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Glucosamine for back pain?

July 26, 2010 By Dr. Sean Leave a Comment
back-pain

A New research from Oslo University Hospital in Norway looked at 250 adults with chronic low back pain and degenerative osteoarthritis.  The study was randomized with half the participants taking 1500mg of glucosamine sulfate daily and the other half taking placebo for six months.  Improvement was assessed by participants filling out questionnaires about their pain. No statistical differences were found between the glucosamine group versus the placebo group after 6 months or treatment and again … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Supplements Tagged With: acupuncture, anti inflammatory drugs, chronic back pain, chronic low back pain, glucosamine, glucosamine sulfate, motrin, naprosyn, non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs, oslo university, osteoarthritis, physical therapy, vicodin

FDA Recall of Slim-30

July 25, 2010 By Dr. Sean Leave a Comment
slim 30

Just a quick announcement. FDA has recalled Slim-30 (lot #032009) because it was found to contain sibutramine. Sibutramine is the active ingredient of Meridia. Sibutramine is a reuptake inhibitor of norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine. Basically it's a stimulant so common side effects include: fast heart rate, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, seizures and suicidality. The reason this is disturbing is that sibutramine is a prescription only medication that needs to be carefully monitored … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Supplements Tagged With: FDA, heart rate, high blood pressure, natural supplement, reuptake inhibitor, serotonin, sibutramine, slim-30

Low Vitamin D levels and Diabetes

June 23, 2010 By Dr. Sean Leave a Comment
Type-2-Diabetes

I know you guys are probably sick of hearing studies about Vitamin D but I got two more for you. The studies were presented at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Diego. The gist of the studies were that participants with low Vitamin D levels had poorly controlled blood sugars and were at a higher risk for getting metabolic syndrome. The first study was a retrospective trial reviewing 124 charts of type 2 diabetics between 2003 and 2008. The researcher found that those patients with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Health, Supplements Tagged With: blood sugar levels, diabetes, diabetics, dutch men, endocrine society, metabolic syndrome, vitamin D

Can taking antioxidants decrease your chances of dying?

January 1, 2009 By Dr. Sean 4 Comments
antioxidants2

According to Kris-Etherton and colleagues (Circulation, 2004), approximately one third of Americans have used supplements.  Many people take megadoses of antioxidants like Vitamins A, C, E, beta-carotene and selenium in hopes of preventing or treating heart disease and cancer.  The question remains whether these supplements actually work and are they safe in the megadoses consumed by the general population? To answer this question, let's turn to most comprehensive evidence we have available … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Nutrition, Supplements Tagged With: american heart association, antioxidants, beneficial effects, beta carotene, bottom line, circulation, cochrane group, common cold, dermatologic, detrimental effect, excess intake, gastrointestinal, heart disease, meta analysis, mortality, preventive service, randomization, selenium, Vitamin C, vitamin e

The skinny on Vitamin D

January 1, 2009 By Dr. Sean Leave a Comment
Vitamin-d

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that has recently garnered much media attention. The difficulty with Vitamin D is that it is naturally present in very few foods. It is made in our bodies when our skin is exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun. This Vitamin D is initially biologically inactive. It then gets hydroxylated by the liver to form 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], also known as calcidiol. 25(OH)D gets hydroxylated in the kidney to form the physiologically active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Health, Nutrition, Supplements Tagged With: blood calcium, bone growth, breast milk, breastfed babies, calcium absorption, cancer effects, cellular growth, daily allowance, dark skin, death and blood, health office, inadequate intake, kidney disease, national institutes of health, obese patients, office of dietary supplements, optimal level, parathyroid hormone, skin tones, vitamin d deficiency

Does high protein intake cause kidney damge?

January 1, 2009 By Dr. Sean 1 Comment
protein_shake

This is an answer to a email I recently received. Here is the deal with high protein intake. In people with normal kidney function, increased protein intake has not been shown to harm the kidneys. However, if you have underlying kidney disease, increased protein can speed up the rate of kidney function decline. Increased amounts of protein, even at 1 gram/lb of bodyweight, causes hyperfiltration in the kidneys. This has been shown in studies including the one done by me. However, to my knowledge, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Nutrition, Supplements Tagged With: amounts of protein, annals of internal, annals of internal medicine, bodyweight, decline, diabetics, dietary protein, excess protein, high protein diets, hyperfiltration, kidney damage, kidney disease, kidneys, kilogram, march 1, medicine, muscle growth, normal kidney function, protein intake

Does Vitamin C help with the common cold?

November 23, 2008 By Dr. Sean Leave a Comment
Vitamin C

We all know what a nuisance the common cold can be. For over 60 years people have thought that Vitamin C was a great defense. In fact, Vitamin C's popularity in treating the common cold rose greatly in the 1970's when the Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling stated its effectiveness based on an earlier trial. But the question remains that whether or not there is any evidence to support the efficacy of Vitamin C? To answer this question, I turned to the Cochrane database. Their systematic review of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health, Supplements Tagged With: b vitamin, bottom line, chalker, cochrane database of systematic reviews, common cold, doi, efficacy, exercises, ingestion, linus pauling, marathon runners, nobel prize winner, nuisance, participants, popularity, population, pub3, skiers, subgroup, treating the common cold, Vitamin C

What is Tribulus Terrestris and does it work?

October 19, 2008 By Dr. Sean Leave a Comment
tribulus

Tribulus Terrestris has been used for lots of different things over the years.  In Ancient Greece and India it was used for rejuvenation. In Eastern Europe its has been used for increased muscle strength and libido. But the real question is does it really work? The limited number of studies looking ONLY at tribulus terrestris alone (most products on the market are NOT just tribulus) show that it is NOT effective for getting more muscles or improving exercise performance. Antonio et al. did a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Supplements Tagged With: ancient greece, angina pectoris, body composition, body water, chinese journal, coronary heart disease, exercise, exercise performance, fertility, infertile men, libido, male infertility, mood states, muscle, muscle strength, placebo group, randomized control trial, rejuvenation, resistance training, saponin, strength, testosterone, traditional medicine, tribulus terrestris, tsa, tsvetkov

Another reason why whey protein is still my favorite

October 8, 2008 By Dr. Sean Leave a Comment
protein

Hey guys There was a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that looked at 47,150 men over 12 years examining risk factors for gout. They found that higher levels of meat and seafood consumption were associated with increased risk of gout, whereas higher consumption of dairy products had a decreased risk. Just another reason why whey protein (milk protein) continues to be one of my favorites. In case any one is wondering what is gout, here is a great definition from the Mayo … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health, Nutrition, Supplements Tagged With: gout, meat, whey protein
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