Wholistic News Reviews

by Larry Lachman, PsyD

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Heart Disease and Anger     
This is a prospective study addressing different types of anger expression (constructive vs. destructive) and the later development of coronary heart disease in 785 randomly selected Canadian men and women age 46 to 92 who were free of coronary heart disease as of 1995. Kevin Davidson and colleagues at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York found that higher rates of constructive anger expression were associated with a lower risk of incidence of coronary heart disease in male subjects only and that high levels of destructive anger was associated with a 31% risk of coronary heart disease in both sexes. They conclude that decreased constructive anger in men and increased destructive anger justification in men and women are associated with an increased risk of 10 year incident of coronary heart disease.

      American Heart Journal 2010, 159 (2), 199-206

Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Psychotic Disorders
G. Paul Amminger and colleagues at the Medical University of Vienna conducted a randomized placebo-controlled trial involving 81 individuals with an excessively high risk for developing psychotic disorders who were put on a regimen of either placebo or Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. They found after 12 weeks that 4.9% of the individuals in the intervention group and 27.5% of the individuals in the placebo group had transitioned to full-threshold psychosis. Dr. Amminger and colleagues also found that the administering of Omega-3 fatty acids significantly reduced both the positive and negative symptoms associated with psychotic disorders. Dr. Amminger and colleagues conclude that long chain Omega-3 fatty acids reduce the risk of progression to psychotic disorder.

      Archives of General Psychiatry 2010, 67(2), 109

Cardiovascular Disease, Medication and Interactions with Herbal Products
Ara Tachijian and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota conducted a search of PubMed and Medline databases involving cardiovascular agents, complementary therapies and herb-drug interactions from 1966 to 2008. They found that herb-drug interactions are most relevant with cardiovascular medications such as digoxin and warfarin where concurrent use of herbal products can unpredicatably increase or decrease the effectiveness of these cardiac medications. For example, the use of St. John’s Wort and warfarin can produce insufficient anti-coagulation as well as an increased risk for thrombo-embolism. The use of Ginkgo with anti-platelet, anti-coagulant or anti-thrombotic agents can lead to bleeding such as intracranial hemorrhage. Dr. Tachijian and colleagues conclude that regulations are needed to protect patients from untoward effects derived from the use of herbal products as well as standards for the safety and efficacy of these products needing to be established.

      Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2010, 55(6); 515-525

Cancer and Liver Disease-Causing Agents and Diet
Alicia Fraser and colleagues at the Boston University School of Public Health studied 5,000 people who were surveyed in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They found that PBDE’s (Polybrominated diphenyl ethers) which are commonly used flame retardants which have been found in human blood and breast milk – which have been linked in animal studies to cancer, liver abnormalities and disruption of brain development –were found to be in 23% of vegetarians’ blood serum concentrations which was 27% lower than what was found in omnivores’ blood serum concentrations. Dr. Fraser and colleagues conclude that intake of contaminated chicken and red meat significantly contribute to the serum blood concentrations of PBDE’s among consumers in the United States.

      Environmental Health Perspectives 2009, 117(10), 1520-152

Questions Pertaining to the Protective Role of Vitamin-D and Ovarian Cancer
Linda Cook and colleagues at the Department of Internal Medicine, at the University of New Mexico, assessed the existing evidence supporting the claim that Vitamin-D can help reduce the risk of contracting ovarian cancer or reducing mortality rates for those diagnosed with the illness, by searching and reviewing 20 articles pertaining to this topic. Ten were ecological studies measuring environmental proximity to the equator; six were case-controlled studies and four were cohort studies. Flaws in the studies reviewed included subjects having insufficient Vitamin-D intakes as well as questionable reliance on self-report questionnaires. One study requiring replication showed that over-weight women with increasing Vitamin-D levels did have a lower risk in developing ovarian cancer. However, rigorous epidemiological studies have not been carried out to confirm or falsify this finding. Dr. Cook and colleagues partly conclude by saying, “…A simple increase in vitamin D exposure, if truly associated with lowered risk, would be an important intervention strategy for reducing ovarian cancer occurrence...this hypothesis, however, needs to be tested with rigorous epidemiologic studies."

      American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology - on-line edition 2010, doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2010.01.062

Larry Lachman, PsyD, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist based in La Jolla, California, who is the co-author of a book on coping with cancer entitled, “Parallel Journeys.” Dr. Lachman is a Psychology Instructor at Chapman University and Argosy University in San Diego.  Contact: www.DrLarryLachman.com   

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