Hyvin
A Natural Health and Wellness Blog

Here is a new plug for antioxidants: they may help with noise-induced hearing loss! At least they did in one animal study reported by Reuters Health. Researchers theorize that “the pre-exposure treatment may have helped by suppressing the development of cell-damaging substances called free radicals. The post-noise doses, in turn, may have lessened harm to the auditory nerves.” The nutrients used in the study were vitamins A, C and E, plus magnesium.

A drug commonly used to treat constipation in those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) was recently pulled from the market because a recent review of studies on the drug indicated an unacceptable risk of heart attack, stroke and death from drug usage. According to the HealthDay report, specialists who treat IBS were lamenting this state of affairs, stating that many patients using the drug have found relief from IBS, which can be such a disabling disorder.

I have personal experience with IBS; I feel for those suffering. I wonder how many of these patients tried natural approaches to dealing with IBS before resorting to a drug with such dangerous side effects? I wonder how many doctors provided information about the natural approaches to dealing with IBS? Approaches that offer side benefits only…and no side effects. When drugs are necessary, I’m as thankful as the next person that they’re available. But I hope the realization is expanding that we should do all we can to work with our bodies and enable them to function properly before we resort to drugs (all of which have negative side effects).

The other noteworthy thing about this news is that the drug is being removed because its risk-to-benefit profile is no longer favorable, according to the FDA. This conclusion resulted from a review of the available studies, undertaken by the maker of the drug at the request of a Swiss health agency. I admit I don’t know the details of the FDA drug approval process, but I do find it worrisome that this agency approved the same drug earlier. Either all the studies now reviewed were not available at the time of approval or they were available, but not found to be prohibitive. Either way, I don’t feel very protected, do you?

Did you know that being hyvin (well) is related to the cleaning products that you use in your home? I’ve known for some time that I’m sensitive to the chemicals in traditional cleaning products and that for me to be well, I have to use natural cleaners. But I’ve only recently discovered that the link between poor health and common cleaning product chemicals is widespread, and well documented!

Want some proof? I’ve just learned about this great resource, the National Institutes of Health Library of Medicine Household Products Database. What a mouthful! But what you’ll read there is a real eyeful! You can search almost any brand of cleaner you may use, or the ingredients found in the cleaners under your sink, and learn about the dangerous health effects. I looked under “Health Studies” for a couple of common household product ingredients and was shocked by what I found!

We do NOT have to expose ourselves to this toxic brew and live in a toxic, unhealthy home. And we do NOT have to compromise on cleaning product performance to get the job done with natural, safe alternatives. Are you surprised? I was. But trying is believing, as they say .

From HealthDay News: “Even a short period of calcium and vitamin D supplementation can greatly reduce the risk of stress fractures (overuse injuries to the bone) in women, a U.S. study finds.” Conducted on female U.S. Navy recruits, the study found that 25 percent more of those getting placebos suffered stress fractures than the group taking the supplements and was reported in San Diego in February 2007 at the annual meeting of the Orthopedic Research Society.

Gonna’ join the armed forces, begin track and field workouts or otherwise increase bone usage in a big way? (spring is coming!) Take your calcium and Vitamin D supplements (the latter helps the body absorb the former, which is vital for bone formation and repair).

Researchers have concluded we pop the pills without even knowing the potential dangers! I believe it…that’s the power of advertising, methinks.

A study that appeared in the January/February issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association revealed that those taking the popular prescription and over-the-counter pain reliever acetaminophen were not well versed in safe dosages or dangers of over-dosages. “Users” weren’t even sure what drugs contained acetaminophen (Tylenol, many combination pain and cold medications, and a number of prescription drugs).

This is serious business. According to the HealthDay account of the research, ” Excessive use of acetaminophen, whether it be a large single dose or long-term overuse, can lead to severe liver damage that may require a liver transplant or cause death. In fact, acetaminophen overdose is now the most common cause of acute liver failure in the United States.” [emphasis mine]

We need to know this stuff! And we need to know there are natural pain relief alternatives.

To eat fish while pregnant or not to eat fish while pregnant? That is the question, it seems. Those who say “eat” say the beneficial effects of the nutrients in fish far outweigh any risk. On the other side of the question are the Environmental Protection Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, which issued an advisory in 2004 telling pregnant women to avoid eating more than 340 grams of fish — about 12 ounces a week — because of the danger of mercury poisoning.

A new study weighs in on the side of the beneficial effects. Research published in the Feb. 17 issue of the journal The Lancet found that children whose mothers ate at least three servings of fish a week during pregnancy had higher scores in tests of mental function in their early years. And the study found that maternal seafood intake during pregnancy of less than 340 grams a week was associated with increased risk of children being in the bottom 25 percent of verbal IQ at 8 years of age and with suboptimum performance on tests of social behavior, fine motor activity, communication and social development.

The HealthDay report of the research cited several experts on both sides of “the question”, given these new findings. Some say eat the fish. Some say don’t. I don’t get it. Why not just advise pregnant women to supplement with guaranteed ultra-pure omega-3 fatty acids, thought to be the component in fish providing the benefit???

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are gases emitted from certain solids and fluids such as paints, cleaning supplies, building materials, printers, glues and photographic solutions and can lead to headaches, nausea, fatigue, dizziness and irritation of the eyes, nose and throat or damage to the nervous system or organs.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said that VOC levels are typically up to five times higher inside a house than outdoors, regardless of whether a home is in an urban or rural area. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland and Ohio State University recently compared VOC levels in indoor air with VOC levels in human breast milk. VOCs from indoor air were 25-fold to 135-fold higher than from breast milk. Reuters Health quoted researcher Sungroul Kim as saying: “”We ought to focus our efforts on reducing indoor air sources of these compounds.”

One good way to reduce indoor air sources of VOCs is to use safe, non-toxic cleaning products. And, if some sources are unavoidable, there is a way to remove the VOCs from the air with state-of-the-art, but very economical air purification. These gases, of course, impact infants the most, but they are harmful to all of us. I am very committed to doing what I can to maintain a healthy home and am SO happy to have product options that support this priority.

OK, did you try the microwave sponge de-germing? I hope the sponge was wet!!! Apparently the researchers at the study site (Univ. of Florida) have received negative feedback from folks who have burned their sponges, smoked up their houses, and created, in short, a mess.

According to Reuters Health,

The university issued the following advisory: “To guard against the risk of fire, people who wish to sterilize their sponges at home must ensure the sponge is completely wet. Two minutes of microwaving is sufficient for most sterilization. Sponges should also have no metallic content. Last, people should be careful when removing the sponge from the microwave as it will be hot.”

Do you throw your kitchen sponge in the dishwasher to “clean” it? That’s what I’ve always done. I know sanitation is a good idea….the sponge never REALLY gets dry, and it’s gotta’ have all the germs that come into the house and land on the counters, in the sink, on hands, etc.

But I’ve never thought about whether I was really sterilizing thoroughly. Well, new research to the rescue. According to Reuters Health, the Journal of Environmental Health just published a study finding that two minutes on full power in the common household microwave is the way to eliminate 99 percent of the germy stuff on the ordinary kitchen sponge. That works for me!

Chlorine has long been accepted as a common, necessary addition to our drinking water in the U.S., as well as our other household-use water sources and our swimming pools. I don’t like the taste, I don’t like the smell, and my eyes and nose burn when I’m around most indoor swimming pools. Now I’ve got another reason to avoid chlorine.

Newly published research (in the Jan. 2007 edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology) suggests a link between drinking, bathing or swimming in chlorinated water, and the risk of bladder cancer. The Reuters Health report of the research relays the researchers’ observations that absorbing chlorine through the skin or lungs (by swimming or bathing) “may have a more powerful carcinogenic effect because it does not undergo detoxification via the liver.”

I am very glad to have the best selling NSF-certified reverse osmosis water purifier to remove chlorine from my drinking water.