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Articles (Total : 116)

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• Quality Fish Oil 13 Mar 2009 • Theanine – A Nutrient for Relaxation 28 Oct 2008 • Jump Start Your Weight Loss in 2009 21 Jan 2009 • The Effects of Green Tea on Weight Management 16 Mar 2010 • Are Vaccinations Causing Early Alzheimer’s? 19 Nov 2008 • Talk About Pulling The Plug On Grandma 25 Aug 2009 • Utilizing Quality Calcium for Health 19 Mar 2009 • The FDA’s Peramivir H1N1 Swine Flu Experiment 26 Oct 2009 • Folic Acid and Vitamin D Help Allergies and Asthma 12 May 2009 • A Path Back From Addiction & Mental Health Problems 11 Aug 2009 • How Imbalanced Digestive Bacteria Cause Obesity & Heart Disease 12 Mar 2010 • Omega 3 Fatty Acids Prevent Serious Mental Health Problems 6 Feb 2010 • Six Months of Smoking is Adequate for Significant Brain Damage 20 Aug 2009 • Guar Gum: The Fiber with a Swagger 9 Jan 2009 • The Swine Flu – Are Pigs to Blame? 1 May 2009 • Common Phthalate Exposure Linked to ADHD 8 Dec 2009 • Noni as a Natural Immune Booster 6 Oct 2009 • Vitamin D is Needed to Fight and Prevent the Flu 10 Mar 2010 • Glutamine Helps Stomach Ulcers 24 Jun 2009 • Massive Brain Drugging of Children Now Underway 11 Aug 2009 • Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss 16 Apr 2009 • Big Pharma & Friends Poised for Massive Profits from Health Care Reform 27 Jul 2009 • The New Flu Vaccine Hype is Over-Rated 14 Sep 2009 • Pregnant Women at Higher Risk for Severe Swine Flu 29 Jul 2009 • Low Vitamin D Contributes to Thyroid Problems 11 Nov 2008 • Low Iron Can Cause Chronic Pain 23 Oct 2009 • The Amazing New World of HDL Cholesterol 10 Dec 2008 • Tips for Cardiovascular Health 3 Feb 2009 • McCain’s Anti-Supplement Bill Appears Dead – For Now 8 Mar 2010 • Common Traits of the Long Lived 9 Apr 2009 • Glial Cell Function Vital for Learning 1 Oct 2009 • What is the Leptin Diet? 12 May 2009 • Health Scandal of the Decade – Monsanto’s GMO Perversion of Food 25 Jan 2010 • Which Whey to Go 20 Oct 2009 • Top Thyroid Stories of the Past Year 21 Jan 2009 • The Failure Empire: Bob Greene Rakes It In, Oprah Fails 28 Jan 2009 • Oprah’s Weight Is National News – Again 10 Dec 2008 • High Intake of EPA/DHA Reduces Risks for Cardiovascular Disease 22 Feb 2010 • The Top 10 Health Breakthroughs of 2008 5 Jan 2009 • Steep Escalation in Minority Obesity and Breast Cancer 3 Aug 2009 • How the FDA, Big Pharma, and Doctors Cause Injury for Profit 3 Nov 2009 • Is Obama Bailing Out Big Pharma’s Bursting Bubble? 4 Feb 2009 • New Science Questions Theory of Antidepressant Drugs 30 Oct 2009 • Tamoxifen Shockingly Found to Cause Aggressive Breast Cancer 5 Sep 2009 • Oprah’s “Crazy Talk" – Bioidentical Hormones – Helpful or Harmful? (Part 2) 25 Jun 2009 • Vitamin D – A Gene-Regulating Super Nutrient 6 Nov 2008 • The Facts on Magnesium Stearate 9 Apr 2009 • Obesity and the Path to Heart Disease 20 Nov 2008 • More Proof that Statins Damage Muscles in Many People Taking Them 9 Jul 2009 • Monsanto’s Toxic and Mutated World – Is Sugar Safe to Eat? 26 Oct 2009 • Immunometabolism: The New Frontier 31 Jul 2009 • DHA, Krill Oil & Green-Lipped Mussel – Which is Best? 23 Feb 2009 • Grape Seed Extract Restores Insulin Sensitivity 19 Jun 2009 • Swine Flu Tip – Don’t Be Your Own Petri Dish 30 Apr 2009 • Prostate Cancer and Zinc – Can Zinc Be Overdone? 3 Aug 2009 • Health Costs Relating to Obesity Skyrocket 29 Jul 2009 • Tamiflu Causes Delirium and Suicide in Children 1 May 2009 • DHEA Helps Older Women Build Spinal Bone Density 24 Jun 2009 • Using Nutrition to Help Perceive and Combat Swine Flu 14 Sep 2009 • Mainstream Sounding Alarms on Alternative Thyroid Treatments 9 Apr 2009 • Citizens Win Huge Supreme Court Victory over Big Pharma and the FDA 5 Mar 2009 • Teen Sleep Problems Lead to Depression & Drug Abuse 28 Oct 2008 • Laughable Type II Diabetes Research Shines Light on Medical Ineptitude 18 Aug 2009 • Overweight People Need Extra Antioxidants for Exercise 25 Jun 2009 • Natural Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss 16 Apr 2009 • Niacin: Can It Help Your Cardio Health? 20 Nov 2008 • Brave Oxford Researchers Say Tamiflu is Not for Kids 18 Aug 2009 • New Insights on Addiction, Mood, Memory, and Cognitive Ability 1 Oct 2009 • Prostate Cancer & the Androgen Receptor – A Clearer Picture of the Problem 11 Aug 2009 • What is Leptin? 21 Jan 2009 • Will Drinking Milk Help You Live Longer? 29 Jul 2009 • Coenzyme Q10, Statins, and Heart Health 26 Feb 2009 • Scientists Document How Coumadin Increases Disease Risk 1 Oct 2009 • Obama Tries to Sneak Major Health Care Reform into the Stimulus Bill 16 Feb 2009 • Quercetin: A Rising Star for Nerves, Immunity, and Metabolism 26 Oct 2009 • Bone Drugs Cause Serious Atrial Fibrillation 30 Oct 2008 • ADHD Linked to Early Life Instability & Sleep Problems 8 Dec 2009 • Introducing the Wellness Resources Daily Prenatal Multi Vitamin 8 Feb 2010 • Low Vitamin C Impairs Early Brain Development 5 Sep 2009 • Snacking is Damaging Health; Mrs. Obama is Off Target 2 Mar 2010 • Pantethine – Boost Your Brain, Cardio Health, Metabolism, and Detoxification 11 Feb 2009 • Exercise Tips for Fighting the Swine Flu 6 Oct 2009 • The Poorly Developing ADHD Brain 2 Mar 2010 • Antidepressants Strongly Linked to Heart Disease 11 Mar 2009 • Another Thyroid Risk: Did Your Mom Smoke While Pregnant? 27 Jan 2009 • The Narrow Scope of Flu Vaccine Usefulness 9 Sep 2009 • Thyroid, Adrenals, & Immunity – A Clear Path to Surviving Swine Flu 6 May 2009 • What Are Your Baby Fat Cells Doing? 16 Jun 2009 • Flawed SELECT Study Attacks Vitamin E 30 Oct 2008 • Cold Weather Mood Shock: Avoid the Winter Blues 13 Jan 2010 • How Hostile Bacteria Take Up Unwanted Residence 17 Jul 2009 • Candida Problems Evolving 9 Apr 2009 • Startling Evidence of Brain Decay at Age 39 22 Oct 2008 • Can Vitamin D Help Prevent H1N1 Swine Flu from Spreading? 20 Oct 2009 • Hayflick Comments on Aging 1 Jul 2009 • Steve Jobs’ Wasting-Away Health Problem 7 Jan 2009 • What’s in Your Multiple Vitamin? Minerals, Detecting Real Quality. 20 Feb 2009 • Surprisingly High Cancer Risk from CT Scans 15 Dec 2009 • A Healthy Lymph System is Vital for Flu Fighting Immunity 6 Oct 2009 • Pregnancy Cautions: Caffeine, Stress, & Depression. 6 Nov 2008 • Avandia is Killing Americans, FDA Negligence Comes Front and Center 22 Feb 2010 • The Colorful History of Colloidal Silver & Other Silver Compounds 6 Oct 2009 • Oprah’s Crazy Talk – Bioidentical Hormones – Helpful or Harmful? (Part 1) 22 Jun 2009 • Oprah’s Thyroid Problem Explained 21 Jan 2009 • An Emerging Fiber Breakthrough for Weight Management 17 Jul 2009 • Abnormal Brain Structure in Schizophrenia 2 Mar 2010 • BDNF Prevents and Reverses Alzheimer’s Disease 11 Feb 2009 • Desperate Big Pharma Push to Double Statin Sales 13 Nov 2008 • Statin Use Speeds Onset of Coronary Adverse Event Hospitalizations 9 Jul 2009 • Leptin Now Directly Linked to the Pleasure of Food & Human Behavior 18 Aug 2009 • Gamma Tocotrienol in the War on Cancer 25 Jun 2009 • Omega 3 Oils Slow Aging by Preserving Telomeres 6 Feb 2010 • Is Itching a Risk Factor for Cancer? 25 Aug 2009 • Michael Jackson is Not Alone 9 Jul 2009 • How PCBs Damage the Developing Brain 22 Apr 2009 • hyroid Problems, Alzheimer’s, and Cognitive Decline 23 Jun 2009

A significant body of science now links poor thyroid function and cognitive decline, including Alzheimer's risk (doubling the risk for women). The information is proving interesting, and not what many would expect. In fact, taking thyroid hormone to help offset aging issues may make cognitive decline worse.

The data shows that individuals with a baseline higher TSH at age 65 had lower scores on mental performance, even though they did not at that time have cognitive impairment. Interestingly, high normal levels of T4 signified even worse cognitive scores and a stronger likelihood of cognitive decline as time goes by. The researchers did not understand why this was the case but correctly warned that taking thyroid medication, as is done in many anti-aging clinics, is likely to make cognitive decline worse.

The reason elevated T4 makes brain function worse is because thyroid function in your brain is regulated by every cell, as different from the rest of your body. In other words, every cell in your brain can change T4 into biologically active T3, whereas your liver is the main site of T3 activation for the rest of the cells in your body.

The reason your brain works this way is because your head has to be able to stay awake in times of extreme famine so that you could hunt if you happened to see something to hunt. However, the rest of your body needs to be in "hibernation mode" so that you don't use too many calories. This is a key survival mechanism.

However, one of the first signs of low thyroid is actually an elevation of T4 - which means it is not getting converted to T3. Such an elevation conks out thyroid activation in your brain, which is why a heavy or sluggish feeling in your head is a key symptom of poor thyroid function. It is now obvious that unless this is corrected it will lead to cognitive decline.

However, taking thyroid hormone may raise blood levels of T4 and could easily make this problem worse. This would especially be the case in a person lacking the key nutrients to convert T4 into T3 or to protect the thyroid gland from oxidative damage while thyroid hormone is being produced.

This data means that how your head feels is one of the most important indicators of successful thyroid support. If you are taking medication and your head isn't feeling better you could actually be making your brain deteriorate faster.

A common assumption is that an elevation of TSH, even when in the normal range, is a sign of sluggish thyroid function. Data coming from a study of centenarians (the very long-lived) shows that there are a few very important caveats to understand. As a person successfully enters very old age the TSH level is actually higher. This is not reflecting the first stages of hypothyroid, it is reflecting a new fitness of the thyroid system in a person who is aging healthfully. This finding throws a major monkey wrench into the simplistic idea of adjusting thyroid hormone levels to meet lab test scores. Taking thyroid hormone would lower TSH in this population, thereby disturbing the thyroid fitness that is associated with their longevity!

My take home message is as follows. How you feel is more important than lab test numbers. Try to fix your thyroid without any medication, by using nutrition to protect your thyroid gland and liver, and by providing the key nutrients that enable the healthy activation of T4 to T3.

If your TSH starts to rise as you get older realize that this could be a first sign of poor thyroid function or a sign of adaptation and thyroid fitness that is associated with longevity. How do you tell the difference? By how your head feels. If your head is mostly alert and cognitively clicking along, then you are most likely in the health zone. If your head is heavy and tired then you need to work on improving thyroid function as a priority, as otherwise you are not on a healthy track but on a path to rapidly deteriorating cognitive function.

The same lab test score means two entirely different things, which can be differentiated based on how you are feeling. The other important point is, do what you can to naturally get your body to work better without taking actual hormone. If you need hormone, try to take the lowest dose you can (of course work with your doctor), while naturally fixing your metabolism.

Thyroid hormone can for some make symptoms feel better for a while. These studies indicate that long term use, especially in older individuals, runs a high risk for accelerated brain aging.

Author: Byron J. Richards Founder/Director of Wellness Resources, Inc

Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist and a world renowned natural health expert. Richards is the first to explain the relevance of leptin and its link to solving obesity.

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Web: http://www.wellnessresources.com

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