Which is better vitamin B, vitamin D3, or a vegetarian diet to lower the risk of stroke? Actually you need multi-vitamins and minerals from your food. Here are what the latest studies have found that made the mainstream news broadcasts: Lately the newest studies are looking at vitamin therapy for stroke risk reduction.
The latest news in the past two days is that sunshine is supposed to reduce the risk of stroke, according to a new study. Also see, Sleeping After Dinner Raises Stroke Risk - The Herbs Place News. And check out the study, Reduced vitamin D in acute stroke. What's behind the sunshine emphasis? It's vitamin D3.
Researchers are also making news about vitamin B therapy for reduction of the risk of stroke. Vitamin B therapy was once widely used to lower homocysteine levels.
Also see, Lack of Sunlight, Vitamin D Tied to Stroke Risk. Are researchers saying vitamin B versus vitamin D3 in the race to reduce risk of stroke? Basically vitamins in research are treated equally. It's the news that emphasizes one over the other at different times.
It's the vitamin D3 now in midwinter because of the lack of sunshine that's being reported. This month sunshine is emphasized in health news. That's the reason why the studies are reporting that a exposing skin to sunshine can reduce the risk of stroke. Check out the recent articles, Sunny Skies Linked to Lower Stroke Risk, Lower sunlight exposure may increase stroke risk – - CNN.com Blogs, and Heart Failure Symptoms and Treatment - Sunshine Heart – C-Pulse.
Some studies focus on having enough but not too much potassium in the diet from vegetables and fruits. Other studies emphasize how diet influences the risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. But people need to be aware of vitamin D toxicity.
That's why you need to take the 25-hydroxy vitamin D test: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia to see whether you have too low levels of vitamin D3 or whether you're at a toxic level from too many supplements. The 25-hydroxy vitamin D test is the most accurate way to measure how much vitamin D is in your body.
In the Sacramento and Davis regional areas, UC Davis researchers have linked low vitamin-D levels to an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease as well as many cancers. See, UC Davis study finds low vitamin-D levels: UC Davis Health System. And at other universities, Leslie McClure, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, says past research has shown a link between sunlight and cognitive impairment. That's a condition marked by greater memory loss than would be expected by normal aging. In the Sacramento and Davis regional area,
Vitamin therapy is still being used to help reduce risk of stroke. Locally in the Sacramento and Davis regional areas, U.C. Davis studies the role of vitamin B in possibly lowering the risk of stroke. See, Ralph Green - UC Davis Health System: Bio. Dr. Green is an expert in clinical pathology, with particular interest in diseases of the blood. He is internationally recognized for his research.
During his 35-year career, he has served as an adviser to numerous editorial boards and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, American Heart Association and National Institutes of Health. In Sacramento studies were done at UC Davis on the role of B vitamins in helping to reduce the risk of the incidence of dementia and cognitive impairment. See the U.C. Davis study's abstract, Homocysteine, B vitamins, and the incidence of dementia and cognitive impairment: studies from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging.
Dr. Green specializes in examining how deprivation of B-complex vitamins, iron and other nutritional elements affects the cardiovascular and nervous systems as well as the aging process. He has studied the role of nutrient deficiencies in dementia, coronary artery disease and stroke, as well as other chronic degenerative diseases, including cancer. He recently served on the expert panel appointed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences to recommend levels of daily intake for B-vitamins and currently is serving as a consultant to the World Health Organization.
Also, in a new study at another university, you can read more information on this topic. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published a commentary on how vitamin B therapy can still reduce the incidence of stroke. Check out the December 21, 2011 article, JAMA commentary contends vitamin therapy can still reduce stroke, which is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) commentary from a University of Western Ontario study that contends vitamin therapy can still reduce stroke.
The commentary by Dr. David Spence of the University of Western Ontario and Dr. Meir Stampfer of the Harvard School of Public Health in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) argues that vitamin therapy still has a role to play in reducing stroke.
This commentary by Dr. David Spence of The University of Western Ontario and Dr. Meir Stampfer of the Harvard School of Public Health in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) argues that vitamin therapy still has a role to play in reducing stroke. Vitamin B therapy works for those who need it.
Do you need a combination of vitamin B12 and other B vitamins in a B complex vitamin? And are your vitamins even absorbed by your body? It all depends on what your body needs for optimum health.
Vitamin B therapy was once widely used to lower homocysteine levels. Too much of this amino acid in the bloodstream was linked to increased risk of stroke and heart attack. But several randomized trials found lowering homocysteine levels with B vitamins did not result in a cardiovascular benefit. And a study by Dr. Spence, a scientist with the Robarts Research Institute at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, found Vitamin B therapy actually increased cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetic nephropathy.
Dr. Spence says this commentary provides insights that overturn the widespread belief that "homocysteine is dead." He says, according to the December 21, 2011 news release, JAMA commentary contends vitamin therapy can still reduce stroke, that two key issues have been overlooked in the interpretation of the clinical trials: the key role of vitamin B12, and the newly recognized role of renal failure.
"It is now clear that the large trials showing no benefit of vitamin therapy obscured the benefit of vitamin therapy because they lumped together patients with renal failure and those with good renal function.
The vitamins are harmful in renal failure, and beneficial in patients with good renal function, and they cancel each other out," says Dr. Spence (in the press release). Dr. Spence is the author of the book, How to Prevent Your Stroke. The authors also contend most of the trials did not use a high enough dose of vitamin B12. See, How to Prevent Your Stroke (9780826515377): J. David Spence.
Danger of Vitamin B1 Deficiency in Non-Dairy Infant Formula
Back in November of 2003 in Etah Tikva, Israel, problems were found regarding a soy-based infant formula. The label on the formula read that it contained adequate supplies of vitamin B1, but what was on the label wasn't found in the nondairy formula.
Infants were examined for Vitamin B1 deficiency after being fed with Remedia, a soya-based infant formula, at Schneider Childrens' Hospital on November 11, 2003 in Petah Tikva, Israel. The reason was that according to the Israeli Health Ministry, three babies had died and 17 others fallen seriously ill from neurological and cardiological complications back in 2003 after being fed the non-dairy baby formula that lacked essential Vitamin B1 despite packaging claims.
That's why when taking any type of vitamins, you need to be sure what's on the label is what's in the contents. The formula was produced by the German manufacturer Humana for the Israeli Remedia company which is partly owned by the Heinz international food company. So the point of this news is to find other sources than a label to see whether the product has been tested and what's in the bottle or can is the same as what's on the label, especially when it comes to vitamins in infant formulas or your own vitamin supplements.
Resources
Green R, Miller JW. Vitamin B12. In: Zempleni J, Rucker RB, Eds. Handbook of Vitamins, Fourth Edition, Boca Raton, Florida, Taylor and Francis, pp. 413-457, 2007.
Haan MN, Miller JW, Aiello AE, Whitmer RA, Jagust WJ, Mungas DM, Allen LH, Green R. Homocysteine, B vitamins and incidence of dementia and cognitive impairment: Results from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85(2):511-517, 2007.
Luchsinger JA, Tang MX, Miller J, Green R, Mayeux R. Higher folate intake is related to lower risk of Alzheimer's disease in the elderly. Arch Neurol, 64(1):86-92, 2007.
Luchsinger JA, Tang MX, Miller J, Green R, Mehta PD, Mayeux R. Relation of plasma homocysteine to plasma amyloid beta levels. Neurochem Res, 32:775-781, 2007.
Miller JW, Garrod MG, Rockwood AL, Kushnir MM, Allen LH, Haan MN, Green R. Measurement of total vitamin B12 and holotranscobalamin, singly and in combination, in screening for metabolic vitamin B12 deficiency. Clin Chem, 52:278-85, 2006.
Carkeet C, Dueker SR, Lango J, Buchholz BA, Miller JW, Green R, Hammock B, Roth JR, Anderson PJ. Specific 14C-labeling of cobalamin and accelerator mass spectrometry underlie a quantitative test for B12 absorption in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(15):5694-5699, 2006.
Campbell AK, Jagust WJ, Mungas DM, Miller JW, Green R, Haan MN, Allen LH. Low erythrocyte folate, but not plasma vitamin B-12 or homocysteine, is associated with dementia in elderly Latinos. J Nutr Health Aging, 9:39-43, 2005.
Green R, Miller JW. Vitamin B12 deficiency is the dominant nutritional cause of hyperhomocystine anemia in a folic acid-fortified population. Clin Chem Lab Med, 43:1048-51, 2005.
Ramos MI, Allen LH, Mungas DM, Jagust WJ, Haan MN, Green R, Miller JW. Low folate status is associated with impaired cognitive function and dementia in the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging. Amer J Clin Nutr, 82:1346-52, 2005.
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