Healthy Aging

Vitamin D Deficiency Widespread Among Elders with Hip Fractures

By John Otrompke | Contributing Writer - Vol. 15, No. 2. , 2013

CHICAGO– Living in a southern, sunny climate is no safeguard against hip fractures, according to a new study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente showing that Vitamin D insufficiency is rampant among people hospitalized for hip fractures.

Bad to the Bone: Smoking Compromises Outcomes of Orthopedic Surgery

By John Otrompke | Contributing Writer - Vol. 15, No. 3. , 2013

CHICAGO– Among its many evils, smoking is detrimental to bone and connective tissue. Several studies presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons show that smoking raises the odds of poor outcomes in common orthopedic procedures. In short, smokers are much less likely to benefit from orthopedic surgeries like hip […]

Drug Therapy Has Little Value In Early Stage Hypertension

By Erik Goldman

Amid the clamor over metanalyses suggesting that organic veggies are no more nutritious than conventional, and that omega-3’s don’t reverse heart disease, another important metanalysis got totally overlooked: the one showing that anti-hypertensive drugs are largely ineffective in people with Stage 1 hypertension.

Reckoning with Statin-Induced Diabetes and Metformin Resistance

By Thomas G. Guilliams, PhD, Contributing Writer - Vol. 13, No. 3. , 2012

Drug therapies to reduce cardiovascular risk and prevent the onset of diabetes may be effective in the short term, but as people age, the efficacy of drugs like statins and metformin tends to diminish, while the risk of adverse effects increases. The benefit of nutritional and lifestyle interventions, on the other hand, remains robust even as people enter their final decades.

Not-So-Obvious Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Worth Considering

By Erik Goldman - Vol. 12, No. 3. , 2012

Elevated cholesterol and high blood glucose are the obvious features of diabetes and heart disease but they’re hardly the whole picture. Other, less obvious factors including environmental toxins like BPA and lead, gastrointestinal disorders, and frequent use of artificial sweeteners are also important drivers of disease. According to Dr. Mark Hyman, author of the popular book, The Blood Sugar Solution, these oft-overlooked factors warrant closer attention.

Low Vitamin D Levels May Trigger Weight Gain

By Erik Goldman

A new and interesting angle on the vitamin D story is emerging from research on weight gain in older women. The vitamin, it seems, is an important metabolic signal that indirectly regulates the propensity to store fat.

Magnesium Significantly Reduces Blood Pressure

By Erik Goldman

Magnesium supplementation, particularly at doses over 370 mg per day, can significantly reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive and pre-hypertensive people, according to a new metanalysis of 22 trials.