but when they enter the intestines, secretions from your pancreas neutralize the stomach acids, and the food in the intestines becomes alkaline. You cannot change the acidity of any part of your body except your urine by your diet. Because your urine is contained in your bladder it does not effect the pH of any other part of your body. You could eat large amounts of ascorbic acid, vinegar, or citrus fruits and you will not change the acidity of your stomach or bloodstream.
The acid-base balance in the body is tightly controlled by a number of factors, including your lungs, calcium and mineral reserves in your bones, your blood and your kidneys. For instance, when you take in more protein than your body needs, your body cannot store it, so the excess amino acids are converted into organic acids. These acids would acidify your blood if it were not for the calcium leaving your bones to neutralize the acid and control the blood pH. Over a long period of time, eating an acid forming diet may have an effect on your alkaline mineral reserves in the bones. Because of this many researchers believe taking in too much protein can cause osteoporosis. Remember your bone calcium and other minerals are in a dynamic state with the blood and are used as a buffering system. There are promoters of products such as “alkaline drinking water” or special calcium supplements, that are supposed to alkalinize your body or prevent cancer. In my opinion, there is no science behind these claims.
Summary
The beneficial effects of fresh fruits and vegetables in the diet have been recognized for a long time, and it is suggested that at least five servings a day are needed to maintain health. Meat and other animal foods provide protein and red meats provide zinc, iron, folate, vitamins A and D, L carnitine, vitamin B12, and sulfur amino acids. Vegetarian diets are usually deficient in these nutrients. Also, meats and properly prepared whole grains provide phosphorus. Balancing protein, healthy fats and carbohydrates is the key rather than targeting urine pH at the expense of good nutrition.
Are You Stuck with Your Genes?
Our DNA - specifically the 25,000 genes identified by the Human Genome Project - is widely regarded as the instruction book for the human body. But the genes themselves need instructions for what to do, when to do it and where to do it. A human liver cell contains the same DNA as a human brain cell, but somehow knows how to code only those proteins necessary for the functioning of the liver. Those instructions are not found in the DNA itself, but on it, in an array of chemical markers and switches known as “the epigenome.” Think of these epigenomic switches and markers as “on” and “off” switches that help turn on or off the expression of a particular gene. Scientists are still trying to understand better the many ways epigenetic changes come about and, to their surprise, how epigenetic signals from the environment can be passed on from one generation to the next, sometimes for several generations, without changing the gene sequence one bit. There is a growing body of evidence that epigenetic changes wrought by one's diet, behavior, or surroundings can work their way into the genetic expression of your offspring. So as bizarre as it may sound, what you eat today or smoke today could affect the health of your great great grandchildren!
Back in 2000, Dr. Randy Jirtle, a professor of radiation oncology at Duke University, and his graduate student assistant, Robert Waterland, designed a simple genetic experiment. It began with pairs of fat yellow mice called “agouti mice” -- so called because they carry a particular gene -- the agouti gene. This gene, in addition to making the mice ravenous and yellow, makes them prone to cancer and diabetes. Jirtle and Waterland set about to see if they could change the unfortunate genetic legacy of these creatures by changing the mother mice's diet. Starting just before conception they fed a group of mother mice a diet rich in methyl donors, small chemical clusters that can turn a gene on and off. These chemicals are commonly found in many foods such as onions, garlic, beets and in the folic acid given to pregnant women to prevent neurological damage to their infants. After being consumed by the mother mice, the methyl donors worked their way into the developing embryos' chromosomes and onto the critical agouti gene. Now the agouti gene was passed on to the mice offspring intact, but thanks to the methyl-rich diet during pregnancy, they had added a chemical switch that turned off the agouti gene's deleterious effects. The young mice were slender and mousy brown, lived to a spry old age, and did not show a propensity to develop cancer or diabetes! The effects of the agouti gene had been virtually erased by a simple dietary change.
In 2003 biologist Ming Zhu Fang and colleagues at Rutgers University published a paper in the journal of Cancer Research on the epigenetic effects of green tea, where in animal studies, green tea prevented the growth of cancers in several organs. In 1999 biologist Emma Whitelaw demonstrated that epigenetic marks could be passed on from one generation of mammals to the next. “ . . . what we inherit from our parents are chromosomes, and chromosomes are only 50 percent DNA. The other 50 percent is made up of protein molecules, and these protein molecules carry the epigenetic marks and information.”
Michael Meaney, a biologist at McGill University, contends that epigenetic changes can be induced after birth, through a mother's physical behavior toward her newborn. He and other researchers are involved in a multi-million dollar study to exam the effects of early nurturing on hundreds of human babies, using a test group of severely depressed mothers who often have difficulty bonding and caring for their newborns. The question they wish to answer is whether the babies of the depressed mothers show the distinct brain shapes and patterns we are learning to distinguish on MRI scans of the brain, indicative of epigenetic differences.
Marcus Pembrey, a clinical geneticist from London, drew conclusions from two centuries of data on crop yields and food prices in an isolated town in northern Sweden. What he found was grandfathers who lived their preteen years during times of plenty were more likely to have grandsons (but not granddaughters) with diabetes, and these grandsons had double the risk of early death. He also found that the grandmother's experience of food surplus affected the mortality rates of granddaughters only.
Even as the science of epigenetics opens a window into the inner workings of many human diseases, it also raises some provocative new questions. Could the American way of supersizing, where if a little is good, a lot is better, be causing unintended consequences? Could taking too many dietary supplements in high amounts over a long periods of time cause things such as an increased cancer risk, dementia, or Alzheimer's? Could a nutrient that has a positive effect on one gene have a negative effect somewhere else? Could the current epidemic of obesity and diabetes in the United States be partially a result of the lifestyles adopted by our forebears two or more generations back? We just don't know the answers yet as the study of epigenetics is an emerging science.
(The data in this article comes from an article “DNA Is Not Destiny” in Discover Magazine 11/2006.)
Osteoporosis Drug Problems Emerging
Biophosphonate drugs are prescribed for osteoporosis, breast cancer, and bone cancer. In 2005, 39 million prescriptions for oral bisphosphonates were written. These drugs bond to the surface of the bone and prevent the normal osteoclasts from working. Osteoclasts are bone cells that break down old and diseased bone. What is being found by dentists is that women on biophosphonate therapy who have dental surgery, extractions, dental implants, and even dentures are at risk for permanent, incurable osteonecrosis of the jaw ( rotting of the jaw bone). By not allowing the osteoclasts to clean away old and diseased bone, these drugs put women at high risk for this condition. I have one patient in my practice who was perfectly healthy but developed osteonecrosis of her hip after being placed on a biphosphonate drug by her gynecologist. She is convinced there is a causal relationship and it makes sense that this problem may not be limited to the jaw bone only.
The FDA estimates that the frequency of osteonecrosis of the jaw is around 2%; however 90% of all adverse side effects of drugs are not reported to the FDA, so the incidence may be much higher. If you are female and are taking Fosamax, Actonel, or are receiving IV Zometa or Aredia, be sure to let your dentist know before any dental procedure, but especially if extractions of teeth are to be performed. If your dentist is not aware of this condition, show him this article.
The concept of blocking osteoclast cells from performing their normal function doesn't work in the long run. By keeping old and diseased bone from being removed, bone mass is retained so physicians are happy that the bone density scans show slight improvements or, at least, no more loss. But what these scans do not show is that no new bone will be deposited at the sites where old or diseased bone exists. In the long run, it is the old, brittle bone that needs to be removed so that new, stronger bone can take its place.
There is an alternative to biophosphonate drugs which is completely natural, and that is taking Strontium. For more information on Strontium, go to our website www.prevent-doc.com and read the article under “topics of interest.”
Success Story - High Cholesterol
Mrs. C is a 56 year old lady who was seeing me for fibromyalgia symptoms. On routine lab she was found to have a total cholesterol of 280mg/dL, and an LDL cholesterol of 161mg/dL. Her HDL (good cholesterol) was an excellent 81mg/dL. She was not eating a high, saturated fat diet and was exercising daily. There was a strong family history of elevated cholesterols. The patient was concerned about the side effects of Statin drugs and wished to lower her cholesterol using CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) therapies.
Mrs. C was placed on Choleast, a special red yeast rice product we carry at the Center at half the usual dose. A repeat lipid profile was obtained in 8 weeks and the total cholesterol dropped to 223 and the LDL cholesterol dropped to 124. Her ratio of good cholesterol to total cholesterol was 2.8 (below 4.5 is healthy for females).
Traditional physicians are usually unaware about safe, natural and clinically proven solutions available today. When it comes to safety, Mother Nature knows best. It has been my experience that Choleast works as well or better than Statin drugs in most patients with elevated cholesterols. It is concerning to me that the potentially serious side-effects of treatments not be overlooked. Pfizer pharmaceuticals recently abruptly halted a clinical trial of a new drug meant to increase HDL cholesterol by suppressing cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). The new drug trial was stopped when it resulted in over 50% more deaths than the control groups.
Success Story - Allergies and COPD
Mrs. H is a lovely lady in her mid 60s. She has a chronic history of lung infections related to COPD and asthma. She was living on inhalers that contained steroids and bronchodilators. She felt weak and had general malaise. After a comprehensive evaluation she was found to have nutritional deficiencies, HGH (human growth hormone) deficiency and allergies. She was begun on a program of targeted nutritional supplements to correct her vitamin/mineral deficiencies and also on Trans D Tropin therapy to improve her growth hormone function. Her muscle strength dramatically improved with the Trans D Tropin and her malaise became much less as her nutritional status improved. But she could not get off the Albuterol and Azmacort inhalers. She was then begun on a Chinese herbal product for allergies and lung disease, and within several months she was able to stop all her inhalers. Her lungs no longer had wheezing when I listened to them. Although the Chinese herbal formula does not work for everyone, it has been my experience that the majority of patients with lung problems benefit from it.
Success Story - Breast Thermography
Mrs. M is a 61 year old female patient with a family history of breast cancer in her grandmother and paternal cousin. I was concerned that she might have a condition called estrogen dominance, where her body was producing excess estrogen relative to progesterone. This condition is a risk factor for breast cancer development. She had her initial breast thermography screening at Gainesville Thermography in December 2006, and her thermal pattern did confirm estrogen dominance. She was placed on compounded natural micronized progesterone cream to be applied to the breasts and was encouraged to eat a diet high in cruciferous vegetables. Her repeat breast thermography done three months latter demonstrated a significant improvement in her thermal patterns, documenting the beneficial effects on the breast tissue of her progesterone and dietary therapy. Mammography, which is an X-ray study, does not demonstrate estrogen dominance. Thermography is currently the only known modality that shows estrogen dominance, and also improvement with proper treatment.
What’s New At The Center?
