Sunshine and
Cancer
Melanoma, the
deadliest kind of skin cancer, has become an American epidemic.
A new CDC report shows that melanoma cases have doubled over the past 30 years -- and 65,000 Americans will get the life-changing diagnosis this year alone.
But before you run to slather sunscreen all over yourself, there's something you need to know.
Nearly everything you've been told about how to prevent skin cancer, especially melanomas, is wrong, wrong, wrong.
We've been lied to for decades about how to be safe in the sun -- and this new CDC report proves that people are dying as a result.
Ten years ago Harvard professor Dr. Edward Giovanucci stood up at a meeting of top cancer scientists and told them they were full of it. He declared that their overly aggressive recommendations on avoiding sun exposure were going to cause 30 times more deaths than they prevented.
They nearly laughed Dr. Giovanucci out of academia -- but now he looks like a genius.
Because a growing body of evidence is proving that reduced sun exposure may be causing the spike in melanoma cases throughout America.
If sunscreens were the silver bullet for preventing skin cancer, we should have seen the melanoma rate bottom out years ago. Americans are buying nearly $1 billion worth of sunscreen every year -- compared to just $18 million in 1972 -- and the FDA is recommending it for everyone over six months old
But sunscreen sales and skin cancer rates have risen at the exact same time And researchers are finding that people who spend the most time out of the sun may have the highest risk of developing a deadly melanoma.
While people who work outside get 3 to 10 times as much UV exposure annually as indoor workers, their rates of the most deadly kinds of melanomas (cutaneous malignant melanoma, or CMM) are typically lower than people who work in offices.
That comes from a study by Dianne E. Godar, a chemist with the FDA, and previous research by the World Health Organization has found the same thing.
In fact, a study published in The Lancet a decade ago also found a "decreased risk of melanoma" in people who work outdoors. The researchers said that chronic sunlight exposure seemed to have a "protective effect."
Now I'm not saying that spending too long in the sun without protection is safe. Because it isn't. Too much sun exposure can cause skin cancer, especially if you get a burn.
But getting the right type of sun exposure at the right time can also prevent skin cancer -- and that's something that plenty of scientists and doctors have forgotten.
The UVB rays from the sun help your body fill up its stores of vitamin D. There have probably been more studies on vitamin D (the "sunshine vitamin") than any other vitamin, mineral or hormone that your body requires. And it's been found time and time again to be one of the most potent cancer fighters out there.
So when we cover ourselves with sunscreen all the time -- or completely avoid the sun -- we promote skin cancer in two ways.
First, we prevent our bodies from making enough vitamin D. Second, many sunscreens contain an ingredient -- a form of vitamin A called retinyl palmitate -- that can actually promote skin cancer.
To make sure your body has a healthy supply of vitamin D, your skin should be exposed to the sun for around 10 to 20 minutes each day (depending on how fair you are). Make sure you don't burn.
And when you're getting sun exposure, remember that UVB rays are what you want, because they allow your body to make vitamin D.
This time of the year in the U.S. you'll probably find that those beneficial UVB rays will be shining from 10 A.M. to around 4 P.M.
A new CDC report shows that melanoma cases have doubled over the past 30 years -- and 65,000 Americans will get the life-changing diagnosis this year alone.
But before you run to slather sunscreen all over yourself, there's something you need to know.
Nearly everything you've been told about how to prevent skin cancer, especially melanomas, is wrong, wrong, wrong.
We've been lied to for decades about how to be safe in the sun -- and this new CDC report proves that people are dying as a result.
Ten years ago Harvard professor Dr. Edward Giovanucci stood up at a meeting of top cancer scientists and told them they were full of it. He declared that their overly aggressive recommendations on avoiding sun exposure were going to cause 30 times more deaths than they prevented.
They nearly laughed Dr. Giovanucci out of academia -- but now he looks like a genius.
Because a growing body of evidence is proving that reduced sun exposure may be causing the spike in melanoma cases throughout America.
If sunscreens were the silver bullet for preventing skin cancer, we should have seen the melanoma rate bottom out years ago. Americans are buying nearly $1 billion worth of sunscreen every year -- compared to just $18 million in 1972 -- and the FDA is recommending it for everyone over six months old
But sunscreen sales and skin cancer rates have risen at the exact same time And researchers are finding that people who spend the most time out of the sun may have the highest risk of developing a deadly melanoma.
While people who work outside get 3 to 10 times as much UV exposure annually as indoor workers, their rates of the most deadly kinds of melanomas (cutaneous malignant melanoma, or CMM) are typically lower than people who work in offices.
That comes from a study by Dianne E. Godar, a chemist with the FDA, and previous research by the World Health Organization has found the same thing.
In fact, a study published in The Lancet a decade ago also found a "decreased risk of melanoma" in people who work outdoors. The researchers said that chronic sunlight exposure seemed to have a "protective effect."
Now I'm not saying that spending too long in the sun without protection is safe. Because it isn't. Too much sun exposure can cause skin cancer, especially if you get a burn.
But getting the right type of sun exposure at the right time can also prevent skin cancer -- and that's something that plenty of scientists and doctors have forgotten.
The UVB rays from the sun help your body fill up its stores of vitamin D. There have probably been more studies on vitamin D (the "sunshine vitamin") than any other vitamin, mineral or hormone that your body requires. And it's been found time and time again to be one of the most potent cancer fighters out there.
So when we cover ourselves with sunscreen all the time -- or completely avoid the sun -- we promote skin cancer in two ways.
First, we prevent our bodies from making enough vitamin D. Second, many sunscreens contain an ingredient -- a form of vitamin A called retinyl palmitate -- that can actually promote skin cancer.
To make sure your body has a healthy supply of vitamin D, your skin should be exposed to the sun for around 10 to 20 minutes each day (depending on how fair you are). Make sure you don't burn.
And when you're getting sun exposure, remember that UVB rays are what you want, because they allow your body to make vitamin D.
This time of the year in the U.S. you'll probably find that those beneficial UVB rays will be shining from 10 A.M. to around 4 P.M.
Blood Pressure
Facts
If you're
treating your high blood pressure with prescription drugs, there's something
you need to know before you swallow that next pill.
You've probably been told that lowering your blood pressure to a "normal" range will help you avoid a heart attack or stroke.
But what you haven't been told is that doctors can't even agree on what a normal range is. They're using targets that are too low... that have been scientifically debunked... and that may be exposing millions of patients to cognitive decline and even Alzheimer's disease.
Most doctors still think of blood pressure readings like their golf scores -- the lower the better.
They'll pump you full of diuretics, ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers until you hit some "ideal" target like 120/80.
But the science behind what many doctors call normal blood pressure is shaky at best. And treating your blood pressure to ridiculously low levels could literally starve your brain and leave you at risk for dementia and Alzheimer's.
That's because as you age, too low blood pressure can cause your brain to get an insufficient supply of blood. Studies out of both Italy and the Netherlands found that seniors who had the lowest blood pressure (which they achieved by taking prescription drugs) were far more likely to suffer from cognitive decline and dementia.
So could skipping those dangerous meds... even if you have blood pressure that's a little high by today's standards... be the key to preventing Alzheimer's? Believe it or not, the answer appears to be yes.
An international research team recently analyzed medical records for nearly 30,000 people and found that those with higher blood pressure were also much less likely to have Alzheimer's.
"Our results are the opposite of what people might think," admitted Dr. Paul Crane, a University of Washington associate professor and one of the study's co-authors.
Allowing your blood pressure to creep north of the 120/80 ideal target may seem frightening. But even some of the country's top cardiologists admit that what we're defining as "normal" blood pressure these days was practically pulled out of thin air.
You see, back in the 1950s, a good reading was said to be a systolic (top number) of 100 plus your age. You could be a senior with a systolic reading of 150 or higher and nobody would think to prescribe you a pill.
That all changed a decade later when a VA hospital study claimed to prove that lowering blood pressure saves lives. And the next thing you knew, we lowered blood pressure targets and docs started handing out prescription drugs like Halloween candy.
Of course, we know now that the VA study was deeply flawed. It focused only on the bottom (or diastolic) reading, not the systolic number that is more important and that is targeted with blood pressure meds.
But between the VA study and plenty of slick drug company marketing, doctors were convinced to lower our blood pressure to unheard-of levels. And it looks like our brains... especially seniors' brains...are paying the price.
Fortunately, some doctors are waking up to the dangers of over-treating blood pressure and driving our levels too low.
A panel convened by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute now claims that people over 60 should never be given a drug unless their systolic number is over 150.
That's awfully similar to recommendations you would have heard half a century ago. And it proves that millions of Americans are taking blood pressure meds right now that they don't need.
If you might be one of them, you and your doctor need to think about ditching these drugs for good. While you can still think clearly.
Article written by Jenny Thompson at Health Science Institute
You've probably been told that lowering your blood pressure to a "normal" range will help you avoid a heart attack or stroke.
But what you haven't been told is that doctors can't even agree on what a normal range is. They're using targets that are too low... that have been scientifically debunked... and that may be exposing millions of patients to cognitive decline and even Alzheimer's disease.
Most doctors still think of blood pressure readings like their golf scores -- the lower the better.
They'll pump you full of diuretics, ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers until you hit some "ideal" target like 120/80.
But the science behind what many doctors call normal blood pressure is shaky at best. And treating your blood pressure to ridiculously low levels could literally starve your brain and leave you at risk for dementia and Alzheimer's.
That's because as you age, too low blood pressure can cause your brain to get an insufficient supply of blood. Studies out of both Italy and the Netherlands found that seniors who had the lowest blood pressure (which they achieved by taking prescription drugs) were far more likely to suffer from cognitive decline and dementia.
So could skipping those dangerous meds... even if you have blood pressure that's a little high by today's standards... be the key to preventing Alzheimer's? Believe it or not, the answer appears to be yes.
An international research team recently analyzed medical records for nearly 30,000 people and found that those with higher blood pressure were also much less likely to have Alzheimer's.
"Our results are the opposite of what people might think," admitted Dr. Paul Crane, a University of Washington associate professor and one of the study's co-authors.
Allowing your blood pressure to creep north of the 120/80 ideal target may seem frightening. But even some of the country's top cardiologists admit that what we're defining as "normal" blood pressure these days was practically pulled out of thin air.
You see, back in the 1950s, a good reading was said to be a systolic (top number) of 100 plus your age. You could be a senior with a systolic reading of 150 or higher and nobody would think to prescribe you a pill.
That all changed a decade later when a VA hospital study claimed to prove that lowering blood pressure saves lives. And the next thing you knew, we lowered blood pressure targets and docs started handing out prescription drugs like Halloween candy.
Of course, we know now that the VA study was deeply flawed. It focused only on the bottom (or diastolic) reading, not the systolic number that is more important and that is targeted with blood pressure meds.
But between the VA study and plenty of slick drug company marketing, doctors were convinced to lower our blood pressure to unheard-of levels. And it looks like our brains... especially seniors' brains...are paying the price.
Fortunately, some doctors are waking up to the dangers of over-treating blood pressure and driving our levels too low.
A panel convened by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute now claims that people over 60 should never be given a drug unless their systolic number is over 150.
That's awfully similar to recommendations you would have heard half a century ago. And it proves that millions of Americans are taking blood pressure meds right now that they don't need.
If you might be one of them, you and your doctor need to think about ditching these drugs for good. While you can still think clearly.
Article written by Jenny Thompson at Health Science Institute
Low Salt? Not on
Your Life or Your Children's
For years our government has pushed a low-sodium diet that's been disproven by
science… is dangerous for our health… and has practically taken all the joy out
of mealtime.
And now they're coming for our kids.
A new CDC report is calling for major sodium restrictions for school-aged children. It makes all the same tired threats about how salt is going to condemn our kids to lives of high blood pressure and heart disease.
But it looks like there's another report on salt and kids that the folks at the CDC haven't read.
It proves once and for all that you can ignore everything the CDC, the American Heart Association and the rest of the low-salt lobby tells you about sodium limits for your kids and grandkids.
And for you.
When it comes to our government, the left hand often doesn't know what the right hand is doing. But the conflicting advice on salt and kids takes government miscommunication -- and incompetence -- to a whole new level.
You see, both the CDC and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) are housed under the exact same agency -- the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
And while the CDC was offering its new guidance on low-sodium diets for children, a study from the NHLBI was shedding light on what happens to kids who totally ignore the CDC's advice.
And the answer is -- nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The NHLBI study tracked more than 2,000 girls (they were all 9 or 10 when the research started) for a full decade. And girls who regularly consumed 3,500 mg. or more sodium a day didn't have higher blood pressure.
That 3,500 mg. of salt is 50 percent more than the 2,300 mg. limit set by the CDC (and, incidentally, more than twice the ridiculous and dangerous 1,500 mg. guideline set by the American Heart Association).
But despite the CDC's warning that "higher sodium intake in children" could lead to hypertension, heart disease and stroke, NHLBI researchers couldn't find any relationship whatsoever between eating more salt and blood pressure. And that's something I've been telling you for years.
You see, the CDC's 2,300 mg. guideline comes from a terribly misguided plan called Healthy People 2020. When it was released in late 2010, the report was called a "10-year agenda for improving the nation's health."
But researchers have found that Healthy People 2020 is nothing but a recipe for shortening our lives. The NHLBI research is just one of several studies proving that cutting salt doesn't lower your blood pressure and that low-sodium diets can be downright deadly for children and adults.
In fact, research out of Belgium a few years ago found that a low-salt diet can increase your risk of early death by as much as 500 percent! And a study last year in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at over 100,000 adults for three years and found that going under 3,000 mg. of sodium a day will put you at a big risk for heart attacks and strokes.
The average American consumes about 3,400 mg. of sodium daily, which is just fine. In fact, people who eat between 3,000 mg. and 6,000 mg. of salt a day -- far above what our government recommends -- have the lowest risk of death from heart disease.
So before you buy into the CDC's latest guidance on salt, remember that those limits have been totally debunked. And not just by independent researchers -- but now by our own government, too.
And now they're coming for our kids.
A new CDC report is calling for major sodium restrictions for school-aged children. It makes all the same tired threats about how salt is going to condemn our kids to lives of high blood pressure and heart disease.
But it looks like there's another report on salt and kids that the folks at the CDC haven't read.
It proves once and for all that you can ignore everything the CDC, the American Heart Association and the rest of the low-salt lobby tells you about sodium limits for your kids and grandkids.
And for you.
When it comes to our government, the left hand often doesn't know what the right hand is doing. But the conflicting advice on salt and kids takes government miscommunication -- and incompetence -- to a whole new level.
You see, both the CDC and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) are housed under the exact same agency -- the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
And while the CDC was offering its new guidance on low-sodium diets for children, a study from the NHLBI was shedding light on what happens to kids who totally ignore the CDC's advice.
And the answer is -- nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The NHLBI study tracked more than 2,000 girls (they were all 9 or 10 when the research started) for a full decade. And girls who regularly consumed 3,500 mg. or more sodium a day didn't have higher blood pressure.
That 3,500 mg. of salt is 50 percent more than the 2,300 mg. limit set by the CDC (and, incidentally, more than twice the ridiculous and dangerous 1,500 mg. guideline set by the American Heart Association).
But despite the CDC's warning that "higher sodium intake in children" could lead to hypertension, heart disease and stroke, NHLBI researchers couldn't find any relationship whatsoever between eating more salt and blood pressure. And that's something I've been telling you for years.
You see, the CDC's 2,300 mg. guideline comes from a terribly misguided plan called Healthy People 2020. When it was released in late 2010, the report was called a "10-year agenda for improving the nation's health."
But researchers have found that Healthy People 2020 is nothing but a recipe for shortening our lives. The NHLBI research is just one of several studies proving that cutting salt doesn't lower your blood pressure and that low-sodium diets can be downright deadly for children and adults.
In fact, research out of Belgium a few years ago found that a low-salt diet can increase your risk of early death by as much as 500 percent! And a study last year in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at over 100,000 adults for three years and found that going under 3,000 mg. of sodium a day will put you at a big risk for heart attacks and strokes.
The average American consumes about 3,400 mg. of sodium daily, which is just fine. In fact, people who eat between 3,000 mg. and 6,000 mg. of salt a day -- far above what our government recommends -- have the lowest risk of death from heart disease.
So before you buy into the CDC's latest guidance on salt, remember that those limits have been totally debunked. And not just by independent researchers -- but now by our own government, too.
My comment:
Since we get a
high percentage of our salt in previously prepared foods from the store or a restaurant,
I recommend using sea salt for your home cooking. It has a balance of minerals
like iodine and magnesium and is beneficial to your heart. If you want to be
healthy then cut the sugar and keep the salt. And that will make a real difference
in your health.
Until next
time. Stay healthy and happy
JD Roma
No comments:
Post a Comment