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August 15, 2011  In This Issue... - Protect and Improve Your Memory -- The Doctors at Harvard Medical School Tell You How
- Reversing Cataracts
- Prescription Drugs to Avoid Like the Plague
- Mysterious New Tick Disease
Protect and Improve Your Memory -- The Doctors at Harvard Medical School Tell You How Feeling forgetful lately? You’re in good company. As many as two-thirds of people over age 50 notice greater difficulty remembering names, appointments, and other details. Fortunately, the small memory lapses that occur with age are not usually signs of a neurological disorder, such as Alzheimer’s disease. But there are things you can do to retain good brain function as you age, and keep your memory sharp and strong. The experts at Harvard Medical School share their strategies and tips for an optimal memory with you. Click here to learn more...
Reversing Cataracts Are cataracts no big deal? I pose this question because cataract surgery has become so quick and effective that many people now ignore opportunities to protect themselves from getting cataracts in the first place. They assume that their eyes can be made good as new one day with some simple surgery -- so why worry about it now? Please don’t think that way. While cataract surgery has been well-perfected, there is always potential for problems -- including, in this case retinal detachment. The good news is that there are very simple ways to ward off the cloudiness of cataracts. That’s what I’m here to talk to you about today. I checked in with Marc Grossman, OD, an optometrist and acupuncturist based in New Paltz, New York, who pursues a holistic approach to eye care. Dr. Grossman has had consistent success in delaying, and even reversing, cataracts using diet and natural supplements. He told me that cataracts begin forming in the eyes shortly after you pass the age of 50 and currently affect some 22.3 million Americans. He sees one of the keys to cataract prevention as a combination of diet and supplements that boost the body’s level of glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that is distinguished by its ability to interfere with the development of cataracts. "Several studies show that glutathione can prevent the further formation of cataracts," Dr. Grossman said, "and in my own experience, I’ve seen glutathione reverse the development of cataracts that have already formed." That’s a pretty extraordinary observation. Dr. Grossman expects to see studies in the near future that attest to the power of glutathione to achieve this surprising reversal. A CLOSER LOOK To appreciate how glutathione works, Dr. Grossman said it’s important to understand in a bit more depth how cataracts develop. The lenses in your eyes are made up of proteins arranged in a very orderly way so that light passes easily through them. But as we age -- especially if we lapse into poor diets, smoking or too much alcohol or develop diabetes or other chronic diseases -- oxygen interacts with these proteins, creating highly reactive free radicals that cause the proteins to clump together. As they do, it becomes more difficult for light to pass through the lenses, and the result is cataracts and vision that’s increasingly blurry. Here’s where antioxidants come into play. These substances can protect cells against the effects of free radicals. Vitamins A, C and E are antioxidants that we all know about. Those that are somewhat less well known include beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene and selenium. All of these help to slow the development of cataracts, but when it comes to the eye lens, the most powerful antioxidant is glutathione. If glutathione -- which is made up of three amino acids (cysteine, glycine, glutamic acid) -- were easy for the body to absorb, preventing cataracts would be a simple matter of taking regular supplements. Unfortunately, we have the opposite scenario -- glutathione is far more difficult to absorb than the more familiar antioxidants. The solution is twofold, Dr. Grossman said. First, eat foods that boost your body’s ability to create glutathione, primarily in your liver. The list includes asparagus, eggs, broccoli, avocados, garlic, onions, cantaloupe, watermelon, spinach and strawberries. However, it’s doubtful, Dr. Grossman said, that diet alone can raise glutathione to sufficient levels for preventing the formation of cataracts. He also suggests that you eliminate, or at least reduce, the amount of refined sugar in your diet -- including milk sugar, which is found in dairy products -- and take supplements, not of glutathione itself but of substances known to encourage production of the body’s level of glutathione -- N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), alpha lipoic acid and vitamin C. Alpha lipoic acid is particularly effective, Dr. Grossman said. You can buy it and NAC at some drugstores, many health-food outlets and online. One brand he particularly likes is DeTox Formula made by Vital Nutrients (800-383-6008, www.PureFormulas.com). NAC and alpha lipoic acid are generally OK for everyone as long as the safe dosage is not exceeded -- up to 300 mg for alpha lipoic acid and up to 600 mg for NAC. However, it’s best to talk to your doctor before taking either supplement, because they may lower thyroid hormone levels, adversely affect people with certain kidney conditions as well as strengthen the effects of certain medications -- including ACE inhibitors for high blood pressure and immunosuppressive drugs. Dr. Grossman made another important point about protecting your eyes. "Ultraviolet light encourages the proteins in the lens to clump together. So in addition to increasing levels of glutathione by eating the foods above and taking supplements, be sure to wear quality sunglasses that block UV light and a wide-brimmed hat whenever you’re out on a sunny day." Source(s): Marc Grossman, OD, LAc, is an optometrist and acupuncturist. His company, Natural Eye Care ( www.NaturalEyeCare.com), is based in New Paltz, New York. He is author of several books on the holistic approach to better vision, including Greater Vision (McGraw-Hill). 
 Prescription Drugs to Avoid Like the Plague Some drugs are just so bad, you should avoid them at all costs. If your physician won't prescribe a safer alternative -- or let you use a natural remedy -- then run (do not walk) to one who will. What kinds of drugs? - Widely used antibiotic so dangerous to your kidneys that up to 28% of those who use it develop some impairment.
- This former rat poison is now touted as a cure-all for everything from dental problems to bone loss. Banned in Japan and Europe, it's unavoidable here in the US -- unless the proper precautions are taken.
- Widely prescribed drug for high blood pressure that is so dangerous, it should be used only as a last-ditch effort if nothing else works for you.
- Popular osteoporosis drug is just a rehashed version of an older one that built bone of such poor quality, breaks actually increased. Not to mention side effects such as permanent damage to the esophagus and kidneys, stress, diarrhea, constipation, fever, calcium and vitamin D deficiencies, rashes, headaches, and muscle pain.
Read on...
Mysterious New Tick Disease Along with the pleasure of being outdoors in the summer, there is an important downside for many people -- disease-causing deer ticks. Mostly we worry about Lyme disease, but be warned -- there is a second, more mysterious deer tick disease making the rounds. Unlike Lyme disease, which is caused by a bacterium, babesiosis (pronounced bah BEE zio sis) is caused by a parasite that enters a person’s red blood cells. While Lyme disease usually signals its presence very early on with a targetlike rash, babesiosis does not have any such overt early display, so it’s especially important to be aware of its symptoms. The good news is that symptoms are so mild in many adults who contract babesiosis that they’re hardly noticeable... and they often self-resolve without a problem. (In other words, once the parasite dies out, you are completely free of it.) Other people, primarily but not only those with impaired immune systems, don’t fare so well and develop malaria-like symptoms that can be very severe. Left untreated, these symptoms can be associated with complications in the lung, heart, kidneys and/or the liver, all of which can stop functioning. This scenario hit close to home. My neighbor frequently goes to New York’s tick-filled Hudson River Valley. One morning, she woke up with a fever of 102°F, chills, sweats and muscle aches -- she also became exhausted, lost her appetite and developed a terrible headache. She had the full range of malaria symptoms. Her doctor was puzzled (a number of doctors are unaware of babesiosis currently), but a blood test revealed the problem. While Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics to kill the offending bacterium, babesiosis is a parasite that requires a different sort of microbial drug combination to kill off the minute life form in the blood. My neighbor took the drugs, but it was a full two weeks before she completely recovered -- this is typical for babesiosis treatment. The good news: Her symptoms were treated early, and she’s feeling fine. Hidden Danger To get the most up-to-date information on this alarming disease, I called Peter Krause, MD, senior research scientist and lecturer in epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Krause specializes in tick-borne diseases and has done numerous studies on babesiosis and Lyme disease. He told me that it is possible to be infected with Lyme disease and babesiosis concurrently -- if you’ve been diagnosed with Lyme and treatment isn’t completely eliminating symptoms, Dr. Krause said, be sure that your physician considers testing for babesiosis as well. The greatest danger of babesiosis is for the relatively small groups of people for whom it can be fatal. Those in the groups listed here should become familiar with the symptoms of babesiosis and see a doctor right away if typical symptoms appear and persist, especially following any visit to an area with deer ticks... - Immunocompromised people, including those with cancer or HIV, who are on immune-suppressant drugs or who have a congenital immune deficiency.
- People who lack a spleen (the spleen cleans red blood cells and so is a deterrent to any diseases or infections in the blood cells).
- People who have had a blood transfusion within the past nine weeks (more on this follows).
- People over the age of 65 and babies up to three months old.
Beware of Blood Transfusions Compared with Lyme disease, which is thought to affect 20,000 people in the US each year, babesiosis is much less common. Estimates are that there are just 1,000 US cases annually, but Dr. Krause said that the real figure is very likely much higher. In 2003, he reported the results of a 10-year study of tick-borne diseases on Block Island off the Rhode Island coast and found that babesiosis was nearly as common as Lyme disease. One reason its numbers are underestimated is that many people, as noted above, have very mild symptoms and no distinctive rash. A person who has had babesiosis can be left with the causative parasite lingering in the body for months with or without treatment. While this causes no problems -- or symptoms -- for the person infected, it complicates diagnosis and may lead to blood transfusion transmission if the infected person donates blood. The major worry is that in rare cases -- 12 thus far are known in the US -- people can die from babesiosis contracted from donated blood. There is no effective blood-screening method that prevents transfusion-transmitted babesiosis, but the FDA, NIH and CDC are aware of the problem and research is being encouraged to develop an effective screening program. Avoiding Babesiosis Of course, the best way to handle babesiosis is to avoid the ticks that carry it. Unfortunately, at the stage at which the ticks are most likely to carry disease they also are very hard to see -- about the size of a poppy seed. Dr. Krause therefore reminds people in deer tick environments to use a DEET insect repellent, wear long sleeves and pants and check every day to see if any ticks have attached to make a meal of your blood. There is good news here though -- tick-borne diseases (both Lyme and babesiosis) take 36 to 72 hours after a bite to be transmitted from the tick to the person it has bitten. Get the tick off you in time, and you are most likely in the clear. Source(s):
Peter Krause, MD, senior research scientist and lecturer in epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut. Be well, 
Carole Jackson
Bottom Line's Daily Health News
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