Vitamin D3 and Curcumin Offer Hope to Alzheimer's Patients

New information which was published in the Journal of Alzheimer`s Disease, may help in the search for an answer to preventing Alzheimer`s. Promising results were obtained, using D3 alone or together with curcumin, an active ingredient in turmeric and curry. There is new hope that these two natural occurring substances may help boost the immune system and thus clear the brain of amloid-beta, which forms plaque, therefore giving hope and relief to Alzheimer`s patients.

Over 13 million people suffer from some sort of dementia associated with Alzheimer`s disease. This is caused by a build up of plaque from the deposits of amyloid-beta, causing an increase in cell damage. With this new study, there is hope for millions. There are many studies in the work that have found curcumin to be highly successful with animals and are now being tested on humans. They hope to have the results on humans very soon, so that it can be recommended to the general public. These studies have shown that D3 and curcumin together have reduced the oxidized damage to the brain and also decreased the inflammation.

In the past, scientists have found that two different groups of Alzheimer`s patients reacted differently: Type 1 patients responded to the curcumnoids and type 2 did not respond positively. These two types of patient results depend on the genes MGATIII and TLR-3, which allows the immune system to work properly and thus enables the immune system to ingest amyloid-beta.

"Since vitamin D and curcumin work differently with the immune system, we may find that a combination of the two or each used alone may be more effective - depending on the individual patient," said Fiala.

According to the UCLA team of researchers it is too early to be recommended at this point or to say what dose should be recommended. They also stated that more studies are in the works. The cost of Alzheimer`s disease is in excess of one hundred billion dollars in the US, so the fact of being able to use curcumin as an aide in the prevention is extremely exciting. Curcumin is very inexpensive and along with the necessity of D3, the cost to the patient could be minimal.

When It Comes to Good Health, Vitamin D Delivers

Ignored for years, today vitamin D is a superstar. Here`s what you need to know about this vitally important nutrient, including how to make certain you`re getting enough vitamin D to protect your health.

According to conventional wisdom, we should be wary of anything that sounds too good to be true. But vitamin D is shaping up as an exception to that rule. Although it was discovered nearly 100 years ago, vitamin D was long believed to have only one important role, maintaining healthy bones. As a result, it was added to milk in the 1930s, as a way to combat the high incidence of rickets in children and then pretty much forgotten.

How things change! During the past decade, a steady stream of news from researchers all over the world is proving that vitamin D helps protect us against such serious health concerns as cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, several types of cancer (including breast, colon and prostate), diabetes, emotional difficulties, such as depression and bipolar disorder, muscle function and gum health.
Vitamin D supports better brain function in older individuals, according to the findings of a recent clinical trial. Researchers at Tufts University found the best cognitive test scores among subjects with high blood levels of the nutrient. Those with high levels of vitamin D were better at "executive functions," such as organizing, planning and thinking in the abstract.

Vitamin D prevents breast cancer

You've heard the good news about vitamin D for years: It's a "miracle" medicine that reduces cancer rates by 77% according to previous research also happens to be a powerful anti-cancer medicine that can both prevent and help reverse breast cancer.

Yet, bewilderingly, the cancer industry still refuses to teach women about vitamin D. Ever wonder why?

Today, we bring you a compilation of expert quotations on vitamin D and breast cancer, cited from some of the most authoritative books and authors in the world. Feel free to share what you learn here with others who may also be suffering from breast cancer.

Vitamin D and breast cancer
Sunlight triggers the formation of vitamin D in the skin, which can be activated in the liver and kidneys into a hormone with great activity. This activated form of vitamin D causes "cellular differentiation" - essentially the opposite of cancer. The following evidence indicates that vitamin D might have a protective role against breast cancer: Synthetic vitamin D-like molecules have prevented the equivalent of breast cancer in animals.

Two equally effective sources of vitamin D in humans are derived from plant ergosterol, which is converted to ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) by the action of sunlight on the skin. The body uses vitamin D3 for normal immune system function, to control cellular growth, and to absorb calcium from the digestive tract. Vitamin D3 can inhibit the growth of malignant melanoma, breast cancer, leukemia, and mammary tumors in laboratory animals. Vitamin D3 can also inhibit angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels that permit the spread of cancer cells through the body.

Doctor beats swine flu with vitamin D and elderberries

A former family practitioner in Canada says she cured herself of the H1N1 swine flu by taking supplements of vitamin D and elderberries.

Dr. Gillian Arsenault, now a public health employee, said that she had a prescription for antiviral drugs on hand when she became infected with swine flu, but never ended up having to fill it. Writing in the Medical Post, Arsenault recounts how the flu "hit like a truck," but was reduced to only a lingering cough within four days.

Arsenault has researched complementary health care extensively and began taking 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily in 2007. This is the amount recommended by the Canadian Cancer Society to help produce strong bones and reduce the risk of infection, cancer and other chronic diseases. Over the course of 2009, she experimented with doses between 3,000 and 5,000 IU.

"Medicine is my job and my hobby. I spend a lot of time after work looking things up," she said.

Researchers remain divided on the maximum safe daily dose of vitamin D, with estimates ranging between 2,000 and 10,000 IU. High doses can interfere with the effects of some drugs, and may produce mild or severe toxicity, with symptoms as severe as kidney failure, seizures or psychosis.

Because research has suggested that vitamin D can help prevent infection, Arsenault set out to see if it could help her recover faster. She adjusted her daily dose and paid to have her blood levels tested to make sure she remained within a safe and healthy range. She added an elderberry extract as well, based on research showing that the plant can reduce the severity of flu and speed recovery.

Many cases of swine flu are mild or moderate even without vitamin D supplementation, and Arsenault admits that her case study is not proof that the treatment works. But it is suggestive enough to merit further research into whether vitamin D can "abort the development of severe illness or enhance the benefit of antiviral treatment for those already seriously ill," she said.

Vitamin D deficiency finally being recognized as increasingly common

Doctors are becoming increasingly concerned about growing rates of vitamin D deficiency, leading many of them to recommend that people get more sun or even take supplements.

Vitamin D has long been known to play an important role in bone health. Deficiency can lead to osteoporosis in adults, and in children and some adults can lead to a bone-softening disease known as rickets.

Although the vitamin is synthesized by the body upon exposure to sunlight, people living far from the equator can have trouble producing enough of it in the winter time. For this reason, numerous governments began fortifying dairy products with vitamin D decades ago, leading directly to a near-elimination of rickets. The disease is starting to make a resurgence, however, even as researchers start to believe that humans may need higher levels of the vitamin than previously thought.

Although the U.S. government recommends a daily vitamin D intake of 200 to 600 IU per day, researchers are increasingly suggesting amounts of closer to 1,000 IU. These amounts are based on new studies finding that higher levels of vitamin D can help regulate the immune system and prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's.

"It helps boost your ability to fight infection, and it also reduces some destructive inflammation in your body, including inflammation with periodontal disease," said Mark Ryder of the University of California-San Francisco. "Every five or 10 years, a new vitamin becomes the vitamin of the moment. The hot one right now is probably vitamin D, and so far all of the evidence looks encouraging."

Yet even according to the lower government standards, at least one in three U.S. residents are not getting enough vitamin D.

"We've become a culture that shuns the sunshine and doesn't drink milk," said Dr. Donald Abrams of San Francisco General Hospital.