Page 15 - Fall2013

Caustic Commentary

ing outweigh the risks of raising blood sugar. Other dangers MD, ChB, FACOG, who called for an end to immediate cord
continue to emerge. A new study found that women taking clamping, noting that the extra blood from the umbilical cord
cholesterol-lowering drugs for more than ten years doubled protects the baby against asphyxiation and also anemia dur-
their chances of the most common type of breast cancer. The ing the first few months. But the medical establishment has
explanation is that statins affect hormone regulation in the been remarkably reluctant to give babies that extra minute or
body, resulting in more cases of estrogen-dependent breast two of cord blood, citing a risk of jaundice. A new analysis
cancer (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2013 Aug 21). makes this recalcitrance indefensible. The research found that
As there is no benefit from cholesterol-lowering in women newborns with later clamping had higher hemoglobin levels
whatsoever, it is hard to argue that the benefits of statins postpartum and were less likely to suffer iron deficiency
outweigh the risks. Another study has found that statin use three to six months after birth compared to babies who had
is associated with a higher risk of multiple organ failure after immediate cord clamping. Birth weight was also significantly
injury (Trauma, September 2009 67(3):476-484)—cholesterol higher on average in the late clamping group, in part because
is needed for healing, after all. Finally, when patients on the babies received more blood from their mothers. Most
statins are given antibiotics, there is a greater risk of patient importantly, delayed clamping did not increase the risk of
hospitalization for muscle breakdown, kidney injury and severe postpartum hemorrhage, blood loss or reduced hemo-
death (Ann Intern Med. 2013;158(12):869-876). What a deal! globin levels in the mothers. There was a 2 percent increase
in jaundice among babies who got delayed cord clamping, a
DELAYING DELAYED CORD CLAMPING mild inconvenience compared to the long-term neurological
Pleas to delay cord clamping of neonates began in the early benefit. The World Health Organization recommends delayed
1970s with the work of obstetrician George Malcolm Morley, clamping because it “improves the iron status of the infant,”

Recent Blogs By chRis MasteRjohn
Undercarboxylated osteocalcin: Marker of Vitamin K Deficiency or Booster of insulin signaling and testosterone?
(www.westonaprice.org/blogs/cmasterjohn/2013/07/17/undercarboxylated-osteocalcin-marker-of-vitamin-K-deficiency-
or-booster-of-insulin-signaling-and-testosterone/)
in previous articles, chris has used undercarboxylated osteocalcin as a marker of vitamin K deficiency and suggested
that the role of osteocalcin is to organize the mineralized matrix of bone. Research has been accumulating over the past
half decade, however, that the true role of osteocalcin is for its undercarboxylated form to boost insulin and testosterone
status, leading to increased energy expenditure, leanness, and fertility. in this post, chris reviews the literature on this
topic and concludes that while vitamin K is needed to allow the accumulation of osteocalcin in bone matrix, the process
of bone resorption releases the hormonally active form. this makes previous studies on undercarboxylated osteocalcin
more difficult to interpret, but the evidence still indicates that most people, especially growing children, need more of
this essential fat-soluble activator.

thyroid hormone and Vitamin a Protect against Vitamin D toxicity in cows (www.westonaprice.org/blogs/cmaster-
john/2013/04/03/thyroid-hormone-and-vitamin-a-protect-against-vitamin-d-toxicity-in-cows/)
in this post, chris reviews several studies from the 1960s showing that injections of vitamin D into cows to prevent milk
fever proved toxic upon autopsy even at the minimally effective doses. thyroid hormone and vitamin a, however, both
completely eliminated the incidence of soft tissue calcification. these studies suggest that vitamin D can be toxic even at
doses that are needed to reverse or prevent disease, and show that it is not the amount of vitamin D per se that determines
whether the vitamin is beneficial, toxic, or both, but its interaction with its synergistic partners.

Wise Traditions FALL 2013 FALL 2013 Wise Traditions 13

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