Friday, December 21, 2012

Generic OxyContin and Opana, headed for market soon, could make fight against pain-pill abuse tougher, McConnell says

With generic versions of the two most commonly-abused painkillers, Opana and OxyContin, coming on the market next year, police, hospitals and health clinics in Kentucky have voiced concern that "these generic crushable drugs lack the tamper-resistant gel coating of the brand-name drugs," says a news release from U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.

"Without this technology, addicts crush the pills in order to achieve an immediate heroin-like high from sniffing or injecting the painkillers," the release says. "If these generics come to market without the tamper-resistant coating, much of the work that law enforcement and health care providers have done to stem the tide of pain pill abuse in Kentucky will be lost."

McConnell's news release said he has asked the Food and Drug Administration to keep the crushable drugs off the market "until a workable solution can be found." McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, met Wednesday with the Department for Health and Human Services’ acting general counsel, Bill Schultz, to discuss the issue. (Read more)

Group of 550 doctors in Central Ky. leaving Medicaid's Coventry

A Lexington-area network of doctors says it will no longer contract with Coventry Cares, a Medicaid managed-care company, after Coventry said "it would begin to pay less than the established Medicaid rate in reimbursements — as much as 10 percent less for care from specialists," Cheryl Truman reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The Physicians' Network is a group of 550 independent physicians, headed by Dr. Ralph Alvarado of Winchester. He said the cuts will mean that some doctors will be paying to treat Medicaid patients.

d more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/12/20/2450679/central-kentucky-doctors-cut-ties.html#storylink=cpy

Coventry issued a statement saying, "This decision would not take effect until March 7, and we do not expect any network access issues for our members. That said, Coventry would like our members to continue enjoying access to this group of providers. We remain committed to continuing negotiations . . . " (Read more)

d more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/12/20/2450679/central-kentucky-doctors-cut-ties.html#storylink=cpy

Deaths from drug overdoses in Kentucky hit new high in 2010; more than half involved prescription drugs

Deaths from drug overdoses in Kentucky jumped to a new high in 2010, and "rose a staggering 296 percent from 2000 to 2010," Bill Estep of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. "A tidal wave of prescription-drug abuse drove the steep increase," with just over half of the deaths involving prescription drugs, according to a study by researchers at the University of Kentucky.

As usual, the problem is worst in Appalachian Kentucky, as illustrated by this Herald-Leader map:

"The increase in deaths might have been even greater because information was not available for Kentucky residents treated in neighboring states, and because some death certificates might not have listed an overdose as the cause of a person's death when in fact it was," Estep reports. "The report did not measure the impact of changes Kentucky lawmakers made this year aimed at confronting the prescription-drug problem, though it will provide a way to help measure the impact of the law."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/12/20/2451315/drug-overdose-deaths-up-296-percent.html#storylink=cpy

Importance of Magnesium is Far Greater than Previously Imagined

By Dr. Mercola

You don't hear much about magnesium, yet an estimated 80 percent of Americans are deficient in this important mineral and the health consequences of deficiency are significant. One reason could be because magnesium, like vitamin D, serves so many functions it's hard to corral.
As reported by GreenMedInfo¹, researchers have now detected 3,751 magnesium binding sites on human proteins, indicating that its role in human health and disease may have been vastly underestimated.
Magnesium is also found in more than 300 different enzymes in your body, which are responsible for:
Creation of ATP (adenosine triphospate), the energy molecules of your body Proper formation of bones and teeth Relaxation of blood vessels
Action of your heart muscle Promotion of proper bowel function Regulation of blood sugar levels

The Health Benefits of Magnesium have Been Vastly Underestimated

A number of studies have previously shown magnesium can benefit your blood pressure and help prevent sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, and stroke. For example, one meta-analysis published earlier this year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition² looked at a total of seven studies collectively covering more than 240,000 participants. The results showed that dietary magnesium intake is inversely associated with risk of ischemic stroke.
But its role in human health appears to be far more complex than previously thought, and—like vitamin D—its benefits may be more far-reaching than we've imagined. GreenMedInfo.com's database project has indexed over 100 health benefits of magnesium so far, including therapeutic benefits for:
Fibromyalgia Atrial fibrillation Type 2 diabetes Premenstrual syndrome
Cardiovascular disease Migraine Aging Mortality

According to the featured report³:
"The proteome, or entire set of proteins expressed by the human genome, contains well over 100,000 distinct protein structures, despite the fact that there are believed to be only 20,300 protein-coding genes in the human genome. The discovery of the "magneseome," as its being called, adds additional complexity to the picture, indicating that the presence or absence of adequate levels of this basic mineral may epigenetically alter the expression and behavior of the proteins in our body, thereby altering the course of both health and disease."
Magnesium also plays a role in your body's detoxification processes and therefore is important for helping to prevent damage from environmental chemicals, heavy metals and other toxins. Even glutathione, your body's most powerful antioxidant that has even been called "the master antioxidant," requires magnesium for its synthesis.

Signs You May Not be Getting Enough Magnesium

There's no lab test that will give you a truly accurate reading of the magnesium status in your tissues. Only one percent of magnesium in your body is distributed in your blood, making a simple sample of magnesium from a blood test highly inaccurate. Other tests that your doctor can use to evaluate your magnesium status include a 24-hour urine test, or a sublingual epithelial test. Still, these can only give you an estimation of your levels, and doctors typically need to evaluate them in conjunction with the symptoms you exhibit. An ongoing magnesium deficiency can lead to more serious symptoms, including:
Numbness and tingling Muscle contractions and cramps Seizures
Personality changes Abnormal heart rhythms Coronary spasms

With that in mind, some early signs of magnesium deficiency to keep an eye out for include:
Loss of appetite
Headache
Nausea and vomiting
Fatigue and weakness

One of the Best Ways to Optimize Your Magnesium Levels

If you suspect you are low in magnesium one of the best ways to consume this mineral is through organically bound magnesium, found in whole foods. As explained in the featured article:
"Chlorophyll, which enables plants to capture solar energy and convert it into metabolic energy, has a magnesium atom at its center. Without magnesium, in fact, plants could not utilize the sun's light energy. "
In many ways chlorophyll is the plant's version of our hemoglobin as they share a similar structure but have magnesium plugged in the middle rather than iron. Green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard are excellent sources of magnesium, as are some beans, nuts and seeds, like almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. Avocados are also a good source. Juicing your vegetables is an excellent option to ensure you're getting enough of them in your diet.
In order to ensure you're getting enough, you first need to be sure you're eating a varied, whole-food diet like the one described in my nutrition plan. But there are other factors too, that can make you more prone to magnesium deficiency, including the ailments listed below. If any of these conditions apply to you, you may want to take extra precautions to make sure you're getting a sufficient amount of magnesium in your diet, or, if needed, from a magnesium supplement, in order to avoid magnesium deficiency.
An unhealthy digestive system, which impairs your body's ability to absorb magnesium (Crohn's disease, leaky gut, etc.) Alcoholism -- up to 60 percent of alcoholics have low blood levels of magnesium⁴
Unhealthy kidneys, which contribute to excessive loss of magnesium in urine Age -- older adults are more likely to be magnesium deficient because absorption decreases with age and the elderly are more likely to take medications that can interfere with absorption
Diabetes, especially if it's poorly controlled, leading increased magnesium loss in urine Certain medications -- diuretics, antibiotics and medications used to treat cancer can all result in magnesium deficiency

Foods with the Highest Amounts of Magnesium

Most people can keep their levels in the healthy range without resorting to supplements, simply by eating a varied diet, including plenty of dark-green leafy vegetables. One important point to mention though is that the levels of magnesium in your food are dependent on the levels of magnesium in the soil where they're grown. Organic foods may have more magnesium, as most fertilizer used on conventional farms relies heavily on nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium instead of magnesium.
The featured article lists more than 20 specific foods that are exceptionally high in magnesium, including the following (for the full list, please see the original report⁵). All portions are listed equate to 100 grams, or just over three ounces:
Seaweed, agar, dried (770 mg) Spices, basil, dried (422 mg)
Spice, coriander leaf, dried (694 mg) Flaxseed (392 mg)
Dried pumpkin seeds (535 mg) Almond butter (303 mg)
Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened (499 mg) Whey, sweet, dried (176 mg)

Different Types of Magnesium Supplements

If for whatever reason you decide you need a supplement, be aware that there are a wide variety of magnesium supplements on the market, courtesy of the fact that magnesium must be bound to another substance. There's simply no such thing as a 100% magnesium supplement. The substance used in any given supplement combination can affect the absorption and bioavailability of the magnesium, and may provide slightly different, or targeted, health benefits:
Magnesium glycinate is a chelated form of magnesium that tends to provide the highest levels of absorption and bioavailability and is typically considered ideal for those who are trying to correct a deficiency Magnesium oxide is a non-chelated type of magnesium, bound to an organic acid or a fatty acid. Contains 60 percent magnesium, and has stool softening properties
Magnesium chloride / Magnesium lactate contain only 12 percent magnesium, but has better absorption than others, such as magnesium oxide, which contains five times more magnesium Magnesium sulfate / Magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia) are typically used as a laxative. Be aware that it's easy to overdose on these, so ONLY take as directed
Magnesium carbonate, which has antacid properties, contains 45 percent magnesium Magnesium taurate contains a combination of magnesium and taurine, an amino acid. Together, they tend to provide a calming effect on your body and mind
Magnesium citrate is magnesium with citric acid, which has laxative properties Magnesium threonate is a newer, emerging type of magnesium supplement that appears promising, primarily due to its superior ability to penetrate the mitochondrial membrane, and may be the best magnesium supplement on the market

Balance Your Magnesium with Calcium, Vitamin K2 and D

One of the major benefits of getting your nutrients from a varied whole food diet is that you're far less likely to end up with too much of one nutrient at the expense of others. Foods in general contain all the cofactors and needed co-nutrients in the proper amounts for optimal health, which takes out the guess work. When you're using supplements, you need to become a bit more savvy about how nutrients influence and synergistically affect each other.
For example, it's important to maintain the proper balance between magnesium, calcium, vitamin K2, and vitamin D. Lack of balance between these nutrients is why calcium supplements have become associated with increased risk of heart attacks and stroke, and why some people experience vitamin D toxicity.
Part of the explanation for these adverse side effects is that vitamin K2 keeps calcium in its appropriate place. If you're K2 deficient, added calcium can cause more problems than it solves, by accumulating in the wrong places. Similarly, if you opt for oral vitamin D, you need to also consume it in your food or take supplemental vitamin K2. Taking mega doses of vitamin D supplements without sufficient amounts of K2 can lead to vitamin D toxicity symptoms, which includes inappropriate calcification.
While the ideal or optimal ratios between vitamin D and vitamin K2 have yet to be elucidated, Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue (whom I've interviewed on this topic) suggests that for every 1,000 IU's of vitamin D you take, you may benefit from about 100 micrograms of K2, and perhaps as much as 150-200 micrograms (mcg). The latest vitamin D dosing recommendations, which call for about 8,000 IU's of vitamin D3 per day if you're an adult, means you'd need in the neighborhood of 800 to 1,000 micrograms (0.8 to 1 milligram/mg) of vitamin K2.
Now, getting back to magnesium...
Magnesium may actually be more important than calcium if you are going to consider supplementing. However, maintaining an appropriate calcium-to-magnesium ratio is important regardless. Research on the paleolithic or caveman diet has shown that the ratio of calcium to magnesium in the diet that our bodies evolved to eat is 1-to-1⁶. Americans in general tend to have a higher calcium-to-magnesium ratio in their diet, averaging about 3.5-to-1.
Magnesium will also help keep calcium in your cells so they can do their job better. In many ways it serves as nutritional version of the highly effective class of drugs called calcium channel blockers, used in the treatment of high blood pressure, angina, and abnormal heart rhythms. Magnesium and vitamin K2 also complement each other, as magnesium helps lower blood pressure, which is an important component of heart disease.
So, all in all, anytime you're taking any of the following: magnesium, calcium, vitamin D3 or vitamin K2, you need to take all the others into consideration as well, since these all work synergistically with each other.

About Dr Kevin Lau

Dr Kevin Lau DC is the founder of Health In Your Hands, a series of tools for Scoliosis prevention and treatment. The set includes his book Your Plan for Natural Scoliosis Prevention and Treatment, a companion Scoliosis Exercises for Prevention and Correction DVD and the innovative new iPhone application ScolioTrack. Dr Kevin Lau is a graduate in Doctor of Chiropractic from RMIT University in Melbourne Australia and Masters in Holistic Nutrition. He is a member of International Society On Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT), the leading international society on conservative treatment of spinal deformities. In 2006 I was awarded the "Best Health-care Provider Awards" by the largest Newspaper publication in Singapore on October 18 2006 as well as being interviewed on Primetime Channel News Asia as well as other TV and Radio. For more information on Dr Kevin Lau, watch his interviews or get a free sneak peek of his book, go to:

Website - http://www.hiyh.info.
ScolioTrack Website - http://www.ScolioTrack.com.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HealthInYourHands.
Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/user/DrKevinLau.
Twitter - http://www.Twitter.com/DrKevinLau.

By Dr. Mercola

You don't hear much about magnesium, yet an estimated 80 percent of Americans are deficient in this important mineral and the health consequences of deficiency are significant. One reason could be because magnesium, like vitamin D, serves so many functions it's hard to corral.
As reported by GreenMedInfo¹, researchers have now detected 3,751 magnesium binding sites on human proteins, indicating that its role in human health and disease may have been vastly underestimated.
Magnesium is also found in more than 300 different enzymes in your body, which are responsible for:
Creation of ATP (adenosine triphospate), the energy molecules of your body Proper formation of bones and teeth Relaxation of blood vessels
Action of your heart muscle Promotion of proper bowel function Regulation of blood sugar levels

The Health Benefits of Magnesium have Been Vastly Underestimated

A number of studies have previously shown magnesium can benefit your blood pressure and help prevent sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, and stroke. For example, one meta-analysis published earlier this year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition² looked at a total of seven studies collectively covering more than 240,000 participants. The results showed that dietary magnesium intake is inversely associated with risk of ischemic stroke.
But its role in human health appears to be far more complex than previously thought, and—like vitamin D—its benefits may be more far-reaching than we've imagined. GreenMedInfo.com's database project has indexed over 100 health benefits of magnesium so far, including therapeutic benefits for:
Fibromyalgia Atrial fibrillation Type 2 diabetes Premenstrual syndrome
Cardiovascular disease Migraine Aging Mortality

According to the featured report³:
"The proteome, or entire set of proteins expressed by the human genome, contains well over 100,000 distinct protein structures, despite the fact that there are believed to be only 20,300 protein-coding genes in the human genome. The discovery of the "magneseome," as its being called, adds additional complexity to the picture, indicating that the presence or absence of adequate levels of this basic mineral may epigenetically alter the expression and behavior of the proteins in our body, thereby altering the course of both health and disease."
Magnesium also plays a role in your body's detoxification processes and therefore is important for helping to prevent damage from environmental chemicals, heavy metals and other toxins. Even glutathione, your body's most powerful antioxidant that has even been called "the master antioxidant," requires magnesium for its synthesis.

Signs You May Not be Getting Enough Magnesium

There's no lab test that will give you a truly accurate reading of the magnesium status in your tissues. Only one percent of magnesium in your body is distributed in your blood, making a simple sample of magnesium from a blood test highly inaccurate. Other tests that your doctor can use to evaluate your magnesium status include a 24-hour urine test, or a sublingual epithelial test. Still, these can only give you an estimation of your levels, and doctors typically need to evaluate them in conjunction with the symptoms you exhibit. An ongoing magnesium deficiency can lead to more serious symptoms, including:
Numbness and tingling Muscle contractions and cramps Seizures
Personality changes Abnormal heart rhythms Coronary spasms

With that in mind, some early signs of magnesium deficiency to keep an eye out for include:
Loss of appetite
Headache
Nausea and vomiting
Fatigue and weakness

One of the Best Ways to Optimize Your Magnesium Levels

If you suspect you are low in magnesium one of the best ways to consume this mineral is through organically bound magnesium, found in whole foods. As explained in the featured article:
"Chlorophyll, which enables plants to capture solar energy and convert it into metabolic energy, has a magnesium atom at its center. Without magnesium, in fact, plants could not utilize the sun's light energy. "
In many ways chlorophyll is the plant's version of our hemoglobin as they share a similar structure but have magnesium plugged in the middle rather than iron. Green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard are excellent sources of magnesium, as are some beans, nuts and seeds, like almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. Avocados are also a good source. Juicing your vegetables is an excellent option to ensure you're getting enough of them in your diet.
In order to ensure you're getting enough, you first need to be sure you're eating a varied, whole-food diet like the one described in my nutrition plan. But there are other factors too, that can make you more prone to magnesium deficiency, including the ailments listed below. If any of these conditions apply to you, you may want to take extra precautions to make sure you're getting a sufficient amount of magnesium in your diet, or, if needed, from a magnesium supplement, in order to avoid magnesium deficiency.
An unhealthy digestive system, which impairs your body's ability to absorb magnesium (Crohn's disease, leaky gut, etc.) Alcoholism -- up to 60 percent of alcoholics have low blood levels of magnesium⁴
Unhealthy kidneys, which contribute to excessive loss of magnesium in urine Age -- older adults are more likely to be magnesium deficient because absorption decreases with age and the elderly are more likely to take medications that can interfere with absorption
Diabetes, especially if it's poorly controlled, leading increased magnesium loss in urine Certain medications -- diuretics, antibiotics and medications used to treat cancer can all result in magnesium deficiency

Foods with the Highest Amounts of Magnesium

Most people can keep their levels in the healthy range without resorting to supplements, simply by eating a varied diet, including plenty of dark-green leafy vegetables. One important point to mention though is that the levels of magnesium in your food are dependent on the levels of magnesium in the soil where they're grown. Organic foods may have more magnesium, as most fertilizer used on conventional farms relies heavily on nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium instead of magnesium.
The featured article lists more than 20 specific foods that are exceptionally high in magnesium, including the following (for the full list, please see the original report⁵). All portions are listed equate to 100 grams, or just over three ounces:
Seaweed, agar, dried (770 mg) Spices, basil, dried (422 mg)
Spice, coriander leaf, dried (694 mg) Flaxseed (392 mg)
Dried pumpkin seeds (535 mg) Almond butter (303 mg)
Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened (499 mg) Whey, sweet, dried (176 mg)

Different Types of Magnesium Supplements

If for whatever reason you decide you need a supplement, be aware that there are a wide variety of magnesium supplements on the market, courtesy of the fact that magnesium must be bound to another substance. There's simply no such thing as a 100% magnesium supplement. The substance used in any given supplement combination can affect the absorption and bioavailability of the magnesium, and may provide slightly different, or targeted, health benefits:
Magnesium glycinate is a chelated form of magnesium that tends to provide the highest levels of absorption and bioavailability and is typically considered ideal for those who are trying to correct a deficiency Magnesium oxide is a non-chelated type of magnesium, bound to an organic acid or a fatty acid. Contains 60 percent magnesium, and has stool softening properties
Magnesium chloride / Magnesium lactate contain only 12 percent magnesium, but has better absorption than others, such as magnesium oxide, which contains five times more magnesium Magnesium sulfate / Magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia) are typically used as a laxative. Be aware that it's easy to overdose on these, so ONLY take as directed
Magnesium carbonate, which has antacid properties, contains 45 percent magnesium Magnesium taurate contains a combination of magnesium and taurine, an amino acid. Together, they tend to provide a calming effect on your body and mind
Magnesium citrate is magnesium with citric acid, which has laxative properties Magnesium threonate is a newer, emerging type of magnesium supplement that appears promising, primarily due to its superior ability to penetrate the mitochondrial membrane, and may be the best magnesium supplement on the market

Balance Your Magnesium with Calcium, Vitamin K2 and D

One of the major benefits of getting your nutrients from a varied whole food diet is that you're far less likely to end up with too much of one nutrient at the expense of others. Foods in general contain all the cofactors and needed co-nutrients in the proper amounts for optimal health, which takes out the guess work. When you're using supplements, you need to become a bit more savvy about how nutrients influence and synergistically affect each other.
For example, it's important to maintain the proper balance between magnesium, calcium, vitamin K2, and vitamin D. Lack of balance between these nutrients is why calcium supplements have become associated with increased risk of heart attacks and stroke, and why some people experience vitamin D toxicity.
Part of the explanation for these adverse side effects is that vitamin K2 keeps calcium in its appropriate place. If you're K2 deficient, added calcium can cause more problems than it solves, by accumulating in the wrong places. Similarly, if you opt for oral vitamin D, you need to also consume it in your food or take supplemental vitamin K2. Taking mega doses of vitamin D supplements without sufficient amounts of K2 can lead to vitamin D toxicity symptoms, which includes inappropriate calcification.
While the ideal or optimal ratios between vitamin D and vitamin K2 have yet to be elucidated, Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue (whom I've interviewed on this topic) suggests that for every 1,000 IU's of vitamin D you take, you may benefit from about 100 micrograms of K2, and perhaps as much as 150-200 micrograms (mcg). The latest vitamin D dosing recommendations, which call for about 8,000 IU's of vitamin D3 per day if you're an adult, means you'd need in the neighborhood of 800 to 1,000 micrograms (0.8 to 1 milligram/mg) of vitamin K2.
Now, getting back to magnesium...
Magnesium may actually be more important than calcium if you are going to consider supplementing. However, maintaining an appropriate calcium-to-magnesium ratio is important regardless. Research on the paleolithic or caveman diet has shown that the ratio of calcium to magnesium in the diet that our bodies evolved to eat is 1-to-1⁶. Americans in general tend to have a higher calcium-to-magnesium ratio in their diet, averaging about 3.5-to-1.
Magnesium will also help keep calcium in your cells so they can do their job better. In many ways it serves as nutritional version of the highly effective class of drugs called calcium channel blockers, used in the treatment of high blood pressure, angina, and abnormal heart rhythms. Magnesium and vitamin K2 also complement each other, as magnesium helps lower blood pressure, which is an important component of heart disease.
So, all in all, anytime you're taking any of the following: magnesium, calcium, vitamin D3 or vitamin K2, you need to take all the others into consideration as well, since these all work synergistically with each other.

About Dr Kevin Lau

State Auditor Edelen faults Bluegrass mental-health agency for executive compensation, lax management and board oversight

The Bluegrass Regional Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board, a nonprofit agency that gets two-thirds of its money from taxpayers, "paid more than $2.8 million in executive-benefit contributions since 1997 to the president/CEO and various other employees solely at the discretion of the President/CEO with no scrutiny by board members," state Auditor Adam Edelen said in a press release this morning. "The contributions, which are designed to retain talent within an organization, were largely awarded to a core group of central office administrative staff while health-care employees received either no contributions or less significant amounts."

Edelen's release said the audit, made in response to "news media reports and anonymous concerns," also "found problems with . . . spending without supporting documentation and lax management practices." For example, Bluegrass spent $172,025 on lobbying from January 2011 to September 2012 without adequate documentation, and President/CEO Shannon Ware, right, and a consultant "spent nearly $38,000 on credit cards during an 18-month period without detailed receipts to document the business purposes," the release said. The full report is available here. It confirmed several findings by the Lexington Herald-Leader; for the H-L story on the audit, by John Cheves, go here.

U.S. teens' cigarette use drops to a new low, but use of alcohol goes up a bit and more 12th graders are smoking marijuana

Teenagers' cigarette smoking dropped to a record low this year but alcohol use rose slightly after seven years of decline, according to a survey of 45,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th- graders for the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

The survey also found that the use of illicit drugs dropped slightly among eighth-graders but rose slightly among 12th-graders. Among them, 36.4 percent reported using marijuana in the past year, up from 34.8 percent in 2010, and the share who saw great risk in smoking marijuana occasionally dropped significantly, to 20.6 percent, from 24.5 percent in 2010.

Among all three age groups, only 10.6 percent said they had smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days, down from 11.7 percent in 2010. The University of Michigan researchers who did the survey said the decline was significant, and may have been driven by a big increase in the federal tobacco tax in 2009.

"A 1-percentage-point decline may not sound like a lot, but it represents about a 9 percent reduction in a single year in the number of teens currently smoking," principal researcher Lloyd Johnston said in a news release. Among eighth-graders, the decline was about 20 percent. For other results of the survey, click here; for a PDF version, here. For the full survey report, go here.

"Teen attitudes toward smoking also continued to become more negative. For example, 80 percent of teens said they preferred to date nonsmokers in 2012," Steve Gorman reports for Reuters. "But anti-tobacco advocates said their battle to stamp out teen smoking was far from over, noting that 17 percent of high school seniors still graduate as smokers." And the figure is higher in many rural areas.

Kentucky ranks at or near the top in youth smoking. In 2010, the last year for which state figures are available, 16 percent of Kentucky children aged 12 to 17 (a slightly younger group than the one above) reported smoking a cigarette in the past month. The national rate for that age group was 10 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lomustine for treatment of feline lymphoma

Dutelle AL, Bulman-Fleming JC, Lewis CA and Rosenberg MP. Evaluation of lomustine as a rescue agent for cats with resistant lymphoma. J Feline Med Surg. 2012; 14: 694-700.

Treating cases of resistant lymphoma is very challenging for veterinarians. The study reported here evaluated the use of lomustine as a rescue agent for 39 cases of resistant lymphoma in cats. The aims of the study were to evaluate lomustine as a rescue agent in this scenario, to determine prognostic factors for progression-free interval, and to detail toxicities noted in the course of the study. Progression-free interval (PFI) was defined as the time from when a cat was placed on lomustine to subsequent progression of disease necessitating a protocol change or euthanasia. The different parameters evaluated were lymphocyte cell size, number of previous chemotherapy drugs and number of chemotherapy protocols received, time from lymphoma diagnosis to initiation of lomustine therapy, body weight, and anatomic location of lymphoma.

The results demonstrated that the significant prognostic factors for PFI were cell size, number of previous chemotherapeutic drugs, number of previous chemotherapeutic protocols, and anatomic location. Cats with large cell lymphoma were 9.8 times more likely to have disease progression. Twenty-one cats (54%) received more than 1 dose of lomustine. Cats that had received 3 to 4 prior protocols were 3.6 times more likely to have disease progression than cats receiving 1 or 2 prior protocols. And cats with non-GI lymphoma were 4.7 times more likely to have progression of disease as ones with GI lymphoma. The most commonly noted toxicities in this study were vomiting, diarrhea, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and elevated ALT. It was noted that strict monitoring of the CBC while cats are on this drug is very important. [VT]

See also: Musser ML, Quinn HT and Chretin JD. Low apparent risk of CCNU (lomustine)-associated clinical hepatotoxicity in cats. J Feline Med Surg. 2012; 14: 871-5.

Related blog articles:
Pulmonary fibrosis in a cat receiving lomustine (July 2008)
Treatment for mast cell tumors in cats (April 2008)

More on cat health:
Winn Feline Foundation Library
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Dutelle AL, Bulman-Fleming JC, Lewis CA and Rosenberg MP. Evaluation of lomustine as a rescue agent for cats with resistant lymphoma. J Feline Med Surg. 2012; 14: 694-700.

Feds tell states it's all or nothing on Medicaid expansion; Washington Post map shows Ky. is only state 'leaning' toward it

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

When the Supreme Court upheld federal health reform but said states could opt out of the expansion of Medicaid to people with incomes above the poverty line, to be funded with generous federal subsidies, one of the first questions was whether a state had to go all the way: to 133 percent of poverty (138 percent with an official fudge factor). Now the Obama administration has answered "no." And that could make the decision tougher for Kentucky, which is the only state The Washington Post listed this month as leaning toward expansion.

The Post's Sarah Kliff wrote, "The administration’s reasoning goes like this: The federal government was giving states a really, really good deal on the Medicaid expansion. It was footing the entire bill for the newly eligible enrollees for three years," 2014 through 2016, rather than the 72 percent it pays Kentucky for current enrollees. The subsidy for the new eligibles would drop to 95 percent in 2017, 94 percent in 2018, 93 percent in 2019; and 90 percent in 2020.

White House aides told Kliff that in passing the bill, Congress (which is to say the Democrats in Congress) "gave states that really high funding in the service of a very specific goal: Ensuring all Americans have access to insurance options." But "If a state decided to cover, say, everyone up to the federal poverty line, they would be working with a smaller, more manageable population," Kliff explains. "Those living above the poverty line, meanwhile, wouldn’t be left in the lurch. The Affordable Care Act allows them to receive very generous subsidies in the private insurance market."

However, Medicaid Administrator Cindy Mann told Kliff that if states could fall short of the 133 percent level, they wouldn’t be within the spirit of the law. Kliff paraphrases Mann: "They wouldn’t offer all their residents a way to purchase affordable coverage, and if they’re not going to do that, the White House says they don’t deserve the extra funding."

Gov. Steve Beshear said again today that Kentucky should expand Medicaid "if we can afford it" because so many people in the state have no health insurance and are in poor health, and improving their health would be good for the state's economy.

Kentucky now makes Medicaid available to people with household incomes below 70 percent of the poverty line, which varies by household size. The Urban Institute has estimated that expanding the program to 133 percent of poverty would cost the state about 5 percent more than it would otherwise spend through 2022. That would be $1.3 billion extra in 2017-22, and some Republicans in the legislature have said the state can't afford it. The state expects to spend $1.5 billion on Medicaid in the 2013-14 fiscal year.

While the Post lists Kentucky as the only state "leaning yes" to expansion, it seems likely to be joined by several others. "States have stayed mum on whether they will participate in the expansion, seeing first if they could get a better deal — the partial expansion," Kliff writes. "The federal government took a while to show its cards; it wanted to see if states would sign up for the full expansion, without giving them a scaled-back option." Only 17 states have said yes, and as many are undecided, the Post reports.

In setting a firm rule, the White House may think states "will decide the 100 percent match is too good to pass up and that the federal money will pull everyone in," Kliff writes. "Or, it could indicate the Obama administration is okay with not all states participating with the Medicaid expansion on day one. Again, this wouldn’t be unprecedented: Only six states initially signed up for Medicaid when it launched in 1965."

States should realize that expanding Medicaid is a long-term investment in the health of their people that will pay off in the long run, Dr. Wayne Myers, who once ran Kentucky's rural-health office and was the first director of the federal Office of Rural Health Policy, writes in the Daily Yonder. He says that if a state doesn't expand Medicaid, many of its people will remain or become uninsured.

"Medicaid is a rural issue because a higher percentage of low-income people live in rural communities, and rural families are less likely to have private health insurance," Myers writes, adding that the program is also "a major economic driver." According to the National Center for Rural Health Works at Oklahoma State University, Medicaid was responsible for 113,000 jobs and a total of $10.5 billion in economic activity in Oklahoma in 2010.

Myers cites studies showing that patients with insurance who are hospitalized after accidents are 40 percent less likely to die than those without insurance, because uninsured patients got less attention from medical staff. Opting out of the expansion "may get a governor a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the foot, some dead hospitals and a bunch of dead citizens who needn't have died," Myers writes.

Kentucky Health News is a service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

When Dr. Jeremy Corbett of Lexington found that "nearly one in five pregnant women enrolled in the Medicaid managed-care program where he works were using narcotics or other harmful drugs," he tackled the problem. As medical director of the Kentucky Spirit Health Plan, "He designed a new program combining high-tech health information with case management to tackle the problem of addicted babies, which is exploding statewide," reports Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal. (C-J photo by Tim Webb)

Ungar describes how Corbett's program works: "Employees examine patient records for pregnant Kentucky Spirit members. The pharmacy department uses an analytics report, coupled with the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting System, or KASPER, to cross-check for drugs that could be dangerous during pregnancy, including narcotics. Department employees also look at the pattern of prescriptions, which could point toward doctor-shopping for pills. . . . Kentucky Spirit sends letters to the prescribing doctor and the obstetrician the woman is seeing, letting them know she is pregnant and has received a prescription for dangerous drugs. Corbett said sometimes the prescribing doctor doesn’t know the woman is pregnant, and the obstetrician doesn’t know she’s taking narcotics. Corbett said they also send letters outlining the dangers of taking certain drugs during pregnancy, and case managers reach out to women at risk of giving birth to addicted babies."

The program started three weeks ago. Corbett said two women have asked to get substance-abuse treatment, for which Kentucky Spirit pays — "even residential treatment, which is not required by Kentucky law — because it saves money in the long run," Ungar reports. "Kentucky has seen its hospitalizations for addicted newborns climb from 29 in 2000 to 730 last year — a 2,400 percent increase that far outpaces the national increase." Corbett told her, “When these babies wind up in the neonatal intensive care unit, it’s a huge loss, emotionally, and it’s also a huge loss of state dollars.” (Read more)

Animals from industrial farms are giving rise to diseases in human beings

Today, a lot of animals are reared all over the world in order to serve the ever increasing human demands of meat and milk. But apart from providing victuals, these animals also serve the human population in another way. Natural News reports that these industrial farm animals are the main origin of increased diseases in humans. Continuous and over-consumption of meats that come fresh from farms may lead to severe diseases in humans. This is why many health conscious people have totally renounced animal flesh from their daily diets.

Animal right activists have been pointing out the deplorable condition of animal farming for quite some time now. Though, previously, it largely went unheard and unheeded, now the issue is gaining some importance. Pew Commission on industrial Farm Animal Production made it clear in its 2008 report that animal farms are the cradle of germs and bacteria that may give rise to severe diseases in the human body. The commission carried out an extensive research work of one and a half years prior to the publication of the report. The uncontrolled use of antibiotics on the animals is giving rise to antibiotic resistant superbugs that can annihilate a large population from the face of earth.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025716_antibiotic_animals_antibiotics.html

Natural News also reports that the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has quietly increased the level of radiation allowed in foods. It is needless to mention that radiated foods can usher serious illness in human beings, but the FDA does not seem to be moved by the gravity of the situation. Keeping all these things in mind, it can be said that the slow poisoning of

U.S.

citizens continues unchecked with big pharmaceuticals and food giants earning millions out of the volatile situations.

http://www.naturalnews.com/038255_radiation_meats_FDA.html#ixzz2EfL9WfIE

http://www.naturalnews.com/025716_antibiotic_animals_antibiotics.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/038255_radiation_meats_FDA.html#ixzz2EfL9WfIE

http://www.naturalnews.com/025716_antibiotic_animals_antibiotics.html

U.S.

citizens continues unchecked with big pharmaceuticals and food giants earning millions out of the volatile situations.

http://www.naturalnews.com/038255_radiation_meats_FDA.html#ixzz2EfL9WfIE

http://www.naturalnews.com/025716_antibiotic_animals_antibiotics.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/038255_radiation_meats_FDA.html#ixzz2EfL9WfIE

http://www.naturalnews.com/025716_antibiotic_animals_antibiotics.html

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

Many Kentucky parents don't realize that their children are obese or overweight, or at least aren't willing to acknowledge it. That is the obvious conclusion to draw from the latest results of the Kentucky Parent Survey, released Tuesday by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

The poll found that only 14 percent of Kentucky parents say their child weighs too much, but the National Survey of Children's Health found that 37 percent of Kentucky children are overweight or obese. Conversely, 76 percent of parents in the poll think their child's weight is about right, but the national survey found that only 58 percent of Kentucky kids have healthy weight.

The Kentucky Parent survey, taken by land-line and cell telephone from July 19 to Aug. 22 by the Center for Survey Research at the University of Virginia, interviewed 1,006 Kentucky parents, step-parents, grandparents, foster parents or other legal guardians of children in Kentucky selected at random. The statistical margin of error for that sample size is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The poll also found that 56 percent of Kentucky children are watching more than the maximum daily recommended amount of “screen time” – watching television, playing video games or using the Internet – and that 59 percent drink sugar-sweetened beverages every day. Both are major factors in childhood obesity, research has found, and experts recommend no more than two hours of screen time a day and no sugar-sweetened drinks at all.

“Parents can help reduce this risk by encouraging healthy behaviors for their children,” said Dr. Susan Zepeda, president and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.“Our children’s habits and behaviors impact their health today and shape their quality of life as they grow. When kids eat poorly and don’t get enough physical activity, it increases their risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases. This poll data helps us understand what parents think about the behaviors that are so critical to health.”

The Kentucky Parent Survey also found that only 56 percent of Kentucky parents said their child got "enough" fruits and vegetables every day during the preceding week, and 66 percent of parents reported their child got "enough" physical activity every day during the preceding week. It also found that elementary and high-school students often get less than the recommended amount of sleep per day (chart).

The survey did not define "enough." The foundation noted that one strategy to reduce childhood obesity in Kentucky is "5-2-1-0," reflecting experts' recommendations that each day, children should eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables, have no more than two hours of screen time, engage in one hour of physical activity, and drink zero sugar-sweetened beverages. For the foundation's press release, click here.

Oregon may show the way for Kentucky in drug treatment

In facing up to its need for more drug-treatment facilities, Kentucky could learn some lessons from Oregon, Courier-Journal reporter Laura Ungar writes in the third and last part of her package of stories about drug treatment, or lack of it, in our state: "Oregon, like Kentucky, is a largely rural state with about 4 million people — and a substantial prescription-drug abuse problem. But Oregon has acted more quickly and aggressively to tackle treatment." She cites examples:

• Oregon is spending about $51 million annually on substance abuse treatment, $11 million more than six years ago. "Kentucky’s Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities spends $29 million a year , and hasn’t increased that amount in more than a decade."

• Medicaid, the federally subsidized health-insurance program for the poor and disabled, covers substance abuse treatment in Oregon, "while Kentucky, with a few exceptions, does not."
• Oregon admits more than twice as many addicts for treatment, and "Oregonians are much more likely to receive intensive treatment: "10 percent of treatment admissions were to long-term, residential facilities, compared with 1.1 percent in Kentucky."
• Kentucky had a much higher rate of deaths from drug overdoses in 2008, the most recent year available — 17.9 per 100,000 compared with 11.7. "Health experts say effective treatment leads to fewer overdoses." (Read more)

Treatment for insecticide toxicosis in cats

Haworth MD and Smart L. Use of intravenous lipid therapy in three cases of feline permethrin toxicosis. J Vet Emerg Crit Care. 2012; 22: 697-702.

Permethrin is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide and acaricide commonly used for flea and tick control in dogs. Permethrin toxicosis in cats usually occurs when owners inadvertently apply over-the-counter spot-on flea insecticides intended for dogs to their cats or when cats are exposed secondarily to the product used on dogs that share the same environment. Permethrin exerts its toxic effect on ectoparasite and host by modulating sodium ion channels, causing them to remain open longer, resulting in repetitive excitable cell discharge. While this leads to paralysis and death of the parasite, toxicosis in the host manifests primarily as central nervous system effects including tremors, hyperesthesia, ataxia, mydriasis, pyrexia, seizures, and possibly death. Cats are highly susceptible to permethrin toxicity possibly due to their innate deficiency in glucoronyl transferase and slower hepatic detoxification of the compound.

No antidote exists for permethrin toxicosis, therefore treatment is aimed at decontamination and control of neurological symptoms while allowing time for the toxin to be metabolized and excreted. Clinical signs typically last from 1 to 3 days. Mortality rates vary from 5-45%. Lengthy hospitalization times and cost often contribute to an owner’s decision for euthanasia.

Intravenous lipid emulsion (IVLE) has shown promise as an emerging adjuvant treatment for certain lipophilic toxicants such as ivermectin, local anesthetics, and permethrin. Although the exact mechanism of action of IVLE is unknown, it has been postulated that the lipid creates a “sink” for fat-soluble drugs, decreasing their tissue availability. This report describes treatment of 3 cats with permethrin toxicosis with IVLE administration in addition to standard treatment. All 3 cats appeared to show accelerated resolution of clinical signs following lipid administration. The authors suggest that lipid administration may also reduce hospitalization time and cost, and possibly prevent the decision to euthanize. A prospective, controlled clinical trial to confirm these findings is warranted. In circumstances where euthanasia, or death is imminent, the use of IVLE is justified. [GO]

See also: Bruckner M and Schwedes CS. Successful treatment of permethrin toxicosis in two cats with an intravenous lipid administration. Tierarztl Prax Ausg K Kleintiere Heimtiere. 2012; 40: 129-34.

Malik R, Ward MP, Seavers A, et al. Permethrin spot-on intoxication of cats: Literature review and survey of veterinary practitioners in Australia. J Feline Med Surg. 2010; 12: 5-14.

Related blog articles:
Feline permethrin toxicity (March 2010)
Cats and permethrin toxicity (February 2009)
Feline permethrin spot-on toxicity (May 2008)

More on cat health:
Winn Feline Foundation Library
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What You Need to Know About Vitamin K2, D and Calcium

Click HERE to watch the full interview!

Download Interview Transcript

Visit the Mercola Video Library

By Dr. Mercola

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin most well known for the important role it plays in blood clotting. However, many do not realize that there are different kinds of vitamin K, and they are completely different.
The health benefits of vitamin K2 go far beyond blood clotting, which is done by vitamin K1, and vitamin K2 also works synergistically with a number of other nutrients, including calcium and vitamin D.
Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue, a naturopathic physician with a keen interest in nutrition, has authored what I believe is one of the most comprehensive books on this important topic, titled: Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox: How a Little Known Vitamin Could Save Your Life
"I tuned in to the emerging research about K2 early in 2007," she says. "Not long before, I had read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price. When I learned about vitamin K2, I thought:
"Hey, you know what? I'm sure Price talked all about this in his book." I went to the book, looked through it, and didn't find any reference to vitamin K2. I was really stumped.
A little bit later in 2007, I read a brilliant article by Chris Masterjohn that links vitamin K2 to Prices' work on Activator X.
Once I realized that link, the light bulb went on about how important this nutrient is, and how overlooked it's been for so long. It really provides the missing piece to the puzzle of so many health conditions, and yet it was being completely overlooked, despite the overwhelming amounts of modern-day research."

What's So Special About Vitamin K2?

Vitamin K is actually a group of fat-soluble vitamins. Of the two main ones, K1 and K2, the one receiving the most attention is K1, which is found in green leafy vegetables and is very easy to get through your diet. This lack of distinction has created a lot of confusion, and it's one of the reasons why vitamin K2 has been overlooked for so long.
The three types of vitamin K are:
Vitamin K1, or phylloquinone, is found naturally in plants, especially green vegetables; K1 goes directly to your liver and helps you maintain healthy blood clotting
Vitamin K2, also called menaquinone, is made by the bacteria that line your gastrointestinal tract; K2 goes straight to your blood vessel walls, bones, and tissues other than your liver
Vitamin K3, or menadione, is a synthetic form I do not recommend; it's important to note that toxicity has occurred in infants injected with this synthetic vitamin K3
Vitamin K1 exclusively participates in blood clotting — that's sole purpose. K2 on the other hand comes from a whole different set of food sources, and its biological role is to help move calcium into the proper areas in your body, such as your bones and teeth. It also plays a role in removing calcium from areas where it shouldn't be, such as in your arteries and soft tissues.
"K2 is really critical for keeping your bones strong and your arteries clear," Rheaume-Bleue says.
Now, vitamin K2 can be broken into two additional categories, called:
MK-4 (menaquinone-4), a short-chain form of vitamin K2 found in butter, egg yolks, and animal-based foods
MK-7 (menaquinone-7), longer-chain forms found in fermented foods. There's a variety of these long-chain forms but the most common one is MK-7. This is the one you'll want to look for in supplements, because in a supplement form, the MK-4 products are actually synthetic. They are not derived from natural food products containing MK-4.
The MK-7 – these long-chain, natural bacterial-derived vitamin K2 – is from a fermentation process, which offers a number of health advantages:
It stays in your body longer, and
It has a longer half-life, which means you can just take it once a day in very convenient dosing

How Much Vitamin K2 Do You Need?

The optimal amounts of vitamin K2 are still under investigation, but it seems likely that 180 to 200 micrograms of vitamin K2 should be enough to activate your body's K2-dependent proteins to shuttle the calcium where it needs to be, and remove it from the places where it shouldn't.
"The most recent clinical trials used around those amounts of K2," Rheaume-Bleue says. "The average person is getting a lot less than that. That's for sure. In the North American diet, you can see as little as maybe 10 percent of that or less. Certainly, not near enough to be able to optimize bone density and improve heart health."
She estimates that about 80 percent of Americans do not get enough vitamin K2 in their diet to activate their K2 proteins, which is similar to the deficiency rate of vitamin D. Vitamin K2 deficiency leaves you vulnerable for a number of chronic diseases, including:
Osteoporosis Heart disease Heart attack and stroke
Inappropriate calcification, from heel spurs to kidney stones Brain disease Cancer
"I talked about vitamin K2 moving calcium around the body. Its other main role is to activate proteins that control cell growth. That means K2 has a very important role to play in cancer protection," Rheaume-Bleue says.
"When we're lacking K2, we're at much greater risk for osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancer. And these are three concerns that used to be relatively rare. Over the last 100 years, as we've changed the way we produced our food and the way we eat, they have become very common."
Researchers are also looking into other health benefits. For example, one recent study published in the journal Modern Rheumatology¹ found that vitamin K2 has the potential to improve disease activity besides osteoporosis in those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Another, published in the journal Science², found that vitamin K2 serves as a mitochondrial electron carrier, thereby helping maintain normal ATP production in mitochondrial dysfunction, such as that found in Parkinson's Disease.
According to the authors:
"We identified Drosophila UBIAD1/Heix as a modifier of pink1, a gene mutated in Parkinson's disease that affects mitochondrial function. We found that vitamin K(2) was necessary and sufficient to transfer electrons in Drosophila mitochondria. Heix mutants showed severe mitochondrial defects that were rescued by vitamin K(2), and, similar to ubiquinone, vitamin K(2) transferred electrons in Drosophila mitochondria, resulting in more efficient adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. Thus, mitochondrial dysfunction was rescued by vitamin K(2) that serves as a mitochondrial electron carrier, helping to maintain normal ATP production."

The Interplay Between Vitamin K2, Vitamin D, and Calcium

As I've discussed on numerous occasions, vitamin D is a critical nutrient for optimal health and is best obtained from sun exposure or a safe tanning bed. However, many are taking oral vitamin D, which may become problematic unless you're also getting sufficient amounts of vitamin K2. Dr. Rheaume-Bleue explains:
"When you take vitamin D, your body creates more of these vitamin K2-dependent proteins, the proteins that will move the calcium around. They have a lot of potential health benefits. But until the K2 comes in to activate those proteins, those benefits aren't realized. So, really, if you're taking vitamin D, you're creating an increased demand for K2. And vitamin D and K2 work together to strengthen your bones and improve your heart health.
... For so long, we've been told to take calcium for osteoporosis... and vitamin D, which we know is helpful. But then, more studies are coming out showing that increased calcium intake is causing more heart attacks and strokes. That created a lot of confusion around whether calcium is safe or not. But that's the wrong question to be asking, because we'll never properly understand the health benefits of calcium or vitamin D, unless we take into consideration K2. That's what keeps the calcium in its right place."

IMPORTANT: If You Take Vitamin D, You Need K2

This is a really crucial point: If you opt for oral vitamin D, you need to also consume in your food or take supplemental vitamin K2.
"There are so many people on the vitamin-D-mega-dose bandwagon, taking more and more of vitamin D. And it could absolutely be causing harm if you are lacking the K2 to complete the job to get the calcium where it's supposed to be,"Rheaume-Bleue warns.
"We don't see symptoms of vitamin D toxicity very often. But when we do, those symptoms are inappropriate calcification. That's the symptom of vitamin D toxicity. And it is actually a lack of vitamin K2 that can cause that..."
While the ideal or optimal ratios between vitamin D and vitamin K2 have yet to be elucidated, Rheume-Bleue suggests that for every 1,000 IU's of vitamin D you take, you may benefit from about 100 micrograms of K2, and perhaps as much as 150-200 micrograms (mcg).
The latest vitamin D dosing recommendations, which call for about 8,000 IU's of vitamin D3 per day if you're an adult, means you'd need in the neighborhood of 800 to 1,000 micrograms (0.8 to 1 milligram/mg) of vitamin K2.
"My earlier recommendation was not taking into account people who were doing high dose of vitamin D supplementation," Rheaume-Bleue says. "That's where it gets a little bit more technical. It seems that for the average person, around 200 to 280 micrograms will activate your K2 proteins and do a lot of good for your bones and your heart. If you're taking high levels of vitamin D... then I would recommend taking more K2."
The good news is that vitamin K2 has no toxicity. No toxic effects have ever been demonstrated in the medical literature.
"The reason why K2 doesn't have potential toxic effect is that all vitamin K2 does is activate K2 proteins. It will activate all the K2 proteins it finds. And if they're all activated and you take extra K2, it simply won't do that. That's why we don't see a potential for toxicity the way we do with vitamin A or D," she says.

If You Need Calcium, Aim for Calcium-Rich Foods First

For those who are calcium deficient, Rheaume-Bleue recommends looking to food sources high in calcium, before opting for a supplement. This is because many high calcium foods also contain naturally high amounts of, you guessed it, vitamin K2! Nature cleverly gives us these two nutrients in combination, so they work optimally. Good sources of calcium include dairy, especially cheeses, and vegetables, although veggies aren't high in K2.
Additionally, magnesium is far more important than calcium if you are going to consider supplementing. Magnesium will also help keep magnesium in the cell to do its job far better. In many ways it serves as nutritional version of the highly effective class of drugs called calcium channel blockers. If you do chose to supplement with calcium, for whatever reason, it's important to maintain the proper balance between your intake of calcium and other nutrients such as:
Vitamin K2
Vitamin D
Magnesium

The Importance of Magnesium

As mentioned previously, magnesium is another important player to allow for proper function of calcium. As with vitamin D and K2, magnesium deficiency is also common, and when you are lacking in magnesium and take calcium, you may exacerbate the situation. Vitamin K2 and magnesium complement each other, as magnesium helps lower blood pressure, which is an important component of heart disease.
Dietary sources of magnesium include sea vegetables, such as kelp, dulse, and nori. Few people eat these on a regular basis however, if at all. Vegetables can also be a good source, along with whole grains. However, grains MUST be prepared properly to remove phytates and anti-nutrients that can otherwise block your absorption of magnesium. As for supplements, Rheaume-Bleue recommends using magnesium citrate. Another emerging one is magnesium threonate, which appears promising primarily due to its superior ability to penetrate the mitochondrial membrane.

How Can You Tell if You're Lacking in Vitamin K2?

There's no way to test for vitamin K2 deficiency. But by assessing your diet and lifestyle, you can get an idea of whether or not you may be lacking in this critical nutrient. If you have any of the following health conditions, you're likely deficient in vitamin K2 as they are all connected to K2:
Do you have osteoporosis?
Do you have heart disease?
Do you have diabetes?
If you do not have any of those health conditions, but do NOT regularly eat high amounts of the following foods, then your likelihood of being vitamin K2 deficient is still very high:
Grass-fed organic animal products (i.e. eggs, butter, dairy)
Certain fermented foods such as natto, or vegetables fermented using a starter culture of vitamin K2-producing bacteria. Please note that most fermented vegetables are not really high in vitamin K2 and come in at about 50 mcg per serving. However, if specific starter cultures are used they can have ten times as much, or 500 mcg per serving.
Goose liver pâté
Certain cheeses such as Brie and Gouda (these two are particularly high in K2, containing about 75 mcg per ounce)
"An important thing to mention when it comes to cheese (because this becomes an area of confusion), [is that] because cheese is a bacterial derived form of vitamin K2, it actually doesn't matter if the cheese came from grass-fed milk. That would be nice, but it's not the milk that went into the cheese that makes the K2. It's the bacteria making the cheese, which means it doesn't matter if you're importing your brie from France or getting it domestically. Brie cheese, the bacteria that makes brie cheese, will make vitamin K2," she says.
Fermented vegetables, which are one of my new passions, primarily for supplying beneficial bacteria back into our gut, can be a great source of vitamin K if you ferment your own using the proper starter culture. We recently had samples of high-quality fermented organic vegetables made with our specific starter culture tested, and were shocked to discover that not only does a typical serving of about two to three ounces contain about 10 trillion beneficial bacteria, but it also contained 500 mcg of vitamin K2.
Note that not every strain of bacteria makes K2. For example, most yoghurts have almost no vitamin K2. Certain types of cheeses are very high in K2, and others are not. It really depends on the specific bacteria. You can't assume that any fermented food will be high in K2, but some fermented foods are very high in K2, such as natto. Others, such as miso and tempeh, are not high n K2.

Pregnant? Make Sure You're Getting Enough Vitamin K2

Last but not least, while vitamin K2 is critical for the prevention of a number of chronic diseases listed above, it's also vital for women who are trying to conceive, who are pregnant, and for growing healthy children. "K2 plays a very important role throughout pregnancy (for the development of teeth for both primary and adult teeth, the development of proper facial form, healthy facial form, as well as strong bones), then again throughout childhood to prevent cavities, and through adolescence as the skeleton is growing," Rheaume-Bleue says.
Vitamin K2 is needed throughout pregnancy, and later while breastfeeding. It may be particularly important during the third trimester, as most women's levels tend to drop at that time, indicating there's an additional drain on the system toward the end of the pregnancy. Since vitamin K2 has no toxicity issues, it may be prudent to double or even triple — which is what Rheaume-Bleue did during her own recent pregnancy — your intake while pregnant.

About Dr Kevin Lau

Click HERE to watch the full interview!

Download Interview Transcript

Visit the Mercola Video Library

By Dr. Mercola

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin most well known for the important role it plays in blood clotting. However, many do not realize that there are different kinds of vitamin K, and they are completely different.
The health benefits of vitamin K2 go far beyond blood clotting, which is done by vitamin K1, and vitamin K2 also works synergistically with a number of other nutrients, including calcium and vitamin D.
Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue, a naturopathic physician with a keen interest in nutrition, has authored what I believe is one of the most comprehensive books on this important topic, titled: Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox: How a Little Known Vitamin Could Save Your Life
"I tuned in to the emerging research about K2 early in 2007," she says. "Not long before, I had read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price. When I learned about vitamin K2, I thought:
"Hey, you know what? I'm sure Price talked all about this in his book." I went to the book, looked through it, and didn't find any reference to vitamin K2. I was really stumped.
A little bit later in 2007, I read a brilliant article by Chris Masterjohn that links vitamin K2 to Prices' work on Activator X.
Once I realized that link, the light bulb went on about how important this nutrient is, and how overlooked it's been for so long. It really provides the missing piece to the puzzle of so many health conditions, and yet it was being completely overlooked, despite the overwhelming amounts of modern-day research."

What's So Special About Vitamin K2?

Vitamin K is actually a group of fat-soluble vitamins. Of the two main ones, K1 and K2, the one receiving the most attention is K1, which is found in green leafy vegetables and is very easy to get through your diet. This lack of distinction has created a lot of confusion, and it's one of the reasons why vitamin K2 has been overlooked for so long.
The three types of vitamin K are:
Vitamin K1, or phylloquinone, is found naturally in plants, especially green vegetables; K1 goes directly to your liver and helps you maintain healthy blood clotting
Vitamin K2, also called menaquinone, is made by the bacteria that line your gastrointestinal tract; K2 goes straight to your blood vessel walls, bones, and tissues other than your liver
Vitamin K3, or menadione, is a synthetic form I do not recommend; it's important to note that toxicity has occurred in infants injected with this synthetic vitamin K3
Vitamin K1 exclusively participates in blood clotting — that's sole purpose. K2 on the other hand comes from a whole different set of food sources, and its biological role is to help move calcium into the proper areas in your body, such as your bones and teeth. It also plays a role in removing calcium from areas where it shouldn't be, such as in your arteries and soft tissues.
"K2 is really critical for keeping your bones strong and your arteries clear," Rheaume-Bleue says.
Now, vitamin K2 can be broken into two additional categories, called:
MK-4 (menaquinone-4), a short-chain form of vitamin K2 found in butter, egg yolks, and animal-based foods
MK-7 (menaquinone-7), longer-chain forms found in fermented foods. There's a variety of these long-chain forms but the most common one is MK-7. This is the one you'll want to look for in supplements, because in a supplement form, the MK-4 products are actually synthetic. They are not derived from natural food products containing MK-4.
The MK-7 – these long-chain, natural bacterial-derived vitamin K2 – is from a fermentation process, which offers a number of health advantages:
It stays in your body longer, and
It has a longer half-life, which means you can just take it once a day in very convenient dosing

How Much Vitamin K2 Do You Need?

The optimal amounts of vitamin K2 are still under investigation, but it seems likely that 180 to 200 micrograms of vitamin K2 should be enough to activate your body's K2-dependent proteins to shuttle the calcium where it needs to be, and remove it from the places where it shouldn't.
"The most recent clinical trials used around those amounts of K2," Rheaume-Bleue says. "The average person is getting a lot less than that. That's for sure. In the North American diet, you can see as little as maybe 10 percent of that or less. Certainly, not near enough to be able to optimize bone density and improve heart health."
She estimates that about 80 percent of Americans do not get enough vitamin K2 in their diet to activate their K2 proteins, which is similar to the deficiency rate of vitamin D. Vitamin K2 deficiency leaves you vulnerable for a number of chronic diseases, including:
Osteoporosis Heart disease Heart attack and stroke
Inappropriate calcification, from heel spurs to kidney stones Brain disease Cancer
"I talked about vitamin K2 moving calcium around the body. Its other main role is to activate proteins that control cell growth. That means K2 has a very important role to play in cancer protection," Rheaume-Bleue says.
"When we're lacking K2, we're at much greater risk for osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancer. And these are three concerns that used to be relatively rare. Over the last 100 years, as we've changed the way we produced our food and the way we eat, they have become very common."
Researchers are also looking into other health benefits. For example, one recent study published in the journal Modern Rheumatology¹ found that vitamin K2 has the potential to improve disease activity besides osteoporosis in those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Another, published in the journal Science², found that vitamin K2 serves as a mitochondrial electron carrier, thereby helping maintain normal ATP production in mitochondrial dysfunction, such as that found in Parkinson's Disease.
According to the authors:
"We identified Drosophila UBIAD1/Heix as a modifier of pink1, a gene mutated in Parkinson's disease that affects mitochondrial function. We found that vitamin K(2) was necessary and sufficient to transfer electrons in Drosophila mitochondria. Heix mutants showed severe mitochondrial defects that were rescued by vitamin K(2), and, similar to ubiquinone, vitamin K(2) transferred electrons in Drosophila mitochondria, resulting in more efficient adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. Thus, mitochondrial dysfunction was rescued by vitamin K(2) that serves as a mitochondrial electron carrier, helping to maintain normal ATP production."

The Interplay Between Vitamin K2, Vitamin D, and Calcium

As I've discussed on numerous occasions, vitamin D is a critical nutrient for optimal health and is best obtained from sun exposure or a safe tanning bed. However, many are taking oral vitamin D, which may become problematic unless you're also getting sufficient amounts of vitamin K2. Dr. Rheaume-Bleue explains:
"When you take vitamin D, your body creates more of these vitamin K2-dependent proteins, the proteins that will move the calcium around. They have a lot of potential health benefits. But until the K2 comes in to activate those proteins, those benefits aren't realized. So, really, if you're taking vitamin D, you're creating an increased demand for K2. And vitamin D and K2 work together to strengthen your bones and improve your heart health.
... For so long, we've been told to take calcium for osteoporosis... and vitamin D, which we know is helpful. But then, more studies are coming out showing that increased calcium intake is causing more heart attacks and strokes. That created a lot of confusion around whether calcium is safe or not. But that's the wrong question to be asking, because we'll never properly understand the health benefits of calcium or vitamin D, unless we take into consideration K2. That's what keeps the calcium in its right place."

IMPORTANT: If You Take Vitamin D, You Need K2

This is a really crucial point: If you opt for oral vitamin D, you need to also consume in your food or take supplemental vitamin K2.
"There are so many people on the vitamin-D-mega-dose bandwagon, taking more and more of vitamin D. And it could absolutely be causing harm if you are lacking the K2 to complete the job to get the calcium where it's supposed to be,"Rheaume-Bleue warns.
"We don't see symptoms of vitamin D toxicity very often. But when we do, those symptoms are inappropriate calcification. That's the symptom of vitamin D toxicity. And it is actually a lack of vitamin K2 that can cause that..."
While the ideal or optimal ratios between vitamin D and vitamin K2 have yet to be elucidated, Rheume-Bleue suggests that for every 1,000 IU's of vitamin D you take, you may benefit from about 100 micrograms of K2, and perhaps as much as 150-200 micrograms (mcg).
The latest vitamin D dosing recommendations, which call for about 8,000 IU's of vitamin D3 per day if you're an adult, means you'd need in the neighborhood of 800 to 1,000 micrograms (0.8 to 1 milligram/mg) of vitamin K2.
"My earlier recommendation was not taking into account people who were doing high dose of vitamin D supplementation," Rheaume-Bleue says. "That's where it gets a little bit more technical. It seems that for the average person, around 200 to 280 micrograms will activate your K2 proteins and do a lot of good for your bones and your heart. If you're taking high levels of vitamin D... then I would recommend taking more K2."
The good news is that vitamin K2 has no toxicity. No toxic effects have ever been demonstrated in the medical literature.
"The reason why K2 doesn't have potential toxic effect is that all vitamin K2 does is activate K2 proteins. It will activate all the K2 proteins it finds. And if they're all activated and you take extra K2, it simply won't do that. That's why we don't see a potential for toxicity the way we do with vitamin A or D," she says.

If You Need Calcium, Aim for Calcium-Rich Foods First

For those who are calcium deficient, Rheaume-Bleue recommends looking to food sources high in calcium, before opting for a supplement. This is because many high calcium foods also contain naturally high amounts of, you guessed it, vitamin K2! Nature cleverly gives us these two nutrients in combination, so they work optimally. Good sources of calcium include dairy, especially cheeses, and vegetables, although veggies aren't high in K2.
Additionally, magnesium is far more important than calcium if you are going to consider supplementing. Magnesium will also help keep magnesium in the cell to do its job far better. In many ways it serves as nutritional version of the highly effective class of drugs called calcium channel blockers. If you do chose to supplement with calcium, for whatever reason, it's important to maintain the proper balance between your intake of calcium and other nutrients such as:
Vitamin K2
Vitamin D
Magnesium

The Importance of Magnesium

As mentioned previously, magnesium is another important player to allow for proper function of calcium. As with vitamin D and K2, magnesium deficiency is also common, and when you are lacking in magnesium and take calcium, you may exacerbate the situation. Vitamin K2 and magnesium complement each other, as magnesium helps lower blood pressure, which is an important component of heart disease.
Dietary sources of magnesium include sea vegetables, such as kelp, dulse, and nori. Few people eat these on a regular basis however, if at all. Vegetables can also be a good source, along with whole grains. However, grains MUST be prepared properly to remove phytates and anti-nutrients that can otherwise block your absorption of magnesium. As for supplements, Rheaume-Bleue recommends using magnesium citrate. Another emerging one is magnesium threonate, which appears promising primarily due to its superior ability to penetrate the mitochondrial membrane.

How Can You Tell if You're Lacking in Vitamin K2?

There's no way to test for vitamin K2 deficiency. But by assessing your diet and lifestyle, you can get an idea of whether or not you may be lacking in this critical nutrient. If you have any of the following health conditions, you're likely deficient in vitamin K2 as they are all connected to K2:
Do you have osteoporosis?
Do you have heart disease?
Do you have diabetes?
If you do not have any of those health conditions, but do NOT regularly eat high amounts of the following foods, then your likelihood of being vitamin K2 deficient is still very high:
Grass-fed organic animal products (i.e. eggs, butter, dairy)
Certain fermented foods such as natto, or vegetables fermented using a starter culture of vitamin K2-producing bacteria. Please note that most fermented vegetables are not really high in vitamin K2 and come in at about 50 mcg per serving. However, if specific starter cultures are used they can have ten times as much, or 500 mcg per serving.
Goose liver pâté
Certain cheeses such as Brie and Gouda (these two are particularly high in K2, containing about 75 mcg per ounce)
"An important thing to mention when it comes to cheese (because this becomes an area of confusion), [is that] because cheese is a bacterial derived form of vitamin K2, it actually doesn't matter if the cheese came from grass-fed milk. That would be nice, but it's not the milk that went into the cheese that makes the K2. It's the bacteria making the cheese, which means it doesn't matter if you're importing your brie from France or getting it domestically. Brie cheese, the bacteria that makes brie cheese, will make vitamin K2," she says.
Fermented vegetables, which are one of my new passions, primarily for supplying beneficial bacteria back into our gut, can be a great source of vitamin K if you ferment your own using the proper starter culture. We recently had samples of high-quality fermented organic vegetables made with our specific starter culture tested, and were shocked to discover that not only does a typical serving of about two to three ounces contain about 10 trillion beneficial bacteria, but it also contained 500 mcg of vitamin K2.
Note that not every strain of bacteria makes K2. For example, most yoghurts have almost no vitamin K2. Certain types of cheeses are very high in K2, and others are not. It really depends on the specific bacteria. You can't assume that any fermented food will be high in K2, but some fermented foods are very high in K2, such as natto. Others, such as miso and tempeh, are not high n K2.

Pregnant? Make Sure You're Getting Enough Vitamin K2

Last but not least, while vitamin K2 is critical for the prevention of a number of chronic diseases listed above, it's also vital for women who are trying to conceive, who are pregnant, and for growing healthy children. "K2 plays a very important role throughout pregnancy (for the development of teeth for both primary and adult teeth, the development of proper facial form, healthy facial form, as well as strong bones), then again throughout childhood to prevent cavities, and through adolescence as the skeleton is growing," Rheaume-Bleue says.
Vitamin K2 is needed throughout pregnancy, and later while breastfeeding. It may be particularly important during the third trimester, as most women's levels tend to drop at that time, indicating there's an additional drain on the system toward the end of the pregnancy. Since vitamin K2 has no toxicity issues, it may be prudent to double or even triple — which is what Rheaume-Bleue did during her own recent pregnancy — your intake while pregnant.

Creation of ATP (adenosine triphospate), the energy molecules of your body	Proper formation of bones and teeth	Relaxation of blood vessels
Action of your heart muscle	Promotion of proper bowel function	Regulation of blood sugar levels

Fibromyalgia	Atrial fibrillation	Type 2 diabetes	Premenstrual syndrome
Cardiovascular disease	Migraine	Aging	Mortality

Numbness and tingling	Muscle contractions and cramps	Seizures
Personality changes	Abnormal heart rhythms	Coronary spasms

An unhealthy digestive system, which impairs your body's ability to absorb magnesium (Crohn's disease, leaky gut, etc.)	Alcoholism -- up to 60 percent of alcoholics have low blood levels of magnesium⁴
Unhealthy kidneys, which contribute to excessive loss of magnesium in urine	Age -- older adults are more likely to be magnesium deficient because absorption decreases with age and the elderly are more likely to take medications that can interfere with absorption
Diabetes, especially if it's poorly controlled, leading increased magnesium loss in urine	Certain medications -- diuretics, antibiotics and medications used to treat cancer can all result in magnesium deficiency

Seaweed, agar, dried (770 mg)	Spices, basil, dried (422 mg)
Spice, coriander leaf, dried (694 mg)	Flaxseed (392 mg)
Dried pumpkin seeds (535 mg)	Almond butter (303 mg)
Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened (499 mg)	Whey, sweet, dried (176 mg)

Magnesium glycinate is a chelated form of magnesium that tends to provide the highest levels of absorption and bioavailability and is typically considered ideal for those who are trying to correct a deficiency	Magnesium oxide is a non-chelated type of magnesium, bound to an organic acid or a fatty acid. Contains 60 percent magnesium, and has stool softening properties
Magnesium chloride / Magnesium lactate contain only 12 percent magnesium, but has better absorption than others, such as magnesium oxide, which contains five times more magnesium	Magnesium sulfate / Magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia) are typically used as a laxative. Be aware that it's easy to overdose on these, so ONLY take as directed
Magnesium carbonate, which has antacid properties, contains 45 percent magnesium	Magnesium taurate contains a combination of magnesium and taurine, an amino acid. Together, they tend to provide a calming effect on your body and mind
Magnesium citrate is magnesium with citric acid, which has laxative properties	Magnesium threonate is a newer, emerging type of magnesium supplement that appears promising, primarily due to its superior ability to penetrate the mitochondrial membrane, and may be the best magnesium supplement on the market

Osteoporosis	Heart disease	Heart attack and stroke
Inappropriate calcification, from heel spurs to kidney stones	Brain disease	Cancer

Pages

Friday, December 21, 2012

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The Health Benefits of Magnesium have Been Vastly Underestimated

Signs You May Not be Getting Enough Magnesium

One of the Best Ways to Optimize Your Magnesium Levels

Foods with the Highest Amounts of Magnesium

Different Types of Magnesium Supplements

Balance Your Magnesium with Calcium, Vitamin K2 and D

About Dr Kevin Lau

The Health Benefits of Magnesium have Been Vastly Underestimated

Signs You May Not be Getting Enough Magnesium

One of the Best Ways to Optimize Your Magnesium Levels

Foods with the Highest Amounts of Magnesium

Different Types of Magnesium Supplements

Balance Your Magnesium with Calcium, Vitamin K2 and D

About Dr Kevin Lau

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Monday, December 17, 2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012

What's So Special About Vitamin K2?

How Much Vitamin K2 Do You Need?

The Interplay Between Vitamin K2, Vitamin D, and Calcium

IMPORTANT: If You Take Vitamin D, You Need K2

If You Need Calcium, Aim for Calcium-Rich Foods First

The Importance of Magnesium

How Can You Tell if You're Lacking in Vitamin K2?

Pregnant? Make Sure You're Getting Enough Vitamin K2

About Dr Kevin Lau

What's So Special About Vitamin K2?

How Much Vitamin K2 Do You Need?

The Interplay Between Vitamin K2, Vitamin D, and Calcium

IMPORTANT: If You Take Vitamin D, You Need K2

If You Need Calcium, Aim for Calcium-Rich Foods First

The Importance of Magnesium

How Can You Tell if You're Lacking in Vitamin K2?

Pregnant? Make Sure You're Getting Enough Vitamin K2

About Dr Kevin Lau