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Salt is very bad for the health of bones

Salt

Salt is very bad for the health of bones and engaging in physical activities will help in reducing the salt content in the body

Salt is very bad for the health of bones: Osteoporosis

Ordinarily salt is needed to add taste to the food we consume. And to many people food without salt is not anything to consider. However it can pose a great obstacle to a study skeleton. According to some studies, it has been established that postmenopausal women with a high salty diet lose more bone minerals than their counterparts of the same age. The saltines of the typical American diet is one of the reasons why calcium requirements are so high. The experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury MD, are in agreement that regular table salt and simply sodium causes calcium loss and with time weakens the bones

Statistics on salt consumption

According to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise limiting sodium to 2,300 milligrams a day which is an equivalent of a teaspoon of salt. Despite this advice many people are still consuming up to least 4,000 milligrams daily. Generally speaking, for every 2,300 milligrams of sodium you take in, about 40 milligrams of calcium is lost in the urine. For stability it is important for people to get the right units of calcium and vitamin D daily to help in offsetting bone loss from the consumption of salt. The following are the recommended units of calcium and vitamin D:

  • Adults up to age 50 require 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily — the equivalent of three 8-ounce glasses of milk.
  • Older adults need 1,200 milligrams of daily calcium – about half a glass more of milk.
  • People need 200 International Units (IU) of vitamin D a day until age 50.
  • Adults need 400 IU of vitamin D from the ages of 51 to 70 years.
  • Seniors need 600 IU of vitamin D a day after age 70.

The best sources of vitamin D should be from natural origins like natural sunlight and from fortified milk, egg yolks, saltwater fish, liver, and supplements.

We may succeed in eliminating salt shakers from our tables and even prepare meals without salt. But this is just a reduction of very negligible portion. It is no wonder that of all the dangers to the bone, salt is one which may be the hardest to eliminate. This is so because all the processed foods including whole grain breads, breakfast cereals, and fast foods are very rich in salt. As a matter of fact these constitute up to 75% of salt we consume. Therefore if you want to reduce the diet danger, take note of some of the highest-salty foods to limit or avoid. Choose no-added salt versions whenever possible.

  • Processed meats, such as deli turkey and ham, and hot dogs
  • Fast food, such as pizza, burgers, tacos, and fries
  • Processed foods, including regular and reduced-calorie frozen meals
  • Regular canned soups and vegetables and vegetable juices
  • Baked products, including breads and breakfast cereals

Finally doctor Akoury advices that you need to scan food labels for sodium content to ensure that you only go for those with the lowest units of sodium for better bones. We appreciate that this may not be very easy which is why going for plenty of potassium-rich foods like bananas, tomatoes, and orange juice can work for you. Potassium may be helpful in decreasing the loss of calcium and for more information you can contact doctor Akoury now.

Osteoporosis

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Molecular Mechanisms of Methamphetamine Induced-Neurotoxicity

Methamphetamine is a stimulant that is also highly soluble in water and affects the CNS most. Categorically it fits in the group of synthetic drugs chemically related to amphetamine but it has more adverse effects on the Central nervous system than the parent compound. Abuse of these illegal psychostimulants has become an international public health problem, with an estimated 14 to 52 million amphetamine-type stimulant users worldwide, exceeding the total number of cocaine abusers and second only to the number of cannabis abusers. This number has continued to rise in spite of the fact that much has been done to publicize the adverse effects these amphetamine related stimulants are linked to. Meth or speed as known in stimulant use circles exists in different forms like powder, tablets and capsules. It can also be found in a purer crystalline form.

It’s dangerous why is it used?

Just like most stimulants or drugs that are known to induce euphoric feelings, methamphetamine is also taken for similar reasons for example; to induce euphoric feelings, increased sense of well-being, increase energy and to calm anxiety. Being a powerful drug its effects are felt immediately after the use but these effects can last for long hours. They may be accompanied by acute adverse effects such as increased blood pressure and heart rate, which may cause irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain, resulting in cerebrovascular accidents, stroke, and death. Methamphetamine also produces hyperthermia, pupil dilation, flushing, tremors, trismus and bruxism, muscle tension, loss of appetite or anorexia, and loss of pleasure in food intake which further leads to deterioration of the user’s health.

methamphetamine

Effects of Methamphetamine

Being an addictive drug, after a prolonged use the users may develop tolerance. It’s most common symptoms after a prolonged use include; temporomandibular joint syndrome, dental erosion, and myofacial pain. Long-term use also produces lack of appetite, weight loss, accelerated aging, nose-bleeding problems, nonhealing wounds, tooth decay and fracture known as “Meth mouth”. Psychiatric symptoms include anxiety, depression, increased aggression, social isolation, psychosis, mood disturbances, and psychomotor dysfunction. Long periods of high consumption can cause paranoid psychosis. Other symptoms of chronic methamphetamine use may also include; deficits in attention, working memory, and decision making. Most addicts are stuck in the use of meth as a result of the withdrawal symptoms which include the following; irritability, fatigue, impaired social functioning, and intense craving for the drug. Researchers have given evidence that the negative neuropsychiatric consequences of methamphetamine abuse are due, at least in part, to drug-induced neuropathological changes in the brain. Although the exact molecular mechanisms of neuronal body loss are not known, there is evidence to suggest the coexistence of different types of cell death, including apoptosis and necrosis ; indicated by the morphology of neurons stained with hematoxylin-eosin.  Growing evidence exhibits that methamphetamine and MDMA induce an increase in lipid peroxidation and DNA oxidation as well as increased levels of oxidative stress markers such as hydroxyl radical producing neurotoxicity. Methamphetamine increases expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)/ neuronal nitric oxide synthase (iNOS ) indicating increased synthesis of neuronal nitric oxide, which combines with superoxide radicals to form peroxynitrite which is a strong oxidant and a major neurotoxin . Induction of nNOS/iNOS by methamphetamine or MDMA  constitutes part of the mechanism of methamphetamine damage, as selective inhibition or genetic inactivation of nNOS and overexpression of cupper zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), an enzyme that catalyzes the dismutation of superoxide into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, prevent methamphetamine neurotoxicity . Even though methamphetamine increases iNOS expression in the striatum , there is no basis for supposing the involvement of glial nitric oxide in methamphetamine-induced toxicity, but it is interesting to note that mice deficient in iNOS have increased resistance to methamphetamine-induced dopamine neuron damage.

methamphetamine

The neurotoxic effects of methamphetamine on the dopaminergic system are accompanied by activation of astroglia and microglia in the same areas  being strongest in the striatum, the area with biggest toxicity. Glial cells are not activated in the nucleus accumbens, which is not much damaged . In mice, glial activation in striatum and in substantia nigra occurs shortly after methamphetamine administration, as indicated by a significant increase in Mac-1 ;a marker of reactive microglia 24 hours after methamphetamine exposure and prominent increases in GFAP ; a marker of reactive gliosis in response to injury occur within a week  after treatment . The extent of these glial reactions correlates with the observed severity of neurotoxicity.

The dopaminergic system is also involved in this toxicity, as demonstrated in various mutant mice in which inactivation of dopamine transport, dopamine D1 receptors or D2 receptors affords a significant protection against methamphetamine toxicity. Administration of THC prevents dopaminergic toxicity after MDMA, a similar amphetamine derivative to methamphetamine, by CB1 receptor stimulation which is present in striatal medium spiny neurons. All these receptors are involved in different aspects of learning processes that became affected by the chronic use of methamphetamine or MDMA.

Finally, Drug abuse, addiction and independence are problems that people grapple with every day. These problems need to be treated effectively through integrative medicine. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert at this.  Call her on (843) 213-1480 for help.

Molecular Mechanisms of Methamphetamine Induced-Neurotoxicity

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