1. News Stories from MCVitamins 
2. Neuropathy, why the pain, the tingling and the numbness?
3. 8 Tips for Arthritis

News Stories Posted by MCVitamins

We have a page where we list any of the news items we find you should know about concerning nutrition and drugs.  Check often to see the lastest news.   http://www.mcvitamins.com/News.htm 

Neuropathy, why the pain, the tingling and the numbness?

Neuropathy has many symptoms.   It may start with a tingling feeling and end up with numbness.   It can be a pricking, or burning sensation, loss of reflexes and muscle shrinkage, abnormal sensations, or sensitivity to touch.  Its worse symptom is pain, sometimes so excruciating that a person would amputate rather then continue the pain.  

It is called many names such as paresthesia, neuritis, neuralgia, dysesthensia, hypoesthesia, hypesthesia, hypalgesia, hypealgesia and hyperesthesia due to its many different kinds of symptoms. 

But, what underlies all these symptoms?

They are created by a specific type of nerve damage. This nerve damage can come from too much sugar in the blood (the reason it is a side effect of diabetes). It can be caused by exposure to chemicals such as cancer treatments, poisons, alcoholism, or a side effect of some medications.   It can be the result of kidney or liver failure, infectious disease or nutritional deficiencies especially B vitamins.   The reasons are many; the damage they produce is the same.

What creates the problem is damage done to the outer lining of the nerve cell.   Cells have coverings much like an electrical wire has an insulation of plastic.  Have you ever seen a wire whose insulation is damaged – the electrical current doesn’t flow correctly. It can send electricity out from the area where it is damaged, it can stop the flow of electricity or it can damage what its supposed to be supplying electricity to.

A damaged nerve covering does the same thing.  It can send out “sparks” that cause tingling, it can stop the flow resulting in numbness.  It can create feelings of hot or cold or a sensitivity due to crossed signals.  It can definitely cause pain especially as the damage gets worse.

The idea is to fix this outer covering.  This is called the myelin sheath.  What is needed is specific B vitamins.  The only question is how to get these B vitamins in sufficient amounts so that the body can actually repair the damage.   Isolated B vitamins that are sold at the health food stores or local drug stores get washed out of the system too quickly to fix the damage.  It would be hard to take enough of this type of nutrients to make a difference.  You can’t get it from vitamins made in a laboratory.

What is needed is a whole food supplement with methylcobalamine and benfotiamine and other B vitamins that the body can use to repair the cells.  That is one of the functions of the body, to repair cells.  But it does need specific nutrients to do its job.  

Nutrients are what a body runs on.   A car runs on gas.  If you drive the car down the road, it uses up a steady amount of that gas.  If you take that same car and speed down the freeway, you will use up a lot of gas.   When you take a body “out on the freeway”, or put it under physical stress, it uses up a lot more nutrients.  Thus, getting the right supplements in the right amount is important.

Just as a car won’t drive without giving it gas.  A body can’t repair itself (or function correctly) without the proper nutrients it needs to “drive”. In the case of neuropathy, it needs these B vitamins.

Neuropathy can be a side effect of many things.   Although most often it is caused by too much sugar in the blood - Diabetes - there are many factors.

Chemoitherapy and some drugs have neuropathy as a side effect and it can be caused by surgery damaging the nerves - there are others.

For more information, go to www.mcvitamins.com/neuropathy.htm 

8 Tips for Arthritis

Tip 1: Make Sure You Really Have Osteoarthritis

While to some of you, today's tip might be very basic. It is absolutely essential that you make sure your diagnosis is correct before you begin wasting money on treatments that are not designed to help your specific situation.

Tip 2: Searching For Just Arthritis Pain Relief? You Shouldn't!

Doctors are very quick to address your joint pain with what has become a "standard" response. Normally, they tell you to take NSAIDS like Aspirin, Advil, Motrin, Ibuprofen, and Acetaminophen, or prescribe COX-2 inhibitors such as Vioxx and Celebrex.  These are drugs which cover the pain and have side effects. 

Tip 3: Keeping Your Weight in Balance is Key To Taking Control of Your Osteoarthritis!

If your osteoarthritis is affecting your load-bearing joints, keeping your weight within normal ranges is important. Load-bearing joints of course refers to any portion of your body that would be affected by excessive weight. Hips, knees, feet and spine are all load-bearing joints.

Tip 4: The Arthritis Fighting Diet

The most common foods to avoid are:
# sugar
# caffeine
# citrus
# salt
# red meat
# dairy products
# additives
# soft drinks
# corn
# flour

Tip 5: Fighting Arthritis Through Proper Exercise!

As best you can, try to keep painful joint areas in motion, even in a limited manner. Exercise is good for joints affected by osteoarthritis. Even if you don't think you can exercise, you can. Even the lightest exercise can go along way to maintaining joint mobility and health. A good exercise routine is key to beating arthritis.

Tip 6: The Treatments: NSAIDs, Cox-II Inhibitors, Surgery, Glucosamine & Niacin

The latest arthritis research has shown that there are some very effective alternatives that have no side effects, are completely safe.

Glucosamine is an over-the-counter dietary supplement that became  known in the treatment of osteoarthritis and joint pain since 1999.  It stimulates the production of glycosaminoglycans (GAG's), the important proteins found in cartilage plus proteoglycans, the water holding molecules that make up the cartilage.

Tip 7: How to Evaluate a Gluosamine Product

There area many products about and can be found in your local food market or drug store. 

There is nothing new about the use of Glucosamine as a way of easing an arthritic condition. For many years it has been used in Asia and Europe before the English speaking medical community caught on. However, you have to be  careful when selecting Glucosamine products.

Your selection should be based on certain factors which is something you should take into account with all supplements. 

You must consider the quality of the product, method of delivery to body, additional ingredients in the product, and of course, price. Simply put, the higher quality that you use, the greater your relief will be. 

Secondly, the method of delivery can make the difference between no pain relief and your personally desired pain relief. Most products produced after the breakthrough news of the 1999 Lancet medical journal study, were rushed to the market. In this haste, these companies did not take any time to do tests on their product. They simply assumed pill form would be the most effective. The latest research however, has shown that Glucosamine in liquid form is much more effective. 

To receive true help in an arthritic state, you need to look for products that combine a number of arthritis fighting ingredients. You should look for a product that besides Glucosamine Sulfate and Glucosamine HCL, it also contains arthritis-fighting ingredients such as chondroitin, boswellin, bromelain, omega 3 & 6, yucca, manganese ascorbate, and vitamins A, C, and E.

A recommendation if you want to use a Glucosamie product is Syn-flex® as it a liquid formula that combines all the ingredients. 

Do your own research. 

Tip 8:. 12 Ingredients that Will Ease Your Arthritis Pain

In alleviating arthritis pain, the compounds that you should be taking for  relief. These are Glucosamine, chondroitin, boswellin, bromelain, omega 3 & 6, yucca, manganese ascorbate, and vitamins A, C, and E, and niacin.

Niacin in high quantities, has been used to help arthritis. 

For more information on arthritis, go to www.mcvitamins.com/arthritis.htm