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Messages - iko

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 81
1
Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: How can persistent infections be treated?
« on: 16/11/2013 10:54:08 »
Hi NSForum friends!

Yes, persistent infections can be treated with new antibiotics when the 'persistent bug' is tough...
but persistent, prolonged treatment with antibiotic cocktails can also help: eradication of Helicobacter pylori is a case in point.
These days antibiotic treatment for chronic lower back pain is a revolutionary issue.
Propionibacterium acne seems to be the offending agent that has to be 'eradicated' with extended antibiotic treatment (100days!).

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3800704/pdf/kjpain-26-327.pdf

...if confirmed in future studies, a Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology is ready for those Danish scientists.

2
Guest Book / Aaaaargh... my thread disappeared!!!
« on: 23/12/2011 20:31:17 »
I recently discovered that my hyperthread about vitaminD&Leukemia...
became INVISIBLE (to my PC I mean) after the recent graphic 'maquillage'
of the Science Forum.
Is it dead or is it just a temporary Vitamin D 'black out'?
Ikod

3
Physiology & Medicine / How much vitamin D in fish oil?
« on: 13/11/2011 10:09:07 »
Tiny amounts of vitamin D in fish oil.
Lots of vit.D3 in Fish Liver Oil:
Variable from different batches in different seasons...
0.5-1 micrograms per ml (20-40 international Units)?
It might be more than that...
I'll search more.

Ikod 

4
Physiology & Medicine / Re: Toxoplasmosis: how does one know one's infected, and should I worry?
« on: 03/08/2011 21:42:40 »
Dear Zoey!

How are you doing my dearest web-friend?
So much time has passed, but nothing is moving on the leukemia-codliveroil connections.
I'm left with a first citation on Google (leukemia+vitamin) out of zillions...
No discussion anymore: something has been found about vitamin D deficieny and CLL, a chronic leukemia in adults.
So 'something' is moving...50-60 viewers per day make me positive about the whole issue.
Almost every day I wonder about parents that find the CLO message today and have to decide about their own kid.
Nobody is posting, messagin' or anything like that. This makes me think that I did something wrong.
From the very start. Years are passing and vitamin D and leukemia is slowly becoming a reality.
But...How many roads must a man walk down?
Little boy is a happy young adult working in a FogSystem Company in LA as an engineer
and he's taking flight lessons to get a pilot licence just for the fun of it.
As you can easily imagine, I should be the happiest man on earth (>10 years, leuk never comes back!).
It's not like it should be, unfortunately. So I worry for the other 'patients' and...wonder if I did anything wrong
and lost my chance to help people with my very same problem.
Is going to FaceBook a good idea? I do not know, and I'am sort of tired and exhausted in this 'silence'.
If you support an hypothesis and nobody is talking to you (in the wwww. I mean)...well, maybe something is wrong.
And you do not know what you did wrong and what you missed in the process.

Toxoplasmosis. I'am not your expert, I know that 'eradication' treatments are based on simple sulfa-drugs.
They have to be taken for a long period, 'cause these naughty beasts like to hide in our body and survive with us.

I know that's not a big help for my friend Zoey, but She will find better stuff on the internet!
On my part, I give you a BIG hug and a kiss,

Ikod

5
Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: Why are colds commoner during periods of cold weather?
« on: 31/07/2011 22:42:35 »
Quote from: iko on 07/12/2009 17:21:39
Quote from: iko on 14/10/2009 21:52:15
Hi influential folks!

Did anybody check this out?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zizxoMZcU8U&hl=it

Enjoy more on vitamindcouncil.com...

ikod




Quote from: iko on 21/05/2008 18:49:43
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=11012.msg135306#msg135306

Quote from: iko on 24/10/2007 18:03:31
This is a virology issue, specific for Prof. Chris.

I may give my contribution here by citing
an old discussion about influenza epidemics
and Dr. Edgar Hope-Simpson's 'seasonal stimulus'...
But this really is another story!
 
ikod   [^]


Quote from: iko on 22/04/2007 17:10:13
Talking of 'revisiting' and looking backwards,
allow me a cut&paste from Complementary Medicine
(Cod Liver Oil topic) and final comment from the
discussion in "Epidemic influenza and vitamin D"
J.J. Cannell et al. 2006.

Quote
Revisiting Vitamin D in humans.
just a few clever minds got this point
first, several years ago...



http://www.seeli.com/Daniel/leisure/travel/Finland/landscape5.jpg


A hypothesis concerning deficiency of sunlight,
cold temperature, and influenza epidemics associated with
the onset of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in northern Finland.


Timonen TT.

University of Oulu, Department of Internal Medicine, Kajaanintie 50, FIN-90220 Oulu, Finland.

Research to detect new factors contributing to the etiology of acute leukemia (AL) is urgently needed. Located between latitudes 65 degrees and 70 degrees north, the population in northern Finland is exposed to extreme seasonal alterations of ultraviolet-B light and temperature. There is also a seasonal variation of both the 25(OH)- and 1,25(OH)2-D3 vitamin serum concentrations. In the present work, the frequencies of different types and age-groups at diagnosis of AL were compared during the dark and light months of the year, to uncover seasonality. Between January 1972 and December 1986, 300 consecutive patients aged >/=16 years and diagnosed as having AL were enrolled. The observed mean monthly global solar radiation, temperature measurements, and influenza epidemics were compared with the monthly occurrence of AL. Both acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (p=0.006) and total AL (p=0.015) were diagnosed excessively in the dark and cold compared with light and warm period of the year. There was a tendency for de novo leukemia to increase also in the dark and cold, but for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients the excess was not significant. Age >/=65 was strongly associated with the dark and cold season (p=0.003). Significantly more ALL (p=0.005) and de novo leukemias (p=0.029) were observed during influenza epidemics than during nonepidemic periods. However, a seasonality, i. e., the fluctuation of numbers of AL cases, was not determined, either monthly or during different photo- and temperature periods or influenza epidemics; this might be due to the small numbers of patients studied. Nevertheless, it is hypothesized that sunlight deprivation in the arctic winter can lead to a deficiency of the 1, 25(OH)2D3 vitamin, which might stimulate leukemic cell proliferation and block cell differentiation through dysregulation of growth factors in the bone marrow stromal cells, causing one mutation and an overt ALL in progenitor cells damaged during the current or the previous winter by influenza virus, the other mutation.

Ann Hematol. 1999 Sep;78(9):408-14
.




Epidemic influenza and vitamin D.

Cannell JJ, Vieth R, Umhau JC, Holick MF, Grant WB, Madronich S, Garland CF, Giovannucci E.
Atascadero State Hospital, 10333 El Camino Real, Atascadero, CA 93422, USA. jcannell@dmhash.state.ca.us

In 1981, R. Edgar Hope-Simpson proposed that a 'seasonal stimulus' intimately associated with solar radiation explained the remarkable seasonality of epidemic influenza. Solar radiation triggers robust seasonal vitamin D production in the skin; vitamin D deficiency is common in the winter, and activated vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2D, a steroid hormone, has profound effects on human immunity. 1,25(OH)2D acts as an immune system modulator, preventing excessive expression of inflammatory cytokines and increasing the 'oxidative burst' potential of macrophages. Perhaps most importantly, it dramatically stimulates the expression of potent anti-microbial peptides, which exist in neutrophils, monocytes, natural killer cells, and in epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract where they play a major role in protecting the lung from infection. Volunteers inoculated with live attenuated influenza virus are more likely to develop fever and serological evidence of an immune response in the winter. Vitamin D deficiency predisposes children to respiratory infections. Ultraviolet radiation (either from artificial sources or from sunlight) reduces the incidence of viral respiratory infections, as does cod liver oil (which contains vitamin D). An interventional study showed that vitamin D reduces the incidence of respiratory infections in children. We conclude that vitamin D, or lack of it, may be Hope-Simpson's 'seasonal stimulus'.

Epidemiol Infect. 2006 Dec;134(6):1129-40. Epub 2006 Sep 7.




...from the final conclusion in the full-text:

  Today, in a rush from multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions that rapidly subtype influenza viruses to complex mathematical formulas that explain infectivity, many of us have forgotten Hope-Simpson's simple 'seasonal stimulus' theory for the lethal crop of influenza that sprouts around the winter solstice.   The faith and humility that characterized his life and his writings insulated him from despairing that his 'seasonal stimulus' would not be sought.  Among his last published words was the suggestion that 'it might be rewarding if persons, who are in a position to do so, will look more closely at the operative mechanisms that are causing such seasonal behaviour' [3,p.241].


Dr Edgar Hope-Simpson  (1908-2003)
         
http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/learning_modules/geography/05.TU.01/?section=6
http://www.astrobiology.cf.ac.uk/image15.gif

A Gloucestershire GP carefully recorded the incidence of influenza in his practice over a period of nearly 30 years. Dr Hope-Simpson obtained a picture of the timing and intensity of these cases from 1946 to 1974.
Is it possible to compare Kilbourne’s chronological model of the spread of influenza with this data?
Such a comparison indicates that there should be evidence of the following factors influencing the final picture:
- A distinct seasonal pattern, with the highest incidence in winter.
- A series of decreases in the size of epidemic waves as the population becomes immune to one particular strain of the virus.
- The appearance of a new strain with changed antigens, meaning that the body’s defence mechanism does not recognise it. The whole process of infection should then begin again.
- The presence of more than one strain of influenza in the population at any one time.
- Newly introduced strains from other parts of the world, which can be especially virulent.

for more reading click here:  http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/learning_modules/geography/05.TU.01/?section=6






6
Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: Why are colds commoner during periods of cold weather?
« on: 31/07/2011 10:56:39 »
Vitamin D fanatics  [;)] support the theory that you get symptomatic viral infections (colds, flu)
during the cold season, when your vitamin D levels are the lowest of the year.
Cholecalciferol or vitamin D3(It's not a real vitamin, 'cause we get less than 10% from the diet)
is activated to 1.25OH-vit.D, binds a specific cell receptor VDR, modulating the expression of 200-400 genes.
One action recently described is the synthesis of an antibiotic peptide called cathelicidin, that allows
white cells to inactivate intracellular pathogens (viruses, mycoplasmas, TB etc.).
"...further studies are needed to confirm..."
So much for anti-influenza vaccination campaigns!

Ikod

7
Complementary Medicine / Is Cod Liver Oil actually good for us?
« on: 04/05/2011 21:35:14 »
Quote from: iko on 21/03/2011 18:31:03
Ok, we seem to be almost THERE.

It's a pity we didn't start from childhood leukemias...they are not incurable, in fact, but curable in the majority of patients (well over 50%), not enough though.

 
‎"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." George Orwell



If, in the near future, proper vitamin D3 supplementation improves survival in childhood leukemias...
  Well...I'm going to take a week off, a month off...maybe a whole year off!

Ikod












...and that's it my friends,
I thank you so much for your interest
in such a neglected area of human research.

Ikod

8
Complementary Medicine / Is Cod Liver Oil actually good for us?
« on: 04/05/2011 21:27:31 »
Quote from: iko on 13/03/2011 17:44:38

"...From a clinical perspective, vitamin D insufficiency represents the first potentially modifiable prognostic marker in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) by presenting the opportunity for patients to have their serum vitamin D checked and, if they are deficient, vitamin D supplements administered to correct the deficit."

...

CLL: a supplementary question?


Pepper C, Fegan C.
Cardiff University.

Comment on:
Blood. 2011 Feb 3;117(5):1492-8.

Abstract
In this issue of Blood, Shanafelt and colleagues provide the first evidence that vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for disease progression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Their findings imply that dietary vitamin D supplementation could potentially modify the natural history of this incurable disease.

Blood. 2011 Feb 3;117(5):1439-40.



http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/cgi/reprint/117/5/1439



9
Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?
« on: 21/03/2011 18:31:03 »
Ok, we seem to be almost THERE.

It's a pity we didn't start from childhood leukemias...they are not incurable, in fact, but curable in the majority of patients (well over 50%), not enough though.
 
 
‎ "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." George Orwell



If, in the near future, proper vitamin D3 supplementation improves survival in childhood leukemias...
  Well...I'm going to take a week off, a month off...maybe a whole year off!

Ikod















...and that's it my friends,
I thank you so much for your interest
in such a neglected area of human research.

Ikod

10
Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?
« on: 13/03/2011 17:44:38 »

"...From a clinical perspective, vitamin D insufficiency represents the first potentially modifiable prognostic marker in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) by presenting the opportunity for patients to have their serum vitamin D checked and, if they are deficient, vitamin D supplements administered to correct the deficit."

...

CLL: a supplementary question?


Pepper C, Fegan C.
Cardiff University.

Comment on:
Blood. 2011 Feb 3;117(5):1492-8.

Abstract
In this issue of Blood, Shanafelt and colleagues provide the first evidence that vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for disease progression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Their findings imply that dietary vitamin D supplementation could potentially modify the natural history of this incurable disease.

Blood. 2011 Feb 3;117(5):1439-40.



http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/cgi/reprint/117/5/1439


11
Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?
« on: 08/01/2011 13:02:22 »
Hey!
Somebody just found the ancient "Shanghai Report" searching PubMed...
...and surprisingly didn't think to cross leukemia and 'cod' on Google!

http://community.lls.org/thread/8398



...and now, if you Google "leukemia cod" these two 'pieces of information'
come first and second out of 245k citations! I love this new global Era...
and I'd like to celebrate with you all. Stand up and dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I23Bkk92124&feature=channel



http://img3.allvoices.com/thumbs/event/609/480/65740950-tula.jpg


Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. It creates music all over the world to make money to build music and art schools in communities that are in need of inspiration and hope.
Based on the belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people, Playing for Change set out to make music by gathering musicians from all over the world and bringing their music to the masses. Their efforts clearly proves that music is the same throughout the world.
Chanda Mama is a folk song from India about the moon. Playing for Change made the Chanda Mama video with a group of talented musicians such as Tula (Israel), Noel Schajris (Argentina), Paolo Morais (Portugal), Roberto Luti & Stefano Tomaselli (Italy), Oneness Choir (India), choir Sinamuva & Sibongiseni Mbanjwa (South Africa), Marcelo "Gaucho" & Santiago Maggi (Argentina), Damien Issertes (France), to name a few.

Here are the lyrics and the English translation as can be found on www.songlyrics.com

Chanda mama raavayya : Moon please come
Nannu yetthukoni muddhuladi povayya : Hold me and kiss me and go
Maraalu nenenni chesina : Thou I always sulked and made petty demands
Gaaralyu neeve chupina: YOu always returned your TLC (tender loving care) and pampered me

"This Song Around The World is a folk tune that originated in Chennai, India. We started the track in New Orleans and added musicians from the all over the world before finally delivering it the people of its origin. We ended up in Chennai recording and filming vocals by the Oneness Choir. The result is an uplifting track that has a feeling of perseverance and joy." - Playing for Change


http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7137474-playing-for-change-chanda-mama/content/65740950-tula

12
Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?
« on: 27/12/2010 11:10:26 »
Freshly published. From Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Almost 22 years after the 'Shanghai Report'.




Vitamin D insufficiency and prognosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).


Shanafelt TD, Drake MT, Maurer MJ, Allmer C, Rabe KG, Slager SL, Weiner GJ, Call TG, Link BK, Zent CS, Kay NE, Hanson CA, Witzig TE, Cerhan JR.
Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States;

Abstract
Vitamin D insufficiency is common globally with low levels linked to higher cancer incidence. Although vitamin D insufficiency is related to inferior prognosis in some cancers, no data exist for chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL). We evaluated the relationship of 25(OH)D serum levels with time-to-treatment(TTT) and overall survival(OS) in newly diagnosed CLL patients participating in a prospective cohort study(discovery cohort) and a separate cohort of previously untreated patients participating in an observational study(confirmation cohort). Of 390 CLL patients in the discovery cohort, 119(30.5%) were 25(OH)D insufficient. After median follow-up of 3 years, TTT(hazard ratio[HR ]=1.66; p=0.005) and OS(HR=2.39; p=0.01) were shorter for 25(OH)D insufficient patients. In the validation cohort, 61 of 153 patients(39.9%) were 25(OH)D insufficient. After median follow-up of 9.9 years, TTT(HR=1.59; p=0.05) and OS(HR 1.63; p=0.06) were again shorter for 25(OH)D insufficient patients. On pooled multivariable analysis of patients in both cohorts adjusting for age, sex, stage, CD38, ZAP-70, IGHV, CD49d, and FISH, 25(OH)D insufficiency remained an independent predictor of TTT(HR=1.47; p=0.008), although the association with OS was not significant(HR=1.47; p=0.07). Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with inferior TTT and OS in CLL patients. Whether normalizing vitamin D levels in deficient CLL patients would improve outcome merits clinical testing.

Blood. 2010 Nov 3. [Epub ahead of print]

PMID: 21048153




http://www.nordiclandscapes.com/Mountains-Winter/slides/8-sunrise-mountains-norway.jpg

13
Physiology & Medicine / I don't understand why my great-grandmother died of pneumonia
« on: 11/11/2010 08:38:26 »
Five weeks in hospital? She might have died of TB pneumonia.

14
Physiology & Medicine / Does sunscreen prevent vitamin D production in the skin?
« on: 07/11/2010 13:25:32 »
Hi Karen,

It is nice to hear from you...that you feel better!
You could switch to 50.000 units per month, avoiding a sudden 'drop' of this hormone.
Sessions in the sun can't be so effective: too many variables involved.
Take care,

Iko

15
Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?
« on: 01/11/2010 14:26:15 »
Time is flowing fast, reports about vit.D
deficiency are many: this one is about post-
-bone marrow transplant pediatric patients:
mostly leukemic patients, of course.


25-Hydroxy Vitamin D Deficiency Following Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant.


Duncan CN, Vrooman L, Apfelbaum EM, Whitley K, Bechard L, Lehmann LE.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, United States.

Children may be at increased risk for vitamin D deficiency following HSCT due to lack of sun exposure, the recommended use of sunscreen, dietary insufficiency, malabsorption, and the use of certain medications. We prospectively assessed the prevalence of and risk factors for 25-hydroxy (OH) vitamin D deficiency in 67 patients transplanted at our institution. 25-OH vitamin D levels were checked during three separate four week periods in the spring, autumn, and winter. Subjects were less than two years following transplant and/or being treated for chronic GVHD. Levels less than 20 ng/mL were considered deficient and those less than 30 ng/mL were considered insufficient. The mean 25-OH vitamin D level was 22.8 ng/mL (range 7- 46.2). 80.6% (CI 69.1- 89.3%) of patients had a level less than the lower limit of the institutional normal range. The deficiency rate was 37.3% (CI 25.8-50%). The mean parathyroid hormone (PTH) level was 77.5 (SD 80.5). There was no correlation between 25-OH vitamin D and PTH levels. We evaluated potential risk factors for 25-OH vitamin D deficiency including age, season of testing, sun exposure, sunscreen use, use of steroid or calcineurin inhibitor, race, and dairy intake. In multivariate logistic regression, only older age was found to be a risk factor for deficiency (p=0.004). Patients with deficient levels were treated with 50,000 IU of ergocalciferol once weekly for six weeks. A post-repletion 25-OH level was available for 22 patients. The majority of repleted patients had a normal post-treatment level (63.6%). The post-supplementation level corrected into the insufficient range for 31.8% of patients and 4.6% remained deficient.

 Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are common following HSCT. Further investigation into potential risk factors and the appropriate supplementation for these patients is warranted.

Biol.Bone Marrow Transplant   2010 Oct.14





http://picture-book.com/files/userimages/250u/morning.jpg

16
Famous Scientists, Doctors and Inventors / Did Louis Pasteur deserve the credit he got for discovering penicillin?
« on: 13/10/2010 17:56:35 »
Ok tangoblue, the circle is closed!
Thanks for the wikilink Ophiolite.

17
Physiology & Medicine / Why do physicians have an above-average suicide rate?
« on: 01/10/2010 13:23:08 »
I see your point Chris,

nevertheless, a higher incidence of depression and substance abuse would increase attempted and successful suicides anyway.

18
Physiology & Medicine / Re: Why do physicians have an above-average suicide rate?
« on: 29/09/2010 18:09:48 »
Quote from: chris on 29/09/2010 08:59:04
Do the figures that you are citing refer to "attempted" or "successful / completed suicide" ?

Chris

I would be surprised finding many "attempted suicides" in this category of life&death professionals...
Higher incidence of depression and substance abuse is also reported. It is a sad reality.

19
Physiology & Medicine / Will nutrigenomics mean that all our food will be genetically engineered?
« on: 19/09/2010 10:23:05 »
Hi echochartruse,

...what a strange nickname: me'd like to know its 'history'!!!  [:)]
Nutrigenomics, in my mind, means to study our different genes and try to adapt little genetic 'defects' to our basic diet.
I tried to give an example of this some time ago:

Quote from: iko on 31/10/2007 18:30:18
Quote from: Alandriel on 31/10/2007 18:16:27
May I be so bold and hark back somewhat to the original question about wether we need supplements or not?
For I think there is also another important issue here to consider which has not been addressed.

Quote from: Iko mentioned
If the combination of foodstuff we eat from time to time is correct, thanks to our family traditions and culture, for example, we probably won't have any deficiency problem from the cradle to the end of our life.

That would indeed be great but we also have to take into account that much produce (veg & fruit)seem to have 'lost' quite a bit of their mineral/vitamin content vs e.g. 70 years ago.


Hi Alandriel,

of course yours is a good question and no proper answer is available right now.
If we refer to recommended doses for 'perfect health' instead of deficiency-preventing needed daily amount we get lost and no simple and practical suggestion is available.

Sometimes the easier way is chosen if a scientist has got enough authority to push his theory and show the right 'evidences':   Linus Pauling tried to convince his collegues that we need at least 2grams of ascorbic acid per day because that is the average amount that monkeys get from their natural diets, and they 'lost' the enzyme to make vitamin C by themselves million years ago (like we humans).
I see tiny black spots and a lot of unknown things in this issue.
The major problem is that as humans, we are all unique and different (fortunately!), and our biological diversity and enzyme defects could make different diets sort out huge differences in the resulting 'state of health'.
We all know about gluten intolerance (celiac disease) and other food intolerances and allergies, but those diet-related ailments had been properly studied and evaluated only in the last few decades. So we may see a longer list in the future.
As far as cofactors and vitamins are concerned, I'll mention just one recent example for many to come, to underline how an invisible genetic defect and consequent enzyme abnormality with metabolic impairment can be adjusted by a proper diet:



http://www.rondellen.net/metab_eng.gif


Look at the MTHFR enzyme in this picture.  Imagine that this molecule, a complex protein with catalytic properties, in a certain human had a defect, due to an inherited genetic mutation, resulting in a wrong aminoacid close to its active site.  This genetically abnormal protein will not be able to work at regular speed and produce enough 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate to form methionine from homocysteine.  Homocysteine will accumulate inside and outside the cells with toxic effects.  Tiny vessels may be damaged by toxic levels of homocysteine and a stroke may result from those lesions.
But cofactors can help in some enzyme defects: in this particular case, increasing folic acid, vitamin B12 and B6 in the diet (look at the homocysteine crossroad in the diagram), higher cofactors availability is able to speed up enzyme activity and normalize this particular metabolic pathway.  So homocysteine is efficiently transformed and cannot accumulate anymore in the body, tiny vessels are happy again and the probability of a sudden vascular catastrophe will fall down.
Theoretically, patients can regularly check their homocysteine and test special diets rich in those cofactors, without taking any supplement.
Many more examples of metabolic defects like this will probably be defined in the near future, so the final answer to your question will be: "Each of us needs his own cofactors".

And the lot of us need cod liver oil!  [;D]

Take care

ikod




20
Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: Does every disease have a cure ?
« on: 12/09/2010 19:44:54 »
Well, shortly, diseses have specific 'treatments' that end up in a cure...in a certain percentange of cases...

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