Salmeterol for asthma may cause serious events (Reuters)

Reuters - Patients with chronic asthma who use the salmeterol on a daily basis are at increased risk for serious adverse events, researchers conclude in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library.

If quality and natural matters to you, then make sure the source of your vitamins is whole foods. Is your supplement a synthetic (made up in lab) vitamin? If it is a whole food vitamin then the company will usually be proud to advertise as such and list the source of the vitamin. Here are the critical points you should know about whole food vitamins.

Don't ever select a vitamin based solely on price point. There are significant reasons why one vitamin is cheaper than the other. When you decide on what is an acceptable quality, then comparison shop for that similar quality vitamin so you are comparing oranges with oranges and apples with apples. Watch out for companies with well recognized names who have purchasing power. Read the label even more.

Your body prefers to absorb vitamins and other nutrients from natural or whole foods. In other words, these are foods in their natural, unprocessed or unpolished states. Therefore, most health and wellness experts agree that whole food sources of vitamins and minerals and other nutrients are superior. Synthetic may mimic but will not be superior as good as natural. Your body will absorb and utilize the whole food vitamins more than synthetic.

The fewer additives the better and the fewer opportunities there are for allergic reactions. Remember, avoid artificial flavoring and colors. The supplement market is very competitive; the better the quality the better and more prominent the labeling stating such. Vague labels with minimal information are strong indicators of lower quality.

Find out if your vitamin is made by a company with rigorous quality control standards that are validated by a third party certification provider such as the NSF or ISO. Your vitamin needs to be NSF or ISO certified. Why would you take any dietary or nutrition supplement made by a company without one of these certifications? NSF certification for example assures the consumer that the product has been tested and will continue to be tested through periodic audits. In other words, the certification of a product is continuous, not a one time process. The product should have the high quality ingredients and manufacturing process that a company claims.

Vitamins are supplements. Just as all dietary supplements, they are not cure alls for disease states. They supply what the body is missing to heal itself for perform natural physiologic functions. They are not medicines. However, if not used in an appropriate manner they can harm you. For example, if you are on a blood thinner such as coumadin for whatever reason, you would not want to take vitamin K supplementation. It will oppose the coumadin to try and thicken the blood.

The question is frequently asked, who should take vitamins? The answer is most people. Most do not get purchase bulk MSM methylsulfonylmethane vitamins because of a deficiency of adequate fruits and vegetables and whole foods in the diet. Look at the plate of most people eating around you. Are those plates colorful with fruits and vegetables or are do they lack color because of all the starch and meat?

Use a vitamin that is from a whole food source and that is NSF or ISO certified. Choose a supplement based on quality not price.

Orville Campbell, MD is an internist and nephrologist. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. His expertise include: health and wellness, hypertension, diabetes, vitamin D, and kidney diseases.

http://www.HealthandWellnessMarketing.com/2.html

Quality Vitamin B12: http://www.healthandwellnessmarketing.com/6.html

Give Us Reform, Not a Veto - The Ledger

Los Angeles Times

Give Us Reform, Not a Veto The Ledger - 1 hour ago Congress sent a Medicare bill to the president last week to head off cuts in doctor payments. President George W. Bush went through with his threatened veto Tuesday morning. Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen talks Medicare York Weekly Congress, Overriding Bush, Blocks Pay Cut for Doctors New York Times The Associated Press - Bloomberg - KFOXtv.com - Bizjournals.com all 1,117 news articles

Your heart is important. You know this is true. Without our hearts we wouldn't be here. Our hearts beat thousands of times a day pumping blood throughout our bodies nourishing us, sustaining us.

We rely on our physical hearts. Yet, many people don't pay enough attention to their heart health. A recent report from the American Heart Association has shown that heart disease is still the number one killer in America. Last year nearly a million people died because of cardiovascular disease. Women are also at risk. One out of every five women die because of heart disease and heart illness. Its clear that women's health issues should include a focus on the heart.

So if we know that our hearts are important we should begin taking strides to take care of our heart health. It doesn't have to be overwhelming. We can begin the process with some very simple steps.

1. Begin choosing to eat less saturated fat.

One very simple why to begin working on our heart health is to just cut back on our consumption of saturated fat. Saturated fat is the fat that comes from animal products. It has been shown to be a direct cause of coronary heart disease. The main sources of saturated fat are beef, most pork, and the dark meat from chicken. Eating these foods puts 40% saturated fat into your body. By comparison, the white meat of chicken has 20% saturated fat.

People often ask me about deer, buffalo, or venison. They want to know if they are healthier? Unfortunately, reports by the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that these dark meats also contain 40% saturated fat. So l-glutamine powder benefits best may be better than eating bacon, but they still contain a large amount of fat.

Other foods that contain saturated fat include dairy products. Fortunately, most products now list the amount of saturated fat that they contain.

So if you want to improve your heart health begin making the decision to put less saturated fat into your body.

2. Choose to move more.

It seems like such a simple concept. We need to move to keep our hearts healthy, but you'd be amazed at the number of people who do almost no physical activity. If you're someone who hasn't been doing much, don't overdo it in the beginning.

Start very slowly. Keep it simple. Choose to take the stairs more instead of the elevator. Don't always park in the closest parking stall. Make the choice to walk 20-30 yards every time to go somewhere. If you watch television, during commercials move out of your chair do some easy calisthenics. It doesn't have to be anything outstanding, just some gentle activity. It's frequently the little things that we do consistently that are most important.

Decide to move more. Put this thought into your head and you'll be amazed at the ways you can put more movement into your life. Following these simple steps can make a difference in your life.

3. Spent 15 minutes a day on your emotional heart health.

Its been well documented that our emotions influence our heart health. Negative emotions: fear, anger, sadness, frustration, depression, anxiety, and just plain old stress- can have a harmful effect on our bodies. They can create heart disease.

Most people don't have a daily program for reducing the stress and negative emotions in their life. I consistently talk to the heart patients who I see in the office and its only 1/10 that engage in any daily form of stress reduction.

An easy way to reduce the stress in your life is to sit quietly for 15 minutes and just breath deeply. Force yourself to take a deep breath in and blow it out. Do this for about 10 breaths and then just sit quietly and be aware of your breathing.

Many other simple forms of stress reduction are available. Yoga, tai chi, sitting meditation, Sufi prayer, biofeedback, and TM- are just a few. What's important is to find a method that you feel gives you comfort and then do it. Spend 15 minutes every day defusing your stress.

What's certain is that heart disease is preventable. Countless medical studies have shown this to be true. You can make the choice to live a life free from heart disease.

If you value your heart why not make the effort to live a life free from heart disease? It's all up to you.

Dr. Kirk Laman is a cardiologist, author, and public speaker with a passion for helping people improve their heart health. Dr. Laman is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Michigan State University- College of Osteopathic Medicine. His book, "How to Heal Your Broken Heart," (http://www.HealingYourBrokenHeart.com) is designed to help people struggling with issues of the heart. Go to: http://www.drlaman.com for further information about Dr. Laman.