We are 5% of the worlds population but consume 50% of the prescription drugs.  Are drugs the answer? You do the math!

We cannot control what the more than 600 drug lobbyist and the deluge of enormous profits  that drug companies generate. We can, however, live more healthy lives and extend our longevity by understanding the cause of aging and disease.

Aging is due to deterioration of cellular health.  This is caused by free radical damage. What is free radical damage?  It is inflammation caused by foreign substances (even some drugs & man adulterated foods).  Toxins and pollutants are obvious foreign objects that tax your body and shorten your life.

How do free radicals cause damage? These foreign substances pollute your body chemistry.  They steal electrons from essential bio substances in your body. One of the primary ways cellular health is affected is within the mitochondria of the cell.

The mitochondria are the energy factories in every cell and they also have DNA  that is affected. Chromosomes that carry the genetic code of your cells get shortened with the onslaughts of free radicals.  This reduces the health of the cells and their assimilation of essential nutrients the body needs. Health degrades.

When you are young, there is optimal function and less accumulation of cellular damage caused by the free radicals. The body is efficient and able to handle some ill effects without  noticeable degradation. There is a build up of tissues, called anabolism.  With age, catabolism occurs…a net loss of cells and function.  Your body becomes less efficient.

The type of food you consume can be an asset or detriment. Excessive amounts of sugar, salt, trans fats and preserved foods compromise health.  The needed nutrients (enzymes, phytonutrients and vitamins) are lacking.  The body becomes less efficient in its operation and aging and declining health ensue.

Raw fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains are so essential.  Why? Heat destroys the majority of enzymes at 126 degrees Fahrenheit.  (There are over 3000 enzymes used by the body)  It does not end there.  Certain minerals, especially magnesium (used in over 325 chemical reactions of the body) are necessary to assimilate the needed nutrients.  Vitamins A, C and E are also anti oxidants that work best with whole foods.

Numerous studies demonstrate reduced cancer, heart disease (#1 killer) and all inflammatory diseases diminish when abundant (3 to 5 servings a day) of fresh fruits and vegetables  are consumed. Nuts and whole grains likewise provide essential and auxiliary  nutrients, catalysts and minerals.

Other phytonutrients (from plants) in the form of flavenoids (sources of color there) are needed also. There is reportedly over 4000 flavenoids which are antioxidants that are believed to neutralized these inflammatory free radicals.  They come from fresh, raw fruits and vegetables.  Many have not been researched, but those that have, prove to be real allies to health and longivety.  They reduce free radical damage and health degeneration.

In summary what extends longevity?

1. Reduce sugar consumption (reports vary…from 136 to 157 pounds per person per year)  It is in every prepared food and beverage. It is a risk factor in heart disease, cancer and diabetes…leading killers.
2. Reduce salt (sodium) and increase potassium. (Excess sodium is associated with high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease)  The balance should favor potassium but is usually the opposite.  (Sodium is in virtually all prepared foods)
3. Reduce toxic exposures, like smoking (A high risk factor in heart disease and cancer)
4. Get adequate essential nutrients and vitamins. (with age more are needed because of a less efficient body) Take a quality multiple vitamin as you get older.
5. Take proven supplements: D-ribose,  L-Carnitine and CoQ-10 for energy and heart health.
6. Consume raw fresh fruits and vegetables that provide phytonutrients, enzymes, minerals  & flavenoids
7. Take  in essential fatty acids ( Omega 3’s ) from supplements like flax oil or deep sea fish oils.
8. Add resveratrol supplement that stimulates the longevity gene and is an anti oxidant.
9. Perform exercise and good weight control. (obesity is a high risk factor in many diseases and statistically shortens longevity)

Technorati Tags: aging, anti oxidants, free radicals, longevity, resveratrol, supplements, vitamins

A finding with aging and reduced longevity is the shortening of chromosomes. These contain the genetic code for all of your cells. (Telomeres are the tips of the chromosomes that shorten with age)  Function of the cells naturally deteriorates when there is a shortening of the chromosomes and this affects future generations.

When you are young there is  build up, growth and increase of cell function. The process is called “anabolic”.  With age the breakdown and deterioration of cellular function exceeds build up.  This process is called “catabolic”. Why does this slow down occur? Free radical damage is the answer.

Free radicals steal electrons  and cause oxidative damage to your biochemistry. This  causes aging and breakdown of your cells. Normal biochemistry produces some free radicals but when  scavengers and dietary intake of anti-oxidants is deficient, breakdown and shorted longevity occurs.

Assimilation of whole, raw, healthy food is replaced by packaged foods, excess fats, sugar, and preserved foods. This means that essential vitamins, enzymes, flavenoids, catalysts and phytonutrients found in whole, unprocessed food is deficient.  There are over 3000 enzymes in raw vegetables and fruit…many are lost with heat and preservatives.  There are over 4000 flavenoids…many of unknown function, but important.

Numerous studies demonstrate increased cancer, heart disease and all degenerative diseases when foreign substances (toxins, drugs, and foreign…man adulterated foods, are consumed. Over 80,000 foreign chemicals are known to have  contact with humans. This gives reason why, and argument for, known anti oxidants that neutralize these free radicals.

Supplements that help keep the body from deterioration and aging are vitamins A, E, and C. Other anti-oxidants are CoQ-10, resveratrol and Omega 3’s (essential fatty acids).

Foods that cause excessive free radical damage are too much sugar, fats and the trans fats. ( Trans fats are hydrogenated vegetable oils that have filled all docking sites on the molecule.  This produces an inert foreign substance that is hard to metabolize and get rid of.)

According to Mark Hyman, M.D., large, regular doses of drugs such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), deplete an important natural anti oxidant, glutathione. Glutathione is a very powerful anti oxidant that is an immune builder and anti inflammatory agent.  It is one of the body’s best anti oxidants and disease killers.

Long term use of a drug (or a foreign substance) can cause cognitive decline. Foreign substances become neurotoxins that pollute neurotransmission. (normal message conduction and communication)

Good diet and good supplements are real assets for longevity in contrast to the popular notion that treating symptoms with drugs can make you more healthy…Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

Technorati Tags: aging, anti oxidants, free radical damage, glutathione, longevity

It’s a real paradox…seemingly untrue fact.  The United  States health is not the best in the world; in one report it is even worse than Cuba’s.  It’s terrible, we live a shortened life expectancy!  With our advanced health care, how can this be?

Paradoxically it all started with one of the greatest medical breakthroughs, when Louis Pasteur discovered, in the mid 1800’s,  that germs ( unseen microorganisms…bacteria, fungus, viruses) are the cause of infections, breakdown of general health and food spoilage. With sanitation and more sterile medical procedures, the survival rates skyrocketed and complications of surgery plummeted.

This fueled the idea of “treat the pathogens, invaders and substances” that breakdown our bodies and stop the disease. There was an opposing school of thought that followed the path of “strengthen the body and its natural defenses”.  Today it is known as alternative medicine.

Alternative medicine emphasizes the natural and anything that bolsters the strength and immunity of the body by providing the nutrients and raw materials for optimal function. God created a marvelous “machine” called human body which can endure many insults and assaults and not only survive, but also repair itself.

The former health protocol means treat the symptoms when they appear, the alternative emphasizes strengthen the defenses and try to prevent and deny disease any opportunities. Treat the symptoms means that drugs become the weapons of health.  But are they really?

Drug companies have thrived and greatly prospered. The public is duped into believing that a drug can cure any disease or prevent any ill.  People want a quick solution and “pills” seem to be the answer.  Drugs and doctors never heal, your body heals itself. At best, drugs are an aid, a help to the body.

Let’s go back to the longevity statistics.  In one study reported, we are 37th in longevity in the world.  Another says 42nd in longevity.  With infant mortality, we rate number 5.
Multiple sources confirm this fact of poor health and longevity in the USA:

•    World Health Organization says 37th  in longevity
•    United Nations Health says 38th  in longevity
•    United States Census says 42nd in longevity

With over 2 trillion dollars spent on health care each year, with cutting edge health research and innovation, how can this be?

It seems clear to me that since we are only 5 % of the world’s population and we consume over 50% of the prescription drugs, drugs are not the answer but emerge as the problem. The pain relief drug Vioxx was pulled from the market because of over 100,000 deaths in one year. Its cousin, Celebrex, works in a similar way yet is still used in mainstream medicine.

Here is what the Journal of The Royal Society of Medicine said about Celebrex, in March 2006: The one remaining “safe” Cox 2 inhibitor has now been found to double heart attack risk.

The JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) in October 2006, stated that 2 new studies bring into question the safety of Cox inhibitors (pain relievers) in general. They cite new findings about NSAID’s (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs)…aspirin, ibuprofen, Aleve.  Bleeding tendencies and joint cartilage destruction are reported with long term used of these drugs. Alternative doctors have remedies that compete with drugs.

Drug companies have multi-billion dollar budgets, have over 600 lobbyists in Washington and powerful legal resources. Many spend 25% of their budgets on marketing (have you notice TV lately?) and only less than 8% on research and development.  Health care is in your hands, be careful about giving it to others…Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

Technorati Tags: aging, alternative medicine, health care, longevity