The Essentials You Need To Keep Yours Eyes Healthy

• Lutein and Zeaxanthin are used by your body to produce the macular pigment that absorbs UV rays before they can damage your retina
• Bilberry promotes the strength and elasticity of microcapillaries in the eyes and optic nerve, and supports the millions of nerve cells and blood vessels in the retina
• Vitamin C protects the eye from sunlight-induced diminutions of photoreceptor cells, rod deterioration, and loss of rhodopsin
• Vitamin A helps maintain a crystal-clear cornea and prevent clouding over, and also helps improve night vision
• Vitamin E and Selenium flush out toxic heavy metals like cadmium from eye tissue--levels of which have been found to be higher in the lenses of cataract patients
• Taurine is vitally needed in the retina where it blocks UV rays and helps protect the lens
• Riboflavin is part of the enzyme system that maintains the lens' supply of glutathione -- a major free radical fighter in the eye
• Zinc -- so essential to a normally functioning retina that deficiencies of it can lead to vision loss and inability to see clearly at night.
• Copper attacks free radicals and protects optic nerve fiber by maintaining myelin, the insulating sheath that surrounds nerve cell

It's never too late to begin protecting your eyes against the ravages of free radicals.

Source: HSI

Posted: True Health Is True Wealth

Beat Prostate Cancer Naturally

At some point in life, about one in six American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, which is second only to lung cancer among the leading causes of cancer deaths in men.

Scientists are just beginning to understand that inflammation may play a key role in prostate cancer’s development, but they have found that the degree of inflammation may play a huge role in survival chances. Men with prostate cancer who have higher levels of inflammatory chemicals have poorer prognoses than those with lower levels, researchers say.

The inflammation may be too subtle for a doctor to pick up, but obvious inflammatory conditions have been present for decades in a majority of cases. For example, one might have chronic prostatitis for 15-20 years before prostate cancer develops. 

Most cancer researchers believe the most common risk to developing cancer is age. The older we get, the more likely we are to develop a cancer. As we age, our bodies become more inflamed, and those with the greatest inflammation are at the greatest risk of cancer.

As we age, our DNA becomes damaged and our bodies become less able to repair it. That’s when a healthy diet is especially vital. Diets are a major factor in the chances of developing prostate cancer. Scientific evidence indicates that a diet high in vegetable oils, red meats, trans fats, and sugar, but low in selenium, natural vitamin E, zinc, and lycopene greatly increases a man’s risk.

But special nutrients and nutrient combinations help fight prostate cancer. They include:

• Selenium. One double-blind study found that selenium supplementation reduced prostate cancer by 63 percent.
• Vitamin E. In one study, men with the highest gamma-vitamin E had a five-fold reduction in prostate cancer risk.
• Quercetin. This nutrient found in onions dramatically reduces inflammation in the prostate gland and protects DNA
• Cucurmin. Found in the Indian spice turmeric, curcurmin curtails the growth of prostate cancers.
• Lycopene. A powerful anti-inflammatory, it’s the pigment that gives tomatoes their red color.
• Indole-3 carbinol. A broccoli extract that can reduce a swollen, inflamed prostate dramatically when combined with lycopene.

One study found that the most common link to prostate cancer was the consumption of milk, especially non-fat milk. In fact, more than two-thirds of cases were attributed to milk consumption. The reason appears to be high amounts of calcium, since taking calcium supplements also dramatically increased risk.

Other studies have shown that diets containing more than 2,000 milligrams of calcium a day (from all sources) dramatically increase the number of advanced prostate cancers when compared with diets containing fewer than 500 milligrams.

There is also a strong correlation between calories from sugars and carbohydrates and the early development of prostate cancer. High caloric intake increased risk 267 percent in one study. This is a significant risk factor because Americans consume tremendous amounts of sugar.

You can take many to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer. If you combine all of the factors that we know, you can make your risk of developing prostate cancer extremely low. 

Antioxidants Save Trauma Patients

Antioxidants like vitamin C can make the difference between life and death in critically injured patients, according to a new study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. The study showed that antioxidants can heavily influence whether patients suffer potentially lethal major multiple organ failure after surgery for traumatic injuries.

In spite of modern surgical techniques and the use of the latest antibiotics, many trauma victims who survive their injury frequently die of multiple-organ failure following surgery. According to study leader Bryan Cotton, MD, FACS, such deaths are often the result of “oxidative stress,” which is the result of the release into the body of injured oxygen molecules known as free radicals.

Dr. Cotton said previous research has shown that in critically injured patents the store of antioxidants, which serve to neutralize free radicals, is quickly depleted. While antibiotics are essential following surgery, they are by themselves not enough, according to the study. Antioxidant therapy, in the form of vitamins C and E and the mineral selenium, can quickly replenish the body’s stores and help overcome fatal infections.

“Antioxidant therapy is so simple and that’s what throws people off,” Dr. Cotton said, who became interested in it after seeing results of a trial that showed inflammation in patients who received antioxidants was greatly improved over patients who did not. “When we learned it would cost only $11 a patient for a seven-day course of antioxidants, we decided to give it a try.”

The study tracked over 4,000 patients admitted to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center trauma unit. High-dose antioxidants were administered to all injured patients (about 2,200) between October 1, 2005, and September 30, 2006. Treatment included 1,000 mg. of vitamin C and 1,000 IU of vitamin E every eight hours by mouth, and 200 mcg. of selenium once a day intravenously. Results of the treatment were compared to about 2,000 patients admitted between October 1, 2005 and September 20, 2005, which was in the time period before antioxidant treatment was initiated.

In the patients who received the antioxidant treatment, abdominal compartment syndrome occurrences were reduced from 90 to 31, catheter-related infections were reduced from 75 to 50, surgical site infections from 101 to 44, and pulmonary failure reduced from 721 to 528.

The study team is now trying to determine optimal dosage. Dr. Cotton said, “While we are all looking for that magic bullet to cure some of the horrible things that can happen after someone is injured or has an operation, we have something at our disposal.

It might not be that magic bullet, but it is a very inexpensive and safe way to reduce complications and mortality in the sickest patients.”