Adding a medication used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraines to a blood pressure medicine reversed some aspects of breast cancer in the offspring of mice at high risk of the disease because of the high fat diet fed to their mothers during pregnancy. Conversely, this treatment combination increased breast cancer development in the offspring whose mothers had not been fed a high fat diet during pregnancy.
from Diet and Weight Loss News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39vFdgz
In a new study, a team tests the notion that a cell's identity can be described solely by the genes it expresses. The study advocates a more 'multimodal' approach to defining cell identity.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2F8uFq3
Adding a medication used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraines to a blood pressure medicine reversed some aspects of breast cancer in the offspring of mice at high risk of the disease because of the high fat diet fed to their mothers during pregnancy. Conversely, this treatment combination increased breast cancer development in the offspring whose mothers had not been fed a high fat diet during pregnancy.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39vFdgz
Researchers report that accumulating amyloid protein occurred faster among persons deemed to have 'objectively-defined subtle cognitive difficulties' (Obj-SCD) than among persons considered to be 'cognitively normal,' offering a potential new early biomarker for Alzheimer's disease.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2QCvsoi
The simultaneous use of antibodies based on two differing mechanisms of action leads to a more effective destruction of tumors. This has been demonstrated by a study in animal models by medical oncologists and scientists. Patients who do not respond to current immunotherapy options could benefit most from this new treatment.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2F61J1I
If you or any of your loved ones has ever been hospitalized, one of the complaints you may have heard about most is how hard it is to sleep in the hospital. There are lots of things about hospital routines that can make things difficult for patients to sleep, besides noise and illness. While some hospitals have taken steps to ensure that patients are not interrupted unnecessarily at night, this is not universal. Here are some things you can expect, and some steps you might be able to take to help the hospital give you a better night’s rest.
Some reasons you might be woken at night might be unavoidable
You might be on a particular medication, such as certain antibiotics, that must be given in the middle of the night, depending on when the first dose was given, and blood tests for levels of some antibiotics must be timed to their dosing, resulting in blood draws in the middle of the night, too. If you are admitted to check for a heart attack, you might also be ordered for timed blood tests that might involve having your blood drawn in the middle of the night. Vital signs, such as pulse and blood pressure, are required to be taken every four hours for some conditions, which would also awaken you.
One study shows the top thing keeping patients awake is pain, followed by vital signs and tests, noise, and medications. Studies have also shown that hospital routines can disrupt patient sleep, and having a designated quiet time, where nonessential tasks are minimized and lights and noise are lowered, may help. Here is a partial list of things that keep patients awake, and what you might be able to do about them.
Pain. Pain is easier to control before it gets bad. Don’t hesitate to ask for pain medicine at bedtime, even if your pain is not yet severe.
You are woken up to have your blood pressure taken. Vital signs are usually taken every eight hours. Often these are done between 11 pm and midnight, after the night shift starts, but it’s often just after you have fallen sleep. Alternatively, the night shift could be taking your vital signs at 6 am, when you’d be awoken for other hospital routines anyway. If you are given the opportunity to give feedback during or after your stay, it would be important to mention this — hospital administrators look closely at patient feedback.
The IV pump that keeps beeping. This is usually because the flow of IV fluid is blocked (occluded), most often because the IV was inserted in the crook of your elbow. Thus, every time you bend your arm, the pump will alarm and start beeping. If this is the case, ask to have the IV put in a different place, like your hand.
You are woken to be given medications. Sometimes a medication or breathing treatment might be ordered “every four hours” or “every six hours” which means the nurse or respiratory therapist is required to wake you to give it to you even if you are asleep. You can ask if the order can be changed to four times a day instead of every six hours, or “every four hours while awake” so you don’t have to be woken.
Noise. Lots of things can be noisy in the hospital at night — staff voices, cleaning machines, your roommate if you have one. You can always ask to have your door closed, and you can ask someone to bring in ear plugs.
You are up all night urinating. If this is not the case when you are at home, it might be because you were ordered for a diuretic to be given late in the day, after 6 pm or so, or you are ordered for IV fluids at a rate that is higher than you actually require. Your nurse can ask the doctor to change these orders.
Blood transfusions at night. If you need a blood transfusion, it is best not to do it during sleeping hours, because it requires the nurse to monitor your vital signs frequently and would keep you awake for hours. If you need a transfusion at that hour, ask if it can possibly wait until daytime.
Frequent nighttime disruptions can often cause patients to want to nap during the day, and throw off their sleep schedules. Patients might already be weak and tired from their underlying illness. If you’re hospitalized, it’s important to keep your normal sleep schedule and circadian rhythm. During the day, keep the window shades open for natural light and keep the room dark during sleeping hours. An eye mask might be helpful if exposure to light at night is unavoidable. A favorite blanket, pillow, photos, and your favorite music can help you relax and be more comfortable.
My colleagues and I at Somerville Hospital (since closed to inpatients) found that when we instituted a program to decrease disruptions during the night, such as purposely avoiding all the things described above, patients used as-needed sedatives about half as often in the hospital. Most hospitals can do better to make nighttime routines friendlier for patients, but institutional change can be challenging. Knowing what to ask for is useful and will help move healthcare forward.
The Philippines Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry has become the latest regulatory body to approve the use of genetically engineered (GE) “Golden Rice” for direct use as food or feed, as well as for processing.1 The so-called FFP approval is being heralded as a solution to rising rates of vitamin A deficiency in the country, as the rice is engineered to produce beta-carotene.
However, serious questions remain about the GE rice’s safety, as well as its ability to actually increase vitamin A levels in those who are deficient. Despite these key outstanding questions, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand have also given Golden Rice a green light, which suggests it could appear on your dinner plate soon.
Philippines Says Golden Rice Is Safe
After conducting a biosafety assessment, the Philippines Department of Agriculture announced that Golden Rice was as safe as conventional rice, granting it FFP approval.
In a news release, Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) executive director John de Leon stated, “With this FFP approval, we bring forward a very accessible solution to our country’s problem on vitamin A deficiency that’s affecting many of our preschool children and pregnant women.”2
Before the rice will be made available to the public, approval for commercial propagation will still be required. However, PhilRice has already partnered with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the current makers of Golden Rice, to move forward with taste tests of the GE rice. According to IRRI:3
“The FFP approval is the latest regulatory milestone in the journey to develop and deploy Golden Rice in the Philippines. With this approval, DA-PhilRice and IRRI will now proceed with sensory evaluations and finally answer the question that many Filipinos have been asking: What does Golden Rice taste like?”
It’s a major step forward for the GE rice, as it’s the first approval in a country where rice is a staple food, and vitamin A deficiency is also a significant problem.
In the Philippines, per capita white rice consumption is about 315 grams (0.69 pounds) daily, which is fifteenfold higher than in the U.S.4 Providing a beta-carotene rich source of rice indeed sounds like a lifesaving solution, but the GE rice has repeatedly failed to deliver.
FDA Refuses to Give Golden Rice a Nutrient Content Claim
Golden Rice has been making headlines for two decades as a solution to vitamin A deficiency, a condition that affects 250 million preschool-aged children worldwide.5 As the leading cause of preventable blindness in children, it’s estimated that up to 500,000 children become blind each year due to vitamin A deficiency, and half of them die within a year of losing their sight, according to the World Health Organization.6
Golden Rice has already gone through multiple changes before its latest version — GR2E — received regulatory approval for use in food. The first Golden Rice, GR1, failed, as it contained too little beta-carotene to even make a dent in vitamin A deficiency.7
The next version, GR2, was developed by biotech giant Syngenta, and the latest version, GR2E, contains three added genes. “Two specify enzymes in the β-carotene biosynthesis pathway, and are taken from bacteria and maize,” Independent Science News reported. “The third specifies a (nonantibiotic) selectable marker protein used in the modification process.”8
The FDA approved Golden Rice, using data supplied by IRRI, but noted that its beta-carotene content is too low to warrant a nutrient content claim. Health Canada similarly wrote that even if all rice and rice products in the country were replaced with Golden Rice, it would result in only a very small (0.8% to 8%) increase in beta-carotene intake daily.9
IRRI is already countering the finding, essentially stating that it will work better in the Philippines simply because the average Filipino consumes much more rice than the average American:10
“On average, Americans eat very little rice, and therefore would receive only modest amounts of beta-carotene. However, Golden Rice is intended as a complementary, food based solution for Vitamin A-deficient communities who consume rice as a staple food, eating between 200 to 300 g per day, and at these levels Golden Rice provides significant provitamin A.”
Will Eating Golden Rice Alleviate Vitamin A Deficiency?
Controversy has surrounded Golden Rice since its creation, in part because it’s uncertain whether widespread planting of this GMO will benefit those who are vitamin A deficient. IIRI’s Russell Reinke, a rice breeder, stated that eating about 1 cup of Golden Rice daily would supply 50% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A for an adult.11
This was in an article published by the Genetic Literacy Project, a well-known front group for the GMO industry, which also states:12
“Golden Rice is meant to complement, not replace, other efforts to address VAD, according to the IRRI. Its goal in the Philippines is to supply 30-50 percent of the estimated average requirements for vitamin A for preschool age children and pregnant or lactating mothers, with vitamin A supplements and diet diversification providing the rest.
… While many foods contain beta-carotene, they can be expensive to buy and difficult to grow in regions where VAD [vitamin A deficiency] is an issue. Rice is a staple crop in many countries in South and Southeast Asia, and is widely grown by smallholder farmers. Thus Golden Rice could be a cheap, wide-reaching, sustainable approach to fighting VAD.”
There is concern, however, that the beta-carotene in Golden Rice may degrade with storage. One study revealed that after three weeks of storage Golden Rice retained only 60% of its beta-carotene and this dropped to 13% after 10 weeks.13,14
Further, there are concerns that even the GR2E rice may contain only negligible quantities of beta-carotene. The FDA reported that the rice contained only 0.50 to 2.35 ug/g of beta-carotene compared to, say, the 111 ug/g found in spinach, although sometimes higher levels have been reported.15 In cases where higher levels were reported, this was often the result of misleading or skewed statistics, such as:16
Measuring total carotenoids instead of beta-carotene alone
Milling the rice
Using non-AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists) extraction methods
Growth under greenhouse rather than field conditions
“In other words,” Independent Science News reported, “the low levels communicated to FDA seem to be the most accurate and realistic.”17
Golden Rice Approval ‘Irresponsible and Completely Misguided’
The conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A is also questionable. A 2009 study found Golden Rice is an effective source of vitamin A because it “is effectively converted to vitamin A” in healthy adult volunteers18 — but those who could theoretically be helped by the additional beta-carotene in Golden Rice are, for the most part, not healthy adults, nor would they have regular access to key nutrients needed to absorb vitamin A, like fat.
Even the study that concluded Golden Rice is an effective source of vitamin A fed the rice to healthy adults along with 10 grams of butter,19 something that may not occur in a real-life setting. There are fundamental questions that need to be asked, too, such as whether the answer to malnutrition lies in replacing one micronutrient at a time, instead of helping people to grow nutritionally balanced, healthy foods.
Greenpeace Southeast Asia-Philippines is among the NGOs that blasted the Bureau of Plant industry’s (BPI) approval, calling on the government to “immediately reverse the faulty decision, which the environment group maintains is based on insufficient data.”
They said the approval processed did not take into account socio-economic impacts to farmers and indigenous peoples, or the rice’s effects on local culture, adding:20
“The BPI’s approval of so-called ‘golden rice’ is extremely irresponsible and completely misguided. We condemn the BPI’s systematic disregard of the precautionary principle and of robust data that clearly show that the safety assessments submitted by GR [Golden Rice] proponents are flawed.
Rice is the Philippines’ primary staple; this is a foolish decision that will have far-reaching negative impacts on food and agriculture in the country … Genetically modified ‘golden rice’ neither addresses hunger nor malnutrition … the solution is resilient food and farm systems—diverse grains, fruits and vegetables for diverse diets and for food and nutrition security.
Governments and philanthropists should be promoting programs that empower people to have access to and grow diverse fruit and vegetables, instead of listening to a few giant biotech corporations pushing unproven expensive techno-fixes and experimenting on the lives and livelihood of farmers, mothers and children.”
WHO Promotes Gardens, Breastfeeding for Vitamin A Deficiency
Fighting back against vitamin A deficiency isn’t a matter of introducing GE rice into the environment but, rather, targeting the lack of healthy food spurring the deficiency in the first place. Toward this end, WHO has already implemented a campaign featuring a variety of non-GMO methods for combating vitamin A deficiency, such as:21
Promoting breastfeeding as the best way to protect babies from vitamin A deficiency, since breastmilk is a natural source of vitamin A
Fortifying foods with vitamin A in certain areas, such as Guatemala, has helped to maintain vitamin A status for high-risk groups and needy families
Promoting home gardens for rural families, including in Africa and Southeast Asia. According to WHO, “[G]rowing fruits and vegetables in home gardens complements dietary diversification and fortification and contributes to better lifelong health.”
High-dose vitamin A supplementation has also yielded improvements, reducing mortality by 23% overall and by up to 50% for those with measles.22 Biotech giants like Syngenta are going to continue pushing for Golden Rice to gain approval worldwide, while GE rice varieties that contain additional iron and zinc, or have a low glycemic index, have also been developed.
Some have said that a “Green Gene” revolution — one that looks at GMOs as the solution to feeding the world — is inevitable, but GMOs often create more problems than they solve. “The last Green Revolution produced more food,” a Bulletin of the World Health Organization, stated, “but much of it didn’t reach the people who most needed it.”23
What’s more, in a survey of childhood nutrition in 63 developing countries, improving the level of women’s education was the most important factor related to better child nutrition.
“According to these figures, if improving rice productivity affected food availability it would contribute to 26% of the causes of improvement in child nutrition, whereas improving the status and education of women would more than double that effect,” the Bulletin noted.24
Since 2015, we’ve seen the slow and steady erosion of vaccine informed consent rights across the U.S., as the forced vaccination lobby led by the pharmaceutical industry, medical trade and government health agencies have put pressure on state legislatures to mandate every federally recommended vaccine for children and adults while simultaneously eliminating vaccine exemptions.
If the fight for GMO labeling has taught us anything, it’s that industry is willing (and able) to spend whatever it takes to strong arm government into eliminating individual rights and freedoms to protect and boost their own profits.
This tactic is even more evident in the vaccine industry, which has everything to gain and nothing to lose by making sure laws are passed to force people to buy and use vaccines they don’t want or need for themselves and their minor children.
Residents of California, Washington, Maine and New York all lost vaccine exemptions this year, as detailed in “Vaccine Exemptions Under Attack in 2019” and, earlier this month, the New Jersey legislature rammed through a bill that repealed the religious and medical vaccine exemptions.
The GMO fight five years ago did teach us another important lesson, though, and that is the value and importance of victories in smaller states, which are easier to win — largely due to the reduced cost of advertising and education. This is one of the reasons why making a donation to support Maine’s “Yes On 1” campaign is so important, regardless of where in the United States you live.
‘Yes on 1 Maine’ to Reject Big Pharma
As explained in the featured video by Mainers for Health and Parental Rights, the Maine legislature passed a law, LD798, in June 2019 that revoked religious and philosophical/personal belief vaccine exemptions and blocked access to education and certain types of employment in Maine for those without all state-mandated vaccines. As explained on RejectBigPharma.com:1
“… LD798 (ch. 154) … a vaccine mandate, was pushed through our legislature by Big Pharma and will remove thousands of Maine children and adults from school and employment for missing just one dose of a required vaccine.
The bill passed despite overwhelming opposition from the citizens of Maine and is not the will of the people. Mandates coerce compliance with the rapidly increasing vaccine schedule (currently 72 vaccine doses by the age of 18) using the threat of expulsion from school or termination from employment.
With the passage of LD798, Maine became only the 5th state in the nation to remove religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccination, eliminating parents and employees’ rights to decide what is injected into their own bodies and the bodies of their children.
If Mainers do not comply with the new law and choose to opt out of even one dose of a required vaccine, they face expulsion from all public, private, parochial and online schools (preschool through graduate school) as well as termination from employment.”
Support Maine’s ‘Yes on 1’ Campaign
A people’s veto petition to overturn Maine’s new vaccine law garnered a total of 95,871 signatures — far more than the 63,067 signatures required to ensure a place on the March 3, 2020, ballot approved by the Maine secretary of state.2
What this means is that Maine will be the first state to put government vaccine mandates to a popular vote. To help them succeed and set the precedent for other states to follow, they need your donor support.
As mentioned, smaller states are easier to win because there are fewer people to educate on the issue at hand, which means less money is required for advertising. Maine has an advertising saturation point of about $3 million, meaning if you spend $3 million, you will reach a majority of residents and further advertising will not make a significant difference.
The “Yes on 1 Reject Big Pharma” campaign needs to raise at least $1 million to stand a chance against the wealthy and powerful vaccine industry’s deep pockets. If the freedom fighters in Maine can raise more, even better. YOU can make a difference by making a donation to this campaign today!
As stated by campaign manager Cara Sacks in the featured video:
“There’s a famous political saying: ‘As Maine goes, so goes the nation.’ Our fight is the nation’s fight to put an end to government’s vaccine mandates. But we can’t do it without your help.
If our people’s veto succeeds in Maine, it will send a resounding message to Big Pharma, and to all levels of government, that our states, our freedoms and our children’s bodies are not for sale.”
If you live in Maine, be sure to personally participate in this crucial vote March 3, 2020. If you’re unclear about what LD798 means for you and your children, check out the “Yes on 1 Myths vs. Reality” page.3 As noted on RejectBigPharma.com, when you vote Yes on 1, you’re saying yes to:4
Rejecting overreach by Big Pharma and government
Restoring equal access to education for everyone in Maine (Remember, LD798 restricts access to all forms of education if you are not fully vaccinated, including private and online schooling, all the way through graduate school)
Defending parental rights
Protecting religious freedom
Preserving informed consent and medical freedom
New Jersey Fights Draconian Vaccine Mandate
In related news, New Jersey families mounted a stunning public defense of the religious and medical vaccine exemptions in that state as protests by several thousand New Jersey citizens were held December 16 outside the capitol building in Trenton.
Parents held signs and chanted, asking legislators to vote “NO” on a highly unpopular bill — S2173 — that proposed to not only remove the religious vaccine exemption for all children in day care and schools, but also to effectively eliminate the legal right for physicians to grant a medical exemption that does not conform with narrow federal ACIP vaccine contraindication guidelines or fails to be approved by state health officials.
Four days earlier, on December 12, hundreds of parents traveled to the state capitol to attend a senate health committee hearing on S2173. According to Children’s Health Defense legal counsel, Mary Holland, who testified at the hearing:5
“December 12, the New Jersey Senate Health Committee held a hearing on bill S2173 … The bill passed out of the 10-member committee with a vote of 6 to 4 in favor of sending the repeal of the religious exemptions to the floor …
If S2173 passes … it will take effect in six months and eliminate all non-medical exemptions. Guidelines for medical exemptions will be provided to state health authorities. Thus, the state will review the validity of medical exemptions …
S2173 contains no carve-outs for special needs students entitled to a free and appropriate public education under federal law. There are no carve-outs for private, religious schools. It will apply to daycare, primary school and higher education.
There is no upper-age limit for the repeal. Unlike New York or California laws, the New Jersey law would apply to higher education. Thus, under the terms of the law, a 60-year old taking a cooking class at a community college could be required to prove vaccination status before enrollment. This could include even online courses at any institution of higher education in New Jersey.
In my brief testimony, I called out the fact that three Senators who had promised to maintain the religious exemption were absent and had been replaced by the Chair with three legislators who voted in favor of the repeal of the religious exemption.
There were hundreds of people at the hearing, outside, in overflow rooms and in the hearing room … Those concerned for health freedom and vaccine safety should be gravely concerned about the breadth and potential impact of New Jersey’s S2173.”
In a December 12, 2019, Facebook post, John Gilmore with the New York Alliance for Vaccine Rights commented, in part:6
“If there was any doubt, it can no longer be denied that the dominant group within the Democratic Party of the United States is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the drug industry.
Their dependence on pharmaceutical cash, combined with a growing and extremely ugly contempt for religion and religious people, led the New Jersey Senate Health Committee … to eliminate the longstanding right to a religious exemption from vaccine mandates to attend school.
In New Jersey today, physicians and lobbyist for the vaccine industry were allowed to testify, but ordinary New Jersey citizens, who cannot sign fat checks to Senate President Sweeney and Chairman Vitale, were not allowed to speak.”
By December 16, when a large crowd began to form outside the capitol building in opposition to the blatant attempt by the New Jersey senate leadership to ram through legislation eliminating vaccine exemptions just like had been done in New York, Maine and California earlier this year, it was clear that there were cracks forming in what was supposed to be an easy “yes” vote on the floor of the Senate.
As the afternoon and evening wore on and the chants grew louder, the vote became less certain as several Democrat senators indicated they had serious concerns about the bill and would vote “no.”
At about 8:30 p.m., the senate adjourned without taking a vote. Reportedly, the legislation could be voted upon when the senate reconvenes in early January, and New Jersey citizens are urged to contact their state senators now and ask for a “no” vote in January, and to contact Gov. Paul Murphy and ask for a veto of any legislation eliminating vaccine exemptions.
Other New Jersey vaccine legislation that moved forward this year was A1576 that eliminates the right of any employee working in a health care facility to decline an annual flu shot for religious or conscientious beliefs. Also passed was A1991, which requires students attending college in New Jersey to get meningococcal B vaccine.
For more detailed information on the status of vaccine bills in New Jersey or other states and to get talking points that can help you speak with your legislators, become a user of the free NVIC Advocacy Portal and stay up to date with bills introduced in your state so you can take action to defend your legal right to make voluntary decisions about vaccination.
Medical Overreach Is Going Viral
Indeed, everywhere we look, we find signs of out-of-control Big Pharma influence. In addition to vaccine exemptions being eliminated, forcing parents to play Russian roulette with their children’s health, doctors are also working closely with departments of children and family services (DCFS) in states to remove newborns from the custody of their parents if the parents refuse the vitamin K shot.
In September 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against hospitals in Illinois, including Silver Cross, University of Chicago Medical Center and Christ Hospital; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the DCFS; and certain pediatricians.
The lawsuit was filed by Illinois families who had their babies taken from them after they refused the vitamin K injection, vaccines or antibiotic eye treatment, none of which are required by law in Illinois.7
Recordings of a meeting of members of the Illinois Department of Health's Perinatal Advisory Committee have since been released, revealing that doctors were plotting to take custody of newborns to administer nonmandatory treatments in violation of the parents' rights.8
As reported by PJ Media,9 one of the pediatricians named in the suit, Dr. Jill Glick, is accused of "[conspiring] with DCFS officials … to implement a DCFS policy that all of them knew was illegal, and [making] sure that Illinois pediatricians and hospitals carried out this policy using coercive threats … designed to enforce compliance with their desires that no parent be allowed to refuse the prophylactic medical procedures at issue in this case.”
A Freedom of Information Act request revealed an email from Glick written in August 2017, which suggested parents should be forced to accept such procedures in order to send a clear message to parents who "do not see the medical community as the expert."10
“… the informed consent principle … was defined as a human right at the Doctors Trial at Nuremberg in 1947.11Informed consent means you have the right to be fully informed about the benefits and risks of a medical intervention and the freedom to make a voluntary decision about whether or not to accept those risks without being coerced or punished for the decision you make.
Informed consent applies not just to risks taken by participants in scientific experiments, but also to risks taken by patients under the care of physicians12,13,14,15 …
There is no liberty more fundamentally a natural, inalienable right than the freedom to think independently and follow your conscience when choosing what you are willing to risk your life or your child’s life for …
Vaccination must remain a choice because it is a medical intervention performed on the body of a healthy person that carries a risk of injury or death.16,17 And while we are all born equal, with equal rights under the law, we are not born identical.
Each one of us is born with different genes and a unique microbiome influenced by epigenetics that affects how we respond to the environments we live in.18,19 We do not all respond the same way to pharmaceutical products like vaccines, so vaccine risks are not being borne equally by everyone in society.
Why should the lives of those vulnerable to vaccine complications be valued any less than those vulnerable to complications of infections? And why should people not be free to choose to stay healthy in ways that pose far fewer risks?
The act of vaccination involves the deliberate introduction of killed, live attenuated or genetically engineered microbes into the body of a healthy person, along with varying amounts of chemicals, metals, human and animal RNA and DNA and other ingredients20 that atypically manipulate the immune system to mount an inflammatory response that stimulates artificial immunity.
There is no guarantee that vaccination will not compromise biological integrity or cause the death of a healthy or vaccine vulnerable person either immediately or in the future. There is also no guarantee that vaccination will protect a person from getting an infection … and transmitting it to others.21”
Government Licensed Vaccines Are ‘Unavoidably Unsafe’
Those who claim vaccines are safe and effective for all are stating an opinion that is not backed up with well-established scientific facts. Everyone has a right to have an opinion, but opinion should not be turned into laws that restrict or eliminate the human right to freedom of thought, religious belief and informed consent to medical risk-taking.
In 1986, the U.S. Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act that acknowledged federally licensed and recommended vaccines can injure and kill children. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court reiterated Congress’ established protocol and declared FDA-licensed and CDC-recommended vaccines to be “unavoidably unsafe.”22
Reports published by physician committees at the Institute of Medicine between 1991 and 2013 also confirmed that:
Very little is known about how vaccines or microbes act at the cellular and molecular level in the human body23,24,25
An unknown number of individuals have certain genetic, biological and environmental susceptibilities making them more vulnerable to being harmed by vaccines, and doctors cannot accurately predict who those people are26,27,28
Clinical trials of experimental vaccines are too small to detect serious reactions before they are licensed29,30
The U.S.-recommended child vaccine schedule from birth to age 6 has not been adequately studied to rule out an association with allergies, autoimmunity, learning and behavior disorders, seizures, autism and other brain and immune dysfunction31,32
All the while, Big Pharma, medical trade groups and government health agencies lobby for the elimination of vaccine exemptions33 and the removal of civil rights such as education, employment and health care for those who decline one or more federally-recommended or state-mandated vaccines.
You can be sure that the pharmaceutical industry and doctors administering vaccines would not wield this kind of power if people could actually sue them for vaccine injuries and deaths. As it stands, they have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose by pushing for more vaccine mandates and the elimination of exemptions.
Take a Stand Against Big Pharma Today!
You can take a stand for informed consent right now, today, by making a donation to support Maine’s “Yes on 1” ballot initiative. If you’re a Maine resident, also be sure to mark your calendar to cast your vote March 3, 2020.
Researchers analyzed 28 studies from seven countries that explored the relationship between children drinking cow's milk and the risk of being overweight or obese.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2SzsNhU
Many people under 60 who develop stomach cancer have a 'genetically and clinically distinct' disease, new research has discovered. Compared to stomach cancer in older adults, this new, early onset form often grows and spreads more quickly, has a worse prognosis, and is more resistant to traditional chemotherapy treatments, the study finds.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2MEpC4Q
Grizzly bears spend many months in hibernation, but their muscles do not suffer from the lack of movement. Researchers report on how they manage to do this. The grizzly bears' strategy could help prevent muscle atrophy in humans as well.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2MFkcqf
A study finds that spikes in cases of life-threatening diarrhea in young children are associated with La Niña climate conditions. The findings could provide the basis for an early-warning system that would allow public health officials to prepare for periods of increased diarrhea cases as long as seven months ahead of time.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2QbKuT3
In October 2019, the Annals of Internal Medicinepublished controversial guidelines advising Americans to carry on consuming red and processed meat at current amounts. The guideline authors characterized meat-eaters as somewhat incapable of dietary change, and portrayed the benefits for reducing red and processed meat intake as insignificant. These guidelines contradict previous studies that link processed meat and red meat with early death and an increased risk of disease, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer.
If omnivores are confused, it’s hard to blame them.
Americans are eating less meat, but not less processed meat
To frame their argument, the article authors referenced an average meat intake from North America and Western Europe of two to four servings per week. But we are not France, and about a third of Americans eat more than this. In fact, on average we eat about five servings (17 ounces) of red and processed meat per week.
We have made progress decreasing our consumption of unprocessed beef, pork, and lamb over the past two decades. But our intake of processed meat remains unchanged: sausage, hot dogs, and ham reign among the nation’s most beloved processed meats.
Red meat and processed meat increase disease risk
The message from the Annals guidelines was perplexing and, at times, poorly translated by the media, with some headlines goading Americans to go full speed ahead on their intake.
This is particularly alarming, because recent research indicates eating 3 1/2 more servings of meat per week is associated with a higher risk of death. Consuming more than three additional servings may sound like a significant escalation. But consider that a standard serving equals about 3 ounces, a portion the size of a deck of cards. Eating a steakhouse filet, which typically weighs up to 12 ounces, you could consume roughly 3 1/2 servings in a single meal.
The connection is stronger for processed meats, which have a smaller standard serving size. For bacon lovers, eating a mere four slices more of thick-cut bacon a week is enough to increase risk of death.
Red and processed meat have also been associated with an increased risk of cancer. According to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, there is sufficient evidence to label processed meat as a carcinogen (a cancer-causing substance). Consuming a daily portion of less than two ounces per day — the equivalent of two slices of ham or bologna — is associated with increased cancer risk.
Eating less red meat makes room for healthier foods
Unfortunately, outlining the health hazards of red and processed meat sends a negative message and misses the bigger picture: many of us simply do not eat enough protective foods, and eating less meat would allow space for the foods we are neglecting.
According to the USDA, close to 90% of Americans do not eat the recommended amount of vegetables per day. (Most people should aim for two to four cups daily depending on their age and sex.) . Adults are not eating enough legumes, like beans and lentils, nor are we consuming enough seafood. The good news is that replacing some red and processed meat with whole grains, vegetables, and marine and plant-based proteins may help you live longer.
This is helpful for our collective health too, as livestock are responsible for 14% of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and threaten our planet. (Seafood practices also contribute to global warming, but only lobster and crab come close to cattle, our country’s most popular red meat and the animal responsible for the greatest greenhouse gas emissions.)
Shift focus to the foods you should eat more of
Ultimately, we do Americans a disservice if we cast them as incapable of making change. We can’t assume that it would be a burden to switch from beef jerky to nuts or from ham to tuna.
But asking how much meat is too much is, perhaps, the wrong question. Rather, we should really be asking: what do we need to eat more of instead?
One of the wonders of cell biology is its symmetry. Mammalian cells have one nucleus and one cell membrane, and most humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2F7GBIm
As explained in "The Health Benefits of MSM," sulfur is the third most abundant mineral in your body and plays important roles in a variety of bodily processes, including metabolism and detoxification, and for maintaining the proper shape and structure of proteins and enzymes.
Sulfur-containing amino acids increase your levels of glutathione and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), and these two play important roles in health and fitness.
Glutathione Basics
Glutathione comprises three amino acids: cysteine, glutamate and glycine. It's commonly referred to as "the master antioxidant," as it is your body's most powerful antioxidant, and is found inside every cell in your body.
Antioxidants combat free radicals — highly reactive particles that bounce around the cell, damaging everything they touch. Most originate during the process of metabolism but they can also arise during exercise, and from exposure to toxins, irradiation and toxic metals.
Because free radicals are so destructive, cells have a network of defenses designed to neutralize them. This antioxidant network is composed of numerous components that include vitamins, minerals and special chemicals called thiols (glutathione and alpha-lipoic acid).
Glutathione differs from other antioxidants in that it is intracellular, and has the unique ability of maximizing the activity of all the other antioxidants, including (but not limited to) vitamins C and E, CoQ10 and alpha lipoic acid. It also removes toxins from your cells and protects you from the damaging effects of radiation, chemicals and environmental pollutants.
NAC Basics
NAC is a precursor to and rate-limiting nutrient for the formation of glutathione.1 Glutathione is poorly absorbed so, in many cases, it's easier to raise your glutathione by taking NAC instead.
In emergency medicine, NAC is used as an antidote for acetaminophen toxicity resulting from an overdose.2 Mortality due to acetaminophen toxicity has been shown to be virtually eliminated when NAC is promptly administered.
It is believed the liver damage acetaminophen causes is largely due to the fact that it can deplete glutathione, which is secreted by your liver in response to toxic exposure.
On a side note, NAC supplementation can also help "pre-tox" your body when taken before alcohol, thereby minimizing the damage associated with alcohol consumption — a tidbit that may be useful to know in light of approaching New Year's celebrations.
Taking NAC (at least 200 milligrams) 30 minutes before you drink can help lessen the alcohol's toxic effects. Vitamin B6 may also help to lessen hangover symptoms.
While the most common use of NAC is for liver support, it's also showing promise as a neuroprotectant.3 Scientists are currently investigating it as a treatment for Parkinson's disease, which has been linked to glutathione deficiency in the substantia nigra, a region that houses dopamine neurons.4
Research looking at autopsied brains suggests Parkinson's patients have barely detectable levels of glutathione in this brain region. Subsequent studies have found glutathione deficiency in the substantia nigra is common in a number of other neurodegenerative conditions as well, including Alzheimer's disease.5
Another area where NAC shows particular promise is in the treatment of mental health disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder,6depression7 and substance use disorders.8 Dozens of additional health benefits are also reviewed in a November 29, 2019, SelfHacked article.9
One factor that can help explain the wide-ranging benefits of NAC and glutathione is glutathione's role in the regulation of epigenetic disease mechanisms.10 As noted in a November 2017 paper in Free Radical Biology and Medicine:11
"Epigenetics is a rapidly growing field that studies gene expression modifications not involving changes in the DNA sequence.
Histone H3, one of the basic proteins in the nucleosomes that make up chromatin, is S-glutathionylated in mammalian cells and tissues, making Gamma-L-glutamyl-L-cysteinylglycine, glutathione (GSH), a physiological antioxidant and second messenger in cells, a new post-translational modifier of the histone code that alters the structure of the nucleosome.
However, the role of GSH in the epigenetic mechanisms likely goes beyond a mere structural function. Evidence supports the hypothesis that there is a link between GSH metabolism and the control of epigenetic mechanisms at different levels (i.e., substrate availability, enzymatic activity for DNA methylation, changes in the expression of microRNAs, and participation in the histone code)."
The following graphic12 illustrates how glutathione influences pathological changes in gene expression.
NAC Improves Cardiovascular and Mitochondrial Function
According to a 2018 study,13 NAC supplementation may be useful for the prevention of cardiovascular problems in older people. As you might expect, oxidative stress can over time induce metabolic and functional changes that speed cardiovascular aging and dysfunction, and your glutathione levels declines with age, putting you at greater risk.
In this study, aging mice received either NAC or a combination of NAC and glycine. After seven weeks, their cardiac function was assessed, showing those receiving NAC plus glycine had improved several parameters of their cardiovascular function, including:
Improved diastolic function
Increased peak early filling velocity
Reduced relaxation time
Reduced left atrial volume
Reduced left ventricle end diastolic pressure
NAC alone did not impart these cardiovascular benefits, although both groups had decreased levels of inflammatory mediators. The NAC and glycine combination also improved mitochondrial function and upregulated mitochondrial genes in the heart that are normally downregulated with age.
According to the authors, "Our data indicate that NAC+Gly supplementation can improve diastolic function in the old mouse and may have potential to prevent important morbidities for older people."
Glutathione Deficiency Lowers Vitamin D Levels in the Obese
Other recent research14 published in Scientific Reports shows that glutathione deficiency can induce epigenetic changes in genes that regulate vitamin D metabolism in the liver. Emerging evidence also suggests glutathione metabolism plays a role in the epigenetic regulation of oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions, the authors note.
According to this paper,15 obesity has been correlated with low levels of glutathione and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 — especially in Type 2 diabetics and the obese16 — and when obese mice were fed a glutathione-deficient diet, it downregulated vitamin D metabolism genes and vitamin D receptors in the liver. As a result, oxidative stress increased.
According to the authors, their findings suggest glutathione supplementation could help reduce the risk of vitamin D deficiency in obese individuals. Supplementation with L-cysteine, a rate-limiting precursor to glutathione, has also been shown to increase vitamin D levels and reduce oxidative stress, the paper notes, which supports the link between glutathione and vitamin D.
Glutathione and NAC Ameliorate Exercise-Induced Stress
As mentioned earlier, exercise is one of the ways through which free radical production increases and, with it, oxidative stress. Provided you get enough rest between bouts, this oxidative stress is actually part of what makes exercise so beneficial.
That said, as noted in a 2005 paper,17 "Effective regulation of the cellular balance between oxidation and antioxidation is important when considering cellular function and DNA integrity as well as the signal transduction of gene expression." In other words, excessive exercise can cause more harm than good. As explained by the authors:18
"Exercise enthusiasts and researchers have become interested in recent years to identify any means to help minimize the detrimental effects of oxidative stress that are commonly associated with intense and unaccustomed exercise. It is possible that a decrease in the amount of oxidative stress a cell is exposed to could increase health and performance …
To protect against the deleterious effects of ROS [reactive oxygen species], our bodies have a complex system of endogenous antioxidant protection in the form of enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Under normal, resting conditions reactive oxygen species are removed from the cell preventing any subsequent damage.
However, under more extreme conditions such as: 1) inadequate intake of foodstuffs containing the antioxidants, 2) excessive intake of pro-oxidants, 3) exposure to noxious chemicals or ultraviolet light, 4) injury/wounds, and/or 5) intense exercise, especially eccentric exercise, the body's endogenous antioxidant system is not able to effectively remove excessive ROS production.
In situations such as the ones listed above in which the production of pro-oxidant molecules increase to a point where the antioxidant system cannot effectively remove them is when oxidative stress is known to occur.
Oxidative stress has been implicated in a number of diseases which include atherosclerosis, pulmonary fibrosis, cancer, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and aging. Research on oxidative stress during exercise has begun to indicate that regular training enhances the ability of these mechanisms to effective respond to the increase of oxidative product."
Exercise Boosts Your Glutathione Level
The 2005 paper above goes on to explain how exercise affects your glutathione level, and thus your health, fitness and risk of disease. In short, when you engage in intense exercise, your blood level of glutathione significantly decreases while circulating levels of oxidized glutathione increases, indicating that it's been used inside the muscle to quench free radicals produced during the exertion.19
Considering the importance of glutathione to counteract free radicals, effective regulation of glutathione levels when exercising is a significant concern. The good news is that the more you exercise, the higher your base levels of glutathione get.
This adaptation allows your body to effectively deal with the increase in free radicals that the exercise brings about. While exercise itself will boost your glutathione level over time, raising glutathione through supplementation is an oft-used strategy among athletes.
As mentioned, glutathione supplementation is ineffective due to its poor absorption, so NAC is generally considered a much better choice. According to the authors of the 2005 paper cited above:20
"In addition to the role glutathione and other thiols have on maintaining the cellular redox state, many studies have begun to explore if NAC supplementation can actually improve performance due to its ability to promote a more favorable cellular environment to achieve higher levels of performance …
One of the first studies to utilize NAC to determine its role in improving muscle performance was conducted by Reid and colleagues. They pretreated subjects with n-acetyl-cysteine infusion (150 mg/kg) or a 5% dextrose placebo while undergoing an extended fatiguing bout of electrical stimulation of the ankle dorsiflexors.
N-acetyl-cysteine was found to have no impact over the nonfatigued muscle, but a significantly increased force output of approximately 15% was found after 3 minutes of repetitive contractions which persisted throughout the 30-minute protocol. The authors concluded that NAC resulted in improved performance suggestive of oxidative stress having a causal role in the fatigue process."
Other studies have also confirmed that NAC supplementation helps delay muscle fatigue during exercise, thereby improving endurance. In one study,21 NAC infusion increased the time to exhaustion by 26.3%.
NAC's ability to reduce fatigue and improve cellular redox (oxidation reduction) also hints at its potential benefit for those struggling with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
The Glutathione Depletion Theory of CFS
As explained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CFS, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME, is characterized by "overwhelming fatigue that is not improved by rest."22 The fatigue is frequently such that it challenges your ability to perform even the most common of daily life tasks, such as showering or preparing a meal.
The role of glutathione in this condition is addressed in "A Simple Explanation of the Glutathione/Methylation Depletion Theory of ME/CFS"23 by the late Rich Van Konynenburg, Ph.D., developer of the methylation protocol used by many in the CFS community.24,25
According to Van Konynenburg, oxidative stress "is probably the best-proven biochemical aspect of chronic fatigue syndrome," and in order for your oxidative stress to overwhelm your system, something must be placing excessive demands on your glutathione supply.
Several examples were already listed above, such as inadequate antioxidant and/or excessive pro-oxidant intake, toxic exposures and physical injuries. Long-term emotional stress can also be a factor. As noted in Van Konynenburg's article:
"All people experience a variety of stressors all the time, and a healthy person's body is able to keep up with the demands for glutathione by recycling used glutathione molecules and by making new ones as needed.
However, if a person's body cannot keep up, either because of extra-high demands or inherited genetic polymorphisms that interfere with recycling or making glutathione, or both, the levels of glutathione in the cells can go too low …
One of the jobs that glutathione normally does is to protect your supply of vitamin B12 from reacting with toxins …When your glutathione level goes too low, your B12 becomes naked and vulnerable, and is hijacked by toxins.
Also, the levels of toxins rise in the body when there isn't enough glutathione to take them out, so there are two unfortunate things that work together to sabotage your B12 when glutathione goes too low."
The B12-Glutathione Connection
Vitamin B12 helps your body convert food into glucose for energy, and fatigue is one of the symptoms of low B12 levels.26 Interestingly, many with CFS have elevated B12 levels. Their bodies simply cannot use it properly, and one potential culprit is low glutathione.
"The best test to reveal this is a urine organic acids test that includes methylmalonic acid. It will be high if the B12 is being sidetracked, and this is commonly seen in people with CFS," Van Konynenburg states, adding:27
"The most important job that B12 has in the body is to form methylcobalamin, which is one of the two active forms of B12. This form is needed by the enzyme methionine synthase, to do its job. An enzyme is a substance that catalyzes, or encourages, a certain biochemical reaction.
When there isn't enough methylcobalamin, methionine synthase has to slow down its reaction. Its reaction lies at the junction of the methylation cycle and the folate cycle, so when this reaction slows down, it affects both these cycles …
The methylation cycle has some important jobs to do. First, it acts as a little factory to supply methyl (CH3) groups to a large number of reactions in the body. Some of these reactions make things like creatine, carnitine, coenzyme Q10, phosphatidylcholine, melatonin, and lots of other important substances for the body.
It is not a coincidence that these substances are found to be low in CFS … Not enough of them is being made because of the partial block in the methylation cycle.
The methylation cycle also supplies methyl groups to be attached to DNA molecules, and this helps to determine whether the blueprints in the DNA will be used to make certain proteins according to their patterns.
The 'reading' of DNA is referred to as 'gene expression.' Methyl groups prevent or 'silence' gene expression. Overexpression of genes has been observed in CFS patients, and I suspect this is at least partly due to lack of sufficient methylation to silence gene expression."
The Basic Biochemical Mechanism of CFS
The methylation cycle also regulates your body's use of sulfur, and the production of sulfur-containing substances, including glutathione. CFS patients often have abnormal levels of sulfur metabolites. Once you understand the interconnectedness of glutathione, B12 and the methylation cycle, it becomes easier to see how chronic CFS arises. As explained by Van Konynenburg:28
"When glutathione goes too low, the effect on vitamin B12 slows down the methylation cycle too much. The sulfur metabolites are then dumped into the transsulfuration pathway (which is connected to the methylation cycle) too much, are oxidized to form cystine, pass through hydrogen sulfide, and are eventually converted to thiosulfate and sulfate and are excreted in the urine.
This lowers the production of glutathione, which requires cysteine rather than cystine, and now there is a vicious circle mechanism that preserves this malfunction and keeps you sick … That's the basic biochemical mechanism of CFS … everything else flows from this …
Here's how I believe the fatigue occurs: The cells have little powerplants in them, called mitochondria. Their job is to use food as fuel to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP acts as a source of energy to drive a very large number of reactions in the cells.
For examples, it drives the contraction of the muscle fibers, and it provides the energy to send nerve impulses. It also supplies the energy to make stomach acid and digestive enzymes to digest our food, and many, many other things.
When glutathione goes too low in the muscle cells, the levels of oxidizing free radicals rise, and these react with parts of the 'machinery' in the little powerplants, lowering their output of ATP.
So the muscle cells then experience an energy crisis, and that's what causes the fatigue. Over time, because of the lack of enough glutathione, more problems accumulate in the mitochondria, including toxins, viral DNA, and mineral imbalances."
All of these factors will ultimately decimate your immune function as well, allowing pathogenic bacteria, viruses and fungi to take over. CFS patients will frequently have several infections ongoing at the same time. Low glutathione also impedes your body's natural detoxification pathways, allowing toxicity to build over time, thereby causing ever-increasing dysfunction.
The Answer for CFS
So, how do you turn this chain of events around? As noted in Van Konynenburg's article:29
"The main key to turning this process around is to help the methionine synthase enzyme to operate more normally, so that the partial block in the methylation cycle and the folate cycle are lifted, and glutathione is brought back up to normal. That is what the simplified treatment approach is designed to do, and so far, the evidence is that it does do these things in most people who have CFS.
I recommend that people with CFS have the Vitamin Diagnostics methylation pathways panel run to find out if they do in fact have a partial methylation cycle block and glutathione depletion before deciding, with their doctors, whether to try this treatment.
This also provides a baseline so that progress can be judged later on by repeating it every few months during the treatment. Symptoms may not be a good guide to judge progress during treatment, because detoxing and die-off can make the symptoms worse, while in fact they are exactly what is needed to move the person toward recovery."
An outline of Van Konynenburg's simplified methylation treatment plan for CFS can be found in HealthRising.org.30 At the core of this treatment is the use of specific supplements, including folate, B12, a multivitamin, SAMe and phosphatidyl serine.
In his protocol, he explains the theory behind the use of each of these supplements, how they impact the methylation cycle, and their interactions with other supplements.
My take-home message here is that glutathione and NAC supplementation may not always be the ideal way to go. People with CFS may be better supported by a customized assessment by an experienced clinician that may also include methyl folate and methyl vitamin B12.
General Dosing and Safety Guidelines for NAC
For many others, however, NAC can be safely used to boost glutathione levels. For more information about how NAC can benefit your health, see "The Many Benefits of NAC." It's widely available as an oral dietary supplement and is relatively inexpensive. Unfortunately, like glutathione, NAC is poorly absorbed when taken orally, although it's better than glutathione.
According to some studies,31,32 NAC's oral bioavailability may range between 4% and 10%, which is why the recommended dosage can go as high as 1,800 milligrams (mg) per day. Its half-life is also in the neighborhood of two hours, which is why most study subjects take it two or three times a day.
No maximum safe dose has yet been determined, but as a general rule, it's well-tolerated, although some do experience gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea, diarrhea or constipation. Should this occur, reduce your dosage. It's also best taken in combination with food, to reduce the likelihood of gastrointestinal effects.
Also keep in mind that since NAC boosts glutathione, which is a powerful detox agent, you may experience debilitating detox symptoms if you start with too high a dose. To avoid this, start low, with say 400 to 600 mg once a day, and work your way up.
Also, if you are currently taking an antidepressant or undergoing cancer treatment, be sure to discuss the use of NAC with your physician, as it may interact with some antidepressants and chemotherapy.
Although irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and irritable bowel disease (IBD) sound similar, they are two distinct conditions with a few similar symptoms. IBD is classified as a disease that causes inflammation of the intestinal tissue. Several gastrointestinal diseases are part of the IBD group, with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's occurring most frequently.1
The director of Cedars-Sinai Inflammatory Bowel Immunobiology Institute says the severity of the condition may depend on genetic markers and the effects of the gut microbes on your immune system. The most prevalent indication of both IBS and IBD is diarrhea. IBD may also present with anemia, fever, bloody stool and extreme weight loss.
IBS may trigger constipation, diarrhea or both as the condition affects the intestinal tract. Some complain of being gassy or bloated, and up to 70% who are diagnosed with IBS have suffered from severe food poisoning in the past. IBS is a functional disease, which means the symptoms you have may not produce a diagnosis through exams or procedures.
The intensity and severity of the condition may vary from person to person and can be induced by certain foods, the size of a meal or stress. According to the American College of Gastroenterology, up to 15% of adults in the U.S. have IBS.2
Symptoms of the condition frequently disrupt life and social interactions, and the current treatment methodologies have traditionally focused on diet, lifestyle and stress.
Peppermint Oil Helps Soothe Your GI System
Peppermint is an herb that has been used for medicinal purposes since ancient Egyptian times. Dried leaves were found in the pyramids, and ancient Greeks and Romans used it to help with stomach issues.3 Researchers have studied the effect of peppermint and peppermint oil on the digestive tract, finding it helps those with IBS.
In 2015,4 two scientists conducted a literature review of 16 clinical trials and evaluated the use of enteric-coated peppermint oil as a treatment of IBS. They concluded that in comparison to the drug treatments, peppermint oil was a better choice for alleviating symptoms and improving the quality of life. They recommended that those with IBS who do not have serious constipation or diarrhea should take one to two capsules three times a day for 24 weeks.
The authors of a second, recently published systematic review and meta-analysis of 33 trials found similar results. They wrote:5
"Meta-analyses suggest that peppermint oil is both efficacious and well-tolerated in the short-term management of IBS. A number of Western herbal medicines show promise in the treatment of IBS. With the exception of peppermint essential oil, Aloe vera, and asafoetida, however, none of the positive trials have been replicated."
The goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of herbal medicines in the treatment of IBS symptoms. The team from the University of Tasmania evaluated studies that looked at 18 herbal remedies. Stephen Gaffner, chief science officer at the American Botanical Council, believes the review is well done and has provided a useful update. He said:6
"Since two studies were published in 2016, it appears to me that an update to include current literature is a worthy undertaking. And none of the papers reviewing botanical ingredients for IBS symptoms appear to be as thorough and as well done as this present publication."
Sustained Release Delivers Oil Directly to the Intestine
The vast majority of the trials used essential oil and the analyses suggested there was good safety and efficacy in the short-term management of IBS. Despite being a benign condition, IBS does have a detrimental effect on quality of life and creates a substantial financial impact.
In another study,7 scientists looked at a sustained release delivery model for peppermint oil to improve tolerability and release the oil in the small intestines. Using a placebo controlled clinical trial, 72 participants were randomized into two groups.
At the completion of the trial, those receiving the intervention experienced better improvement and reduced severe gastrointestinal symptoms with few adverse events.
Economic and Societal Burden Associated With IBS
Of those diagnosed with IBS, 30% see their physician for the symptoms.8 While they do not experience significantly different abdominal issues than those who don't seek medical treatment, they do present with higher levels of anxiety and reductions in their quality of life.
IBS accounts for up to 12% of the total number of primary care visits and the cost to society is estimated to start at $21 billion, which includes direct and indirect medical costs as well as loss in productivity and work performance.9
In one literature review10 designed to evaluate the costs of IBS in the U.K. and the U.S., researchers found the average number of days off work each year attributed to the condition ranged between 8.5 and 21.6. The magnitude of the economic burden appeared to be increased by a factor of 1.1 to 6 when compared to levels within a control group.
Protect Your Gut, Protect Your Brain
The importance of protecting your gut microbiome cannot be overstated. It plays a key role in your mental health and in the development of neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease. Poor gut health may also increase your risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, liver disease and cardiovascular disease.
Advances in science have made it clear the organisms living in your gut play a major role in your health, both mental and physical. In one article, authors have suggested even severe and chronic mental health problems may be alleviated using specific probiotics aimed at reducing inflammation in the gut.
Often called the second brain, the human gut has 20 million neurons and houses close to 100 trillion microorganisms responsible for influencing biological and emotional function. Your two nervous systems —the central nervous system in your brain and the enteric nervous system in your gut — are in constant communication through the vagus nerve.
Researchers have examined the influence gut bacteria has on emotions by using participants who have IBS. Research shows in patients with IBS, nerves in the gut are more active than in healthy people. This has led to speculation pain is the result of a hypersensitive nervous system.
Some have used hypnosis to dampen the hypervigilance in the nervous system and have successfully been able to ease the pain associated with the condition. The effectiveness was confirmed using brain imaging demonstrating down regulation of activation of pain centers in the brain.
Vitamin D Insufficiency Increases Risk of IBS
In a review published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers note in seven of the published studies looking at vitamin D status and IBS prevalence, vitamin D deficiency was prominent in those with IBS. In one of the studies, 70% of participants with IBS showed improvements in their symptoms while on a vitamin D regimen.
Bernard Corfe, Ph.D. and senior lecturer in oncology at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., was lead scientist on the study and told reporters: "It is evident from the findings that all people with IBS should have their vitamin D levels tested and a large majority of them would benefit from supplements."
The authors of a second study looked at gene expression and variations as well as serotonin pathways, finding that those with IBS tended to have lower levels of vitamin D. The expression of genetic biomarkers for IBS also appeared to be modulated by vitamin D. According to the authors:
"Strikingly, the direction of gene regulation elicited by vitamin D in colonic cells is 'opposite' to the gene expression profile observed in IBS patients, suggesting that vitamin D may help 'reverse' the pathological direction of biomarker gene expression in IBS. Thus, our results intimate that IBS pathogenesis and pathophysiology may involve dysregulated serotonin production and/or vitamin D insufficiency."
Regular, sensible sun exposure is the best way to optimize your vitamin D status, but many will need to take an oral vitamin D3 supplement, especially during the winter months. The only way to gauge whether you might need to supplement is to get your level tested, ideally twice a year, in the summer and winter when your level is at its peak and low point.
A Clean Diet Leads to a Healthier Gut
If you struggle with IBS, or any other type of gut related issue, a significant part of your answer may be in avoiding genetically engineered (GE) foods of any kind. Plant incorporated Bt toxin is exempt from the requirement of a tolerance level for residues. The original claim was the Bt toxin produced in the plant would be destroyed by the digestive system and therefore posed no health risk.
However, researchers have found the toxin in 93% of pregnant women tested in 2011 in Quebec, Canada. It may produce a wide variety of immune responses and is typically associated with allergies, infections and inflammatory responses.
GE plants are designed to be resistant to herbicides and pose nearly identical problems. Since they are not required to be clearly labeled in the U.S., it's best to seek out fresh, organic foods whenever possible and avoid processed foods to protect your gut health.
More Strategies to Reduce Symptoms of IBS
Eating a clean diet, taking peppermint oil and optimizing your vitamin D levels are healthy ways to start controlling symptoms of IBS. Here are several more options to help reduce symptoms:
• Get checked for parasites — Some physical conditions simulate IBS, such as a parasite infection. Have your stool checked for parasites and to find out of you need to be treated.
• Boost healthy bacteria in your gut — Lowering your intake of sugar and processed foods automatically creates an environment to support the growth of good bacteria. Consider further enhancing the process by eating fermented foods and/or taking a high-quality probiotic supplement.
• Boost your fiber intake — Additional fiber may be helpful to control IBS symptoms. Organic psyllium tends to be particularly helpful for this, and is my personal favorite.
Psyllium is adaptogenic, meaning if you're constipated it will soften your stool and help increase your bowel frequency. If you have loose stools and frequent bowel movements, it will help with stool formation and decrease the frequency of bowel movements.
If you decide to use psyllium, make sure it is organic, as the risks of pesticide residue in nonorganic products far outweigh the benefits. Another good source is whole, organic flaxseed. Grind it fresh at home and add 1 or 2 tablespoons each day to your food.
• Address emotional challenges — Many with IBS have an unresolved emotional component contributing to their physical problem. Meditation, prayer and psychological techniques like the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) are all strategies you can use to effectively address emotional challenges.
Eating high-oxalate food with calcium-rich food will increase your risk of kidney stones
Taking a calcium supplement without oxalate-containing food, such as leafy greens or nuts, increases your risk of kidney stones
Taking a calcium supplement without oxalate-containing food increases your risk of kidney stones. To minimize this risk, take your supplement with an oxalate-containing meal. Oxalate-rich foods include dark green vegetables (especially spinach and Swiss chard), bran, rhubarb, beets and beet greens, chocolate, nuts (especially almonds, cashews and peanuts) and nut butters. Learn more.
Eating a low-calcium diet is recommended for those prone to kidney stones
Eating a high-oxalate diet is recommended for those prone to kidney stones
2Which of the following is one of the main contributors to heart disease?
Telomeres
Astaxanthin
Stress
There are compelling links between cardiac health and mental health. For example, having untreated depression or anxiety disorder increases your odds of having a heart attack or developing heart disease. Stress hormones are again a primary culprit. Learn more.
Ergothioneine
3A growing number of seniors are prescribed antidepressants despite only 14.3% meeting the criteria for a depressive episode. In seniors, depression is associated with:
Better mood, improved cognitive ability and reduced hospital admissions
Better overall health, reduced risk of diabetes and greater longevity
Favorable support system, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and lower potential for gout
Cognitive decline, dementia and poor medical outcomes
A growing number of seniors are prescribed antidepressants despite only 14.3% meeting the criteria for a depressive episode. In seniors, depression is associated with cognitive decline, dementia and poor medical outcomes. Learn more.
4Exercising vigorously at least three times a week can:
Help you function better and more independently after a stroke
Those who exercised vigorously at least three times a week were able to function better and more independently both before and after a stroke. Learn more.
Improve your eyesight after a stroke
Reduce the chance of you becoming iron-deficient after a stroke
Serve as a substitute for healthy eating after a stroke
5What is the biggest danger of excessive cleaning?
Removing healthy bacteria and sebum from skin
Causing bacteria, viruses and fungi to develop resistance
Respiratory and skin reactions to cleaning product
All of the above
Excessive cleaning causes microbial resistance, removes the body's healthy bacteria and may cause respiratory and skin harm. Learn more.
6Which of the following is a crucial longevity molecule required by longevity-related enzymes and DNA repair?
IGF-1
NAD+
NAD+ is one of the most important longevity molecules that we know of. NAD+ is a coenzyme needed by longevity-related enzymes called sirtuins. It's also required for DNA repair, but levels plummet with age, necessitating ways to boost NAD+ levels. Strategies include time-restricted eating, fasted exercise and supplementation. Learn more.
Let's be honest, you're probably not not going to drink this festive season - but you can limit the effect that alcohol has on your liver with these expert tips from Chinese medicine expert, Dr Marina Christov.
