From: delisle@eskimo.celestial.com (Ben Delisle)
Subject: [sci.med] Vitamins and the FDA : Vitamin Research
Organization: -> ESKIMO NORTH (206) For-Ever <-
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 05:05:50 GMT

[Forwarded]
From: starkid@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Lance Sanders)
Newsgroups: sci.med,misc.fitness,misc.consumers
Subject: Vitamins and the FDA (Pt. 2 of 3): Vitamin Research


                              APPENDIX A
                              ----------


[Excerpts from the information mosaic,
 ChemTao: Synergies In The Life Sciences, v1.3 (c) 1990 LKS]





    Multi-Vitamin / Mineral Supplementation 
    ---------------------------------------

   Supplements are capable of blunting the effects of some dietary toxins, 
and there are more than 23 clinical trials now underway focusing on 
retinoids and beta carotene, compounds in the vitamin A family, along with 
selenium, and vitamins B6, B12, C and E for use as chemopreventives. 





Vitamin C
---------

   UCLA researcher Dr. James Enstrom, in a 10-year study of 11,348 U.S. 
adults, reported in the May 1992 issue of Epidemiology that after taking 
account of factors such as age, history of serious disease, cigarette and 
alcohol use, cholesterol level, and fat intake and exercise, vitamin C 
supplementation had an independent impact on life span. 

   Three groups were compared: those getting 50 mg or more per day in food, 
plus an average supplement of 500 mg of vitamin C; those getting 50 mg. or 
more and no supplement, and those under 50 mg. with no supplement.
   Men in the highest vitamin C group had a 35% lower mortality rate and a 
42% lower death rate from heart disease and stroke, representing a gain of 
up to five years in lifespan.
   Women getting the highest levels of C were 25% lees likely to die of 
heart disease or stroke, with 10% less mortality, suggesting a gain of a 
year.
   
   The UCLA study concluded that: "Based on our analyses, the inverse 
relation of total mortality to vitamin C intake is stronger and more 
consistent in this population than the relation of total mortality to 
serum cholesterol and dietary fat intake."

   The data also suggested that vitamin C protects against cancer, but 
current findings were inconclusive. Larger studies are underway to 
elucidate mechanisms and pathways (results in 3-4 years). 



   USDA researcher Robert A. Jacob reported in 8/92 that skimping on intake 
of vitamin C (less than 1/3 RDA for nine weeks) caused levels of 
glutathione, a potent antioxident, to drop 50%. Glutathione can deactivate 
at least 30 carcinogens, and is very important in both immune system 
defense, and, perhaps, the aging process. 
   Sperm were particularly damamged by the lack of vitamin C and drop in 
glutathione. 
   An earlier, parallel study by Dr. Jacob, involved 10 men on a closely 
monitored diet. They received 250 mg. of vitamin C for two weeks, then were 
dropped to only 5 mg./day for a month, followed by another month at 10 
mg./day. Sperm samples from the men during the low vitamin period disclosed 
that the genetic damage was twice as high as when the men were on 250 mg. 
of the vitamin.
 [The damaged was measured by testing for levels of oxidized guanine. The 
 level of vitamin C was determined by measuring the ascorbic acid in seminal 
 fluid.]


   A related study by Bruce Ames, at the U. of California, Berkeley 
[published Dec. 15th, 1991, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of 
Sciences], reported that an analysis of sperm from 24 men showed that of 15 
with below-normal levels of vitamin C, eight had high levels of genetically 
damaged sperm [genetic damage increases the risk that natural repair 
mechanisms would fail, and that a child conceived of that sperm will have 
a birth defect].
   Ames also said that the level of C set by the U.S. Agriculture Dept. (60 
milligrams) is barely enough for most people, and for smokers, etc., may be 
FAR below what is needed to maintain health. 

   [ A global review of 61 studies including 14,947 men, directed by Dr. 
     Niels Skakkebaek of the U. of Copenhagen, and published in the
     9/12/92 issue of the British Medical Journal, found that average
     sperm count in healthy men has dropped by half in the past 50 years,
     supporting speculation that environmental pollutants may damage 
     production of sperm cells.
     Dr. Sherman Silber, an infertility specialist at St. Luke's Hospital
     in St. Louis, cautioned against jumping to conclusions but noted that:
     "If there is something in our environment having an effect that is 
      drastic enough to decrease sperm count by that much, we should know
      what this factor is."
      Dr. Skakkebaek's review was the first to collect world stats, and to
      limit the analysis to healthy men. ]
 



   In 1990, U. of Edinburgh/Scotland researchers compared 430 healthy men 
with 125 men who had angina. Regardless of other risk factors (such as 
cholesterol), those with the lowest blood levels of vitamin C (and E) were 
more than twice as likely to complain of chest pain as those with the 
highest levels of the vitamins.
   [The fatty tissues of the angina-sufferers was also remarkably low in 
    linoleic acid --- a polyunsaturated fat found in foods also rich in 
    vitamin E.]


   Dr. Christopher J. Bulpitt, of the Hammersmith Hospital in London, noted 
in April 1991 that:

   blood pressure is lower in individuals who consume higher levels of 
vitamin C
   blood pressure goes up in winter as consumption of fresh fruits and 
vegetables rich in C goes down
   older people are more likely to have both high blood pressure and 
vitamin C deficiencies
   vitamin C exhibits many well-known actions that help control blood 
pressure.



   Vitamin C works as an alcohol detoxifying agent in many people.

   Dr. Marianne Chen, in a 1990 study at the U. of South Florida College of 
Medicine, gave 13 healthy men two or three alcoholic drinks on three 
separate occasions.
   In one case, the men were given 2,000 mg. of vitamin C one hour before 
the alcohol. Case 2, they took 2,000 mg. of C every day for two weeks 
before the alcohol. Case 3: no vitamin C.
   The vitamin C in both cases significantly speeded up clearance of 
alcohol from the blood in more than half the men.
   Conclusions: a single megadose of vitamin C may help the "sobering-up" 
process. It must be taken before and not after drinking. It works on only 
about half of the population. In a few individuals, vitamin C prolongs 
alcohol's circulation in the blood.


   Conditions in which dry mouth is a symptom (diabetes, high blood 
pressure, aging, smoking, radiation, etc.) are marked by a vitamin C 
deficiency, and sufferers may find relief by increasing their vitamin C 
intake. Lack of vitamin C may impede natural chemical production of saliva.
   [Dr. Cyril O. Enwonwu, Meharry Medical College]



   An increased level of vitamin C is being associated with interference 
with "common cold" viral transmission, an increase in blood levels of high 
density lipoprotein (the "good" kind), prophylaxis against urinary tract 
infections in women (two 500mg. tablets daily), stimulation of antibodies 
and white blood cells, relief from exercise-induced asthma attacks, 
prevention of inflammation and bleeding of the gums, elimination of many 
environmental toxins from the body (in conjunction with a complete 
bioflavonoid profile), and the inhibition of build-up of cholesterol 
deposits on artery walls. 
   Vitamin C appears to enhance immune function in general, by helping the 
thymus release hormones to change immature, inactive T lymphocytes into 
"battle-ready" cells.





Vitamin E
---------

   Results from Dr. Simin Meydani, D.V.M., Ph.D., Assistant Prof. of 
Nutrition at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University 
(Medford, Mass.) and Robert P. Tengerdy, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology 
at Colorado State U. (Fort Collins) indicate that vitamin E is a powerful 
immune system stimulator. 
   E appears to enhance the ability of white blood cells to destroy 
invading agents such as bacteria, and to modulate biosynthesis of the 
chemicals that control inflammation as well as to boost T-helper cell 
activity. 
   The mechanism of action involves modulation of phagocytic activity, an 
early shift from IgM to IgG type antibody production. 

   In the immune system, prostaglandins generally have an inhibitory 
effect. Vitamin E appears to inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins. 


   Dr. Jean Luc Cadet of the Columbia U. College of Physicians and 
Surgeons has found that E reduces symptoms of tardive dyskinesia which 
appears in 20 to 30% of people taking antipsychotic medications. 13 of 15 
patients taking E supplements for four weeks had symptom severity reduced 
by half. Vitamin E appears to work by protecting the brain from free-
radical damage. 

   Stanley Fahn, director of Parkinsonism and movement disorder research at 
Columbia notes that people in early stages of Parkinson's disease who take 
vitamin E (400 I.U.)and C (3,000 mg) supplements show much slower 
progression of the disease. 


   Dr. Robert S. London of North Charles Hospital in Baltimore reports that 
women suffering from pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) report a 27 to 42% 
decrease in symptom severity after receiving 400 IU of vitamin E daily.
Dr. London suspects that E activates brain neurotransmitters (four to six 
weeks before results are discernable). 


[  A 1990 study at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, involving 10 
women with, and 10 women without, PMS, found that 70% of the PMS women had 
abnormally low zinc levels during the symptom phase. 
   Study director C. James Chuong believes that zinc spurs the secretion of 
hormones such as progesterone, and that too little zinc causes a plunge in 
progesterone, altering brain chemistry. ]

[  A 1991 study by Dr. James Penland of the Human Nutrition Research 
   Center, a part of the Agricultural Research Service in Grand Forks, N.D., 
   concluded that women who doubled the calcium in their diets suffered 
   fewer physical and psychological discomforts associated with menstruation.
   10 women were followed for 5 1/2 months, and comsumed 1300 mg. of 
   calcium/day. They reported "significantly fewer problems" with mood 
   swings common to PMS, as well as fewer aches and pains. ]


   Vitamin E (400 I.U. daily) also prevents low-density lipoprotein from 
becoming modified LDL. In other words, the vitamin prevents the conversion 
of harmless low-density lipoprotein into the oxidized compound that is 
recognized and ingested by macrophages (when they die, the fat-filled 
macrophages accumulate into deadly arterial plaque). 
  [Hermann Esterbauer, Prof. of Biochemistry, U. of Graz, Austria; J.C. 
   Fruchart, Pasteur Institute, Lille, France; Sai R. Ramasastry, M.D., 
   medical director, Dept. of Hyperbaric Medicine, Presbyterian-University 
   Hospital, Pittsburg.] 

   Vitamin C greatly enhances the ability of vitamin E to prevent damage to 
LDL, which, if damaged, is suspected of being the first step in the 
progression to heart disease.
   [Dr. Lester Packer, molecular biologist, U. of California/Berkeley 
    (Journal of Lipid Research)]


   A study of monkeys by Dr. Anthony J. Verlangieri at the U. of 
Mississippi, suggested that E may not only help prevent arteries from 
clogging, but may even help to unclog them.

   Verlangieri fed groups of monkey either (1) ordinary monkey chow, (2) a 
high-lard-and-cholesterol diet w/ a placebo pill or (3) a high-fat diet 
laced with a daily dose of 100 IU of vitamin E.
   After three years, the regular-chow monkeys had no artery blockage. The 
fat-chow, placebo-pill group showed 87% blockage. The fat-chow group who 
also got vitamin E had only 1/3 the blockage.
   Six monkeys given vitamin E for two years after their arteries had 
become partially blocked, showed dramatic de-clogging, decreasing from 33% 
to 8% blockage.



   Dr. Donald Mickle, associate professor of clinical biochemistry at 
Toronto Hospital, reported that water-soluble vitamin E was able to 
mitigate some of the damage to heart cells during the "reperfusion" period 
of heart attack victims, when blood flow resumes after a clot has been 
removed from a blood vessel.

   Dr. Richard Weisel, of the U. of Toronto, reported in Nov. 1990 that 
vitamin E is washed away from the blood by heart-lung machines during 
coronary bypass surgery, and large doses of E adminstered two weeks before 
surgery helps to maintain aerobic metabolism in the heart.


   A study by Dr. Ishwarlal Jialal of the U. of Texas Southwestern Medical 
Center in Dallas, described at the 1/92 meeting of the American Heart 
Association in Galveston, demonstrated that men who were given 800 units of 
vitamin E a day for three months experienced cessations of bloodstream 
chemical changes that preceed arterial blockage. Dr. Jialal noted that at 
the levels used in the study, vitamin E "has no bad side effects." 


   Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore reports that low 
physiological levels of vitamin E appear to increase the risk for all types 
of lung cancer by about 2.5 times. 

   Dr. Kursheed Jeejeebhoy, of the U. of Toronto determined in 1990 that 
smokers breathe out more pentane, a gas that is given off when cells are 
being attacked by free radicals. Next, for two weeks, Dr. Jeejeebhoy gave 
800 IU of vitamin E daily to 13 smokers who consumed an average of 24 
cigarettes a day. He discovered that the pentane gas exhaled by them after 
they started vitamin E supplementation dropped by about 40%, indicating 
that E curbed a great deal of cellular damage.


   Preliminary results from Finland studies of 36,000 men and women 
indicate that those with high blood levels of vitamin E had less cancer and 
fewer deaths from cancer. Low levels of vitamin E in the people involved in 
the study indicated a greater risk of breast and stomach cancer.


   Vitamin E can block the formation of nitrosamines (potent cancer-causing 
chemicals formed in the saliva and gastrointestinal tract from the 
combinations of nitrates and amines in food), and protect lung tissue from 
the harmful effects of air-borne environmental pollutants. 


   Researcher Simin Meydani of Tufts University, Boston, believes that 
vitamin E may reverse effects of aging on the immune system by protecting 
against age-related oxidation. 

   Preliminary results from Dr. Paul Sternberg of Emory U. School of 
Medicine in Atlanta, suggest that vitamin E supplements may protect the 
eyes against age-related damage and the degenerative effects of everyday 
ultraviolet light exposure. 

   A study directed by Dr. M. Christina Leske of the State University of 
New York at Stony Brook, and published in the Feb. 91 issue of the Archives 
of Ophthalmology, concluded that older people who regularly use 
multivitamin supplements were 37 percent less likely to have cataracts.
   The study was based on 1,380 people between the ages of 40-79 who were 
treated at two Boston hospitals. The key nutrients were suspected to be 
vitamins A and E.


   Lester Packer of California's Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory notes that 
excessive exposure to the sun may lead to skin cancer by destroying 
vitamins C and E (and other antioxidants) which protect cells from damage 
from ultraviolet radiation. 

   Dr. Helen Gensler, of the U. of Arizona College of Medicine and Cancer 
Center/Tucson, at a 4/91 Atlanta meeting on nutrition and cancer (sponsored 
by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Cancer Institute), 
reported that vitamin E oil applied to the skin may drastically cut skin 
cancer risk.
   Her experiments were based on past research which found a key similarity 
between humans and mice: those whose immune systems are supressed by UVB 
light are at highest risk for skin cancer.
   Dr. Gensler exposed 70 mice to UVB light 30 minutes a day, five days a 
week for three months. Half had vitamin E oil applied for three weeks 
before exposure, then three times a week while exposed. The rest had no 
protection.
   The 35 vitamin E-protected mice were not immune-supressed; the 
unpreotected ones were. Without E, 81% developed skin cancers, compared 
with 42% of those treated with vitamin E oil.
   [ DL-alpha-tocopherol vitamin E was used, not the version containing 
     acetate, often sold as a cosmetic cream. ]


   Vitamin E is also being looked at as a treatment for fibrocystic breast 
disease (benign but painful), retrolental fibroplasia (eye disorder causing 
blindness in infants), intermittent claudication (circulatory disorder of 
the legs resulting in painful cramps), as well as possibly alleviating some 
of the distressful symptoms of menopause. 





Vitamins B, D, A, K / Trace Components
--------------------------------------

   Because the brain cannot properly utilize glucose without the B vitamins 
(causing a slackening of brain chemicals important to mental sharpness),  
low levels of the B vitamins are being associated with rage, instability, 
vague fears, nervousness, manic depression, heightened risk of 
cardiovascular disease, depressed immune function, mental fatigue and 
paranoia, especially in teenagers.

   Combinations of the B vitamin folic acid and B12 can apparently offer 
protection against lung cancer. 
   Folic acid appears to counteract cancer by strengthening chromosomes, 
and perhaps preventing dangerous viruses from infiltrating deep into cells 
and touching off a tumor.

 [Dr. Douglas Heimburger, U. of Alabama Medical Center, Birmingham; Dr. 
  Henk van den Berg of the Dept. of Clinical Biochemistry at the TNO-CLVO 
  Toxicology and Nutrition Institute in Zeist, Netherlands; Dr. Hemminge 
  Bhagavan, Hoffman-LaRoche Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey ]


   Dr. Charles Butterworth Jr., of the U. of Alabama/Birmingham, studied 464 
women infected with the HP virus, implicated in 80% of cervical cancer cases. 
He found that those with lower levels of folacin in red blood cells were 5x 
more likely to develop cell changes leading to cervical cancer than those with 
higher red blood levels of the B vitamin.
   Dr. Butterworth: "It's a fascinating peek at how viruses and a lack of 
nutrients may work together to foster cancer; kind of a double whammy...when 
folacin is lacking, chromosomes are more apt to break at 'fragile' points. 
This lets the virus slip into the healthy cell's genetic material, promoting 
the initial changes preceeding cancer. Once disease occurs, though, dosing 
with folacin supplements has no apparent benefit."


   A finding in the 8/19/92 issue of the Journal of the American Medical 
Association suggests that folic acid alone, or in combination with vitamin B6, 
can reduce an important risk factor for heart attacks.
   Dr. Meir Stampfer, of the Harvard School of Public Health:
   "Men who had abnormally high levels of homocysteine (a product of protein 
metabolism) had 3.4 times the risk of heart attack. This was unrelated to 
other coronary risk factors. B6/folic acid can reduce levels of hocysteine 
into the normal range."


   B5 taken in combination with choline has a dramatic effect on 
intelligence. Two-thirds of the subjects in an experiment conducted by the 
Optimum Nutrition Institute in London experienced an increase in IQ, one 
subject by as as much as 35 percent. 

   Dr. Vicken Sahakian, an endrocrinology fellow at the U. of North 
carolina/Chapel Hill, in a study at the U. of Iowa showed that expectant 
mothers may be able to alleviate nausea and vomiting associated with severe 
morning sickness with vitamin B6.
   Thirty-one women, less than five months pregnant, took 25 milligrams of B6 
every eight hours. Twenty-eight others with symptoms were given a placebo. All 
were asked to rate symptom severity 4x/day.
   Vomiters in the B6 group dropped by half; the placebo number increased. 
Nausea was eased in severe sufferers, but not in mild to moderate cases.
   It's thought that B6 interfers with elevated hormone levels in pregnancy 
that affect brain areas that trigger vomiting.

   
   Researchers at the Scripps Clinic in California and the Cleveland Clinic 
have found that oral doses of vitamin B12 can block allergic reactions from 
sulfites as well as antiasthmatic drugs.  Allergic reactions were prevented 
in 60 to 70 percent of the patients who were first given the vitamin then 
exposed to the sulfites. 

   A recent study from the Tufts U. Medical School Center found that people 
over 60 with symptoms ranging from tingling sensations, weakened limbs, lack 
of balance, memory loss, mood changes and some psychiatric disorders may be 
suffering from a lack of vitamin B-12 (of course, many of the symptoms can be 
caused by other disorders).
   Dr. Robert Russell: "Vitamin B-12 is probably the most important nutrient 
affected by aging."


   Dr. JoAnn Manson, an associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital 
in Boston, in a study of 87,245 nurses, found that women who had a daily 
intake of 15 to 20 milligrams of beta carotene/day were at a 40 percent 
lower risk of stroke, and a 22 percent lower risk of heart attack than 
women who got less than 6 mg./day.
   [ A vitamin E intake of 100 mg./day conferred a 36% reduction in risk 
     over those who got less than the RDA of 10 mg.]

   Dr. Ronald R. Watson, of the U. of Arizona, demonstrated in a 1991 study 
that 60 older men and women (average age 56) who took 30 to 60 milligrams of 
beta-carotene daily for two months had more killer cells, T-helper cells and 
activated lymphocytes than those who did not take the supplement.
Extra beta-carotene may booster a faltering, aging immune system.


   Iowa state U. researchers have synthsized a less toxic form of vitamin 
A, useful in treating skin disorders and in preventing blindness. At a 3/89 
meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 
it was disclosed that the water-soluble form of A is made by attaching 
glucose and glucuronic acid to it. The synthetic does not produce any of 
the toxic side-effects of the regular vitamin. 


   A study of 1,500 women age 45-80 found that women who lost abnormally 
high levels of calcium through their urine could cut the loss by up to 50% 
with tiny doses of vitamin K daily. When the supplement was stopped, 
calcium loss resumed at the rapid, old pace.
 [Dr. Cees Vermeer, U. of Limburg, Maastricht, the Netherlands] 


   People who have high blood levels of vitamin D are much less likely to 
have colorectal cancer than those with low levels.
 [Dr. Cedric Garland, principal author; U. of California, San Diego; Johns 
  Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health] 


   Low levels of the trace mineral manganese can stunt growth, cause 
fatigue, birth defects and reproductive problems. 

   Levels of manganese in the blood were 33% lower in 23 women with 
osteoporosis than in 17 healthy controls. When given a supplement, women 
with osteoporosis absorbed twice as much manganese into the blood, 
suggesting a greater need for the mineral. 
  [Dr. Jeanne Freeland-Graves; U. of Texas at Austin].


   Low levels of magnesium are linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, 
cardiovascular disease and pregnancy problems.
  [Conference on Trace Substances in Environmental Health--St. Louis]. 


   Calcium supplements can reverse the effects of salt in hypertensive 
black adults.
  [Drs. Zemel and Sowers; Wayne State University, Detroit]. 





Aspects of General Supplementation 
----------------------------------


   Multivitamin supplements in general appear to be associated with:


   (1) The prevention of birth defects in pregnant women

       [Dr. Joseph Mulinare; Centers for Disease Control--Atlanta; Dr. 
        Aubrey Milunsky, director of Boston U. Center for Human Genetics], 


   On 9/14/92, the United Public Health Service recommended that all women 
of childbearing age take extra folic acid (a B vitamin) as prophylaxis 
against neural tube birth defects (0.4 milligrams/day).
   Although researchers have long suspected the link between neural tube 
defects and insufficient folic acid, the new concensus that folic acid 
supplements can prevent the defects was brought to the fore by a Spring, 
1991 Hungarian study (randomized; controlled) which showed that low doses 
of folic acid prevented neural tube defects in a group of women who had not 
had a previous child with such defects.

   Dr. James Mills, chief of pediatric epidemiology at the National 
Institute of Child health and Human Development/Bethesda:
   "It was very presuasive; it tipped the scales."


   Dr. Richard Berkowitz, chairman of the Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynecology 
and Reproductive Health at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York:
   "We know of no downside to taking multivitamin supplements." 


   Dr. Steven Laubacher, executive director of the Spina Bifida Association 
of America:
   "At our organization, we try to discipline ourselves to be reserved. But 
this points in the direction of a major, major breakthrough."


   Dr. Irwin Rosenberg, professor of medicine and nutrition, Tufts 
University:
   "I think this is going to be precedent-setting in respect to the whole 
business of health claims, supplements and fortification. Let's hope it 
comes out right."



   Multivitamin/mineral supplements are also generally associated with:


   (2) Marked improvement in non-verbal intelligence levels

       [David Benton, U. of Swansea, Wales/Dr. Stephen J. Schoenthaler,
        California State University, Stanislaus]


   (3) General health maintenance in the elderly, despite lowered
       caloric intake

       [Food and Nutrition Research News Briefs, Oct.1-Dec.31, 1986]. 




   Dr. Ishwarial Jialal, of the U. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 
Dallas, reported at a 01/92 meeting of the American Heart Association and 
in the Physicians Health Study that preliminary evidence in favor of 
antioxidant supplementation is building:

   "It is still a bit early to recommend taking supplements, but a 
significant number of people have done so for years with no adverse 
effects."
 
[ In a 3/10/92 interview by the New York Times, "Vitamins Win Support as 
  Potent Agents of Health", Dr. Jialal admitted that "given his preliminary 
  results, and the relative harmlessness of effective levels of vitamin E,
  he himself planned to start a supplement of the nutrient daily." ]



   Dr. Simin N. Meydani of the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at 
Tufts University in Boston:

   "We used to think about vitamins strictly in terms of what you needed to 
prevent short-term deficiencies. Now we're starting to think about what is 
the optimal level of vitamins for lifelong health and to prevent age-
associated diseases." 



   Dr. James Enstrom, author of the 10-year UCLA vitamin C study, and co-
authors Linda E. Kanim and Morton A. Klein:

   "The large drop in cardiovascular death rates since the late 1960's 
added validity to our findings. The decline in deaths from heart disease 
and heart attacks, a trend that has been particularly pronounced among men, 
coincided with large population-wide increases in the consumption of 
vitamin supplements containing vitamin C."



   Dr. Kenneth J. Rothman, an epidemiologist at Boston University, in an 
editorial accompanying Dr. Enstrom's article in "Epidemiology":

   "While earlier studies were inconclusive about the value of supplements, 
the new data indicate those who take supplements containing vitamin C do 
better than those who simply have a reasonable dietary intake of the 
nutrient.
    It is unlikely that only vitamin C is protective, but rather, it is 
probably that a variety of antioxidents and other nutrients act in concert 
against a variety of different insults." 
   


   The dangers associated with possible abuse of vitamin supplements must 
be weighed against their pronounced, documented positive effects, and the 
insidious dangers from the effects of environmental toxins.
   There are commercially available, safe, effective supplement dosages, 
such as those found in the Great Earth NSP series, which would appear to 
have presaged many chemopreventive and prophylactic strategies. 






CONCENTRATES/ADAPTOGENS 
-----------------------

     L-Tyrosine 
     ----------

   L-Tyrosine is an amino acid precursor of the neurotransmitter,  
norepinephrine (a derivative of dopamine). 

   Elevated levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and 
acetylcholine definitely enhance immune function. Norepinephrine has the 
greatest effect, increasing T cell response, macrophages, and stem cells in 
bone marrow. 

   L-Tyrosine increases levels of norepinephrine. 

   Combining L-Tyrosine with carbohydrates and vitamin C enhances its 
ability to induce norepinephrine production. 

   Additionally, studies performed by the United States Army Research 
Institute of Environmental Medicine (Natick, Mass.) showed that while 
control and experimental groups of soldiers taking L-Tyrosine demonstrated 
no marked differences under non-stressful conditions, the benefits of 
tyrosine become manifest as physiological and psychological conditions 
become harsher. Under progressively harsher conditions, L-Tyrosine soldiers 
showed enhancements in performing complex mental tasks and decision-making, 
alertness and response times, mood elevation (less tense or anxious), and 
resistance to physical discomfort. 

   Dr. Jacques Mouret reported in a 2/89 issuse of Lancet that L-Tyrosine 
can free narcolepsy patients from the irresistible desire to sleep. 
   Narcolepsy affects approx. 250,000 Americans and about four times as 
many men as women. Narcolepsy also causes victims to fall limp from a loss 
of muscle tone triggered by laughter, anger or other bursts or emotion.
[The loss of tone is called cataplexy]
 

   Eric Braverman, in the 01/01/90 issue of Longevity, notes that up to 
85 percent of people diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome actually 
suffer a biochemical depression treatable with L-Tyrosine or phenylalanine. 

   Psychologist Peter Carlton of the Robert Wood Johnston Medical School in 
Piscataway, NJ, has indicated low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin 
in compulsive gamblers. 
   EEG reading and other evidence of the gambler's brain activity parallels 
those of children with attention deficit disorder. Children who suffer from 
hyperactivity may have lowered levels of serotonin, which has inhibitory 
effects. 
   There is a link between depression, violent suicide, hyperactivity in 
children, compulsive gambling behavior, and low levels of both of the 
neurotransmitters, serotonin and norepinephrine. As previously mentioned,  
L-Tyrosine increases levels of norepinephrine. 



   While toxicity resulting from the use of L-Tyrosine is practically 
nonexistent, it can cause sweats and mild blood pressure elevation if taken 
in conjunction with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI).
   Free-form compilations of L-Tyrosine assure complete assimilation in the 
absence of competing proteins. 

[Conversely, D-Tyrosine or D/L mixtures of Tyrosine, can be toxic, and have 
 suppressed growth and weight gain in lab animals.]
 
---------
Lance Sanders
starkid@ddsw1.MCS.COM                      STAND.
GE Mail: L.Sanders6
Vox: (312) 667-5958

Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs