A new study shows that changes in only two genes may account for most psychiatric illnesses.

PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESSES MAY INVOLVE CHANGES IN ONLY TWO GENES

As most regular readers of Weekly Health Update know, I rarely discuss psychiatric research studies here, as most behavioral studies are based upon lower level research methodologies, and many of these studies also take inadequate safeguards, in my view, to eliminate inherent biases. However, every now and then, a psychiatric study comes along that catches my attention, and merits further discussion.

Currently, psychiatric diagnoses are based upon clinical symptoms that are organized into diagnostic groups contained in the “bible” of Psychiatry, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or “DSM.” Because specific psychiatric diagnoses are based almost entirely on the subjective observation of signs and symptoms of mental illness, rather than objective test results, there is enormous potential for misdiagnosis. Moreover, many psychiatric diagnoses are associated with overlapping clusters of symptoms, which further increases the likelihood of misdiagnosis (and inappropriate treatment).

A new research study, which appears in the current issue of the journal The Lancet, strongly suggests that several common mental health disorders long thought to be unrelated to each other may, in fact, share a common biological basis, at least in some patients. The striking findings of this novel genetic study may dramatically change the way that psychiatrists diagnose and manage patients with psychiatric illnesses.

In this landmark study, 33,332 patients with psychiatric illnesses and 27,888 healthy control subjects underwent sequencing of their entire complement of DNA (“genome”), looking for genetic variations known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). (These common variations in the individual “letters” of our genetic code are responsible for many of the differences that exist among us, including hair color, eye color, and other variations, or traits, that can be readily observed.) The researchers then used very complex genetic analysis tools to search for SNPs that appeared to be linked, specifically, to the diagnosis of 5 different psychiatric illnesses in this large population of research subjects.

The results of this landmark study go a long way towards explaining the inaccuracies and inconsistencies commonly associated with the clinical diagnosis of psychiatric illnesses based upon DSM diagnostic criteria. Another very important result of this study is that it provides a potential explanation for the actual genetic and biological basis for at least some cases of common psychiatric illnesses.

Based upon the enormous amount of genetic information collected in this study, SNPs at four specific genetic sites were found to be strongly associated with the following 5 common psychiatric illnesses: autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (depression), and schizophrenia. What was especially fascinating was the finding that genetic variations at these four sites involved just two genes, both of which are associated with calcium channels that act like microscopic gates that allow calcium to move into or out of cells.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of this study’s findings. For perhaps the first time, there is now genetic and biological data linking the 5 most common major psychiatric illnesses to specific locations in just two genes, which argues against the current clinical view that each of these illnesses are completely unrelated to each other. Indeed, the finding that variations in only two genes may account for these 5 common psychiatric illnesses is hugely significant, as is the finding that these two genes, which are involved in the construction of calcium channels, may play a fundamental role in the development of these seemingly unrelated illnesses.

The findings of this pivotal study will, hopefully, help psychiatrists to move away from the current subjective, and often arbitrary, methods of clinically diagnosing and treating psychiatric illnesses, and move towards making diagnoses based upon objective gene-based (“molecular”) and biological findings. Moreover, reaching a clearer understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying these common psychiatric illnesses may also lead to innovative new treatment options for patients with mental health illnesses.

For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my bestselling book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores!

Within one week of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books. Within three months of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list.

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Dr. Wascher’s latest video:

Dark as Night, Part 1

Dark as Night, Part 1

At this time, more than 8 percent of Americans are unemployed.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, the unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty between September 2001 and December 2011 is now more than 12 percent.  A new website, Veterans in Healthcare, seeks to connect veterans with potential employers.  If you are a veteran who works in the healthcare field, or if you are an employer who is looking for physicians, advanced practice professionals, nurses, corpsmen/medics, or other healthcare professionals, then please take a look at Veterans in Healthcare. As a retired veteran of the U.S. Army, I would also like to personally urge you to hire a veteran whenever possible.

Disclaimer:  As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author

A new study finds that being physically fit in middle age may protect against Alzheimer’s disease later in life.

FITNESS IN MIDDLE AGE LOWERS DEMENTIA RISK

The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are predicted to rise significantly as our population continues to age.  At the present time, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease and most other forms of dementia.

While the primary cause (or causes) of Alzheimer’s disease remains unclear at this time, it is clear that advancing age, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels all appear to be linked with this debilitating and irreversible form of dementia.  At the same time, it is also well known that regular exercise can reduce the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and elevated high cholesterol levels.  Now, a newly published research study, which appears in the Annals of Internal Medicine, strongly suggests that being physically fit during mid-life may also help to protect against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia later in life.

In this study, 19,458 middle-aged adults were assessed for their level of physical fitness between 1971 and 2009.  After an average of 25 years of follow-up, 1,659 of these research volunteers went on to be diagnosed with dementia. When researchers correlated levels of physical fitness during mid-life with the incidence of dementia later in life, they found that higher levels of physical fitness in middle age appeared to be protective against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia later in life.  In fact, the research volunteers with the highest levels of physical fitness during their middle age years were 36 percent less likely to develop dementia during the course of this study, when compared with volunteers who were at the lowest levels of physical fitness during mid-life.

In addition to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, the findings of this newly published clinical study strongly suggest that regular exercise during middle age is also associated with a significant reduction in the risk of developing dementia later in life.  In view of the many health benefits associated with regular exercise, if you are not currently getting 3 to 4 hours of at least moderate exercise per week, then please see your physician and a personal trainer, and begin your own personal exercise program!

Links to Other Breaking Health News

Horse Meat Scandal Rocks Britain

Why Do Boys Receive Lower Grades than Girls?

Negative Emotions and Feelings Can Damage Your Health

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How Technology is Changing the Practice of Medicine

New Salt Intake Guidelines for Children

High Levels of Distress in Childhood May Increase Risk of Heart Disease in Adulthood

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Cancer Death Rates Continue to Fall

Self-Help Books Improve Depression

Marines Try Mindfulness and Meditation to Reduce PTSD

Dying Nurse Volunteers Herself to Teach Nursing Students about the Dying

Regular Walks Cut Stroke Risk

Falling Asleep While Driving More Common than Previously Thought

Growing Immune Cells to Fight Cancer

Celebrity Health Fads Debunked

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Kids with Food Allergies May Become Targets of Bullies

Obesity Among Young Children May Be Declining

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Fresh Fruits & Vegetables May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Satisfaction with Life May Actually Increase with Age

Brain Changes in the Elderly May Increase Susceptibility to Being Scammed

“Talking” Therapy May Help Depression When Antidepressant Medications Fail

New Egg-Free Flu Vaccine

Graphic Cigarette Labels in Australia

Predicting Childhood Obesity at Birth

Inexpensive Power Foods

Dr. Wascher’s latest video:

Dark as Night, Part 1

Dark as Night, Part 1

At this time, more than 8 percent of Americans are unemployed.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, the unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty between September 2001 and December 2011 is now more than 12 percent.  A new website, Veterans in Healthcare, seeks to connect veterans with potential employers.  If you are a veteran who works in the healthcare field, or if you are an employer who is looking for physicians, advanced practice professionals, nurses, corpsmen/medics, or other healthcare professionals, then please take a look at Veterans in Healthcare. As a retired veteran of the U.S. Army, I would also like to personally urge you to hire a veteran whenever possible.

For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my bestselling book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores!

Within one week of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books. Within three months of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list.

Disclaimer:  As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author

Fish Oil Improves Memory, Reduces Diabetes and Heart Disease Risk Factors

FISH OIL IMPROVES MEMORY, REDUCES DIABETES AND HEART DISEASE RISK FACTORS

Fish oil, which is rich in anti-inflammatory omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, can play an important role in maintaining cardiovascular health.  There is also research data available to suggest that regular supplements of fish oil may improve brain function, including memory, in older patients.  Now, a recently published research paper, which appears in the Nutrition Journal, provides strong evidence that fish oil supplements can indeed improve cognitive function, while simultaneously reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

In this study, 40 healthy middle-aged and elderly research volunteers underwent initial evaluation, including blood tests and cognitive function testing.  In this “placebo-controlled crossover” study, the volunteers were randomly divided into two groups.  One group received 3 grams of fish oil per day, while the other group received a placebo (sugar) pill.  After 5 weeks, the two groups of research volunteers were retested, and were then switched, or “crossed over,” with respect to the fish oil supplements and placebo pills.  After 5 additional weeks, the research volunteers were all once again retested.

Retesting of these research volunteers showed a significant improvement in memory function after taking fish oil for 5 weeks (when compared to the volunteers who were taking placebo pills).  Moreover, fish oil supplementation was also associated with a lower level of fat (triglycerides) in the blood, lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar levels, and a decrease in the level of the inflammatory protein TNF-alpha (tumor necrosis factor-alpha).

Taken together, the findings of this clinical study identified several apparent health benefits associated with daily fish oil supplements in middle-aged and elderly research volunteers, including improved memory function and improvements in multiple known risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

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Obesity Among Young Children May Be Declining

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Fresh Fruits & Vegetables May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

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Brain Changes in the Elderly May Increase Susceptibility to Being Scammed

“Talking” Therapy May Help Depression When Antidepressant Medications Fail

New Egg-Free Flu Vaccine

Graphic Cigarette Labels in Australia

Predicting Childhood Obesity at Birth

Inexpensive Power Foods

Dr. Wascher’s latest video:

Dark as Night, Part 1

Dark as Night, Part 1

At this time, more than 8 percent of Americans are unemployed.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, the unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty between September 2001 and December 2011 is now more than 12 percent.  A new website, Veterans in Healthcare, seeks to connect veterans with potential employers.  If you are a veteran who works in the healthcare field, or if you are an employer who is looking for physicians, advanced practice professionals, nurses, corpsmen/medics, or other healthcare professionals, then please take a look at Veterans in Healthcare. As a retired veteran of the U.S. Army, I would also like to personally urge you to hire a veteran whenever possible.

For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my bestselling book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores!

Within one week of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books. Within three months of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list.

Disclaimer:  As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author

A new study shows that speaking at least two languages improves brain function later in life.

SPEAKING TWO LANGUAGES IMPROVES BRAIN FUNCTION LATE IN LIFE

Although there are an estimated 6,000 distinct languages spoken on the planet, only about 1 in 4 countries officially identify themselves as bilingual or multilingual nations.  However, there are more people in the world who speak at least two languages than there are people who speak only one language.  Therefore, the majority of humankind can be thought of as generally being bilingual or multilingual.

Based upon previously published cognitive studies, being bilingual or multilingual appears to “strengthen” the areas of the brain that are involved in both language processing and other higher cognitive functions.  Indeed, based upon these prior studies, lifelong multilingual people appear to experience a later onset of cognitive decline in life, and a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, compared to monolingual people.  Now, a newly published research study, which appears in the Journal of Neuroscience, provides fascinating new insights into exactly how bilingualism and multilingualism may help to preserve cognitive function in the brain as we age.

In this study, 110 older monolingual and bilingual adults participated in several “task-switching” exercises that test cognitive function.  Using a sophisticated imaging system that measures blood flow within specific areas of the brain (functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI), these monolingual and bilingual study volunteers were put through their paces with various task-switching exercises while their brain function was monitored by fMRI.

Among the monolingual older adults, areas of the brain associated with the processing of information, and with decision-making, were highly activated during task-switching exercises, indicating that these areas of the brain were working very hard to complete the tasks assigned by the researchers.  The bilingual older adults also experienced increased activity in the left lateral frontal cortex and cingulate cortex, but significantly less so than the monolingual study volunteers.  At the same time, the bilingual volunteers consistently outperformed their monolingual fellow volunteers on the task-switching exercises, despite lower levels of activation of these two key areas of the brain.  Thus, just as has been predicted by previous cognitive testing studies, lifelong bilingualism does indeed appear to increase the efficiency of the areas of the brain that are involved in high-level cognitive processing, and also appear to decrease the rate of loss of these cognitive abilities with advancing age, when compared to monolingualism.  In this clinical study, the bilingual older adults were more successful in completing task-switching cognitive exercises than monolingual older adults; and at the same time, the brains of the bilingual adults accomplished this improved cognitive performance with less effort than their monolingual counterparts (based upon fMRI measurements of brain activity).

While there are many potential personal, professional, social and cultural benefits to speaking more than one language, this elegant clinical research study confirms earlier predictions that lifelong bilingualism and multilingualism may help to preserve the cognitive efficiency and function of the higher processing centers of the brain much later in life.  Given at least the perception that the United States lags behind many other countries in the world in the area of foreign language education, the findings of this new study offer yet another reason for schools in the US to ramp up their foreign language programs.  We live in an increasingly competitive, globalized and multilingual world, and preparing our children for a successful future in that world should include early and continuous exposure to foreign language training, in my view.

Links to Other Breaking Health News

Dying Nurse Volunteers Herself to Teach Nursing Students about the Dying

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Regular Walks Cut Stroke Risk

Falling Asleep While Driving More Common than Previously Thought

Growing Immune Cells to Fight Cancer

Celebrity Health Fads Debunked

Thousands of Surgery Mistakes Are Still Happening Each Year

New Graphic Antismoking Ads Debut in England

Kids with Food Allergies May Become Targets of Bullies

Obesity Among Young Children May Be Declining

Tamoxifen for 10 Years (Instead of 5 Years) Significantly Improves Breast Cancer Survival Rate

Fresh Fruits & Vegetables May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Satisfaction with Life May Actually Increase with Age

Brain Changes in the Elderly May Increase Susceptibility to Being Scammed

“Talking” Therapy May Help Depression When Antidepressant Medications Fail

New Egg-Free Flu Vaccine

Graphic Cigarette Labels in Australia

Predicting Childhood Obesity at Birth

Inexpensive Power Foods

Dr. Wascher’s latest video:

Dark as Night, Part 1

Dark as Night, Part 1

At this time, more than 8 percent of Americans are unemployed.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, the unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty between September 2001 and December 2011 is now more than 12 percent.  A new website, Veterans in Healthcare, seeks to connect veterans with potential employers.  If you are a veteran who works in the healthcare field, or if you are an employer who is looking for physicians, advanced practice professionals, nurses, corpsmen/medics, or other healthcare professionals, then please take a look at Veterans in Healthcare. As a retired veteran of the U.S. Army, I would also like to personally urge you to hire a veteran whenever possible.

For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my bestselling book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores!

Within one week of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books. Within three months of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list.

Disclaimer:  As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author

A new report by a U.S. Government task force (USPSTF) recommends against the use of hormone replacement therapy due to serious health risks.

NEW GOVERNMENT (USPSTF) WARNING ON HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY RISKS

As I discuss in my bestselling book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, there is now solid evidence that the most commonly used form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is associated with a significant increase in the risk of developing breast cancer, and that risk continues to rise with the duration of HRT use.

Like many cancer experts, I have taken issue with some of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s (USPSTF) recent revisions of longstanding cancer screening recommendations, including, particularly, their 2009 recommendation that annual screening mammograms be started later in life than most experts have recommended (and continue to recommend), and performed less frequently among middle-aged women than most experts have also recommended.  More recently, in 2011, the USPSTF’s blanket recommendation that routine PSA screening for prostate cancer be largely abandoned has not been warmly embraced by me, nor by many other cancer prevention experts, given that we still cannot determine, in advance, which men with prostate cancer will be helped by treatment for this disease and which men will not benefit (and, hence, may actually even be harmed) by being treated because they have an indolent form of prostate cancer that poses no threat to their lives (Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?).

Now, the USPSTF is weighing in on another controversial cancer-related issue: hormone replacement therapy. Prior to 2002, more than half of all American women took some form of HRT to treat the common symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and irritability.  As I discuss in my forthcoming book on the tragic history of HRT, The Manufactured Myths of Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy: A Legacy of Suffering and Death, the intentionally deceptive multi-decade marketing of HRT drugs as a panacea for the both the real and imagined consequences of menopause, and the skillful (if duplicitous) portrayal of menopause as a pathological disease that renders its “victims” something less than feminine, was only recently revealed to be a collection of gross distortions (to put it mildly) on the part of the dominant manufacturer of HRT medications.  Thanks to the landmark findings of the enormous Women’s Health Initiative study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002, we now know that long-term HRT use is clearly associated with an increased risk of multiple and serious health problems, including an increased risk of breast cancer.

The USPSTF is now about to weigh-in on the issue of HRT, in a paper that is to be released in the June 4th issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.  Unlike their other recent controversial pronouncements, however, I actually find the USPSTF’s new recommendations against the routine use of HRT to be very close to my own recommendations, and so I am including their review of the existing clinical research data on HRT in this column.

After comprehensively reviewing the data from 9 different prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded clinical studies (including the massive Women’s Health Initiative study), the USPSTF study group determined that both estrogen-progesterone (combination) HRT and estrogen-only HRT significantly increased the risk of stroke, potentially fatal blood clots (venous thromboembolic disease), gallstones, and urinary incontinence.  Estrogen-progesterone (combination) HRT was also, once again, shown to be associated with a significantly increased risk of breast cancer, as well as a probable increase in the risk of dementia.  (On the other hand, estrogen-only HRT, which can only be taken by women who have previously undergone hysterectomy, appears to actually decrease the risk of developing breast cancer, while both types of HRT also appear to reduce the risk of osteoporosis-associated bone fractures.)

Based upon the increasingly large amount of available clinical research data, HRT, of any type, cannot currently be recommended for routine long-term use, given the multiple and significant health risks associated with both estrogen-only and estrogen-progesterone forms of HRT.  After decades of intentionally misleading advertising by the manufacturer of the two most frequently prescribed forms of HRT, and the manufacturer’s intentional co-opting of numerous women’s physicians over the years, the true risks associated with the long-term use of HRT have now become abundantly clear.  I will have much more to say about this cautionary tale when The Manufactured Myths of Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy: A Legacy of Suffering and Death is published in early 2013….

For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my bestselling book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores!

Within one week of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books. Within three months of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list.

Disclaimer:  As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author

Welcome to Weekly Health Update

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author

For a different perspective on Dr. Wascher, please click on the following YouTube link: 

Texas Blues Jam

I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people, from around the world, who visit this premier global health information website every month.  (As of 9/16/2010, more than 1,000,000 health-conscious people have logged onto Weekly Health Update so far this year!)  As always, I enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can.

Welcome to Weekly Health Update

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”

VITAMIN D REDUCES RISK OF COGNITIVE DECLINE & DEMENTIA

Regular readers of this column are already well aware of the preventive effects of Vitamin D with respect to falls in the elderly, certain cancers, and cardiovascular disease.  (My new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” which is scheduled to be published in August, 2010, contains an exciting and comprehensive update on the role of Vitamin D in cancer prevention.)  Now, a newly published research study, which appears in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, has linked low Vitamin D levels in the blood with an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia in adults over the age of 65.

A total of 858 adults at or over the age of 65 participated in this prospective public health study, which was conducted over a period of 7 years.  All of these study volunteers underwent extensive evaluation of their cognitive function, using validated, standardized tests, when they entered into the study.  All patients also underwent testing of their blood for Vitamin D levels.  This extensive evaluation and testing was then repeated every 3 years during the course of this important clinical research study.

The results of this study indicated that patient volunteers with low Vitamin D levels in the blood (less than 25 nmol/liter), when compared with volunteers with normal blood levels of Vitamin D (75 nmol/liter, or higher), experienced significant declines in their intellectual function over the course of this study.  Indeed, the patient volunteers with decreased Vitamin D levels in their blood were as much as 60 percent more likely to experience progressive cognitive decline or dementia over the relatively brief duration of this study, when compared with the patients who had normal levels of Vitamin D in their blood! 

The results of this study are very similar to the findings of a similar study, which has just been published in the journal Neurology.  In this particular study, an inadequate level of Vitamin D in the blood of elderly men and women was associated with a significantly increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia from all causes, including Alzheimer’s disease and stroke.  Moreover, abnormalities of the brain, as detected by MRI scans, were also more commonly observed in patients who were deficient in Vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency is very common in older men and women.  An estimated 80 percent of people over the age of 65 have inadequate levels of Vitamin D in their blood, while as many as 45 percent of older men and women also have severe Vitamin D deficiency.

The results of these two studies strongly suggest that adequate levels of Vitamin D in the blood may be associated with a significantly reduced risk of aging-associated cognitive decline and dementia in older men and women, in addition to improving muscle strength, decreasing the risk of certain cancers, and decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Not everyone should take large doses of Vitamin D, however, as the unmonitored use of this potent hormone-like vitamin can cause dangerous elevations in the level of calcium in the blood, as well as calcifications in the soft tissues of the body, kidney failure, pancreatitis, and gastrointestinal ulcers.  (Prior to starting Vitamin D supplements, you should certainly discuss the risks and benefits of Vitamin D supplementation with your physician.)

To learn more about the critical role of Vitamin D and the risk of cancer, look for the publication of my new landmark book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” in the August of this year. 

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Tdv7XW0qg

I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 new and returning readers who visit our premier global health information website every month.  As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can.

Welcome to Weekly Health Update

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers” 

CHEMOTHERAPY FOR BREAST CANCER & MEMORY LOSS

“Chemo Brain” is a term often used by breast cancer patients to describe the decreased memory, and other cognitive dysfunctions, associated with chemotherapy for this common form of cancer.  However, there has been very little prospective, objective clinical research into this phenomenon.  Furthermore, what little research that has been done in this area, to date, has primarily focused upon subjective self-assessments, by breast cancer patients, of their own level of cognitive function following chemotherapy.  Moreover, until recently, the complaints of breast cancer patients regarding their self-perceived memory loss following chemotherapy were often dismissed by many physicians. 

Now, a newly published prospective clinical research study from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center suggests that physicians may have vastly underestimated the frequency, severity, and duration of cognitive dysfunction following standard breast cancer chemotherapy.  This clinical study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Cancer, prospectively enrolled 42 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.  All of these women then underwent standardized neuropsychological evaluation before, during, and after chemotherapy.  Importantly, this study not only tested these breast cancer patients in the early period after they completed their chemotherapy, but also one year after their chemotherapy had ended.  The findings from this small study strikingly illustrate just how common, and how enduring, memory loss and other forms of cognitive dysfunction are following chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Prior to beginning chemotherapy, 21 percent of these patients had some detectable degree of cognitive dysfunction.  By the end of their chemotherapy treatments, a whopping 65 percent of these 42 patients displayed measurable declines in memory function, organizational ability, and cognitive processing speed.  One year later, 61 percent of these women continued to display measurable declines in cognitive function.  Worse yet, among this group of women with persistent cognitive dysfunction one year after completion of their chemotherapy, 71 percent continued to display progressively worsening of cognitive function when compared to their level of function immediately after finishing chemotherapy.  Finally, the remaining 29 percent of this group of women with long-term evidence of cognitive dysfunction actually displayed a delayed-onset of cognitive decline when they were tested one year after chemotherapy (i.e., when compared to the results of their neuropsychological testing immediately after chemotherapy).

Although this clinical research study enrolled a small cohort of patients, its prospective nature, and its use of validated neuropsychological tests, make it a powerful research study for its size.  The findings of this study also fit well with previous laboratory research studies that have shown both acute and delayed changes in the actual structure of the brains of animals treated, proportionately, with the same chemotherapy drugs commonly used to treat breast cancer in humans.  Whether or not the significant declines in cognitive function that were observed, one year after chemotherapy in the 61 percent of women who participated in this study, will eventually stabilize, improve or worsen is unknown at this time.  Longer follow-up of these 42 breast cancer patients will have to be performed to answer this important question.  However, this small prospective study clearly indicates that the majority of women who undergo standard chemotherapy for breast cancer appear to experience significant and prolonged declines in their level of cognitive function, including memory loss, decreased organizational skills, and a general slowing of their cognitive processing speed, and that these adverse changes persist for at least a year after completion of chemotherapy.

The findings of this study should spur additional research into the precise cause(s) of this chemotherapy-associated impairment in cognitive function, as well as strategies to reduce the severity and duration of these adverse health effects following chemotherapy for breast cancer.  Meanwhile, it is important for me to stress that chemotherapy unquestionably extends survival, and saves lives, among women who are appropriately advised to undergo such treatment for breast cancer.  In my opinion, no patient should read this column, and then go on to refuse chemotherapy that has been appropriately recommended because of the findings of this clinical research study.  

To learn more about the prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, look for the publication of my new landmark evidence-based book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” in the summer of this year.

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author

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CONCORD GRAPE JUICE IMPROVES MEMORY

Polyphenols are plant-based dietary compounds with known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.  These biological properties of polyphenols reduce the ongoing damage to the DNA in our cells that results from the toxic byproducts of metabolism, including free radicals.  Polyphenols have, therefore, been the subject of intense research as potential prevention agents for a variety of human ailments, including cardiovascular disease, dementia, and cancer.  (The evidence-based role of dietary polyphenols in cancer prevention is discussed in great detail in my soon-to-be-published book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race.”)

Foods that are naturally rich in polyphenols include most blue and red berries, grapes (including red wine), pomegranates, walnuts, peanuts, olive oil, green tea, dark chocolate and cocoa, coffee, and beer (as well as other fruits and vegetables). 

Recent animal research has suggested that polyphenols derived from grape seeds can reduce the development of plaques in the brain (at least in mice) that are associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease.  Now, a newly published prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical research study suggests that Concord grape juice, which is rich in polyphenols, may be able to improve early memory decline in older adults.

In this small study, which has been published in the British Journal of Nutrition, 12 elderly adults with declining memory were divided into two groups.  The “experimental group” received daily Concord grape juice supplements for a period of 12 weeks.  The second group, the “control group,” received placebo supplements that were identical in appearance to Concord grape juice, but which contained no juice.  Neither the 12 patient volunteers nor the research assistants were aware of which patients received grape juice and which patients received the placebo while the study was being conducted.

Standardized, validated tests of memory, and other aspects of cognitive function, were administered to all 12 patient volunteers participating in this study.  These cognitive function tests revealed statistically significant improvements in verbal learning skills among the patients who received 12 weeks of Concord grape juice (when compared to the placebo group).  Although not statistically significant, improvements were also noted in both verbal and spatial recall among the patient volunteers who received the grape juice supplements in this small clinical study with a brief duration of patient follow-up.

While larger studies, with a longer duration of follow-up, will be required to confirm the findings of this small pilot study, the prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind nature of this small study does give it considerably more predictive power than the much larger dietary survey-based epidemiological studies that are more commonly used in disease prevention research. 

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GINKGO BILOBA, MEMORY & COGNITIVE HEALTH

Regular readers of this column know that I have a strong interest in lifestyle- and diet-based approaches to disease prevention, but that I insist on rigorous, high-quality research-based data before I can recommend a particular lifestyle or dietary modification to my readers (or to myself).  Many past columns have reviewed the findings of research studies with favorable results associated with specific nutritional or other lifestyle approaches to disease prevention.  However, this week’s column will report on a newly published prospective clinical research trial that calls into question the supposed clinical value of the traditional Chinese medicine herb Ginkgo biloba in reducing the cognitive decline associated with aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

Previously published public health research data, based upon low-powered research methods, have suggested that dietary supplementation with Ginkgo biloba might be able to improve memory and cognition, particularly in older adults.  However, more recent data, based upon more robust types of clinical research, have called this assumption into question (as well as previous claims that Gingko biloba can delay or reverse the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease).  Now, a newly published prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of Gingko biloba supplementation in older adults in the United States appears to have definitively resolved the controversy about the value of Gingko biloba in maintaining memory, and other high level cognitive functions, in older adults. 

Ginkgo biloba trees are often referred to as living fossils, as they are known to survive for 1,500 years or more, and their presence has been documented within fossil-bearing rocks more than 270 million years old.  Although ancient fossils containing the distinctive bilobed leaves of Ginkgo biloba trees have been found on multiple continents, modern day Gingko trees now grow naturally only in China (although they have been widely cultivated, over a period of centuries, throughout Asia, and particularly in Japan and Korea).    

A new highly-powered prospective clinical research trial evaluating Ginkgo biloba supplementation appears in this week’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.  More than 3,000 adults between the ages of 72 and 96 years participated in this placebo-controlled research trial, with an impressive average patient follow-up duration of more than 6 years.  These patient volunteers were secretly randomized to one of two groups.  The patients in the “experimental group” received 120 mg of Ginkgo biloba extract twice daily during the course of this study, while the “control group” of patients received an identical-appearing placebo (“sugar pills) twice daily.  (As this was a double-blind study, neither the patient volunteers nor the researchers knew which patients were receiving Gingko pills and which were receiving the placebo pills until after the research study was completed.) 

Multiple validated cognitive screening exams were given to all of these older patient volunteers during each year of the study, and the rate of annual decline in cognitive function was then compared between the two groups of patient volunteers.  Areas of cognitive function that were specifically tested for in this high-powered prospective clinical research trial included memory, attention, visual-spatial abilities, language function, and overall executive brain function.  (Note: these same cognitive function tests are also routinely utilized to assess cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.)

Unfortunately, there was absolutely no difference observed or measured in the rate of decline in cognitive function between the two groups of older patient volunteers, indicating the lack of any clinically detectable benefit in age-related cognitive decline associated with high-dose supplementation with Ginkgo biloba.

(As an editorial aside, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is to be commended for publishing this rigorously performed clinical research trial and its Level One research findings, as there is a well-known bias against publishing clinical research studies with “negative findings,” such as this study, among prestigious medical journals.)

Although this is the second recent high-level prospective clinical research trial that has found absolutely no clinical benefit in preserving or improving cognitive function in older adults associated with Ginkgo biloba supplements, there may still be potential clinical applications for this ancient herbal remedy in view of its known ability to improve blood flow through networks of small blood vessels in the body.  There is also some research evidence available suggesting that Ginkgo biloba may have potentially important anti-inflammatory properties, and that these properties might be clinically useful in some chronic inflammatory diseases, such as ulcerative colitis (Ginkgo biloba, ulcerative colitis & colorectal cancer).  For now, however, the overwhelming available clinical research evidence indicates that Ginkgo biloba appears to offer no benefit to older patients in terms of either preserving or improving memory, or in improving other areas of higher cognitive function.

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity