I can give you a number of reasons why you shouldn’t regularly use antacid medications. Many antacids provide temporary relief to indigestion and heartburn, but they send signals to the muscles that keep our stomach acid in your stomach where it belongs that it isn’t necessary to work as hard. When those muscles weaken, it can lead to… you guessed it, heartburn and indigestion.

Never mind that stomach acid in your stomach is healthy and necessary. When you take an antacid, you reduce your stomach acid, which can make digestion more difficult. This can lead to, well, indigestion.

Basically antacids provide temporary relief to a problem they can make worse over time.

And now, studies have found that taking antacids can also make you more susceptible to diarrhea. People taking a specific form of antacid called a proton pump inhibitor (Zantac, Pepcid, and Tagamet, for example) are three times more likely to suffer from a severe form of diarrhea with cramping and intestinal inflammation. (2)

Researchers don’t yet know why antacids make you more susceptible to diarrhea.

Topical Relief for Arthritis Sufferers

Diclofenac gel, a topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, has proven to relieve arthritis pain in a clinical study. As with many arthritis studies, this study focused on osteoarthritis in the knee. Patients who normally experience moderate levels of pain used dicolfenac gel four times a day on their arthritic knees.

After three weeks 69% of patients reported the gel as having a positive affect on their knee pain. The average score on the Osteoarthritis Index Questionnaire improved by 49%. (1)

The most often-used treatment for osteoarthritis pain is internally taken NSAIDs like ibuprofen. These drugs often cause damage to the stomach lining and may adversely affect heart health. Using a topical treatment is a much safer alternative.

If you suffer from nagging arthritis pain, be sure to ask you doctor about trying a topical treatment. They really can work effectively and are so much safer than internal drugs. For more information on our ArthroLife product please click the following link http://www.chesapeakenutraceuticals.com/product_arthrolife.htm

Weird Medical News: Play the Didgeridoo and Stop Snoring

The didgeridoo is a large Australian wind instrument. Researcher in Switzerland studied 25 patients who snored or had moderate sleep apnea. Half of the group took lessons to learn to play the didgeridoo. Over a four-month period, those learning the didgeridoo felt more awake during the day and their partners reported less snoring. (3)

If you have trouble snoring and haven’t found a way to relieve the problem, maybe taking up the didgeridoo will make the difference you’ve been looking for…

Always check with your doctor before making major changes to your diet, exercise, or supplement regimen.

1. Davis, Jeanie Lerche. "Heartburn Drugs May Cause Diarrhea," WebMD. 12/20/2005

2. "Topical diclofenac safe and effective for OA," J Rheumatol 2005; 32: 2384-92

3. "Want to Stop Snoring? Try the Didgeridoo," MedlinePlus. 12/23/2005

Posted by Pure Health Nutrition at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SATURDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- Men age 45 and older with diabetes may be more than twice as likely as non-diabetic men to have low testosterone levels, U.S. researchers report.

The multi-center study, involving more than 2,100 men in 26 states, also found that sexual dysfunction was the most common symptom experienced by men with diabetes and low testosterone.

The findings were presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego.

The study was funded by Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which makes testosterone-replacement therapy.

"In our study, more than half the men with diabetes also had low testosterone levels suggesting a higher prevalence of [low testosterone] among diabetic men than previously reported," study co-investigator Dr. Sherwyn L. Schwartz, director of the Diabetes and Glandular Disease Clinic in San Antonio, Texas, said in a prepared statement.

The study found that 836 (38.7 percent) of the 2,162 men had low testosterone and 495 (23 percent) had a history of diabetes. Of the 836 men with low testosterone, 756 were not receiving testosterone treatment. Of the 474 men who had a history of diabetes and were not receiving testosterone treatment, 237 (50 percent) had low levels of the hormone.

Using these figures, the researchers calculated that men age 45 and older with diabetes have a 2.09 greater risk of low testosterone than men without diabetes.

An estimated 13 million American men age 45 and older have low testosterone, but fewer than 10 percent are receiving treatment, the study authors noted.

Signs and symptoms of low testosterone include diminished interest in sex, erectile dysfunction, decreased bone mineral density, reduced muscle mass and strength, increased fat mass, and depressed mood and fatigue, according to the San Antonio team. Men with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, asthma and hyperlipidemia are more likely to have low testosterone than other men, the researchers said.

Another expert noted that lowered testosterone is a normal function of age, and debate continues within the field as to whether most older men will benefit from hormone replacement therapies.

Speaking with HealthDay, Dr. Shalender Bhasin, chief of the division of endocrinology at Charles R. Drew University in Los Angeles, and a professor of medicine at UCLA School of Medicine, said "There's also no question that testosterone levels decline with advancing age. But are the [physical] declines seen in older men related to declining testosterone levels? On that point there's no agreement."

More information

The Endocrine Society and the Hormone Foundation have more about low testosterone (www.medem.com).

Posted by Pure Health Nutrition at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)