In the 1950s, cholesterol emerged as a chief player. Later, research revealed that LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, clung to artery walls, contributing to the formation of artery-clogging plaque.

But over the years, research has revealed that cholesterol is just one of many factors that can lead to a heart attack — including diabetes, adipose fat, kidney dysfunction, obesity and lack of exercise, to name just a few.

Then there’s research that uncovers a whole new pathway through which heart disease develops, such as bacteria from the mouth.

Keep that in mind as you read how bacteria, hidden for years in artery plaque, can trigger heart attack, and why this knowledge may make them easier to prevent…

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Infectious processes can trigger heart attack cascade

Scientists from Finland and the United Kingdom have uncovered previously unknown evidence that heart attacks may be triggered by infectious processes, rather than just by cholesterol and other lifestyle factors.

Biofilms are sticky, protective layers that shield bacteria from immune responses and antibiotics. In this recent research, such biofilms have been discovered inside atherosclerotic plaque, where they likely formed over and protected bacteria for years, even decades.

These bacteria can remain dormant for years, but can be activated by external forces, such as a viral infection.

Scientists observed that when this happened, the person’s immune system responded, triggering inflammation, which ruptured arterial plaque and caused blockages that led to heart attack.

“Bacterial involvement in coronary artery disease has long been suspected, but direct and convincing evidence has been lacking. Our study demonstrated the presence of genetic material — DNA — from several oral bacteria inside atherosclerotic plaques,” explains Professor Pekka Karhunen, who led the study.

These findings pave the way for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to prevent or treat heart attacks — including, the researchers say, the possibility of preventing coronary artery disease and heart attack by vaccination.

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A missing step for heart protection

As odd as it seems, this isn’t the first time I’ve encountered research linking immune response and inflammation to heart attacks.

In 2020, researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) discovered that in approximately 25% of heart attack patients, the trigger was activated immune cells — specifically, T-lymphocytes (T cells).

According to that research, a “misguided adaptive immune response” activated T cells to accumulate on the inner lining of the artery wall, where they damaged the lining and contributed to the formation of a blood clot. Following an inflammation cascade, the plaques erode, resulting in debris in the bloodstream and artery-blocking clots that trigger a heart attack.

That research, like this newest one, was significant for demonstrating that heart attacks can have different pathophysiological origins — including an immune-mediated mechanism.

So, in addition to doing all the right things to promote heart health, it may be time to add “promoting a healthy and balanced immune system” to that long list.

 A balanced immune response activates T cells in a measured response to pathogens without creating so much inflammation that it harms the body’s own tissue.

The opposite of this is what we see in autoimmune conditions, where the immune response becomes overly active and goes rogue. Specific nutrients have been found effective at dialing it back, including one that strengthens the immune system and one that reduces inflammation: Vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids.

Plus, both of those are also known to support heart health. Are you starting to see how it all comes together?

Sources:

Heart attacks may actually be infectious — Science Daily

Viridans Streptococcal Biofilm Evades Immune Detection and Contributes to Inflammation and Rupture of Atherosclerotic Plaques — Journal of the American Heart Association

The post Newly discovered cause of heart attack hides in plaque appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But the truth is that a healthy immune system is a key component of total body health.

That’s because your immune system isn’t only your body’s first-line defense against this season’s germs. It is also vital for launching assaults on serious conditions, like cancer.

However, according to research from NYU Langone Health, there is something that can destroy that cancer-fighting ability.

And it all has to do with how well your blood is flowing…

Double the rate of tumor growth

Peripheral ischemia includes reduced blood flow to the lungs and legs. It typically follows peripheral artery disease and is a manifestation of worsening symptoms that impact blood flow. But that’s not all it does…

The scientists at NYU were able to prove that peripheral ischemia dramatically fueled cancer growth.

In fact, tumors in mice with restricted blood flow grew at double the rate seen in mice with normal flow.

Why? They found that restricted blood flow prematurely ages the bone marrow, where our immune cell warriors are produced.  

In other words, the researchers demonstrated that the immune system is the missing link between poor blood flow and the proliferation of cancer cells.

Increasing cancer-tolerance and decreasing tumor defense

According to scientists, when there is a threat to the body, such as cancer, the immune system typically ramps up inflammation to eliminate the danger and then eases back on the throttle to avoid damaging healthy tissue (think autoimmune issues).

However, when you suffer from circulation problems, the aging of your bone marrow reprograms stem cells to favor the production of “myeloid” immune cells (monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils) that dampen immune responses.

At the same time, these stem cells begin to decrease their production of lymphocyte-like T cells, which help mount strong antitumor responses.

Altogether, this shifts immune cells into a more cancer-tolerant state, weakening the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.

“Our results reveal a direct mechanism by which ischemia drives cancer growth, reprogramming stem cells in ways that resemble aging and promote immune tolerance,” says first author Alexandra Newman, PhD.

“These findings open the door to new strategies in cancer prevention and treatment, like earlier cancer screening for patients with peripheral artery disease and using inflammation-modulating therapies, to counter these effects.”

Increase blood flow to lower cancer risks

All of this means that if you want to cancer-proof your body, you have to start with supporting your blood vessels. Easy ways to do this include:

• Taking omega-3s – People with peripheral artery disease (PAD) have been shown to have lower levels of healthy omega-3s in their bodies, so taking a fish – or preferably krill oil – supplement could help. Omega-3s not only support better blood flow but also have potent anti-inflammatory effects.
• Getting help stretching – Passive stretching, with the help of a partner, can improve blood flow, blood vessel dilation and reduce stiffness.
• Eating beets – Beets are packed with heart-healthy nitrates, which boost the production of nitric oxide (NO) in the lining of your blood vessels, allowing them to dilate or widen. When this happens, your blood can flow more freely.

Additionally, because the scientists believe that inflammation-modulating therapies could be a key approach, be sure to take steps to reduce your overall body inflammation.

My favorite way to do this is by eating an anti-inflammatory diet that would include these foods:

• Tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Green leafy vegetables, like spinach, kale, and collard greens
• Nuts such as almonds and walnuts
• Fatty fish, which includes salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines
• Fruits such like oranges, strawberries, blueberries and cherries

Skip or strictly limit foods that increase inflammation in your body, such as processed meats, refined carbs, sodas, and packaged snacks.

Staying active is also a good idea, as exercise not only improves blood flow but also has anti-inflammatory effects on your white blood cells.

Sources:

Restricted Blood Flow Speeds Tumor Growth by Aging the Immune System – NYU Langone Health

Foods that fight inflammation – Harvard Health Publishing

An action plan to fight unhealthy inflammation – Harvard Health Publishing

The post Poor blood flow linked to supercharged tumor growth appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It produces several hormones like thymulin and thymosin, which regulate immune cell production. It also synthesizes hormones such as insulin and melatonin.

But its central function is to produce and release powerful immune cells to help fight infection and disease.

Most experts believed, however, that the thymus’ contributions occurred in the womb and didn’t extend into adulthood.

But investigators have found that theory was wrong.

In fact, they believe the thymus may hold the secret to a lifetime of good health, thanks to a specialized kind of cell they hope to harness for future preventative treatments…

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The education of T cells

A team of Australian researchers examined thymus samples donated to the Melbourne Children’s Heart Tissue Bank from heart surgery patients up to 16 years old. They likely chose these samples because the thymus is most active in childhood.

The researchers looked at the role of gamma delta T cells within the gland and found for the first time how the organ produced these cells.

“We have large numbers of these specialized cells in our blood and tissues, which accumulate as we become adults,” says study co-author Dan Pellicci, a professor at the University of Melbourne. “Until our study, it was unclear how these cells develop in the body.

Similar to receiving an elementary, high school and college education, the T cells are trained over three stages and fully form in the thymus, Pellicci says.

“Following this education, the cells are ready to enter the rest of the body and are completely capable of fighting infections,” he adds.

Some previous studies suggested these immune cells were mainly derived in the liver and thymus during fetal development in the womb.

“Many experts assumed that after birth, the thymus played little role in the development of these cells as we age, but we now know this little unsung organ helps the body prepare for a lifetime of good health,” Pellicci says.

The hope is that through understanding their function, these T cells can be manipulated to help prevent cancer and highly infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and tuberculosis.

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The care and feeding of this important gland

It’s clear the thymus gland is a key part of our immune system. Unfortunately, the thymus tends to shrink with age, and by the time we hit the age of 65, it’s pretty much unable to produce any new T cells.

This explains why older people are at higher risk for a lot of diseases like cancer, and why they have a harder time fighting off infections.

The good news is there are a few things you can do to support it:

• Get more antioxidants. One study found that antioxidants — especially vitamin C — can protect the thymus from damaging free radicals and prevent some of that age-related thymus shrinkage.
• Cut down on wheat. Research has shown that a chemical in wheat called wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) contributes to a shrinking thymus.
• Get enough zinc. It’s the most important mineral your thymus needs to stay healthy. Correcting a zinc deficiency can prompt the thymus to grow and start generating T cells again.
• Don’t use artificial sweeteners. Studies have found artificial sweeteners like sucralose shrink the thymus gland in rats.
• Try tapping. It’s not scientifically proven (yet), but tapping your chest over your thymus gland can supposedly stimulate a sluggish immune system. Try tapping the center of your chest, below your collarbone, for 15 to 20 seconds several times per day. Hum as you do it for even better results.

Sources:

Discovery could lead to more treatments to prevent cancer and infectious diseases — ScienceDaily

A three-stage developmental pathway for human Vγ9Vδ2 T cells within the postnatal thymus — Science Immunology

What is the thymus gland? — Medical News Today

The post The little gland that’s key to a lifetime of good health appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In fact, in the U.S. alone, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur every year, with new forms of resistance emerging at an accelerated pace.

You probably already know that the antibiotics used to fight bacterial infections can actually contribute to this resistance over time, especially when taken too frequently, when not finished as directed by a doctor, or when taken for conditions where antibiotics have no effect — viruses, for example.

But what you may not know is that other common medications are fueling the problem.

Two of the worst are likely in your medicine cabinet right now…

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The perfect conditions for resistant bacteria to thrive

Researchers from the University of South Australia have demonstrated that ibuprofen and acetaminophen not only drive antibiotic resistance when used individually, but also amplify it when used in combination.

In fact, their research showed that when taking these medications, along with the broad-spectrum antibiotic ciprofloxacin for E. coli (a common bacterium that causes gut and urinary tract infections), the drugs made the bacteria highly resistant to the antibiotic.

“When bacteria were exposed to ciprofloxacin alongside ibuprofen and acetaminophen, they developed more genetic mutations than with the antibiotic alone, helping them grow faster and become highly resistant. Worryingly, the bacteria were not only resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, but increased resistance was also observed to multiple other antibiotics from different classes,” observed lead researcher and associate professor, Rietie Venter.

According to scientists, taking Tylenol or ibuprofen actually activates the bacteria’s defenses, allowing them to expel the antibiotic and creating conditions that enable the bacteria to thrive.

Combat antibiotic resistance through wellness

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As the researchers point out, “Antibiotic resistance isn’t just about antibiotics anymore.”

And considering this is just one more antibiotic resistance threat in what seems to be an ever-growing list, it’s also one more reason why it’s vital to support your body’s natural immune response.

The key is to make sure that the response is balanced.

I say that because an immune response can be a double-edged sword. While an underactive response leaves the body open to illness, an overactive immune system cannot distinguish between the body’s own systems and invaders.

There are a few ways to help support your immune system so it’s up to the task…

Vitamin D3: A study published in the Frontiers of Immunology confirmed significant differences between the two types of vitamin D, with vitamin D2 having a questionable impact on human health. However, the study found that vitamin D3 could balance people’s immune systems by tamping down inflammatory response, and help strengthen defenses, even against viral infections.

Black seed or black seed oil: The black seeds of the Nigella sativa plant contain a compound called thymoquinone, considered to be an “immune system modulator,” meaning it promotes a balanced response.

Exercise: A 2005 study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise revealed that walking briskly for 30 minutes increased the number of natural killer cells, white blood cells and other important immune cells circulating in the body.

Thymus gland support: This gland is a key part of our immune system. Unfortunately, the thymus tends to shrink with age, and by the time we reach the age of 65, it’s largely unable to produce new T cells. But you can find ways to support it here.

When you do get a sickness that requires antibiotics, consider taking fish oil supplements with them. Research led by Flinders University discovered that omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in fish oil, can break down the ability of superbugs to become resistant to antibiotics.

Sources:

Common painkillers like Advil and Tylenol supercharge antibiotic resistance – ScienceDaily

Antimicrobial Resistance Facts and Stats – CDC

The post Over-the-counter drugs that supercharge antibiotic resistance appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Most hotels with hot tubs also have saunas, but I prefer the hot, bubbling water of the tub. The combination of heat and water soothes my body and relaxes my mind like nothing else can.

As it turns out, the time I’ve spent in hot tubs has provided me with more than just an hour or so of relaxation. Research shows that the heat of a hot tub or sauna stimulates all sorts of beneficial health effects.

And just in case you’re considering installing one or the other in your home, research also shows that the tub wins out hands down in terms of therapeutic value, especially when it comes to blood pressure and immune system response.

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Hot tubs beat saunas for lasting benefits

Both hot tubs and saunas are great for soothing aching muscles and providing welcome warmth, but hot tubs might offer greater health benefits.

That’s what researchers at the Bowerman Sports Science Center at the University of Oregon found in a study involving ten men and ten women who exercised regularly, ranging in age from 20 to 28 years old.

The researchers monitored their body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output (the amount of blood the heart pumps per minute) and immune cell populations, as well as blood biomarkers of inflammation.

This data was collected before, during, and after subjects soaked in a hot tub and sat in both a dry heat and infrared sauna.

Their findings showed that hot water immersion raised core body temperature more than dry sauna, which in turn caused an increase in blood flow and immune system response.

“We saw that hot water immersion was the most impactful in increasing core body temperature, which is the main stimulus for these subsequent responses,” Atencio said. “Increasing body temperature causes an increase in blood flow, and just the force of blood moving across your vessels is beneficial for your vascular health,” says lead study author Jessica Atencio

Need more good news? They say the benefits can last beyond the minutes spent directly in the hot tub.

This isn’t the first study to imply the benefits of hot water on heart health, either. And how to get them without a hot tub.

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A safe option for those who can’t exercise

“We always say that exercise is the primary nonpharmacological treatment that people should be doing to promote health, but some people can’t or just won’t exercise,” says Atencio. “Heat therapy is good supplementation.”

In other words, for those people who can’t or won’t exercise, time spent in a hot tub can provide some of the same benefits.

But just as with exercise, hot tub time must be done in moderation.

“We want people to be smart and safe about it,” says Prof. Christopher Minson, in whose lab the study was conducted.

“We need to make sure that they are cleared by their physicians or others for heat therapy or for exercise, whether it’s mild to moderate walking or jogging or strength training. Then they’ll be fine to do heat therapy.”

Some general hot tub safety rules:

Always check the temperature before entering the hot tub. The maximum safe temperature for a hot tub is 104°F (40°C).

Limit soaking time to 15-20 minutes, especially at higher temperatures.

Hydrate adequately to prevent dehydration and overheating.

Avoid alcohol and drugs before or during hot tub use, as they can increase the risk of drowning and other accidents.

Shower before and after using the hot tub to remove sweat, dirt, and personal hygiene products.

Sources:

Hot tubs outperform saunas in boosting blood flow and immune power — Science Daily

Comparison of thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and immune responses to different passive heat therapy modalities — American Journal of Physiology

The post Hot tub time improves blood pressure and immune response appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

They’re also known as “forever chemicals,” and that’s no exaggeration.

PFAS are carbon atoms, surrounded by fluorine atoms. Because carbon plus fluorine is one of the strongest chemical bonds known in nature, they simply never break down.

It’s almost impossible to avoid these chemicals. They’re in your drinking water, non-stick cookware, carpeting — even in your dental floss.

Can’t finish that meal and ask for a takeout box? You’re bringing home toxic chemicals along with your leftovers.  

PFAS have been linked to kidney and testicular cancer, liver damage, thyroid disease, and infertility.

And now, we have proof that these forever chemicals attack the very mechanisms our body uses to protect us from diseases of all kinds: our immune system.

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PFAS attacks important immune system cells

Many epidemiological studies have shown an association between increased PFAS exposure and reduced immune responses in children, even after receiving their routine childhood vaccinations.

Environmental researchers in Germany and Italy teamed up to find out whether PFAS are affecting our adult immune systems as well, and if so, just how they’re doing it.

The team, led by Dr. Gunda Herberth of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, developed a special immunological measurement method known as multiparameter spectral flow cytometry.

Using this method, they determined that PFAS reduced the activity of two out of five types of immune cells in particular: MAIT cells (mucosa-associated invariant T cells) and T-helper cells. 

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The importance of MAIT and T-cells

Dr. Herberth explains for us in simple terms why these two types of cells are crucial to our wellness, and why their failure spells disease for us.

MAIT cells are found in our mucous membranes, for example, in the mucous in our nose. That means they’re our body’s first line of defense against pathogens.

“If the activity of MAIT cells is restricted,” she explains, it is much easier for pathogens to invade the body.”

T-cells play a different role. They “are involved in the production of antibodies. If they are inhibited by PFAS, it is likely that fewer antibodies are produced — which could explain the reduced immune response to vaccination.”

Looking at things on a deeper level, Dr. Herberth and her team found that genes that normally play a role in T-cell activation were down-regulated after PFAS exposure.

“Our study clearly shows that PFAS reduce the activity of immune cells. If a person is exposed to high levels of PFAS, this is likely to be reflected in their health. For example, through a higher susceptibility to infections.”

How to avoid PFAS in your daily life

So many conditions and diseases can be traced back to a dysregulated immune system, ranging from viruses to cancer.

Although you can’t eliminate PFAS in your world, there are ways to dramatically lower your risk of exposure:

• Drinking water – don’t assume that bottled water will solve the problem. There’s no guarantee that it’s free of PFAS. You can try filtering your tap water. Granular activated carbon absorption filters, ion exchange resin filters and reverse osmosis filters work the best.
• Look for dental floss that’s PFAS-free.
• Check the Environmental Working Group’s recommendations for safe cosmetics at EWG’s Skin Deep®.
• Replace non-stick or Teflon-coated cookware with cast iron pans or ceramic-coated cookware.

And don’t forget to use vitamin D3 to support your immune system. Unlike D2, there’s evidence that vitamin D3 had a “modifying effect” on the immune system that could fortify the body against viral and bacterial diseases.

Sources:

PFAS reduce the activity of immune cells, study suggests — Science Daily

Mixtures of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reduce the in vitro activation of human T cells and basophils — Chemosphere

Health risks of widely used chemicals may be underestimated — Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The post The indestructible toxin attacking your immune system appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Sadly, the incidence of the early-onset form of the disease, which occurs in people aged 50 and younger, is expected to rise by more than 140% by 2030.

The good news is that death rates in people diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer have fallen, as screening and treatment have improved. But survivors still have a shorter life expectancy than their peers in the general population.

However, researchers at the Colon and Rectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute believe they’ve identified a simple daily activity that not only helps survivors live longer, but potentially even longer than someone who has never had cancer.

Why just survive when you can live longer

Movement is life. Previous research indicated that exercise could increase the lifespans of survivors even in the advanced stages of cancer.

But the Dana-Farber researchers wanted to take it a step further to find out if regular exercise had the power to help colon cancer patients boost their survival rates beyond people who’d never had cancer.

To find out, they delved into the exercise habits — both before and after treatment — of nearly 3,000 colon cancer patients. And the results were clear…

To remain cancer-free, even three years out from treatment, exercise is key.

According to the researchers, the magic number for survival comes down to physical activity, equivalent to walking about an hour a day at a 2- to 3-mile-per-hour pace, at least 6 days a week.

“Those patients not only had a better overall survival if they were more physically active, they actually looked like they had a slightly better overall survival compared to the general population,” says senior researcher, Dr. Jeff Meyerhardt.

In fact, even patients who suffered a cancer recurrence increased their survival chances if they stayed physically active.

Making healthy changes to your cell soup

According to cancer researchers, multiple mechanisms make exercise one of the most potent tools for not only surviving colon cancer but also preventing it in the first place.

Dr. Kathryn Schmitz, an exercise oncology researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, likes to describe the mechanisms this way…

“What you might think of is that all of our cells are bathed in a soup of sorts, and the constituents of that soup change as a result of being more physically active,” she explains.

If you spend most of your time sitting, your immune system suffers, inflammation flares up and your cells can start to change and grow uncontrolled. However, when you get the regular activity your body needs, the fires of inflammation are quenched and your immune system kicks into high gear.

Then, as Dr. Schmitz explains, “The soup in which your cells are bathed is healthier in a way that will tamp down any cancer development or cancer progression.”

In a previous study that linked exercise to reducing the odds of 13 different cancer types, researchers at the National Cancer Institute identified three factors that could be responsible for the cancer-preventing properties of exercise: its ability to reduce hormones like estrogen, its ability to lower insulin levels and its ability to quell inflammation.

So, if you’ve survived colon cancer (or simply want to make sure you do everything possible to prevent it), exercise is a must.

Also, don’t be intimidated by this study’s findings that you need to walk an hour a day, six days a week. Other studies have found that short, high-intensity sessions can also reduce the growth of colon cancer.

Sources:

Survival Rates for Colorectal Cancer — American Cancer Society

How common is colon cancer? — Fight Colorectal Cancer

Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer — American Cancer Society

Colon cancer survivors who exercise regularly live longer — NPR

The post The habit that helps cancer survivors live like they never had cancer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

When functioning normally, it efficiently defends against harmful invaders, such as bacteria and viruses. However, there are instances when the immune system becomes overactive or misdirected, leading it to attack healthy tissues and organs.

This misguided attack can result in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis (MS), among others.

Recent research has shed light on a fascinating connection between the brain and the immune system.

Scientists discovered that the brain and spinal cord produce special proteins known as “guardian peptides.” These peptides help regulate the immune response, ensuring that it remains balanced and does not harm the body’s own tissues.

This discovery opens up intriguing possibilities for treatment …

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‘Guardian’ peptides help manage the immune system

There’s a constant conversation between the brain and the immune system to ensure adequate defense against threats while protecting healthy tissue.

Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied this relationship in mice and made significant findings regarding how these guardian peptides interact with the immune system.

According to Dr. Jonathan Kipnis, one of the leading researchers, guardian brain peptides actively monitor the immune system. They help to prevent potentially destructive immune responses by providing signals about threats.

For instance, when an immune cell detects danger, it displays a small protein fragment from that danger on its surface. This fragment serves as a warning to T cells, which evaluate whether the threat is significant enough to warrant an immune attack.

However, guardian peptides come into play to help regulate this process, attracting a subset of T cells that serve to calm down the immune response and prevent it from turning against the body.

The researchers found that in healthy mice, these guardian peptides were abundant and effectively managed the immune responses. However, in mice with multiple sclerosis, these protective proteins were significantly diminished. When the researchers introduced the missing brain-derived peptides into the spinal fluid of mice with MS, something remarkable happened…

It led to an increase in a type of T cell that suppresses immune reactions, resulting in improved motor function and a slowdown in the progression of the disease compared to untreated mice.

This research highlights an important discovery…

“We have found guardian brain peptides that actively engage with the immune system to keep it in check, possibly preventing destructive immune responses,” said Dr. Kipnis.

More research may lead to identifying protein signatures of other neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases that could lead to early diagnosis and potential treatment.

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Support can start with a common denominator

These findings may also provide reason to acknowledge the communication between the brain and another body part linked with autoimmune and neuroinflammatory diseases…

You may have heard of the gut-brain axis, also referred to as the gut-brain-immune axis in the scientific community. The immune system represents a key pathway of communication along this axis with the microbiome implicated in neuroinflammation.

A healthy gut microbiome helps orchestrate this connection and is involved in the production of neurotransmitters and other chemicals, including neuropeptides, that influence the immune system.

An imbalance in the gut microbiome can disrupt communication along the gut-brain axis, leading to the increased neuroinflammation that contributes to MS, Parkinson’s and even Alzheimer’s.

An example came to light in a study that found lactobacillus reuteri triggered lupus in mice and stimulated immune cells to worsen the disease process.

The benefits of probiotics are transmitted via the gut-brain axis. A healthy and balanced gut could support the gut-brain axis and immune response.

Sources:

Healthy brains suppress inappropriate immune responses — EurekAlert!

Endogenous self-peptides guard immune privilege of the central nervous system — Nature

The enteric nervous system is a potential autoimmune target in multiple sclerosis — Acta Neuropathologica

The Role of Gut Microbiota in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Current Insights and Therapeutic Implications — Cureus

Microbiota and gut neuropeptides: a dual action of antimicrobial activity and neuroimmune response — Psychopharmacology

The gut microbiota-immune-brain axis: Therapeutic implications — Cell Reports Medicine

The post The ‘guardians’ that balance immune system response appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But should we be worried about this fungus among us? Could the future of humanity be in the hands of a zombifying fungus?

While cordyceps is quite adept at “infecting” specific bugs in a gruesome way — attaching spores that grow tendrils throughout a host’s body and hijacking it to travel and distribute more fungus spores — you should know what it does to humans…

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Cordyceps’ history with (hopefully not the last of) us

There are hundreds of medicinal mushroom species. There are around 600 species of cordyceps alone.

But cordyceps, though commonly referred to as a mushroom, is technically not one…

Because of that parasitic habit of growing on insects, they are considered entomopathogenic fungi. Don’t get hung up on the technicalities, though — cordyceps has a long history with humans as a healing, functional food.

Mushrooms are rich sources of unique health-promoting compounds and have been used in Chinese medicine and other traditional healing systems for thousands of years. Cordyceps is near the top.

One family of carbohydrates found in mushrooms is beta-glucans, which have a particular affinity for immune cells. They stimulate macrophages, lymphocytes, T-cells and Natural Killer cells. They are primarily focused on our innate immunity, the immune system’s first responders.

But mushrooms do more than boost your immunity; they “train” immune cells to respond appropriately to pathogens, toxins, cancerous cells and other dangers. Medicinal mushrooms are unique to this purpose, as they boost immunity and help calm an overactive autoimmune response. This can be pretty helpful when addressing autoimmune conditions.

Cordyceps are specifically reported to enrich the bone marrow. They also have demonstrated anti-tumor activity.

Like reishi, cordyceps support athletic performance, increasing cellular energy production and oxygen utilization. One study found that cordyceps improved endurance in older people.

In addition to boosting mitochondrial function and oxygen utilization, cordyceps help detoxify the body and support the adrenals.

They also promote healthy heart function by reducing LDL (bad cholesterol) and increasing HDL (the good variety).

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Should you be worried about becoming cordyceps spawn?

In a recent Nature paper, Dr. Jim Kronstad, a professor and microbiologist at UBC’s Michael Smith Laboratories, and co-authors, highlight a warming climate as a potential contributor to the spread of harmful fungi like Coccidioides, which causes valley fever, and the current rise of Candida auris, which infects hospitalized patients and is resistant to available antifungal drugs.

The authors also noted the discovery of a new fungus last year, Rhodosporidiobolus fluvialis — in humans — previously found only in soil.

R. fluvialis was discovered in the blood of two unrelated patients with serious underlying health conditions. One patient was a 61-year-old who died in an ICU in Nanjing in 2013. The other patient was an 85-year-old who died in 2016 after being treated in an ICU in Tianjin. The report doesn’t note whether the fungal infection directly contributed to the patients’ deaths or if they just happened to be infected at the time.

These are undoubtedly isolated cases. And so far, cordyceps is keeping its distance from humans.

As Dr. Kronstad says, “Fungi are super important, it’s phenomenal what they’ve done for humans.”

Using Cordyceps

Cordyceps, since they grow like slim tendrils, are often used more efficiently as a powder, which is popularly used in supplements and teas.

You can take the tendrils, referred to as “fruited bodies,” and boil them in water to make cordyceps tea. But just knowing those tendrils fruited out of an insect body is enough to turn me off of that idea.

Sources:

The new season of The Last of Us has a spore-ting chance at realism — Science Daily

The Last of Us Season 2: A Q&A with Dr. Jim Kronstad about fungal infections and climate change — The University of British Columbia

Unusual ways to boost your energy — Easy Health Options

New fungal infection discovered in China — Live Science

The post Cordyceps: Superfood or Brain-hijacking ‘zombie’ fungus appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But how much exercise should you get? And how hard should your workout be?

Studies run the gamut on this front. But overall, the common advice is that your workout should at least be at moderate intensity for a total of 150 minutes (or five 30-minute sessions) per week.

Moderate intensity means you’re breathing hard enough that if you tried to sing, it would be difficult, whereas with vigorous activity you would find it hard to talk as well.

If you really want to supercharge your health, vigorous exercise appears to have greater benefits than moderate exercise.

However, there may be one area where the opposite is true….

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Hard exercise and the immune system

On the whole, exercise seems to be good for the immune system. In fact, one study observed that exercise appears to jump-start cytotoxic T cells, making them more able to attack cancer cells. That’s pretty impressive!

However, there is some evidence that exercising too much for too long can actually release stress hormones that suppress the immune system.

One team of U.S. researchers was interested in finding out if vigorous exercise can increase the odds of contracting respiratory infections. So they tested the blood, urine and saliva from 11 firefighters before and after 45 minutes of intense exercise involving carrying up to 44 pounds of gear over hilly terrain.

After examining 4,700 post-exercise fluid molecules, the researchers found the expected physical changes that help the body maintain the increase in fluids, energy and oxygen demanded by exercise. But they also discovered a decrease in molecules involved in inflammation, as well as an increase in opiorphin, a dilator of peripheral blood vessels.

It’s not clear what these changes mean for short-term immune system functioning. But in their paper, the researchers note that opiorphin may increase blood flow to muscles during exercise to improve the delivery of oxygen and nutrients. And they theorize that the decrease in inflammatory molecules they observed in the saliva after exercise could be an adaptation to improve gas exchange in response to higher cellular oxygen demand.

The researchers also observed a change in the participants’ oral microbiome, including an increase in antimicrobial peptides that was possibly compensating for the immune suppression.

“However, this increase in antimicrobial peptides had no effect on inhibiting E. coli growth, suggesting a limited capacity of antimicrobial peptides within the oral cavity to protect against host infections,” the researchers write in the study.

They conclude “there is evidence supporting a relationship between physical demands and a higher incidence of respiratory infections.”

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When to press ‘pause’ on exercise

Given the results of previous studies showing a link between exercise and improved immunity, there is a chance the changes observed in this study could be an indication of heightened surveillance and regulation by the immune system, not immune suppression. Still, the results warrant further examination.

There were some caveats to the study. Because firefighters experience exposure to distinct pollutants during fires, this could also change their immune reactions. And because the study considered only healthy, active men, further research needs to be done among a broader population to confirm the findings.

Until then, it may be a good idea to hold off on vigorous exercise at certain times, such as when you’re not feeling 100 percent. If you’re already feeling like you’re coming down with a cold or the flu, the last thing you want to do is suppress your immune system.

You may want to take extra precautions to bolster your immune system, especially if you have a physically demanding job. Here are some tips that might help:

• Try black seed oil. Used in ancient Egypt, the oil of the black Nigella Sativa seeds has been found to hold over 100 different compounds with analgesic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Two of the most studied, thymoquinone and thymohydroquinone, target the immune system.
• Get enough sleep. Shortchanging your sleep can suppress your immune system, so be sure to get eight hours a night.
• Take probiotics. Studies have demonstrated that taking a regular probiotic can support your immune system. Add a daily supplement to your routine and eat more probiotic-rich foods like kefir, yogurt and sauerkraut.

Sources:

1. Study Finds Potential Downside to Vigorous Exercise We Didn’t Know About — Science Alert

2. Elucidating regulatory processes of intense physical activity by multi-omics analysis — Military Medical Research

3. Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64 — NHS

The post The one time the benefits of exercise don’t hold up appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It keeps giving extreme exhaustion. It keeps giving muscle and joint pain. And it never seems to stop giving sleep troubles and problems with memory and thinking.

Even worse, it more often than not gives you friends, family and even doctors that believe the host of problems you experience are all just in your head.

That’s why, in 2016, researchers from the US National Institutes of Health launched a study to finally determine whether CFS is really all psychosomatic, or if the issues start much deeper.

Now, eight years later the results of this landmark study are finally in, proving that the syndrome is “unambiguously biological.”

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Pulling out meaningful differences

To deliver this proof, the researchers initially selected a group of 217 individuals with chronic fatigue. It was a number that they later whittled down to just 17 to make it possible to complete an incredibly rigorous assessment and get to the bottom of the differences between CFS sufferers and otherwise healthy people.

All in all the 17 final participants were put through a battery of tests over a week’s time, including brain scans, sleep studies, muscle strength and cognitive performance tests, skin and muscle biopsies and blood tests. The researchers even tested their gut microbiomes and spinal fluid.

To top it off, all participants were required to eat a very specific diet and spend time in a metabolic chamber. This allowed the scientists to measure their energy and nutrient consumption under stable conditions.

A systemic disease proven by physical symptoms

The results clearly showed that people who live with chronic fatigue did not actually show signs of muscle fatigue or problems on cognitive tests, they were suffering from a systemic disease.

In fact, compared to normal healthy individuals, participants with CFS were found to have:

• Higher resting heart rates
• Markers of a drawn-out and overstimulated immune response that exhausts T cells
• Less diverse gut bacteria
• Lower levels of catechols in their cerebrospinal fluid (catechols are chemicals that help regulate the nervous system)
• Less activity in the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) of the brain during motor tasks

So why these issues, but not the muscle fatigue that is such a hallmark of the syndrome?

Well according to the researchers, the answer likely lies in that last bullet point on the list.

That’s because the temporal-parietal junction is necessary to drive the motor cortex of the brain, which tells the body to move.

So less activity in the TPJ could actually change the way the brain exerts effort and therefore a person’s perception of fatigue and ability to tolerate exertion.

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In other words, because a person with chronic fatigue has a malfunctioning TPJ, every activity feels more difficult and wears them out much more quickly.

The takeaway?

As neurologist Avindra Nath, lead researcher of the study and clinical director of NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) says, “CFS is a systemic disease and the people living with it deserve to have their experiences taken seriously.”

Help for chronic fatigue

Past studies have shown how some natural solutions can improve the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Optimizing thyroid function is important since chronic fatigue and thyroid issues can feed each other. Nutrients like copper, selenium, zinc and other thyroid-supporting amino acids and herbs can make a big difference in thyroid function.

Supplementing Coenzyme Q10 may be helpful. That’s because research shows that CFS sufferers are far more likely to have low CoQ10 levels and these low levels are associated with increased inflammation, which keeps the negative cycle going round.

Finally, although it may sound counter-intuitive, exercise is also important for anyone living with CFS.

The key is to use a graded exercise program that increases activity slowly and thoughtfully.

Sources:

Landmark Study Confirms Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is ‘Unambiguously Biological’ — Science Alert

NIH Study Provides Long-Awaited Insight Into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome — JAMA Medical News

The post 5 symptoms prove chronic fatigue syndrome is ‘biological’ appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

What if I told you that an inexpensive over-the-counter remedy that’s probably sitting in your medicine cabinet right now could drastically reduce your chances of coming down with one?

You might be skeptical, to say the least.

But this kind of thing happens all the time. Through persistence and careful research, science finds cures that have been right under our noses all along…

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Neosporin stimulates immune system response

Currently, most therapies used to fight respiratory viral infections are delivered intravenously or orally. Their purpose is to keep existing infections from spreading and worsening.

However, a new study by Yale University researchers suggests that a therapy delivered through the nose would have a much better chance of stopping infections before they can spread to the lower respiratory tract and cause severe disease.

The study found that mice treated intra-nasally with the common antibiotic neomycin showed a strong interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) defense against both the SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza A virus.

And in healthy humans, nasal application of the over-the-counter ointment Neosporin — a triple-antibiotic ointment containing neomycin — also triggered a swift immune response by ISGs.

Interferon (IFN) is a natural substance produced by white blood cells. It helps the body’s immune system fight infection by signaling the expression of ISGs so they can keep viruses from replicating within the body.

“This is an exciting finding, that a cheap over-the-counter antibiotic ointment can stimulate the human body to activate an antiviral response,” says Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, the Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine and co-senior author of the new study.

“Our findings suggest that we might be able to optimize this cheap and generic antibiotic to prevent viral diseases and their spread in human populations, especially in global communities with limited resources.”

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Other ways to rouse your immune system

If the idea of applying an ointment usually reserved for cuts and burns to your nose doesn’t delight you, there’s something else you can do to simulate interferon signaling to kick ISGs and your immune response into gear…

According to Professor Colin Smith, lead author of research published in 2022 in Frontiers of Immunology, “We have shown that vitamin D3 appears to stimulate the type I interferon signaling system in the body — a key part of the immune system that provides a first line of defense against bacteria and viruses. Thus, a healthy vitamin D3 status may help prevent viruses and bacteria from gaining a foothold in the body.”

That same research differentiated vitamin D3 from the more common form, D2. According to Professor Susan Lanham-New, co-author of the study, “While we found that vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 do not have the same effect on gene activity within humans, the lack of impact we found when looking at vitamin D2 means that a larger study is urgently required to clarify the differences in the effects. However, these results show that vitamin D3 should be the favored form for fortified foods and supplements.”

If you’re prone to respiratory infections, your lungs could probably use a little extra protection. Omega-3s can help there…

Researchers who analyzed genetic data from a large European study of over 500,000 patients drawn from the UK Biobank found that higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood correlated with better lung function and a reduced rate of decline in lung function.

Sources:

Common antibiotic may be helpful in fighting respiratory viral infections — Yale News

Intranasal neomycin evokes broad-spectrum antiviral immunity in the upper respiratory tract — PNAS

Protective Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on COVID-19-Related Intensive Care Hospitalization and Mortality: Definitive Evidence from Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis — Pharmaceuticals

The post The medicine cabinet ointment that fights respiratory viruses appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But what may not be as well-known is the immune system’s role in our psychological health. The immune system produces neurotransmitters like serotonin that affect your mood and is in turn influenced by the neurotransmitters released by the nervous system.

Unfortunately, stress can throw a wrench into the immune system’s complex and delicate workings…

Previous research shows stress can compromise the immune system’s ability to defend against disease — or even cause it to go haywire and cause rampant, damaging inflammation in the body.

One international team of researchers became interested in exploring the complicated connection between stress, the immune system and the brain. And what they discovered could have far-reaching implications for the treatment of depression…

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The effect of MMP-8 on behavior

In a study, the researchers uncovered a novel mechanism known as matrix metalloproteinaise-8 (MMP-8), an enzyme released from polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) that plays an important part in mediating inflammation.

Neutrophils, in general, are the body’s first responders to acute (sudden) inflammation. In chronic inflammation, their role is less understood, but they are associated with inflammatory diseases.

“We were able to show that stress increases the amount of [MMP-8], an enzyme in the blood of mice,” says first author Flurin Cathomas. “The same changes were found in patients with depression.”

When MMP-8 travels from the blood to the brain, it alters the functioning of certain neurons. The study found that this leads to behavioral changes in the affected mice; they withdraw and avoid social contact — which mimics behavior seen in humans with depression.

To prove that MMP-8 was responsible for the behavioral changes, the team removed the MMP-8 gene from some of the mice in the study. Compared to the control group, these mice did not display negative behavioral changes related to stress.

“Blood analyses of patients with depression indicate that the findings from the mouse models are also relevant for humans: both the monocytes and MMP-8 were increased in the blood of people with depression in comparison to healthy participants,” Cathomas says.

The findings are novel in two respects, according to Cathomas. “Firstly, they indicate a new ‘body-mind mechanism’, which might be relevant not only for stress-related mental illness, but also for other diseases that affect both the immune and nervous systems,” he says. And secondly, he adds, identifying the specific MMP-8 protein could be a potential starting point to develop new treatments for depression.

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Keep stress from hacking your immune system

More studies are required before these results translate to changes in clinical practice. But Cathomas notes this study “once again demonstrates the importance of the interaction between the immune system and the brain in the development of psychiatric disorders.

“These insights are already being incorporated into psychiatric treatment today,” he adds.

For now, there are many steps you can take on your own to help reduce stress that both support the health of your immune system and help fight depression. Here are a few to start with:

• Do yoga. If you want to bust stress, get a mood boost from endorphins and strengthen your immune system, yoga is the way to go. Attend a nearby class or check out some videos online to get started.
• Get some vitamin D. This “sunshine vitamin” not only helps support the immune system, but it also helps protect against stress and depressive symptoms. The easiest way to get vitamin D is through exposure to sunlight. But if you aren’t getting enough sun exposure, consider supplementing.
• Boost your omega–3s. Omega-3 fatty acids are powerful anti-inflammatory agents, and that may play some role in their ability to relieve depression on par with Prozac.
• Support your thyroid and adrenal glands. When your adrenals are constantly stressed, this sets off an autoimmune inflammatory response in your entire body which results in a constant assault of cortisol, the stress hormone. The adrenal-hypothalamus-pituitary feedback loop regulates the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol.
• Try frankincense essential oil. While there are separate essential oils that help with anxiety, depression and immune system support, frankincense may get to the root. Some research has shown that the Boswellic acid from frankincense stops inflammatory enzymes from working. Adding the essential oil to a diffuser can be very relaxing. Supplements are also available as Boswellia extract.

If feeling depressed, don’t hesitate to reach out to a healthcare professional.

Sources:

Stress influences brain and psyche via immune system — EurekAlert!

Circulating myeloid-derived MMP8 in stress susceptibility and depression — Nature

How does the immune system work? — InformedHealth.org

The Role of MMP8 in Cancer: A Systematic Review — International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Nature’s Medicine: Essential Oils for Depression, Anxiety and Immune Health — Cannizzaro Integrative Pediatric Center

The post Depressed? Your immune system may have been hacked appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But then you worry — if I’m not getting good nutrition, will I get weaker and sabotage the healing process?

When I was a kid, the solution was chicken soup… but sometimes you can’t even keep THAT down.

What if your immune system actually works more efficiently when you don’t eat — or when you eat in a way that your body is offered up an alternative fuel source?

New research shows it may just give you the immune system boost you need…

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What are ketone bodies?

At the center of the “fasting is better” hypothesis are ketone bodies — metabolic by-products the liver produces from stored fat that become more numerous when glucose, the body’s main source of energy, is in short supply.

The liver steps up to increase the production of ketones to feed our energy-hungry brain and other organs.

It can happen during exercise when your cells are burning through fuel rapidly.

It can also happen during fasting when there is little food available to be broken down into glucose.

It’s also what happens on the Keto diet, which aims to force the body into using ketones for fuel instead of relying on sugar.

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How ketones impact immune health

A few years ago, scientists at Yale found that mice who ate a keto diet were able to fend off the flu virus better than mice who ate a diet higher in carbs.

And not long after that, research found a restrictive diet helped mice recover from a bacterial infection. Those scientists felt cutting off the glucose supply was beneficial and that ketones helped counter the oxidative stress caused by bacteria.

Now, scientists at The Van Andel Institute, a biomedical research center, have made another connection between the immune system and the ketone bodies that occur when we restrict our food intake.

Dr. Russell Jones and his team of researchers were surprised to find that, besides providing energy to the body when needed, ketone bodies also power immune cells.

In fact, they demonstrated that T-cells (immune cells) prefer ketone bodies over glucose as a fuel source.

They also found that ketone bodies improve T-cell function by “re-programming” them to better neutralize threats to the body.

And it seems that T-cells don’t fight infection as well when the production of ketone bodies is reduced — for example, when you eat a lot of carbohydrates.

And about eating or not when you get sick? The researchers hypothesize that ketone bodies may be an evolutionary failsafe that boosts the immune system when nutrient resources are limited, such as when one’s appetite is suppressed during illness.

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Fueling your immune system with ketones

Going forward, Dr. Jones and his team will explore how fasting and ketone body supplementation can impact immune function. These findings may also pave the way for future personalized dietary recommendations to augment treatments for infection, cancer and other diseases.

But how can you put this revelation to work now?

Well, there are two ways, and some people even combine them…

The Keto diet and intermittent fasting actually have a lot in common. Keto works in many of the same ways that intermittent fasting works.

Some experts even advise that starting the Keto diet, which will have you giving up the carbs and sugars, may make it easier to then try intermittent fasting.

If you’re considering going keto and you’d like a more in-depth guide to the benefits and rules, check out The keto diet in a nutshell.

Intermittent fasting may be easier, in that there are many ways to do it…

• Alternate day fasting, which involves eating anything you want one day and nothing at all the next.
• You could also try a modified alternate-day fast schedule if cutting out all food for a day sounds too extreme. That involves eating 500 calories on fast days.
• There’s also a more moderate form of intermittent fasting where you limit your daily eating window to eight hours and fast for 16 hours, although this type of fast is less likely to produce ketones.

The keto diet and alternate-day fasting are safe for most people but check with your doctor before you start either, just to be cautious.

Sources:

Alternative cellular ‘fuels’ boost immunity — Science Daily

Ketolysis drives CD8+ T cell effector function through effects on histone acetylation —Immunity

Van Andel Institute

The post The alternative fuel source that powers up your immune system appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

This phenomenon came further to the forefront during the pandemic, when it became clear that people with diabetes were more likely to develop severe lung disease after contracting a serious COVID-19 infection. In fact, about 35 percent of those with COVID-19 who died during the pandemic had diabetes. That’s roughly 1 in 3 COVID-19 sufferers!

Research shows that high blood sugar weakens your immune system, which not only means you’re more open to infection but that it takes longer for that infection to heal. What has been less clear is why.

Now, investigators at the Weizmann Institute of Science may have hit upon the mechanism behind the link between diabetes and more serious lung infections…

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How sugar levels affect lung dendritic cells

The researchers exposed diabetic mouse models to a variety of viral lung infections. Just as in humans with diabetes, the diabetic mice developed a severe, fatal lung infection following exposure to pathogens such as influenza. This resulted from severe impairment to the immune reaction that normally eliminates the infection and drives tissue healing.

To help unravel what’s behind this heightened risk, the team evaluated gene expression in more than 150,000 single lung cells of infected diabetic and nondiabetic mice — experimenting with immune and metabolic mechanisms and performing an in-depth assessment of immune cell gene expression.

“High blood sugar levels severely disrupt certain subsets of dendritic cells in the lung, preventing these gatekeepers from sending the molecular messages that activate the critically important immune response,” says Dr. Samuel Nobs, a postdoctoral fellow who was the study’s first author. “As a result, the infection rages on, uncontrolled.”

More importantly, they learned how high sugar levels disrupted the normal function of those gatekeeper cells: Altered sugar metabolism led to an accumulation of metabolic byproducts that disrupted the normal regulation of gene expression. This led to production of an abnormal immune protein.

Next, the scientists explored ways to prevent the harmful effects of these high sugar levels in lung dendritic cells. When blood sugar was closely controlled with insulin, the dendritic cells were able to regain their immune response capacity.

They also found administering small molecules reversed the sugar-induced dysfunction of the dendritic cells. Both of these protective responses could prevent the cascade of events leading to a life-threatening viral lung infection.

“Controlling sugar levels may make it possible to reduce this pronounced diabetes-associated risk,” says Eran Elinav, a professor at Weizmann. “In diabetic patients whose sugar levels are not easily normalized, small molecule drugs may correct the gene alterations caused by high sugar levels, potentially alleviating or even preventing severe lung infection. Local administration of such treatments by inhalation may minimize adverse effects while enhancing effectiveness, and merits future human clinical testing.”

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Tips on reducing lung infections

While these results are encouraging, they’ll need to be duplicated in humans before any therapies can be developed.

Until then, if you have diabetes, it’s imperative to make sure your blood sugar is well-controlled to avoid complications in general. And it turns out that a group of foods recommended by The American Diabetes Association (ADA) can help in more ways than one…

As part of the ADA Diabetic Plate method, they advise:

• Fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and leafy greens.
• Fill one-quarter of your plate with protein that’s minimally processed and low in fat, like chicken, fish, tofu or beans.
• Fill one-quarter of your plate with carbohydrates like fruit or whole grains.

Now, pay close attention to what I’m about to tell you about the foods listed in the first bullet…

Like your gut, your lungs have a protective lining or barrier. It’s made up of two layers: one of endothelial cells and one of epithelial cells. The layers allow oxygen to enter, but they must also be strong enough to keep pollution, viruses and bacteria out.

Research has identified a gut-lung axis linking diet to protection against lung infection via the endothelial cells in one of those layers. The food they found that offers the most support for your lung’s protective lining is cruciferous vegetables. So adhere to the recommendation to add broccoli and cauliflower to your plate.

Next, keep your omega-3 levels up. A large two-part study found that higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood correlated with better lung function and reduced rates of decline in lung function.

Lastly, if you do find yourself hospitalized with a severe lung infection, brushing teeth twice daily during your stay may reduce the risk of serious respiratory complications.

Sources:

1. Why people with diabetes are more prone to respiratory risk — EurekAlert!

2. Lung dendritic-cell metabolism underlies susceptibility to viral infection in diabetes — Nature

3. Tips for Eating Well — American Diabetes Association

4. Protein — American Diabetes Association

5. What superstar foods are good for diabetes? — American Diabetes Association

The post Why diabetics have higher risk of severe lung infections appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

You’ve probably heard of T-cells, those powerful disease-fighters we all need.

But have you ever wondered why they’re called “T” cells and not “B” or “F” cells?

The “T” stands for thymus, a small gland located in the chest, between the lungs and behind the breastbone.

Your thymus is the organ that produces those powerful T cells and “trains” them to recognize invaders, like bacteria or viruses, and not to attack your body — which otherwise could lead to autoimmune disease.

But for a long time, the thymus has not been considered important in adult life…

Convention has held that it begins to shrink into adulthood and by the time you’re 65, it’s pretty much “done for” — the result of an aging immune system.

But when researchers looked at the gland in older Swedes, they found it may be possible to head off this degeneration — giving us an opportunity to revive the little gland that’s key to a lifetime of good health…

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Fatty thymus reflects aging of the immune system

The SCAPIS study (Swedish cardiopulmonary bioimage study) examined CT scans of the thymus gland in 1,000 Swedish individuals aged 50 to 64.

At the same time, they analyzed cells in their blood and saw that individuals with fatty degeneration of the thymus showed lower T-cell regeneration.

Dr. Mårten Sandstedt of the Department of Medicine and Health Sciences at Linköping University described certain conditions that made fatty degeneration of the thymus more likely to occur — and they’re the same factors that lead to fat in other areas of the body…

“We saw a huge variation in thymus appearance,” he says. “Six out of ten participants had complete fatty degeneration of thymus, which was much more common in men than in women, and in people with abdominal obesity.

“Lifestyle also mattered. Low intake of fibers in particular was associated with fatty degeneration of thymus.”

Professor Lena Jonasson of the Department of Medicine and Health Sciences at Linköping University, says that this finding presents an opportunity to support our thymus before it’s too late.

“This association with T-cell regeneration is interesting. It indicates that what we see in CT scans is not only an image, it actually also reflects the functionality of the thymus.

“You can’t do anything about your age and your sex, but lifestyle-related factors can be influenced. It might be possible to influence immune system aging,” she says.

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Slim down your thymus

Clearly, adding some fiber to your diet can only help your immune system. It can also support your health in a multitude of other ways — but most importantly it can help you avoid the abdominal fat associated with a fatty thymus.

One study showed that for every 10 additional grams of fiber people eat, their visceral fat (the type that collects deep within the belly) shrinks. 

There are a few other things you can do to support an aging thymus so hopefully, it can keep supporting your immune system…

• Get more antioxidants. One study found that antioxidants — including vitamin C — can protect the thymus from free radical damage and some of that age-related thymus shrinkage.
• Reduce wheat in your diet. Research has shown that a chemical in wheat called wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) contributes to thymus shrinkage.
• Supplement zinc. It’s the most important mineral your thymus needs. Correcting a zinc deficiency may prompt the thymus to grow and start generating T cells again.
• Avoid artificial sweeteners. Studies have found artificial sweeteners like sucralose shrink the thymus gland in rats.
• Try tapping. Tapping your chest over your thymus gland may stimulate a sluggish immune system. Try tapping the center of your chest, below your collarbone, for 15 to 20 seconds a few times a day. Hum as you do for even better results.

Sources:

Immune system aging can be revealed by CT scan — Science Daily

Complete fatty degeneration of thymus associates with male sex, obesity and loss of circulating naïve CD8+ T cells in a Swedish middle-aged population — Immunity & Ageing

How the immune system’s key organ regenerates itself — Medical Express

The post Scans revealed how to slow immune system aging appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Regular exercise is preventive medicine. It can lessen your risks of ending up with heart disease, diabetes, even cancer.

Not getting even a modest amount of exercise, like walking, is why “couch potatoes” do not fare well when it comes to living a long, healthy life.

But did you ever wonder exactly what it is about exercise that helps prevent disease? I mean, what’s happening in your body when you exercise, and how does it keep you healthy?

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have been giving it a lot of thought as well. And they’ve found that it’s more than getting your heart pumping that keeps illness away…

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Exercise triggers T-cells that control inflammation

Back in April of 2006, Harvard Health Letter published a paper titled “Inflammation: a unifying theory of disease? Research is showing that chronic inflammation may be the common factor in many diseases.”

Jump to 2023 and Harvard researchers may have the answer to beating it — one that explains the long list of health benefits attributed to exercise…

In a new study, Harvard researchers analyzed what happens in cells taken from the hind-leg muscles of mice that ran on a treadmill regularly. They compared this with muscle cells of mice that ran only once, as well as with mice that were sedentary.

The muscle cells of the mice that ran on treadmills, whether regularly or only once, showed classic signs of inflammation — higher levels of chemicals that promote inflammation.

But both groups also had elevated levels of T-cells in their muscles. And further analyses showed that in both groups, those T-cells lowered exercise-induced inflammation.

Elevated T-cell levels were not seen in the muscle cells of sedentary mice, however. And in the absence of T-cells, their muscle exhibited unrestrained inflammation, marked by the rapid accumulation of inflammation-promoting cells.

“The villain here is interferon”

These muscle cells in the mice that didn’t get exercise also had excessive amounts of interferon, a chemical known to drive inflammation. Further analyses revealed that interferon acts directly on muscle fibers to alter mitochondrial function and limit energy production. 

“The villain here is interferon,” says Kent Langston, first author of the study. “In the absence of guardian Tregs [T-cells] to counter it, interferon went on to cause uncontrolled damage.”

“Our research suggests that with exercise, we have a natural way to boost the body’s immune responses to reduce inflammation,” says Diane Mathis, the study’s senior investigator. “We’ve only looked in the muscle, but it’s possible that exercise is boosting Treg activity elsewhere in the body as well.”

That could certainly explain the mountains of research confirming the positive effects of exercise where inflammation was a common denominator — from slowing brain aging to lowering liver stenosis.

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Exercise is the superhero

Interferon is known to promote chronic inflammation, a process that underlies many chronic diseases and age-related conditions. That’s why researchers see it as a tantalizing target for therapies aimed at reducing inflammation.

At the same time, T-cells have garnered great interest as potential treatments for a range of immunologic conditions marked by abnormal inflammation.

But if we manage to get our muscles moving on a daily basis, there’s no need to rely on the next wonder drug to beat back inflammation.

If high-intensity or even moderate-intensity workouts are difficult for you, start walking to live longer.

And there are a few nutritious ways to lower inflammation as well…

The polyphenols in your morning cup of coffee are twice as effective at controlling inflammation when you add some milk.

Other plant foods rich in polyphenols also combat inflammation, including onions, green tea, and red grapes.

Turmeric, ginger and black cumin seed oil are particularly good at controlling inflammation. They are immune system modulators, meaning they help keep inflammation in check so it doesn’t run free and wild to cause harm, but let it do its thing when it’s necessary to heal injuries.

And for those times when you indulge in junk food (we all do, right?), a blend of any of these 13 common spices will serve to get the resulting inflammation under control.

Sources:

Some benefits of exercise stem from the immune system — Eureka Alert

Regulatory T cells shield muscle mitochondria from interferon-γ–mediated damage to promote the beneficial effects of exercise — Science Immunology

Leucocytosis after violent exercise — The Journal of Medical Research

Exercising muscle combats chronic inflammation on its own — Science Daily

The post Exercise’s immune response trigger reveals how it fights disease appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

My husband is a good example. While I seem to catch every bug that’s going around, he shrugs them off almost every time.

The key likely lies in the immune system. This complex network of cells and organs protects the body from infection by recognizing and destroying “intruders” like the bacteria, viruses and fungi that cause disease. The immune system is also a central player in fighting off cancer.

We know the immune system can malfunction in some people and become weak and underactive. Researchers have been exploring this phenomenon to get to the root cause, and in the process they’ve discovered something interesting at the molecular level….

How T cells get exhausted

One issue with an insufficient immune system is that the T cells gradually lose their ability to fight off invaders — a condition known as T cell exhaustion. A team of researchers in Germany has clarified the molecular mechanisms controlling this.

The exhaustion process can be traced to the mitochondria. These “powerhouses” are responsible for converting fuel into energy for all the cells in your body in a process called respiration. When mitochondrial respiration fails, it triggers a cascade of reactions that ends in the reprogramming of T cells and their eventual burnout.

To demonstrate that mitochondrial dysfunction is the actual cause of T cell exhaustion, the researchers developed a new genetic model that paralyzes mitochondrial respiration in T cells by switching off the mitochondrial phosphate transporter (SLC25A3).

Turning off SLC25A3 forces the T cells to switch to alternative metabolic pathways to meet their energy demands. This metabolic adaptation increases production of reactive oxygen species in the T cells. These elevated levels of oxygen radicals prevent the degradation of a particular protein (HIF-1-alpha) that, when it accumulates in the T cells, causes them to be reprogrammed and speeds up their exhaustion.

“This HIF-1-alpha-dependent control of T-cell exhaustion was previously unknown,” says Dr. Martin Vaeth at the Institute for Systems Immunology at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg. “It represents a critical regulatory circuit between mitochondrial respiration and T cell function, serving as a ‘metabolic checkpoint’ in the process of T-cell exhaustion.”

What this means is this process may be counteracted through pharmaceutical or genetic enhancement of cellular metabolism, increasing the T cells’ longevity and functionality.

Improved immunotherapies

Vaeth says the researchers are optimistic that their findings will contribute to improved cancer immunotherapy. For example, CAR-T cell therapy has shown great effectiveness in treating leukemia and lymphoma. CAR-T cells are lymphocytes engineered in the lab to fight the respective form of cancer.

However, when it comes to solid tumors, CAR-T cells tend to get exhausted, limiting their success in fighting these forms of cancer.

“Our experiments demonstrate that augmented mitochondrial metabolism also increases the longevity and functionality of virus-specific T cells in chronic infections,” Vaeth says. Therefore, it’s plausible this strategy could be harnessed to enhance T cell-based immunotherapies for cancer.

The next step for the researchers is to explore how mitochondrial respiration influences the epigenetic programming of T cells as well as the way T cell metabolism interacts with the local tissue microenvironment. The latter is particularly important because the nutrient supply and oxygen tension in tumors differ considerably from healthy tissue. T cells must be able to actively respond to this challenging environment when fighting cancer.

The care and feeding of your mitochondria

As interesting as these results are, it will be years before they result in any therapeutics. Until then, there may be a couple of ways to help your own T cells avoid burnout by energizing your mitochondria…

One way is exercise. How does exercise help? It clears out the defective mitochondria through a process called mitophagy. And it gives your other mitochondria the kickstart they need to be more effective.

Consider this 3-minute HIIT workout. This high-intensity workout will not only juice up your mitochondria, it will also help improve your insulin mechanism and stave off insulin resistance.

Another way is to supplement pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), a powerful antioxidant that is believed to not only improve the function of mitochondria but may help replenish them.

Sources:

1. Immunology: disfunction of mitochondria drives the exhaustion of T cells — EurekAlert!

2. Mitochondrial dysfunction promotes the transition of precursor to terminally exhausted T cells through HIF-1α-mediated glycolytic reprogramming — Nature Communications

The post Immune system underactive? T cell burnout may be why appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Usually, a blue mood is temporary, while depression lingers, grows more intense and interferes with your day-to-day activities. With depression, symptoms like fatigue, lack of enthusiasm and feelings of worthlessness keep you from finding enjoyment or purpose in life.

The factors influencing depression are complex and researchers are still working to understand all the nuances. But one international team has made some fascinating discoveries about the role lifestyle plays…

Lifestyle could be key to resolving depression

These researchers examined data from almost 290,000 people in the UK Biobank followed over a nine-year period. The UK Biobank is a biomedical database of genetic, lifestyle and health information about its participants.

Of those 290,000 people, about 13,000 had depression. The team then took a look at a combination of components, including lifestyle, genetics, brain structure and the immune and metabolic systems to identify the roles they may play in depression.

Out of all those, they were able to identify seven healthy lifestyle factors linked with a lower risk of depression. Then, to weigh the impact of each factor, the researchers split the participants into one of three groups based on the number of healthy lifestyle factors they adhered to.

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And they weren’t too surprised to find the folks in the favorable lifestyle group (those who could tick off the most from the list) were 57 percent less likely to develop depression compared to those in the unfavorable lifestyle group. Those in the intermediate lifestyle group were 41 percent less likely.

They also learned that out of the seven lifestyle factors, getting between seven and nine hours a night of sleep made the biggest difference, so we’ll consider it #1. Regularly getting a good night’s sleep reduced the risk of depression, including single depressive episodes and treatment-resistant depression, by 22 percent.

The other six factors impacted depression risk accordingly:

• Frequent social connection reduced the risk of depression by 18 percent and protected the most against recurrent depressive disorder;
• Never smoking reduced depression risk by 20 percent;
• Regular physical activity by 14 percent;
• Low-to-moderate sedentary behavior by 13 percent;
• Moderate alcohol consumption by 11 percent;
• and healthy diet by 6 percent.

Interestingly, genetic risk had a much smaller impact on depression risk than lifestyle — and past research has shown that as well about other genetic conditions.

“Although our DNA — the genetic hand we’ve been dealt — can increase our risk of depression, we’ve shown that a healthy lifestyle is potentially more important,” says Barbara Sahakian, a professor at the University of Cambridge.

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How do lifestyle factors take depression down?

By examining MRI brain scans from just under 33,000 of the participants, the team was able to find several regions of the brain where the presence of more neurons and connections was associated with a healthy lifestyle.

They also studied biomarkers in the blood that indicated problems with the immune system or metabolism. Among those found to be connected to lifestyle was C-reactive protein, a molecule the body produces in response to stress, and triglycerides, one of the primary forms of fat the body uses to store energy for later.

Low vitamin D levels have been linked to C-reactive protein, also considered a chronic disease biomarker.

To put it simply, a poor lifestyle affects our immune system and metabolism, which in turn increases our risk of depression.

How to break the catch-22 of depression

All this is great news for helping to prevent depression. But what if you already have depression? In that case, it may be hard enough to make one lifestyle shift, let alone seven.

Ease into it by choosing one area to focus on, then take one step toward being healthier in that area.

For example, if you’re having trouble with exercise, try picking one type of exercise and doing it once a week to begin with. Yoga is a good choice because it’s been proven to help with depression. But even taking a walk around the neighborhood is a great start, particularly since on a sunny day it can give you a depression-fighting vitamin D boost.

As for diet, did you know some foods can help fight depression? Try adding a few to your daily menu, especially since they’re great for your overall health, too.

Sources:

1. Healthy lifestyle can help prevent depression — and new research may explain why — ScienceDaily

2. The brain structure, immunometabolic and genetic mechanisms underlying the association between lifestyle and depression — Nature Mental Health

The post 7 things happy people do that reduce depression by 57% appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Today’s scientific explorers are no longer hunting for a literal fountain of youth. But they are using sophisticated research methods to find ways to extend our lifespan and reduce our chances of disease.

Their latest discovery could be a giant step forward in this endeavor….

Naked mole rats and longevity

A team of researchers at the University of Rochester recently decided to take a closer look at the naked mole rat. These mouse-sized rodents live nearly 10 times longer than rodents of similar size and have shown resistance to age-related diseases like neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and cancer.

Two University of Rochester professors, Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov, have spent decades researching the unique mechanisms that naked mole rats use to protect themselves against aging and disease.

They previously found that high molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HMW-HA) is one mechanism behind the rodent’s unusual resistance to cancer. Naked mole rats have 10 times more HMW-HA in their bodies than mice and humans. When the HMW-HA was removed from naked mole rat cells, the cells were more likely to form tumors.

So, of course, the Rochester researchers wanted to see if the positive effects of HMW-HA could be reproduced in other animals…

To do that, they genetically modified a mouse model to produce the naked mole rat version of hyaluronan synthase 2 gene. This gene is responsible for making the protein that produces HMW-HA. While all mammals have the hyaluronan synthase 2 gene, the naked mole rat version appears to have stronger gene expression.

Results showed the mice with the naked mole rat gene had better protection against spontaneous tumors and chemically induced skin cancer.

But not only that — their overall health was improved, and their median lifespan was 4.4 percent longer than that of regular mice!

In addition, as the mice with the naked mole rat gene aged, they maintained a healthier gut and had less inflammation in their bodies. People tend to have higher levels of inflammation as they get older.

Immune system regulation could be key

More research is needed to determine exactly why HMW-HA has these beneficial effects. But the researchers believe it is because HMW-HA can directly regulate the immune system.

“It took us 10 years from the discovery of HMW-HA in the naked mole rat to showing that HMW-HA improves health in mice,” Gorbunova says. “Our next goal is to transfer this benefit to humans.”

The researchers are excited by the new possibilities for exploring how HMW-HA could be used to lengthen lifespan and reduce inflammation-related diseases in humans. They believe they can do this either by slowing the degradation of HMW-HA or enhancing HMW-HA synthesis.

“We already have identified molecules that slow down hyaluronan degradation and are testing them in pre-clinical trials,” Seluanov says. “We hope that our findings will provide the first, but not the last, example of how longevity adaptations from a long-lived species can be adapted to benefit human longevity and health.”

Boosting your own hyaluronic acid supply

As promising as these studies are, it may be years before they result in therapeutic applications.

In the meantime, you may be wondering if there is any way to increase the amount of HMW-HA in your body.

Hyaluronic acid is already widely used in cosmetics to help firm and plump the skin, and as an injection to relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis. There are oral hyaluronic acid supplements on the market, but unless they specifically say they contain high molecular weight hyaluronic acid, they may not have the same impact on your health.

But boosting the immune system and tamping down inflammation is not so elusive — and one common vitamin can do both.

C-reactive protein is a biomarker of inflammation in the body, and when researchers looked at data from almost 300,000 participants in the UK Biobank, they found a one-way relationship between low levels of vitamin D and high levels of C-reactive protein, expressed as inflammation.

Up to a third of Americans are believed to have insufficient or deficient levels of vitamin D.

According to Dr. Ang Zhou, the lead researcher of that study, “Boosting vitamin D in people with deficiencies may reduce chronic inflammation, helping them avoid a number of related diseases.” 

Sources:

1. Longevity gene from naked mole rats extends lifespan of mice — EurekAlert!

2. Increased hyaluronan by naked mole-rat Has2 improves healthspan in mice — Nature

3. Naked mole-rat — Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute

The post How naked mole rats may help us live longer and cancer-free appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Most of us are lucky just to make it through our fifties before developing multiple health conditions that could make reaching 80 or 90 a challenge at best.

Well, we may finally have the answer…

According to research by a team of scientists from Boston University School of Medicine, the secret to joining the ranks of centenarians is an incredibly powerful immune system…

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Youthful immunity into extreme old age

It’s not something we think about often, except when cold and flu season rolls around and we need a secret weapon to stay healthy, but your immune system plays a pivotal role in the function of the 30 trillion cells that make up your body.

Sadly, for most of us, a natural age-related decline in immune system function leaves us wide open to threats.

Because centenarians not only live longer but also experience delays in age-related diseases, scientists have theorized that their immune systems remain youthfully functional into extreme old age.

It’s a theory those Boston researchers decided to put to the test, assembling the largest dataset that delved into the differences between centenarian immune cells and those possessed by the rest of us.

Specifically, the team focused on sequencing peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) — a category of immune cells circulating in the blood of centenarians versus people of other age groups to evaluate cell composition and activity change with age.

And sure enough, centenarians seem to have exceptional immune system function…

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Better immunity for a longer life

The research confirmed that people who live to be 100 or more possess distinct immune cell type composition and activity and are blessed with highly functional immune systems that have successfully adapted to a history of sickness allowing for exceptional longevity.

According to the researchers, when people are exposed to infections and recover from them, their immune system learns to adapt. But this ability to respond declines as we age.

Yet, for those rare individuals, immune system decline is not in the cards.

As study senior author, Paola Sebastiani, PhD,  explains, “The immune profiles that we observed in the centenarians confirms a long history of exposure to infections and capacity to recover from them and provide support to the hypothesis that centenarians are enriched for protective factors that increase their ability to recover from infections.”

Because of this, the researchers believe that “Centenarians, and their exceptional longevity, provide a ‘blueprint’ for how we might live more productive, healthful lives.”

How can you keep your immune system functioning like a younger version of yourself? Well, previous research has shown that exercise can certainly help…

It has a unique effect on the thymus, a gland in your chest that produces T cells (those first-line defense cells that attack pathogens). The thymus tends to shrink into adulthood and produce fewer T cells. But researchers found that older endurance cyclists were producing the same level of T-cells as adults in their 20s!

Compared to the people who didn’t exercise, had a lowered immune system and were at higher risk for infections, the older cyclists had immune systems that were still capable of putting up a strong fight.

Sources:

Study finds centenarians possess unique immunity that helps them achieve exceptional longevity – ScienceDaily

The post Exceptional longevity tied to an exceptional immune system appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Too little can wreak havoc on your health by increasing your chances of developing heart disease, cognitive issues, kidney disease, high blood pressure, weaker bones, diabetes, stroke, obesity and depression.

Too much can actually put you at greater risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes than too little of it.

Clearly, the solution is to land in that “just right” sweet spot — of seven to nine hours of sleep a night.

By doing so, you’ll be supporting the health of your heart, brain, bones and metabolism — not to mention cutting down on infections….

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What’s sleep got to do with it?

Evidence already exists that sleep problems can raise your risk of infection. A previous study found people infected with rhinovirus were less likely to catch a cold if they reported healthy sleep.

To confirm this link between infection and sleep issues, a team of researchers in Norway collected 1,848 surveys of patients visiting their GP. The surveys asked them questions about their sleep quality and whether they had had any infections or used any antibiotics in the previous three months. The survey also included a scale to identify cases of chronic insomnia disorder.

The researchers found that patients who reported sleeping less than six hours a night (defined as chronic insomnia disorder) were 27 percent more likely to report an infection. They also had a higher risk of needing an antibiotic to overcome an infection.

Those who reported sleeping more than nine hours a night reported an even higher likelihood of infection: 44 percent.

“The higher risk of reporting an infection among patients who reported short or long sleep duration is not that surprising as we know that having an infection can cause both poor sleep and sleepiness,” says Dr. Ingeborg Forthun, corresponding author of the study. “But the higher risk of an infection among those with a chronic insomnia disorder indicate that the direction of this relationship also goes in the other direction; poor sleep can make your more susceptible to an infection.”

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Finding your sweet spot

We’ve written extensively about good sleep hygiene and the various natural steps you can take to fall asleep and stay asleep.

But first, it’s a good idea to keep a sleep journal to determine if you’re sleeping too much or too little. In this journal, you should record the following:

• The time at which you go to bed
• An estimate of when you fall asleep
• When and how often you wake up in the night
• Sleep quality
• How you feel when you get out of bed
• How you feel during the day

If after tracking your sleep for a few weeks you find that you’re consistently sleeping more than nine hours a night, you could be suffering from hypersomnia.

Hypersomnia could be caused by narcolepsy, sleep apnea, insomnia or other sleep disorders. Or it could be a symptom of another health condition like depression, anxiety, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic pain or hypothyroidism (also known as low thyroid).

Talk with your doctor and share your sleep journal with them so they can help you get to the root of your hypersomnia and correct the issue.

Many of the same tips that help with insomnia can help with hypersomnia. They include:

• Setting a regular sleep schedule. If you go to bed and wake up at the same time each day it will help you avoid sleep loss and feeling like you need to make up for it by oversleeping.

• Creating a bedtime routine. Your routine should help you relax and prepare for sleep. This means no electronics in the hour or two before bedtime, as the blue light they emit can delay sleep onset.
• Setting a proper sleep environment. Make sure your bedroom is at a cool temperature and is protected from excess light and noise.
• Keeping active during the day. Daily exercise and sunlight exposure help you sleep well at night. But don’t exercise too close to bedtime, as this can make it hard to fall asleep.
• Napping Early. If you’re going to nap during the day, make it earlier rather than later. Late afternoon naps can make it hard to fall asleep on time at night.

Sources:

1. Sleep too much or too little and you might get sick more, scientists find — Frontiers Science News

2. The association between self-reported sleep problems, infection, and antibiotic use in patients in general practice — Frontiers in Psychiatry

3. What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency? — National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

4. Too Much Sleep Can be Bad for Your Health — Premier Health

5. Oversleeping — Sleep Foundation

The post For infection prevention, hit the sheets appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

A common intermittent fasting schedule involves a 16-hour overnight fast that usually envelops breakfast before giving way to an 8-hour eating window. Of course, there are many reasons breakfast usually ends up on the chopping block…

But whatever the reason, skipping breakfast can have some serious repercussions…

In fact, it could have a detrimental effect on your ability to fight off infection and increase your risk of heart disease…

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Fasting may weaken the immune system

“There is a growing awareness that fasting is healthy, and there is indeed abundant evidence for the benefits of fasting,” says lead author Filip Swirski, Ph.D., Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Icahn Mount Sinai.  

“Our study provides a word of caution as it suggests that there may also be a cost to fasting that carries a health risk.”

The health risk Dr. Swirski is referring to is that skipping meals triggers a response in the brain that negatively impacts immune cells known as monocytes.

Monocytes are white blood cells made in the bone marrow that play many critical roles in the body, including fighting off infections, heart disease and cancer.

When examining blood work from mice, Dr. Swirski’s team noticed differences in the number of monocytes between two groups. One group ate breakfast right after waking up, with breakfast being their largest meal of the day. The other group had no breakfast.

At the beginning of the study, all mice had the same amount of monocytes. But after four hours, 90 percent of monocytes in mice from the fasting group disappeared. The number declined even further at eight hours. Meanwhile, the number of monocytes in the non-fasting group was unaffected by the passage of time.

When the researchers looked more closely, they discovered the monocytes in the fasting group traveled back to the bone marrow to hibernate — and production of new monocytes in the bone marrow diminished.

Monocytes in bone marrow typically have a short lifespan. But these monocytes survived longer in the bone marrow and aged differently than the monocytes that stayed in the blood. Then, after 24 hours when food was reintroduced to the mice in the fasting group, the monocytes hiding in the bone marrow surged back into the bloodstream within a few hours.

This lead to an increased level of inflammation. Instead of protecting the body from infection, these altered monocytes made the body less resistant to infection.

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Inflammation, stress and being “hangry”

This research is considered among the first to make the connection between brain and immune cells during fasting.

The study also demonstrated that fasting triggers a stress response in the brain that makes people “hangry,” a combined feeling of hunger and anger. This stress response is the mechanism that caused the monocytes to surge back into the bloodstream, increase inflammation and lower resistance to infection.

But their damage doesn’t stop there…

“Because these cells are so important to other diseases like heart disease or cancer, understanding how their function is controlled is critical,” he adds.

It may seem impossible to gain both the benefits of intermittent fasting and eating breakfast. But there may be one way to strike a compromise between fasting and breakfast: scrap dinner instead.

Many health experts recommend eating your largest meals earlier in the day anyway. So if your following the adage, “breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a pauper,” it won’t be that tough to skip what would have been a light dinner anyway.

Sources:

Skipping Breakfast May Compromise the Immune System — Mount Sinai

Monocytes re-enter the bone marrow during fasting and alter the host response to infection — Immunity

The post Why skipping breakfast means getting sick more often appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The downside of this is that lots of little things can go wrong. Some are annoying, while others can wreak havoc with our daily lives.

Very often, we blame ourselves for things like fatigue, skin rashes, or joint pain. Maybe I stayed out in the sun too long? Maybe I’m working too hard?

The fact is that many of these “little” mishaps are caused by problems with the functioning of the immune system.

The immune system 101

Your immune system is a complex network of cells and organs that protects the body from infection by recognizing and destroying “intruders”, i.e., the bacteria, viruses and fungi that cause disease.

The organs of the immune system are found throughout the body and include the lymph nodes, bone marrow, tonsils and spleen. They all have a role in producing lymphocytes, the white blood cells that fight intruders, and in sending them where they are needed.

As you might imagine, such a finely tuned system can malfunction sometimes.

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When your immune system is out of whack

An immune system that isn’t working properly can cause more problems than it cures. Your immune system can be weak and underactive, but it can also be overactive, or even attack your body by mistake (as in auto-immune diseases are on the rise in those of us over age 50).

Immune system problems can cause a range of symptoms, allergic reactions or persistent illnesses.

Here are 10 signs your immune system is in trouble:

Dry or gritty eyes. In Sjogren’s syndrome, your immune system dries up the tears that are meant to keep your eyes moist. Not only does this lack of moisture make the eyes feel dry and gritty like there’s sand in them, but it can lead to cornea damage.

Depression. An immune system that’s not working properly can send proinflammatory cytokines to the brain. Research has linked depression with an increase in cytokines in the body.

Skin rashes. It may surprise you to learn that both eczema and psoriasis (including psoriatic arthritis) are diseases linked to a faulty immune system. Your immune system attacks your own skin cells with inflammation, causing redness, flakiness and pain.

Stomach or bowel problems. These may sometimes be a sign of an immune system problem. For example, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and celiac disease are all driven by the immune system and have ties to leaky gut syndrome (a condition believed to make people more susceptible to autoimmune diseases).

Cold hands and feet. If your hands and feet turn white or blue in the cold, it could be that your thyroid gland is underactive and that your immune system is causing it. This condition is known as Raynaud’s disease.

Hair loss. We all see hair come out in our comb or brush, but if you’re losing patches of hair whenever you brush, you could have alopecia areata, caused when your immune system attacks and damages your hair roots. This is also a symptom of underactive thyroid.

Joint pain. Joints that become suddenly painful, swollen and stiff for no apparent reason could be a symptom of rheumatoid arthritis, in which your immune system inflames the tissue lining your joints.

Slow-healing wounds. A healthy immune system is quick to send nutrients to a wound to promote healing. With a sluggish immune system, on the other hand, even minor cuts, burns or scrapes could take a long time to heal.

You’re sick all the time. Everyone gets a cold now and then. But if you have four or more yearly ear infections, chronic sinus infections, pneumonia twice in one year, or you need antibiotics twice a year or more often, you could have an immune deficiency.

Fatigue. Extreme fatigue is often a tip-off that your overactive immune system is triggering inflammation. If you’re often feeling wiped out after simple physical activity, or feel like you can’t walk across the room, your immune system could be to blame.

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How to support your immune system

When it comes to strengthening you immune system for a healthy response there are two things to focus on: boosting and balancing.

Boosting the immune system is fairly easy. The two most effective ways to do that is via the right foods (nutrients) and exercise.

I’ve compiled a list of a dozen delicious foods that contain nutrients with well-researched impacts on the immune system.

As far as exercise’s impact on your immune system, it really doesn’t take that much. A 2005 study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise revealed that walking briskly for 30 minutes increased the number of natural killer cells, white blood cells and other important immune cells circulating in the body.

But balancing — or modulating — the immune system may take a little more work. An immune system that overreacts is part and parcel of autoimmune conditions. The black seeds of the Nigella sativa plant contain a compound called thymoquinone, considered to be an immune system modulator. In fact, in Egypt, the seeds are commonly used as medicine, spice and nutritional supplements.

Sources:

Symptoms of Immune System Problems Web MD

The post 10 signs your immune system is sending an S.O.S. appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Then as the day rolled on, things got worse.

Now you have a fever, possibly a cough and you can no longer deny the fact that you are sick.

Some people would see their doctor at this point. Others may wait to the point that a hospital stay is necessary. And still others, depending on existing health problems may end up hospitalized even sooner.

Of course, no one plans to get sick enough from infection to be hospitalized. But now there’s all the more reason to plan as much as possible to avoid landing in the hospital in the first place…

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One infection’s bad. Multiple infections are worse — for your brain

According to research performed by a team of researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, suffering from an infection in early to midlife that requires hospital care is associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease later in life.

And where one infection raises your risk, multiple infections during that time of your life send it spiraling higher and higher.

To make that determination, the researchers compiled an incredible amount of data from people diagnosed with three types of neurodegenerative disease over a 46-year period. They looked at Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

All in all, the researchers delved into the health records of over 406,000 people.

And what they found is that infection plays a role in the development of two of those diseases — Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s — but not ALS.

After combing through all of the data, their research showed that:

• Being treated in a hospital for an infection five or more years before diagnosis was associated with a 16% higher risk of Alzheimer’s and a 4% higher risk of Parkinson’s, whether the infection was caused by a bacteria or virus.
• The highest risk of disease was experienced by people who had suffered through multiple hospital-treated infections before the age of 40, with more than double the risk of Alzheimer’s and more than 40% increase in the risk of Parkinson’s.

Yes, you read that right…

Multiple infections make you twice as likely to end up with Alzheimer’s as someone who didn’t require treatment in a hospital and puts you at significantly higher risk of Parkinson’s.

To make matters worse, you may end up with the diseases far earlier in your life than you would expect.

“These findings suggest that infectious events may be a trigger or amplifier of a pre-existing disease process, leading to clinical onset of neurodegenerative disease at a relatively early age,” the researchers say.

“Hospital-treated infections, especially in early- and mid-life, were associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), primarily among AD and PD cases diagnosed before 60 years,” adds lead researcher, Jiangwei Sun.

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Keeping your brain healthy post-infection

If you’ve suffered an infection and had to be hospitalized, that research might sound scary.

But it might be better to look at it as a call to action to start taking steps to care for your brain right away to hopefully avoid becoming one of those statistics.

Luckily, we’ve already learned quite a bit about what habits can keep our brains on the right track — and reduce our risks of getting an infection.

First, to reduce your risk of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, getting regular physical activity is vital.

This includes walking, which helps develop the brain’s plasticity, or ability to repair itself, as well as yoga and tai-chi, which have even been found to reverse memory loss.

Exercise also boosts an important Alzheimer’s fighting hormone in your brain.

But don’t forget about the vitamin that could not only help shore up your immune system to help your body better fight off an infection — without hospitalization — but also acts as dementia repellant.

One of the easiest ways to boost your immune health is with vitamin D. The sunshine vitamin stimulates the body’s immune cells to help it fight off pathogens. And recent research shows vitamin D3 provides five times the biological activity of plain old D2. Not to mention that mounting research ties vitamin D deficiency with dementia.

And don’t forget the common-sense lifestyle habits that can make you less susceptible to infection…

Get plenty of sleep, drink alcohol only in moderation, limit stress and eat a well-balanced diet with little to no ultra-processed foods.

That last one is very important for seniors who suffer often from micronutrient malnutrition — which goes back to vitamins and minerals that may need to be supplemented if your diet is just not that good.

Sources:

Repeated Infections Associated With Increased Risk of Some Neurodegenerative Diseases – NeuroscienceNews.com

How To Prevent Parkinson’s Dementia – Parkinson’s Daily

The post Why a hospital stay could increase risk for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And while there are treatments available to help, including a blood clot-busting enzyme that’s delivered through injection and a surgical procedure that also removes clots, that doesn’t mean they can benefit everyone.

That’s because those treatments have to be administered very early after stroke in order to be effective. And many people can’t get to a hospital fast enough.

But there is good news.

According to research by a team of neurologists and immunologists from the University of Pittsburgh, a well-functioning immune system holds the best-kept secrets for maximum protection during a stroke…

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The role of immune response in stroke

Your immune system plays a vital role in stroke. The second a blood clot wedges itself in a blood vessel, your brain sends out an SOS signal calling for help from your immune system to clear out cellular debris, limit damage to your brain and kick-start repair.

The problem is, the way your immune system functions is extremely diverse and complex. And while some immune cells can be very beneficial, others can be detrimental to a damaged brain.

Now, those Pittsburgh researchers have discovered exactly which cells are the good guys: a unique subset of white blood cells that confer fast-acting and lasting protection against ischemic stroke.

Identified as CD8+ regulatory-like T cells (CD8+TRLs), these “first responders” swoop in during a stroke, attracted by a unique “homing” signal released by dying brain cells.

Within 24 hours after stroke onset, they reach the brain to do their work…

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“The beauty of CD8+TRLs is in their fast response. They confer very potent protection to the brain, which can last a long time,” said co-corresponding author Xiaoming Hu, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurology at Pitt and a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) investigator. “Most importantly, these cells are easily accessible because they circulate in the blood before they enter the injured brain.”

Because of this, the team is now focusing on creating shelf-stable and ready-to-use CD8+TRLs or a cocktail of neuro-protective signaling molecules released by those cells to help the hundreds of thousands of patients who are ineligible for other treatments.

“Despite the efforts of thousands of people devoting their careers to finding treatments that could benefit stroke patients, therapy options are minimal,” said co-senior author Jun Chen, M.D., Ph.D. “I have been working in this field for more than 30 years, and this is the first time I feel that I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, promising future clinical translation that will benefit patients.”

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Stroke prevention is the best medicine

Of course, as with anything, there’s no telling how long these breakthrough therapies may take to develop.

But there are steps you can take now….

Leverage the power of immune system modulators that promote a balanced immune response — since as the research showed “… different types of immune cells may play distinct beneficial or detrimental roles in a damaged brain.”

Thymoquinone is an immune system modulator found in the oil from the Nigella sativa plant. It helps balance immune response so it’s not overblown or, conversely, does not underperform. That way, the immune cells that carry out beneficial roles in the event of stroke are ready to do so.

Improve your body’s response to infection. A study review of the health records of over 190,000 stroke patients found that the risk of suffering an ischemic stroke was more than five times higher during the week following a hospital visit for a UTI, as compared to during the year before the infection.

The risk for bleeding within the brain itself following a hemorrhagic stroke was also higher following a urinary tract infection, as compared with septicemia or respiratory infections.

COVID-19 taught us that infection and inflammation can increase stroke risk. In addition to its ability to douse inflammation, research has shown that “…vitamin D3 appears to stimulate the type I interferon signalling system in the body — a key part of the immune system that provides a first-line of defense against bacteria and viruses.”

Ensure healthy circulation from head to toe. If you have no need to take a blood thinner, you can naturally support blood flow.

Passive stretching is the artery “workout” that improves blood flow. Research showed in just 12 weeks it increased blood flow and dilation and decreased arterial stiffness.

To help blood flow through healthy arteries, consider natto, the enzyme discovered in a traditional Japanese dish that offers fibrinolytic effects (keeps fibrin from going overboard to form clots).

Sources:

Fast-acting immune cells provide powerful protection against stroke — ScienceDaily

Common Complications After Stroke: What Are They and What Can Be Done? — Saebo

The post Is your immune system ready to protect you during stroke? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But a group of scientists from the United States, Italy and the Netherlands has found that getting rid of that inflammation to achieve short-term pain relief can have long-term consequences that are even more troublesome.

“Inflammation occurs for a reason, and it looks like it’s dangerous to interfere with it,” says Professor Jeffrey Mogil, who holds the E.P. Taylor Chair in Pain Studies in the Department of Psychology at McGill University.

“For many decades it’s been standard medical practice to treat pain with anti-inflammatory drugs. But we found that this short-term fix could lead to longer-term problems.”

That’s right. We’ve been treating our pain wrong all along…

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Anti-inflammatory drugs to treat injuries only make things worse

Professor Mogil and his colleagues started by examining the mechanisms of pain in both mice and humans.

They found that specialized immune cells known as neutrophils play a key role in resolving pain.

Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that helps the body fight infection. These cells are typically your body’s first-line defense again viral and bacterial invaders.

But when inflammation occurs due to injury, neutrophils set the stage for the repair of damaged tissue.

That’s why using anti-inflammatory drugs and steroids as an initial course of treatment for pain from an injury is counter-productive. In fact, they result in pain that lasts far past the initial stages of injury and recovery.

Short-term pain relief, followed by long-term pain

Experimental work with mice showed that blocking the action of neutrophils actually caused pain to last up to ten times longer than normal.

The use of drugs like dexamethasone, a commonly used steroid, had the same result — although they were effective against short-term pain.

So it seems that using steroids and anti-inflammatories to relieve the initial pain of an injury is a bad trade-off. It may make you feel better now but will result in years of unnecessary pain later.

And in case you’re wondering whether this is true in people as well as mice, these findings were indeed supported in an analysis of 500,000 people in the United Kingdom, where those who treated pain with anti-inflammatory drugs were more likely to have pain up to ten years later.

People who used acetaminophen or other drugs did not experience long-term pain.

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Natural alternatives for pain relief and inflammation

“We discovered that pain resolution is actually an active biological process,” says Professor Luda Diatchenko of McGill University.

Other active biological processes are things like growth, respiration, excretion and digestion.

We don’t tend to interfere with these, right? So why get in the way of pain resolution? Clearly, we’re working against ourselves.

But how to take care of the acute pain that comes with a sprained knee or a cut on our finger?

One thing to do is to support a balanced response from your immune system so that when you face an injury, it responds in the most helpful way possible.

See, an overactive immune system will over-deploy neutrophils and cause unnecessarily high amounts of inflammation. But an underactive immune system won’t provide enough. Like Goldilocks, you need it to be just right.

Thymoquinone is an active compound found in oil from a plant known as Nigella sativa that’s considered an immune system modulator — meaning it helps balance the body’s immune response naturally.

Next, you should consider pain relievers that don’t interfere with natural inflammatory processes…

Vitamin D. Scientists at the University of London found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased inflammatory response in otherwise healthy people — and that supplementing with vitamin D dramatically reduces inflammation throughout the body. Previous research has also shown that vitamin D affects the body’s inflammation response in a way that lowers the sensation of pain.

Manuka honey. A natural topical wound healer, manuka honey can help you relieve much of the pain that comes from a skin injury without having to resort to anti-inflammatory drugs.

Cannabidiol. Yep, that’s right. CBD oil (not the stuff that gets you high) has been used to heal painful mouth ulcers. Fibromyalgia and arthritis pain yields to CBD.

And here are ten more natural pain relievers to keep on hand.

Sources:

Discovery reveals blocking inflammation may lead to chronic pain — Daily

Acute inflammatory response via neutrophil activation protects against the development of chronic pain — Science Translational Medicine

The post The pain mistake we’ve been making for years (even doctors!) appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In the following decades, more than 100 antibiotics have become widely available.

However, their ease of access led to overuse. Even though antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections, doctors have often used them to treat viral infections as well.

This has led to antibiotic resistance. And though it’s been a serious problem for decades, the medical community didn’t respond in earnest to this threat until the past decade or so.

Doctors doubled down on their efforts to scale back antibiotic use — and it seemed to be working…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that from 2012 to 2017, antimicrobial-resistant infections in U.S. hospitals fell by 27 percent. So, there was definite progress being made.

Then, the pandemic happened…

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COVID-19’s new wave of antibiotic resistance

According to the CDC, in 2020 antimicrobial-resistant infections and deaths increased by an overall 15 percent among seven specific pathogens that can cause pneumonia and infections of the blood and other parts of the body.

For instance, there was a 78 percent increase in infections caused by Acinetobacter which is resistant to carbapenem, the main antibiotic used to treat it. This bacteria can cause lung, blood, wound and urinary tract (UTI) infections, among others.

There was also a 32 percent spike in multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, which can include UTIs, upper respiratory, skin, bone and joint infections, as well as gastro and systemic infections.

A 14 percent rise was seen in vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), and a 13 percent increase in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections.

Fungal infections caused by resistant pathogens also rose in 2020. Candida auris infection rose 60 percent overall, and hospital-based infections caused by all other Candida species increased 26 percent.

Infection control took a hit

So, what caused these increases? According to the CDC, it was a combination of too many antibiotics and not enough infection control.

From March 2020 to October 2020, almost 80 percent of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 received an antibiotic. Sicker patients required more frequent and longer use of medical devices like catheters and ventilators, both of which raise the risk of infection.

Even though some may have been appropriate to control the risk for related bacterial or fungal infections, this high level of use can allow resistance to develop and spread.

During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 29,400 people died from antimicrobial-resistant infections commonly associated with healthcare. And nearly 40 percent of these developed the infection while they were in the hospital.

The pandemic also reversed the progress being made in cautious antibiotic prescribing. In the first year of the pandemic, patients with pneumonia-like symptoms of fever and shortness of breath were often given antibiotics as a first treatment option, even though these symptoms indicated COVID-19 was a virus for which antibiotics are not effective.

“This setback can and must be temporary,” says Michael Craig, director of CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Coordination & Strategy Unit. “The COVID-19 pandemic has unmistakably shown us that antimicrobial resistance will not stop if we let down our guard; there is no time to waste. “The best way to avert a pandemic caused by an antimicrobial-resistant pathogen is to identify gaps and invest in prevention to keep our nation safe.”

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How can you protect yourself

The CDC says it remains committed to the U.S. National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB) and will move forward by addressing gaps in the public health system and exploring investments in U.S. healthcare infrastructure.

In the meantime, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself from antibiotic resistance…

The first is to ask questions if you are prescribed an antibiotic. For instance, sinus infections are extremely common, and doctors and patients often take the antibiotic treatment route. But investigators have found that antibiotics aren’t necessary for a basic sinus infection — most people get better on their own.

Secondly, try to stay out of the hospital, since that’s the place you’re most likely to contract a resistant infection. But accidents and medical emergencies do happen.

That makes it important that you do things to shore up your immune system so it’s ready for battle, with or without antibiotics…

• Eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables—and few if any processed foods and red meat. In fact, consider the foods that decreased frontline workers’ risk of COVID-19 infection by 73 percent.

• Eat more garlic. Garlic contains a powerful compound known as allicin that has demonstrated antiviral, antifungal and antibiotic effects. It’s even been reported to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

• Get plenty of vitamins A, C and D as well as zinc, whether through diet or supplements to help boost your immune system.

• Take probiotics. Studies show that certain microbes that are part of a healthy gut microbiome can extend to your lungs and help protect them from pneumonia-causing microbes. Probiotics can also protect your gut microbiome against dysbiosis if you have to take antibiotics. But take them daily — not just when you get sick.

• Supplement omega-3 fatty acids when you have to take antibiotics. Fish oil was found to boost the effectiveness of antibiotics against Acinetobacter, mentioned above as one of the most troubling. “Fatty acids in fish oil render the bacteria more susceptible to various common antibiotics,” said microbiologist Dr. Bart Eijkelkamp, who leads the Bacterial Host Adaptation Research Lab at Flinders University.

Sources:

COVID-19 Reverses Progress in Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance in U.S. — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

9 Antibiotic Alternatives You Need To Have On Hand — Easy Health Options

Discovery and Development of Penicillin — ACS

Antibiotics — eMedicineHealth

The evolving response to antibiotic resistance (1945–2018) — Humanities & Social Sciences Communications

The post COVID’s surprising legacy: Making other infections more dangerous appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

As we grow older, the immune system naturally begins to undergo a process known as immunosenescence. This happens when your immune profile grows weaker because too many worn-out white blood cells are in circulation, and there are too few fresh, “naïve” white blood cells ready to take their place and attack new invaders.

This immunosenescence is associated with reduced vaccine efficacy in elderly people, as well as increased risk of pneumonia, cardiovascular disease and aging of the organs.

Even knowing all this, researchers still aren’t clear on what could account for drastic health differences between same-age adults. So, a team at the University of Southern California (USC) decided to explore whether there’s a connection between declining immune system strength and lifetime exposure to stress, a known contributor to poor health….

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Immune system aging can be sped up by stress

The USC researchers took a close look at a sample of 5,744 adults over the age of 50 from the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study (HERS). This national longitudinal study examines the economic, health, marital and family status and public and private support systems of older Americans.

The researchers measured exposure of these adults to various types of social stress by analyzing their answers to a questionnaire designed to assess their experiences with things like stressful life events, chronic stress, everyday discrimination and lifetime discrimination. Then, they analyzed blood samples from these participants.

As anticipated, those with higher stress scores in the questionnaires had older-seeming immune system profiles, with lower percentages of fresh disease-fighting white blood cells and higher percentages of exhausted white blood cells. This association remained strong even after controlling for education, smoking, drinking, body mass index (BMI) and race or ethnicity.

These results show that everyday stressors, traumatic events, job strain and discrimination all can prematurely weaken your body’s mix of immune cells, raising your risk of disease.

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How to offset stress-related immune aging

It can be tough to control all sources of stress. But the USC researchers believe there may be a helpful workaround if you take better care of the source of a critical component of your immune system…

T-cells mature in the thymus, a gland that sits just in front of and above the heart. When you get older, the tissue in your thymus shrinks and is replaced by fatty tissue, which reduces the production of these immune cells. Past studies have suggested this process is accelerated by lifestyle factors like poor diet and lack of exercise.

Interestingly, both these factors are also connected with social stress. That means Improving diet and exercise behaviors in older adults may help offset stress-related immune aging.

“In this study, after statistically controlling for poor diet and low exercise, the connection between stress and accelerated immune aging wasn’t as strong,” says lead study author Eric Klopack, a postdoctoral scholar in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “What this means is people who experience more stress tend to have poorer diet and exercise habits, partly explaining why they have more accelerated immune aging.”

Some good benchmarks to aim for are eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods and getting at least 30 minutes of exercise three times a week.

In addition, studies have demonstrated a few specific ways to help your thymus thrive:

• Ramping up antioxidant intake. A 2015 study found that antioxidants — especially vitamin C — can protect your thymus from free radicals and prevent age-related thymus shrinkage.
• Going grain-free. A 1993 study shows that a chemical in wheat called wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) contributes to a shrinking thymus.
• Getting enough zinc. Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center discovered that a zinc burst is a key regenerative factor that seemed to kick off the thymus’ renewal processes.
• Staying away from artificial sweeteners. Studies show that artificial sweeteners like sucralose shrink the thymus gland in rats.

The USC researchers also noted another target for intervention could be cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common asymptomatic virus in humans that’s known to accelerate immune aging. Like the viruses that cause shingles or cold sores, CMV is usually dormant, but high stress can cause it to flare up. When the researchers controlled the data for CMV positivity, they found a reduced connection between stress and faster immune aging.

Sources:

Stress accelerates aging of immune system, study finds — USC News

Social stressors associated with age-related T lymphocyte percentages in older US adults: Evidence from the US Health and Retirement Study — PNAS

The post Your immune system is aging faster and here’s why appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The concept of biological age — the idea that stress, fitness and other lifestyle factors can cause a person’s body to age either more slowly or quickly than their chronological age — is quite familiar to us by now.

Exercise, a good diet, staying mentally and socially active, are all confirmed ways to lower our biological age.

But there are 78 distinct organs in your body, each busy doing its own job. Have you ever wondered whether they all age at the same rate?

Well, as it turns out, they don’t.

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The goal: Preventing age-related disease

A Chinese research team from the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) has found that a person’s organs can age separately from one another and can have drastically different “ages,” despite being in the same body.

The researchers gathered data from 4,066 people between the ages of 20 and 45.

Why look at people this young when we’re talking about aging?

“The aging process in young healthy adults is still largely unknown,” say the researchers. “The organs of young adults are not yet heavily damaged, offering the possibility to prevent age-related diseases. Accordingly, we have chosen … a young cohort … with the aim of studying the early changes of aging.”

In other words, studying the organs of young and middle-aged people may open the possibility of discovering ways to prevent age-related diseases.

How the study was conducted

Each participant in this study gave a blood and stool sample, had a physical examination, and underwent imaging of the facial skin.

Using the information gathered, the researchers went on to determine an estimated ‘age’ for each participant’s kidneys, heart, liver, sex hormone, skin and gut.

They also assigned an age estimate to each person’s overall physical health, as well as their immune health and genomics (their “genetic health” as it pertains to aging and disease).

How our organs age differently

The researchers combined their findings into nine categories: gut, heart, fitness, liver, nutrition, skin, immune, renal (kidney) and sex hormone health. These categories were then compared to one another, looking for correlations between organs.

The strongest correlation found was between sex hormones and kidney health. In other words, healthy sex hormones seem to go with healthy kidneys. Sex hormone and kidney health both had a strong correlation with a healthy immune system.

Overall fitness level had strong correlations with heart and liver health and overall nutrition levels.

Kidney health and gut health was the only negative correlation found among the participants. In other words, when a person had a healthier gut, their kidneys were often less healthy, and vice-versa.

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Why the difference and what it means

One possible explanation for these different aging rates could be that the aging process occurs in every cell of the whole body. Each organ is composed of different cell types, and these various types of cells may age differently.

This is indeed an interesting phenomenon. But as far as living a long and healthy life, the advice is still the same…

Exercise is essential, and whether you’re 45 or 85, there’s an enjoyable form of movement out there just waiting for you to take it on! In the study a high fitness level was associated with having a strong heart, liver and skin.

Eating a balanced, whole-food diet, free of processed foods will add years to your life.

And, of course, anything you can do to control the stress in your life will grant you a longer, healthier life.

Sources:

Young at heart! Our organs can age at different rates no matter your overall health with a healthier gut often correlating with aged kidneys, study finds — dailymail.com

Distinct biological ages of organs and systems identified from a multi-omics study — Cell Reports

What Are the 78 Organs of the Human Body? — MedicineNet

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There’s a lot of caution about the potential for other serious variants — and scientists are digesting all they’ve learned to help us better handle things, hopefully before that happens.

These warnings remind us how important it is to keep our immune responses strong so that we’re ready to fight off anything that might come along.

But researchers at the University of Sydney have a warning about some extremely common medications that could make that harder for us to do…

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Immune system suppression in every dose

Those Australian researchers specifically looked at immune responses to taking paracetamol (what the Australians call Tylenol or acetaminophen), as well as other medications for fever and pain such as opioids and NSAIDs. However, that wasn’t necessarily their intention going in.

According to lead author, Christina Abdel-Shaheed, the purpose of the research to start was to study the possible impacts acetaminophen had during the pandemic. After all, this was one of the drugs many of us stocked up on when news broke that COVID had begun its spread.

“We decided to study painkillers and fever medications generally and were amazed by what we found,” said Abdel-Shasheed. “In 14 years of studying pain, this is the most important research I have been involved in.”

What the researchers discovered was that these medications, whether prescription or over-the-counter, can come with some unintended consequences.

These consequences have not been fully explored since, according to co-author, Professor Ric Day, research was still catching up with reality.

“One of the problems is that widely used medicines — such as paracetamol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, and corticosteroids such as prednisone, have been around for decades and in the past, we didn’t tend to consider their impacts on the immune system because it has been an under-recognized area,” he said.

And the reality their research revealed is that:

• Morphine (often given for pain after surgery, especially for cancer) suppresses key cells of the immune system and increases the risk of infection. This is especially worrisome for cancer patients who are already significantly more vulnerable to COVID-19.
• Acetaminophen, ibuprofen and aspirin can diminish the immune response needed when taken after vaccination to prevent mild fever or headache, potentially making the vaccine less effective, or even completely ineffective. This includes the mRNA vaccines used for COVID.

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Better choices for better immune response

Sadly, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this. Back in 2013, scientists at the University of Southampton found that the use of ibuprofen may worsen viral respiratory infections. And they suggested the drug might be interfering with an important part of the immune response.

With this new information, it’s important to remember that if you do see your doctor for a vaccine, taking Tylenol, Ibuprofen or Aspirin isn’t advised.

Additionally, if you’re on medication for pain, such as morphine, you may be at higher risk for infection, whether it’s COVID, the common cold, flu or other viruses.

Once again, this study has proved that just because millions may take a specific type of medication daily, it doesn’t mean it’s risk-free.

What else can you do? Many foods, supplements and vitamins have been researched for pain management. Here are 15 to consider.

Sources:

Are medicines affecting our response to infections like COVID-19? — The University of Sydney

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Because before penicillin, sunlight was a primary treatment for most ailments — especially for those of a bacterial nature.

And while sunlight as a health aid goes back to ancient Greece, it wasn’t until the late 1700s that a French doctor noticed his patient’s sores healed faster when exposed to sunlight.

A century later, those findings went largely unnoticed until a Danish doctor started noticing similar results.

Dr. Niels Finsen suffered from Niemann-Pick disease — a progressive thickening of the connective tissue of certain membranes in the liver, heart, and spleen. Eventually, he noticed that when he felt sluggish, time in the sun made him feel better.

This inspired his work on solar radiation, and its subsequent use as a treatment for smallpox, lupus, and tuberculosis. Later on, Dr. Finsen won the Nobel Prize in 1903.

Once word got out about the sun’s healing effects, heliotherapy — or sun therapy — exploded!

Championed by Swiss doctor Auguste Rollier, solaria — buildings designed to optimize exposure to the sun’s rays — were erected throughout Switzerland and eventually across Europe.

What made Heliotherapy effective?

It’s simple really. It comes down to one simple nutrient. An unassuming vitamin that, several years later, barely received credit for anything other than helping to strengthen bones.

Vitamin D — also known as the sunshine vitamin.

You already know that when sunlight hits the skin, a process begins that naturally produces vitamin D in your body. But what you may not know is that during this process, the sun’s U.V. rays also activate the gene expression of antimicrobial peptides known as cathelicidins.

These peptides are what give vitamin D3 its “germ-killing” properties. Studies show that cathelicidins stimulate the body’s immune cells and help it fight off infection.

Research published in 2020 recognizes that cathelicidins have direct antimicrobial activity against a broad spectrum of bacteria and viruses. These same peptides have even been shown to destroy tuberculosis.

So now when you look back on those turn of the century patients soaking up sun therapy — you know there really was some science behind the practice, even if they didn’t know exactly how it worked then!

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From sunshine to silent epidemic

Heliotherapy maintained its popularity for many decades, even playing an important role in the Spanish flu from 1917 to 1920. It was only after the discovery and mass-production of penicillin during World War 2 that interest faded.

But compared to sunlight, penicillin was fast! Instead of basking in the sun, people could swallow a pill and go on with their lives.

For doctors, scientists, and, eventually, pharmaceutical production, this was a new frontier.

Unfortunately, sunlight therapy and vitamin D took a backseat in both the public eye and public health because of the popularity of antibiotics.

Some scientists continued to research vitamin D, especially in regard to bone health, and found foods could be fortified with the vitamin — further curtailing any need for that sun to skin connection.

It wasn’t long before doctors started warning patients about the damage the sun could do to their skin, suggesting sunblock to avoid skin cancer.

But they didn’t know then they were also blocking out a valuable piece of the puzzle…

Only when the U.V. rays of the sun are involved in creating the form known as vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), does the gene expression take place that spurs those antimicrobial peptides into action. Vitamin D2, the form of the vitamin that was added to foods, was man-made and did not affect that gene expression.

This misunderstanding about the true form of vitamin D was only the first of many that have led to the silent epidemic we’re facing today…

The truth about vitamin D

In recent years, numerous studies have gone on to discover the head-to-toe benefits of vitamin D3 that go far beyond strong bones. But the disease connection to low levels of the vitamin is just the tip of the iceberg of what we’ve learned…

For starters, vitamin D3 provides five times the relative biological activity of D2. And now we know why…

A study published in the Frontiers of Immunology confirmed significant differences between the two types of vitamin D, with vitamin D2 having a questionable impact on human health. However, the study found that vitamin D3 could balance people’s immune systems and help strengthen defenses against viral infections.

Professor Susan Lanham-New, study co-author and Head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Surrey, explained their results show that vitamin D3 should be the favored form for fortified foods and supplements.

Only a handful of foods provide vitamin D3, including beef liver, egg yolks and cheese.

This means if you’re relying on fortified foods, not spending 15 to 20 minutes daily in the sunshine with 40 percent of your skin surface exposed, not eating 12 eggs a day or taking the right vitamin D3 supplement — you’re among the majority of Americans who are low in vitamin D or the 42 percent who are considered outright deficient.

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The science behind the benefits

So now that you know how it works, what benefits can you reap from improving your vitamin D3 levels?

Vitamin D and heart health:

Research in the journal Annals of the National Institute of Hygiene showed that getting the right amount of Vitamin D can reduce the risk factors of heart disease by 20 percent!

In that same study, those associated with vitamin D deficiency were more prone to high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and peripheral blood vessel disease.

Another study found the vitamin could even help heal or prevent cardiovascular damage!

Vitamin D and cancer:

The VITAL study, a rigorous, placebo-controlled study that spanned more than five years, found that vitamin D helped lower the risk of cancer spreading throughout the body by a full 17 percent.

And for those with a normal body mass index, they found that vitamin D helped to prevent the development of advanced cancer by as much as 38 percent!

Even more impactful was another study that showed when vitamin D was paired with calcium, it reduced the risk of getting any cancer by over 75 percent!

On the other hand, vitamin D deficiency was rampant among those with cancer! Previous research shows deficiency rates to be as high as 72 percent in some cases.

Vitamin D and boosting mood:

When it comes to naturally boosting your mood, everyone knows a little sunlight goes a long way. Now, we have the research to prove it!

According to one study, vitamin D protected against serotonin and dopamine depletion in the brain. Since both are feel-good neurotransmitters, it makes sense that the lower either of these hormones gets, the lower your mood goes. In this same study, those who were vitamin D deficient were at a 14 percent higher risk of depression.

Vitamin D and diabetes:

A group of researchers writing in the European Journal of Endocrinology did a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial over 6-months studying the effects of vitamin D and insulin.

Those supplementing with vitamin D experienced beneficial effects on both their peripheral insulin sensitivity and disposition index.

The researchers concluded that vitamin D helped increase insulin sensitivity, allowing the body to utilize blood glucose and blood sugar more effectively.

Vitamin D and the brain:

The Buck Institute for Research on Aging has shown that vitamin D3 suppressed an important pathology of aging and prevented toxicity caused by human beta-amyloid — the brain-killing plaques that signal Alzheimer’s disease.

Research leader Karla Mark, PhD., had this to say, “Vitamin D3 reduced the age-dependent formation of insoluble proteins across a wide range of predicted functions and cellular compartments, supporting our hypothesis that decreasing protein insolubility can prolong lifespan.”

Vitamin D and inflammation:

Maybe one of the biggest benefits of vitamin D is how it clobbers inflammation!

A study from the University of London found that vitamin D deficiency was associated with increased inflammatory response in otherwise healthy people — and that supplementing with vitamin D dramatically reduced inflammation throughout the body.

Belgium researchers conducted a similar study and found that critically ill patients with extremely low blood levels of vitamin D, saw blood evidence of inflammation dropping by more than 25 percent after supplementing.

Inflammation is considered the main factor in the “unifying theory of disease” and that’s why we could quite literally go on and on with examples of conditions that getting sufficient vitamin D3 could put an end to.

Vitamin D and the rise in autoimmune disease

Research shows autoimmune conditions (AI), like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, are 50 percent higher in older adults than they were 25 years ago.

This is not at all surprising when you realize two things:

1. Being deficient in vitamin D3 also means reduced expression of the antimicrobial peptides we talked about earlier — cathelicidins. And research has confirmed that reduced expression or total lack of the peptides has an impact on the development of autoimmune diseases.
2. Adults aged 55 and up are largely deficient in vitamin D.

Not only have they been scared away from the sun, but with age, it’s harder for the body to synthesize vitamin D3 naturally.

Not surprisingly, supplementing with vitamin D and omega-3s for five years reduced the occurrence of autoimmune disease in a study group of older adults up to 30 percent.

If you’re unsure about your D3 levels, your doctor can perform a blood test. But it is not necessary.

To raise and maintain adequate vitamin D3 levels, consider supplementing 4000 to 5000 IU daily. Check the label panel to be sure you’re getting D3 and not D2.

If you only take the daily recommended allowance, 600 to 800 IU, you might support your bones, but you’ll miss out on all the amazing benefits of this lost cure.

Sources:

The rise and fall of sunlight therapy – Los Angeles Times

History of the discovery of vitamin D and its active metabolites – Pubmed.gov

Is Vitamin D3 superior to D2? – Medscape

Niels Ryberg Finsen Biographical – Nobel Prize.org

Sunlight and the Protection Against Influenza – National Bureau of Economic Research

Health outcomes of vitamin D. Part II. Role in prevention of diseases – Pubmed.gov

Vitamin D supplements may reduce risk of developing advanced cancer – EurekAlert!

Effects of 6-month vitamin D supplementation on insulin sensitivity and secretion: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial – European Society of Endocrinology

Study questions the role of vitamin D2 in human health but its sibling, vitamin D3, could be important for fighting infections – Science Daily

Niemann-Pick — The Mayo Clinic

Vitamin D Promotes Protein Homeostasis and Longevity via the Stress Response Pathway Genes skn-1, ire-1, and xbp-1 — Cell Reports

Effect of vitamin D ₃ on the antimicrobial activity of human airway surface liquid: preliminary results of a randomised placebo-controlled double-blind trial — BMJ

Study shows vitamin D3 could help heal or prevent cardiovascular damage — MedicalXpress

Vitamin D and omega-3 supplements found to reduce autoimmune disease risk — MedicalNewsToday

Cathelicidins Modulate TLR-Activation and Inflammation — Frontiers of Immunology

The post Vitamin D: The secrets behind the lost cure appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Until recently, scientists thought the immune system remained mostly dormant unless the body was under attack from unfriendly microbes. But it appears our immune system doesn’t stop working when we’re healthy…

It has cells stationed all over the body that are busy performing vital functions — such as those related to energy production.

In fact, researchers recently discovered a link between the immune system and a particular mechanism within our bodies that’s become well-known due to the ketogenic (keto) diet…

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How the immune system converts fat into energy

According to results of a European study, the immune system continues to work in your body even when you’re at peak health to produce an energy source called ketone bodies. Researchers found the immune system causes the liver to produce ketones to help the body convert fat into energy when you’re fasting.

As you may know from following an intermittent fasting or keto diet plan, when we haven’t eaten anything for several hours, our bodies start drawing on our fat deposits for power.

However, some cells, like those in our brain, are not capable of burning fat. These cells depend on the energy produced by ketone bodies, which the liver forms by metabolizing fat. Ketones energize the body and allow us to function even if we aren’t eating anything.

Ketone production is the focus of keto and other popular weight loss plans that concentrate on cutting carbohydrates from our food so the body can begin burning fat instead. There have been studies that suggest ketone bodies may have a positive impact on risk factors for cardiovascular disease. And many people on the keto diet have reported improvements in diabetes, chronic pain and skin conditions as well as weight loss.

“We now believe that the immune system affects the production of ketone bodies in fit and healthy individuals,” says Anne Loft, a postdoc at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the University of Southern Denmark. “And given the beneficial effects of ketone bodies in various common metabolic disorders, this knowledge can hopefully also be applied to understand how the immune system is trying to keep the body in equilibrium when we’re sick.”

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Keto helps strengthen the immune system too

Keto not only works hand in hand with the immune system when it comes to ketones, it can actually boost your immunity as well. For instance, one study showed a keto diet caused mice to produce a particular type of T cell that helped fight off a serious strain of the flu virus.

Researchers are also exploring keto’s impact on chronic inflammation, a process that involves an overactive immune system. One study indicated the keto diet helped reduce a particular type of T cell that’s involved in the type of inflammation that leads to autoimmune disease.

And keto may also help support the immune system’s cancer-fighting potential. Some studies indicate keto can help decrease tumor tissue and stabilize tumors in cancer patients, as well as reduce the lactate level in cells and cause changes to metabolism in cancer cells.

More reasonable carb-counting

So if you’re looking for a natural way to boost immunity while promoting weight loss and heart health, the keto diet may be a good choice for you. And if you’ve been avoiding keto because you don’t think you can keep your carb count below the recommended 50-gram daily maximum, you can always go for a modified version that gives you more leeway.

Health experts note that you can still get significant health benefits even if you only lower your carbs to 120 grams per day maximum. To give you an idea of how much that is, here are some carb measurements for foods you might normally consider off-limits on a low-carb diet:

• Blueberries (1/2 cup) — 10 grams
• Yogurt (1 cup plain Greek) — 10 grams
• Corn tortilla (1 6-inch) — 12 grams
• Bread (1 slice) — 10-20 grams
• Flour tortilla (1 6-inch) — 15 grams
• Mashed potatoes (1/2 cup) — 15 grams
• Hummus (1/2 cup) — 15-20 grams
• Apple (1 medium) — 15-30 grams
• Corn on the cob (1 6-inch to 9-inch ear) — 20-30 grams
• Banana (1 6-inch to 9-inch) — 30-45 grams
• Baked potato — 40 grams
• Pasta (1 cup cooked) — 45 grams
• Rice (1 cup cooked) — 45 grams

With a 120-gram restriction on your carbs, you’ll be able to have blueberries and Greek yogurt for breakfast, a slice of bread with your lunch and a baked potato with your steak — all without breaking your carbohydrate bank.

Source:

The immune system also helps a healthy body — University of Southern Denmark

Diabetes and the Ketogenic Diet — Endocrine Web

Carbohydrate Food List — Michigan Medicine

The post The surprising way your immune system helps burn fat appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But not only is the mouth a gateway for viral invaders, maintaining good oral health can go a long way in helping your body fend them off.

However, it hasn’t been clear exactly how keeping your mouth healthy helped increase protection against viral infection — until now…

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Defend against gum disease, defend against viruses

Researchers have uncovered how the proteins produced by oral epithelial cells protect humans against the growth of viruses that enter the body through the mouth. In the process, they also discovered the same oral bacteria that cause periodontal disease can suppress the release of these proteins, leaving us increasingly vulnerable to infection.

According to the research, production and effectiveness of these protective proteins, known as interferon lambdas, can be reduced by the oral bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis, which causes periodontal (gum) disease.

“Our studies identified certain pathogenic bacterial species, P. gingivalis,which cause periodontal disease, can completely suppress interferon production and severely enhance susceptibility to viral infection,” says Juhi Bagaitkar, assistant professor in the University of Louisville Department of Oral Immunology and Infectious Disease. “These resident oral plaque bacteria play a key role in regulating antiviral responses.”

Viruses that infect the lungs and gastrointestinal tract often enter the body through the mouth. Some of these viruses include the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), herpes simplex, human papillomavirus (HPV) and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

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In addition to causing gum disease, P. gingivalis has been linked to several diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, kidney disease and rheumatoid arthritis. And studies have shown that periodontitis can lead to immune suppression, increasing susceptibility to viruses like HIV, herpes simplex and HPV.

The researchers plan to continue to improve their understanding of how interferon lambdas protect people from viruses, as well as how P. gingivalis compromises that protection. Through these efforts, they hope to come up with clinical approaches to support the protection provided by the interferon proteins.

How to fight off P. gingivalis and boost your oral microbiome

As we’ve noted in earlier issues, keeping good oral health comes down to following your dentist’s advice. Brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss once a day and visit the dentist twice a year for a cleaning.

If you want to reinforce your protection against P. gingivalis, there are some additional actions you can take:

• Using a therapeutic oral rinse can help reduce the amount of plaque and bacteria in your mouth. And as a bonus, studies have linked oral rinses to the deactivation of SARS-CoV-2.
• Eating fewer processed and high-sugar foods will help discourage the formation of harmful oral bacteria that feed on these foods.
• Taking a probiotic specifically formulated for the oral microbiome can help ramp up your defense against P. gingivalis and other harmful bacteria. Look for one containing BLIS K12 (Streptococcus salivarius), a strain that can help protect against inflammation and strengthen the immune system.
• Beetroot juice can alter the oral microbiome for better in a little as 10 days, according to research from the University of Exeter.

Sources:

UofL researchers reveal how oral bacteria suppress protection against viral growth — University of Louisville School of Dentistry

How Your Oral Health Affects Your Immune System — Dodds Dental

The post The link between oral health and viral defense appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

If you’re like most people, orange juice immediately came to mind.

But what is it about orange juice (or grapefruit juice, another citrus favorite) that makes it such a powerful cold fighter?

Vitamin C.

It supports your immune system. It’s thought to increase production of T-cells and B-cells, those white blood cells that are on the front lines, fighting infection in your body.

But there’s even more going on behind the scenes, and vitamin C isn’t the only nutrient at work.

A new study has revealed the other key to orange juice’s powerful immune support.

Why inflammation leaves your body defenseless against infection

Yes, it’s our age-old enemy, inflammation, back in yet another destructive role.

Inflammation, as a natural response to stress or injury in the body, for example, a sprained ankle, is okay, and even necessary for healing to take place.

But constant stress, as well as unhealthy habits like smoking and excessive alcohol, produce a chronic, low-grade inflammation that puts you at risk of pain, illness and disease, and accelerates the aging process.

Philip Calder, Professor of Nutritional Immunology at Southampton University in London, puts it this way:

“A weak immune system increases susceptibility to infections… One component of the immune response is inflammation. Where inflammation is excessive or uncontrolled it can damage body tissues, sometimes irreparably.”

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Orange juice fights inflammation and improves immunity

Dr. Calder is co-author of a recently published research review that examined existing scientific studies, trying to understand just why orange juice is so darn good for our immune system.

After looking at evidence from nearly 200 different studies and reports, Dr. Calder’s research team concluded that the vitamin C, folate and polyphenol compounds in citrus juices fight inflammation and therefore improve our defense against bacteria and viruses.

“Citrus fruit juices are particularly good sources of vitamin C and folate, which have roles in strengthening the gut and skin barriers which are our first line of defense against viruses and bacteria.

“In addition, these nutrients which are absorbed well from fruit juices — support the function of many types of immune cells including phagocytes, natural killer cells, T-cells and B-cells,” says Dr. Calder.

The polyphenols hesperidin, narirutin and naringin found in citrus juices are anti-inflammatory. And ongoing research shows that they may even have direct anti-viral effects.

A word of caution

Before you start chugging that orange juice, a few words of caution.

First, read your labels carefully and be absolutely certain that what you’re buying is 100 percent fruit juice.

Added sugars can go under many “code names,” including evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, barley malt and galactose — and nothing inflames your body and brings down your immunity faster than sugar. Make sure none of these appear on the label of the juice you’re buying.

Even better, stick to organic orange juice. Not only will it help you avoid added sugars, but it will save you from ingesting toxic levels of poisons like glyphosate that will destroy your beneficial gut bacteria and devastate your immune system.

If you’re wise and careful, you can use nutritious orange juice (and grapefruit juice, if it’s your cup of tea) to keep your immune system strong and healthy throughout the year.

Sources:

Immune Support In A Glass: New Study Finds That Vitamins And Bioactives In 100% Orange Juice Help Shore Up Natural Immunity And Fight Immune-sapping Inflammation In The Body — prnewswire.com

Effects of Citrus Fruit Juices and Their Bioactive Components on Inflammation and Immunity: A Narrative Review — Frontiers in Immunology

The post A glass a day beats immune-zapping inflammation appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Unfortunately, the mere fact that I’ve taken antibiotics opens me up to a bunch of long-term risks…

Research shows that about 1 in 10 people deal with negative effects after taking antibiotics. This could include anything from chronic diarrhea to the sudden appearance of allergies to issues with blood sugar.

These negative long-term side effects not only occur because antibiotics kill the healthy bacteria in your gut (which is damaging enough in its own right)… they occur because antibiotics also kill intestinal epithelium cells, which perform some pretty important tasks for your body.

These cells help your body absorb water, glucose and essential nutrients and deliver it to the bloodstream. They also create a barrier between the bacteria in your gut and the rest of your body. When this barrier is damaged, you end up with a little something called leaky gut, which can have a wide range of negative effects on your health.

But of all the potential impacts antibiotics can have on your health, there’s one that’s starting to appear more common — and more serious — than all the others…

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) explained

Inflammatory bowel disease is a term used to describe two different conditions — Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Both of these conditions are caused by inflammation in the digestive tract and have similar symptoms… chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloody stools, weight loss and fatigue.

The difference between the two is the part of the digestive tract they affect. Crohn’s usually affects the small intestine (although, it can impact any part from the mouth to the anus). Ulcerative colitis affects the colon and rectum.

Depending on the severity, IBDs like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis can be very serious. Complications from these conditions can even kill you (although it’s rare). At the very least, they take a huge bite out of your quality of life by tethering you to the bathroom and in some cases preventing you from working and living a normal life. That’s why it’s a scary thought that taking antibiotics nearly doubles your risk…

Antibiotics are closely connected to new cases of inflammatory bowel disease

A new study from researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that people who have taken antibiotics have a much higher risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease than people who haven’t.

In the study, researchers looked at health records for close to 24,000 people with new IBD cases. They cross-referenced this information with data on antibiotics prescribed to these individuals. And they compared this data with health and antibiotic records from 28,000 of their siblings. They also looked at health and antibiotic data from 117,000 controls from the general population. What they found was alarming…

People who had taken antibiotics at some point in their lives nearly doubled their risk of developing IBD when compared to people who had never taken them. Of course, people who’d taken the most antibiotics seemed to have the highest risk of all. And a higher risk was also associated with taking antibiotics that had a greater spectrum of microbial coverage (i.e., killed a wider variety of bacteria).

“To identify risk factors for IBD is important, and ultimately our aim is to prevent the disease,” says senior author, Professor Jonas F. Ludvigsson. “Our study provides another piece of the puzzle and even more reason to avoid using antibiotics needlessly.”

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How to protect yourself from the antibiotic-IBD connection

If this study doesn’t scare you out of taking antibiotics when they’re not absolutely necessary, I don’t know what will. The problem is a lot of doctors are still pretty trigger-happy when it comes to prescribing antibiotics. Research from 2016 shows that antibiotics are the drug most commonly prescribed for conditions where they’ll have no real value.

So, be a savvy patient and don’t accept antibiotic prescriptions blindly. In fact, Choosing Wisely, an initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, recommends asking the following five questions before accepting an antibiotic prescription to reduce the odds of taking antibiotics unnecessarily:

1. Do I really need antibiotics? (If the issue you’re dealing with is a virus rather than a bacterial infection, the answer to this one should be no).
2. What are the risks?
3. Are there simpler, safer options?
4. How much do they cost?
5. How do I safely take antibiotics?

These questions are a good starting point for opening up an honest dialogue about antibiotics with your doctor. You can also turn to natural antibiotics for minor infections, like these:

• Manuka honey. Studies show Manuka honey can kill antibiotic-resistant Staph bacteria (a.k.a. MRSA). It’s also been shown to stop the bacteria behind chronic bladder infections and penetrate biofilms (thin layers of bacteria that adhere to your tissues). That’s an impressive skill since biofilms are notoriously antibiotic resistant.
• Oregano oil. Oregano oil contains a powerful plant compound called carvacrol, which has been shown to fight pneumonia, E. coli and MRSA.
• Olive leaf extract. Research shows olive leaf extract is highly effective against certain bacteria, like Campylobacter jejuni (a bacteria behind food poisoning), Helicobacter pylori (a bacteria that increases your risk for cancer) and Staph (including antibiotic-resistant Staph). It also knocks out several other foodborne pathogens, like Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella.
• Honokiol. Honokiol (a compound extracted from magnolia bark) has been shown in several studies to battle antibiotic-resistant Staph bacteria. It also fights bacterial biofilms just like Manuka honey.

Sources:

1. Antibiotic use has more unwanted effects than previously thought — Medical News Today.
2. What is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)? — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
3. Antibiotics associated with increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease — MedicalXpress.
4. Antibiotic use and the development of inflammatory bowel disease: a national case-control study in Sweden — The Lancet.
5. S. doctors still overprescribing drugs — CBS News.
6. 5 Questions to Ask Your Doctor Before You Take Antibiotics — Choosing Wisely.

The post Antibiotics double your risk of inflammatory bowel disease appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Now, before you get the wrong idea, I should make it clear that I don’t take those popular drugstore cough medicines that contain dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant that can make you feel loopy and even lead to addiction when used inappropriately…

I take a simple, natural cough medicine made from honey. And it tastes really good… even when I’m sick. But even more importantly, it’s effective. When I take it, my cough gets better.

Of course, I imagine a lot of people see the all-natural honey stuff on the shelf and think, “That’s not going to work, I need the serious stuff.” So, they buy Robitussin, Dayquil or Nyquil. But here’s the catch…

In the case of cough medicines, the popular stuff filled with potent (and potentially dangerous ) drugs doesn’t work better. The natural, simpler remedy comes out on top…

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A spoonful of honey helps your coughing go down

Now, I typically buy a cough medicine that contains honey along with a few other natural ingredients. But it turns out, I could simplify even more and still get great results… I could just use whole, natural honey.

A new research review from researchers at Oxford University found that honey is the most effective treatment for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) like colds.

These researchers analyzed data from 14 clinical trials that tested the most common treatments for URTIs, including over-the-counter cold and sinus medicines as well as antibiotics.

Honey was by far the most effective. It was 36 percent better than other treatments at reducing coughing and 44 percent better at reducing cough severity.

Even more amazing, it helped people recover from their infections faster. It knocked two days off their infection time on average… which means two fewer days of feeling miserable.

These researchers believe honey is so effective against URTIs because it contains hydrogen peroxide, which can kill bacteria. But as you know, many respiratory tract infections are caused by viruses, so there’s more to the story than just that. I believe honey’s known anti-viral properties come into play as well (although, researchers didn’t mention that specifically). Honey is also the perfect consistency to coat your mouth and throat, which helps soothe irritation.

Treat your next cough with honey

So, next time you have a cold or other upper respiratory tract infection, buy a jar of honey or a natural, honey-based cough medicine instead of those intense OTC cough medicines.

If you decide to use raw, natural honey instead of a prepackaged honey cough medicine, there are a few ways you can take it. You can simply take a spoonful of honey when you need a bit of cough relief. Or you can add a couple of teaspoons of honey to hot water along with some fresh lemon juice. This is a great way to soothe a sore throat.

You can even use honey when your children or grandchildren are sick. But whatever you do, make sure you don’t give honey to any child under 1 year old. It contains bacteria their bodies aren’t mature enough to digest and could cause botulism.

Sources:

1. Honey found to be a better treatment for upper respiratory tract infections than traditional remedies — MedicalXpress.
2. Effectiveness of honey for symptomatic relief in upper respiratory tract infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis — BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
3. Is it true that honey calms coughs better than cough medicine does? — Mayo Clinic.
4. Honey, not antibiotics, recommended for coughs — National Health Services (NHS) UK.

The post Honey beats medications at treating cough and upper respiratory tract infections appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Obesity claims the lives of nearly 3 million people worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization.

Obesity means having an excess amount of body fat (as opposed to being overweight, which means you have an excess amount of body weight that may come from muscles, bone, fat and water).

Research is indicating that being obese makes it far more likely that you won’t survive a COVID-19 infection and that if you do, it will be severe enough to require a ventilator.

What’s more, being obese means that a COVID-19 vaccine may not protect you at all…

Obesity causes chronic inflammation and poor immune response

Immunometabolism is an emerging field of study that looks at connections between our immune system and our body’s metabolic processes.

Research in this field is showing that obesity reduces our body’s ability to mount an immune response against invaders like viruses.

For starters, adipose tissue, better known as fat, contains chemicals that trigger inflammation. Interleukin 6 is involved in the inflammation behind coronary heart disease.

And chronic inflammation appears to interfere with the immune response needed for a vaccine to work.

Evidence of this goes back as far as 1985. Researchers have found that vaccines for flu, hepatitis, tetanus and rabies offered less protection to people who were obese.

The question is, will the same prove true for a COVID-19 vaccine?

Obesity means less protection

As we get older, our bodies become more susceptible to infectious diseases, something immunologists call immunosenescence, or the aging of our immune system.

That’s why adults over the age of 65 receive a “super-charged” flu vaccine. It contains more flu virus antigens, to help “jump-start” the immune response.

So, if you are over 65 and obese, you stand a double risk of not benefiting from a vaccine.

Dr. Raz Shaikh of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill predicts that any vaccine that is developed for COVID-19 and not tailored to the immune needs of the obese will not protect them from the disease.

The young and obese are at risk, too

If you’re younger and obese, that doesn’t guarantee that a vaccine will work for you, either.

Dr. Michaela Anderson is a pulmonologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.

She and her colleagues reviewed medical records for nearly 2,500 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in March and April.

“Increasing obesity was associated with an increased risk of lung failure or death in COVID-19,” said Dr. Anderson.

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Anderson and her team found that morbidly obese COVID-19 patients (those with a body mass index over 40) are 60 percent more likely to die or require intubation, compared with people of normal weight.

Patients who were mildly obese were 10 percent more likely to die or need a breathing machine, while those who were moderately obese were 30 percent more likely, according to the study.

But oddly, these numbers only seemed to apply to people under 65.

While people over 65 tend to develop respiratory failure due to age and health problems unrelated to weight (high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.), it’s worth noting that young and middle-aged people who are obese are at just as much risk.

Take extra precautions if you’re overweight

Based on this evidence, Dr. Anderson cautions people who are obese to be extra vigilant about minimizing their risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

“People who are obese and young may want to consider prolonged social distancing and minimizing risks for a little longer than people who are not obese,” she says.

It’s also means doing everything in your power to work on bringing your weight down.

Alexis Elliott, LCSW, LISW-CP, CDE, a health coach with specialties in diabetes, obesity, eating disorders and nutrition suggests starting with three small changes that include quitting soda (just one has 39 grams of sugar!), walking 20 minutes a day and giving up popular morning “foods” like muffins, doughnuts or sugary Starbucks coffee.

“The key to long-term weight-loss success is in continued small progress, the little daily victories that add up to bigger victory over time,” says Elliott. “Even if you don’t see progress on the scale, you can’t let it trip you up from moving forward.”

What will that look like? Though you could see rapid weight loss at first, expect it to slow down, but don’t give up. Long-term weight loss typically looks like this:

• 3 pounds per week during the first two months
• 3 pounds every two weeks during the third month
• 1 pound every other week after the first 12 weeks

Sources:

1. US obesity epidemic could undermine effectiveness of a Covid-19 vaccine — CNN Health
2. Obesity Ups Odds for Severe COVID-19, But Age Matters — Web MD
3. Increased risk of influenza among vaccinated adults who are obese — International Journal of Obesity
4. Body Mass Index and Risk for Intubation or Death in SARS-CoV-2 Infection — Annals of Internal Medicine
5. World Health Organization: 10 Facts on Obesity — World Health Organization
6. Why vaccines are less effective in the elderly, and what it means for COVID-19  — Medical Express
7. Losing Weight When You’re Over 250 lbs or Your BMI is Over 30 — Type 2 Nation

The post Obesity and poor immune response appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Pretty soon, people around you will start dropping like flies. Your sister, your coworker, your husband — they’ll all be laying limply on the couch with dirty tissues piled on their stomach. And you’ll be crossing your fingers that whatever bug brought them down won’t do the same to you.

Hopefully, you make it through this treacherous season unscathed. But chances are, you could end up breathing through your mouth for a week while one of this season’s big bad viruses makes itself at home in your nasal passages. That’s why I have some important advice to share…

Get enough zinc.

Although it’s not as common in the U.S., more than 2 billion people worldwide have a zinc deficiency. And it puts their immune system at a major disadvantage. People with zinc deficiency are much more likely to develop all sorts of infections.

Related: How to get over your cold quick and keep from spreading it

Research even shows that getting enough zinc can make colds less severe and keep them from lasting so long. But do you know the biggest advantage of getting plenty of zinc this time of year?

It protects you from one of the most dangerous cold and flu season pitfalls — pneumonia.

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Zinc is the best defense against pneumonia bacteria

Being stuck at home for a week with a sore throat, cough, stuffy nose and headache is bad enough. But even when you think you’re on the upswing, a very real threat could swoop in and make things much worse — Streptococcus pneumoniae, the bacteria that causes pneumonia.

Over 900,000 Americans end up with pneumonia every year, usually after contracting a cold or flu bug. And it could be because their zinc levels are low…

A new study from researchers at the University of Melbourne shows just how important zinc is for fighting off those nasty pneumonia-causing bacteria.

In the study, researchers examined how zinc intake affected Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in mice. Here’s what they found: Mice who didn’t get enough zinc succumbed to Streptococcus pneumoniae infection up to three times faster. Why?

Well, researchers used state-of-the-art imaging techniques to watch as the immune system sent zinc to infection sites to fight Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. So not having enough zinc, meant not killing as much bacteria. And not killing those bacteria means they’re able to propagate, thrive and make you very, very sick.

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The ABCs of getting enough zinc

So, now do you see why getting enough zinc is oh-so important during cold and flu season? The only question left is… how much zinc do you really need?

The National Institutes of Health says adult men should get 11 mg of zinc per day and adult women should get 8 mg of zinc per day. The highest amount of zinc anyone can take without experiencing negative side effects or zinc toxicity is 40 mg per day (and there are times when you may want to take extra, like when you feel a bug coming on).

Also, keep in mind, certain groups have a higher risk of zinc deficiency, like older adults, vegetarians, people with gastrointestinal diseases and pregnant or lactating women. So, if you fall into one of these categories, you’ll want to pay extra attention to your zinc levels. You may even need to take a supplement.

For most of us, though, it’s easy to get all the zinc we need from food. Here are the best zinc-filled foods to fuel your immune system:

• Spinach
• Flax seeds
• Beef
• Pumpkin seeds
• Seafood like shrimp, oysters, and crab
• Chicken
• Pork
• Chickpeas
• Cashews
• Oatmeal
• Yogurt
• Cheese

Sources:

1. Dietary zinc protects against Streptococcus pneumoniae infection — MedicalXpress
2. Dietary zinc and the control of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection — PLOS Pathogens
3. Zinc for the common cold—not if, but when — The Journal of Family Practice
4. How to treat a cold or flu at home — Medical News Today
5. What Causes Pneumonia? — American Lung Association
6. Zinc — National Institutes of Health

The post Your best defense against pneumonia this cold and flu season appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But the health promoting benefits don’t stop with the oil that comes from this tasty fruit of the olive tree…

In fact, the leaf of the olive tree contains a wealth of powerful health agents that lower blood pressure, improve heart health, and even lower the risk of cancer…

Olive leaves are “good medicine” too

Polyphenols are naturally occurring antioxidants found in whole foods like spices, dried fruits and vegetables, red wine and cocoa.

For nearly two decades, researchers have been exploring the health benefits of one such polyphenol found in abundance in olive leaf extract — oleuropein. Evidence of the far-reaching health benefits of this compound has been growing steadily…

Numerous studies have demonstrated that oleuropein has a positive impact on many aspects of our health, including:

• Weight control
• Cognitive functioning
• Arthritis pain
• Control of infection
• Cancer risk

Oleuropein limits fat storage

Researchers in Australia conducted the first study to show that olive leaf extract reduced fat stores in rats. For eight weeks, the rats were fed a high carbohydrate, high-fat diet until they developed signs of metabolic syndrome, including abdominal fat, fatty liver, and hypertension.

For the next eight weeks, half the rats were fed coffee that was fortified with olive leaf extract. This group showed cardiovascular and liver function compared to a group that was not fed olive leaf.

Promise for Alzheimer’s disease

Studies have shown that the phenolic compounds in olive leaf extract could slow or even prevent the onset of brain disease.

Olive leaf extract slowed and, in some cases, stopped brain cell damage in rats with a condition parallel to Parkinson’s disease.

In another study, mice with late-stage brain disease showed improved brain cell function after being treated with oleuropein.

And, there is evidence that olive leaf extract can prevent the development of tangled bundles of proteins that are thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease.

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Preventing and easing arthritis pain

Herbalists have long valued the anti-inflammatory powers of olive leaves to treat arthritis.

Modern research supports the extract’s ability to slow the development of both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. It appears to slow the production of inflammation-inducing molecules.

Olive leaf is also known as a way to reduce joint swelling in osteoarthritis.

Fighting infection

Olive leaves have a long history of fighting infection.

In the 1800s, the crushed leaves were brewed into teas to lower fevers and to treat malaria.

Since then, studies have confirmed the power of oleuropein to fight viruses, fungi, and bacteria.

A 2003 study clearly demonstrated the anti-microbial power of olive leaf extract. In the study, the extract killed almost all bacteria tested, including those that cause skin, genital, and oral infections. Harmful bacteria of the lower intestine were also killed.

And, in one particularly promising piece of evidence, researchers at the New York University School of Medicine saw the reversal of systemic changes associated with HIV-1 after treatment with olive leaf extracts.

Promise in the fight against cancer

The phytochemicals in the olive leaf have been shown to slow and even stop the growth of cancerous cells. In one animal study, it caused cancer cells to disappear in twelve days. The cells were described to crumble and fall apart, leaving no cancerous cells behind.

So far, researchers have reason to believe that oleuropein could prevent the development of cancers of the brain, bladder, breast, prostate, and skin.

How to use olive leaf extract

Although olive leaf’s effects on the body are generally positive, it’s best to check with your doctor before starting to use it, particularly in certain circumstances:

• If you take high blood pressure medication (olive leaf lowers blood pressure)
• If you are diabetic (olive leaf can lower blood sugar)
• If you take a blood thinner (olive leaf can increase their effect)

Once you get the OK, here are some tips.

Olive leaf capsules are filled with either powdered olive leaves (milder), or olive leaf extract.

If you use an olive leaf tincture, look for one without alcohol.

Olive leaf tea may be a better way to begin if you have any of the above-mentioned health issues. It is relaxing, has no caffeine, and is known to ease arthritis pain. Do your best to purchase leaves or tea bags where no pesticides have been involved in production.

The post Olives’ other health boosting secret you haven’t heard appeared first on Easy Health Options®.