Category: General

Inflammation is a hot topic. But many people first just want to know, what is inflammation, really? I am excited about this topic because the word inflammation is thrown around frequently, but most people cannot explain what it means. I recently had a patient ask me what inflammation is and I found I did not have a readily available answer due to the complexity involved with inflammation. Now, after gathering my thoughts and research, I have a better answer. What is Inflammation? Inflammation is, well, it’s inflammation in the body, right? We hear people talk about pro-inflammatory foods or that the cause of all disease is inflammation. Sugar and animal foods are pro-inflammatory, right? At least that is what we hear people say. Healthy diets are supposed to be anti-inflammatory. A long list of dietary supplements and health food products are also supposed to address inflammation but how do we know if they are working? Do antioxidants quench inflammation? These are all questions we should be asking when we are talking about this subject. I am going to dive a little deeper into the subject so that readers can have a more precise understanding. Let’s clarify what inflammation is and...

By Stephen Parcell, ND, RND In a study on elite athletes with persistent fatigue 27% were found to have chronic viral infections. Viral illness as a cause of long term fatigue often goes undetected unless specific blood work is requested. In this study eight of 37 athletes tested (22%) were actively secreting Epstein Barr virus (EBV) into their saliva at the time of testing. The detection of EBV shedding suggests immune dysregulation and may contribute to the symptoms experienced by these athletes. EBV reactivation has recently been established in swimmers engaged in intensive training, and is thought to result from exercise induced alterations in the immune mechanisms responsible for controlling viral reactivation. Evidence infection was also found for cytomegalovirus (five cases), EBV (three cases), Ross River virus (one case), toxoplasmosis (one case), and mycoplasma (one case). Eight of the 37 subjects tested (22%) were found to have evidence of EBV viral shedding in their saliva at the time of investigation, indicating EBV reactivation. In my practice I have found that chronic, EBV infection (reactivation) to be present at even higher percentages. Specific blood work needs to be done to determine this. Most doctors are not trained in the detection of...

We recently purchased one of these machines and are currently enrolled in an FDA study on pain. While researching the treatment in detail I found a number of studies on its use in lymphoma. Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) (also known as Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation or UVBI) has been used for the treatment of advanced stage or treatment refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) since 1987, and more recently has also been shown to be of benefit for earlier stage resistant CTCL.This recent study (reference below) showed that the twelve-month response to ECP was 90%: 15 patients (75%) had complete responses, 3 (15%) had partial responses, 1 had stable disease, and 1 progressed. STUDY:  J Drugs Dermatol. 2016 Oct 1;15(10):1212-1216. 75% Complete Response and 15% Partial Response to Extracorporeal Photopheresis Combined With Other Therapies in Resistant Early Stage Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma.  

Data supports the relationship between ferritin and exercise performance in female athletes. Low ferritin in athletes is called sports anemia . Its more common in women. Increasing ferritin works for men too. Athletes do not need to be anemic for this to work,,,,just have suboptimal ferritin. STUDY: Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jan;61(1):30-9. Epub 2006 Jul 12. Iron supplementation maintains ventilatory threshold and improves energetic efficiency in iron-deficient nonanemic athletes. Hinton PS(1), Sinclair LM. Author information: (1)Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. hintonp@missouri.edu OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of iron supplementation on iron status and endurance capacity. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind iron supplementation. SETTING: University of Missouri-Columbia and surrounding community. SUBJECTS: Twenty iron-deficient (serum ferritin, sFer8.0 mg/l; or sTfR/log sFer index >4.5), nonanemic (hemoglobin, Hb>120 g/l, women; >130 g/l, men) men and women (18-41 years) were recruited via fliers and newspaper advertisements; 20 of 31 eligible subjects participated. INTERVENTIONS: A 30 mg measure of elemental iron as ferrous sulfate or placebo daily for 6 weeks. RESULTS: Dietary iron intake and physical activity did not differ between groups before or after supplementation. Iron supplementation significantly increased sFer compared to placebo (P=0.01), but did not affect Hb or hematocrit. Iron...

STUDY: Aging Male. 2004 Dec;7(4):319-24. Testosterone therapy--what, when and to whom? Jockenhövel F(1). Author information: (1)Department of Medicine, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Herne, Wiescherstrasse 24, 44623 Herne, Germany. Testosterone therapy has been used for more than 60 years in the treatment of male hypogonadism. The classical forms of hypogonadism are comprised of primary testicular failure or insufficient testicular stimulation due to the lack of pituitary gonadotropins. Typical causes of primary hypogonadism are Klinefelter's syndrome, anorchia or acquired disturbances of testicular function. Secondary hypogonadism is characterized by insufficient production of pituitary gonadotropins, due either to pituitary failure or defects at the hypothalamic level. It is unequivocally accepted in clinical practice that any male with inadequately low testosterone production for his age will require androgen therapy. In addition to the classical forms of hypogonadism, the past decade of research has clearly demonstrated that, with increasing age, many men will suffer from decreasing testosterone production. About 15-25% of men over the age of 50 years will experience serum testosterone levels well below the threshold considered normal for men between 20 and 40 years of age. Studies substituting testosterone in elderly men with low serum testosterone have shown that men with clinical symptoms identical to the...