Hypertension – Can massage help?

With the current buzz around magnesium supplements it implies that we are all short of magnesium.  But are we? First it is important that you are aware there is currently no test to determine your magnesium levels that is cost effective or well validated.   Even clinical manifestations of magnesium deficiency are difficult to define due to magnesiums many roles in our body.  Despite this amoung researchers, magnesium defficiency is known as the silent epidemic of our times.  At first glance this seems a paradox how can people be low in magnesium if you can't measure it? The answer appears to be lifestyle and diet.   Less than 30% of U.S adults comsume the recomended daily allowance (RDA) of magnesium.  And nearly 20% get only half of the magnesium they need daily to remain healthy. So what are the symptoms of poor magnesium intake:

• Muscle cramps
• Facial ticks
• Poor sleep
• Chronic pain

The causes of mental and physical fatigue experienced by people with MS are complex, and likely to include neural, inflammatory, metabolic, and psychological factors. None of the currently available approaches offers long term relief, say the researchers. Previous research suggests that dark chocolate, containing between 70 and 85 per cent cocoa solids, is associated with an improvement in subjectively assessed fatigue in people with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME). Cocoa, like dark chocolate, is rich in flavonoids––substances found abundantly in fruit and vegetables and associated with anti-inflammatory properties. This prompted the researchers to see if it might also be worth exploring Cocoa potential in helping to tackle the fatigue associated with MS. They randomly assigned 40 adults recently diagnosed with the relapsing remitting form of MS and fatigue to drink a cup of either high flavonoid cocoa powder mixed with heated rice milk (19) or a low flavonoid version (21) every day for six weeks.  Participants were instructed to wait 30 minutes before taking any prescribed medication or eating or drinking anything else, but otherwise to stick to their usual diet.  Fatigue and fatigability–the speed with which mental and physical fatigue set in–were formally assessed before the start, at the mid-point, and at the end of the trial.  And participants also subjectively rated their fatigue on a scale of 1 to 10, at 10.00, 15.00, and 20.00 hours each day, and monitored their activity with a pedometer.  After six weeks there was a small improvement in fatigue in 11 of those drinking high flavonoid cocoa compared with eight of those drinking the low flavonoid version. Those drinking the high flavonoid version showed a 45 per cent improvement in subjectively assessed fatigue and an 80 per cent improvement in walking speed.  Although not objectively measured, pain symptoms also improved more in the high flavonoid group. If the findings are confirmed in larger studies, it may offer a simple dietary approach to a persistent and hard to treat symptom, which affects nine out of 10 people with MS, suggest the researchers. Reference https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/90/5/507

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that vitamin D plays a crucial role in disease prevention and maintaining optimal health.  You have about 30,000 genes in your body and vitamin D affects nearly 3,000.  This is in addition to all the vitamin D receptors through out your body. Inflammation is the body's attempt at self-protection; the aim being to remove harmful stimuli, including damaged cells, irritants, or pathogens. While inflammation is a vital part of the body's immune response, it can also be problematic and plays a role in some chronic diseases e.g asthma, arthritis. Researchers investigated specific signalling events that vitamin D suppresses in order to inhibit inflammation.  Research published in The Journal of Immunology called it the "inflammatory cascade"; low vitamin D levels failed to inhibit the cascade while adequate levels did the job.  Researchers concluded that patients with chronic inflammatory diseases who are also vitamin D deficient may benefit from supplementation. Researchers in Turkey, reported in the international Journal of Rheumatic Diseases that chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain is improved with vitamin D.  Fibromyalgia sufferers and other patients with chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain were given 50,000 iu/week oral vitamin D3 for three months.  Afterwards scientists discovered decreases in pain, fatigue upon awaking, lack of energy, tender points and depression.  Significantly there were 30 Fibromyalgia patients at the beginning of the study and only 20 at the end! Next week I want to look at the relationship between low vitamin D levels and common ailments. References Zhang Y, et al. (2012). Vitamin D Inhibits Monocyte/Macrophage Proinflammatory Cytokine Production by Targeting MAPK Phosphatase-1. The Journal of Immunology.

1. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/heart_vascular_institute/clinical_services/centers_excellence/womens_cardiovascular_health_center/patient_information/health_topics/vitamin_d_and_the_heart.html