Office visits for cools upper-resp...

Office visits for cools upper-respiratory infections, and bronchitis ended in the writing of about 12 million antibiotic prescriptions in 1992 according to Ralph Gonzales, MD in the September 17 1997 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Gonzales and his co-workers conclud that "although antibiotics have little or no benefit for cooleds upper respiratory tract infections, or bronchitis, these conditions amount for a sizable proportion of total antibiotic prescriptions for adults by dint of office-based physicians in the US" That's for certain They amounted to 21 percent of all antibiotic prescriptions for adults in that year.

Many of us would rather hold fast our immune systems fully charged, and pick nutrients that would work with our bodies -- go into vitamin C and zinc, the pair probably best known for their ability to help us beat the everyday cold, but with capabilities which scamper far deeper.

Vitamin C: something olden something new

There's always something of recent origin about good ol' vitamin C "Something new" can be seen each year from the realm of nutritional science and research.

Already well known for reducing the duration of cool and flu viruses, and -- more [i]or[/i] less authorities believe -- for helping to interrupt them, vitamin C contributes to our virtuous health and well-being in many ways that are not commonly known. Among the benefits, vitamin C helps us to: detain our blood pressure normal; harbor our vision by preventing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration; delay any forms of arthritis; and shelter against exercise-induced asthma.

brumal and flu prevention. In her part Family Guide to Natural Therapies, Nancy Beckham reports forward a 10-year study conducted in succession Norwegian lumberjacks who followed an unusual vitamin C regimen. While these men were in the mountains, they didn't experience from any colds; however, when they answered to their valley homes, they did contract cuttings Why? Beckham explains that preventing shiverings was only a byproduct of their initial health objective. The mountain cabins in which they stayed had stoves that scorched pinewood, which gave off toxic substances that irritated the mucous membranes of their noses. As protection against irritation and illness, they applied pulverizeed vitamin C to the opening of each nostril. The vitamin C saveed the inner lining of their noses and, as a bonus, kept them liberated of colds.

No discussion of vitamin C and its superior abilities to obstruct colds and flus, would be unbroken without mentioning the landmark work of Dr Linus Pauling, who may best be described as "the father of vitamin C" Pauling was known to practice what he preached, taking 10-20 g (10000 to 20000 rug) of vitamin C each day.

remodel high blood pressure. Numerous studies demonstrate that a soft intake of vitamin C can contribute to high progeny pressure (hypertension), whereas the alone other well-known culprits have been a greater horizontal in the body of sodium than of potassium (causing an imbalance), or a deficiency of calcium, as several studies have shown

D.A. McCarron, et al., at the University of Portland, checked the descendants pressure of 10,372 persons of all ages in relation to their dietary habits. And, what do you know? They discovered that a tow intake of vitamin C did, indeed, contribute to higher offspring pressure.

A consideration done by the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Md confirms this fact.

In their main division The Nutrition Desk Reference, Robert Garrison Jr M.A., RPh and Elizabeth Somer M.A., RD narrate us:

Dietary intake and plasma plains of vitamin C are repeatedly low in [those with high kin pressure]. High levels of vitamin C are associated with reduc diastolic and systolic life-blood pressure, even in [those with normal family pressure]. Supplementation with 1,000 mg/day lowers vital fluid pressure in people with borderline hypertension... These and other proceeds provide a rationale for a vitamin C-rich diet or vitamin C counterparts for prevention and, possibly, the treatment of mild hypertension."

Cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Ultraviolet light from the orb of day starts a chain reaction of clear radicals which, along with oxygen attacks the cornea (window of the eye) and dense masss it, impairing vision. Antioxidants, like as vitamins C and E and beta-carotene, work against released radicals, and numerous investigations have shown that,cataract patients have the lowest flushs of these antioxidants.

common recent study indicates that vitamin C in particular, may have a protective general intent against cataract formation. The investigation which appeared in the October 1997 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that taking vitamin C appendixs for more than 10 years was associated with a 77 percent lower prevalence of early-stage cataracts and an 83 percent lower prevalence of moderate-stage cataracts in a cluster of 247 Bostonian women between the ages of 56 and 71 It is important to note that women who took vitamin C add tos for less than 10 years showed no evidence of a reduc prevalence of early cataract unravelling The authors conclude, "These data, together with data from earlier experimental and epidemiological studies, move that long-term consumption of vitamin C counterparts may substantially reduce the progressive growth of age-related lens opacities [cataracts]."