More Vitamin D In Your Diet Shown To Alleviate Asthma Symptoms, Say Multiple Studies

Image courtesy of the Great Lakes Ledger.National Jewish Health, a nonprofit hospital specializing in respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders, has now completed several studies showing patients with low vitamin D as predisposed to developing asthma during infancy and childhood, and low vitamin D contributing to increased severity of asthma attacks.

In one study, NJH found that low vitamin D levels are associated with worse asthma symptoms and the requirement for more medication. Among the findings were that low levels of vitamin D were “associated with reduced lung function and less response to steroid medications.”

The researchers evaluated 54 adults with persistent asthma and “found that higher levels of vitamin D were associated with better lung function. In cells taken from the patients, higher levels of vitamin D were also associated with increased responsiveness to the steroid dexamethasone.”

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Consumers Warned Against Eating Shellfish From Oyster Bay Harbor in Nassau County, New York

Federal and state health officials are warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked oysters and clams with tags listing New York’s Oyster Bay Harbor as the harvesting area. This follows reports in several states of a cholera-like illness caused by a bacterium called Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Bay constables on routine patrol in Oyster Bay Harbor, NY. Photo courtesy of Word News Inc.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the bacterium “is in the same family as those that cause cholera. It lives in brackish saltwater and causes gastrointestinal illness in humans.” Vibrio naturally inhabits coastal waters in the U.S. and Canada and is present in higher concentrations during the summer.

Vibrio can causes symptoms including watery diarrhea often with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills. Usually these symptoms can begin anywhere from a few hours to as many as five days after eating raw or undercooked shellfish, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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Curry Compound Kills Cancer Cells in University Research Lab Tests

Whether we realize it at the time or not, everything we eat has some sort of effect on our health - positive or negative, but never neutral.

Before synthetic modern medicines (and some of them work wonders), millenniums of people stayed in great health by the foods and medicines they derived from nature.

Turmeric has anticancer chemical. Photo by sallybernstein.com.

Well taking some lessons from the past, many researchers in highly respected institutions of medical science are starting to re-examine the properties of the foods and spices we get from nature. They’re finding some promising chemical compounds with properties capable of both contributing to the prevention and fighting of many serious conditions and diseases, such as cancer.

Most recently, a study was published in the British Journal of Cancer, found that certain molecules found in a curry spice have been shown to kill oesophageal (also spelled as esophageal) cancer cells in laboratory tests.

Scientists at the Cork Cancer Research Center, in Ireland, treated oesophageal cancer cells with curcumin, which is a chemical found in the curry spice turmeric. They found that the curcumin started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours.

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Midwest E. Coli Scare Also Effecting Restaurants Nationwide

Image courtesy of www.ecoliblog.com.

As a precaution, National Steak and Poultry is recalling approximately 248,000 pounds of beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. This form of the bacteria is among the more dangerous ones, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bloody diarrhea and stomach pains are the most common signs of this form of the bacteria, according to the CDC, but adds that people shouldn’t except it to be accompanied by a big fever, if any at all.

The greatest concern is for children under five years old and the elderly. In especially vulnerable people, this form of the bacteria can cause damage to red blood cells and kidneys. This only happens to about one-in-50 people, says the CDC, but without hospitalization, they can die.

This recent outbreak came to light through an investigation by the Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is a division of the United States Department of Agriculture.

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New Research Shows Anti-Inflammatory/ Immune System Protective Benefit of Eating Fish

We’ve known for a longtime that omega-3 fatty acids in fish have numerous health benefits. The Mayo Clinic has found evidence from multiple studies that recommend the intake of dietary fish or fish oil supplements to:

Foods and supplements rich in omega-3. By Medindia.com.
• Slightly lower blood pressure.
• Reduce the likelihood heart attacks.
• Reduce the likelihood of dangerous abnormal heart rhythms.
• Reduce the likelihood of strokes in people with known cardiovascular disease.
• Lower triglycerides (the chemical form in which most fat exists in food as well as in the body).
• Reduce inflammation related to rheumatoid arthritis (a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks the joints), and Crohn’s Disease (an inflammatory disease of the intestines that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract).

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