In This Issue

Common Cold

Insomnia

Does Aspirin Prevent Stroke?

Pepper Facts

Niacin For Lowering Cholesterol?

Exercise Corner

Questions & Answers

I promise that in this issue the "M" word will not be mentioned. It may well pop up in a future issue, but not in this one.

Let's start with the common cold [Is there an uncommon cold?]. You say you have one, and want to know what to do about it?

First of all, there is no cure; but there are some steps you can take to help avoid one, or to reduce its life if you get one. To avoid a cold, try (recommendations by Dr. Isadore Rosenfield):

1. Avoid people infected by a cold (except your children of course).
2. Wash your hands frequently "out damned spots," or something like that. And try to keep your hands away from your mouth and nose, which might mean a whole new way of eating and...
3. If you use tissues to wipe or blow your nose, rather than your sleeve, throw them away immediately -- don't save them for future use.

If you think you are catching a cold, get plenty of rest. A fatigued body (too much activity, not enough sleep) has a diminished immune response to the ubiquitous cold bugs. Regarding exercise during the "about to get it" or "got it" phases, keep it moderate, or eliminate it altogether. And, of course, drink lots of liquids, and follow your mother's advice and eat some chicken soup -- it contains a substance (cytokines) which seems to have an antiviral effect.

If you have a full-blown, actual cold, try these options, but keep in mind that they can only relieve the symptoms, but won't shorten the duration:

1. For relief of a headache, sore throat, general discomfort, or to lower a fever, try aceteminaprophen (Tylenol) or an NSAID like Advil. Aspirin may spread a virus and increase nasal stuffiness in adults, and should not be given to children under 12 because of a known link to Reye's syndrome, a dangerous disease.
2. A stuffy nose may be helped by decongestants, but don't use them for more than three days because they can cause rebound congestion and aggravation of stuffiness. And, those nose strips that I always thought were worthless may actually work by pulling the nostrils farther apart to improve breathing.
3. A runny nose is often combatted with antihistamines, but the older ones that make you drowsy are actually more effective than newer ones (Claratin, Allegra, Zyrtec, and Astelin) that do control allergies, but don't seem to do much against colds. And men with prostate problems should not use antihistamines.
4. A cough with a lot of mucus seems to respond to guaifenenesin by loosening, thus making it easier to expell. A dry cough triggered by a "tickle" is more responsive to dextromethorphan

Do "natural" remedies work? Maybe, maybe not. Vitamin C, for instance, has been debated for years, and there is still no final answer -- does it work or not. Some people report using vitamin C to successfully hold off a cold, or to shorten or lessen its effects; but lab tests are equivocal. Some people take large doses as once pushed by Linus Pauling, but large doses may just dry up sniffles. But vitamin C as an antioxidant can be beneficial in other ways even if it does nothing for colds.

Zinc, in the form of lozenges, is another "remedy" being debated. Some evidence suggests that lozenges containing zinc glutonate is effective, that it can shorten the length of a cold by a day or two. Be sure to use lozenges containing zinc glutonate since other forms have not been proven to be effective; but don't take too many or you might be left with a bad taste in your mouth. The herb echinacea may also help, although reports of its effectiveness are inconsistant. It doesn't seem to have any bad side effects so it seems to be safe whether it works or not, but if you do take it, as with all herbal medications, consult with your physician before doing so. Don't take it; however, if you have any autoimmune diseases. Also avoid it if you are taking any medication with a potential for causing liver damage, since echinacea can exacerbate that potential if taken longer than eight weeks.

DON'T take any antibiotics, they don't work against viruses, which are what cause colds.

You can expect new medications to fight cold symptoms, but no cold cures since there are roughly 200 different viruses that can cause a cold.

Insomnia is a condition that I struggle with frequently. So my interest was aroused when I came across an article containing a number of suggestions for how to defeat the problem. I will present them along with my own reactions to them. Maybe some of you can offer other posibilities.

I don't know about you, but if I am reading, watching TV, or listening to music, I sometimes doze off. Have you ever been reading a book and it suddenly falls out of your hands onto the floor? "Oops, lost my place." I guess where I was because of course nothing from the last page (or 10) was transferred to my brain. Or have you ever been watching "ER" or the evening news, and suddenly you discover that the nightly talk show is just ending? I stumble into the bathroom to brush my teeth, then change into my jammies, and then I am wide awake.

So, what do the "experts" suggest? You might try some of the following (I have had some experience with many of these technques, and I'll tell you the outcome.):

1. See a doctor -- Not me, unless I was experiencing pain, or something like frequent acid reflux.
2. Take a warm bath -- I don't take baths. Lying on hard porcelain does not relax me.
3. Get a massage -- Not practical, unless you have a live-in masseuse.
4. Listen to music -- Sometimes effective.
5. Drink warm milk -- Ugh
6. Drink Herb tea -- Ugh, again. I don't like tee -- herbal or otherwise, but maybe you should try it.
7. Eat a bedtime snack -- Doesn't work for me.
8. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco -- Sounds very helpful if you partake of any of those; I don't.
9. Sleep in a well-ventilated room -- Doesn't work for me, but try it if you sleep in a stuffy room.
10. Sleep on a firm bed -- Again, a helpful option if you don't already do it.
11. Sleep on your back -- I always start out that way, but sleeping position doesn't affect whether I have insomnia or not.
12. Get some physical exercise daily -- I do, but it doesn't help me get to sleep.
13. Keep regular bedtime hours -- Also has no effect for me.
14. If you can't sleep, get up -- I sometimes do, but when I eventually go back to bed, I am likely to be wide awake again.
15. Don't sleep in -- I rarely do, but there is no relationship between insomnia and sleeping in for me.
16. Get up earlier -- I already get up at 5:00 a.m.
17. Keep your bed a place for sleep -- It is for me, but this sounds like a bad idea to me, unless the author is referring to watching TV or reading.
18. Avoid naps -- Sometimes those account for my only sleep in a day, and are rarely planned.
19. Avoid illuminated bedroom clocks -- That seems ludicrous to me, unless you have a searchlight attached to your clock.

Here are a few more suggestions from the originator of this list that he/she seems to think of as little-known. Most are routine, some are bizzare, but they do add to the sleep aids list.

1. Sleep with your head pointing North -- hmm, maybe sleep under a pyramid, or on magnets.
2. Don't watch TV or read before going to bed -- ???
3. Toe wriggling -- ???
4. Stomach rub -- ???
5. Progressive relaxation -- a possibility.
6. Deep breathing -- all of the "relaxation" techniques can help, but for me the cause of insomnia is mental stress, and sleep only comes to me if I can block out those stressors.
7. Vizualize something peaceful -- again, effective if you can keep the demons away.
8. Visualize something boring -- this comes about as close for me as anything. I count, endlessly. And it is essential to keep the mind blank. Don't let thoughs in to interfere with the counting. This is something like repeating a mantra until you fall asleep.
9. Imagine it's time to get up -- right?
10. Quiet ears -- I don't know what that means.

To reiterate, when I can't sleep, the cause is typically thoughts (sometimes good, sometimes not so good) that roll around in my brain over, and over, and... It takes something like mindless counting while keeping out all thoughts -- kind of going brain dead -- for me to go to sleep. Although insomnia isn't always present, thankfully.

S hould you take aspirin to prevent stroke? It is quite common for men over 50 to take aspirin, even those who are asymptomatic, to reduce risk for heart attacks; but does aspirin yield a similar benefit for risk of strokes? Evidence is not as clear for stroke risk as it is for heart attack risk.

This issue is equivocal as there are numerous studies that support aspirin use in middle-aged and elderly populations. Evidence suggests that regular aspirin use reduces stroke risk (blood clots in the brain -- ischemic stroke), for those with a high risk, by about 25%; but, some research suggests that regular aspirin use increases risk for one specific type of stroke -- hemorrhagic stroke (which is caused by bleeding in the brain, and accounts for about 10% of all strokes).

It seems that use of aspirin to reduce risk of heart attacks is about 25% effective, but for strokes there may be little benefit at all, and with the aforementioned increased risk for hemorrhagic stroke.

A cautionary note is that the study used to derive the previous data came from an analysis of other studies in which aspirin dosages varied, making the conclusions less than totally reliable. It may be that there is a specific dose that would decrease risk of stroke.

It seems pretty clear that aspirin if effective against heart attacks, but for strokes, it doesn't seem to make much difference, except that it seems to reduce the number of fatal strokes, if not the total number.

It is now commonly recommended that healthy middle-aged individuals with health risks for heart disease/strokes take low-dose aspirin (75 - 81 mg daily, which is about equal to one baby aspirin); BUT, don't take aspirin on your own -- consult with a physician first. If you do take aspirin, use the entericcoated type. They may help you avoid ripping up your stomach.

Peppers are ubiquitous in quisines throughout the world. They originated in the Western Hemishere, and spread out from there.They come in an array of colors and nutrients, and spiciness. They may be green, red, yellow, orange, purple, or brown; and range from relatively sweet to mouth-burningly hot.

Some sweet pepper facts:

• In general, the brighter the color, the greater the nutrient value. Most peppers start out green, then may change color as they ripen, and the red or yellow varieties seem to be the nutritional gems of the family, but all are nutritionally healthy.
• A single three-ounce green pepper is packed with about 80 mg of vitamin C, twice that of a comparatively sized orange.
• The red and yellow varieties contain about twice as much vitamin C as the greenies.
• In addition to vitamin C, green peppers are also high in beta carotene, but when red or green they have nine times more.
• Other nutrients contained in smaller amounts in peppers include potassium, folic acid, calcium, fiber, and a variety of carotenoids and phytochemicals.

The hot side of the family, ranging from hot to "get out the fire extinguisher" is caused by the various amounts of the chemical capsaicin contained therein. According to the Scoville Heat Unit Scale, a heat measurement technique designed to measure pepper heat, the range is from 0 in a green pepper to 300,000 in a habanero pepper. Pure capsaicin weighs in at a mere 16,000,000. For the more timid, an ancho pepper is at about 26,000.

Other hot side facts are:

1. "Heat" varies with color, degree of ripening, but also environmental factors like soil, climate, etc.
2. Hot peppers, like sweet ones, are nutrient-dense in terms of vitamin C and beta carotene, but can't be called significant contributors to those nutrients because of one obvious characteristic -- you can't eat enough.
3. There are a plethora of types of hot peppers -- cayenne, serranos that are commonly found in salsa, tobasco chillis found in tobasco sause, ancho and anaheim peppers that are a staple of Mexican food, and paprika used profusely in central Europe. Black pepper, incidentally is unrelated to hot/sweet peppers -- it comes from an entirely different plant.
4. Rubber gloves are appropriate for touching raw hot peppers. And if you want to tone hot peppers down, remove some or all of the seeds and white placenta, which is where the capsaicin lives.

Capsaicin has kind of an interesting background in the sense that it has been put to many uses. For centuries it has been used medicinally, and even today is used for cluster headache relief, is contained in ointments designed for arthritis relief, and more. It is also used as a weapon -- pepper spray (a use that dates back to the Aztecs).

To me, one of the most interesting facts about chilli peppers is that when you feel like a flame thrower has gone off in your mouth, water isn't the sollution because capsaicin doesn't dissolve in water. Milk or yogurt might work, but ICE CREAM works best. [Thank you Lord, I always suspected that ice cream was a health food.]

Exercise Corner in this issue addresses what I call a Supine Hammer Triceps Extension. This exercise isolates the triceps muscles, with strong support from the shoulders primarily the anterior deltoids as static stabilizers.

To perform this exercise, assume a prone position (on your back), arms in a vertical position, hands grasping dumbbells and in a neutral position (palms facing each other). Simultaneously flex your elbows until your forearms are at roughly parallel to the floor. Note that you can go slightly lower, but as you do there is a tendency to move your shoulders, which should remain fixed in place throughout this exercise. Pause momentarily, then extend your elbows to return to the initial position. That's one -- repeat to complete your set. Remember to keep your elbows relatively close together -- don't let them fly out wide. As you flex your elbows, the weights should should be lowered at approximately shoulder width. And don't use extremely heavy weight with either dumbbells or a barbell, or you will find out why lying elbow extensions are commonly known as "skull crushers."

Niacin, a B vitamin, seems to have some cholesterol lowering capability. For some people with high blood cholesterol who can't seem to lower it by making lifestyle changes, and are facing having to take drugs to do it, there might be another option. There is a new group of drugs called "statins" that seem to be quite effective, but if you just don't want to take a drug, you might try niacin; but only under a doctor's care. Niacin should be treated as a prescription drug even though it is "just a vitamin."

Taken in megadoses (1 to 3 grams per day, which is 50 to 200 times the RDA), it can lower total cholesterol and LDL levels by up to 30%. It can also increase HDL and reduce triglycerides up to 30%. Niacin is unique in that other cholesterol-lowering drugs don't affect HDL or triglycerides much, or at all.

BUT, there are potential side effects of taking high doses of niacin, including flushing and itching, nausea, blurred vision, headache; or more serious consequences like liver damage, and small increases in blood sugar. The array of potential side effects depends partly on the form in which niacin is taken. It is available by prescription as Niaspan, among others. Another form is niacinamide, but it doesn't lower cholesterol.

If you have high cholesterol and/or high triglycerides, talk to a physician about niacin therapy; but if you have liver disease, dibetes, gout, peptic ulcers, glaucoma, or if you are taking a blood thinner, or are a heavy drinker, you should probably forget about niacin therapy.

(Q) Sometimes exercise just plain tires me out, but according to what I've heard it is supposed to energize me. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. Why?
A.L., Santa Rosa, CA

(A) Exercise can do both. If you are already tired, as from lack of sleep, illness, or poor nutrition; exercise will simply make you more tired. Or, high intensity exercise will obviously make you tired. On the other hand, there are conditions under which exercise will commonly energize you: moderate exercise can get you out of a "funk," and is particularly good at getting you out of "sedentary inertia" -- a condition where you feel tired simply because you haven't exercised (the infamous "couch potato" syndrome. If you are in this category, take a walk, you'll feel better. The same feeling may hit you after a day at the office -- you get home and feel wornout. Take a walk.

(Q) A friend recommended that I start using sea salt, claiming that it is healthier than regular table salt. Is it?
A.D., Portola Valley, CA

(A) Contrary to what you may hear, no, it isn't healthier. In fact they are virtually the same -- both are mostly sodium chloride. The fact is that table salt may be superior, at least the iodine-added variety. Salt recovered from the ocean, once it is cleaned and processed, has no nutritional advantage over regular table salt. Incidentally, all salt originated in the sea, some comes from the evaporation of ocean water, and some from ancient sea beds.

(Q) I am thinking about taking ecinachea for colds. Are there any side effects?
V. R., Santa Rosa, CA

(A) Ecinachea, purple cone flower, comes with the normal caution for supplements: quality control is frequently poor, and no regulation is imposed. A product may not contain the amount stated (even none in some cases), and the proper dose is not known anyway. Also, even though 15 compounds have been found in ecinachea, the active ingredient is unknown. Few side effects have been reported, but the possibility always exists that some can occur as a result of poor quality control (contaminants, or low/high dosage, etc.), if for no other reason. There are some researchers who think it can have an adverse effect on the T-4 immune cells.

Since ecinachea is a member of the daisy/sunflower family, don't take it if you are allergic to daisies. Also avoid it if you have any chronic immune system dysfunction diseases (MS, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.), are pregnant or nursing, HIV-positive, or happen to be a child.

(Q) What's the story on eggs and cholesterol? First we were told eggs were essentially poison -- their fatty yolks are high in cholesterol, which leads to heart attacks. Then it was four eggs a week were acceptable. And now maybe they aren't such a wicked food after all?
J. D., Ashland, OR

(A) It was once thought that dietary cholesterol went straight into one's bloodstream, but it was later questioned that dietary cholesterol translates to higher serum cholesterol. More recent studies indicate that cholesterol in eggs does not pose an increased heart risk, even in those who ate more than an egg a day. Eggs are considered a healthy food for all ages.

One group, diabetics, does seem to have increased risk for heart attacks; but that risk is related to obesity, and diabetics may simply be less efficient at processing cholesterol in eggs.

_____________________________________
Send questions or comments to Michael Fenner: e-mail to Mike Fenner
To see the MAF FITNESS NEWSLETTER archives, go to http://www.dinc.com/maf/