Health updates: Are you being poisoned? and Motrin®

The following is new information regarding the role of environmental contaminants in the pathogenesis of obesity, and an effective alternative to ibuprofen for treating knee osteoarthritis.

Are you fat because you are being poisoned?

Your body is actually the product of your environment, and this includes personal lifestyle choices, such as what you eat, how active you are and what chemicals you are exposed to in your food, water, personal care products and so on. It is becoming clear that these interact with your body on multiple levels, leading to complex changes in your endocrine system, organs, tissues and even fat cells.

Recent research has implicated environmental contaminants in the pathogenesis of obesity. A new study sought to explore the relationship between persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and fat mass.

The results showed that blood plasma concentrations of octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the pesticides hexachlorobenzene (HCB), TNK and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) were all positively related to fat mass. Subjects in the top 20 percent with concentrations of PCB 105 showed a mean fat mass that was more than 10 pounds higher than those in the lowest 20 percent.

According to the study, which is linked to at Green Med Info: “Following adjustment for smoking, physical activity, education level, height, lean mass and gender, these results remained significant. … These results implicate a complex role of POPs in obesity.”

Safe alternative to Motrin® for arthritis

A human study has determined that turmeric extracts are as efficacious and safe as (if not safer than) ibuprofen (Motrin) for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. More than 100 patients with primary knee osteoarthritis received either ibuprofen or turmeric extracts daily for six weeks. At the end of the period, improvement in pain on level walking, pain on stairs and functions of the knee were assessed. According to the study, as reported by Green Med Info: “Baseline characteristics of the patients in both groups were not different. … No significant difference of adverse events between both groups was found.”

Sources: Chemosphere July 16, 2011, Green Med Info, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine August 2009;15(8):891-7 and www.mercola.com June 27 and August 24, 2011.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 30, Number 5, Oct/Nov 2011.