Many of my patients have herpes, which makes sense since we see it in 20% of adults. I mostly follow the guidance of Tori Hudson, ND of Portland, and favor the following supplements: Lysine 3 grams/day for 3 months, then 1 gram per day Vitamin E 400-800 IU/day Here is some guidance on nutrition and herpes: AVOID: chocolate, peanuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, brazil nuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut, gelatin (within reason), sugar, white flour, coffee, any foods you are allergic to (have you been tested?) During an outbreak or threatened outbreak AVOID: wheat, soy, lentils, oats, corn, barley, eggplant, tomato. squash, fruits, berries with seeds, alcohol EAT LOTS OF: fish, yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, potatoes There are several other options to consider such as testing for adrenal fatigue, Vitamin B and C, Zinc, Beta-carotene and thymus. Many of these are available on my website at www.doctorgottfried.com. Be well and herpes-free! SG

Mostly I try to talk people out of drinking coffee, but I have to pass along any positive data I find too or else I would not be objective! Many of my patients complain of brain fog and coffee is a perhaps reasonable approach IF YOU HAVE NO ADRENAL FATIGUE! Wish they had looked at green tea. Note that men had no benefit! SG Caffeine may slow cognitive decline in older women August 6, 2007 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Multiple small cross-sectional studies have suggested the same results, lead investigator Dr. Karen Ritchie and her associates note, but such studies were generally small and didn't take important confounders into account. The new study, reported in the August 7th issue of Neurology, included 2,820 men and 4,197 women, age 65 or older, and free of dementia. Caffeine was expressed as "units;" one cup of coffee was considered to contain 100 mg of coffee and tea, 50 mg. Odds ratios were estimated after adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical variables that are codeterminants of cognitive decline. Caffeine consumption was relatively stable over time. At baseline, 16.4% of women and 13.2% of men drank more than three units per day. After 4 years, a dose-dependent response was observed in results of Isaacs tests among women (OR 0.91 for one to two units per day, to 0.66 for consuming at least three units per day; p for trend = 0.001), report Dr. Ritchie, a scientist at INSERM U888 in Montpellier, France, and her colleagues. The association was statistically significant only for consumption of 3 or more cups of coffee per day. Observed differences were primarily in the verbal retrieval test, with a trend toward protection of visuospatial tasks. There appeared to be no effect of caffeine consumption on cognitive function among men. Test results on the Benton test and the Mini-Mental State Examination were negative for any effect on cognitive function in either men or women. Furthermore, baseline caffeine intake was not associated with incident dementia in the entire cohort. Dr. Ritchie's group proposes that caffeine "may only be useful in attenuating mild forms of cognitive decline." Neurology 2007;69:536-545.

Here is some new data on how our metabolism slows with menopause, and how estrogen can help. We still need more definitive data, which should be forthcoming from the KRONOS Study. SG date: August 9, 2007 Estrogen Deficiency Can Lead To Obesity-induced High Blood Pressure After Menopause, Study Suggests Science Daily — At menopause, women lose hormone protection against heart (cardiovascular) and kidney (renal) diseases, and are likely to become obese. A research team has tested the idea that estrogen deficiency in aged females may trigger the development of high blood pressure and obesity. The results of their study, using an animal model, suggest that estrogen depletion can have these effects. The study is entitled, “Role of Estrogens in Postmenopausal Obesity and Hypertension.” It was conducted by Lourdes A. Fortepiani and Huimin Zhang, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA), San Antonio, TX. The team will discuss its findings as part of the upcoming conference, Sex and Gender in Cardiovascular-Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology, being held August 9-12, 2007 in Austin, TX. To test their theory the researchers used 24 aged female rats. The ovaries were removed from two-thirds of the group (ovariectomized; ovx) while the ovaries of the other third of the group remained intact and served as controls. The researchers subdivided the ovx rats, giving half of the ovx group estrogen while the other half remained estrogen depleted. Among the ovx rats, those that did not receive estrogen had significantly higher blood pressure than the control rats (126.2 versus 110.6 mmHg). The rats receiving estrogen had the lowest blood pressure levels of all (102.6 mmHg). The researchers also noted that the rats which had their ovaries removed and did not receive estrogen compared to the intact rats gained twice as much weight as the controls increased their leptin level by 70 percent increased their blood glucose level by 35 percent increased RAS and renal SNS by 16 and 39 percent experienced no change in kidney function All the hormonal and metabolic effects were completely abolished with estrogen replacement. In other words, the rats whose ovaries were removed and received estrogen replacement did not undergo any of the changes mentioned above. With increased life expectancy, women spend more than a third of their life in menopause. In addition, obesity is increasing dramatically in all populations and is a major cardiovascular risk factor in women after menopause. Despite the controversial data about estrogen therapy in clinical studies, the results of this study performed in aged rats suggest that the loss of estrogens after menopause may contribute to the development of obesity and hypertension, opening new therapeutic approaches to postmenopausal hypertension. Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Physiological Society.