Potassium-magnesium citrate supplements is an effective prophylaxis against recurrent calcium oxalate kidney stones

Potassium-magnesium citrate is an effective prophylaxis against recurrent calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis.

Potassium-magnesium citrate is an effective prophylaxis against recurrent calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis.

Ettinger B1, Pak CY, Citron JT, Thomas C, Adams-Huet B, Vangessel A.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

We examined the efficacy of potassium-magnesium citrate in preventing recurrent calcium oxalate kidney calculi.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

We conducted a prospective double-blind study of 64 patients who were randomly assigned to receive placebo or potassium-magnesium citrate (42 mEq. potassium, 21 mEq. magnesium, and 63 mEq. citrate) daily for up to 3 years. RESULTS. New calculi formed in 63.6% of subjects receiving placebo and in 12.9% of subjects receiving potassium-magnesium citrate. When compared with placebo, the relative risk of treatment failure for potassium-magnesium citrate was 0.16 (95% confidence interval 0.05 to 0.46). Potassium-magnesium citrate had a statistically significant effect (relative risk 0.10, 95% confidence interval 0.03 to 0.36) even after adjustment for possible confounders, including age, pretreatment calculous event rate and urinary biochemical abnormalities.

CONCLUSIONS:

Potassium-magnesium citrate effectively prevents recurrent calcium oxalate stones, and this treatment given for up to 3 years reduces risk of recurrence by 85%.

J Urol. 1997 Dec;158(6):2069-73.

Study found Calcium Supplements reduced diastolic blood pressure

The effect of supplementary calcium on blood pressure in healthy adult women aged 18-30 years in Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of mortality in developed countries and has an increasing trend in developing countries. There are some evidences that calcium supplementation may decrease blood pressure and consequently cardiovascular disease, but they are not conclusive and there is no agreement in this respect. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of supplementary calcium on systolic and diastolic blood pressure in healthy adult women aged 18-30 years.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Seventy-five normotensive volunteers were randomly divided into two groups, the treatment group received 1000 mg/day calcium (four doses of 625 mg calcium carbonate) for 1 month and the control group received placebo (dextrose). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was determined before and after intervention in supine position after 10 min of rest.

RESULTS:

The mean daily calcium intake from food was 773.9 mg in treatment and 721 mg in control group (no significant difference) but in both the groups dietary calcium intake was less than the recommended dietary allowance: After calcium supplementation, the mean change of systolic blood pressure was not significant in the two groups, but diastolic blood pressure reduced in treatment group and increased in control group (-4.9 vs 2.6 mmHg) (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

These results suggest that, calcium supplementation does not have any effect on systolic blood pressure of our volunteers but can decrease diastolic blood pressure significantly and therefore it seems that calcium supplementation may be useful for people with increased diastolic blood pressure, especially for those who receive less calcium than recommended dietary allowance.

J Educ Health Promot. 2015 Aug 6;4:67. doi: 10.4103/2277-9531.162388. eCollection 2015.

Higher calcium intake from non-dairy and dairy sources reduces risk of kidney stones

Dietary Calcium from Dairy and Non-dairy Sources, and Risk of Symptomatic Kidney Stones

Purpose

Because of high correlations between dairy intake and total dietary calcium, previously reported associations between lower calcium intake and increased kidney stone risk represent de facto associations between milk products and risk. We examined associations between dietary calcium from nondairy and dairy sources, and symptomatic nephrolithiasis.

Materials and Methods

We performed prospective studies in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) in 30,762 men, and in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) I and II in 94,164 and 101,701 women, respectively. We excluded men 60 years old or older because we previously reported inverse associations between calcium intake and risk only in men younger than 60 years. Food frequency questionnaires were used to assess calcium intake every 4 years. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to adjust for age, body mass index, supplemental calcium, diet and other factors.

Results

We documented 5,270 incident kidney stones during the combined 56 years of followup. In participants in the highest vs the lowest quintile of nondairy dietary calcium the multivariate relative risk of kidney stones was 0.71 (95% CI 0.56–0.92, p for trend 0.007) in HPFS, 0.82 (95% CI 0.69–0.98, p trend 0.08) in NHS I and 0.74 (95% CI 0.63–0.87, p trend 0.002) in NHS II. When comparing the highest to the lowest quintile of dairy calcium, the multivariate relative risk was 0.77 (95% CI 0.63–0.95, p trend 0.01) for HPFS, 0.83 (95% CI 0.69–0.99, p trend 0.05) for NHS I and 0.76 (95% CI 0.65–0.88, p trend 0.001) for NHS II.

Conclusions

Higher dietary calcium from nondairy or dairy sources is independently associated with a lower kidney stone risk.

Russel's Note Vitamin D supplementation also decreased urinary calcium excretion as well as stone growth, suggesting that it may help prevent the risk of stone formation.

Dietary Calcium from Dairy and Non-dairy Sources, and Risk of Symptomatic Kidney Stones The Journal of Urology, October 2013Volume 190, Issue 4, Pages 1255–1259

vitamin C halves the incidence of the common cold in runners

Vitamin C is beneficial against the common cold

According to an updated Cochrane review on vitamin C and the common cold, vitamin C seems to be particularly beneficial for people under heavy physical stress. In five randomized trials of participants with heavy short-term physical stress, vitamin C halved the incidence of the common cold. Three of the trials studied marathon runners, one studied Swiss school children in a skiing camp and one studied Canadian soldiers during a winter exercise.

Furthermore, in a recent randomized trial carried out with adolescent competitive swimmers, vitamin C halved the duration of colds in males, although the vitamin had no effect on females.

Regular doses of vitamin C of one gram per day or higher have reduced the average duration of colds in adults by 8% and in children by 18%. Although these findings unambiguously show that vitamin C has a biological effect on colds, taking vitamin C every day to shorten infrequent colds does not seem reasonable. On average, adults have only a few common cold episodes per year and children have some half a dozen colds per year.

Few therapeutic trials, meaning trials in which vitamin C was given only after the first symptoms of a cold appeared, have been carried out and their results are not consistent. Nevertheless, given the consistent effect of vitamin C on the duration and severity of colds in the regular supplementation studies, and the safety and low cost of vitamin C, the authors consider that it may be worthwhile for individual common cold patients to test whether therapeutic vitamin C is beneficial for them.

Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold

Harri Hemilä1,*, Elizabeth Chalker2Editorial Group: Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group

Beet juice boosts muscle power

Beet juice boosts muscle power in heart patients

Scientists have evidence that Popeye was right: spinach makes you stronger. But it's the high nitrate content in the leafy greens,  not the iron,  that creates the effect. Building on a growing body of work that suggests dietary nitrate improves muscle performance in many elite athletes, researchers found that drinking concentrated beet juice, also high in nitrates, increases muscle power in patients with heart failure.

Washington University School of Medicine study

Vitamin D3 supplements could increase muscle power and boost athletic performance

Vitamin D3 supplements could increase muscle power and boost athletic performance

The following conclusions were given in the study;

Vitamin D 3 have potential ergogenic effects on the human metabolic system and lead to multiple physiological enhancements. These dosages could increase aerobic capacity, muscle growth, force and power production, and a decreased recovery time from exercise. 

These dosages could also improve bone density. However, both deficiency (12.5 to 50 nmol/L) and high levels of vitamin D (>125 nmol/L) can have negative side effects, with the potential for an increased mortality. Thus, maintenance of optimal serum levels between 75 to 100 nmol/L and ensuring adequate amounts of other essential nutrients including vitamin K are consumed, is key to health and performance.

 Coaches, medical practitioners, and athletic personnel should recommend their patients and athletes to have their plasma 25(OH)D measured, in order to determine if supplementation is needed. Based on the research presented on recovery, force and power production, 4000-5000 IU/day of vitamin D 3 in conjunction with a mixture of 50 mcg/day to 1000 mcg/day of vitamin K 1 and K 2 seems to be a safe dose and has the potential to aid athletic performance. 

Lastly, no study in the athletic population has increased serum 25(OH)D levels past 100 nmol/L, (the optimal range for skeletal muscle function) using doses of 1000 to 5000 IU/day. Thus, future studies should test the physiological effects of higher dosages (5000 IU to 10,000 IU/day or more) of vitamin D 3 in combination with varying dosages of vitamin K 1 and vitamin K 2 in the athletic population to determine optimal dosages needed to maximize performance.

Plausible ergogenic effects of vitamin D on athletic performance and recovery 

Dylan T. Dahlquist², Brad P. Dieter³ and Michael S. Koehle^1*journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2015, 12:33 doi:10.1186/s12970-015-0093-8

chemicals from Green tomato and apples can increase aging muscles mass and strength

As we grow older, we lose strength and muscle mass. However, the cause of age-related muscle weakness and atrophy has remained a mystery.

Scientists at the University of Iowa have discovered the first example of a protein that causes muscle weakness and loss during aging. The protein, ATF4, is a transcription factor that alters gene expression in skeletal muscle, causing reduction of muscle protein synthesis, strength, and mass. The UI study also identifies two natural compounds, one found in apples and one found in green tomatoes, which reduce ATF4 activity in aged skeletal muscle. The findings, which were published online Sept. 3 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, could lead to new therapies for age-related muscle weakness and atrophy.

"Many of us know from our own experiences that muscle weakness and atrophy are big problems as we become older," says Christopher Adams, MD, PhD, UI professor of internal medicine and senior study author. "These problems have a major impact on our quality of life and health."

Previously, Adams and his team had identified ursolic acid, which is found in apple peel, and tomatidine, which comes from green tomatoes, as small molecules that can prevent acute muscle wasting caused by starvation and inactivity. Those studies set the stage for testing whether ursolic acid and tomatidine might be effective in blocking the largest cause of muscle weakness and atrophy: aging.

In their latest study, Adams' team found that ursolic acid and tomatidine dramatically reduce age-related muscle weakness and atrophy in mice. Elderly mice with age-related muscle weakness and atrophy were fed diets lacking or containing either 0.27 percent ursolic acid, or 0.05 percent tomatidine for two months. The scientists found that both compounds increased muscle mass by 10 percent, and more importantly, increased muscle quality, or strength, by 30 percent. The sizes of these effects suggest that the compounds largely restored muscle mass and strength to young adult levels.

"Based on these results, ursolic acid and tomatidine appear to have a lot of potential as tools for dealing with muscle weakness and atrophy during aging," Adams says. "We also thought we might be able to use ursolic acid and tomatidine as tools to find a root cause of muscle weakness and atrophy during aging."

Adams' team investigated the molecular effects of ursolic acid and tomatidine in aged skeletal muscle. They found that both compounds turn off a group of genes that are turned on by the transcription factor ATF4. This led them to engineer and study a new strain of mice that lack ATF4 in skeletal muscle. Like old muscles that were treated with ursolic acid and tomatidine, old muscles lacking ATF4 were resistant to the effects of aging.

"By reducing ATF4 activity, ursolic acid and tomatidine allow skeletal muscle to recover from effects of aging," says Adams, who also is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the UI and a staff physician with the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The UI study was done in collaboration with Emmyon, Inc., a UI-based biotechnology company founded by Adams, that is now working to translate ursolic acid and tomatidine into foods, supplements, and pharmaceuticals that can help preserve or recover strength and muscle mass as people grow older.

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Iowa. The original item was written by Jennifer Brown. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.