Of old and new things.

----We all want to start the New Year with uttermost good intentions ..........so start the day of you child and yourself off with a good breakfast!
Some good whole wheat bread or some high quality cereal [I highly recommended at the moment "Dorset-cereals" from England.][Certainly not cornflakes and the likes]
A good whole grain breakfast may prevent serious diseases like diabetes and early hypertension, obesity and heart diseases
Whole-grain products can help to establish an excellent blood sugar control for most of the day.
The Talmud already mentioned the pat shacharit] which literally means, "morning bread".
The Mishna Berura notes that there are 83 diseases that can be avoided by eating breakfast each morning.[but only a proper healthy breakfast]

----Another health issue;
Recently it has been shown again without doubt that certain food colouring and food additives [for example sodium benzoate ] can play a major role in children who are diagnosed as "impossible"[ hyperactive, ADHA].
Should it halachically be allowed to get a kashrut stamp on these products if we know for sure that that children may be endangered by these compounds and "as a result of this" may be prescribed harmful drugs like ritalin just because we often ignore health issues as not being halachic issues?

---Almonds are considered a miracle superior food.
The Rambam highly praise them highly: "Figs, grapes and almonds are always beneficial, both fresh and dried. One may eat of them as much as he requires.. However, he should not eat them constantly even though they are the most beneficial of fruits".[hilchot de'ot chapter 4, halacha 11, translated by Rabbi Za'ev Abramson and Rabbi Eliyahu Touger].

The Hebrew text follows:

:התאנים והענבים והשקדים, לעולם טובים בין רטובין בין יבשין ואוכל אדם מהם כל צורכו ולא יתמיד אכילתם, אע"פ שהן טובים מכל פרי האילנות

They are extremely rich in important vitamins and minerals and can prevent and heal diseases of heart and blood vessels.
Instead of using dangerous "statins drugs", one may consider using after most meals a handful of almonds [remove the brown skin first because this may make the almonds hard to digest]
If women are afraid to eat almonds, because of weight problems, then I can assure them that they often will loose weigh instead of gaining by eating this very healthy product.

---As many as 50 percent of breast and colon cancer cases could be prevented by increasing intake of vitamin D.
Is this fact not be worth advertising
daily via the Israeli media? I would think so.
Please check your D level first {called: 25[OD] D} to know how much vitamin D you should take, to start with.
[See an earlier alon/bulletin where vitamin D is discussed extensively]

----Do you know that coughing during an injection can lessen the pain of the needle stick?
[Just tell the nurse that you are going to cough, so that she does not get frightened that something happened when you suddenly start coughing....]

---To relieve pressure in the sinus /nose area , alternately presse your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and then press between your eyebrows with one finger. This will open blockages and you may feel within a minute that the mucus starts draining.

---- If you think you should loose weight, then please don't go on "crazy diets".
Consult a doctor working in this field
Homeopathic dilution of Thyroidinum C30 [thyroid hormone ,but in non-measurable dilution] did affect the rate of body weight reduction in fasting patients.[ research from 2002]

---If you suffer a lot from dandruff ["kaskasim"] or seborrhoeic dermatits and you are on a healthy diet already, then you may try the following: potassium bromide, sodium bromide, nickel sulfate, and sodium chloride ,all in a potency of D6 [together 50 cc, equal parts]. [Print this out for the French pharmacy or for Oplatka] [the homeopathic pharmacies we mostly work with]
Take morning and evening under the tongue some 7 drops until there is improvement.
Let me know you experience, in case you used this.

---Lactobacillus GG [available as Culturelle from the U.S.A, one of the most stable and examined probiotics] has been shown to be quite effective in prevention of dental decay [caries]especially for three- and four-year-old children.
This probiotic can be used for many other purposes such as colitis, crohn's disease etc and possibly as well in children with autism.

----Broccoli and cauliflower : eating this vegetables regularly can prevent prostate cancer [which is very common and in general highly over treated] to a high degree from becoming more aggressive.[there are many more things to know about this issue, b"h a next time]

---Garlic: to end with this humble" vegetable":
if you want to benefit from garlic, then use it in 3 ways:
partially raw, partially cooked and partially fried.
All these three ways may bring a different medical benefit of garlic to the surface.
Important to know: if you want to use garlic with its anti-cancer benefits, then peel the clove and leave it standing[open] for some 15 minutes before you use it !! [So, only after 15 minutes you add it to your cooking etc]
Just recently it has been shown that garlic may have an incredible effect on a very malignant brain tumour: glioma/glioblastoma.

May we all be blessed with a happy and healthy new year and may we all do what is in our possibility to speed up a real "tikun olam".

vitamin D, antiepileptic drugs

A life saver or potential silent killer: :the cheapest prevention in medicine [code: prpvitaminD]

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I am sending you 2 more articles about vitamin D.

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it is clear to me after examining many patients for vitamin D that there is a rampant deficiency [with all the consequences] of this vitamin in "sunny" ISRAEL.
NO DOCTOR SHOULD REFUSE TO GIVE A REFERRAL FOR THIS EXAMINATION and all of us should have their level been checked at least once.
Ask for the test: 25[OH]D
alas, at the moment this issue is being ignored by most doctors and patients are being treated even for malignant tumours without ever having been checked for vitamin D.

.......... normal levels of serum 25(OH)D begin at 36 ng/ml..........[see article below]

TAMPA (EGMN) - Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent, even in patients whose 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are within the "normal" range, Dr. Robert P. Heaney said at the annual meeting of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry.

That's because the reference range for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels is too low, said Dr. Heaney of Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. "Within the reference range, there is malabsorption of calcium and preventable fractures. These are as much expressions of nutritional deficiency as are the bleeding gums of scurvy."

The U.S. Institute of Medicine reevaluated the nutrient intake recommendations for bone-related nutrients, including vitamin D, in the mid-1990s. The role of vitamin D intake in preventing rickets had long been recognised, and it was known that vitamin D was necessary for calcium absorption. Ten years ago, the unanswered questions concerned the amount of vitamin D intake for optimal calcium absorption, possible associations between vitamin D status and other diseases, and how to determine whether a patient's vitamin D intake was sufficient.

"We've learned a lot since then," said Dr. Heaney. "We know that 25(OH)D is the functional status indicator, and we know that at levels below 20 nmol/L or 8 ng/mL, we get rickets and osteomalacia."

The controversy lies in deciding where the normal range of serum 25(OH)D should be for optimal bone health. Although the low end of the reference range may vary from 38 to 50 nmol/L, the individual is at risk for osteoporosis at serum 25(OH)D levels below 80 nmol/L, according to Dr. Heaney, who argues that normal levels of serum 25(OH)D begin at 80 nmol/L.

[my remark: this is equal to 36 ng/ml as is the units used in in most kuput cholim]

At levels between 20 and 80 nmol/L, increased bone remodeling, reduced calcium absorption, increased risk of falls, and increased risk of fractures occur.

The high prevalence of inadequate vitamin D status was evident nearly 10 years ago in a study of 290 consecutive patients in a medical ward (N. Engl. J. Med. 1998;338:777-83). More than half of the patients had serum 25(OH)D concentrations below the lower end of the reference range, and 22% were in the osteomalacia range, although their clinical diagnosis did not include osteomalacia.

Individuals might have inadequate vitamin D status even when serum 25(OH)D levels are well within the reference range. A study Dr. Heaney and colleagues conducted assessed serum 25(OH)D levels and calcium absorption in 34 healthy, postmenopausal women. The study showed that women whose serum 25(OH)D levels were at the lower end of the reference range had lower calcium absorption than women with higher levels. The study was conducted over 2 consecutive years in Omaha, Nebraska, in early spring, when serum vitamin D levels would be at their lowest levels. Participants were given oral 500-mg calcium supplements, and calcium absorption and serum 25(OH)D levels were measured. One year, the participants were predosed with vitamin D supplementation, and the other year, they were not (Am. Coll. Nutr. 2003;22:142-6).

Vitamin D supplementation resulted in an increase in serum 25(OH)D from 50 to 83 nmol/L. Both of those values are considered to be within the reference range, but the two levels had different effects on calcium absorption efficiency. At the lower serum 25(OH)D level of 50 nmol/L, calcium absorption efficiency was 22%, compared with 37% at the higher serum 25(OH)D level. Higher serum 25(OH)D levels were also associated with higher serum calcium concentrations and decreased serum parathyroid hormone levels.

Other studies have shown higher bone mineral density levels, decreased risk of fractures, or decreased risk of falling with levels of serum 25(OH)D above 80 nmol/L. "Within the range of 25(OH)D levels commonly encountered, calcium absorption rises as 25(OH)D rises," said Dr. Heaney. "Raising serum 25(OH)D levels from 50 to [about] 80 nmol/L improves calcium absorption, raises [bone mineral density], and reduces both fall and fracture risk."

Sources of vitamin D are not equivalent. The high-dose (50,000 IU) vitamin D supplement that is available by prescription is ergocalciferol, or D₂, which is less potent than cholecalciferol, or D₃. Over-the-counter preparations of vitamin D in the form of cholecalciferol are available at lower doses.

A typical over-the-counter vitamin D supplement might contain 400 IU, but supplementation to increase serum 25(OH)D levels within an effective range usually requires much higher doses. Intake of 1,000 IU of vitamin D raises serum 25(OH)D by approximately 15-25 nmol/L.

In studies conducted by Dr. Heaney, dosages of 5.000-10,000 IU/day for a 4-5 month period in healthy adults have not caused elevated calcium levels in serum or urine. Vitamin D dosages in that range produce serum 25(OH)D levels comparable to those seen in outdoor workers at the end of summer, he reported.

Concern over vitamin D intoxication should not be an issue unless the individual has regular dosages well in excess of 10,000 IU per day. "Our conclusion is that the safe upper limit level ought to be 10,000 IU per day," said Dr. Heaney. "I don't think many people would ever need that much, but it is nice to know that there is a therapeutic margin of safety.

This study is available on the National Library of Medicine which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. I [another writer]have provided the full abstract below²:

"Solar ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiance and/or vitamin D have been found inversely correlated with incidence, mortality, and/or survival rates for breast, colorectal, ovarian, and prostate cancer and Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Evidence is emerging that more than 17 different types of cancer are likely to be vitamin D-sensitive. A recent meta-analysis concluded that 1,000 IU of oral vitamin D per day is associated with a 50% reduction in colorectal cancer incidence. Using this value, as well as the findings in a multifactorial ecologic study of cancer mortality rates in the US, estimates for reductions in risk of vitamin D-sensitive cancer mortality rates were made for 1,000 IU/day. These estimates, along with annual average serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, were used to estimate the reduction in cancer mortality rates in several Western European and North American countries that would result from intake of 1,000 IU/day of vitamin D. It was estimated that reductions could be 7% for males and 9% for females in the US and 14% for males and 20% for females in Western European countries below 59 degrees. It is proposed that increased fortification of food and increased availability of supplements could help increase vitamin D intake and could augment small increases in production of vitamin D from solar UVB irradiance. Providing 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day for all adult Americans would cost about $1 billion; the expected benefits for cancer would be in the range of $16-25 billion in addition to other health benefits of vitamin D."

2 more short remarks:

Conclusions: In ambulatory adults on antiepileptic drugs, high-dose vitamin D therapy substantially increased bone mineral density at several skeletal sites. In children, both doses resulted in comparable increases in bone mass.

Although it is best known for helping optimize bone development in children,⁸ vitamin D is also an important vitamin for pregnant women. Now a new study ⁹ has found that vitamin D deficiency may be very common among pregnant women.