From NaturalNews.com

Recent studies on a very old fruit are confirming what the ancients believed about the pomegranate. Also known as rimmon, its Hebrew name, the pomegranate has long been prized for its benefits to heart health. We now know it also can be helpful in treating diabetes, dementia, cancer and menopausal problems, and it can even prevent sunburn.

Known by Bible readers as a decoration on the Temple Priests’ robes and as a metaphor for beauty in poetic writings, this unique fruit was also used in healing. It was known not only in the Middle East, but also in Egypt, Greece, Spain, China and India.

In fact, in India the ‘Gulnar farsi’, male abortive flowers of the Punica granatum L., or pomegranate, have been used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in Unani medicine. Moreover, a recent study in India showed that an extract of this flower lowered blood glucose levels in diabetic rats.

As for the pomegranate’s juice, it improved the ability of macrophages (immune-response cells) to absorb low-density lipids. The researchers in this study concluded that pomegranate juice consumption for three months may help diabetics by lowering the oxidative stress that often leads to vascular disease.

Those with diabetes should realize, though, that this juice is very high in sugar content. As Mike Adams warned in a previous Natural News article, “Eight oz. of pomegranate juice (one serving) can deliver over 30 grams of sugars. That’s more than two servings of a sweetened breakfast cereal. It’s a lot of sugar to deal with. And if you’re diabetic or hypoglycemic, you should never drink these juices on an empty stomach. When you eat real pomegranate seeds, you see, the natural seed fibers slow the absorption of the pomegranate sugars. So the glycemic index of pomegranate seeds is far lower than the glycemic index of pomegranate juice.”

It is the anti-oxidant power of pomegranates that is so beneficial for health, especially heart health. If the seeds are consumed over a long period of time, it appears that hardening of the arteries can be prevented. Studies have shown that pomegranate use reduces the progression of high blood cholesterol. Heart function can improve; one study demonstrated that three months of daily juice intake by test subjects resulted in improved heart performance scores on exercise stress tests.

Consumption of seeds also may prevent and/or help combat several kinds of cancer. The reason seems to be the effect of the fruit’s ellagic acid, the main polyphenol in pomegranate. Credit is also given to its powerful level of punicic acid, a compound closely related to conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Drinking eight ounces of the seed-derived juice a day appears to help inhibit cancer of the prostate and inflammatory enzymes in colon cancer cells.

Tests have proven the ability of pomegranate seed oil, fermented juice, and pericarp extract to cause cancer cells to self-destruct in metastatic breast cancer cells. Yet the juice and extracts are not toxic to the healthy breast cells. This means that the pomegranate could be used as a source for cancer prevention, a fact that has attracted the attention of drug companies.

“Pomegranates are unique in that the hormonal combinations inherent in the fruit seem to be helpful both for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer,” explains Dr. Ephraim Lansky, who headed these studies. “Pomegranates seem to replace needed estrogen often prescribed to protect postmenopausal women against heart disease and osteoporosis, while selectively destroying estrogen-dependent cancer cells.”

The pomegranate joins dark berries and watermelon as natural sunburn protectors. A double-blind study over a four-week period showed that not only did the consumption of the fruit prevent sunburn, but it resulted in self-reported improvement in complexions by the subjects. This is important in that it increases a person’s ability to stay in the sun long enough to get needed Vitamin D.

In a study in which mice were fed pomegranate juice for six months, it was found that scores on memory tests improved. At the same time, amyloid deposition in the brain’s hippocampus, where memory is processed, declined, giving hope that the fruit will be useful in delaying dementia.

A study using in vitro methods showed that pomegranate juice had antiviral effects that may lead to
widespread use of the juice as an HIV preventative. The mechanism appears to be the inhibition of
binding by the virus, which reduces its ability to spread, at least in the lab’s experimental environment.

If you live in the area from the southern United States to Chile and Argentina, and especially in the arid regions of California, Arizona and northern Mexico, you could successfully grow your own supply of pomegranates. The tree grows well in a wide range of climatic conditions and is well adapted as an ornamental shrub in cool coastal areas.

From MedScape

For treatment of acute maxillary sinusitis, the potential, but small, benefits of antibiotics should be weighed against the risk for adverse effects and development of resistance, according to a Cochrane review of 57 studies reported in the April 16 issue of the Cochrane Database Systematic Review. Although this review showed a small treatment effect in primary care patients with uncomplicated acute sinusitis who had symptoms for more than 7 days, 80% of those who were untreated improved within 2 weeks.

“Expert opinions vary on the appropriate role of antibiotics for sinusitis, one of the most commonly diagnosed conditions among adults in ambulatory care,” write Anneli Ahovuo-Saloranta, DDS, from the Finnish Office for Health Technology Assessment/FinOHTA, National Research and Development Centre for Welfare & Health/STAKES, in Tampere, Finland, and colleagues.

“Treatment recommendations for acute sinusitis are divided and range from only treating patients with severe or persistent moderate symptoms and specific bacterial sinusitis findings with narrow spectrum antibiotics; to treating all patients with acute bacterial sinusitis with broad spectrum antibiotics. The purpose of antibiotics is to decrease symptoms and restore the normal function of the sinuses, in order to prevent complications and the development of chronic sinusitis.”

The goal of this review was to assess the efficacy of antibiotics in treating acute sinusitis, and if efficacy were shown, to determine which antibiotic classes are the most effective. The reviewers searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; The Cochrane Library, 2007, Issue 3), MEDLINE (1950 to May 2007), and EMBASE (1974 to June 2007) for randomized controlled trials comparing antibiotics with placebo or antibiotics from different classes for acute maxillary sinusitis in adults.

Trials with clinically diagnosed acute sinusitis were included, regardless of whether diagnosis was confirmed by radiography or bacterial culture.

Two or more review authors independently screened the search results, extracted data, and determined the quality of the included trials. To assess whether the administered treatment was a success or a failure, risk ratios (RR) were calculated for differences between the intervention and control groups. For meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials, data were combined across antibiotic classes. The main endpoints were the clinical failure rates at 7 to 15 days and at 16 to 60 days follow-up.

Of 57 studies included in the review, 6 were placebo-controlled trials, and 51 were studies comparing different antibiotics classes. There were 5 studies, enrolling a total of 631 participants, that provided data allowing comparison of antibiotics with placebo in terms of clinical failure, defined as a lack of cure or improvement at 7 to 15 days follow-up.

In these studies, there was a slight statistical difference favoring antibiotics over placebo, with a pooled RR of 0.66 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44 - 0.98). Clinically, however, this result was of equivocal significance because cure or improvement rate was high in both the placebo group (80%) and in the antibiotic group (90%).

There were 6 studies in which clinical failure was defined as a lack of total cure. In these, antibiotics were significantly better than placebo, with a pooled RR at 7 to 15 days follow-up of 0.74 (95% CI, 0.65 - 0.84). None of the antibiotic preparations was superior to any of the others.

“Antibiotics have a small treatment effect in patients with uncomplicated acute sinusitis in a primary care setting with symptoms for more than seven days,” the review authors conclude.

“However, 80% of participants treated without antibiotics improve within two weeks. Clinicians need to weigh the small benefits of antibiotic treatment against the potential for adverse effects at both the individual and general population level.”

From NaturalNews.com

In an Associated Press story dated December 27th 2007, it was revealed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had quietly approved a line of honey-based wound dressings during the fall of that year. Derma Sciences, Inc., a New Jersey manufacturer of medical wound and skin care supplies, was then able to market their MEDIHONEY product. MEDIHONEY is a line of wound dressings consisting chiefly of an absorbent alginate (which is a component of brown algae) pad, covered in Manuka (Leptospermum) honey.

Using honey to treat wounds is nothing new; even ancient civilizations used it in this manner. However, this is the sort of thing that usually gets relegated to “folk healing”. It seems scientifically obvious: honey is very acidic (antibacterial), and it produces its own hydrogen peroxide when combined with the fluid which drains from a wound! The extremely high sugar content of honey means it contains very little water. So, it draws the pus and fluid from the wound, thereby speeding the healing process. Furthermore, the honey contains powerful germ-fighting phytochemicals from the plants that produced the pollen harvested by the honeybees. Having already been accepted by the overseas mainstream medical community for some time, North America finally caught on. MEDIHONEY is, according to Derma Sciences’ website, “the first honey-based product cleared for use by Health Canada and also the first cleared for use by the FDA.”

Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is a New Zealand tree, related to the Tea Tree (Melaleuca). Much like tea tree oil, native New Zealanders have taken advantage of the Manuka’s natural medicine for generations. It turned out that the honey produced from this plant’s pollen has powerful antibacterial, antifungal, and antimicrobial properties. Doctors found it very useful for treating burn and injury patients in Iraq. Widespread applications include treatment of surgical sites, trauma wounds, skin grafts, burns, and skin sores.

Doctors are even finding that Manuka honey works on drug-resistant infections. As pharmaceutical antibiotics become less and less effective, natural cures may be taken more seriously. Ironically, they have also discovered that these honey dressings can prevent the development of MRSA in an open wound (See Natural News Article Honeybees and Almonds, Pigs and MRSA: The Deadly Connections for another story linking MRSA and honeybees). It’s very disturbing to consider the fact that we may be killing off the very methods by which we can defeat our pharmaceutically resistant 21st century superbugs!

While browsing Derma Sciences’ website, I noticed that they also manufacture a product which incorporates “antimicrobial silver” into wound dressings. This product, ALGICELL Ag, has also been approved by the FDA. Could they be getting around to recognizing the benefits of colloidal silver, at long last? Perhaps even the FDA shall have to re-examine its position on nutraceuticals and holistic treatments, as it’s becoming glaringly evident that Big Pharma doesn’t have all the answers.

It may produce chemicals that protect the brain, study suggests

From HealthDay

Regular physical exercise may help protect against mild cognitive impairment, according to a Mayo Clinic study.

People with mild cognitive impairment can handle everyday activities but often have trouble remembering details of conversations, events and upcoming appointments. Most, but not all, people with mild cognitive impairment experience a progressive decline in their cognitive abilities, and the underlying cause is usually Alzheimer’s disease, according to background information in the study.

The physical benefits of exercise are well-known, but this is one of the first studies to examine whether exercise can help protect the brain.

The Mayo researchers randomly selected 868 people, aged 70 to 89, taking part in the ongoing Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. Of these people, 128 had mild cognitive impairment, and 740 were cognitively normal. The researchers conducted surveys to gather data on the participants’ levels of exercise between the ages of 50 and 65 and during the year prior to the survey.

Moderate physical exercise between the ages of 50 and 65 was associated with a reduced risk of cognitive impairment, but the same was not true of exercise during the year prior to the survey.

The study was expected to be presented Wednesday at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, in Chicago. Lead investigator and neuropsychiatrist Dr. Yonas Endale Geda said the findings need to be replicated in a prospective cohort study, and also noted that this study did not address how physical exercise may protect against mild cognitive impairment.

“Regarding the mechanism of action of physical exercise and mild cognitive impairment, we speculate that either exercise induces chemicals that protect brain cells, or exercise is simply a marker for an overall healthy lifestyle, or there is some positive interaction among exercise, healthy lifestyle and intellectually stimulating activity,” Geda said in a prepared statement.

Study found those who took 2,000 IUs a day lived 26% longer

From HealthDay

Alzheimer’s patients who consume very high levels of vitamin E seem to live longer than those who do not, new research suggests.

The study comes on the heels of growing concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of giving any patient — whether suffering from Alzheimer’s or another illness — the high dosage in question: 2,000 international units (IUs) per day.

“The concern is that vitamin E will actually have a harmful affect, because a recent review of prior studies found that it had a slightly negative impact on mortality,” said study author Valory Pavlik, an associate professor with the Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

“But I think — to our surprise — the message really is that for the treatment of Alzheimer’s in clinical practice, we did not find evidence that high doses of vitamin E reduced survival,” she said. “In fact, patients who took vitamin E seemed to live longer, particularly when they took it in combination with a cholinesterase inhibitor.”

Pavlik and her colleagues were expected to present their research Tuesday at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Chicago.

Their findings stem from almost 15 years spent tracking survival rates among 847 men and women already diagnosed with various stages of Alzheimer’s.

Just over two-thirds of the patients were women, and the average age was almost 74. On average, patient outcome was followed for about five years.

About two-thirds of the patients had been prescribed two daily doses of 1,000 IUs of vitamin E, in conjunction with an Alzheimer medication from the class of drugs known as cholinesterase inhibitors.

Cholinesterase inhibitors are designed to halt the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is key to nerve pulse function in the brain. Alzheimer’s patients suffer from a drop in acetylcholine production, so this class of drugs prevents the otherwise normal elimination of excess transmitters among those who have none to spare.

Fewer than 10 percent of patients took just vitamin E, while about 15 percent took neither the vitamin nor the medication.

The researchers found that patients who consumed the prescribed daily dosage of vitamin E appeared to extend their life span by 26 percent, compared with those not taking vitamin E.

The finding took into account age, gender, years of education, race, ethnicity, co-morbidities and severity of dementia at the start of the study.

Though there were some preliminary indications that the enhanced survival benefit associated with vitamin E was even greater among patients taking both the vitamin and a cholinesterase inhibitor, Pavlik and her team noted that the 26 percent bump held up even without the Alzheimer’s drug.

However, those taking a cholinesterase inhibitor alone did not appear to gain any survival benefit.

“Much more research needs to be devoted to the effects of vitamin E on Alzheimer’s patients,” said Pavlik. “But for now, the door should not be closed on the option”.

She pointed out, however, that although 2,000 IUs of vitamin E was the standard supplementary dosage of vitamin E given to Alzheimer’s patients during the study period — from 1990 through 2004 — such high levels are no longer considered for routine therapy, as a result of studies suggesting that such a dosage might carry unwarranted health risks.

She also stressed that consumption of such high amounts of vitamin E on a daily basis has never been appropriate for the average person.

Eric J. Hall, president and founding CEO of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America in New York City, described the finding as “interesting” and worthy of continued investigation.

“I think the medical community is very open to the possibility that natural ingredients — therapies outside the realm of FDA-approved drugs, if you will — can be very helpful to treatment,” he said. “For example, everyone agrees that socialization and cognitive stimulation, while neither drugs nor supplements, are important ingredients in Alzheimer’s therapy, and almost constitute a kind of treatment.”

“But of course,” Hall added, “I’m aware that vitamin E, specifically, has come under fire in the last few years, and that there is concern about the possible dangers of taking too high a dosage. So, I think we have to be careful. And probably more research is necessary to find out how vitamin E might be useful in treatment.”

Another study presented at the meeting found that people who had larger hippocampuses were spared the ravaging symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

“This larger hippocampus may protect these people from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease-related brain changes,” study author Dr. Deniz Erten-Lyons, with the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, said in a statement. “Hopefully, this will lead us eventually to prevention strategies.”