Inexpensive remedy to help fight THIS disease! – Issue 66




Dear Health-Conscious Friend,

We all need a little help when undergoing treatment for diseases and disorders. So why not add an inexpensive remedy to assist your body in accepting the treatment?

In today’s issue of the Monday Edition of Health News Weekly™, I’ll tell you about one study that reports the positive effect vitamins can have on your recovery efforts.

Plus, I’ll show you a way to get relief from sore, aching knees so you can walk longer and feel better!

So don’t delay another minute. Let’s get started reading!


Vitamins May Improve Tuberculosis Treatment

Layne Lowery

Vitamin supplements—including selenium and vitamins A, B complex, C and E—improve the outcome of patients being treated for tuberculosis, according to new study results.

Use of these nutrients was associated with a slight reduction in the risk of tuberculosis treatment failure. Vitamin use was also linked with a 45 percent reduction in the odds the disease would return after successful treatment.

According to a Reuters Health report, this latter effect was stronger in the subgroup of patients who were infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Tuberculosis is a frequent complication in HIV-infected patients.

“The nutritional status is a very important predictor of clinical outcomes in patients with infections,” said Eduardo Villamor, M.D., from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Villamor and colleagues hypothesized that nutrient supplements would reduce the risk of disease and death in tuberculosis patients. They tested their hypothesis in a study of 887 patients in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

In addition to a reduced risk of treatment failure—nutrient supplementation was also tied to a reduced risk of tuberculosis complications occurring outside of the lungs. Researchers noted positive immune system effects in HIV-negative patients, but not in those infected with the virus.

But the investigators said nutrient supplements had no effect on death rates or on HIV disease progression.

“Results from a single study are usually not sufficient to provide general recommendations,” Villamor cautioned. “However, this relatively inexpensive intervention does seem promising as a potential way to improve the outcome of patients receiving anti-tuberculosis treatment.”

“We believe that the findings represent a true effect and that… nutrient supplementation could be an important (additional) therapy for patients with tuberculosis,” said Dr. Christine Stabell Benn from Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, in a related editorial.

The research findings were published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.


Fast Fact

Do you have to have a cup of coffee or a soda in the morning to wake up and get yourself going? Instead of perking up with caffeine—try grabbing a nutritious apple. It’s a great pick-me-up any time of day!


Got Knee Pain? Try “Shock Absorbers”!

Roz Roscoe

People with arthritis of the knee can experience pain when walking long distances. But a new study found the experience could be less painful if arthritis sufferers put shock-absorbing insoles in their shoes!

Judy Foxworth, a physical therapist at North Carolina’s Winston-Salem State University, reported her study findings at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis.

“My motivation for doing this study is that a lot of people spend a lot of money on insoles, and in people with knee osteoarthritis there is really very little evidence that they work. It hasn’t been researched,” she said in a Reuters Health report.

Foxworth tested the effect of $20 off-the-shelf shock-absorbing insoles inside the shoes of 60 seniors with painful knee arthritis.

“I had people walk at their regular pace, at a fast pace, and then I had them walk for six minutes covering as much ground as possible in those six minutes. I had them rate their knee pain while they did those activities while wearing shock-absorbing insoles and then while not wearing them,” she stated.

The study subjects reported significantly less knee pain after walking six minutes while wearing the shock-absorbing insoles as compared to walking six minutes without the insoles, Foxworth said. There were no differences in pain when walking at a regular pace or fast pace with or without the insoles.

Foxworth said she’s not sure exactly how shock-absorbing insoles reduce pain. “People reported a decrease in pain but I could not explain it biomechanically, so that puts in question the efficacy of recommending these,” she said.

“I really thought I’d see a difference in the kinetic variables—the ground reaction forces. I thought the shock absorbing insoles would absorb more shock and there would be less force on the knee, and that’s not what we found,” Foxworth explained.

Nonetheless, she said being active is the most important thing. She said people should consider using the shock-absorbing insoles in their shoes if it makes them feel better and allows them to be more active.


Health E-Hints

The Easiest Way to Add Years of Healthy Living!

Rising temperatures and longer days often bring invitations to summertime cookouts. If you’re concerned about using charcoal to grill your meats and veggies—lump hardwood charcoal could be a better choice.

You can find products containing lumps of hardwood charcoal in supermarkets and hardware stores. These flame starters are easier to light than briquettes—and best of all, they contain no petroleum products!