Dr. A. Eloise Cortal | Regenerative Injection Therapies | Prolotherapy & Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections
  • home
    • Dr. Cortal bio
    • conditions treated
    • mission statement
    • publications
    • media page
  • Injections
    • other injection therapies >
      • trigger point injections
      • therapeutic scar injections
  • Physician Training
  • when & where
  • new patient
    • insurance
  • blog
  • testimonials

Vitamins and Media: A Love-Hate Relationship, and their custody battle over Research.

10/25/2011

0 Comments

 
     So it looks like vitamins don't help us and may actually hasten our demise. Or at least that's the message the Wall Street Journal is wanting us to take away from recent research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (article found here), titling their article, "Is This the End of Popping Vitamins?"

     Well, in answer to their question, I hope not.  Let me lay out this recent research publication, what it shows, and what it doesn't.
Highlights of the publication are that it was an epidemiological study, gathering self-reported data from tens of thousands of elderly white women over 18 years.

     When controlling for (data analysis attempting to factor in differences of) age, height, education, a few chronic diseases (diabetes, high blood pressure, hormone replacement), activity level and smokers, it found these affects on the hazard ratio (increase risk of death):
  • Iron supplementation was linked to increased morbidity and mortality relative to non-supplement users.
  • Calcium supplementation was linked to decreased morbidity and mortality relative to non-supplement users (up to 1300mg daily).
  • All the other supplements were not found to have a significant effect.  The others were various vitamins (multi, A, beta-carotene, B6, folic acid, B complex, C, D, E) and minerals (copper, magnesium, selenium, zinc)
     But wait just a minute before you throw out all those vitamins and supplements out of the medicine cabinet (well, maybe the dusty ones can go).

     Here's a few points to consider when evaluating how to use journal publications like this when making health care considerations:
  • The supplements were self reported, so we can't speak to their potency and purity (cheaper brands are commonly found to be contaminated and often include non-absorbable forms [read: goes right through you]).
  • This study was epidemiologic, so it just looks at the state of things and not influencing or changing any behavior (such as a randomized controlled trial), so we don't know why or when any of the research participants started their supplementation.  Was it because of a known disease or disease risk factor? Did they start it after watching Dr. Oz, or at the recommendation of a healthcare provider? We don't know the reasoning.
  • Iron is a known oxidizing substance when it is not biologically needed.  For post-menopausal women who are not anemic, iron is known to be detrimental, not beneficial.  Perhaps they were told to take iron during their pre-menopausal years and kept up with it out of habit- we're not sure the rationale.
     So what I can definitively take away from this research is that an older woman on any given vitamin or mineral (iron and calcium notwithstanding) will not affect her mortality rate. 

     And this makes sense to me.  I don't expect any given supplement to decrease mortality rates across tens of thousands of people.  I do, however, expect them to work for most people when specifically indicated (B6 for nerve and adrenal support, or magnesium for vasodilation and muscle relaxation).
     So before you give up on supplements proving themselves in the scientific literature, make sure you're looking in the right places.  NDNR and Natural Standard both offer plentiful information on vitamin, mineral and herbal supplementation with scientific backing. 

     For those interested in positive effects found of supplementation of the mid-aged and elderly as reported by NIH, please check out the articles here and here.  The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that "modest" supplementation of middle-aged women slowed the aging process.  You can find that article here.

     In general, I hope that those of you interested in your health are taking supplements for well-indicated reasons from knowledgeable sources, although the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics found that vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acids was beneficial for anyone (the article here called it a "metabolic tune-up").  

     The issue as to supplements' efficacy and beneficence will not be resolved with a single publication.  I anticipate following the research-lead discourse for some tim.  Please let me know if you'd like more information about specific supplements and research outcomes.  Thank you for reading.
0 Comments

Prenatal Vitamins and Their Influence on Autism

9/16/2011

0 Comments

 
     New research from the journal Epidemiology (found here), shows that women not taking a prenatal vitamin around and during pregnancy are twice as likely to have a child with autism compared to those taking prenatal vitamins.

     The surprising thing to me in this research is the comparison of effectiveness in timing of the vitamin.  Differences in rates of autistic children born (as diagnosed when five-year olds) was only significantly less in those mothers taking the prenatals during the first month of pregnancy.

     By the second month, there was no difference in autism between the groups.  So by the time many mothers find out they are pregnant, particular if the pregnancy was not planned, taking a prenatal vitamin is not effective in this regard- though it may be helpful in covering other nutritional needs during this time.

     As another aspect of this research project, they studied two genetic mutations which have been previously correlated with the development of autism: MTHFR and COMT.  Among mothers positive for one of these variants who did not take a prenatal vitamin, their rates for having an autistic child were 4.5 and 7 times the background (normal population) levels, respectively.

     On an academic note, the last doctor who I observed in private practice is a self-taught enthusiast of using neurotransmitter and biochemistry knowledge in her clinical practice.  She often tests for and uses targeted nutritional supplementation for women with MTHFR gene variants as it is disproportionately higher in women.  Autism is one issue correlated with this gene defect; others are depression, anxiety, cardiovascular disease and some neurological diseases. 

     Genetic variants are not usually life sentences, but under the influence of a whole host of environmental influences.  The realm of genetics if vastly fascinating to me, so please write with any medical genetics questions and I will look into writing up a little something on it.  Thank you for reading!
0 Comments
    Picture
    I'm Dr. Eloise Cortal, and I want to help you and your joints feel their very best.
    Get on my email list!

    Archives

    August 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    August 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    Categories

    All
    Acupuncture
    Acute
    Advertising
    Allergies
    Alternative
    Alzheimer's
    Anti Inflammatory
    Anti-inflammatory
    Antipyretic
    Anxiety
    Appreciation
    Asprin
    Attention
    Autism
    Babies
    Birth Defects
    Bitters
    Blood Sugar
    Body
    Bone Density
    Bone Fractures
    Calcium
    Cam
    Cancer
    Carcinogen
    Cell Phone
    Chemicals
    Children
    Chronic
    Chronic Disease
    Cortisol
    Crops
    Day
    Daylight
    Dementia
    Depression
    Diabetes
    Diet
    Digestion
    Disease
    Dry Cleaning
    Eating
    Energy
    Environmental Exposure
    Epilepsy
    Exercise
    Exposure
    Fever
    Food
    Foster United
    Fruit
    Functional
    Genetics
    Global Health
    Glycemic Index
    Glycemic Load
    Grocery
    Health
    Healthcare
    Healthcare Reform
    Healthcare Workers
    Healthy
    Heart Disease
    Heart Failure
    Heartmath
    Herbicide
    High Blood Pressure
    Hippocrates
    Hospital
    Hypertension
    Illness
    Immune Function
    Immune Response
    Infants
    Inflammation
    Insurance
    Intention
    Iq
    Iron
    Legislation
    Lifestyle
    Lunch
    Marketing
    Meals
    Medicine
    Meditation
    Melatonin
    Metabolism
    Natural
    Naturopath
    Naturopathy
    Neighborhood
    Night
    Nutrition
    Obesity
    Oregon
    Organic
    Pain Management
    Paleolithic
    Pesticide
    Pesticides
    Portland
    Pregnancy
    Primary Care
    Produce
    Publicity
    Quality
    Quiz
    Radiation
    Research
    Rhythms
    Rose City Health Clinic
    Roundup
    Seizure
    Sleep
    Stress
    Sugar
    Supplements
    Sweets
    Tai Chi
    Time Management
    Vegan
    Vegetables
    Vitamin D
    Vitamins
    Weight Loss
    Well Being
    Well-being

about the doc

Dr. Cortal's bio
Regenerative Injections Therapies (Prolotherapy & PRP)
Other Injection Therapy Services

patient info

new patient page
insurance/payment

contact

when & where

verified by healthprofs.com
Privacy Policy
© Copyright 2011-2024, Dr. Eloise Cortal

website content is for educational purposes only and is no substitute for medical advice
(see the Terms of Use Agreement for this site),

you must establish a doctor-patient relationship to receive that!

Photos from Gane, taylor dahlin, kcxd, philwirks, BaileyRaeWeaver, skampy, Christofer Andersson
  • home
    • Dr. Cortal bio
    • conditions treated
    • mission statement
    • publications
    • media page
  • Injections
    • other injection therapies >
      • trigger point injections
      • therapeutic scar injections
  • Physician Training
  • when & where
  • new patient
    • insurance
  • blog
  • testimonials