Category Archives: Minerals

Study Adds Weight to Link Between Calcium Supplements and Heart Problems

Research: Calcium supplements with or without vitamin D and risk of cardiovascular events: Reanalysis of the Women’s Health Initiative limited access dataset and meta-analysis Research published in BMJ (British Medical Journal) in April 2011 adds to mounting evidence that calcium supplements increase the risk of cardiovascular events, particularly heart attacks, in older women. The findings suggest that their …

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Nutritional Support for Wound Healing

Nutrition plays a crucial role in wound healing. Nutritional status of patients at the time of trauma or surgery influences the biochemical processes necessary for the phases of normal healing to occur. Evidence exists that vitamins A and C, zinc, arginine, glutamine, glucosamine, bromelain, Aloe vera, and Centella asiatica may be beneficial to wounded or …

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Zinc Regulates Communication Between Brain Cells

– Zinc has been found to play a critical role in regulating communication between cells in the brain, possibly governing the formation of memories and controlling the occurrence of epileptic seizures. A collaborative project between Duke University Medical Center researchers and chemists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been able to watch zinc in …

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Link Between Parkinson’s Disease And Manganese Poisoning

A connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson’s disease has been discovered by a research team led by Aaron D. Gitler, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Gitler and colleagues found in 2009 a genetic interaction between two Parkinson’s disease genes …

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Manganese In Drinking Water: Study Suggests Adverse Effects On Children’s Intellectual Abilities

A team of researchers recently completed a study showing that children exposed to high concentrations of manganese in drinking water performed worse on tests of intellectual functioning than children with lower exposures. A team of researchers led by Maryse Bouchard, adjunct professor at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology, Health, Environment and Society (CINBIOSE) …

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Dietary Calcium Is Better Than Supplements At Protecting Bone Health

Women who get most of their daily calcium from food have healthier bones than women whose calcium comes mainly from supplemental tablets. Surprisingly, this is true even though the supplement takers have higher average calcium intake. Adequate calcium is important to prevent osteoporosis, which affects an estimated 8 million American women and 2 million American …

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FDA: Fluoride Supplements Never Found Safe Or Effective

Sodium fluoride supplements “have not been found by FDA to be safe or effective,” according to the US National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) website, reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. (NYSCOF). Routinely prescribed to children in non-water-fluoridated communities, sometimes even in fluoridated areas, sodium fluoride drops, lozenges and “vitamins” are meant to …

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High Potassium Intake Linked With Lower Risk Of Stroke, Especially Ischemic Stroke

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm have found that dietary potassium intake is inversely associated with risk of stroke, in particular ischemic stroke. A higher intake of potassium (1000 mg) compared to a lower intake was associated with as much as 11 percent reduction in the ischemic stroke risk, 5 percent reduction in intracerebral hemorrhage, but …

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Zinc Lozenges May Shorten the Duration of Colds

Zinc lozenges might be useful as a treatment option for the common cold, according to a meta-analysis published in The Open Respiratory Medicine Journal.  Studies have shown that taking a dose of more than 75 mg of zinc in the form of zinc lozenges per day cut the duration of the common cold by 20 to 42 percent.     …

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