Category Archives: Health Issues

Fusion Health and Vitality Supplement Recall

Health Issues, , ,

The FDA has posted a recall notice for two dietary supplements. Fusion Health and Vitality LLC reported that all of its 2020 Core Essential Nutrients and Immune Boost Sublingual Vitamin D3 are subject to recall for different reasons.

Fusion Health and Vitality’s Core Essential Nutrients supplement, according to the company, contains an unapproved food additive called hordenine HCl. Hordenine HCl, as per the recall notice, might be unsafe when taken by mouth. It may have stimulant like side effects like rapid heart rate or high blood pressure.

Fusion Health and Vitality’s Immune Boost Sublingual Vitamin D3 is being recalled due to a labeling mistake. According to the recall the Immune Boost Sublingual Vitamin D3 supplement’s labels were found to have statements which caused them to not be approved by the FDA. No adverse reactions are known due to this issue.

“Fusion Health and Vitality is notifying its customers by email and is arranging for return of all recalled products,” the company said. “Consumers that have product which is being recalled should stop using it and return it to Fusion Health and Vitality for destruction.”

 

New Study Concludes Vegans at High Risk for Bone Fractures

Health Issues, Healthy Eating, , , ,

According to the findings in a new study people who don’t eat meat, vegans in particular might be at a higher risk for bone fractures.

The research was done at the University of Oxford. It found that meatless eaters and vegans in particular were at a higher risk overall for fractures but also some specific fractures, like hip fractures.

Researchers came to this conclusion by studying almost 55,000 people around the age of 50. They were studied over four years in 1993-2001. They were put into four groups: meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans.

The researchers found that vegetarians where at +9% risk for any kind of fracture when compare to meat eaters and vegans were at a shocking +43% risk.

When it came to hip fractures vegans had a 2.3 times higher risk for hip fractures when compare to meat eaters. Vegetarians and fish eaters were only at about +25% risk of a hip fracture.

Researchers adjusted for calcium and protein intake but even then all non-meat eaters were still at increased risk for fractures even though the risk factor did go down slightly after the adjustment.

 

4 Easy Ways to Help Increase Serotonin Levels

Health Issues, , ,

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter or hormone that maintains mood and well-being. It helps regulate appetite, sleep, learning, memory and cognition.

Sounds like something we could all use more of, doesn’t it? You aren’t wrong. Low serotonin levels are linked to depression.

What can you do to increase your serotonin levels?

For one, you can exercise regularly. Anything you enjoy will do. From simply taking walks, to yoga, cycling or weight training. 30 minutes three times a week is a recommended minimum to see results for increased serotonin.

Second, a better diet can. Serotonin is created by the body from tryptophan which comes only from one’s diet. The body cannot produce it. Some common, high-tryptophan foods are: eggs, sa

Getting more light is a third thing you can do to help. You’ve probably heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It is a type of seasonal depression caused primarily by lack of light. If you can’t make it out in the day time there are many sun lamps on the market. 20-30 minutes of from 2 feet away, not looking at the light directly, should help increase serotonin levels.

A fourth thing to try is getting a massage. Massages decrease cortisol, the alarm hormone (that causes the fight or flight response). Unreleased cortisol can cause anxiety by keeping you on “high alert” and increase your heart rate. Massages will lower cortisol and increase serotonin.

App Assisted Quit Smoking Method Effective According to New Study

Health Issues, , , , ,

Many experts agree that when trying to quit smoking that avoiding your craving triggers doesn’t work but acknowledging and accepting them does.

Additionally, downloading an app which employs this approach could increase one’s odds of quitting, this according to a study found in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The authors of study claim that avoidance creates a paradox in which avoidance actually creates more of the feeling on is trying to avoid.

On the other hand, one problem with the tech assisted approach is the availability of technology itself. People trying to quit need a phone, a phone plan and an app (which may or may not be free). While for many of smartphones may feel ubiquitous many Americans below the poverty line do not possess a smartphone.

Even though smoking tobacco is now at a record low in the U.S. some 34 million Americans still smoke.

The researchers could not rely on simple data provided by the app companies so had to conduct their own study to generate more accurate data. They created a randomized clinical test in which smokers using two different apps were compared. They found that the app assisted acceptance to avoid cravings method was 50% more effective.

 

Viewpoints: Do Blood Pressure Medications Pose a Risk for Mood Disorders?

Health Issues, ,

Studies have noted that depression can raise the risk of heart disease and can also make recovery from cardiovascular diseases more difficult than normal. Similar bodies of past research have also shown that blood pressure medications themselves may increase the risk of depression.

A new report, however, by the American Heart Association found that this does not seem to be the case.

The new study published in the journal titled Hypertension found that not one of the forty-one leading medications used to treat high blood pressure increased risk of depression. And the study even found that nine of the medications might actually lower the risk of depression in patients.

The authors wrote in the study that both results were “highly surprising.”

Research from 2016 noted that blood pressure meds that we call calcium antagonists and those we call beta-blockers might lead to higher risk of hospital admissions for mood disorders.

The same study reported that angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers might be associated with a lower risk for mood disorders.

The authors of the 2016 study wrote that cardiovascular meds, depending on the medication, might lower or heighten the risk of mood disorders. However, the new researcher seems to suggest only the latter is true.