Friendly Flora Added to Yogurt Inhibit the Ulcer Causing Bacteria

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that can infect the stomach and the first part of the small intestine under the stomach (the duodenum). Curing the infection can cure this ulcer. H. pylori is estimated to be the cause of 70% of all gastric ulcers (stomach ulcers), and is the main cause of duodenal ulcers. Curing an H. Pylori infection will cure most duodenal ulcers, but additional treatment is needed for stomach ulcers. H. pylori causes 70% to 90% of all stomach cancers. It causes 90% of all MALT lymphomas (mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas), a low grade lymphoma of the stomach. Curing H. pylori infection cures 50% of all MALT lymphomas.

In the current study 59 patients with Helicobacter infections were given yogurt with Lactobacillus and Bifido bacteria added to it twice a day after meals for 6 weeks. 11 patients with Helicobacter pylori were given milk placebo for comparisons sake. The friendly flora suppressed the H. pylori infection. The study is published in the September 2004 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Dietary Betaine Helps Decrease Chronic Disease Risk

Betaine is a content of some foods, especially seafood, wheat germ, bran, and spinach. The principal roles of betaine is as an osmolyte where it helps maintain the pressure in cells and also protects cells, proteins and enzymes from stress (e.g. dehydration, excessive salt ion, free radicals, high temperatures). Its other major physiological function is helping to convert the amino acid methionine into the amino acid cysteine. It does this via methylating or adding a methyl group. If betaine and other methylating agents are absent from the diet a number of bad things happen; 1) liver metabolism of methionine to cysteine is disrupted leading to elevated levels of homocysteine - a very unstable, oxidizing agent., 2) The liver does not adequately metabolize fat leading to elevated levels of blood fats. The change in liver metabolism contributes to various diseases including coronary artery disease, liver damage, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disease. Betaine has been shown to protect internal organs, improve vascular risk factors, and enhance performance. Betaine is an important nutrient for the prevention of chronic disease. The review is published in the September 2004 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Commentary by Jerry Hickey, R.PH.

Other methylating agents that help control homocysteine levels include Folic Acid, Cobalamin, and Pyridoxamine. These methylators are extremely important for health.

Bad Attitude Associated with Cardiovascular Disease

Researchers examined 127 otherwise healthy, nonsmoking men and women to examine the relationship between mental health and cardiovascular disease. The researchers examined these healthy people to assess the relationship between anger, hostility, depression, or a combination of these psychological risks and levels of elevated CRP. CRP or C-reactive protein is a protein released into the bloodstream in response to inflammation caused by stressors and infection. Elevated CRP can cause clogging of the arteries and heart disease. Anger and the level of depression were related to elevations in CRP. The study is published in the September-October 2004 issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

Commentary by Jerry Hickey, R.PH.

If you are prone to anger and depression seek professional help. For anger try shutting off the news and take a break from newspapers a couple of days a week. Try adding L-Theanine 100mg 3 times a day, 2 Sleep-HX 15 minutes before bedtime, one DHA 100mg 3 times a day with meals, and avoid caffeine and stimulants in conjunction with therapy. For depression seek outside help and discuss adding SAMe 200mg, DHA 100mg, Vitamin D 1,000 IU, L-Theanine, and exercise to your therapy.

Dementia and Walking

Elderly people who walk the most have the best mental function, according to two new studies in the Sept. 22/29 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

University of Virginia researcher Robert D. Abbott, PhD, and colleagues looked at elderly men ranging in age from 71 to 93. Those who walked more than 2 miles a day were nearly half as likely to get dementia as men who walked less than one-quarter mile a day.

Harvard researcher Jennifer Weuve, ScD, and colleagues looked at elderly women aged 70 to 81. Women who walked at an easy pace for at least 90 minutes a week had better mental function than those who walked less than 40 minutes a week.
"Physically capable elderly men who walk more regularly are less likely to develop dementia," Abbott and colleagues write. "Promoting active lifestyles may have important effects on late-life [mental] function."

The Abbott study looked at a 2,260 men who live in Hawaii. The effects of walking in this group of men were also shown to reduce the risk of death, heart disease, and fatal cancers.

However, walking did not overcome the bad health effects of smoking. Among smokers, walking did not cut dementia risk. But smoking itself was linked to a higher risk of dementia.

The Weuve study looked at nearly 19,000 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study.