Health News Blog. Lots of resources and information

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
Functions:
Sources:
Causes of Deficiency:
Deficiency Signs and Symptoms:
Absorption of protein; proper growth; works with niacin and essential fatty acids (EFAs); immune system; skin; digestion and hormone production
Wholegrains, liver, fish, chicken, potatoes, bananas, avocados; made in small amounts in a healthy gut
Dirty colon, colon disorders, stress, dieting, alcoholism
Dizziness, hot, crawling or tingling sensations in the skin, deficiency of antibodies, tendency to allergies, tendency to phlebitis, cracks at the angle of the mouth, swollen taste buds, greasy redness at the sides of the nose, depression, sore breasts, retention of fluid, irritability, anaemia.
Caution: some people have taken B6 in doses over 500 mg daily over a prolonged period for PMT. Resulting damage to the nervous system can cause: unsteadiness, numbness and clumsy movements of the hands.
Vitamin Bl2 (Cyanocobalamin)
Functions:
Health of red blood cells and the functioning of all cells and bone marrow; growth; essential for health of nervous system; necessary for the absorption of folic acid
Sources:   Animal foods, eggs
Causes of Deficiency:
Deficiency Signs and Symptoms:
Lack of substance in the stomach called the intrinsic factor, bowel disorders, strict diet
Sore mouth and tongue, dry scaly skin, bumpy rash on upper arm, tingling of hands and feet, depression, poor memory. Severe deficiency: pernicious anaemia – exhaustion, brain and spinal cord affected.
Biotin (formerly called vitamin H)
Functions:
Sources:
Causes of Deficiency:
Works with enzymes; essential for the utilization of EFA’s and carbohydrates; helps clean up after proteins have been used; suppresses the growth of the invasive form of Candida in the bowel
Liver, nuts, beans, egg yolks, cauliflower; made in healthy gut by bacteria
Dirty colon, disorders of the colon, stress, prolonged consumption of raw eggs (protein called avidin in eggwhite prevents absorption), antibiotics, sulphonamide drugs, genetic defect causing malabsorption
Deficiency Signs   Tiredness, sore lips and tongue, digestive and Symptoms:   problems, difficulty swallowing, scaly dermatitis, depression, hair loss.
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In an ideal world, we would understand the chemistry and the physiologic mechanisms causing epilepsy—how cells interact, fire, and misfire. Then we would design drugs that interact with the brain and prevent the misfiring, the seizures, without affecting the brain’s normal function. As we have previously indicated, we do not know how or why a seizure occurs. While we have many drugs that are effective in treating and preventing seizures, we do not know how they work.
Because epilepsy is a result of complex interactions in the brain, and since these interactions cannot be accurately simulated in a test tube or by a computer, animal experimentation has been necessary for us to understand epilepsy and learn how to control it. Most anticonvulsants were discovered by experimenting with substances to see if they would work in animals that had seizures caused by certain drugs. Such animal seizures, although not the same as epilepsy, have many similarities. Such research has been highly useful, and it must continue.
Although we do not know how the drugs work, we do know a lot about how they are absorbed and metabolized in the body and about their side effects. This knowledge enables us to use them properly, to calculate a dose, and to predict effects and side effects. This knowledge is called the pharmacology of the drugs; your physician will use this knowledge in treating your child and controlling her seizures.
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