Vitamin D deficiency could be a cause of autism

(NaturalNews) A new Danish study published in the journal Pediatrics has identified a link between neonatal jaundice and autism. Babies born with jaundice have a significantly increased risk of developing both general psychological problems and autism, and researchers believe a vitamin D deficiency is to blame. Formed from data on over 733,000 Danish children born between 1994 and 2004, the study revealed that jaundiced newborns are 87 percent more likely to develop a psychological disorder than newborns without jaundice. Jaundiced babies are also 56 percent more likely to develop autism than their otherwise healthy counterparts. Part of the reason why experts believe vitamin D deficiency might relate to autism is the fact that babies born between October and March were about twice as likely to develop autism than children born during other parts of the year. The months between October and March are during the wintertime in Denmark, when sunlight exposure is at a minimum. And besides producing vitamin D in the body, sunlight exposure also breaks down bilirubin, a substance implicated in causing jaundice. Bilirubin is a natural metabolite that the liver normally processes and eliminates, but newborns are incapable of breaking it down, which leads to jaundice. And excess amount of bilirubin are known to cause serious brain injury when left untreated, lending credence to the hypothesis that the chemical may be somehow involved in causing autism. According to Dr. John Cannell, vitamin D expert and director of the Vitamin D Council, prenatal vitamin D deficiency is strongly linked to autism. Vitamin D not only naturally eliminates bilirubin, but it cures neonatal jaundice as well. Dr. Cannell suggests that women take 5,000 IU of vitamin D a day during pregnancy. He also suggests that babies born with jaundice be exposed to natural sunlight as an effective treatment, and in order to avoid brain injuries. You can read more about Dr. Cannell’s research on vitamin D and autism by visiting the following page: http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/autism/ To learn more about autism, check out the NaturalNews.com autism page: http://www.naturalnews.com/autism.html Sources for this story include: http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Disease/neonatal_jaundice_linked_to_autism_1210100720.html

Can drinking alcohol help your brain function?

(NaturalNews) A recent Norwegian study has found a possible link between moderate wine consumption and better brain function. Researchers evaluated a pool of more than 5,000 people over the course of seven years and found that women who drink wine at least four times during a two-week period perform better on cognitive tests than women who drink wine less than once during the same period. The observation is not concrete proof that wine actually helps improve brain function, noted researchers, but the link is an interesting one that raises some important questions about the potential value in moderate alcohol consumption. “A positive effect of wine…could also be due to cofounders such as socio-economic status and more favorable dietary and other lifestyle habits,” explained study authors, suggesting that perhaps wine consumption is just a marker that points to overall lifestyle differences between those who drink moderately and those who do not. However, most of the 68 studies conducted over the past decade that relate to alcohol’s potential health benefits show some relationship between light-to-moderate alcohol consumption and a reduced risk of brain abnormalities like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. So the hypothesis is worthy of further investigation. Other studies have found that red wine is rich in powerful antioxidants as well. “[W]ine…is an excellent source of polyphenols (the same class of nutrients to which green tea’s active ingredients belong),” explain Lester A. Mitscher and Victoria Toews in their book The Green Tea Book . ” If you choose to drink wine, organic, sulfite-free wine is your best option. Some people have difficulty processing sulfite preservatives, which can be harmful to health when excessively consumed. Sources for this story include: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-08/bumc-mde081710.php http://www.naturalpedia.com/W/Wine-Heart.html

Vitamin D improves overall immune function

(NaturalNews) A recent study out of the University of Tampere in Finland has found that vitamin D helps to prevent respiratory infections. In the study, supplementing with vitamin D resulted in more than half the participants who took it staying healthy throughout the trial, compared to just over 30 percent in the control group. Dr. Ilkka Laaksi and her team evaluated a group of 164 males going into the military to see if vitamin D supplementation affected their overall health. They gave part of the group 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day for six months, and the other part of the group a placebo pill for the same period of time. Those who took vitamin D experienced greater overall health and less respiratory infections than those who did not. Laaksi was quick to say that the study reveals “some evidence” that vitamin D helps prevent respiratory infections, but that such a benefit is not entirely clear. Though 400 IU of vitamin D a day meets recommended government intake recommendations, many in the medical profession are now realizing that this level is far too low to offer much therapeutic effect. Some suspect that if a higher dose had been used in the study, the effects would have been even more significant. This hypothesis was illustrated in a recent Japanese study that administered 1,200 IU doses of vitamin D to schoolchildren. Those who took this dose every day had a much lower chance of developing influenza than others. It is, however, unclear which form of vitamin D the team used in the Finland study. Vitamin D2 is not as effective as vitamin D3, but researchers often use D2 in study trials, which can make vitamin D appear less effective. Sources for this story include: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67444320100805

Vitamin D prevents heart disease, too

(NaturalNews) An increase in blood levels of vitamin D can significantly reduce a person’s risk of heart disease, according to a study conducted by researchers from Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City and presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta. Researchers reviewed the health records of more than 9,000 people who had been diagnosed with vitamin D insufficiency and who had also undergone vitamin D testing at a later date. They found that approximately 50 percent of all patients had achieved healthy vitamin D levels of at least 30 nanograms per milliliter by the second test. Rates of heart disease were significantly lower in this group than among patients who were still deficient in the vitamin. Prior studies have shown a correlation between low levels of vitamin D and a higher risk of heart disease. Yet researchers have been unable to determine whether there is any direct connection between the two factors, since low vitamin D levels might also correlate with a number of other cardiovascular risk factors such as general poor health, poor diet or lack of exercise. The only way to firmly establish a connection would be to conduct an experiment where only half a group of vitamin D-deficient participants is supplemented while the rest receive a placebo. Because vitamin D deficiency has been proven to increase the risk of other diseases, such a study would not be ethical and cannot be conducted. “What we did was observational and not definitive, but we think it adds significantly to the story,” said lead author J. Brent Muhlestein. “It’s at least a reasonable piece of evidence to add to the hypothesis that low vitamin D is causative of cardiovascular risk and treatment can reduce cardiovascular disease risk.” The body synthesizes vitamin D naturally upon exposure to sunlight. Low levels of the vitamin have been linked to weakened bones and higher risks of infection, cancer and autoimmune diseases. Sources for this story include: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-vitamind16-2010mar16,0,3491955.story?track=rss.

Being overweight causes memory problems

(NaturalNews) A new report published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reveals that overweight people tend to have poorer memories. Based on the memory test used in the study, every extra point on the body mass index (BMI) led to a one-point drop on the test, indicating that the more obese a person is, the more memory problems he or she will have. Most people are aware of the various other health dangers associated with obesity, including heart disease, cancer, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, but this new research adds brain function to the list as well. A team comprised of researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Pittsburgh conducted the study on 8,745 women between the ages of 65 and 79. All participants filled out questionnaires that evaluated their lifestyle, overall health and background. In the end, results indicated that being obese seems to be directly correlated to having memory problems. The team did find that being obese around the hips is more detrimental than being obese around the waist, but that both are obviously problematic. Researchers are not exactly sure how being overweight affects brain function, but they suspect that it has something to do with the way extra fat affects a person’s hormone levels. Altered hormone levels can significantly impact the way the brain functions, which lends credence to this hypothesis. They also speculate that perhaps the entire body is affected by being overweight, and that the heart and circulatory problems induced by obesity also affect brain function. Either way, experts recommend that overweight people strive to lose weight as part of a healthy overall lifestyle. “The most common causes of obesity are poor diet and/or eating habits and a lack of exercise,” explains Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, in her book Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Food Supplements . So for many people, simply eliminating processed and junk foods from their diets and exercising more will help to get rid of those extra pounds. Sources for this story include: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/besttreatments/2010/jul/16/could-your-weight-affect-your-memory http://www.naturalpedia.com/O/Obesity-risk.html

Letting babies swim in chlorinated pools harms their health for life

(NaturalNews) Young children who swim in chlorinated pools may suffer an increased risk of lung infections and even lifelong asthma and respiratory allergies, according to a study conducted by researchers from Catholic University Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, and published in the European Respiratory Journal . “This suggests that chlorinated pool attendance can increase the risk of asthma and respiratory allergies by making the airways more sensitive not only to allergens but also to infectious agents,” senior researcher Alfred Bernard said. Researchers conducted health tests on 430 Belgian kindergarteners and had their parents fill out questionnaires about their health history and swimming habits. They found that while 36 percent of children who had been exposed to chlorinated pools before the age of two had a history of the lung infection known as bronchiolitis, compared with only 24 percent of children who had not been exposed. Bronchiolitis is a usually viral infection of the small airways of the lungs. Researchers believe that chlorine in swimming pools may combine with sweat, saliva and urine from swimmers to produce chemicals that irritate and weaken the lungs. In the weaker, developing lungs of children, this can raise the risk of infection. Supporting this hypothesis, researchers found that indoor pools increased infection risk more than outdoor pools. Children who had been to chlorinated outdoor pools for 20 or more hours by age two are twice as likely to suffer from bronchiolitis as children who had not been to chlorinated pools at all. Children who had been to indoor pools were 3.5 times as likely to have a history of the infection. Researchers found that while neither swimming nor a history of bronchiolitis appeared to raise the risk of asthma or respiratory allergies by age five on their own, the combination of these factors led to a significantly higher risk. Bernard noted that swimming is an “enjoyable” way to get kids exercise, but that chlorinated pools carry risks. He suggested that children use pools disinfected without chlorine whenever possible. Sources for this story include: health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20100127-194703.html.

Parasites in Your Gut Actually Help Protect You From Allergies

(NaturalNews) Humans and gastrointestinal parasites might have co-evolved in such a way that the parasites actually help regulate to human immune system to prevent against allergies, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Nottingham. Researchers believe that over the course of millions of years, gastrointestinal parasites have evolved an ability to suppress the human immune system as a survival mechanism. Because parasitic infestation has been so common throughout human evolutionary history, the human immune system has in turn evolved to compensate for this effect. This means that if the parasites are removed, the immune system may actually function too strongly, resulting in maladaptive immune responses such as asthma, eczema and other allergies. To test this hypothesis, researchers used drugs to eliminate hookworm infection in a 1,500 children between the ages of six and 17 who were living in a rural village in central Vietnam. This region was selected for its very low rates of allergies and high parasitic infestation rate. Two-thirds of all children in the area are infested with hookworm or other gastrointestinal parasites. The researchers found that once the children were no longer infected with parasites, their rates of dust mite allergies significantly increased. This supports the hypothesis that parasites help regulate immune responses. “The next step is to understand exactly how and when gut parasites program the human immune system in a way that protects against allergies, and for such studies, follow-up from birth will be essential,” said researcher Carsten Flohr. Researchers hope that understanding the relationship between parasites and the human immune system could lead to a better overall understanding of allergies. “The prospects of further studies in this area are very exciting, as we could see groundbreaking treatments for asthma and other allergies developed as a result,” said Elaine Vickers of Asthma UK, which funded the study. Sources for this story include: news.bbc.co.uk.