Dr. Josyann Abisaab

Vitamin D for Optimum Health

Vitamin D is crucial for overall good health. What has now been discovered is that one can determine their body’s Vitamin D resources via their skin tone, nutrition and amount of sunshine absorbed. It was Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Charles B. Stephensen, along with his colleagues from the University of California-Davis, who conducted this research through their “development of a preliminary model that predicts an individual's vitamin D requirements.” It is not new that sun is a major source of Vitamin D.

But new research shows that this is dependent on one’s particular skin type, as well as latitude and how much protective clothing is worn. In terms of nutrition, a good source of the vitamin is salmon, milk, cereals, etc. Stephensen and his colleagues worked on this project with 72 young adult volunteers who recorded what they ate and wore photosensitive badges for 12 hours a day to help the researchers determine their level of sun exposure. The scientists have warned though that “some vitamin D levels indicated by the model exceed the level currently considered safe.” Vitamin D absorption is a great way of maintaining overall health and avoiding any kind of medical intervention.

New Discovery on Vitamin B3

Recent research has shown that B3 could possibly be used as an antifungal treatment.  The research was carried out by the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the University of Montreal, led by Martine Raymond, Pierre Thibault, and Alain Verreault (in conjunction with Alaka Mullick from the Biotechnology Research Institute of the National Research Council Canada.  This study was reported in Nature Medicine.  “Researchers found that genetic or pharmacological inhibition of Hst3 with nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3, strongly reduced C. albicans virulence in a mouse model. Both normal and drug-resistant strains of C. albicans were susceptible to nicotinamide. In addition, nicotinamide prevented the growth of other pathogenic Candida species and Aspergillus fumigatus (another human pathogen), thus demonstrating the broad antifungal properties of nicotinamide.”  Thus if new therapies were developed to kill C. albicans this would help since it is one of the main causes of infections patients pick up in hospitals and is linked to high mortality rates.

University of Rochester Medical Center Research

As well as being a top institution at which to study medicine, the University of Rochester Medical Center has also been making significant strides in its research progress.  But this is not just theory; the research undertaken has been perhaps most importantly – affecting “lives of patients around the globe.”  The institute has a strong financial backing for this, of $232 million (which is growing) and has impacted “nearly every area of medicine imaginable.”  Most notably the university has been involved in developing three vaccines that are popular around the world, protecting people from ear infections, cervical cancer, meningitis and pneumonia.  They will reduce the need for intervention on all levels of medical care, whether in the emergency room, intensive care, or recovery.

Exciting Research at New York-Presbyterian Hospital

Recent research undertaken by plastic surgeons at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where Josyann Abisaab M.D. works, have found a “compound found in sunless tanning spray may help to heal wounds following surgery.”  The research conducted found that “a sticky gel composed of polyethylene glycol and a polycarbonate of dihydroxyacetone (MPEG-pDHA) may help to seal wounds created by surgery.”  This can help in cancer patients undergoing treatment.  Often, an unpleasant side effect of cancer treatment is that when removing a cancerous tissue, “a hollow space that fills with seroma fluid that must typically be drained by a temporary implanted drain.”  What is now being created are: “safe, synthetic compounds from chemicals found in nature.”  This will help stick tissues together and also lower seroma formation.