Fw: THE B6 CONTROVERSY: What's All The Fuss Over Vitamin B6?

[Guest guest]

Lorenzo posted the article below on Vitamin B6 to the Cave

Man Food list. I added a few small comments from my own personal

experience. I hope Lorenzo doesn't mind that I am forwarding it

here.

 

Alobar

 

 

-

" Alobar " <alobar

<CaveManFood >

Saturday, November 09, 2002 12:56 PM

Re: [CaveManFood] THE B6 CONTROVERSY: What's All The Fuss

Over Vitamin B6?

 

 

> Thanks Lorenzo. The article you posted answers a question

I

> have had for a year now. When I was diagnosed as having had

> diabetes (I probably had it for at least a decade before diagnosis)

> the nurses all were amazed I had normal blood pressure. But non

of

> the nurses or docs bothered to look further. I have been

> supplementing with Vitamin B6 (500 mg daily) and 6 or more grams

of

> vitamin C per day for the past 2 decades. According to the article

> you posted,

> > In diabetics a chemical called aldehyde rises in tissues which

> results in

> > greater contraction of blood vessels and a subsequent rise in

> pressure.

> > Vitamin B6, lipoic acid or vitamin C increase the level of

> compounds that

> > bind to aldehyde and thus prevent hypertension and subsequent

> > hypertensive-related strokes and kidney disease.

>

> I recently stopped the Vitamin B6 supplements because I am

> broke & had to cut back on non-essentials, but I guess next month I

> shall begin B6 again.

>

> Alobar

>

> -

> " Lorenzo " <lorenzo1

> <heartattack >

> Friday, November 08, 2002 11:36 PM

> [CaveManFood] THE B6 CONTROVERSY: What's All The Fuss Over

> Vitamin B6?

>

>

> > 09/24/2002

> > Do High-Dose Vitamin B6 Supplements Produce Health Benefits That

> Are Being

> > Hidden From The Public?

> >

> > THE B6 CONTROVERSY: What's All The Fuss Over Vitamin B6?

> >

> > By Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc. Here are a few

> paragraphs: The

> > whole article is at;

> > http://www.askbillsardi.com/sdm.asp?pg=news & specific=53

> >

> > .

> >

> > The vitamin B6 debacle recently broke out into hot discussion in

> The Lancet,

> > a prominent British medical journal. While some health

authorities

> object

> > to high doses, others come to B6's defense. A group of 220

doctors

> widely

> > objected to the 10 milligram limit for B6 d over health benefits

> from

> > vitamin B6 and that labels on bottles of vitamin B6 should

include

> the

> > caveat " of unproven usefulness. "

> >

> > The scientific substantiation for the 10 milligram limit on

> vitamin B6 may

> > not withstand scrutiny. ........................

> >

> > The British Committee on Medical Aspects of Food & Nutrition

Policy

> > considers 1.4 milligrams of vitamin B6 to be sufficient for the

> health needs

> > of most individuals and the suggested 10 milligram daily limit is

> about

> > seven times that level of intake.

> >

> >

> > However, if toxicity were a problem there would be a veritable

> epidemic of

> > side effects since millions of adults worldwide take high doses

of

> vitamin

> > B6 in multivitamins. The 10 milligram limit on B6 seems poorly

> founded.

> >

> > Disagreement Reigns

> >

> > The Health Supplements Information Service in Great Britain,

which

> is funded

> > by drug and food supplement companies, says it is safe to take up

> to 100

> > milligrams of vitamin B6 per day on a long-term basis but

indicates

> 200

> > milligrams per day may be problematic. [HSIS Factsheet]

> >

> > The U.S. National Academy of Sciences also concluded that there

was

> no

> > convincing evidence of adverse reactions in doses up to 200

> milligrams per

> > day. Then a margin for safety was calculated at half that dose

and

> the 100

> > milligram suggested maximum daily intake was established in the

> U.S.

> >

> > Furthermore, in August of 2002 the Expert Group on Vitamins and

> Minerals in

> > Great Britain issued a paper citing in detail various studies

> involving

> > vitamin B6 toxicity which confirms nerve toxicity really doesn't

> begin till

> > 200 milligrams are consumed for a prolonged period of time.

> >

> > The Search For Another Reason

> > ..........................

> >

> > Upon further investigation, vitamin B6 may have health benefits

> that have

> > largely been ignored to date. Vitamin B6 may be a breakthrough

> treatment

> > for hypertension. The leading researcher in the use of vitamin

B6

> to treat

> > hypertension is Dr. Sudesh Vasdev, who has been supported for 20

> years by

> > the Medical Research Council of Canada. ..........

> >

> > Dr. Vasdev says people with hypertension can't metabolize sugar

> properly.

> > In diabetics a chemical called aldehyde rises in tissues which

> results in

> > greater contraction of blood vessels and a subsequent rise in

> pressure.

> > Vitamin B6, lipoic acid or vitamin C increase the level of

> compounds that

> > bind to aldehyde and thus prevent hypertension and subsequent

> > hypertensive-related strokes and kidney disease.

> >

> > Cysteine, a sulfur-bearing amino acid, appears to be the key

> nutrient

> > involved in blood pressure control, says Dr. Vasdev. Vitamin B6

> works by

> > raising the level of cysteine. Both animal and human studies

> confirm Dr.

> > Vasdev's findings.

> >

> > Scientific Studies Back Vitamin B6 For Hypertension

> >

> > ...................................

> > In a human study, 5 milligrams of vitamin B6 per kilogram of body

> weight

> > (2.2 lbs) was administered orally for four weeks which resulted

in

> a

> > significant reduction in blood pressure. In this study, a

> 160-pound

> > individual would have received 363 milligrams of vitamin B6.

> > [Arzneimittelforschung, Volume 45, 1271-73, 1995] That much

> vitamin B6 may

> > not be needed by the average hypertensive patient since most

cases

> involve

> > marginally elevated blood pressure.

> >

> >

> >

> > Physicians Prefer Drugs Over Vitamins

> >

> > Despite the fact that over 80 percent of high blood pressure

> patients are in

> > the moderate problem range and can bring their blood pressure

under

> control

> > through dietary means, most physicians prefer to place their

> patients

> > immediately on anti-hypertensive medications. A major review of

> conditions

> > that co-exist with diabetes published in September of 2000 only

> mentioned

> > pharmaceutical drugs to control diabetic-related hypertension and

> made no

> > mention of vitamins. [American Journal Kidney Diseases, Volume

36,

> S-10-17,

> > 2000] While the Working Group on Diabetes, part of the National

> High Blood

> > Pressure Education Program, reported in 1994 on the association

> between

> > diabetes and high blood pressure, they confined their

> recommendations to

> > dietary changes and made no mention of food supplements. [NIH

> Publication

> > 94-3530, April 1994]

> >

> > There may be financial reason why doctors prefer drugs over

> vitamins. It's

> > been said that the average internal medical specialist has to get

> 500

> > patients on blood pressure medications which requires them to

> return to the

> > doctor's office for monitoring and re-prescriptions, in order for

> the doctor

> > to maintain a financially viable medical practice.

> >

> > According to InPharm.com, doctors worldwide wrote prescriptions

> for

> > antihypertensive medications valued at nearly $33 billion in

2000.

> The

> > market for anti-hypertensive drugs is projected to grow to $52

> billion by

> > 2007, according to Datamonitor. The widespread use of mega-dose

> vitamin B6

> > for hypertension would threaten billions of dollars of

> pharmaceutical

> > company sales.

> >

> > Side effects from antihypertensive worse than B6

> >

> > While European researchers squabble over the alleged side effects

> emanating

> > from relatively low-dose vitamin B6 (between 10 and 100

milligrams

> per day),

> > the prescription drugs used to treat diabetic hypertension are

> fraught with

> > more serious and sometimes life-threatening side effects. ACE

> inhibitors

> > are the most commonly prescribed drug for this condition but they

> may

> > accelerate kidney failure and may cause a profound drop in blood

> pressure

> > among diabetics who also take water pills (diuretics). Diuretics

> are

> > considered first-line treatment of hypertension, but the dose of

> diuretics

> > must be kept low so as not to cause loss of potassium, sodium and

> magnesium

> > which could induce irregular heart rhythm. Beta blocking drugs

are

> also

> > employed but there is concern over their usefulness and they may

> reduce

> > blood flow in peripheral blood vessels. It is obvious the side

> effects of

> > commonly-used blood pressure lowering drugs are far greater in

> severity and

> > frequency than the " finger tingling " that occurs with use of

> high-dose

> > vitamin B6.

> >

> >

> > Summary

> >

> > It is clear that vitamin B6, taken in doses exceeding 10

> milligrams, may

> > help to bring many cases of high blood pressure under control.

> This may be

> > an unreported reason for the otherwise unexplained effort to

limit

> the

> > dosage of vitamin B6 to no more than 10 milligrams in food

> supplements. The

> > inclusion of relatively high-dose vitamin B6 into daily

> multivitamins may

> > significantly reduce the risk for hypertension in the population

at

> large.

> > The widespread use of vitamin B6 would likely reduce health care

> costs by

> > billions of dollars as well as reduce the risk of side effects

> associated

> > with commonly prescribed antihypertensive drugs. It is clear

that

> many

> > millions of adults with hypertension could safely self-treat

their

> > hypertension with little risk of side effect from vitamin B6.

> limit on

> > U.S.-made vitamin B6 supplements in order to comply with fair

trade

> > agreements.

> >

> > Pharmaceutical companies and physicians may have another reason

to

> keep the

> > health benefits of vitamin B6 hidden from the public. Vitamin B6

> is

> > necessary for the production of various brain chemicals

(serotonin,

> > dopamine, norepinephrine neurotransmitters). Low levels of B6

may

> be

> > involved in cases of depression. Low B6 levels are commonly

found

> among

> > patients admitted to hospitals for depression. [Lancet, April

18,

> 1970,

> > pages 832-33] Imagine the fuss should it be found that high-dose

> vitamin B6

> > resolves many cases of depression and effectively replaces

> anti-depressant

> > drugs.

> >

> > Copyright Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc. 2002

> > Not for commercial distribution or use without permission of the

> author.

> >