Health for life

A continual supply of quality nutrients are required every day to fuel our metabolic machinery. Natural diet and whole food based multi-vitamins are the best source of the vitamins and minerals we need to thrive. Millions of people continue to subside on a diet dominated by processed junk food and fail to eat the minimum servings of fresh vegetables and fruits needed to prevent chronic illness.

Vitamin D is vital for making our muscles work efficiently and boosting energy levels, new research from Newcastle University has shown.

A study led by Dr Akash Sinha has shown that muscle function improves with Vitamin D supplements which are thought to enhance the activity of the mitochondria, the batteries of the cell.

A hormone normally produced in the skin using energy from sunlight, Vitamin D can also be found in a few foods – including fish, fish liver oils, egg yolks and fortified cereals but it can also be effectively boosted with Vitamin D supplements.

It is thought around 60% of people in the UK are vitamin D deficient, with children under five, people with dark skin and the elderly being particularly vulnerable. While it has a well-established association with helping in bone formation and a deficiency can lead to rickets, its role in other health issues is just emerging.

The researchers used non-invasive magnetic resonance scans to measure the response to exercise in 12 patients with severe deficiency before and after treatment with vitamin D.

Lead author Dr Akash Sinha who also works within the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "The scans provided a unique window into what is really going on in the muscle as it works.

"Examining this small group of patients with vitamin D deficiency who experienced symptoms of muscle fatigue, we found that those with very low vitamin D levels improved their muscle efficiency significantly when their vitamin D levels were improved."

Alongside poor bone health, muscle fatigue is a common symptom in vitamin D deficient patients. This fatigue could be due to reduced efficiency of the mitochondria: the power stations within each cell of the body.

Mitochondria use glucose and oxygen to make energy in a form that can be used to run the cell - an energy-rich molecule called ATP. Muscle cells need large amounts of ATP for movement and they use phosphocreatine as a ready and available energy source to make ATP. The mitochondria also replenish this phosphocreatine store after muscle contraction and measuring the time taken to replenish these stores is a measure of mitochondrial efficiency: better mitochondrial function is associated with shorter phosphocreatine recovery times.

The team found that these recovery rates significantly improved after the patients took a fixed dose of oral vitamin D for 10-12 weeks. The average phosphocreatine recovery half time decreased from 34.4 sec to 27.8 sec. All patients reported an improvement in symptoms of fatigue after having taken the supplements. In a parallel study, the group demonstrated that low Vitamin D levels were associated with reduced mitochondrial function.

Dr Sinha added: "We have proved for the first time a link between vitamin D and mitochondria function.

"Of the patients I see, around 60% are vitamin D deficient and most people living north of Manchester will struggle to process enough vitamin D from sunlight alone, particularly during winter and spring. So a simple vitamin D tablet could help boost your energy levels – from within the cells."

The statin medications you take for your heart may have an unexpected side benefit: They help reduce inflammation of the gums, according to new research.

Using advanced imaging techniques, researchers were able to see that when people with gum disease took higher doses of the commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, their gum inflammation decreased.

During the 12-week study, the researchers also looked for evidence of inflammation or hardening of the blood vessels (atherosclerotic disease) in the study volunteers, and they found that reduced gum inflammation was correlated with improved blood vessel health.

"There is a building, growing body of literature that draws a line between gum disease and atherosclerotic disease. In our study, benefits in the gums correlated with benefits in the arteries," said the studys senior author, Dr. Ahmed Tawakol, co-director of the Cardiac Imaging Trials Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "People with [gum disease] and atherosclerotic disease should likely be that much more vigilant in treating their gum disease."

The study was published online Oct. 2 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Funding was provided by drug manufacturer Merck and Co., which does not produce the statin used in this study.

Currently, statins are prescribed to lower high levels of "bad" cholesterol, also known as LDL cholesterol. When theres too much LDL cholesterol, it can start to build up on blood vessel walls, leading to hardening of the arteries.

In the United States, more than 30 million people take statins, and as many as 200 million people worldwide take these cholesterol-lowering medications, according to a journal editorial accompanying the study. Periodontal disease (or gum disease) affects nearly half of U.S. adults.

According to editorial author Dr. Michael Blaha, director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease in Baltimore, a "consistent stream of data" shows that statins have benefits beyond their cholesterol-lowering properties.

"There are three big categories of how statins likely exert their effects: lowering LDL, reducing inflammation, and by modulating plaque," said Blaha.

The current study lends support to the idea that statins can reduce inflammation. It included 83 adults who had risk factors for, or already had, atherosclerosis. They were randomly assigned to take either 10 or 80 milligrams of a statin called atorvastatin (brand name Lipitor) for three months.

Everyone underwent imaging at the start of the study, again after four weeks and then at 12 weeks.

At the end of the study, the investigators had complete data on 59 people. They found a significant reduction in gum inflammation for the people taking 80 mg of atorvastatin compared to those on the 10-mg dose. Changes began as early as four weeks after people started taking the higher-dose drug.

There was a more significant reduction in gum inflammation for people who had more serious gum disease at the start of the study and took a higher dose of the statin. The researchers also found that a reduction in gum inflammation correlated with reduced blood vessel inflammation.

"It was really those on the higher-dose statins that had the benefit," noted Tawakol. But, "I would not recommend the use of statins outside the current guidelines," he added. "We see this trial more as a proof-of-principle trial. Our findings need to be confirmed in a larger clinical trial."

Still, he said, theres little harm in telling people to take care of gum disease. "Patients with known heart disease and known gum disease should have their gum disease evaluated and treated," Tawakol said.

Blaha agreed that its too soon to change practice guidelines either for treating heart disease risk factors or for gum disease.

Still, "this study and others like it have tremendous implications," Blaha said. "Weve never had a drug that worked this well and for so many different groups of patients."