Infectious Disease Archives

Apr

2018

Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Killed By Teixobactin

Antibiotic resistant bacteria killed by teixobactin would be a dream for infection specialists. In the last few decades drug resistance among antibiotics has become a major problem in chronic care homes and hospitals. Fortunately, an early 2018 publication announced that a research team from Lincoln, Great Britain was successful in synthesizing a new antibiotic, called teixobactin.

Origin of teixobactin

First of all, teixobactin is a peptide, and it comes from a soil bacterium that was difficult to culture. But a new culture method made it possible to isolate teixobactin. Subsequently the biochemists were able to create the identical antibiotic synthetically.

This moment likely is as important as the original discovery of penicillin. Experiments in the Petri dish and in mice show that teixobactin is a broad spectrum antibiotic, has no toxicity and treats all of the problem bugs that are associated with drug resistance. To the clinician it is a dream come true. For decades they hoped for an effective treatment for drug resistant bacteria. And now this seems to materialize. In the US there are 2 million drug resistant infections every year. More than 23,000 patients die from them every year.

Six problem bugs that are drug resistant

There are currently 6 problem bugs that have developed resistance. 1 in 4 nursing home patients may have one of these resistant bugs: carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter.

3 years ago a research team showed that teixobactin killed MRSA and VRE. The underlying publication by Ishwar Singh and colleagues described how cyclic peptides their research team has successfully synthesized teixobactin analogues. He said that these findings may “lead to the first new class of antibiotic drug in 30 years”.

Mouse experiments using teixobactin analogues

The next level of evidence came from mouse experiments. Ten analogues of teixobactin were tested on mice that had infections due to drug resistant bacteria.

One team working at the Singapore Eye Research Institute could show that mice that had Staphylococcus aureus keratitis (infection of the cornea with bacteria) achieved a cure of this infection with synthetic teixobactin. An additional observation was that the amount of swelling (edema) and inflammation that is part of the infection was quickly resolving with teixobactin. This additional anti-inflammatory effect of teixobactin is an asset that will be a necessity, when it comes to treating infections in patients.

At this point there have been no clinical trials. This is the next step before physicians can prescribe teixobactin for their patients. Dr. Singh said, “We are probably around six to ten years away from a drug that doctors can prescribe to patients”.

New antibiotic treats

antibiotic resistant tuberculosis

In addition to teixobactin there is another story that gives hope for cases of resistant tuberculosis. In an Iranian publication from August 2017 it is described how compounds from the Persian shallot have full antibiotic activity against known drug resistant E.coli strains.

The same antibiotic derived from Persian shallot is also effective against resistant tuberculosis. Dr. Sanjib Bhakta and Professor Gibbons from Great Britain said that their ability to synthesize the effective antibiotics is a great breakthrough. Prof. Gibbons said: “Natural products from plants and microbes have enormous potential as a source of new antibiotics. Nature is an amazingly creative chemist, and it is likely that plants such as the Persian shallot produce these chemicals as a defence against microbes in their environment. Dr. Bhakta and I will be dedicating our research to discovering new antibiotics and understanding how they function.”

Persian shallot-derived antibiotics

Dr. Bhakta tested the Persian shallot-derived antibiotics against various drug-resistant bacteria. There were inhibitory effects on Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis. But the most impressive inhibition (inhibiting growth by 99.9%) was against the tuberculosis bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Consequently this is a significant finding as drug-resistant tuberculosis strains have been on the rise killing a lot of people.

Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Killed By Teixobactin

Conclusion

Research has opened a door to a new era that will be ready for prime time in 6 to 8 years. Research has identified two groups of new antibiotics, synthetic teixobactins and Persian onion-derived antibiotics. They are both effective in preliminary in vitro and in vivo mouse experiments against drug-resistant bacteria. The most important effects are against Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and antibiotic resistant tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis). At this stage there is an urgent need to conduct clinical trials to get FDA approval for these new antibiotics. With this approval the new antibiotics are ready for use in clinical medicine against drug-resistant infections. In the antibiotic field no such finding of that significance has occurred in the last 30 years. In the US more than 23,000 patients die from them every year. It is high time that there is a cure for these infections.

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Jan

2018

Lyme Disease The Great Imitator

By Ray Schilling | Alzheimer’s disease, Arthritis, blood test, chronic pain, Infectious Disease, low back pain

Dr. Pamela Smith talked about Lyme disease the great imitator when she gave a presentation. This was at the 25th Congress of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, Dec. 14-17, 2017, which I attended. Dr. Smith gave a talk about how to approach a complex patient when multiple systems are affected. Part of that talk dealt with Lyme disease, which I will review below in some detail.

Transmission of Lyme disease

Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the US. As a result about 200,000 new cases of Lyme disease occur in the US every year.

The transmission occurs through ticks that that carry a spirochete, called Borrelia burgdorferi.

This bacterium, much as syphilis, which also is caused by a spirochete, produces imitator disease patterns. Clinically it can be a challenge to diagnose Lyme disease.

The common way of transmission to humans is by infected ticks that bite the skin. But Dr. Smith said that transmission of the spirochete can also occur by breastfeeding, blood transfusions, in vitro fertilization and finally by sex. Although originally Lyme disease infected ticks were found on deer, other species can also be carriers. Ticks from mice, foxes, raccoons, songbirds, chipmunks, and squirrels can also transmit Lyme disease.

Clinical presentation of Lyme disease

Only 30 – 40% of adults with Lyme disease have the characteristic rash of the “bull’s-eye lesion” (erythema migrans). With children this presentation is even less common (only 10% have erythema migrans). If there is a bull’s-eye lesion, this will last from one week to several months. A laboratory test using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA test) can confirm the diagnosis of the disease.

Disseminated early or late Lyme disease

Fatigue, headaches and weakness can be non-specific symptoms of Lyme disease. Furthermore, other non-specific symptoms like back pain, muscle and joint pains as well as chills can detract the physician from diagnosing Lyme disease. In addition irregular heartbeats, nausea, vomiting, swollen lymph glands, memory loss, gait problems, bladder and kidney problems are other symptoms. Finally, liver problems, sore throat, fever, seizures, depression, dementia, hallucinations, mood swings and arthritis can be other symptoms.Even eating disorders, verbal aggression, schizophrenia and suicide can be symptoms of Lyme disease.

Common symptoms that have a link to Lyme disease

Common symptoms of Lyme disease include headaches, fatigue, joint pain and swelling of joints, stiffness of the neck or back. There can be difficulties with concentration, speech or writing. Further symptoms are sleep disturbances, numbness or tingling of arms or feet and forgetfulness.

Lyme disease development

Borrelia burgdorferi can be found inside body cells and outside of cells as biofilms. This form makes them resistant as it allows Borrelia burgdorferi to exchange DNA and makes them resistant to antibiotics. There are also two major forms of Borrelia burgdorferi, namely cell-wall forms and cystic forms. Once the patient has been bitten by the infected tick Borrelia can quickly change shape into the more difficult to treat cystic form. Within 24 hours Lyme disease can spread to other parts of the body. Common such areas are the eyes, brain tissue and glial cells, heart, collagen, synovial fluid of joints and skeletal muscle fibers.

Lyme disease can also complicate many other diseases. These are ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, fibromyalgia, MS, bipolar disorder, neurological disease, heart disease (Lyme carditis) and autism.

Treatment of Lyme disease

Dr. Smith said that Lyme disease is often complicated by dysfunctional gut flora. She prefers to start patients on a sugar-free and gluten-free diet. The patient also has to take probiotics.
75% of Lyme disease patients show a cure after three weeks of Doxycycline 100 mg twice per day. Alternatively cefuroxime 500 mg twice per day is a medication of choice.
Cefuroxime only treats the cell‐wall forms. Doxycycline treats the intracellular forms. Metronidazole or tinidazole will help to eradicate the cystic forms of Lyme disease.
Grapefruit seed extract is another treatment modality if the patient is allergic to Metronidazole. It eradicates the cystic form of Lyme disease.
Serrapeptase from whole leaf stevia extract will also help to eradicate Borrelia biofilms and persisters.
Monolaurin, a coconut oil extract is effective in treating all three morphological forms of Borrelia burgdorferi.

Patients with neurological symptoms

Patients with neck stiffness, headaches or neuropathy need treatment for a longer period of time. These patients also need monitoring for recurrent Lyme disease at the end of the treatment.

Case presentation of a patient with Lyme disease

Dr. Smith presented one of her patients with Lyme disease in detail. She was a 45-year old executive. She suffered from extreme fatigue. It took quite a few tests to find out that her antibody titers against Lyme disease were very high.

Here is her long list of symptoms: hair loss, four urinary tract infections in quick succession, brain fog, extreme fatigue, systemic pain, musculoskeletal pain, anxiety and depression, eczema, psoriasis, itching, stomach ache, trouble eating, weight loss of 12 pounds, flu, strep presented like meningitis.

Comprehensive treatment of patient with Lyme disease

Dr. Pamela Smith instituted a comprehensive treatment protocol. It turned out that she had developed gastritis, which was the reason for her weight loss. This needed conventional treatment. After the treatment with antibiotics, her energy picked up, and her appetite came back. She also engaged in yoga and other self-awareness programs. She deliberately slowed down her lifestyle activities. Her symptoms were mostly gone or significantly diminished. She was able to function. She experienced energy, joy, and could focus again. The only symptoms left were some mild pain, some bladder problems, some limitations with her diet and mild brain fog.

Husband had Lyme disease

Part of the work-up was to test her husband for Lyme disease. He tested positive. He was also treated although he was entirely asymptomatic. When his treatment was finished, the doctor tested him for a specific antibody and this came back as negative. This meant that he now was free of Borrelia burgdorferi and would no longer be able to infect her. The doctor thought that it was most likely through sex that she had contracted Lyme disease. The problem is that some people are completely asymptomatic, but nevertheless they can be carriers of Lyme disease.

Lyme Disease The Great Imitator

Conclusion

Lyme disease, the great imitator, has become a more common disease in the US and around the world. Years back Lyme disease was often overlooked. But lately physicians have diagnosed Lyme disease earlier as diagnostic tests have improved. With earlier treatment a lot of suffering of the patient can be prevented. But in many cases symptoms are confusing as Lyme disease involves several organ systems. This makes the diagnosis more difficult. By diagnosing Lyme disease earlier, treatment can start at an earlier stage, and the patient will soon return to a state of wellness.

Dec

2017

Mouth Flora And Your Health

By Ray Schilling | alcohol, Cancer, Infectious Disease

You may not be aware that there is a connection between mouth flora and your health. But a recent publication provided proof that certain bacteria can cause esophageal cancer.

Esophageal cancer from certain bacteria

In a 2017 publication a study of mouth flora from 122,000 people showed an association to two types of esophagus cancer. The finding was that the periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia had as association with esophageal adenocarcinoma. This cancer is originating from the glandular tissue of the esophagus. In contrast, the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis caused another histological type of esophagus cancer, namely esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. This cancer originates from the inner lining of the esophagus. In addition, two mouth bacteria showed a relationship with reduced risk of causing esophageal adenocarcinoma. These two common mouth bacteria were the Neisseria species and the species Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Clinical example of a patient with esophageal cancer

To illustrate this with a clinical case description, here is an example from another publication. This is regarding a man who suffered from esophagus cancer. Initially doctors were puzzled about his diagnosis. He was a 53-year old patient with chronic alcoholic liver disease. He had an increased white blood cell count. A blood culture isolated Parvimonas micra, which is a pathogen normally only living in the mouth flora. A gastroscopy as part of the work-up showed an invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. It had almost completely blocked the passage to the stomach. The pathological bacterium had accessed the blood circulation via the tumor mass in the lower esophagus. In the past physicians did not know about these associations.

Brush your teeth and floss every day

Brushing your teeth and flossing everyday controls the bacteria in your mouth. It prevents leakage of bacteria into your blood affecting your heart valves. Studies have shown that this also prevents heart attacks.

The literature on this is clear: chronic gingivitis has a link with bacteria in the mouth. They grow on the gums and can spread into your blood. They can then colonize in your heart valves and even in the lining of the arteries. This is particularly so in cases where there is already hardening of the arteries (arterial plaque). This can lead to heart valve disease like mitral valve disease. If this process occurs in coronary arteries, it can lead to heart attacks.This reminds you that there is a connection between mouth flora and your health.

Mouth wash

Many people feel they have “bad breath” and they need a mouthwash product. This is good marketing for companies that produce mouthwash. However, the truth is you need to be diligent about appointments with a dental hygienist, brush your teeth regularly and floss your teeth. If you suffer of constipation, increase your fiber intake and consider colonics. If you still think you have bad breath, use a natural mint product (read the ingredients). Why do I not like mouthwashes? They kill your mouth bacteria that are naturally there; this can disbalance the rest of your gut bacteria as you swallow part of the mouth flora when you eat or drink fluids. If you still want to use a mouthwash, use one without alcohol and without any carcinogens such as parabens. Also read this 2009 news item. It is as valid as it was then.

Chronic gingivitis and heart disease

It was not until about the mid 1990’s when it became apparent that gum infections and severe tooth decay could cause inflammation in the blood measurable by using the CRP marker (C-reactive protein). Dr. Joseph Muhlestein at the University of Utah demonstrated in 1996 that chronic gum infection could cause a heart attack. He isolated the bacterium Chlamydia pneumoniae in 79% of patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery, while samples from heart transplant patients isolated this bacterium in only about 5%. The new thinking was that bugs that multiply in diseased gums could migrate into the blood and cause platelets from the blood to clump together and block coronary arteries causing heart attacks. Also, restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention was more likely to occur, if the pathogen count of gum bacteria in the blood was higher.

Infectious causes of endocarditis and heart attacks

Harvard University researchers have confirmed this. In the past physicians did not know that a bad tonsillitis with an aggressive bacterium, Streptococcus viridans, could cause subacute endocarditis, a dangerous infectious disease of the heart valves, which can be responsible for sudden death in younger persons. Neglected cavities in teeth can also harbor this bacterium. Another study in 2009 showed that two particular strains of bacteria in infected gums, Tannerella forsynthesis and Preventella intermedia, showed a connection with an increased risk for heart attacks; but it was more the overall burden of bacteria in the infected gums than the specific bacteria strains that mattered most.

See your dental hygienist regarding your mouth flora and your health

Given this background it is easier to understand that we need to take good care of our teeth and gums, if we want to maintain good health. As a start most people should see their dental hygienist (who usually works in a dentist’s office) twice a year. The dental hygienist will probe the depth of gingival pockets with a periodontal probe. A normal depth measures up to and including 3 mm. Deeper pockets than that usually indicate that the patient did not floss the teeth regularly. One needs to floss at least once per day, better twice per day, and it should not bleed after flossing (initially when a person flosses for the first time the gums tend to bleed a bit).

What the dental hygienist does

The hygienist will do scaling of plaques on the tooth enamel. If the hygienist detects any cavity, he or she will bring it to the attention of the dentist. At the end of the scaling procedure the hygienist will apply fluoride, which puts a coating on the tooth surfaces to prevent tooth decay.

When deeper pockets (6 mm or more) are detected a trial of sub-gingival root brushings has shown to have a very beneficial result within only 14 days.

Periodontal pockets were improved and bacterial counts of periodontal infections also showed improvement.

Mouth flora in alcoholics

This 2016 study from Poland examined the mouth flora of 25 alcoholics. They were compared to the mouth flora of 25 patients from a periodontology clinic.

There were significant differences between the two groups. The alcoholic group had higher bacterial counts of these three strains: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema denticola. There was no difference in bacterial counts between those who drank only little alcohol compared to those who drank lots. The bacterial concentration in the sub-gingival flora was the same. Patients with severe periodontal disease had the same distribution of the three strains of bacteria as chronic alcoholics. However, the concentration of bacteria in alcoholics was much higher. This fact may explain why chronic alcoholics are very sensitive to infections. Alcohol inhibits the immune system, but stimulates the growth of sub-gingival bacteria, which find their way into the system and in serious cases can kill the patient.

Mouth Flora And Your Health

Conclusion

It is now a well-established fact that mouth bacteria play an important role in our health. Some of the healthy bacteria find their way into the gut providing the foundation of a healthy gut flora. But as described above there are also pathological bacteria that can multiply in our mouth cavity and our gums. This happens particularly in people who do not floss and who develop gingivitis and periodontitis. Tannerella forsythia was associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma. In contrast, the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis caused esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Streptococcus viridans could cause subacute endocarditis, a dangerous infectious disease of the heart valves. Tannerella forsynthesis and Preventella intermedia showed an association with an increased risk for heart attacks.

Bacteria associated with alcoholism

Here are three mouth bacteria associated with alcohol consumption and with chronic periodontitis. They are Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema denticola. Don’t let the strange sounding names of mouth bacteria confuse you. Fact is that these bacteria, when entered into the blood vessels and the rest of the body, will play havoc with your health. Keep brushing your teeth at least twice per day and floss your teeth conscientiously once or twice per day as well. This will improve your mouth flora and your health.

More info: https://www.askdrray.com/flossing-and-brushing-saves-your-heart/

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Aug

2017

Decreased Sperm Counts In Men

By Ray Schilling | alcohol, autoimmune disease, blood test, diet, Drugs, Hormones, Infectious Disease, Infertility, Medical Condition, toxins

What do decreased sperm counts in men tell us about our world? A recent study has shown that over the past 40 years males in many centers that tested for sperm counts have lost 50% of the sperm count that was normal in the 1970’s. The question is, what could have caused this? Nobody has definite answers. But here are the factors that the Mayo Clinic lists for low sperm counts.

Medical causes of decreased sperm counts in men

A varicocele: A varicocele is dilatation of veins close to the testicles. It is presumed that this leads to a higher temperature inside the testicles and this causes a lowered sperm count and poor sperm quality.
Antisperm antibodies can cause infertility. Due to low sperm counts.
Infections in the testicles reduce sperm production. Gonorrhea and HIV infection are some of the common infections.
Some men develop retrograde ejaculation. With this the sperm enter the bladder on ejaculation instead of coming out from the tip of the penis. Alpha-blockers, a type of blood pressure medication can do this as a side effect. But there are also various health problems that can cause retrograde ejaculation like diabetes, surgery to the prostate, urethra and bladder. Spinal injuries can be also a cause of retrograde ejaculations. In many cases the sperm production in the testicles is still present and sperm could be sampled from there for artificial insemination.
Tumors of the pituitary gland can interfere with hormone production of testosterone and sperm counts will fall or stop. But other pituitary hormones, thyroid hormone and adrenal gland hormones are needed for fertility.
Chromosome defects like Klinefelter syndrome and others can be a cause of abnormal development of the male genitals with low or missing sperm production.
Celiac disease is a bowel disease that is due to gluten sensitivity. It causes low sperm counts and infertility, which responds to a gluten free diet. Sperm counts normalize with this diet.
There are medications that can decrease sperm production like chemotherapy, anabolic steroid use, antifungals and certain antibiotic medications and some ulcer medications.

Lifestyle causes leading to decreased sperm counts in men

Certain lifestyles and occupations can cause a man to have a decreased sperm count.

Drinking alcohol excessively can reduce testosterone production, which decreases sperm count.
Recreational drug use: steroids to increase muscle mass cause testicular atrophy and decreased sperm count. Cocaine and marihuana also decreases the sperm count.
Certain occupations like welding from exposure to heat and truck driving from prolonged sitting have been associated in some studies with infertility. But there are other studies that could not confirm this correlation.
Smoking: Men who smoke have lower sperm counts than men who don’t smoke.
Excessive weight: Obese men transform some of their testosterone into estrogen through the action of the enzyme aromatase, which is amply present in fat cells. This leads to low testosterone levels and low sperm counts.

Environmental causes of decreased sperm counts in men

The environment in terms of heat production around the scrotum or exposure to chemicals or ionizing radiation can lower sperm counts in men.

Heat around the testicles: studies do not all agree, but there is a tendency for low sperm counts when using saunas and hot tubs frequently. Sitting for longer times or using a laptop computer for longer periods can also increase the temperature of a man’s scrotum and lead to a low sperm count.
Exposure to heavy metals like lead, mercury and others can be the cause of infertility.
Exposure to radiation can reduce sperm production. With high doses of radiation sperm production may cease entirely. With lower radiation exposures sperm counts may be down for several years before they recover to normal.
Industrial chemicals: exposure to fumes from certain chemicals can lead to low sperm counts; benzenes, herbicides, pesticides, xylene, toluene, painting materials and organic solvents are on this list.

Recent study about decreased sperm counts in men as an indicator

We have now reviewed the major causes of low sperm counts in men. I like to revisit the recent sperm study I mentioned in the beginning of this blog. It is unlikely that men in North America, Europe and Australia would spontaneously produce less than 50% of the sperm than men 40 years earlier had produced. The next puzzling fact is that the study found normal sperm production in men in Africa, South America and Asia.

This points to epidemiological differences that reduce the sperm count in men in North America, Europe and Australia. In view of the multitude of possible causes it will require a task force that does a comparative study worldwide looking at exposure history, diets, social habits and other factors.

Fertility clinics are thriving because couples want children. With low sperm counts of males there is more infertility than there was in the past. Density gradient centrifugation is a reliable method of enriching sperm counts.

In the past a couple had no problem getting a successful pregnancy when they wanted it. Now couples often have to be assessed in a fertility clinic because of problems with regard to decreased sperm counts in men, which can cause infertility.

Decreased Sperm Counts In Men

Conclusion

A new study has noticed that over the past 40 years many men have developed low sperm counts. This has caused significant problems with fertility among couples. Fertility clinics are busy trying to help these couples. Density gradient centrifugation has become a common technique to enrich sperm samples prior to artificial insemination. It is a puzzle why the recent study has found normal sperm counts in samples of men living in Africa, South America and Asia. In contrast men living in Europe, North America and Australia have 50% lower sperm counts. The reason may be multifactorial. It will require a team of experts to sort out this discrepancy and hopefully find an answer for men in Europe, North America and Australia to bring their sperm counts back to normal.

Jan

2017

Gut Bacteria Can Protect Your Brain

By Ray Schilling | Alzheimer’s disease, Autism, autoimmune disease, breast cancer, Cancer, Dementia, immune system, Infectious Disease, Inflammation, Nutrition, Obesity, organic food, Other neurological conditions, Parkinson’s disease, Prevention

The neurologist, Dr. David Perlmutter gave a keynote address where he pointed out that gut bacteria can protect your brain. The topic of his actual talk was “Rewrite your brain’s destiny” and the venue was the 24^th Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine (Dec. 9-11, 2016) in Las Vegas. Many of the talks centered around the gut microbiome. Specifically, in this talk Dr. Perlmutter stressed the fact that the right mix of gut bacteria will protect your brain, while the wrong mix can make you sick. There were many slides, but too much information to mention all of details of the talk here. With this in mind, I will summarize the broad outline of Dr. Perlmutter’s presentation and certainly emphasize the practical implications this has for everyday life to prevent degenerative brain diseases.

A few facts

Did you know that the brain uses 25% of the body’s energy, but has only a 3% of the body’s weight?

There are trillions of gut bacteria

The gut flora has trillions of gut bacteria with its own DNA material. 99% of the DNA material in our body comes from the gut bacteria and the bacteria on our skin surface; only 1% of the entire DNA in the body is your own DNA. We are eating for 100 trillion bacteria, but it is important to remember that if they are good bacteria they provide us with important vitamins and they produce molecules that stimulate our immune system.

We need healthy gut bacteria

This means we better have bacteria in our guts that are friendly, not the bad bacteria that can cause us problems. An Italian study determined the gut flora of children in central Africa (Burkina Faso) and compared the gut flora to children from developed countries in Europe. There was a significant difference with the African children having a healthy microbiome in the gut and the children from developed Europe having unhealthy gut bacteria. This is important new information. Many other research papers have established that leaky gut syndrome and autoimmune diseases are linked to dysbiosis, which is the name for the unhealthy microbiome in the gut.

Chronic inflammation

Dr. Perlmutter showed several slides where literature was cited showing that chronic inflammation in the civilized world is increasing. He also showed that dysbiosis (unhealthy gut bacteria taking over) is also increasing. On several slides Dr. Perlmutter showed that in civilized countries like Iceland, Denmark, Germany, the US, Japan and others the bacterial diversity of the gut bacteria in people was vastly reduced compared to the diversity of gut bacteria of people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria or rural India.

Diminished gut bacterial diversity causes more Alzheimer’s disease

The same countries that have diminished gut bacterial diversity (dysbiosis) also have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand the same countries with diverse gut bacteria have a low incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. When infestation with parasites was examined there was also a parallel between increased parasitic stress and low Alzheimer’s disease rates, again in countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria or rural India. The same countries where gut dysbiosis was present the parasitic infestation was low.

Further research has established that gut dysbiosis leads to an inflammatory condition of the gut where lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from gut bacteria are absorbed causing inflammatory reactions within the body.

Leaky gut syndrome causes neurological diseases

At the same time this leaky gut syndrome can cause obesity and leakage in the gut/brain barrier as indicated in this link. The result is neuroinflammation, cognitive impairment and vulnerability to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Our most dreaded brain diseases come from inflammation: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, autism, multiple sclerosis etc. These are degenerative brain disorders due to chronic inflammation. If you eat a lot of red meat, sausages and processed foods your gut microbiome will undergo negative changes. If you eat healthy food with lots of vegetables, fruit and you cut out sugar and too many starches, you have a healthy microbiome, which develops a robust immune system. We have to rethink the gut/brain connection and learn how to prevent these chronic illnesses.

Obesity and gut dysbiosis

The link above showed that obesity has a connection to inflammation. It was also shown with MRI scans that the part in the brain, called hippocampus was shrivelled up (atrophied). This is a typical sign of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The investigators also confirmed with mental health functional tests that these patients had cognitive decline.

Another study also noticed that in a group of obese patients the hippocampus part of the brain was shriveled up the more obese people were. Obesity and dysbiosis of the gut flora are part of the same problem.

Practical application: the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet are both healthy, balanced diets, strikingly different from the Standard American diet. In a study the hypothesis was tested whether the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet would postpone dementia in a group of elderly patients. The answer was: yes, the hypothesis is true.

What does gut dysbiosis do?

It was shown in mice that chronic inflammation of the gut through ingestion of an irritant (dextran sodium sulfate) led to reduced new nerve growth in the hippocampus compared to control animals. It only took 29 days to show a marked difference between experimental and control animals in terms of reduced growth in the nerve cells of the hippocampus, the center of cognitive control.

The gut wall released inflammatory kinins, which were the negative mediators affecting the brain.

Antibiotic residue and Roundup in food causes gut dysbiosis

Antibiotic treatments and antibiotic residues in milk, milk products, meat, but also in all GMO foods are the irritants of the gut wall in humans. The antibiotics change the gut flora and lead to dysbiosis, which then causes gut wall inflammation and the cascade of events described above. The new finding is that GMO food contains RoundUp (they are “Roundup ready” crops). The herbicide Roundup was originally patented as an antibiotic and still leads to significant dysbiosis. Dr. Perlmutter urged the audience to buy organic food as the only method to reduce our exposure to Roundup. Roundup contributes to causing celiac disease and gluten intolerance in addition to exposure to the modern wheat (Clearfield wheat). The FDA is starting to do testing on foods for Roundup (glyphosate).

Roundup linked to cancer

If things are sounding bad for Roundup, it only gets worse: Roundup has now been linked to causing cancer. In medicine it usually takes some time before the effect becomes obvious is. The agriculture industry has embraced the use of Roundup; I suspect that denial will be the first line of defense. My first line of defense in turn is to stick to organic food.

To sum up: Roundup and the Standard American diet lead to dysbiosis in the gut, which causes leaky gut syndrome. This causes inflammation with the release of cytokines and LPS from the gut wall to the blood. These substances cross the blood/brain barrier and lead to inflammation in the brain. This affects the hippocampus with the classical sign of shrinkage.

Chronic inflammation and neurological disease

But Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, autism in children and Alzheimer’s disease in older people are all caused by chronic inflammation. There are three more brain-related diseases that are related to gut inflammation: stroke, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dr. Perlmutter spent some time explaining that antibiotic overuse even leads to an increase of breast cancer as a Danish study has shown. Antibiotic use showed a linear increase of breast cancer as a result of increased antibiotic amounts used. The highest group had a twofold risk compared to a control group with no antibiotic use. Dr. Perlmutter interpreted this to indicate that chronic gut inflammation can even cause a disease like breast cancer.

What can we do to diversify our gut bacteria?

Exercise: A recent study has shown that regular exercise is associated with a diversified gut flora. The reason seems to be the production of butyrate with exercise, which leads to a diversified gut flora. LPS levels (lipopolysaccharides from gut bacteria) are lower in people with a higher fitness score.
Eat a DASH diet or the Mediterranean diet as indicated above.
Avoid GMO foods because of the presence of Roundup, which functions like an antibiotic and leads to gut bacteria dysbiosis.
Remember “Antibiotics are weapons of mass microbial destruction”. If you need to take them be careful that you rebuild your gut flora with probiotics. Use of antibiotics increases the risk of type-2 diabetes by 1.53-fold. It also causes a quadrupling of Alzheimer’s disease.
A woman should consider natural childbirth whenever possible, as with a vaginal birth the child gets into contact with gut bacteria. Vaginally delivered children remain healthier than children delivered by Cesarean section for several years.
Acid-suppressing medications and NSAIDs (anti-inflammatory medication for arthritis) can also lead to dysbiosis. Proton pump inhibitors increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 44%.
Prebiotic fiber can prevent Alzheimer’s. Probiotics do the same.
Avoid sugar: even the Oompa Loompa knew that “If you eat sugar, you get fat”. Obesity and gut dysbiosis cause a higher risk of degenerative brain diseases.
Take magnesium supplements (250 mg twice per day) and DHA from fish oil capsules. It stabilizes your brain metabolism.
In severe, persistent cases of gut dysbiosis a fecal transplant can be considered by your gastroenterologist. This procedure takes place in more than 500 hospitals in the US.

Gut Bacteria Can Protect Your Brain

Conclusion

The diversity of gut bacteria is immensely important. As discussed, in rural areas of the world there is gut bacteria diversity. In civilized parts of the world dysbiosis of the gut flora frequently occurs. This can lead to gut inflammation and the inflammation eventually becomes internal and can even reach the brain. These are the points to remember: exercise; avoid GMO foods, use prebiotics and probiotics. Avoid antibiotics; also avoid meat from animals that were fed antibiotics for faster growth. Don’t eat processed foods and avoid sugar. A healthy gut creates a healthy body, and this includes a healthy brain as well.

Dec

2016

Spironolactone Helps Against Herpes Infections

By Ray Schilling | Infectious Disease

There are limited numbers of antiviral drugs for herpes, but certainly now research showed that spironolactone helps against herpes infections. Spironolactone is an older heart medicine that helps with cardiac failure, but it is also used in unwanted hair growth in women with a hormone disbalance, called hirsutism.

Dr. Swaminathan and colleagues have shown in new research from the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT that spironolactone blocks the multiplication of herpes viruses.

Common herpesvirus infections

Although there are 100’s of different herpes virus strains, you will recognize some of the following names.

Herpes, type 1 (HSV-1)

HSV-1 causes cold sores on the lips or inside the mouth.

Herpes, type 2 (HSV-2)

HSV-2 is the cause of genital herpes.

Herpes, type 3 (HSV-3)

HSV-3 causes both chickenpox and shingles (herpes zoster). When the immune system is immature, it presents as chickenpox (mostly in children). But when there is partial immunity from a chickenpox childhood infection, shingles can present in an aging person as a localized shingle infection (medically called “herpes zoster”). An interesting vaccination study showed that vaccination against varicella caused a suppression of chronic HSV-1 so that there were no more cold sores compared to the non-vaccinated group that did.

Herpes, type 4 (HSV-4)

You may know HSV-4 as the Epstein-Barr virus. It is the cause of infectious mononucleosis. Other names for this disease are glandular fever or “kissing disease”.

Treatments for herpes infections

The typical antiviral treatments for HSV-1 and HSV-2 are acyclovir (Zovirax), famciclovir (Famvir), and valacyclovir (Valtrex). As a matter of fact, all these drugs belong to the same pharmacological class of drugs. The same drugs work for chickenpox and shingles/herpes zoster (HSV-3).

In a 2013 publication researchers gave acyclovir (Zovirax) to patients who had been hospitalized with infectious mononucleosis.

They had a shorter duration of hospitalization and fever than a control group not treated with acyclovir. The authors did propose that patients with mononucleosis should receive acyclovir.

Drug-resistant herpes strains

One problem that has surfaced is that herpes drug resistant herpes strains seem to evolve, which are resistant to all of the newer anti-herpes drugs as well. The reason for this is that current anti-herpes drugs work by inhibiting the ability of the virus to replicate DNA, thus stopping its proliferation. When the virus learns to overcome that barrier we call this resistance and this will also affect all of the drugs that utilize the same mechanism of action.

The team from the University of Utah screened several drugs and came upon spironolactone, which is a standard medicine for treating heart failure. Dr. Swaminathan and his team found that spironolactone was also able to stop the viral proliferation, however the drug blocked the virus through a different mechanism. Spironolactone inhibited the action of a protein, the SM protein.

This different mechanism of treating herpes virus infections has opened a new door to further research for newer drugs. Hopefully these new drugs will only have the anti-herpes virus effect, but not the anti-heart failure effect. Dr. Swaminathan is confident that his team will be able to separate these two actions and then come up with a new group of anti-virus drugs.

Spironolactone helps against herpes infections, has few side-effects

Spironolactone has been on the market for over 50 years and has a very good low side effect profile. It is useful for people with heart failure to reduce the retained fluid that can accumulate around the heart or in the lungs. This allows the patient to breathe easier and have more energy. Spironolactone also helps with fluid accumulation in patients who have cirrhosis or have nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disease.

In a completely different set of patients spironolactone can help women who produce too much male hormone in their ovaries. This normalizes the hormones and help them lose the awkward, unwanted facial hair growth.

Some generalized side effects are: mild nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Breast swelling or tenderness can develop. Dizziness, headache and mild drowsiness can occur. Some people develop leg cramps. Males can experience impotence and difficulties having an erection.

Spironolactone Helps Against Herpes Infections

Conclusion

It is not often that an existing drug that has been well researched in the past finds a new application in a completely different area than originally developed for. This is the case for spironolactone, which is effective as an anti-herpetic drug. Further research will likely be able to separate the anti-viral effect of spironolactone from the anti-heart failure effect. Dr. Swaminathan and his team did not think that this was too difficult a problem. In the meantime physicians can use spironolactone for severe herpetic infections when the other drugs do not help. These may be cases of drug resistance.

Overall the detection of an anti-herpetic effect of spironolactone has been an important step forward. This is also true with respect to treating the whole group of herpetic diseases.

Incoming search terms:

https://www askdrray com/spironolactone-helps-against-herpes-infections/

Jul

2016

Zika Virus

By Ray Schilling | immune system, Infectious Disease, Other neurological conditions

Recently the question was asked on the news whether it was safe to go to the Olympics in Brazil; so here is some background information about the Zika virus. Zika virus was first isolated from mosquitoes in a forest named Zika forest in Uganda, which was in 1947.

Zika virus belongs into the virus family of Flaviviridae. Other members in that family are dengue fever, West Nile virus, yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis. Since the 1950’s Zika virus has occupied a narrow equatorial belt around the globe (Africa and Asia). But between 2007 and 2016 it spread further to the Americas and to the Pacific. This includes specifically French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Easter Island and New Caledonia. Since May 2015 Brazil has joined the countries where mosquitoes are infected with Zika virus. This is an important point to know for the coming up Olympics in Rio on August 5 to 21, 2016.

Symptoms of Zika virus

For most people, particularly the young and middle aged ones Zika is not be that symptomatic. The most common symptoms are a fever, a skin rash, joint aches and red eyes (conjunctivitis). However, when a pregnant woman gets Zika virus, this will likely affect the fetus and will lead to a baby born with a small head (microcephalus), a severe complication from Zika virus. When a woman contracts Zika virus, the virus disappears after about one week. But in men the virus seems to stay longer, particularly in semen. This is why the CDC recommends for men using a condom or refraining from sex when returning from a holiday in a Zika endemic area. It may take up to 8 weeks for the semen to no longer be infective. The CDC recommends that a man who has come down with Zika to use a condom for 6 months.

Treatment of Zika virus

Make sure you get lots of rest. Take acetaminophen for fever or pain. Don’t take aspirin (ASA) or anti-inflammatory medication. Be aware that for between 1 and 3 weeks your blood likely is infectious. You want to avoid a bit from a mosquito and it is sensible to use insect repellants. The same insect could have bitten another person and spread the virus this way. A person who gets the Zika virus depends on the immune system to overcome the infection as there is no cure for this viral infection.

At this point no vaccine against Zika exists. There is research in an attempt to develop a Zika vaccine, which may become available in 2 to 3 years.

Zika virus risk with travel

If you travel to endemic areas, but visit mountainous areas above an elevation of 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) you are safe from Zika transmitting mosquitoes as they do not survive in these heights.

With regard to the Olympic Summer Games in Rio 2016 the CDC recommends to take a few precautions. Use insect repellents. Be aware as a woman that men infected with Zika virus can transmit the virus through sex. If you want to protect yourself from the risk of giving birth to a child with microcephaly, you may decide to use the birth control pill and ask your partner to use a condom. When you return back home, do not plan for a pregnancy for 6 months to avoid the risk.

The only recommendation for the Olympics by the CDC is that pregnant women should categorically not go to the games for fear of getting Zika infection resulting in a bad outcome of the pregnancy with microcephaly.

Microcephaly and other brain abnormalities from Zika virus

The CDC has stated that it is now established that Zika virus can cause microcephaly, but that it likely does not do so in all cases of Zika virus infection.

We know from German measles (rubella) that it can cause serious health risks for the fetus including death.

Zika is similarly neurotropic, meaning that it likes to multiply in nervous tissue including the brain. With rubella there is a vaccine available, which has made it much safer for pregnant women. But with Zika no vaccine is available. The only prevention is to stay away from endemic Zika areas and otherwise use reliable birth control methods.

Zika Virus

Conclusion

I have briefly reviewed Zika virus in this blog. Unfortunately there are still many gaps in the knowledge of this disease. We need an effective Zika virus vaccine. It would also help to have antiviral antibiotics. Research is necessary to research all of this. For now we need to use prevention and avoid endemic Zika regions by reading updates by the CDC.

Oct

2015

What Stress Does

By Ray Schilling | alcohol, Cardiovascular disease, fractures, heart attack, High Blood Pressure, Hormones, Infectious Disease, Inflammation, Insomnia, Sleeep, Stress management, Stroke, telomeres

I like to discuss what stress does. We all are stressed out at times. Some people are stressed all the time and this is called chronic stress.

Acute stress

Let’s say you were in a minor rear-ender accident. It is annoying, but at least you had no injury. But you have to deal with the insurance company, get the repair done and maybe get a car rental during the time of repair. Yes, you may have a few days where you feel that your hands are shaky and your heart pounds, or your sleep may not be restful. But when everything is done things are back to normal. This is an example of acute stress with a shorter running time. It has a limited severity, is an inconvenience, but it does not really affect your body on the long-term.

Chronic stress

Let’s assume the car accident was more severe and you received a personal injury with a broken leg. You end up in hospital and the orthopedic surgeon fixes the fracture with a surgical plate. The leg has to be in a cast for several weeks, and you have to use crutches. Every day you feel reminded of the car accident, because it is awkward to walk with crutches. After weeks you notice that you have gained weight. Your doctor is also worried about you because your blood pressure showed higher readings. You do not sleep as well, waking up frequently and having nightmares about another fictitious accident. On top of that you came down with the flu. What happened here? The stress reaction released cortisol, which weakened your immune system and may be responsible for catching the flu.

High blood pressure and increased alcohol consumption

On the long-term cortisol can also contribute to high blood pressure, but so can alcohol consumption. You may have increased your alcohol intake in the evening to relax more, but with the chronic stress and the cortisol increase this can cause high blood pressure. The weight gain that you noticed has to do with the fact that you cannot work out any more because of your healing leg fracture and you having to use crutches. Inadvertently you may also eat a bit more rich food; a lot of people do that as food can be used as comfort food.

Disbalance of melatonin and cortisol with stress

And why do you sleep less well? Chronic cortisol elevation leads to lower melatonin levels, as these two hormones are natural opponents. A high melatonin level leads to a low cortisol level and vice versa. With relaxation methods you can lower cortisol and the melatonin level increases normalizing your sleep. Chronically elevated cortisol can also lead to weight gain as sugar is converted into fatty acids that are stored as subcutaneous fat. Muscles can melt down when cortisol is high giving the appearance of spindly arms and legs.

Causes of chronic stress

Holmes and Rahe tested a stress scale in 1970, which has become the standard ever since. You get a certain amount of points for a stressful event, e.g. 100 for the death of a spouse; 45 point for retirement; 23 for trouble with the boss etc. Add up all of the points that are affect you right now; if the total score is less than 150 points there is only a minor risk of getting medical problems from the chronic stress; for 150 to 299 points the risk of illness is moderate and for 300 and more points you are at a significant risk for illness.

Physical illness and mental illness from stress

There is physical illness and mental illness that chronic stress can cause. Physical illness can be high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries. The long-term risks from this are possible heart attacks and strokes. But chronic adrenalin and noradrenalin elevation associated with chronic stress can burn part of your brain cells in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex. This can lead to memory loss, spatial memory loss and aggression. Mental illness caused by chronic stress can be anxiety, depression, social isolation, panic attacks and panic disorder. Psychosomatic symptoms can include headaches, back pain, abdominal pain and difficulties concentrating.

Job stress and cancer

Perhaps one of the best examples of job stress and cancer is a study where the amount of breast cancer was correlated to the amount of stress. I discussed this in another blog. Briefly, women with a less responsibility had the lowest rate of breast cancer, but they too had some stress as there was a higher breast cancer risk after 15 years on the job versus only 5 years on the job. The same study showed that women with high responsibility had the highest breast cancer rates.

How stress leads to higher breast cancer rates

A hormone disbalance can explain this based on high cortisol levels associated with chronic stress. If cortisol is high, the cortisol binding globulin (CBG) increases; this in turn also binds more circulating progesterone, as progesterone attaches to CBG. CBG is a transport protein for both cortisol and progesterone. The end result is that estrogenic compounds get the upper hand, a condition called estrogen dominance. I have explained under the above link that this was the real reason for the increase in breast cancer in the stressed women. Similar mechanisms are causing other cancers to occur more frequently with chronic stress.

Chronic stress and cardiovascular disease

High stress jobs were found to cause a 2.2 to 2.4-fold increase of strokes and heart attacks due to cardiovascular disease when compared to low stress jobs. This was based on a British Medical Journal study in October 2002. As I discussed above under a brief description of chronic stress cardiovascular disease is often what develops as part of chronic stress. People who are under chronic stress feel that they do not have enough time to prepare good, healthy food at home. They tend to eat out more often. Even well educated people just swallow a quick hamburger and other processed foods.

Bad fats lead to heart attacks and stroke

This increases the bad fats like trans fats and omega-6 fatty acids in their system causing inflammation of the blood vessels as explained in this blog. The LDL cholesterol and triglycerides get elevated, sugar from sugary snacks oxidizes the LDL cholesterol and your coronary arteries and brain arteries get clogged up. This sets anybody on the downward pathway, and it is now only a matter of time when the chronically stressed person will develop a heart attack or stroke.

Chronic stress extremes: PTSD and burnout in soldiers

Dr. Thierry Hertoghe gave a lecture during the 22nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine in Las Vegas (Dec.10 to 14, 2014). The title was: “Burnout: A multiple hormone deficiency syndrome”. Burnout is the extreme of chronic stress. He said that burnout is a common condition where several hormones are affected, with the cortisol axis being the main one, but other hormone glands being stressed as well. As a result endocrine glands age prematurely. Symptoms are fatigue, exhaustion, gastrointestinal problems, anxiety, depression and aggressiveness. The underlying hormone abnormalities are a lack of cortisol, thyroid deficiency, growth hormone deficiency, testosterone and estrogen deficiency and oxytocin deficiency. Burnout is common in teachers and there is a questionnaire that has been developed for teachers (teacher’s burnout scale) to monitor them whether they are heading this way.

Burnout or PTSD

Soldiers who return from combative situations often suffer from burnout or from PTSD. The teacher’s burnout scale already mentioned can monitor their burnout severity. In suspected cases laboratory tests that measure hormone levels give concrete answers about hormone deficiencies. Treatment protocols were discussed in detail. Multiple bioidentical hormone replacements are necessary, possibly for prolonged periods, if not life long. In addition supportive counseling sessions from a counselor or psychiatrist will help to tone down increased brain activity and help regain the internal balance. Why is this important? It is important, because hormones are necessary on a cellular level and regulate the energy metabolism of every cell in the body. Also, by recognizing what is going on and helping the affected individuals, a lot of pain and suffering can be prevented.

Accelerated aging from telomere shortening

Chronic stress has been shown to cause telomere shortening. So does a lack of sleep (insomnia), smoking and alcohol overconsumption, all conditions that can be associated with chronic stress. What can we do about this? Learn what shortens telomeres and ultimately your life. Cut out what you can and take supplements that lengthen your telomeres.

Positive thinking combats stress

Negative thoughts are draining you of energy. You want to stay optimistic within what’s reasonable. Be thankful for all the good things in your life. Minimize what’s negative, but think about positive solutions to get rid of energy draining parts in your days. Do this persistently until it becomes part of your life and you will have extra energy that you didn’t waste in negative thinking or needless, anxious anxiety. Worrying does not get us anywhere, but it depletes our energy.

Relaxation methods counter stress

Self-hypnosis is a simple way to allow your whole body to relax. However, the various forms of yoga will do the same thing for you. Meditation is another way of finding peace and tranquility. Prayer is know to help people in sickness and in health. All of these methods will re-energize you. They calm your brain, help you to cope with stress and rebalance your hormones at the same time.

Building social ties and mutually supportive relationships will also build you up. It makes you feel that you belong, you have your place in society, you help others, and they support you.

Constant overdrive has physical consequences

We need some stress to get us going, but we do not need “distress”. Dr. Hans Selye, the father of the general adaptation syndrome due to stress, gave a lecture about this topic in Hamilton, Ont. in 1977, which I attended. I vividly remember how he projected a picture of his skeleton showing bilateral hip replacements. He said that chronic stress could lead to arthritis. In his case, he said, he had developed end stage arthritis in his hips requiring total hip replacements on both sides. To illustrate further that stress leads to physical consequences, he explained that one person may develop a heart attack, another a stroke, a third could get arthritis. Constant overdrive has physical consequences.

What Stress Does

Conclusion

Stress can be deadly, particularly if it lingers on and becomes chronic. But we can reorganize our lives to minimize stress. Some people may decide to seek a less stressful occupation. Others may elect to stay at that job, but develop hobbies, learn how to relax and take relaxation classes to combat job stress. The key is to start thinking about what stress you may be under and then develop a plan to counter it so you can allow yourself to rebalance your life.

Apr

2015

Stop Suffering From Arthritis

By Ray Schilling | alcohol, Arthritis, Autism, Cancer, Diabetes, Gastrointestinal Disease, Heart Disease, Infectious Disease, kidney disease, laser therapy, lifestyle, Nutrition, Pain, stem cells, Vitamins and supplements

This article shows you how to stop suffering from arthritis. Arthritis is an illness of the joints, mostly in older people (osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis). However, a subgroup of younger patients can also develop a severe form of arthritis, called rheumatoid arthritis where autoimmune antibodies play more of a role.

In the 1950’s Dan Dale Alexander wrote a book called “Arthritis and common sense”. The medical establishment did not accept that simple remedy and Dan Dale Alexander was classified as a “quack”. However, Dr. Mirkin describes a study from Berlin that later confirmed that Dan Dale Alexander’s observation was correct: an emulsion made by shaking orange juice with cod liver oil and taken three times per day on an empty stomach would indeed improve osteoarthritis.

Dan Dale Alexander’s emulsion of orange juice and cod liver oil

In 1966, when I was still a medical student, I suggested to my future mother-in-law to give Dan Dale Alexander’s book about arthritis a try. Despite the well-established osteoarthritic condition in her left knee the arthritis vanished within 6 months and stayed controlled. I could not explain to her why this remedy was effective, as researchers had not yet described higher doses of omega-3 fatty acids and higher doses of vitamin C to be of value for arthritis.

This all changed with the advent of orthomolecular medicine (Ref.1). On page 76 of this book Dr. Frederick Klenner describes that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) at mega doses of at least 10,000 mg daily, but better even between 15,000 and 25,000 mg daily does have healing effects for arthritis. He stated further that repair of collagenous tissue (the joint surfaces) would require adequate ascorbic acid. On page 240 of Ref.1 Dr. Abram Hoffer, the founder of modern orthomolecular medicine reviewed the history of the use of vitamins in higher doses, particularly the use of vitamin B3 (niacin). He also mentioned that Dr. William Kaufman had used mega doses of vitamin B3 for arthritis as far back as 1950.

Overview of arthritis

Dr. Hoffer explains in Ref.2 that arthritis belongs into a group of diseases that are related to faulty nutrition, which in turn lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies and a pandeficiency disease. Other diseases that belong to that group are cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia, mood disorders, alcoholism and autism. Contributing factors can be poor diets with overemphasis on refined and processed foods and consumption of sugar, allergies, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and viral infections. Arthritis belongs into this group of illnesses as well. Researchers found that niacin, vitamin B6 and zinc were useful to treat arthritis, but other vitamins and minerals are also necessary. Here is a list of what Dr. Hoffer would suggest to use (Ref. 2):

Vitamin B3

Vitamin B3 from 100 mg to several thousand mg three times daily following meals. With niacin there can be skin flushing, which often goes away after the body gets used to the higher doses; but niacinamide could be used instead by those who are bothered by the flushing.

B complex

B complex: this contains each of the major B vitamins including vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). Take 100 mg once per day with a meal. The dose for vitamin B6 is up to 500 mg per day or more.

Vitamin C

The dosage for vitamin C is between 500 mg and several thousand mg three times per day after meals.

Vitamin D3

To get adequate vitamin D3 levels the patient has to take 4000 IU per day in the summer months. In the winter months particularly populations who live far north require 6000 IU per day.

Vitamin B1 (thiamine)

Vitamin B1 (thiamine): alcoholics and very high sugar consumers need thiamine at 100 to 500 mg three times per day.

Folic acid at mega doses

Folic acid at mega doses (prescription needed) works as an antidepressant, which requires 25 to 50 mg. To lower homocysteine levels lower doses of folic acid are sufficient.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E: usually 400 IU to 800 per day. Muscle wasting diseases, Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) require much higher doses up to 4000 IU per day.

Essential fatty acids (omega-3)

Essential fatty acids (omega-3): It is strongly recommended to use a molecularly distilled product, which is free of mercury and PBC’s at 1000 mg three times daily following meals.

Selenium

Selenium: The required dosage is 200 to 600 micrograms once daily (with any meal). In areas where selenium is deficient, this is particularly important.

Zinc

Zinc: 50 mg of zinc citrate or 220 mg of zinc sulfate once per day with a meal.

Calcium and magnesium

Calcium and magnesium: Dr. Hoffer suggested 1000 mg of calcium with 500 mg of magnesium, although many experts now say that 1000 mg of calcium with 1000 mg of magnesium may be better.

Dr. Hoffer pointed out that this program is compatible with any medication and is non-toxic.

Thoughts on treating arthritis

1. Conventional methods

The conventional approach to treatment of arthritis consists of anti-inflammatory medications like ANSAIDs. Unfortunately they have side effects like causing kidney damage after several years of use. Also, NSAIDs can lead to gastric bleeding from gastric erosions, which may require blood transfusions. Physiotherapy with reactivation and swimming have been found to be useful. Electro acupuncture can help for pain control.

2. Diet changes, multivitamins and minerals

As arthritis occurs mostly in civilized nations, physicians have long suspected dietary factors to be of importance. Dr. Hoffer pointed out that arthritis is a pandeficiency disease meaning that overconsumption of sugar and processed foods has lead to multiple vitamin and mineral deficits that interfere with the cartilage metabolism leading to premature breakdown of cartilage and causing inflammation. It is not good enough to just take the supplements listed above; this needs to be combined with a fundamental change in diet. Cut out sugar and starchy foods. Return to homemade foods. Keep it simple with lots of vegetables, salads and organic meats. Now that you are starting to turn around your metabolism by a sensible diet the supplements listed above have a chance to work.

You will notice that Dan Dale Alexander’s idea of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C (from the freshly pressed orange juice) is contained in the list of supplements above. Dr. Klenner’s mega doses of vitamin C are also listed and Dr. Kaufman’s mega doses of vitamin B3 is contained in this list as well.

This list may not have been formally researched with controlled clinical trials, because the food industry and the makers of NSAIDs (Big Pharma) have no interest in this. But thousands of patients have been empirically treated with this regimen and a network of orthomolecular physicians has established that this regimen works to control the inflammation of arthritis and at the same time has no toxic side-effects.

3. Laser, platelet rich plasma (PRP) and stem cells

Blue and green lasers have anti-inflammatory properties and are suitable for interstitial and intra articular laser treatments of arthritis. Dr. Weber has extensive experience with this treatment modality in Germany. I have discussed this in another blog.

However, prolotherapy, PRP and stem cell treatments are also an option for more severe cases of arthritis, particularly in arthritis of the knees, which can avoid total knee replacement surgery.

Stop Suffering From Arthritis

Conclusion

I met Dr. Hoffer in the early 1980’s during a meeting in Vancouver, BC when he wanted to establish a local orthomolecular division for British Columbia. Although I found the ideas fascinating, I felt that the College of Physicians and Surgeons (the regulatory body for physicians in BC) would scrutinize the practice of any orthomolecular member. At that time I would risk losing my license to practice medicine, which I just had received in 1978. So I decided not to join. Interestingly enough later in the 1980’s a member of the orthomolecular society of BC lost his license because of the use of mega doses of intravenous vitamin C. At this time the College considered these infusions useless or hazardous. Nowadays, any naturopathic and orthomolecular physician uses these intravenous vitamin C treatments as standard therapies. It shows how times have changed.

Lifestyle issues important with causation of arthritis

What has not changed is the food industry that undermines our health every day with hidden sugar contained in processed foods. In social functions it is customary to have a drink or two, if not more, which uses up our thiamine faster than we can replace it. Pan deficiency disease is alive and well as it was many years ago. It is in front of our eyes, but can we see it? Depending on what your eating habits are, do you need to make changes in your diet and perhaps take some or all of the ingredients of the multivitamin and mineral list above? Start by adopting a Mediterranean type diet, then add some of the supplements listed above. It is time to take a thorough look at natural treatment modalities against arthritis in the interest of preserving your health!

References

Ref. 1: Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D.: “The Orthomolecular Treatment of Chronic Disease. 65 Experts on Therapeutic and Preventative Nutrition”, Basic Health Publications, Laguna Beach, CA, 2014.

Ref. 2: Chapter in Ref. 1 by Dr. Hoffer: “Pandeficiency Disease”, pages 24-30 (2014).

Sep

2014

Probiotics Are Important For Your Health

By Ray Schilling | Abdominal Pain, Cancer, Diabetes, Gastrointestinal Disease, Heart Disease, Infectious Disease, Nutrition, Obesity, Stroke

We need to be aware that probiotics are important for your health. Growing up in Germany after World War II I remember that occasionally there were interesting newspaper headings. It showed an older person in the nineties when the average life expectancy was in the late 60’s. The reporter asked, “What did you do to turn that old?” The answer was that the person always ate a lot of yogurt.

This did not sink into mainstream medicine at that time and people did not really believe this statement. How could eating yogurt make a person live longer?

Fast forward to 2014. You read about probiotics in magazines, on the Internet, and even TV commercials expose you to it.

In the Wikipedia it is accepted that yogurt can help seniors who have a lower bifidus bacteria population in their colon to rebalance their gut flora, which will prevent colon cancer. It also describes that yogurt can help yeast infections in women.

In the meantime probiotics have been developed and concentrations like 20 to 80 billion bacteria per capsule with a mix of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species are available in the health food store for prevention.

The medical profession has studied the effects of higher potency probiotics and came to the conclusion that probiotics have indeed effects on the body far beyond the gut.

Here are a few highlights.

Bowel disease improves

In cases of bacterial or viral diarrhea the frequency of bowel movements and the intensity of bowel cramps gets helped within a few days, and recovery from the diarrhea is much faster with probiotic than without. Patient with irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis are helped with probiotics. Probiotics help both constipation and diarrhea in otherwise healthy people as well.

Immune system booster

The small bowel contains clusters of immune cells within the bowel wall. Together they are a formidable immune organ in the gut, which connects to the blood and the rest of the immune system throughout the body (lymph glands, spleen, bone marrow). Specifically it has been proven in humans that macrophages, natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, which are the working horses of the immune system, are all stimulated by probiotics.

Less respiratory infections

School children who were given 1 capsule of probiotics twice per day for 3 months and flu symptoms and absenteeism were observed due to colds and flus. When they did get a viral infection, the illness had a shorter course, resulting in much less school absenteeism over the course of the trial when compared to a placebo group. It seems that a healthy gut flora stimulates the immune system to work at its best.

Cancer prevention

To a certain degree cancer can be prevented by probiotics and other nutritional factors. Breast cancer is one of the cancers where probiotics have been shown to be effective in reducing disease.

Apparently the probiotic bacteria bind to the cancer causing factors (carcinogens) that some of the bad gut bacteria produce. Probiotics also suppress other bacteria that convert pro-carcinogens into carcinogens. This is not all: the probiotics also interfere with enzymes involved in the production of carcinogens in the gut. This stimulates the gut immune cells to produce cytokines that are needed in the battle against early cancer. Probiotics play a role in multiple processes that help the body to fight cancer, not only in the gut, but also in the rest of the body!

Helps diabetes get better

How can gut bacteria help diabetes, which is an endocrinological disease? Both human and animal studies have shown that insulin resistance is improved by probiotics. In a 6-week study both blood sugar levels and hemoglobin A1C values (that measure long-term control of diabetes) dropped significantly by eating 300 grams of yoghurt per day when compared to a control group who did not.

Obesity

Probiotics given to mothers at least one month prior to birth and at least up to 6 months after birth prevented excessive weight gain in both the mothers and their children. In addition, probiotics can suppress a lot of the inflammatory substances in obesity.

Probiotics reduce cardiovascular risk

Several studies have shown that probiotics lower LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and inflammatory markers in the blood stream resulting in lower risk for hardening of the arteries.

One should not look at probiotics as a single factor for prevention of heart attacks and strokes. Combine probiotics with exercise and a low refined carbohydrate diet. High sugar and starch diets lead to absorption of sugar in the stomach and small intestine. This results in a lack of nutrients to support the gut flora. Combine probiotics with vegetables and lettuce. Then you have the proper mix of fiber, minerals and other nutrients to sustain balanced bacteria in the bowels. This prevents heart attacks and strokes and keeps inflammatory markers down. I have blogged about this before and stated that the combination of organic food (to avoid antibiotic residues in our diet), fruit and vegetables combined with probiotics will protect you from heart attacks and strokes.

Probiotics Are Important For Your Health

Conclusion

Maybe the newspaper articles in Germany after the Second World War were right. There is something in yogurt (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species) that can make you live longer. The explanation seems simple: add probiotics to your diet. You will have a better immune system and get less respiratory infections. But you also prevent heart attacks, strokes and prevent obesity and cancer. All of this in combination will lead to healthier lives, and more people will live to tell about it.

Last edited Sept. 3, 2014