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Cheese, virus, absorption, metabolsim

Top health hacks in July 2019

Holistic bay area senior care , caregiver, services, health data and mission
Eggplant and apple cider vinegar for skin cancer
Philippines Coconut Wine -Tuba
Signs of the preactive and active phase of dying, medications for terminally ill
MEDICATIONS TO AVOID that worse PD (Parkinson’s disease)
Nitric Oxide Dump Exercise with nose breathing to lower blood pressure and thin blood
DMSO, hydrogen peroxide and Vit C fight cancer cells
Non pasteurized beers have more health benefits
Foods to eat and avoid when you have Gout and leg pains
Apple cider vinegar kills parasites, cleansing to the liver and prevents stroke
Can balsamic vinegar help with gout?
Toxic protein, aging and wrinkled skin
How important is the thymus gland in keeping your body free from diseases?
Slimy veggies, saluyot and okra fight cancer
Anabolic and catabolic process, hormones and exercise
Hunched posture in Dementia and Parkinsons
MSM powder benefits – Alzheimer is a sulfur deficiency
Daily Kos Recommended
Alcohol Abuse Linked to Sepsis, Mortality in Critical Patients
Browning or caramelized sugar is a carcinogen
Mullein herb for lung and breast health – COPD signs, symptoms and diagnosis
NAC, activated charcoal , sleep and parasites
Massage oil of fresh ginger and coconut oil relieves joint pain
Longevity foods, herbs and nutrients
Restore your vision naturally y Dr. Mercola
Chloride rich foods are cleansing
Cash flow analysis worksheet template
Most common signs and symptoms of health issues
Healing your kidneys – Dr Mercola
Fatigue and Red (bloodshot) eyes from WebMD
Soda and Diabetes
Step 1 to cancer free: Limit stress that leads to high blood glucose and lipids
Soursop fruit and Esophageal Cancer
Lyme Disease by Dr Mercola
Caffeine withdrawal symptoms
Boron fights radiation by Dr Mercola
Root Canal and Implants by Dr Mercola
Needless medical tests not only cost $200 billion, they can do harm
Complications of Low Potassium and sodium and magnesium for balance
Dr Mercola on Knee Osteoarthritis
Kidney health factors by Dr Mercola
Smart Home accommodations for seniors and special needs
Disease prediction with HELO wearable, own a piece of the market
Aspirin is harmful to our kidneys
IHSS Santa Clara County pays caregivers $13 per hour to help you care for your aging parents
Hiring male caregivers in Fairfield California
Skin cancer stories
Digestive enzymes help in healing fractures, preventing kidney stones and heart disease and more
Heal your pancreas, liver and kidney cells
Eggplant and apple cider vinegar for skin cancer
Reuse and do not reheat some foods
Can Alzheimer’s be prevented?
Tryptophan – Niacin – NAD = Anti-aging
Nicotine and cocaine have same effects
Hiatal Hernia, Pancreatitis, Pancreatic Cancer and the Western Diet
Butyrate in butter, green bananas , plant oils to burn fat
No alcohol in January: benefits
Fruits and leaves of Figs as anti-cancer
Feed This To Your Brain and Say Goodbye to Chronic Pain – Dr. Alan Mandell, D.C.
Restless Legs Syndrome in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease
What foods contribute to high triglycerides?
Papaya for anti-cancer: How to eat papaya to fight cancer
We service bay area for in home care
The MIND vs. the Mediterranean Diet
Case Note Sample Narratives from visiting nurses, social workers and physical therapists for home care patients
Only two major health problems that causes cancer and chronic diseases
Why I am writing a cancer related ebook?
Prostate health, intensive nutrition and AGELOC Youth as anti-inflammatory
Sea salt drink to kill parasites and microbes
Atopic dermatitis and psoriasis by Dr Mercola
How do you lower your stress levels
Beauty Skin Care – Tonic Drink
Ultrasound kills bacteria , frequency and music killing cancer cells
Spices that boost testosterone
Good fats, SCFA – short chain fatty acids
Parasites and Diabetes
Doctors cure and we heal our bodies
Gout, Dementia, Chelation Therapy
#109842 (not found)
Prostate flush and masturbation
Growth hormone rich foods
Natural Laxative
The Wrong Gut Bugs Can Make You Fat and Sick (and How to Fix Them)
Free first 50-pages of ebook – Why we are sick and fighting cancer?
Diabetes Slows Synthesis of Brain Cholesterol
Corn oil and other carcinogenic oils – CPFA, sterculic oils
Group fitness instructors needed in the bay area
Increase the body’s oxygen carrying capacity with exercise, EPO and whole foods
Probabilistic Programming and Bayesian Methods for Hackers
What is the cure for stomach acidity
Carrot juice and Esophageal Cancer
Let’s rank hospitals by services and staff pay and not by surgeries
1:1 Sugar to fiber ratio for healthy food
Coconut and yams or sweet potatoes vs whole wheat
Boron in Almonds and avocados for your bones
16 Tips On How To Treat HPV Naturally And Effectively At Home
Iodine prevents cancer growth; up avocado and reduce caffeine intake to prevent Thyroid cancer
$32k bungalow on wheels
Frequency of the human body, whole foods, canned foods
How to Prepare Oregano Leaves for Cough Medicine
1200 calorie for 50 plus , standing and sleeping effects on calories burned
Autoimmune disease prevalence worldwide
Skin cancer stories
Senior resources list
Parasites in human brain, depression and mental health issues
What health problem is associated with high protein intake?
Lung cancer in the Philippines
Tumor markers
Top health hacks for month of July 2019
Depriving Deadly Brain Tumors Of Cholesterol , parasites need cholesterol
Emergency Room Visit Cost How Much Does an Emergency Room Visit Cost?
Can Gout be cured permanently?
Healthcare advisory team
Links – Senior Care in the USA
Toxoplasma gondii parasite, beer, wine, cheese
How my mom lived 40 more years before liver cancer stopped her?
Parasites and microbes need triglycerides or cholesterol to thrive
Compounds That Help Protect Against Melanoma Skin Cancer
Vitamin B and Pineapple for nerve damage by Dr E. Kane
Fresh raw marijuana nutrition facts
Dr Mercola’s Diverticulitis diet
Surviving prostate cancer by Dr Mercola
Eggs are rich in immune boosting nutrients , egg yolk kills fungus
Can Your Pet Make You Sick?
About
High LDL cholesterol linked to early-onset Alzheimer’s
Clear your lungs from microorganisms
How do our cells age?
Pineapple, celery, carrots and Arthritis
Book Cover – Curated health and cancer related ebook
Can green tea eliminate fat from the body?
Nitric Oxide for strong blood vessels’ cells , up with exercise, melons, cucumber, Vit C, E, amino acid – L-arginine, L-citrulline
When will there be a cure for cancer and AIDS?
Parasites and groin pain
Iron and parasites
Parasites to colitis to Alzheimer’s disease
Poor bowel control, dementia, low potassium levels and the brain
Cooked your greens rich in oxalates to prevent kidney stones
8.69% return to break even upon home purchase
When will Souvenaid become available in Canada and US to treat Alzheimer’s Disease?
Cancer signs by Dr Mercola
Fungus , raw carrots and prostate cancer
Food pairings to lose weight
Ketamine and Psychedelic Drugs Change Structure of Neurons
Research shows that drinking Matcha tea can reduce anxiety
18 minutes talk about cancer
Anti-aging and Parkinson/Alzheimer’s prevention: Enzymes and apple cider vinegar
Concurrent HIV/AIDS , TB AND MALARIA
Avoid chronic bronchitis with green apple, onions, garlic, vinegar and rest
Eat protein-rich food when drinking alcohol to protect your stomach
Thyme herb for toe fungus (guava and comfrey leaves and others)
Parasite can lead to cancer
Bloating , hunched posture, parasites and signs and symptoms
Tea tree oil and baking soda removed my skin tags and warts
DNA Damaging agents and repair, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson and other disease
Damage to Blood–brain barrier (BBB) pathways leading to Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia
Vitamin D lengthens Telomeres, an aging marker
Teeth marks on the side of the tongue and liver inflammation
Let’s rank hospitals by rehab quality of care
When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value
Compounds That Help Protect Against Melanoma Skin Cancer
Acidic carbonated soda, bone loss and early menopause, magnesium deficiency
Luncheon meat, nitrosamines and cancer
Parasites, stress, and auto-immune hormone connection
Why life expectancy in the Philippines decreased?
Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, a test of sociopathy
Hemochromatosis patients should be on a low-iron diet
Feeding roundworms monounsaturated fatty acids extend their lives
Pre-clinical planning and eval of medical devices
Iron and sweet wormwood herb kill breast cancer cells in 16hrs
Knee pain and liver or colon cancer
Skilled Nursing Facilities in the Bay area
Alcohol Withdrawal in the Setting of Elevated Blood Alcohol Levels
Negative emotions, cortisol, immune system and neurological disorders
Proper hygiene and washing of foods to prevent parasites entry
Shape of microbes matter in phagocytosis
Eggs for happiness/joy
Be a new you with the 30-day body burn
Why is it so hard to cure cancer?
Parasites and neuroendocrine tumors
Cures for Cancer Could Grow in Trees
Reversal of Aging Now Possible
Dangerous cat diseases and other health problems living with animals
Stretching for seniors
Fasting, sun bathing ,Vit C, Lysine, turmeric, green tea, carrots and raw food diet to reduce tumor size
Kill parasites with these herbs
Lungs and brain cancer
Toxic free home building materials
Weapons Against Cancer: Millions of Bacteria Programmed to Kill
Obesity, antibiotic use, gut microbes and brain function
Positive effects of micronutrients delivered after 24 mo of age
What is Precision, predictive and Personalize Medicine vs patient-centered care
Detox your lungs from air pollution and metal toxins and for early lung cancer
How beneficial is Apple cider vinegar for the liver?
25% holiday discount for senior home care with Motherhealth caregivers
Gut bacteria may affect how well your medicines work
Obesity rate per USA states
Magnesium for urinary tract health
Restore your hearing naturally by Dr Mercola
MIND Diet modified to kill parasites
Prevent falls by maintaining balance
Hormone therapy in prostate cancer tied to dementia and alzheimer’s
Foods to avoid and to prevent diabetes
How to Prevent Mold
Ailments and plant species, ethnobotany
Top health hacks today , 7-30-2019
Fast food with healthy options
Preventing falls at home and Hematoma
Boiled eggs and vinegar for diabetes
MEDICATIONS TO AVOID that worse PD (Parkinson’s disease)
Belly fat , protein, lemon , sage tea and exercise
Blocking Neuron Signaling Pathway May Lead to New Treatments For Peripheral Neuropathy
IRS-1 protein in blood, indicative of Alzheimer
Toxicology test for pregnant women
Dry mouth and bad breath by Dr Mercola
Retirement or rental income properties in Tagaytay, Philippines
A Beginner’s Guide to Killing Cancer
Parasites and the brain
REST is lost in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease
When Beneficial Bacteria Knock But No One is Home
Why our bodies are tuned to fight cancer
Expressing Love Thru Your Dance
Primary areas of dysfunction from stomach , liver to kidneys
Undigested foods and parasites
Hormonal imbalance, lack of sleep and aging
Seven Tips for Battling Dry Eye
Your Testicles and your health
What precautions are needed for those with genetic heart condition?
Short-chain fatty acid fermentation products of the gut microbiome and the brain
Hypothyroidism and cancer
Do people with higher metabolism get sick more easily?
Depression, Folate, SAMe and serotonin
Your Testicles and your health
Is cancer increasing in the U.S.?
Lipids and insulin , reverse aging ,hepatic functions
To eat or not to eat almonds
Neck pain and MTHFR gene , folate , methionine
Anti-parasites diet by Connie Dello Buono
Caregivers care for patients based on trajectories of diseases
Improved sanitation and mycotoxin eradication to prevent stunted growth
Dietary Cancer Triggers
Vagus nerve connects the gut microbiome to the brain
Alzheimer’s Risk Factors By Dr Daniel Amen
Misdiagnosed thyroid cancers by Dr Mercola
How We Chose the Best Long-Term Care Insurance Providers
Home health options for seniors at home
Be Your Own Herbalist and how to avoid needing health insurance by Nina Price
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), estrogen and phytoestrogens
Jackfruit and cancer
CAM, holistic ways on cancer, depression, heart health, women and men
Shark oil for your skin, wound healing and overall health
Does eating peanuts affect eczema or psoriasis?
Last stage of liver and lung cancer, pain and fluid build up
Blood magnesium levels , dementia and alcohol
Eye Contact With Your Baby Helps Synchronize Brainwaves
Prostate cancer, Dr Mercola
Dark purple berries or Black currant juice and eggs for upping up sex drive
Does taking vitamin supplements weaken body’s ability to absorb/create them from food or natural sources?
15 Amazing Benefits Of Guava – constipation, weight loss, diabetes and more
Reduce inflammation using kHz frequency nerve block on vagus nerve
Vagus Nerve Stimulation Boosts Post-Stroke Motor Skill Recovery
Vets are better than doctors in identifying parasites, the monster in us
Poor sense of smell related to developing dementia
Number of doctors per 1000 population
FDA and cloud-based medical device
A tsp of apple cider vinegar in your drinking water for colon cleanse
Slow the aging process by lengthening your telomeres
Less melanin in white people leads to less folate for blood production
Samsung and WellDoc partner to offer direct-to-consumer version of diabetes management app
Why does gatorade make me tired?
Pubmed: Dietary modification may affect inflammatory processes
In home health support services – IHSS Programs
Bird poop , ALS and health problems
Unsterilized milk
Parkinson and Exercises
How neuroscience equip us to become better creators
Yearly Costs of Chronic Pain Exceed Those of Cancer, Heart Disease, and Diabetes
Pigs are a crucial part of the tapeworm life cycle
Causes of fast heart beat
Low levels of vitamin D in cancer and parasites-infection related health issue
Is there a link between ecstasy/MDMA and Parkinson’s Disease?
Tattoo , tuberculosis and leprosy
What are the benefits of eating chicken soup during pregnancy?
Stressed mothers and their children with binge eating habits later
When Beneficial Bacteria Knock But No One is Home
Mucilage, fiber, Metamucil and parasites
Lymphatic fluid is squeezed through the vessels when we use our muscles
Why we get fat and hungry
Oral Cancer
Organic foods, boron and cancer
Glyphosate and DNA damage
Self Lymph Drainage Massage by MassageByHeather.com in Louisville, KY
Soak, sprout, and ferment grains and legumes to remove toxic lectins
Vitamin B3, Leukemia, aging and cancer
Can Adderall damage to dopamine receptors be repaired?
My scientist friend asked how to detox or clean his body from toxins
Anaerobic rope parasites blocking the lumen of our intestines
Infection, Stem Cells and Cancer Signals
Astrocytes, brain and muscles communication, myasthenia gravis
Alzheimer’s, pork and food statistics
Where to get a pair of solar eclipse glasses?
Robert Mueller III stood up against corruption
Cigarettes and nutrient depletion
A plumber died of lung cancer, COPD causes
10 Early Signs of Parkinson’s Disease That Doctors Often Miss
From CNA to Home Health Care Aid to LVN to RN
Brain food , sources of GABA and for brain cell growth
Our ability to distinguish between what is real and what is perceived
Top health hacks 7-26-2019
Anxiety issues as we get older
Growth hormone DHEA increases libido/anti-aging
What are the most common age related diseases?
Copper toxicity and mental diseases
What Causes Muscle Cramps and Spasms?
Soaking and cooking our whole foods to remove anti-nutrients
Alzheimer’s disease prevention with Vit D, Vit C and low histamine foods or raw/whole foods
Glycogen Metabolism and Energy Metabolism of the Brain
Cancer killers from beta glucans in mushrooms, date fruit and whole grains
3 Threats: become ill,die too soon,live too long with no income
How can nitrate and nitrite affect normal hemoglobin?
Fried foods, hydrogenated and trans fats
Caffeinated coffee and pure caffeine promote proteostasis – good for worms
Zinc and lemongrass for skin health issues
How diet can change your epigenome and affect cancer and chromatin of DNA
Why is the Quora community so anti-Donald Trump?
Hyaluronic Acid rich foods to prevent epilepsy or seizures
Top health hacks 8-1-2019
Salted caramelized sugar and brain opioids
Chewing tobacco and oral cancer
Canada simvastatin drug prices
Stomach pain, skin issues, insomnia and headache should be monitored early on to prevent future chronic diseases
Water filtering – reverse osmosis,charcoal filtering and deionization
Milk and parasites
Calcium, magnesium, Vitamin D3 and K2 and Omega-3s cut risk of cancer
Unhealthy margarine, trans fat, parasites
Who pays for your medication
Study links gut-homing protein levels with HIV infection risk, disease progression
Early Markers of Disease using MRI: fatty acid synthesis in tumor detection and unsaturated lipids in breast lesions
Free ebook on cancer-free healing ways and curated health info
Medi-Cal Planning from Start to Finish
Low amounts of the essential amino acid methionine diet help form new blood vessels
Raw eggs for healing
Free dance performance in San Francisco this Friday
Brain disorders, stress , sleep and diseases
Who pays for your medication
Digital Health Avatar
Fat Burner vs. Sugar Burner: Which One Are You?
Cancer and metabolism
Sour fruits suppress hunger hormones
Weird Facts about Tall and Short People by Lisa Collier Cool
Sleep and brain cancer
What’s a good analogy to explain the immune system?
Men’s health
Anti-cancer Resveratrol in grapes, berries and peanuts
Your own health food store with free Bahamas trip
Depression Affects Male and Female Brains Differently
Fat or lipid absorption
Glial cells and neurons in the brain
Better health and performance to those students taking a Gap Year
Voter suppression: how much Trump’s commission is spending to investigate fake voter fraud allegations
Vagus nerve health = healing sounds, back bends,pickled veggies,massage
News Medical – Medical & Life Sciences
$10k granny unit in the bay area is possible
Who is Elaine Quijano, moderator of the vice presidential debate?
Un-medicated 92 yr old with Dementia and unnecessary tests
Iron deficiency anaemia and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Poor sleep may increase your risk of disease
Grandma’s home remedies for 7 ailments
Exercise and the brain
Gov. Brown signs bill that limits seizure of assets of many Medi-Cal recipients
Low Vitamin D Levels at Birth Linked to Higher Autism Risk
Baking soda , lemon and apple cider vinegar to repair kidney damage from sugar
Seven Tips for Battling Dry Eye
Healing tips, arthritis, skin, digestive and stress issues
Calculate your Body Mass Index – BMI
Zinc, copper and magnesium to fight diabetes and neurodegeneration
ADUs or granny flats in San Jose – guides
Massage to clean your lymps and help with attacking any virus
About fingerprinting, IHSS and worker’s comp in California for home care
Forearm Exercises to Build Strength and Reduce Wrist + Elbow Strain
Oregano, verbena, turmeric, thyme, red clover,damiana help balance estrogen and stress
How gifting are taxed by Intuit
Connie’s answers at quora.com
Butyrate in butter, green bananas , plant oils to burn fat
There is hope when you have no medical insurance
Hypocretin, Insomia or Sleep Disturbances, Narcolepsy, Depression and Parkinson’s
Prepare for the Digital Health Revolution
Raw Eggs and No Husband Since ’38 Kept Her Young at 115 by Elizabeta Povoledo
Estrogen and Alzheimer
Bay area medical supplies
Toxins in green potatoes
Joint pain gone with Anti-inflammatory yellow powder, UltraX360
How can we reverse auto immune conditions?
Geriatric mobile app
Shingles Natural Treatments
Lemon grass or Tanglad to fight insomia
Antisocial personality disorder in 70% of prison inmates
Milk and parasites
Gene List
Roman Coriander, Fennel flower or Black Cumin Seed Oil as an anti-tumor, anti-gastritis and anti-convulsant oil
ALS and coconut oil
Belly Fat: Can Poor Thyroid Function Increase Your Waistline?
Risks of Testosterone Therapy Dr Mercola
A New Role For Amyloid Beta in Alzheimer’s
130/80 new guideline for blood pressure – causes of high BP
Shampoo ingredients causing nerve damage
Sulfur-rich foods as regulator of nerves and vital organ functions, egg production and cell growth
Sulfur-rich foods as regulator of nerves and vital organ functions, egg production and cell growth
Young techies buying stocks/investments to plan to retire early
Why are alcoholics skinny?
Happy genes love to eat
Rheumatoid Arthritis by Dr Mercola
Chewing stimulates the hippocampus – brain function for approach-avoidance conflict
Fitness, not physical activity, mitigates negative effects of prolonged sitting
Boiled eggs and vinegar for diabetes
Eating Potatoes Before Pregnancy Linked to Gestational Diabetes
Patient generated health data
Raising Inspired Children by Dr Joe Dispenza
Why do doctors prescribe a high dose of iron tablets to anemic patients even though most of it comes out as waste?
Conor James Lamb –  Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district
Chest pain, flu and fever
Crisis in Retirement Planning by Robert Merton
Is dementia related to all anti-cholinergics or just GABA-enhancing ones?
Check your bile acid production and stress level for fat metabolism
Challenges, Opportunities of Mobile Health Devices in the Hospital
Cough remedies from Dr Mercola
B vitamins for nerve health and nerve pain
Pain, Opiods, Liver, Brain and Death
Immune system culprit in ALS, neuro disorder
Lying and addictive behavior
Alzheimer’s Disease Risk Factor Formula
Parasites and their effects on your immune system
Aug 23-24 Adobo Festival in Union City, CA flyer at Connie’s booth
130/80 new guideline for blood pressure – causes of high BP
Last words before dying
Heavy metals and epilepsy
Healthcare Industry Worst in Stopping Insider Data Breaches
Trump is not welcome in major world cities
USAFACTS.ORG how the govt spends our money
Toxic chemicals /environmental toxins/carcinogens affect the estrogens/other hormones in our cells
Vitamin D rescues deficiencies in DNA repair factors
Mindfulness is being open to the outcome
Can percumin prevent Parkinson’s disease?
Sugar and parasites
Ebola Virus Disease
Ebola and nutrition
What is blood cancer?
Last Will and Testament – California example
Get a microalbumin/creatinine ratio – urine test to check your kidneys’s health
About cancer, what can you do about it?
About Connie Dello Buono
Brain Iron May Predict Progression in Alzheimer’s
Health problems
Goiter
Hypocalcemia and Sepsis
High HDL less heart attacks
Why hire a bay area live-in caregiver?
Diseases related to gut microbes and animal feces
Disaster Safety & Assistive Technology: Protection for Seniors & the Disabled
How my dad shaped me as a person
Cost cutting measures in hospitals – current state
Suicide deaths of active-duty US military and omega-3 fatty-acid status
Atopic dermatitis and psoriasis by Dr Mercola
Racism doesn’t exist all by itself, it has support
How to increase mental toughness: 4 secrets of Navy SEALs and Olympians
Treating acid reflux naturally by WikiHow
Anti-aging steroids, pregnenolone, progesterone and DHEA
Bacterial pathogens must acquire iron in order to replicate and cause disease
A journal retracted a study linking genetically modified corn to tumor growth and death risk in rats
Preventing Elder Abuse, Assault and Theft
Virus , Vitamin A, B , D and C and why some people die from the Flu
Digestive enzymes kills parasites to prevent cancer
Accelerating Medicines Partnership
Baking soda for mosquito bites
Ciliopathies lie behind many human diseases
Dietary Fiber and Microbes Change the Gel That Lines Our Gut
Care plan
20 habits of eventual millionaires
Bitter gourd or bitter melon for body builders, diabetics, HIV infection
Survey shows 74 percent of Americans living with GI discomfort
Are short fat women stronger than tall skinny men?
Predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory medicine (P4)
Why a Sugar High Leads to a Brain Low
Links – Senior Care in the USA
Care home facility or caregivers in your homes
Balance your Serotonin, Dopamine and Endorphins with Happy foods
How soon after giving birth can a woman become pregnant?
How can I get higher estrogen levels?
Be a new you with the 30-day body burn
Yerba buena for head aches, fever and other ailments
Estate planning before death
Alzheimer’s gut bacteria, virus and iron dysregulation
Resveratrol and calorie restriction activates SIRT1 , anti-aging gene
Parasites from raw snake, frog, or pig travels to the intestines, liver, blood
Psychological Wounds of Conflict: The Impact of War to children, young adults and soldiers
Start a meal with a fruit or vegetable and glass of warm water
Toning or making elongated vowel sounds to heal your body
Erectile Dysfunction and Type 2 Diabetes
Contact us
Foods that delay the rate of brain atrophy in patients with Alzheimer’s disease
FDA Fueled Opioid Epidemic
Single neurons regulate their overall action potential firing rate
Even Moderate Air Pollution May Lead to Lung Disease
TP53 gene affects tumor suppression
Hidden Herpes Virus May Play Role in Multiple Sclerosis and Other Brain Disorders
Adverse effects of anti-hypertensive medication – hypotension, heart failure
Chronic antacid use adverse effects to your kidneys
More Evidence That Natural Plant Compound May Reduce Aging’s Cognitive Effects
What we all misunderstand about each other during the election?
Diabetes is not taking up enough glucose due to either the lack of insulin or a resistance to insulin – due to presence of bad fat
Sucrose, gut bacteria, toxins, and muscle integrity
Drug prescribing for older adults in the USA
Mesolimbic pathway in the brain and drug addiction
Alcohol causes gut damage with bacteria entering the blood stream
Is there connection between thyroid hormones and insulin?
Ginger prevents cancer
FOXO3, a gene linked to intelligence and involved in insulin signalling that might trigger apoptosis
Could Manipulating the Microbiome Treat Food Allergies?
Hip replacement and kidney stones
Food safety: 128,000 are hospitalized per year from food-borne infections
Long-Term Care Insurance , get them when you are in your 40s
Tanglad or lemongrass to help lower blood pressure
Small intestine bacterial overgrowth videos
What are lipoproteins doing in the brain?
Gastroparesis, Betain HCL, diabetes and stomach health
Leg cramps, heart muscles, magnesium and CQ10
Top 10 Autoresponders and Email Marketing Tools
June 25 Summer Scamper walk/run for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital
Hair loss,breast cancer, Zinc and Copper balance
Guava fruit, leaves and bark, as super fruit for the liver and rich in Vit C and E
Pelvic floor massage and exercise
Massage oil tips
Health IT: AI, Big data and IoT
Foods for parasite cleanse
ALS from virus, some liver cancer from parasites and fibromyalgia from gut microbes
Leaky gut, leaky brain, eat your garlic and pickles by C Guthrie
Is mistyping words a sign of Alzheimers?
Evidence-Based Practice and Health Technology Assessment
More nitrate-reducing bacteria in saliva causes Migraine
Healthy fats, High Intensity Interval Training and intermittent fasting to a slimmer you by Dr Mercola
Root cause analysis in health care
Lectin, gluten, stomach, fasting, toxins, wheat, and foods
Why can’t I sleep with an empty stomach?
Own Worldgn stock, earn more and get your fitness tracker to monitor health
Motherhealth Caregiving agency in the bay area
Metabolism is life sustaining and sum of all chemical reactions for growth and death of cells
Why do people always ask for boiling water when helping a woman give birth?
Diet for cluster headaches
Get a second shot in earning the income you deserve , a $15k value Europe trip awaits for free
Raw sulfur rich foods- arthritis and ulcerative colitis
Immune system, bone marrow, anti-cancer, shark oil
Top 2000 posts in this site
2013 Doctor consultations per country
Parsley, Natto, green tea and kiwi clean clogged arteries
Mental state and gait – walking
L-glutamine in food sources to fight diabetes
Anti-inflammatory diet relieves pain
Aphrodisiac foods

Safety of Steroids for Asthma

Corticosteroids Overprescribed in Young Asthmatics | Patient Care


May 1, 2017 – Oral corticosteroids appear to be substantially overprescribed for children who have asthma, according to a new study. The highest prescription …

Researchers find overprescribing of oral corticosteroids in children …


Apr 11, 2017 – While a short course of oral corticosteroid medication is recommended for the treatment of moderate to severe asthma flare-ups, it is neither …

Oral Corticosteroid Prescribing for Children With Asthma in a Medicaid …


by HJ Farber – ‎2017 – ‎Cited by 12 – ‎Related articles

Oral Corticosteroid Prescribing for Children With Asthma in a Medicaid Managed Care … overprescribedfor children with a health care provider’s diagnosis of asthma. …. Younger age groups had greater rates of repeated OCS dispensing than …

Asthma: Overuse of Oral Steroids Suggests Underuse of Inhalers


Apr 12, 2017 – A brief course of oral corticosteroids is currently recommended to treat moderate to severe asthma exacerbations. But the drugs may trigger anxiety, mania, irritability, or aggressive behavior, and may weaken the bones. This has led to concerns about overuse of these medications among children with asthma.

Use of Oral Corticosteroids in the Wheezy Toddler – The Journal of …


by EM Abrams – ‎2018 – ‎Cited by 1 – ‎Related articles

Jul 2, 2018 – Oral corticosteroids (OCS) often are used to treat acute wheeze in the toddler ….. was that patterns of dispensing suggest “substantial overprescribing” of OCS ….. Individualized therapy for persistent asthma in young children.

Anti-asthmatic drug prescriptions to an Italian paedriatic population.


by M Bianchi – ‎2009 – ‎Cited by 20 – ‎Related articles

Sep 3, 2008 – Anti-asthmatic drug prescriptions to an Italian paedriatic population. … and formulations, antibiotic co-prescriptions, systemic steroid prescriptions and rate of hospitalization. … of disease, indicating that anti-asthmatics are over-prescribed. … Italy; Male; Pediatrics/statistics & numerical data; Young Adult …

The impact of asthma and its treatment on growth: an evidence-based …


by L Zhang – ‎2018 – ‎Cited by 3 – ‎Related articles

Keywords. Asthma. Inhaled corticosteroids. Linear growth. Height …. 40 infants and young children (<3 years old) with severe uncontrolled asthma, The ….. asthmaoverprescribing of oral corticosteroids is still common in children with asthma.

The use of inhaled corticosteroids in pediatric asthma: update | World …


by E Hossny – ‎2016 – ‎Cited by 35 – ‎Related articles

Aug 12, 2016 – Table 1 Mechanism of actions of inhaled corticosteroids in asthma ….. In young children, when budesonide was used (400 ug/day) under real …

Missing: Overprescribed

Oral Corticosteroids: How to Use Them Wisely | For Better | US News


Apr 26, 2018 – Oral and injectable corticosteroids are often overprescribed. … This life-saving wonder drug stops an asthma flare in its tracks; it’s effective, easy …

Safety of Steroids for Asthma | Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia


Inhaled steroids are the most effective controller therapy available for asthma. They are the gold standard to which all other asthma medicines are compared.

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Under-ripe bananas, uncooked oats, white beans and lentils – healthy

The Carbs that are Good for Your Gut

White flour, and related starches, have taken a beating over the years. But not all thickening agents are bad for you.

Resistant starch provides “pre-biotics,” which are substances that feed the good bacteria

Even those celebrity nutritionists with a great resistance to carbs are becoming fans of a class of carbohydrates called “resistant starch” (RS). Research is now showing they have a positive impact on our gut microbiome. They improve our feeling of “fullness,” potentially assist in weight loss and insulin sensitivity—and decrease diabetes and cardiovascular risks.

Resistant Starch and Your Microbiome

Potato starch is a “resistant starch,” as is maize corn starch. Foods that contain high levels of resistant starch are under-ripe bananas, uncooked oats, white beans and lentils. What they “resist” is digestion by the small intestine. Instead, they move directly to the large intestine, where they digest slowly via a fermentation process that feeds some of our best bacteria. Resistant starch provides “pre-biotics,” which are substances that feed the good bacteria by releasing short chain fatty acids (SFCA’s) as they ferment. These SFCA’s are food for the colonic microbiome, and when that microbiome is well-fed, the good bacteria flourish.

Less Inflammation, Healthier Mind

Scientists are finding that a well-balanced microbiome decreases inflammation, which is at the root of most disease. It also improves digestion, allowing optimal absorption of nutrients and resulting in an overall improvement to our health. We are now also learning more about the close connection between our minds and our microbiome. Research is showing that a well-balanced gut environment improves our emotional health.

The Types of Resistant Starch

They key to consuming “resistant starch,” as with so many fibrous foods, is to consume it in its “whole” form as often as possible. Fiber itself is becoming a topic that scientists understand with more nuance than they once did. A few decades ago, fiber was only described in terms of its solubility. There were those fibers that were “soluble” and those that were “insoluble” (soluble fibers turn into a gel in water, like oats, or psyllium, do as opposed to insoluble fibers like the cellulose of celery or wheat’s bran, that don’t). Now, we understand that other descriptors, such as “viscosity,” may have a greater match with the fiber’s actual actions and influence within the digestive system.

That said, the four categories of resistant starch are:

  • “Type 1,” which digestive enzymes don’t break down (This starch is physically inaccessible, bound within the fibrous cell walls of plants, and is found in whole grains, seeds and legumes. The best way to eat those starches is whole. Think cooked or sprouted garbanzo beans in a salad – which leaves the garbanzo “shell” intact vs, pureed in hummus, which breaks down the bean structure.)
  • “Type 2,” containing high levels of amylose found in fruits, potatoes, hi-maize corn starch, and other beans.
  • “Type 3,” which contain resistant starch when cooked, though they contain more of it when cooled afterward — think potato salad vs. baked potato, also found in rice and oatmeal.
  • “Type 4,” processed / modified starch products such as potato starch and again hi-maizeâ corn starch.

Several different types of resistant starch can co-exist in the same food. Depending on how foods are prepared, the amount of resistant starch changes. For example, allowing a banana to ripen (turn yellow) will degrade the resistant starches and turn them into regular starches. Since there are benefits to all, including a variety is key. It’s best to mix the resistant starch foods with other foods. If you’re new to resistant starch foods, you can gradually increase their quantity in your diet to 15 to 20 grams per day.

What Can “Resistant Starch” Do For You?

Specifically, it can:

Improve Insulin Sensitivity

As noted, research has shown that resistant starch improves the gut microbiome, which has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity. A 2017 study published in the journal, Microbiome, found, however, that RS improves insulin sensitivity independently of its effect on the gut microbiota.

Assist With Weight Loss

A study published in October, 2015, in Nutrition Journal, demonstrated that adding RS  to pancakes resulted in an increase in fat burning and greater satiety (feeling of fullness). These are each significant factors by themselves, but together are helpful aids for weight loss. This is just one of many studies pointing to the weight-loss benefits from RS.

Decreases Risk Of Colon Cancer

Research has shown that resistant starches decrease inflammation in the colon and can reduce the risk and progression of colon cancer. A 2014 study published in Nature Reviews Microbiology attributed the cancer-related benefits to the short-chain fatty acids (SCFA’s) produced in the gut from the consumption of resistant starch.

Magnesium

Magnesium carbonate, magnesium citrate, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium oxide, magnesium sulfate

General description

Magnesium is an essential mineral. It helps the way that more than 300 enzymes work. It’s needed for nerve and muscle activity. It also controls the electrical and muscle activity of the heart. Magnesium is in many antacids and laxatives. It’s found in many foods. Because of this, magnesium deficiency is rare.

Magnesium is needed for many functions in the body. These include:

  • Activating enzymes that help break down carbohydrates

  • Nerve conduction

  • Helping control nerve irritability

Magnesium helps bone and tooth enamel form. It’s needed to convert protein, carbohydrates, and lipids into energy. It also helps make protein, RNA, and DNA. Magnesium helps break down (metabolize) of many substances in the body.

Medically valid uses

Magnesium is used as a laxative. This is often done in the form of magnesium sulfate or magnesium citrate. Magnesium citrate is given to cleanse the bowel before taking X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs of the abdomen.

It is used in some treatments for heartburn and upset stomach due to acid indigestion

Magnesium is also used to prevent and treat low magnesium levels. This is called hypomagnesemia. In hospitals, magnesium is used to treat preeclampsia and eclampsia. These issues can happen in pregnancy and right after childbirth.

Magnesium works with calcium, vitamin D, and parathyroid hormone to make healthy bone tissue and tooth enamel.

Your healthcare provider may prescribe magnesium to treat certain heart problems. These include:

  • Heart attack

  • Heart rhythm problems

  • Congestive heart failure

  • Digitalis poisoning

It may also be used during cardiac surgery.

Unsubstantiated claims

There may be benefits that have not yet been proven through research.

Magnesium may:

  • Help maintain health of muscles, bone, and nerve tissues

  • Help with anxiety and depression

  • Induce sleep in people with insomnia

  • Relieve premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

  • Prevent muscle cramps, muscle weakness, and fatigue

  • Prevent heart disease

  • Prevent hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis)

  • Prevent high triglyceride levels

Recommended intake

Magnesium is measured in milligrams (mg). The Recommended Dietary Allowance is RDA.

Group

RDA

Infants (0–6 months)

30 mg*

Infants (6 months to 1 year)

75 mg*

Children (1–3 years)

80 mg

Children (4–8 years)

130 mg

Children (9–13 years)

240 mg

Boys (14–18 years)

410 mg

Girls (14–18 years)

360 mg

Men (19–30 years)

400 mg

Women (19–30 years)

310 mg

Men (31 years and older)

420 mg

Women (31 years and older)

320 mg

Pregnant women (14–18 years)

400 mg

Pregnant women (19–30 years)

350 mg

Pregnant women (31 years and older)

360 mg

Breastfeeding women

No change

*Adequate Intake (AI)

Magnesium supplements come in many forms. Each form has a different amount of magnesium. Magnesium oxide and magnesium hydroxide have the highest amounts of it. Magnesium gluconate and magnesium gluceptate have the lowest.

Dose may be noted as the amount of magnesium. Or it may be noted as the percentage. Read the label to see how what is noted. You can learn the amount of elemental magnesium in a food. To do this, multiply the percentage of magnesium by 10. One (1) gram of magnesium oxide has 60.3% of magnesium or 603 mg.

You should take magnesium supplements with food. This can help prevent diarrhea.

You may need more magnesium if you have any of these:

  • Diabetes

  • A malabsorption syndrome

  • Kidney disease

  • Take water pills (diuretics) regularly

  • Having vomiting or diarrhea

  • Have burns over large areas of the body

  • Extreme athletic activity

  • Moderate-to-heavy alcohol use

You may also need more magnesium if you are an athlete who restricts calories.

Food source

Nutrient content per 100 grams

Cashews

267 mg

Almonds

252 mg

Brewer’s yeast

231 mg

Peanuts

181 mg

Peanut butter

178 mg

Pistachios

158 mg

Walnuts

134 mg

Kidney beans

132 mg

Dried figs

82 mg

Beet tops

71 mg

Milk

70 mg

Lima beans

66 mg

Magnesium is in nearly all foods. Because of this, it’s rare to have a diet low in magnesium. Signs of deficiency may include:

  • Weakness

  • Confusion

  • Muscle tremor

  • Abnormal heart rhythm

  • Lack of coordination

  • Personality changes

  • Gastrointestinal disorders

  • Loss of appetite

Side effects, toxicity, and interactions

Taking too much magnesium can cause diarrhea. This is the most common side effect. It can also cause:

  • Low blood pressure (hypotension)

  • Muscle weakness

  • Nausea

  • Vomiting

Magnesium supplements may be dangerous for some people. This includes:

  • People with kidney problems

  • People with a heart block

Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding talk to their healthcare providers before taking any supplements.

Magnesium is used in many antacid forms. These can cause diarrhea. Taking magnesium with food may help prevent this side effect.

Magnesium may change the effects of some medicines. These include:

  • Bisphosphonates

  • Antibiotics

  • Diuretics

  • Proton pump inhibitors

Tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take before you take magnesium.

Viruses, Bacteria, and Parasites in the Digestive Tract

Viruses, Bacteria, and Parasites in the Digestive Tract

What are viruses, bacteria, and parasites?

Viruses, bacteria, and parasites are living organisms that are found all around us. They are in water and soil. They are on the surfaces of foods that we eat. They are also on surfaces that we touch, such as countertops in the bathroom or kitchen. Some bacteria live in and on our bodies and don’t cause problems. Other kinds of bacteria (as well as parasites and viruses) can make us very sick if they get inside our bodies. Bacteria and viruses can live outside of the human body (such as on a countertop) sometimes for many hours or days. But parasites need a living host to survive.

Bacteria and parasites can often be killed with antibiotics. But these medicines can’t kill viruses. Children sick from a virus can be given medicines to make them feel better. But antibiotics don’t fight viral infections.

Bacteria, viruses, and parasites can cause many illnesses. They can infect any organ in the body. Viruses are often the cause of respiratory illnesses (such as the common cold) and digestive illnesses (such as diarrhea). Bacteria can infect any part of the body. But they often cause diarrhea when they get into the digestive tract.

What is diarrhea?

Diarrhea can be caused by many types of bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Children can also have diarrhea without having an infection. For example, diarrhea can be caused by food allergies or by certain medicines (such as antibiotics). A child has diarrhea when bowel movements are loose and watery, and more frequent than normal.

Children with diarrhea may have other symptoms, such as:

  • Nausea

  • Vomiting

  • Stomach aches

  • Headache

  • Fever

How does a child usually come in contact with germs that cause diarrhea?

  • By touching the stool of an infected person, such as when touching dirty diapers

  • By touching an object contaminated with the stool of an infected person, and then eating the germs. This often happens by touching the mouth with the contaminated hand. This can occur at day-care centers or at home in places where diapered babies play.

  • By eating or drinking contaminated food or water

Why is infection with these germs a concern?

Viruses, bacteria, and parasites that get inside the digestive tract often cause diarrhea. Large amounts of water are lost with the diarrhea. This may cause dehydration in children. Children become dehydrated much quicker than adults. This can cause serious problems if fluids are not replaced. Infections caused by parasites and a few types of infections caused by bacteria may also need treatment with medicines.

Also, children with a severely weakened immune system are at risk for more serious disease. Symptoms may be worse. They could lead to serious illness. People with weakened immune systems include those who:

  • Have HIV/AIDS

  • Have cancer or have had a transplant, and are taking certain immunosuppressive medicines

  • Have inherited diseases that affect the immune system

Common bacteria, viruses, and parasites that cause diarrhea

Bacteria

E. coli

Description

There are hundreds of different types, or strains, of the bacteria E. coli (Escherichia coli). Most of these are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. But some strains of E. coli make a strong toxin that can cause a severe infection.

The CDC recognizes E. colias a foodborne illness. This means it is spread by consuming contaminated food or drink. Infection often leads to bloody diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting, and fever.

Transmission

Most E. coliillness has been linked to eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef. E. colibacteria live in the intestines of healthy cattle. The number of organisms required to cause disease is not known. But it is thought to be very small. Meat becomes contaminated during slaughter. Organisms can be mixed into beef when it is ground. Contaminated beef looks and smells normal. Other ways to transmit E. coli are:

  • Person-to-person contact in families and in child-care and other institutional-care centers

  • Bacteria present on a cow’s udders, or on equipment, getting into raw milk

  • Infection after swimming in or drinking sewage-contaminated water

  • Drinking unpasteurized juices, such as apple cider

Bacteria in diarrhea stools of infected people can be passed from one person to another if hygiene or handwashing habits are not good. This is very likely among toddlers who are not toilet trained. Family members and playmates of these children are at high risk of getting infected. Young children often pass the organism in their stool for a week or 2 after their illness goes away.

Prevention

CDC recommends these steps to prevent the infection:

  • Cook all ground beef or hamburger thoroughly. Make sure that the cooked meat is gray or brown throughout (not pink), any juices run clear, and the inside is hot.

  • Use a digital instant-read meat thermometer. The temperature of the meat should reach a minimum of 160°F.

  • If you are served an undercooked hamburger in a restaurant, send it back.

  • Drink only pasteurized milk and milk products. Don’t drink raw milk.

  • Drink only pasteurized juices and ciders.

  • Check that infected people, especially children, wash their hands well and often with soap to reduce the risk of spreading the infection.

  • Drink municipal water that has been treated with adequate levels of chlorine, or other effective disinfectants.

  • Try not to swallow lake or pool water while swimming.

  • Wash hands well after using the toilet.

  • People with diarrhea should not:

    • Swim in public pools or lakes

    • Bathe with others

    • Prepare food for others

Salmonella

Description

Salmonella is a bacteria that infects the intestines. It causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. Over 1 million cases of salmonella infection occur in the U.S. each year. The illness often lasts 4 to 7 days. Most people get better without treatment.

But in some people, the diarrhea may be so severe that they need to stay in the hospital. In these people, the salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites. It can cause death unless the person is treated right away with antibiotics. Babies and those with a weakened immune system are more likely to have a severe illness.

Transmission

Salmonella may be spread by:

  • Eating raw foods contaminated with animal feces. Contaminated foods often look and smell normal. They are often of animal origin, such as beef, poultry, milk, or eggs. But all foods, such as some unwashed fruits and vegetables and peanut butter, may become contaminated. Many raw foods of animal origin are often tainted. But thorough cooking kills salmonella.

  • Handling reptiles. Reptiles such as iguanas and turtles are very likely to have Salmonella. People should always wash their hands right away after handling a reptile, even if the reptile is healthy. Adults should also be careful that children wash their hands after handling a reptile.

Prevention

Don’t eat raw or undercooked eggs, poultry, or meats. Remember that some sauces and desserts use raw eggs to make them. So be cautious of these, particularly in foreign countries. Also, follow these tips by the CDC:

  • Check that poultry and meat, including hamburgers, are well-cooked. They should not be pink in the middle.

  • Don’t drink or eat raw or unpasteurized milk or other dairy products.

  • Thoroughly wash produce before eating it.

  • Don’t cross-contaminate foods. Uncooked meats should be kept separate from produce, cooked foods, and ready-to-eat foods.

  • All utensils, cutting boards, and counters should be thoroughly washed after handling uncooked foods.

  • Wash hands well before handling foods and between handling different food items.

  • Wash hands well after contact with feces.

  • Wash hands well after handling any reptiles. Reptiles are very likely to have Salmonella.

Viruses

Rotavirus

Description

Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea among children. It results in the death of over 500,000 children each year worldwide.

In the U.S., the disease occurs most often in the winter. Yearly epidemics occur from December to June. The highest rates of illness occur among infants and young children. Most children in the U.S. are infected by 5 years of age. Adults can also be infected. But the disease tends to be mild.

The incubation period for rotavirus disease is about 2 days. The disease causes vomiting and watery diarrhea for 3 to 8 days. Fever and stomach pain occur often. Immunity after infection is incomplete. But repeat infections tend to be less severe than the original infection.

Transmission

Rotavirus may be spread:

  • Through accidentally swallowing the virus picked up from surfaces contaminated with stool from an infected person, such as toys, bathroom fixtures, changing tables, and diaper pails.

  • Through ingestion of contaminated food, or contaminated water, such as the type of water found in a public swimming pool.

Prevention

Two rotavirus vaccines are currently used in babies in the U.S. Both vaccines are given by mouth, not by a shot. Talk with your child’s healthcare provider about which shot is best for your baby.

Handwashing is a very important means of preventing the spread of rotavirus. Careful and frequent handwashing can prevent the spread of infection to other people.

The CDC recommends:

  • Adults should wash their hands after using the toilet, after helping a child use the toilet, after diapering a child, and before preparing, serving, or eating food.

  • Have children wash their hands after using the toilet, after having their diapers changed (an adult should wash infant’s or small child’s hands), and before eating snacks or meals.

  • Toys, bathrooms, and food preparation surfaces are disinfected often, especially if a sick child has been in the home.

  • Use diapers with waterproof outer covers that can hold liquid stool or urine, or use plastic pants.

  • Have children wear clothes over diapers.

Parasites

Giardia

Description

During the past 15 years, Giardia lambliahas become one of the most common waterborne diseases in humans in the U.S. Giardia is a tiny parasite that lives in the intestines of people and animals. The parasite is passed in the bowel movement of an infected person or animal. It is found in every part of the U.S. and throughout the world.

Diaper-aged children who go to daycare centers, international travelers, hikers, campers, and others who drink untreated water from contaminated sources, are most at risk for getting infected with Giardia. Several community-wide outbreaks of infection have been linked to drinking municipal water tainted with Giardia.

Transmission

People become infected after accidentally swallowing the parasite. Giardia may be found in soil, food, water, or on surfaces.

Some of the ways people can get Giardia are:

  • Eating uncooked food contaminated with Giardia

  • Swallowing water from swimming pools, lakes, rivers, springs, ponds, or streams contaminated with sewage or feces from humans or animals

  • Accidentally swallowing the parasite picked up from surfaces contaminated with stool from an infected person, such as toys, bathroom fixtures, changing tables, and diaper pails

Prevention

The CDC recommends:

  • Washing hands with soap and water after using the toilet, changing diapers, and before handling food

  • Washing and peeling all raw vegetables and fruits before eating

  • Not drinking water from lakes, rivers, springs, ponds, or streams unless it has been filtered and chemically treated

  • Boiling drinking water for 1 minute to kill the Giardia parasite. This will ensure safe drinking water during community-wide outbreaks caused by contaminated drinking water

  • Not drinking unboiled tap water and not eating uncooked foods washed with unboiled tap water when camping or traveling in countries where the water supply may be unsafe. Bottled or canned carbonated drinks, seltzers, pasteurized fruit drinks, and steaming hot coffee and tea are safe to drink.

If your child has Giardia, don’t swim in pools for 2 weeks after the diarrhea or loose stools have cleared. Giardia is fairly chlorine resistant. It is passed in the stools of infected people for several weeks after they no longer have symptoms.

Cryptosporidium

Description

Cryptosporidium, or “crypto,” is a tiny parasite that can live in the intestines of humans and animals. The parasite is protected by an outer shell that lets it survive outside the body for long periods of time. It is very resistant to chlorine disinfection.

Transmission

Cryptosporidium may be spread by:

  • Accidentally swallowing anything that has come in contact with the stool of a person or animal

  • Swallowing contaminated water from swimming pools, hot tubs, lakes, rivers, springs, ponds, or streams contaminated with sewage or feces from humans or animals

  • Eating uncooked contaminated food

  • Picking crypto up from surfaces contaminated with stool from an infected person such as toys, bathroom fixtures, changing tables, and diaper pails

Prevention

The CDC recommends:

  • Washing hands with soap and water after using the toilet, changing diapers, and before eating or helping prepare food

  • Staying away from water or food that may be contaminated

  • Washing and/or peeling all raw vegetables and fruits before giving them to your child to eat

  • Not drinking water from lakes, rivers, springs, ponds, or streams unless it has been filtered and chemically treated

  • Boiling drinking water for 1 minute to kill the parasite. This will ensure safe drinking water during community-wide outbreaks caused by contaminated drinking water.

  • Not drinking unboiled tap water and not eating uncooked foods washed with unboiled tap water when camping or traveling in countries where the water supply may be unsafe

  • Not swimming in pools if your child has had crypto and for at least 2 weeks after diarrhea stops. Crypto can be passed in the stool and contaminate water for several weeks after your child no longer has symptoms. This has resulted in several outbreaks of crypto among pool users. Crypto can survive in chlorinated pools for several days.

Can my child get germs from food?

Almost everyone has had a foodborne illness at one time. These illnesses can happen when food is made at a restaurant or at home. If food is handled and prepared safely, most illnesses can be avoided.

All food may have some natural bacteria. Not storing or handling ir right gives the bacteria a chance to grow. Food can also be contaminated with bacteria from other sources that can make you ill. Contaminated or unclean food can be very unsafe, especially to children. Each year, foodborne illnesses kill 3,000 people of all ages. They also cause fever, stomach cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea in about 48 million Americans.

Tips from the CDC to prevent food contamination

  • Be careful when buying food:

    • When at the grocery store, pick up foods that can go bad (such as meat, eggs, and milk) at the very end of your shopping trip. This helps them stay cool.

    • Take food home right away so that it does not spoil in a hot car.

    • Stay away from raw or unpasteurized milk.

    • Eggs, meat, seafood, and poultry are most likely to have bacteria. Don’t let their juices drip on other food.

  • Store food the right way:

    • Store eggs, raw meat, poultry, and seafood in the refrigerator.

    • A refrigerator should be set between 32°F and 40°F.

    • A freezer should be set at or below 0°F.

    • Regularly clean and disinfect your refrigerator and freezer.

    • Use containers to prevent contaminating other foods or kitchen surfaces. Don’t store food uncovered in the refrigerator or freezer.

  • Use special precautions when preparing and cooking food:

    • Wash your hands and clean and disinfect kitchen surfaces before, during, and after handling, cooking, and serving food.

    • Defrost frozen food on a plate either in the refrigerator or in a microwave, but not on the counter.

    • Cook food right away after defrosting.

    • Use different dishes and utensils for raw foods than you use for cooked foods.

    • Wash raw fruits and vegetables before eating them.

  • Cool and promptly store leftovers after food has been served:

    • Because harmful bacteria grow at room temperature, keep hot food hot and keep cold food cold. This is especially important during picnics and buffets.

    • Do not leave foods that can go bad out for more than 2 hours.

    • Promptly refrigerate or freeze leftovers in shallow containers or wrapped tightly in bags.

When parasites catch viruses

When parasites catch viruses

Researchers have found that the pathogenicity of the sexually transmitted protozoan parasite Trichomonas vaginalis — the cause of trichomoniasis — is fueled by a viral invader. Pictured is the Trichomonas vaginalis trophozoite.

Researchers have found that the pathogenicity of the sexually transmitted protozoan parasite Trichomonas vaginalis — the cause of trichomoniasis — is fueled by a viral invader. Pictured is the Trichomonas vaginalis trophozoite.

Image courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Antibiotics not the solution for STD that affects 250 million people

When humans have parasites, the organisms live in our bodies, co-opt our resources, and cause disease. However, it turns out that parasites themselves can have their own co-habitants.

Researchers from Harvard Medical SchoolBrigham and Women’s Hospital, and State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University have found that the pathogenicity of the sexually transmitted protozoan parasite Trichomonas vaginalis — the cause of trichomoniasis — is fueled by a viral invader. Trichomoniasis infections are more common than all bacterial sexually transmitted diseases (STD) combined. Annually, trichomoniasis affects nearly 250 million people, typically as vaginitis in women and urethritis in men.

“Trichomoniasis is associated with devastating consequences for women due to inflammation and related risks of reproductive disease,” said Raina Fichorova, leader of the research team as well as associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Our future goal is to determine how the viral symbiont and its inflammatory ‘halo’ affect the risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight.”

“This is only one of two incidences that we know of for which the pathogenicity of a protozoan virus has been characterized,” said Max Nibert, Harvard Medical School professor of microbiology and immunology and co-author of the paper. “When found together, the result is an increase in virulence of the protozoan parasite to the human host, leading to exacerbated disease.”

This study, which was initiated by a Harvard Catalyst Pilot Grant, will be published online in Public Library of Science (PLoS) One.

Rather than invading human cells, Trichomonas vaginalis attaches to their surface and feeds on them, sometimes remaining asymptomatic for a period of time. The virus, called Trichomonasvirus, infects the protozoan and increases its pathogenic power by fueling virus-specific inflammatory responses.

Moreover, carrying the protozoan parasite predisposes women to acquire sexually transmitted viruses, particularly HIV and human papillomavirus, or HPV, both of which can lead to serious diseases such as AIDS and cervical cancer, respectively. Fichorova and Nibert have recently obtained funding from the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research to find out if the virus itself is directly responsible for increased HIV risk.

According to Nibert, the virus-parasite symbiosis is the norm rather than the exception with this particular protozoan. Upwards of 80 percent of Trichomonas vaginalis isolates carry the virus. “Unlike flu viruses, for example, this virus can’t spread by jumping out of the cell into another one,” said Nibert, who has pioneered molecular biology work on double-stranded RNA viruses, a category that includes Trichomonasvirus. “It just spreads between cells when they divide or mate.”

According to the researchers, it is this double-stranded nature of the viral genome that contributes to increased virulence of the protozoan parasite. “The double-stranded RNA seems important to the signaling process,” added Nibert.

Currently, trichomoniasis is treated with the antibiotic metronidazole. But this treatment is only effective on the protozoan. “When the medication is used, the dying or stressed protozoa release unharmed virions, which then signal to the human cells,” explained Fichorova. As a result, the symptoms are aggravated, and this in turn might increase the danger trichomoniasis poses to pregnant women and their children.

“Ahead is more research to better understand the viral cycle and structural features that might be vulnerable to drugs, which will lead to opening new doors for better treatment of trichomoniasis and related diseases,” said Fichorova. “Our complementary expertise, interdisciplinary team efforts, and strong collaboration is the key to our future success.”

Nibert added that basic research on Trichomonas vaginalis is not nearly as supported as he thinks it should be. “It is unfortunate that a human pathogen of such worldwide significance has been neglected to such a degree,” he said.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, a Harvard Catalyst Pilot Grant, the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center, and the National Center for Research Resources.

Fat and protein foods protect bacteria from stomach acid

Foods: protein, fats and carbs

  • Food provided a protective effect to acid sensitive bacteria, i.e. solid food source can help in the survival of bacteria in an acidic environment
  • The bacteria survived when inoculated into beef or egg white, but not in the case of rice.
  • The fat and protein content in the food is hypothesized to help the organisms survive. Fat molecules are largely hydrophobic, and protect the bacteria against the acidic environment.
  • Carbohydrates (rice) does not offer protection to Salmonella.
  • E, coli 0157:07 needs only a few cells to cause infection. So is also most pathogenic virus, like Norovirus, Hepatitis virus.

The stomach

  • Several different factors can cause the stomach mucus layer to break down, including a bacteria called H. pylori, alcohol, smoking, pain killer drugs (NSAID’s), stress, parasites, infection, etc.
  • Gastric acid is produced by cells in the lining of the stomach, which are coupled in feedback systems to increase acid production when needed. Other cells in the stomach produce bicarbonate, a base, to buffer the fluid, ensuring that it does not become too acidic. These cells also produce mucus, which forms a viscous physical barrier to prevent gastric acid from damaging the stomach. The pancreas further produces large amounts of bicarbonate and secretes bicarbonate through the pancreatic duct to the duodenum to completely neutralize any gastric acid that passes further down into the digestive tract.

Healthy fat hidden in dirt may fend off anxiety disorders

Healthy fat hidden in dirt may fend off anxiety disorders

Summary: 10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid, a fatty acid found in the soil based bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae, interacts with immune cells to inhibit pathways that drive inflammation and increases resilience to stress. Researchers say the findings could bring us one step closer to developing a microbe-based “stress vaccine”.

Source: University of Colorado at Boulder

Thirty years after scientists coined the term “hygiene hypothesis” to suggest that increased exposure to microorganisms could benefit health, University of Colorado Boulder researchers have identified an anti-inflammatory fat in a soil-dwelling bacterium that may be responsible.

The discovery, published Monday in the journal Psychopharmacology, may at least partly explain how the bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, quells stress-related disorders. It also brings the researchers one step closer to developing a microbe-based “stress vaccine.”

“We think there is a special sauce driving the protective effects in this bacterium, and this fat is one of the main ingredients in that special sauce,” said senior author and Integrative Physiology Professor Christopher Lowry.

British scientist David Strachan first proposed the controversial “hygiene hypothesis” in 1989, suggesting that in our modern, sterile world, lack of exposure to microorganisms in childhood was leading to impaired immune systems and higher rates of allergies and asthma.

Researchers have since refined that theory, suggesting that it is not lack of exposure to disease-causing germs at play, but rather to “old friends” – beneficial microbes in soil and the environment – and that mental health is also impacted.

“The idea is that as humans have moved away from farms and an agricultural or hunter-gatherer existence into cities, we have lost contact with organisms that served to regulate our immune system and suppress inappropriate inflammation,” said Lowry, who prefers the phrases ‘old friends hypothesis’ or ‘farm effect.’ “That has put us at higher risk for inflammatory disease and stress-related psychiatric disorders.”

Lowry has published numerous studies demonstrating a link between exposure to healthy bacteria and mental health.

One showed that children raised in a rural environment, surrounded by animals and bacteria-laden dust, grow up to have more stress-resilient immune systems and may be at lower risk of mental illness than pet-free city dwellers.

Others have shown that when a particular bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, is injected into rodents, it alters the animals’ behavior in a way similar to that of antidepressants and has long-lasting anti-inflammatory effects on the brain. Studies suggest exaggerated inflammation boosts risk of trauma- and stressor-related disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

One recent Lowry-authored study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2017, showed that injections of M. vaccae prior to a stressful event could prevent a “PTSD-like” syndrome in mice, fending off stress-induced colitis and making the animals act less anxious when stressed again later.

“We knew it worked, but we didn’t know why,” said Lowry. “This new paper helps clarify that.”

For the new study, Lowry and his team identified, isolated and chemically synthesized a novel lipid, or fatty acid, called 10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid found in Mycobacterium vaccae and used next-generation sequencing techniques to study how it interacted with macrophages, or immune cells, when the cells were stimulated.

They discovered that inside cells, the lipid acted like a key in a lock, binding to a specific receptor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), and inhibiting a host of key pathways which drive inflammation. They also found that when cells were pre-treated with the lipid they were more resistant to inflammation when stimulated.

“It seems that these bacteria we co-evolved with have a trick up their sleeve,” said Lowry. “When they get taken up by immune cells, they release these lipids that bind to this receptor and shut off the inflammatory cascade.”

Lowry has long envisioned developing a “stress vaccine” from M. vaccae, which could be given to first responders, soldiers and others in high-stress jobs to help them fend off the psychological damage of stress.

“This is a huge step forward for us because it identifies an active component of the bacteria and the receptor for this active component in the host,” he said.

Simply knowing the mechanism of action by which M. vaccae reaps benefits could boost confidence in it as a potential therapeutic. And if further studies show the novel fat alone has therapeutic effects, that molecule could become a target for drug development, he said.

This shows a man with dirty hands

Overall, the study offers further proof that our “old friends” have a lot to offer.

“This is just one strain of one species of one type of bacterium that is found in the soil but there are millions of other strains in soils,” Lowry said. “We are just beginning to see the tip of the iceberg in terms of identifying the mechanisms through which they have evolved to keep us healthy. It should inspire awe in all of us.”

ABOUT THIS NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH ARTICLE

Source:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Media Contacts: 
Lisa Marshall – University of Colorado at Boulder
Image Source:
The image is adapted from the University of Colorado at Boulder news release.

Original Research: Closed access
“Identification and characterization of a novel anti-inflammatory lipid isolated from Mycobacterium vaccae, a soil-derived bacterium with immunoregulatory and stress resilience properties”. David G. Smith, Roberta Martinelli, Gurdyal S. Besra, Petr A. Illarionov, Istvan Szatmari, Peter Brazda, Mary A. Allen, Wenqing Xu, Xiang Wang, László Nagy, Robin D. Dowell, Graham A. W. Rook, Laura Rosa Brunet, Christopher A. Lowry.
Psychopharmacology. doi:10.1007/s00213-019-05253-9

Abstract

Identification and characterization of a novel anti-inflammatory lipid isolated from Mycobacterium vaccae, a soil-derived bacterium with immunoregulatory and stress resilience properties

Rationale
Mycobacterium vaccae (NCTC 11659) is an environmental saprophytic bacterium with anti-inflammatory, immunoregulatory, and stress resilience properties. Previous studies have shown that whole, heat-killed preparations of M. vaccae prevent allergic airway inflammation in a murine model of allergic asthma. Recent studies also demonstrate that immunization with M. vaccae prevents stress-induced exaggeration of proinflammatory cytokine secretion from mesenteric lymph node cells stimulated ex vivo, prevents stress-induced exaggeration of chemically induced colitis in a model of inflammatory bowel disease, and prevents stress-induced anxiety-like defensive behavioral responses. Furthermore, immunization with M. vaccae induces anti-inflammatory responses in the brain and prevents stress-induced exaggeration of microglial priming. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying anti-inflammatory effects of M. vaccae are not known.

Objectives
Our objective was to identify and characterize novel anti-inflammatory molecules from M. vaccaeNCTC 11659.

Methods
We have purified and identified a unique anti-inflammatory triglyceride, 1,2,3-tri [Z-10-hexadecenoyl] glycerol, from M. vaccae and evaluated its effects in freshly isolated murine peritoneal macrophages.

Results
The free fatty acid form of 1,2,3-tri [Z-10-hexadecenoyl] glycerol, 10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid, decreased lipopolysaccharide-stimulated secretion of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 ex vivo. Meanwhile, next-generation RNA sequencing revealed that pretreatment with 10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid upregulated genes associated with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) signaling in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages, in association with a broad transcriptional repression of inflammatory markers. We confirmed using luciferase-based transfection assays that 10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid activated PPARα signaling, but not PPARγ, PPARδ, or retinoic acid receptor (RAR) α signaling. The effects of 10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated secretion of IL-6 were prevented by PPARα antagonists and absent in PPARα-deficient mice.

Conclusion
Future studies should evaluate the effects of 10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid on stress-induced exaggeration of peripheral inflammatory signaling, central neuroinflammatory signaling, and anxiety- and fear-related defensive behavioral responses.

Looking to the body to better understand the brain

Looking to the body to better understand the brain

Summary: From researching the microbiome and immune system to nociception, scientists are looking beyond the nervous system to gain a better understanding of neurological and mental health disorders.

Source: MIT

It turns out that understanding the brain, with its hundreds of billions of cells and trillions of circuit connections, also requires looking at the heart, and following the winding path of the intestine. In fact, as Picower Institute research is helping to show, neuroscience not only has to go beyond the nervous system, but also to cells that aren’t even part of the same organism that the nervous system belongs to. The colonies of bacteria that we host — our “microbiome” — appear to exert a mysterious and multifaceted influence on our mental function and health.

In other words, the rest of the body has a lot to teach us about the brain and a important influence over our mental health. That’s why three Picower Institute professors – Emery N. Brown, Gloria Choi and Steve Flavell – are looking below the neck to get a better view inside the head.

Going with the gut

Flavell is investigating communication between the brain and body using the nematode worm C. elegans. But what he has found in that simple creature’s alimentary canal may help explain a great deal about how our mood changes with our sense of satiety, and one of the main ways that the bacterial microbiome communicates with the brain.

In a paper in Cell earlier this year, Flavell’s lab discovered the function of two genes – also expressed in the intestines of humans – at the nexus of how the worm senses that it has happened up on a yummy lunch of bacteria and should slow its movement to slurp up the meal. The finding represents a significant leap in connecting bacterial sensing in the gut with behavior, providing clues about how the gut and brain might communicate in people, too.

In 2013 Flavell had identified an important role in behavioral regulation for a C. elegans neuron named “NSM,” which extends dendrites into the alimentary canal. He showed that when a worm is eating, the neuron emits the neurotransmitter serotonin to signal to other neurons. In the new paper, he showed that this all depends on the neuron deploying two acid sensing ion channels (ASICs) called DEL-3 and DEL-7, encoded by those newly characterized genes. These ASICs appear to be critical for NSM’s detection of bacteria in the alimentary canal. There is still much more he wants to learn, including exactly what chemicals the bacteria emit to trigger the neuron, whether there are other DELs that sense other bacterial substances, and whether other neurons express as yet uncharacterized channels, too. Moreover, there is still plenty to know about how neurotransmitters emanating from the gut, like serotonin, influence the brain to affect behavior, in both the worm and in people.

The answers have wide-ranging implications. Earlier this year, a broad epidemiological study found widespread, specific associations between differences in gut microbiome bacterial populations and the likelihood that individuals suffer from mental health concerns such as autism and depression.

“There appear to be specific types of gut bacteria that are overrepresented and underrepresented in humans that suffer from these disorders,” Flavell said. “These types of data make the case that there is at least a correlation between the bacteria that live in our gut and our complex behaviors.”

Flavell’s work could help explain exactly how those associations arise.

Immune communication

Choi is also minding the mechanisms linking the microbiome to the brain, but in a different way. Her research investigates the surprising proposition that the immune system directly impacts on the nervous system. Immune system cells communicate by secreting proteins called cytokines. These, she has found, can also affect neurons in the brain.

It makes sense that this could be the case. Immune system cells are sentinels of health. Perhaps the immune system is an efficient messenger for the brain about aspects of the body’s status.

Suggestive links are everywhere. Our mood and behavior change when we are sick, and there are often mood-related side effects to medications that affect the immune system. Like Flavell, Choi is on the forefront of showing detailed, tangible cause-and-effect evidence, which the field has rightly demanded.

“The primary goal of my research program is to elucidate the mechanisms through which the immune system modulates neural circuit function, ultimately shaping animal behavior,” Choi said.

She did exactly that in three papers linking infection in pregnant mice with neurodevelopmental symptoms in their offspring. In a 2016 paper in Science, she and collaborators showed that a particular type of immune cell and its secretion of the cytokine interleukin-17a (IL-17a), mediated the mother mouse’s immune system activation and the development of autism-like behavioral abnormalities in offspring. The next year, the collaboration followed with a tandem of papers in Nature. One showed the phenomenon was further mediated by the presence of maternal intestinal bacteria that promote differentiation of the implicated immune cells. The other showed that the effect of IL-17a in the brain was focused in the S1DZ region of the cortex where they observed dysregulated neural activity. The team showed that by intervening to reduce excess neural activity, they could mitigate behavioral abnormalities associated with maternal infection.

This shows a person holding a model of a brain

Choi continues to study instances of immune system influence on the nervous system and modulation of this interaction by constituents of the gut microbiome. Understanding fundamentals of this tripartite relationship, she said, might lead to ways to prevent or mitigate mental health problems possibly by means involving the immune system or the gut microbiome. To her the potential contributions she can make to fundamental science and the ability to inform treatment of disease are each intensely motivating.

Knowing nociception

It might seem intuitive that Brown studies heart rate and blood pressure. He is, after all, not only an MIT neuroscientist, but also a Massachusetts General Hospital anesthesiologist, and for decades anesthesiologists have used such apparently non-neural bellwethers to assess consciousness in patients. But that’s where the surprise comes in. Brown is actually changing the way anesthesia is administered by investigating the connection of those responses back to the brain.

Brown studies the circuits that sense damage to the body, or “nociception,” and relay that information to the brain. When you are conscious, the body’s nociception system’s warnings are experienced as pain, but even when you are unconscious it is still working. Via one particular circuit, the brain then directs the “sympathetic” responses detected in the circulatory system and the skin. Brown calls that circuit the medullary nociceptive autonomic circuit.

“This should be anesthesiology 101,” Brown said. “This is the sacred circuit.”

Brown is interested in nociception because his research shows that it should be the central focus of dosing and administering anesthetic drugs. Managing nociception means properly suppressing pain. His careful study of the diversity of circuits involved in processing nociception has led to the crucial insight, published last year in Anesthesia and Analgesia, that by targeting them with low doses of different antinociceptive drugs – a custom cocktail he conceives for each patient – he can provide better nociception and pain management, limiting the use of opioids. Meanwhile, because many of these drugs also reduce consciousness, he can radically scale back the amount of drug needed for that. Patients wake up more quickly and less groggy, a significant benefit for old and young patients who are subject to post-operative delirium.

On day in May, still in the operating room right after a bladder surgery at MGH, a patient woke up and said, “We’re good,” Brown said. His rapid return to lucidity was the product of using much less drug for unconsciousness.

“Up until three years ago, this wasn’t how I practiced, but we’ve come to a deeper appreciation of nociception,” he said.

In the OR, Brown carefully monitors consciousness in the brain by reading out EEGs (another innovative practice), and he also still uses those traditional methods of reading out heart rate and blood pressure. By studying the medullary nociceptive autonomic circuit he’s also hoping to have a refined method for monitoring nociception. There is currently no model for doing so.

To change that, graduate student Sandya Subramanian is dedicating her thesis research to studying the circuit and measuring these circulatory systems and other responses during surgery, and in normal awake and low-stress states as a baseline. Deriving an objective biomarker of nociceptive response will help refine anesthesia dosing strategy even further.

Ultimately, anesthesia acts on the brain, but understanding that fully requires looking to the body. Like Flavell and Choi, Brown is studying the brain by looking beyond it.

ABOUT THIS NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH ARTICLE

Source:
MIT
Media Contacts: 
Press Office – MIT
Image Source:
The image is credited to MIT.

Researchers Identify Virus and Two Types of Bacteria as Major Causes of Alzheimer’s

Researchers Identify Virus and Two Types of Bacteria as Major Causes of Alzheimer’s

A worldwide team of senior scientists and clinicians have come together to produce an editorial which indicates that certain microbes – a specific virus and two specific types of bacteria – are major causes of Alzheimer’s Disease. Their paper, which has been published online in the highly regarded peer-reviewed journal, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, stresses the urgent need for further research – and more importantly, for clinical trials of anti-microbial and related agents to treat the disease.

This major call for action is based on substantial published evidence into Alzheimer’s. The team’s landmark editorial summarises the abundant data implicating these microbes, but until now this work has been largely ignored or dismissed as controversial – despite the absence of evidence to the contrary. Therefore, proposals for the funding of clinical trials have been refused, despite the fact that over 400 unsuccessful clinical trials for Alzheimer’s based on other concepts were carried out over a recent 10-year period.

Opposition to the microbial concepts resembles the fierce resistance to studies some years ago which showed that viruses cause certain types of cancer, and that a bacterium causes stomach ulcers. Those concepts were ultimately proved valid, leading to successful clinical trials and the subsequent development of appropriate treatments.

Professor Douglas Kell of The University of Manchester’s School of Chemistry and Manchester Institute of Biotechnology is one of the editorial’s authors. He says that supposedly sterile red blood cells were seen to contain dormant microbes, which also has implications for blood transfusions.

“We are saying there is incontrovertible evidence that Alzheimer’s Disease has a dormant microbial component, and that this can be woken up by iron dysregulation. Removing this iron will slow down or prevent cognitive degeneration – we can’t keep ignoring all of the evidence,” Professor Douglas Kell said.

Image shows an old lady looking out of a window.

Professor Resia Pretorius of the University of Pretoria, who worked with Douglas Kell on the editorial, said “The microbial presence in blood may also play a fundamental role as causative agent of systemic inflammation, which is a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease – particularly, the bacterial cell wall component and endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide. Furthermore, there is ample evidence that this can cause neuroinflammation and amyloid-β plaque formation.”

The findings of this editorial could also have implications for the future treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, and other progressive neurological conditions.

ABOUT THIS ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE RESEARCH

Source: University of Manchester
Image Credit: The image is adapted from the University of Manchester press release.
Original Research: Full open access editorial for “Microbes and Alzheimer’s Disease” by Itzhaki, Ruth F.; Lathe, Richard; Balin, Brian J.; Ball, Melvyn J.; Bearer, Elaine L.; Bullido, Maria J.; Carter, Chris; Clerici, Mario; Cosby, S. Louise; Field, Hugh; Fulop, Tamas; Grassi, Claudio; Griffin, W. Sue T.; Haas, Jürgen; Hudson, Alan P.; Kamer, Angela R.; Kell, Douglas B.; Licastro, Federico; Letenneur, Luc; Lövheim, Hugo; Mancuso, Roberta; Miklossy, Judith; Lagunas, Carola Otth; Palamara, Anna Teresa; Perry, George; Preston, Christopher; Pretorius, Etheresia; Strandberg, Timo; Tabet, Naji; Taylor-Robinson, Simon D.; and Whittum-Hudson, Judith A. in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Published online March 8 2016 doi:10.3233/JAD-160152


Abstract

Microbes and Alzheimer’s Disease

We are researchers and clinicians working on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or related topics, and we write to express our concern that one particular aspect of the disease has been neglected, even though treatment based on it might slow or arrest AD progression. We refer to the many studies, mainly on humans, implicating specific microbes in the elderly brain, notably herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), Chlamydia pneumoniae, and several types of spirochaete, in the etiology of AD. Fungal infection of AD brain [5, 6] has also been described, as well as abnormal microbiota in AD patient blood. The first observations of HSV1 in AD brain were reported almost three decades ago]. The ever-increasing number of these studies (now about 100 on HSV1 alone) warrants re-evaluation of the infection and AD concept.

AD is associated with neuronal loss and progressive synaptic dysfunction, accompanied by the deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide, a cleavage product of the amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP), and abnormal forms of tau protein, markers that have been used as diagnostic criteria for the disease. These constitute the hallmarks of AD, but whether they are causes of AD or consequences is unknown. We suggest that these are indicators of an infectious etiology. In the case of AD, it is often not realized that microbes can cause chronic as well as acute diseases; that some microbes can remain latent in the body with the potential for reactivation, the effects of which might occur years after initial infection; and that people can be infected but not necessarily affected, such that ‘controls’, even if infected, are asymptomatic

“Microbes and Alzheimer’s Disease” by Itzhaki, Ruth F.; Lathe, Richard; Balin, Brian J.; Ball, Melvyn J.; Bearer, Elaine L.; Bullido, Maria J.; Carter, Chris; Clerici, Mario; Cosby, S. Louise; Field, Hugh; Fulop, Tamas; Grassi, Claudio; Griffin, W. Sue T.; Haas, Jürgen; Hudson, Alan P.; Kamer, Angela R.; Kell, Douglas B.; Licastro, Federico; Letenneur, Luc; Lövheim, Hugo; Mancuso, Roberta; Miklossy, Judith; Lagunas, Carola Otth; Palamara, Anna Teresa; Perry, George; Preston, Christopher; Pretorius, Etheresia; Strandberg, Timo; Tabet, Naji; Taylor-Robinson, Simon D.; and Whittum-Hudson, Judith A. in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Published online March 8 2016 doi:10.3233/JAD-160152