Top August News Updates: Vitamin D and More on Gut Bugs

With the
summer officially over, I decided it was perfect timing to provide you with
resources to keep your little ones healthy during their enclosed, germ-lurking,
and learning quarters.

First, on my homepage blog, I provided
a resource for back to school immune support through the use of essential oils.

Second, the end of
the month also means it’s time for my review of this month’s top headlines in
wellness, nutrition, nutrigenomics, health, and medicine (see below). So, especially for you, my saratoga.com
readers, I’ve highlighted important updates on vitamin D and more news on our
belly bugs.

By providing
you with this information, I hope it will make you want to consider the role of
vitamin D and probiotics for your health and for your little one’s wellness
tool kit this school year.

Vitamin D News

Depression and Dementia

A study with one thousand
six hundred fifty-eight elderly ambulatory adults free from dementia,
cardiovascular disease, and stroke who participated in the US population-based
Cardiovascular Health Study between 1992-1993 and 1999 were studied. The
authors concluded,”Our results confirm that
vitamin D deficiency is associated with a substantially increased risk of
all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease. This adds to the ongoing debate about
the role of vitamin D in nonskeletal conditions. (doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000755.)

Vitamin D and Diabetes

In a study
that included 170 individuals with prediabetes, 125 were found to have vitamin
D deficiency or insufficiency (blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D of 30
nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) or less). The study was a randomized experiment
that gave 68 subjects powdered vitamin
D3 at a dose of 60,000 IU once weekly for eight weeks and then monthly with a
daily dose of 1,250-milligram calcium carbonate tablet. The control group consisted
of 57 subjects who received only calcium supplements. Both groups received nutritional
and exercise advice.

According to the researchers, “At
the end of the study, those who received vitamin D supplementation had much
higher vitamin D levels in the blood and lower fasting blood glucose levels
compared with the other group. Every unit (1 ng/mL) increase in vitamin D in
the body was associated with a 5.4% increased chance of reversal to normal blood
sugar levels, Dutta reported.” (Raising low vitamin D
levels lowers risk of prediabetes progressing to diabetes, in study. Nephrology
News and Review. June 22, 2014.)

This Study’s
Strengths:

1.It assessed
for need for vitamin D first

2.Had an
adequate control study

3.Provided
comprehensive support- which could also be a bias

Vitamin D
Caveats:

Remember to always have your levels monitored; I am a big
proponent at first looking for the cause of low vitamin D.

Read
my caveats here on vitamin D-since this blog, more evidence is mounting on
the use of Vitamin D!

For children-

Several
studies have shown that children with adequate levels of vitamin D have a decreased
the risk of respiratory infections. (doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-3029, PMID: 20219962)

The (Gut) Microbiome

My Belly Bug Obsession Continues….

A Link to Lupus-

According to
Medscape, there exists preliminary
evidence from animal studies that there is a connection between lifestyle
choices, microbiome health, and modulation of immune health regarding symptoms
in lupus. “The complex network of
genetic, environmental, and hormonal factors believed to contribute to systemic
lupus erythematosus (SLE) is slowly being dissected, researchers report in a special issue of Lupus devoted to
environmental causes of SLE. Several lines of research converged on the
commensal bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract (the gut microbiota), which
can be influenced by dietary and other external factors to alter immune
response, and on environmental agents that inhibit epigenetic T-cell DNA
methylation, which can trigger lupus flares in the genetically predisposed.” (Lupus
Studies Point to Gut Microbes, Epigenetics. Medscape Medical News. May 13,
2014; doi: 10.1177/0961203313501401)

Probiotics Lower Blood Pressure,
Review

A meta-analysis
in the journal Hypertension reported, “The present meta-analysis suggests that
consuming probiotics may improve BP by a modest degree, with a potentially
greater effect when baseline BP is elevated, multiple species of probiotics are
consumed, the duration of intervention is ≥8 weeks, or daily consumption dose
is ≥10¹¹ colony-forming units.” (pii: HYPERTENSIONAHA.114.03469)

For Children

A recent systematic
review in the British Journal of
Nutrition provided “evidence from a number of good-quality RCT that
probiotics reduce the duration of illness in otherwise healthy children and
adults.” (doi: 10.1017/S0007114514000075. Epub 2014 Apr 29.)

Be sure to
visit my homepage at dr-lobisco.com for August
2014 Top Holistic Health Reads to keep you empowered with wellness
information for a healthy and happy fall.

What you’ll
learn on my Top Reads:

NUTRIGENOMICS TOPICS:

New Study
Supports Sugar’s Role in the Cancer Connection

ECGC in
Green Tea-Powerful Cancer Preventative Drink?

More calcium
controversy! Is it safe for heart health in women?

Vitamin D
News

HEALTH TOPICS:

The Power of
the Mind with Asthma

The Ebola
Outbreak- Now At Level 1 Emergency

Sleep and
Metabolism:

Death Risk
and Sleep

The “Gluten
Free” Truth in Labeling

FDA Says Use
of Antibiotics Still OK in Healthy Animals

The (Gut)
Microbiome and Lupus

Probiotics Lower
Blood Pressure, Review

A Little
Running Saves Lives

No Longer Easy
Access For Consumers To Determine Safety of Hospitals

The Sweet
Spot of the Salt Shaker

Colgate Found
to Contain Questionable Ingredient Triclosan

MEDICATION NEWS:

No Numbing
Drugs Unsupervised for Teething Baby, FDA Warns

An Aspirin a
Day May Not Keep the Doctor Away

Clarithromycin
Linked to Heart Risk

Hormone
Therapy & Pain Med Updates

Inhaled
Insulin Gets Approved

Increased
Risk for Falls with 20 Common Meds