In this issue:

Natural Medicine for Anxiety Fish Oil Benefits Cancer Patients Vitamin C and RSD Diet's Effect on Heart Health The Truth About Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

Looking for medical advice? Call our free Nutrition and Allergy HOTLINE, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings between 5:00 & 6:00 pm to speak with one of our board-certified physicians at (856) 424-0707. To navigate drmagaziner.com use the apple links at the bottom of the page.

 

NATURAL MEDICINE FOR ANXIETY A recent study conducted in Germany concluded that the effects of the herb kava kava, were comparable to the benefits that benzodiazepine medications have on anxiety, panic attacks, and related disorders.  Over 172 patients were tested in this study and were instructed to take the kava three times a day. Kava kava is a member of the pepper family and is native to many Pacific Ocean Islands. The stem is used to produce a standardized herbal extract.  At the Magaziner Center, we have used this herb quite successfully on patients suffering from anxiety and panic attacks.  Because kava kava has tranquilizing effects, it should be used under the supervision of a knowledgeable physician.

FISH OIL BENEFITS CANCER PATIENTS At the Magaziner Center for Wellness & Anti-Aging Medicine, we provide cancer patients with a complete nutritional and supplementation program aimed at boosting their immunity and overall health. Such a regimen can also help prevent the syndrome of  progressive weight loss and wasting away that in some patients can itself prove life-threatening. In a recent study at the Rural Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland, for instance, researchers reported that they were able to maintain and sometimes increase the weight of patients with pancreatic cancer by giving them fish oil. In addition to stabilizing their weight, fish-oil supplements alone also were credited with doubling their average survival time from 4.1 months to 8 months, at least as long a period as that seen in patients who underwent aggressive chemotherapy, yet without the latter's toxic effects.  By keeping up with the latest such findings in dietary cancer therapy and incorporating them  into our balanced nutritional supplement program, we offer our cancer patients the benefits of the most up-to-date 'natural' remedies available anywhere..

VITAMIN C AND RSD The healing of fractures, injuries, and other forms of trauma is often complicated by reflex sympathic dystrophy or RSD. This condition involves pain, swelling, and a decrease in joint mobility, temperature, and circulation in the affected limb.  A study recently completed by a team of Dutch researchers has proven the hypothesis that oxidative stress is an important component of RSD.  Patients who were placed in a plaster cast for fractures and were given high doses of vitamin C were three times less likely to develop RSD as those that were placed on a placebo.  At the Magaziner Center for Wellness, we have used high doses of antioxidants in order to treat patients suffering from this very condition.  We have also achieved successful results by administering vitamin regimens intravenously..

 

DIET'S EFFECT ON HEART HEALTH   A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the Japanese diet beats out the American diet when it comes to maintaining a healthy heart.  The typical American diet, it showed, is not our heart's friend.  In fact, an American with the same blood pressure as a man in Japan is three times more likely to die of a heart attack.  Researchers propose that this may be attributed to the fact that Asian and Mediterranean diets contain less meat, fewer dairy products, and more fruits and vegetables than a typical American diet, which consists of more saturated fats, fried foods, and red meat.  In addition, researchers discovered that the risk of cardiac- related death rose almost 30% for each 10-point increase in systolic blood pressure or each 5-point increase is diastolic blood pressure over the "normal" reading of 120/80.  At the Magaziner Center for Wellness, our own results with patients have shown that dietary modifications and supplements may help stabilize blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular risks.

THE TRUTH ABOUT VITAMIN C AND BLOOD PRESSURE Many of our patients have expressed concern over a recent story in the media stating that vitamin C was thought to damage blood vessel walls and raise blood pressure.  In fact, this piece of "medical" news was only an opinion and not based on any medical fact.  A recent study by researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine and the Linus Pauling Institute seemed to show just the opposite -- that patients taking just 500 mgs of vitamin C may have a 9 percent reduction in blood pressure.  Vitamin C, it is theorized, may improve the way the body synthesizes nitric oxide, a compound important for dilating blood vessels..