PN occurs when poor circulation and damaged nerves disrupt the body’s communication network. Nerve fibers in the feet are often the first to go haywire, and the tingling and pricking pain can move up the body—from feet to legs, or hands to arms.

Prescription drugs Lyrica and Cymbalta are popular options to ease the pain.

Also, ask your doctor about Metanx, a less-known, prescription-strength combination of B vitamins that targets underlying nerve problems and is FDA-approved to treat PN in diabetics.

We’re excited about the potential of healing PN with B vitamins. Have you tried Metanx? Did it help? If so, tell us your story in the comments section below.

Treating Peripheral Neuropathy with Metanx The Saturday Evening Post

Recent research published in Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience suggests that boosting patients’ levels of the B vitamin folic acid called L-methylfolate—via tablets of the prescription medical food Deplin—helps regulate brain chemicals affecting mood.

Study data reported by Lawrence Ginsberg, MD, show that patients taking Deplin in addition to an antidepressant improved 2.5 times more often than those taking an antidepressant alone. Patients on the combined therapy also achieved results more quickly.

Depression, a chronic, recurrent disease, is one of the nation’s most common ailments, affecting more than 18 million people in the United States.

And new treatment options are desperately needed. Nearly 70 percent of patients with major depression won’t improve with initial monotherapy, according to the landmark Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression study.

Scientists have long suspected a link between a deficiency of bioactive folate and depression. L-methylfolate was chosen for the study because of its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, its bioavailability, and its safety benefits compared to folic acid and other synthetic folates.

Have you tried Deplin? Did it work? Let us know!

B Vitamin Fights Depression The Saturday Evening Post

Researchers zeroed in on women with a history of non-melanoma skin cancer (such as basal or squamous cell cancers) enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative, a large clinical trial involving 36,282 postmenopausal women who received either placebo or 400 international units of vitamin D and 1,000 milligrams of calcium carbonate per day.

“In preventive medicine, we want to target people most at risk for the disease,” said dermatologist Jean Tang, MD, PhD, lead author of the study in a university report. “If you previously had a non-melanoma skin cancer, calcium plus vitamin D might reduce your risk of the more deadly melanoma.”

But the supplements didn’t help everyone. Study data show melanomas were detected in about as many women without a history of non-melanoma skin cancer who took the supplements as in their placebo-group counterparts.

The study was published online on June 27 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Can Vitamin D and Calcium Help Prevent Skin Cancer? The Saturday Evening Post