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Herbal Remedies Natural Health Newsletter, March 2005, Issue 244

Herbal Remedies March 2005 Natural Health Newsletter Issue 244 Sponsored by www.HerbalRemedies.com Toll Free for orders 1-866-467-6444 Issue Editor - Heather Bowman

Herbs - Vitamins - Minerals - Magnetics - Candles - Aromatherapy - Holiday Gifts - Bath & Beauty - Essential Oils - Condition & Ailment Guide - Women's Health - Men's Health - Weight Loss - Health Books New Insight Into Green Tea's Action on Bladder Cancer - Click here for full story. St. John's Wort Revisited: More Hope for Treating Severe Depression - Click here for full story. Choline: Helping B-Vitamins Decrease Homocysteine Levels as Well as Your Risk of Heart Disease - Click here for full story. CoEnzyme Q10: The Key to Preventing Heart Disease? - Click here for full story. Beyond Fish Oil: Five Other Foods that Will Help You Fight Inflammation - Click here for full story. Our Sponsors Enter coupon code "NL030205" when checking out to obtain discounts on your next purchase from http://www.HerbalRemedies.com

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New Insight Into Green Tea's Action on Bladder Cancer Reprinted with permission from www.NutraIngredients.com, February 16, 2005 Green tea extract is able to target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone, researchers have found for the first time, adding further support to its potential as a cancer prevention agent. The UCLA team has also uncovered more about how Green tea extract counteracts the development of cancer. This could allow researchers to work out which people could benefit from the extract. About 500 metric tons of green tea extract were sold in Europe during 2003, mostly for use in beverages and cosmetics. But the extracts are set to be increasingly used in supplements as evidence of their benefits gain weight. Numerous epidemiological and animal studies have suggested that green tea extract provides strong anti-cancer effects in several human cancers, including bladder cancer. In 2003, U.S. researchers found that the active ingredient in green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), blocked the growth of bladder tumors in rats. Green tea extract has been shown to induce death in cancer cells, as well as inhibiting the development of an independent blood supply that cancers develop so they can grow and spread. In the new study on bladder cancer cell lines, scientists demonstrated that the plant extract interrupts a process that is crucial in allowing bladder cancer to become invasive and spread to other areas of the body. The findings, published in the 15 February issue of Clinical Cancer Research, “add a new dimension in understanding the mechanisms of green tea extract," said senior author JianYu Rao. The researchers have found that green tea extract affects actin remodeling, an event associated with cell movement. For cancer to grow and spread, the malignant cells must be able to move in order to invade other healthy cells and eventually other organs. The cells rely on actin remodeling, which is carefully regulated by complex signaling pathways, including the Rho pathway. By inducing Rho signaling, the green tea extract made the cancer cells more mature and made them bind together more closely - a process called cell adhesion. Both the maturity of the cells and the adhesion inhibited the mobility of the cancer cells, Rao said. "In effect, the green tea extract may keep the cancer cells confined and localized, where they are easier to treat and the prognosis is better," Rao said. "Cancer cells are invasive and green tea extract interrupts the invasive process of the cancer." Rao cautioned that his study was conducted in a carefully controlled cell line environment and that more research needs to be done to discover exactly how green tea extract functions as a cancer fighter. The next phase of his research will analyze urine from bladder cancer patients to determine which subset of patients would benefit most from taking green tea extract. Researchers will be looking for specific biomarkers associated with actin remodeling and activation of the Rho signaling pathway. "We're hoping the results from these studies will tell us who will best benefit from the agent," Rao said. He explained that knowing how it works to inhibit the development of cancer will allow researchers to “figure out more precisely which bladder cancer patients might benefit from taking it". Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men in the UK and the 10th most common in women. In the US about 56,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The disease can be difficult to detect in the early, most treatable stages. When not found early, the tumors can be aggressive, and more than half of patients with advanced cancers experience recurrences. UCLA researchers are also currently seeking hundreds of former smokers who have had bladder cancer for a clinical trial studying whether green tea extract prevents recurrence - one of the first studies to test the agent on cancer patients. About half of all bladder cancers are believed to be related to cigarette smoking. They are also aiming to develop new biomarker tests to help predict who will get bladder cancer, discover the molecular profile of the disease to identify those most at risk and create a tumor bank to aid research. "In the end, both studies will help us achieve our goal - to decrease bladder cancer occurrence and develop molecular profiles that tell us who is most at risk." Epidemiological studies have also shown selenium and vitamin E to decrease the risk of bladder cancer.

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St. John's Wort Revisited: More Hope for Treating Severe Depression By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, February 13, 2005, abstracted from “Acute treatment of moderate to severe depression with hypericum extract WS 5570 (St John's wort): randomised controlled double blind non-inferiority trial versus paroxetine” posted online February 11, 2005 on the British Medical Journal Website Hypericum extract WS 5570, also known as St John's Wort (SJW), is an herb that has been found to be better than placebo in helping treat symptoms of mild to moderate depression (1) while also having comparative success against the cyclic antidepressants maprotiline,(2) imipramine,(3) and amitryptiline.(4) When compared to the popular prescription depression drug fluoxetine, St. John’s Wort was also able to hold its own.(5) For major depression, however, SJW’s effectiveness is controversial at best. Now a new study in the British Medical Journal has provided more evidence that St. John’s Wort may indeed be an effective treatment for moderate to major depression, a condition that afflicts nearly 10 million Americans and is the leading cause of disability worldwide.(6) In the study, researchers compared SJW and the popular prescription drug paroxetine in 251 patients between 18 and 70 years of age with acute major depression. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either 900 mg per day of SJW three times a day or 20 mg of paroxetine per day for six weeks. Using the Hamilton Depression Scale, researchers found that SJW patients decreased their scores by an average of 14.4 points while the paroxetine patients saw an average decrease of 11.4 points. Finally, paroxetine produced 56% more adverse side effects than SJW. These results led the researchers to conclude that SJW, particularly hypericum extract WS 5570, is “at least as effective as paroxetine over six weeks of acute treatment in outpatients with moderate or severe unipolar major depression.” Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at ChiroDocPSUalum@msn.com or by visiting his website www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com. Reference: 1 Linde, K. and C. D. Mulrow (2000). "St John's wort for depression." Cochrane Database Syst Rev(2): CD000448 2 Harrer, G., W. D. Hubner, et al. (1994). "Effectiveness and tolerance of the hypericum extract LI 160 compared to maprotiline: a multicenter double-blind study." J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 7 Suppl 1: S24-8 3 Philipp, M., R. Kohnen, et al. (1999). "Hypericum extract versus imipramine or placebo in patients with moderate depression: randomised multicentre study of treatment for eight weeks." Bmj 319(7224): 1534-8 4 Wheatley, D. (1997). "LI 160, an extract of St. John's wort, versus amitriptyline in mildly to moderately depressed outpatients--a controlled 6-week clinical trial." Pharmacopsychiatry 30 Suppl 2: 77-80 5 Harrer, G., U. Schmidt, et al. (1999). "Comparison of equivalence between the St. John's wort extract LoHyp-57 and fluoxetine." Arzneimittelforschung 49(4): 289-96 6 Szegedi A. Acute treatment of moderate to severe depression with hypericum extract WS 5570 (St John's wort): randomised controlled double blind non-inferiority trial versus paroxetine. British Medical Journal Online February 11, 2005 7 “The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America” from the National Institutes of Mental Health Website www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/numbers.cfm

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Choline: Helping B-Vitamins Decrease Homocysteine Levels as Well as Your Risk of Heart Disease By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, February 10, 2005, abstracted from "Choline deficiency in mice and humans is associated with increased plasma homocysteine concentration after a methionine load” in the February 1, 2005 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Homocysteine (Hcy) is an amino acid that is not used directly by the body but must instead be converted into cysteine and taurine, important nutrients for the heart, liver and glutathione production. If the body does not convert Hcy into cysteine and taurine, and its level increases in the body, heart disease risk increases. Some experts even speculate that Hcy is the single greatest biochemical risk factor for heart disease, contributing to 90% of cardiovascular problems.(1) Fortunately, research has found B-vitamin supplementation, namely B12 and folic acid , to be very effective in helping lower Hcy levels.(2) Now a new study(3) has found a third vitamin, choline, may also play a role in decreasing Hcy levels and decreasing your risk of heart disease . In the study, researchers fed mice diets containing either 0, 10, or 35 mmol choline for three weeks. In addition, eight men were fed a diet providing 550 mg choline per day per 70 kg body weight for 10 days and then fed a diet providing almost no choline until the subjects became choline-deficient. After each phase, both groups were given methionine, an amino acid of which Hcy is a by-product when broken down, to both groups. The researchers speculated that choline supplementation would be able to negate the Hcy level increases caused by methionine metabolism. The researchers found that the choline-deficient mice had plasma homocysteine concentrations double those of choline-fed mice two hours after the methionine load while the choline-depleted men had plasma homocysteine concentrations that were 35 percent greater than those in control subjects four hours after the methionine load. These results led the researchers to conclude that “ choline, like folate, plays an important role in the metabolism of homocysteine in humans.” More importantly, we now have knowledge of another supplement that can help us fight heart disease. Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at ChiroDocPSUalum@msn.com or by visiting his website www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com. Reference: 1 LEF (2003). Life Extension Foundation's Guide to Disease Prevention and Treament, Life Extension Media. Fourth Edition. p. 419-421 2 Lee, B. J., M. C. Huang, et al. (2004). "Folic acid and vitamin B12 are more effective than vitamin B6 in lowering fasting plasma homocysteine concentration in patients with coronary artery disease." Eur J Clin Nutr 58(3): 481-7 3 Zylberstein, D. E., C. Bengtsson, et al. (2004). "Serum homocysteine in relation to mortality and morbidity from coronary heart disease: a 24-year follow-up of the population study of women in Gothenburg." Circulation 109(5): 601-6

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CoEnzyme Q10: The Key to Preventing Heart Disease? By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, January 31, 2005, abstracted from "Cardiovascular risk factors emerge after artificial selection for low aerobic capacity” in the January 21, 2005 issue of Science Despite tremendous advances in understanding heart disease, it still remains the number one killer among Americans, claiming over 700,000 lives in 2002. Recent research advances have found that chronic inflammation(1) and the lack of omega-3 fatty acids in our diet(2) play a key role in the onset of heart disease . Now new research(3) has found that the steps leading toward heart disease may start at the cellular level, particularly in a component of the cell called the mitochondrion. Known as the “powerhouse of the cell,” the mitochondrion is responsible for generating all the energy used by each cell. In the study, researchers bred 11 generations of rats and artificially selected for exercise capacity. The better the exercise capacity, hypothesized the researchers, the better the mitochondrial function of each cell. This artificial selection put the rats in two different groups: low-capacity runners (LCRs) and high-capacity runners (HCRs) based on how long they could run on a treadmill until exhaustion. After the eleventh generation of breeding, the researcher found LCR rats averaged 14 minutes until exhaustion while HCR rats ran for over 41 minutes, an astounding 347% difference. The HCR rats also had a 48% greater maximal absolute carotid artery relaxation, interpreted as better endothelial function, than the LCRs. Finally, they found that LCR rats had 13% higher blood pressure readings than HCRs and were insulin-resistant compared with HCR rats. Although they did not prove a direct cause-effect relationship, the researchers were able to conclude that “impaired regulation of oxidative pathways in mitochondria may be a common factor linking reduced total-body aerobic capacity to CV and metabolic disease." When looking at this study, it may be reasonable to suggest that Coenzyme Q10 may help prevent heart disease. Recent research found CoQ10 to be effective in helping maintain mitochondrial function(4) while another study5 found CoQ10 to be effective in helping treat conditions marked by mitochondrial dysfunction including Parkinson’s Disease .(5) Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at ChiroDocPSUalum@msn.com or by visiting his website www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com. Reference: 1 Wallace, R., D. Wallace, et al. (2004). "Coronary heart disease, chronic inflammation, and pathogenic social hierarchy: a biological limit to possible reductions in morbidity and mortality." J Natl Med Assoc 96(5): 609-19 2 Lemaitre, R. N., I. B. King, et al. (2003). "n-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids, fatal ischemic heart disease, and nonfatal myocardial infarction in older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study." Am J Clin Nutr 77(2): 319-25 3 Wisloff, U., S. M. Najjar, et al. (2005). "Cardiovascular risk factors emerge after artificial selection for low aerobic capacity." Science 307(5708): 418-20 4 Ebadi, M., S. K. Sharma, et al. (2004). "Coenzyme Q10 inhibits mitochondrial complex-1 down-regulation and nuclear factor-kappa B activation." J Cell Mol Med 8(2): 213-22 5 Beal, M. F. (2004). "Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and coenzyme Q10 as a potential treatment." J Bioenerg Biomembr 36(4): 381-6

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Beyond Fish Oil: Five Other Foods that Will Help You Fight Inflammation By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, January 25, 2005, abstracted from “Seven Ways To Protect Your Heart With Anti-Inflammatory Alternatives” from Dr. Mercola’s online newsletter #602 Many people now realize the pivotal role inflammation plays many of the chronic diseases that afflict our society including heart disease ,(1) type 2 diabetes ,(2) arthritis ,(3) Alzheimer’s (4) and Parkinson’s Disease .(5) Nutritionally, omega-3 fatty acids in the form of fish oil are regarded as the best way to decrease this inflammation. As a result, many people now know about fish oil but few people know about these five other supplements that also play a significant role in decreasing inflammation: GINGER. This wondrous root contains 6-gingerol, an anti-inflammatory compound shown to decrease inflammation that is thought to contribute to cancer.(6) BOSWELLIA. Research has found boswellia to be effective in helping quell the inflammation associated with ulcerative colitis, a common intestinal condition.(7) BROMELAIN . Similar to Boswellia, Bromelain has very strong effects on decreasing intestinal inflammation(8) while it has also been found to help with arthritis symptoms.(9) EVENING PRIMROSE , BLACK CURRANT, AND BORAGE OIL. These three oils are grouped together because of their high levels of Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA). GLA’s ability to decrease both acute and chronic inflammation has been known for over 15 years.(10) Recent research found 1.4 grams of GLA in borage seed oil daily to reduce the number of tender joints 36% and the swollen joint count by 28%.(11) In conclusion, although inflammation has become rampant in our society because of our diet, there are many ways to counteract this inflammation and help keep you free of chronic disease. Greg Arnold is a chiropractic physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at ChiroDocPSUalum@msn.com or by visiting his website www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com. Reference: 1 Sinisalo, J. (2000). Relation of inflammation to vascular function in patients with coronary heart disease..Atherosclerosis; 149(2): 403-11 2 Finegood, D.T. Obesity, inflammation and type II diabetes. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2003; 27: Suppl 3: S4-5 3 Sturmer, T., H. Brenner, et al. Severity and extent of osteoarthritis and low grade systemic inflammation as assessed by high sensitivity C reactive protein. Ann Rheum Dis 2004; 63(2): 200-5 4 Potter, H., I. M. The inflammation-induced pathological chaperones ACT and apo-E are necessary catalysts of Alzheimer amyloid formation. Neurobiol Aging 2001; 22(6): 923-30 5 McGeer, P.L. and E.G. McGeer, Inflammation and neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord, 2004. 10 Suppl 1: p. S3-7 6 Park, K. K., K. S. Chun, et al. (1998). "Inhibitory effects of [6]-gingerol, a major pungent principle of ginger, on phorbol ester-induced inflammation, epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and skin tumor promotion in ICR mice." Cancer Lett 129(2): 139-44 7 Gupta, I., A. Parihar, et al. (1997). "Effects of Boswellia serrata gum resin in patients with ulcerative colitis." Eur J Med Res 2(1): 37-43 8 Hale, L. P. (2004). "Proteolytic activity and immunogenicity of oral bromelain within the gastrointestinal tract of mice." Int Immunopharmacol 4(2): 255-64 9 Walker, A. F., R. Bundy, et al. (2002). "Bromelain reduces mild acute knee pain and improves well-being in a dose-dependent fashion in an open study of otherwise healthy adults." Phytomedicine 9(8): 681-6 10 Tate, G., B. F. Mandell, et al. (1989). "Suppression of acute and chronic inflammation by dietary gamma linolenic acid." J Rheumatol 16(6): 729-34 11 Zurier, R. B., R. G. Rossetti, et al. (1996). "gamma-Linolenic acid treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial." Arthritis Rheum 39(11): 1808-17 Do you have a question for us? If so please send in your questions to newseditor@herbalremedies.com We will answer all email ASAP!

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