Wednesday June 25 / 2008

Wednesday June 25 / 2008

12:10: The Health Roundup with Jay McQueen.

12:12: A jazz artist from Dundas has just released her fourth album called The Other Woman. She has had rheumatoid arthritis for the last 16 years and the album reflects her struggle with RA while trying to work on her music career.
Guest: Chantal Chamberland, Jazz Artist from Dundas and RA sufferer.

12:20: A new report out of York University says the probability of a widespread, highly infectious illness is as high as 65% within the next 10 years.
Guest: Dr. Amin Mawani, Associate Professor of Accounting and Taxation at York University’s School of Business.

12:35: McMaster University will play host to the Competitive Edge Strength & Conditioning Camp next month. Also, we’ll chat about off-season training for athletes.
Guest: Steve Lidstone, Strength and Conditioning Co-ordinator, McMaster Athletics & Recreation.

12:45: Rexall Radio Health Matters segment.
Guest: Irene.

Vitamin D to help against Pain!

Bone, muscle, joint aches and pains? It may be as simple and inexpensive as an extra dose of vitamin D each day. Often there is no cause for these aches, such as an injury, disease or bone problem like a slipped disk. In some persons pain is felt all over the body, or may only attack the neck, back, shoulders, hip area or your muscles may become weak and tire easily. These problems can be hard to treat, but with new studies emerging, help may be available from a champion of pain relief, vitamin D. Results and studies have shown, people with long lasting aches and pains are usually Vitamin D deficient. With the introduction of vitamin D into the diet, the pain related problems soon disappeared. Vitamin D is broken down by the liver and kidneys to form an active chemical that actually functions as a hormone. It works throughout the body in many tissues and organs, including muscles, nerves, and the brain. Most importantly your body must have vitamin D in order to absorb calcium from foods. How soon should you feel the results of vitamin D? Vitamin D takes time to work; it is different from other pain relievers, (analgesics), because vitamin D treats possible sources of pain, not the pain itself. Therefore vitamin D usually doesn’t provide immediate relief from aches and pains; rather it can take weeks or months before improvement is felt. So patience and continuance of taking vitamin D everyday is needed. If you do not feel relief from pain, vitamin D can defiantly help in other ways. It will decrease pain or be less frequent. The use of taking fewer pain pills. Felling in a better mood, less depressed or nervous, having less fatigue and more energy and gaining an overall feeling of well-being. The overall effect of vitamin D will come slowly; you may not even notice them at first. You do not need to stop other treatments of pain, unless you have talked to your healthcare provider first. Vitamin D is safe with other medications, but some medications may stop the vitamin D working as well as it could. If you know you are taking any of the following medication talk to your healthcare provider before you start taking vitamin D supplements.
• Anticonvulsants
• Medicines for HIV/AIDS
• Barbiturates
• Corticosteroids or glucocorticoids
• Digitalis or digoxin
• Hydroxychloroquine
• Rifampin
• Thiazide diuretics
Vitamin D supplements are easy to find and are available at pharmacies or health food stores. It is important that you buy a good quality of vitamin D from a source that you trust. Vitamin D comes in two forms D3 and D2; you should buy vitamin D3 since this form works better for most people. If the product doesn’t say D3 on the label, look for the word “cholecalciferol” in the list of ingredients on the back of the bottle. How much do I need every day? The amount of vitamin D is expressed as international units or IUs. Healthy adults need 1000IU of vitamin D. However researchers have found that persons with chronic pain conditions often need more vitamin D, up to 2000 IU each day. To a multivitamin, a vitamin D can be added. If you have additional questions, don’t forget your Rexall Pharmacist is there to help.

Nadine Janacek Rexall #0202 Blog Reporter