Protect Your Bones Now to Prevent Suffering Agonizing Hip Fractures Later
	
If I haven't said so in awhile, I want to thank you for spending this valuable time with me each week. I'm proud to say that the information that you read in this newsletter on a regular basis is truly cutting edge. It is my mission to provide you with valuable and actionable information. I hope you consistently feel that I provide you that service. I can confidently say that by reading this newsletter every week you will most surely have a greater fund of knowledge than your personal physician when it comes to the field of nutrition. Please use the knowledge to educate yourself and others on the many natural ways that we can protect and heal our bodies for a healthier life. I appreciate your time and attention every week.

In this week's edition, I want to alert you to the dangerous association between elevated levels of the amino acid homocysteine and painful, debilitating hip fractures; as well as the two common B vitamins that can significantly reduce your risk.

I have written on many occasions about the dangers of elevated homocysteine in regard to heart disease, stroke, phlebitis and even dementia. There are now new studies coming out in the medical literature implicating elevations in homocysteine as a strong and independent risk factor for the development of osteoporotic fractures including the hip in older men and women. Hip fractures are the most common broken bone leading to hospitalization and disability for 300,000 Americans every year. They are a leading cause of nursing home admission, disability and death in the country. In fact the death rate after a hip fracture is 25% in the first year.

In studies published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine last year, it was reported that plasma homocysteine levels were directly correlated to incidence of hip fracture. In one study involving older men, those individuals with the lowest homocysteine levels had a hip fracture rate of 1.96 per thousand person-years. In contrast, those men with the highest levels of total homocysteine had a fracture rate of 8.14. The difference represents an increase risk of fracture of over 400% in men with the highest homocysteine levels compared with men with the lowest levels.

However, we just received some good news. In a study out of Japan just published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 628 consecutive patients ages 65 and older who had suffered a stroke with residual paralysis of at least one year (following the stroke) were recruited to receive 5 mg daily of folic acid along with 1500 mcg of Vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin) or a placebo. The study was double-blinded, so neither the patients nor the clinicians knew who were receiving the vitamins versus the placebo. At the end of the two-year study, plasma homocysteine levels had decreased by 38% in the treatment group. The group that was given just placebo had a drastically different result showing a 31% increase in plasma homocysteine.

Along with this significant finding, those individuals who were given the folic acid and methylcobalamin suffered fracture rates of 10 per 1000 patient years whereas those individuals who were given the dummy pills suffered fracture rates of 43 per 1000 patient years. The results are statistically significant to such a the level that there is only one in a thousand chances that these results could have occurred by chance.

The bottom line is, those individuals given folic acid and B12 reduced their risk of fractures by an astounding 80%. It appears that homocysteine affects bone formation by interfering with cross linking of collagen which helps to strengthen your bones. The authors concluded that treatment with folate and vitamin B12 is safe and effective in reducing the risk of hip fracture in elderly patients in both sexes following stroke. It must also be noted that there were no significant side effects in the treatment group.

Now I would like to switch gears for a moment to discuss another extremely important nutrient called L-arginine which is a good amino acid. You'll be happy to learn more about this important supplement and you'll see how it all ties together later in the newsletter.

A study was just published in the most recent edition of the prestigious journal Neurology. In this study, 24 patients with a particular neurologic condition known as MELAS were treated with either intravenous or oral L-arginine. Patients with MELAS can develop stroke-like episodes which appear to be related to impairment of relaxation of blood vessels going into the brain. Aside from strokes, these patients also develop impairment with thinking and muscle weakness. The intravenous infusion of L-arginine significantly improved all stroke-like symptoms in these patients. Likewise, oral administration (4 to 24 grams) of L-arginine significantly decreased the frequency and severity of the stroke-like attacks.

L-arginine plays an extremely important role in maintaining relaxation of the inner-wall of your blood vessels. L-arginine is a chief precursor of nitrous oxide which appears to be a critical component in reducing your risk of vascular disease including heart attack and stroke. Since nitric oxide also plays an important role in bone cell function, this connection with L-arginine is quite important. Clinical studies have actually demonstrated that elevations in nitric oxide can help protect against osteoporosis. In one small, randomized, controlled study, nitroglycerin (which is a nitric oxide donor) was found to be as effective as estrogen in preventing bone loss in women with surgical menopause. So it does appear that L-arginine, via the nitric oxide pathway, not only protects you against heart disease, but also bone loss.

And so, let's tie everything together. As noted above, elevations in homocysteine clearly increase risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease and now appear to increase risk of osteoporosis and fracture also. As amazing as it seems, by treating your heart with critically important nutrients such as folic acid, vitamin B12 and L-arginine, you are also taking care of your bones. Quite amazing!!

If you are in your forties, fifties or older, there is a likelihood that your doctor may have recommended a bone density evaluation because of the significant prevalence of osteoporosis in our population. For those of you who have osteopenia or osteoporosis, your doctor may have recommended calcium and vitamin D or one of the many drugs available for osteoporosis, such as Fosamax. They are all common options, but I wonder if any of your physicians have considered recommending a high dose folic acid, vitamin B12 and L-arginine? The answer unfortunately is probably not.

However, I will and I'm proud to say that my recommendations will include the highest quality and value-priced supplements on the market today. Just as I hope you feel this newsletter is cutting edge, so are the products we have formulated for you at Nutraceutical Sciences Institute (NSI). If you are taking a typical store brand multi-vitamin, it likely contains just a few micrograms of B12 and 400 mcg or less of folic acid, both in the poorest inactive forms.

The standard quantities of these important nutrients is just not enough to protect your health. The study in JAMA sends a clear message to you about the serious flaws in the government established RDA/DV (daily value). The DV for folic acid is 400 mcg, according to the government, and yet in the JAMA study they utilized over twelve times that amount of folic acid. The B12 dose is even more extreme. The RDA/DV for B12 is only a pathetically poor 6 mcg. In the JAMA study they used 250 times the RDA/DV or 25,000 % of the recommended daily value (RDA/DV). I am quite confident that had they used the RDA/DV amount of B12 and folic acid, the outcome of the study would have been dramatically different with poor or no result.

Another important distinction between the typical multi-vitamin that is mass marketed, and even sold in a lot of health food stores, is the fact that cyanocobalamin is the typical form of inactive B12 utilized. When you ingest this inefficient form of B12, your body must convert it by the liver to attain any active form.

With NSI, you only get the highly active methylcobalamin form which is significantly more expensive (ie.12,000 times more expensive than calcium carbonate!) and is considerably more effective. In fact this form of B12 at levels in the 500 mcg - 2 mg (2,000 mcg) per day via oral capsules, achieves blood levels similar to injections! Contrary to false marketing schemes stating you must take B12 sublingual, the medical evidence shows this is definitely not true in this active methyl form. You just need to be taking the good stuff. In the JAMA study, they used the methylcobalamin form and not the cyano form.

So please, as soon as you're done reading this newsletter I'd like you to look at your multi-vitamin label. If it contains less than 800 mcg per day of folic acid and less than 500 mcg per day of B12 in the methylcobalamin form, I would suggest you throw it away...it is not providing you optimal benefits if any. The NSI line of Synergy products will provide you 800 mcg to 4 mg of folic acid in a daily dose along with up to 2,000 mcg of the expensive and highly potent methylcobalamin. Even in our inexpensive Synergy Once-a-Day vitamin you still get 800 mcg of folic acid and a tremendous 500 mcg of methylcobalamin. I guarantee you that your once-a-day vitamin does not include these types and levels of nutrients.

Additionally, all of the Synergy products Version 9 and higher contain the highest forms and optimal quantities of vitamin D, folic acid and vitamin B12 which are considered essential in terms of other critical nutrients for osteoporosis.

In regard to L-arginine, we sell it as a stand-alone product with each capsule containing 750 mg. You can also choose an excellent combination of L-arginine and L-ornithine. These two nutrients in combination appear to help the release of human growth hormone and these amino acids are frequently used by athletes to reach peak performance.

The human body is amazing. It is so very intricate and yet things are so interwoven. I hope by reading this newsletter, you learned how taking nutrients would not only protect your cardiovascular system, but would also protect your bones. But now you know and I'd love if you'd forward this newsletter and/or print it out to share with your doctor, friends and family. They probably don't know and it could be valuable knowledge for their health. "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire", you have the ability to save lives by sharing such valuable information. I'm honored you gave me the time today to share the information with you. I look forward to our time again next week.

To review the 12 NSI Synergy multivitamin choices click here.

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