by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Adrenal Fatigue (AF), Gut and Intestinal Health, Natural Health, Wellness
Chronic fatigue syndrome, a baffling disorder that affects an estimated 1 million Americans, has been strongly linked to imbalances in gut bacteria in a new study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
The researchers found abnormal levels of specific gut bacteria are found in people with the condition — formally known as myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), according to the study published in the journal Microbiome.
The findings offer new hope for an effective new way to diagnose and treat ME/CFS, a complex, sometimes-debilitating disorder that can interfere with activities of daily living.
Symptoms include extreme fatigue after exertion, muscle and joint pain, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbances, and orthostatic intolerance (light-headedness, dizziness, or fainting when standing upright).
Up to 90 percent of ME/CFS patients also have irritable bowel syndrome IBS, past research has shown. But the Columbia University study is among the first to disentangle microbiome imbalances in individuals with ME/CFS and IBS.
“Individuals with ME/CFS have a distinct mix of gut bacteria and related metabolic disturbances that may influence the severity of their disease,” says co-lead investigator Dr. Dorottya Nagy-Szakal.
The findings suggest sufferers may be able to ease their symptoms by incorporating certain probiotics — healthy bacteria — in their diets, to balance their gut bacteria.
To reach their conclusions, the researchers tracked 50 ME/CFS patients and 50 others without the condition. They tested subjects’ fecal samples for bacterial species, and blood samples for immune molecules.
The study’s key findings show that:
- Levels of distinct intestinal bacterial species —Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Dorea, Coprococcus, Clostridium, Ruminococcus, Coprobacillus — are strongly associated with ME/CFS.
- The abundance of these species appears to be predictive of a ME/CFS diagnosis.
- An abundance of Alistipes and low levels of Faecalibacterium are the top biomarkers of ME/CFS with IBS. Increased Bacteroides abundance and decreased Bacteroides vulgatus are the top biomarkers of ME/CFS without IBS.
The researchers also noted the severity of patients’ symptoms — such as pain and fatigue — correlated with the abundance of distinct bacterial types.
“Our analysis suggests that we may be able to subtype patients with ME/CFS by analyzing their fecal microbiome,” says co-lead investigator Dr. Brent L. Williams, Ph.D. “Subtyping may provide clues to understanding differences in manifestations of disease.”
The study also points toward a possible mechanism behind the development of ME/CFS.
“ME/CFS may involve a breakdown in the bidirectional communication between the brain and the gut mediated by bacteria, their metabolites, and the molecules they influence,” explains senior author Dr. W. Ian Lipkin.
“By identifying the specific bacteria involved, we are one step closer to more accurate diagnosis and targeted therapies.”
So far, researchers have not identified the cause of ME/CFS. Nor are there any standard diagnostic lab tests or federally-approved treatments for the condition. For reasons that are unclear, women are two to four more times likely than men to have ME/CFS.
Because MD/CFS is so variable, treatment focuses on individual symptom control. Conventional approaches include prescription medications to treat anxiety, depression, and insomnia; graded exercise, physical therapy, and psychological counseling including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
Adjunctive therapies to help manage pain and fatigue include:
- Acupuncture.
- Biofeedback.
- Deep breathing exercises.
- Hypnosis.
- Massage.
- Meditation.
- Muscle relaxation techniques.
- Yoga or tai chi.
- Preliminary but inconclusive research suggests that some natural remedies may be helpful for ME/CFS, according to the Mayo Clinic. These include:
- Magnesium injected into the muscles of people with low red blood cell magnesium.
- A combination supplement containing fish oil and evening primrose oil.
- Melatonin.
- Nicotinamide.
- Adenine dinucleotide hydrate (NADH).
- Coenzyme Q10.
- Propionyl-L-carnitine.
- D-ribose.
Although the new Columbia University study suggests that probiotic supplements may be helpful for ME/CFS, more research is needed, experts say.
A 2009 study of 39 ME/CFS patients, however, showed that the Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) was associated with significantly reduced anxiety symptoms compared to placebo.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Natural Health, Wellness
Despite previous reports, Vitamin D supplements are unlikely to reduce the risk of asthma, atopic dermatitis, or allergies according to a new Canadian study.
Carried out by researchers from McGill University, Canada, and the Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital, Canada, team looked at genetic and health data on more than 100,000 participants from previous large-scale studies to determine whether genetic changes associated with vitamin D levels lead to a greater chance of developing asthma, atopic dermatitis (an itchy inflammation of the skin) or high IgE levels (an immune molecule linked to allergies).
Previous research has linked low vitamin D levels to all three of the conditions.
Contrary to these previous results, the new research found no statistically significant differences between people with or without any of the four genetic changes associated with lower levels of vitamin D and rates of asthma (including childhood-onset asthma), atopic dermatitis, or IgE levels.
The team pointed out that the study did have its limitations, including looking only at white populations of European ancestry, and they now recommend further research in non-European populations and those with a vitamin D deficiency.
However, the team’s findings from a recent study using the same participants did suggest that low vitamin D levels increase risk for other inflammatory diseases, with evidence for a causal link between low vitamin D levels and multiple sclerosis, a common neurological disorder more common in white people of European descent and women.
These findings suggest those at risk for multiple sclerosis should ensure that they have adequate vitamin D levels, while researchers concluded increasing levels of vitamin D is unlikely to result in a reduced risk of asthma or dermatitis in adults and children, with lead author of the study Dr. Despoina Manousaki, adding that, “Our findings suggest that previous associations between low vitamin D and atopic disease could be due to spurious associations with other factors.”
The findings can be found published in PLOS Medicine.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Gastro Intestinal Health, Gut and Intestinal Health, Natural Health, Probiotics, Wellness
Breastfeeding has long been linked to a variety of health benefits in babies, and a new study suggests that bacteria transferred from mothers to their nursing infants might be at least partly responsible.
Researchers focused on what’s known as the microbiome, or all of the bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in and on the body. They tested 107 mother-baby pairs for organisms on women’s breasts and in their milk, and they also examined babies’ stool as a way of determining what types of organisms were in the infant gut microbiome.
While they found distinct types of bacteria in milk, breast tissue and infant stool, researchers also found infants’ gut microbial communities matched the bacteria in their mothers’ milk and on their mothers’ skin much more than it resembled samples from other women in the study.
That suggests each mother’s milk was a major contributor to her own infant’s gut microbiome.
“We were able to show that there are bacteria in milk and that these bacteria could be traced to bacteria in infant stools,” said senior study author Dr. Grace Aldrovandi, chief of the division of infectious diseases at Mattel Children’s Hospital at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“This supports the hypothesis that milk microbes are a mechanism by which breastfeeding provides benefit,” Aldrovandi said by email.
Pediatricians recommend that mothers exclusively breastfeed infants until at least 6 months of age because it is tied to reduced risk for babies of ear and respiratory infections, sudden infant death syndrome, allergies, childhood obesity and diabetes.
Mothers may benefit too, with longer periods of breastfeeding linked to lower risks of depression, bone deterioration and certain cancers.
Based on lab tests of bacteria found in milk, on skin and in stool in the current study, researchers estimated that babies who got at least 75 percent of their nutrition from breast milk during the first month of life received about 28 percent of their gut bacteria from their mother’s milk. These babies also got about 10 percent of their gut bacteria from mothers’ skin and 62 percent from sources researchers didn’t determine.
The more babies nursed, the more their gut bacterial community changed to resemble what was found in their mother’s milk.
And in babies who got more of their nutrition exclusively from breastfeeding, microbial communities were slightly more diverse overall and different microbes predominated compared to babies who breastfed less.
One limitation of the study is that researchers didn’t assess the origins of the breast milk bacteria or other bacterial communities from the mother that might have contributed to the infant gut microbiome, the authors note. Nor did they assess any effects on the babies’ health based on differences in their microbiomes.
Still, the results build on previous research suggesting that the infant gut microbiome is different for breast-fed and formula-fed babies, said Dr. Alexander Khoruts, a researcher at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis who wasn’t involved in the study.
“We’ve always assumed that most of these microbes come from the mother,” Khoruts said by email. “They found that breastfeeding is the major source of microbial transfer during the early months of life, and I think the study provides supportive evidence for the current recommendations of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continued breastfeeding to 12 months.”
Many factors can influence the infant gut microbiome, including breastfeeding, whether babies arrived by vaginal or surgical delivery and antibiotic use, noted Jose Clemente, a researcher in the genetics and genomic sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
“The beneficial effects of breastfeeding are well known, and this study provides further evidence by demonstrating that probiotic bacteria found in breast milk can be transferred to the infant,” Clemente, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “Every little bit helps, so even some amount of breast milk can be a source of beneficial bacteria for babies.”
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Natural Health, Wellness
A Franco-Australian study published this week reports that testosterone protects males against developing asthma, suppressing the production of a type of immune cell that triggers allergic asthma.
An international team of researchers set out to investigate why females are two times more likely to develop asthma than males after puberty.
According to the research, carried out jointly by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and the Physiopathology Center of Toulouse-Purpan, France, the answer could lie in our hormones.
The scientists found that high levels of testosterone had a protective effect against the development of allergic asthma, inhibiting immune cells called type-two innate lymphoid cells (ILC2), associated with the initiation of asthma.
As highlighted by a French study published in PNAS in 2014, these cells, which are found in lungs, skin and other organs, play a role in triggering allergic reactions like asthma.
These cells produce inflammatory proteins that can cause lung inflammation and damage in response to common triggers for allergic asthma, such as pollen, dust mites, cigarette smoke and pet hair.
“Testosterone directly acts on ILC2s by inhibiting their proliferation,” explains Dr Cyril Seillet from Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. “So in males, you have less ILC2s in the lungs and this directly correlates with the reduced severity of asthma.”
This major breakthrough in understanding the mechanisms that drive allergic asthma, as well as key differences between males and females, could lead to new treatments for the disease. These could potentially mimic the hormonal regulation of ILC2 to treat or prevent asthma.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Natural Health, Wellness
Even as life expectancy is rising in many places across the U.S., there are some places where lifespans are getting shorter and geographical inequalities are becoming more pronounced, a new study suggests.
Nationwide in 2014, the average life expectancy was about 79.1 years, up 5.3 years from 1980, the study found. For men, life expectancy climbed from 70 years to 76.7 years, while for women it increased from 77.5 years to 81.5 years.
But the study also highlighted stark disparities: a baby born in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, can expect to live just 66.8 years, while a child born in Summit County, Colorado, can expect to live 86.8 years, on average.
“For both of these geographies, the drastically different life expectancies are likely the result of a combination of risk factors, socioeconomics and access and quality of health care in those areas,” said senior study author Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.
“We found that risk factors – obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, hypertension, and diabetes – explained 74 percent of the variation in longevity in the U.S.,” Murray said by email. “Socioeconomic factors – a combination of poverty, income, education, unemployment and race – were independently related to 60 percent of the inequality, and access to and quality of health care explained 27 percent.”
To examine changes in life expectancy over time, researchers looked at death certificates from each county in the country.
Several counties in South and North Dakota, typically with Native American reservations, had the lowest life expectancy, the study found. Counties along the lower half of the Mississippi and in eastern Kentucky and southwestern West Virginia also had very low life expectancy compared with the rest of the country.
In contrast, counties in central Colorado had the highest life expectancy.
Some of the biggest gains in life expectancy during the study were seen in counties in central Colorado, Alaska and in metropolitan areas around San Francisco and New York.
But there was little, if any, improvement in life expectancy in some southern counties in states stretching from Oklahoma to West Virginia. Many counties where life expectancy dropped the most are in Kentucky.
One limitation of the study is that there might be errors in county death records, the authors note. Researchers also lacked data to explore how much the findings might be explained by migration of certain types of people to certain communities.
“The bottom line is that our life expectancy is increasingly being shaped by where we live within the U.S.,” said Jennifer Karas Montez, a sociology researcher at Syracuse University in New York who wasn’t involved in the study.
“Lifestyle behaviors are not causes, they are symptoms,” Montez said by email. “They are symptoms of the environment and the social and economic deprivation that many parts of the country now endure thanks to decades of policy decisions.”
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Natural Health, Wellness
If you suffer from chronic pain, make sure you get plenty of sleep, say researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who found that sleep loss increases pain sensitivity. Can’t get more sleep? Then drink a cup of coffee, which also can help you cope with pain.
Both getting more sleep and drinking coffee (or taking medications that keep you alert) eased chronic pain better than standard pain-relievers, according to a study published in Nature Medicine.
Pain physiologist Alban Latremoliere, Ph.D. and sleep physiologist Chloe Alexandre, Ph.D. measured the effects of acute or chronic sleep loss on sleepiness and sensitivity to both painful and non-painful stimuli in mice. They then tested standard pain medications, like ibuprofen and morphine, as well as wakefulness-promoting agents like caffeine and modafinil.
“We found that five consecutive days of moderate sleep deprivation can significantly exacerbate pain sensitivity over time in otherwise healthy mice,” says Alexandre. “The response was specific to pain, and was not due to a state of general hyperexcitability to any stimuli.”
Surprisingly, common analgesics like ibuprofen did not block sleep-loss-induced pain hypersensitivity. Even morphine lost most of its efficacy in sleep-deprived mice.
The results suggested that patients using these drugs for pain relief might have to increase their dose to compensate for lost efficacy due to sleep loss, thereby increasing their risk for side effects.
In contrast, both caffeine and modafinil, drugs used to promote wakefulness, successfully blocked the pain hypersensitivity caused by both acute and chronic sleep loss. Interestingly, the compounds had no pain-relieving effects in mice who weren’t sleep-deprived.
Meditation has also been found to be more effective than drugs to ease chronic back pain. Scientists at Seattle’s Group Health Research Institute found that eight weekly sessions of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), such as meditation and yoga, relieved pain and improved ease of movement better than conventional care, such as over-the-counter pain killers.
Cognitive behavior therapy, which taught people to change the way they felt about pain, also helped improve both pain and ease of movement better than conventional care.
According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Natural Health, Wellness
Hundreds of studies show that teas bestow a multitude of health benefits. And with teas ranging from mild green to robust Earl Grey along with a wide variety of herbal teas, you’re sure to find one to suit your taste — and your ailment.
Below are different types of tea along with their health benefits.
Black
A study published in Frontiers of Nutrition found that black tea may reduce blood sugar levels naturally, and that drinking three or more cups a day lowers the risk of Type 2 diabetes and helps those who have the disease keep it under control. Researchers at Framingham State University extracted several types of antioxidants from black tea that block the enzymes responsible for increasing blood sugar.
Another study found that those same three cups of black tea reduced the risk of fractures in elderly women by up to 42 percent.
Green
Researchers at Japan’s Kyoto University found that drinking green tea could help prevent deadly abdominal aortic aneurysms. They believe that the beneficial compounds in green tea are polyphenols, a type of antioxidant that fights free radicals and reduces inflammation. The polyphenols also appear to make arteries stronger and more flexible by regenerating elastin, an essential protein that makes arteries stretchy, yet sturdy.
Australian researchers found that three cups of tea a day reduced the risk of fractures by 30 percent. Experts at Flinders University believe that chemicals in black and green tea called flavonoids accelerate the building of new bone while slowing the breakdown of existing bone.
Green and white teas contain large amounts of EGCG, a powerful antioxidant linked to a lower risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and numerous types of cancer. A study at Japan’s Okayama University found that senior citizens who drank large amounts of green tea slashed their risk of dying from heart disease by as much as 76 percent, and a Chinese study found that drinking green tea cut the risk of lung cancer by two-thirds.
Earl Grey
The distinctive flavor of Earl Grey tea is due to an extract made from the bergamot fruit, which is a bitter citrus fruit. Studies have found it lowers cholesterol naturally and safely by reducing LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides, while raising levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. Bergamot lowers an especially harmful type of LDL called LDL-B, and lowers inflammation as well as blood sugar. “That’s a trifecta!” says nationally known nutritionist Jonny Bowden, author of Smart Fat: Eat More Fat. Lose More Weight. Get Healthy Now.
Rooibos.
Rooibos tea, also called redbush tea, is an herbal tea made from the South African shrub Aspalathus Lineraris. One study found that rooibos protected the liver against cirrhosis caused by alcohol or the liver toxin carbon tetrachloride as well as N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), the supplement commonly used to treat the condition. Other studies have found it lowers blood pressure, may help prevent diabetes and cancer, and even aids in weight loss.
Ginger.
Ginger contains active phenols, including gingerols and shogaols, and ginger tea has been used to sooth upset stomachs for centuries, relieving gas and diarrhea. Numerous modern studies have found that ginger can help alleviate morning sickness and motion sickness, and can even lessen the nausea caused by chemotherapy. Ginger is anti-inflammatory, and a study published in The Journal of Pain found that ginger eases muscle pain following exercise. Ginger can also suppress the appetite and help with weight loss. An article published in the journal Metabolism found that drinking ginger tea after meals quelled hunger pangs.
Peppermint.
According to a study in the International Journal of Neuroscience, peppermint tea increases concentration and focus. Peppermint oil is a natural stimulant, and merely sniffing a warm cup can boost your energy levels. Numerous studies have found that peppermint oil decreases fatigue, soothes nerves, and sharpens memory.
Peppermint also tackles headaches. A placebo-controlled study published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice found peppermint reduced the pain of migraines. An earlier German study found that peppermint reduced pain as effectively as 1,000 mg of acetaminophen.
Peppermint tea also aids in digestion, and several studies found that peppermint reduced the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome by 75 percent.
