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Stress

| Posted by in Aging | Boosting Immune Responses (Pro-Inflammatory) | Exercise | Fatigue | Immune Homeostasis (Immune Balance) | Inflammation | Injury and Trauma | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

From the time of the ancient Greeks, it has been clear that the mind-gut-body connection influences one’s health; however, only during the last century have we begun to understand why this is the case.

With new tools, scientists can show that there is cross-talk between the brain, the gut and the immune system.  Immune molecules from white blood cells send messages to the brain and the gut and in turn, these organs signal back to the immune system, up-regulating (increase) or down-regulating (decrease) inflammation.

 Image stress stomach immune system brain

©2017 Dr. H. C. Greenblatt

Chronic, long-term stress, affects immune cells by changing their gene activity.  This prepares them to fight infection or trauma and increases inflammation. More immune cells are then enlisted for the fight, resulting in increased inflammation.

Inflammation is necessary for survival, but too much inflammation is linked to heart and autoimmune disease, diabetes, depression, and cancer.  This is why it is essential to maintain the right balance of signals.

Stress responses are part of a vicious cycle in which stress triggers inflammation and inflammation triggers additional stress.

In stressed mice, there are four times the numbers of immune cells than found in non-stressed mice.  Additionally in mice that are stressed 1100 genes are responsible for increasing (up-regulating) inflammation.  These genes in non-stressed mice are not activated.

Similar outcomes are seen in humans under chronic stress. For weeks and months following natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes,  individuals, especially those who have suffered great personal loss, have imbalances of the immune system that affects them both physically and emotionally.

The immune system and its inflammatory responses are in exquisite balance (homeostasis).  The body expands much of its energy maintaining its balance in a steady state.  This may be the reason that people who are stressed out tend to be “tired a lot of the time”.

Let us say that your immune system consists of 30 billion cells and that 15 billion of these cells are in the attack mode with excessive inflammation (up-regulation).  Let us propose that another 15 billion cells are trying to limit the inflammatory response (down-regulation).

A total of 30 billion cells expending a “trivial” amount of energy is a great deal of wasted energy. No wonder people become exhausted when they are not in homeostasis, balance.

CONCLUSION:

The key to reducing stress  is to help the immune system return to homeostasis, to its natural balance.

To better manage stress:  incorporate an immune support supplement into your daily diet, be physically active 2-2.5 hours/week, spend time outdoors, eat smart, stay within healthy weight limits and remember that you are only one person—be kind to yourself; give yourself a break.

Achieving immune homeostasis will make all the difference in the quality of your emotional and physical well-being. 

Contact Dr. Hellen at: DrHellen@DrHellenGreenblatt.info, use the form or give her a call at 302.265.3870 (ET, USA) at no charge to you. 



http://www.uppitysciencechick.com/glaser_stress_immune_dysfunction.pdf
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29064542
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27319971
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24608036
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22790082

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Cancer, Inflammation and Fat

| Posted by in Boosting Immune Responses (Pro-Inflammatory) | Cancer | Chronic Disease | Diabetes | Exercise | Heart Health | Immune Homeostasis (Immune Balance) | Inflammation | Obesity | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

During a recent 5-day cancer conference in Washington, D.C. additional evidence was presented about the fact that inflammation produced by fat cells (adipose tissue) contributes to the growth and spread of tumors.

Dr. M.Kolonin of the University of Texas Health Science Center in Texas has been quoted as saying: “Obesity is the leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S. Extra body fat not only increases one’s risk of developing cancer, it is also associated with poorer prognosis [outcomes]”… “Ten percent to fifteen percent of cancer deaths may be attributed to obesity”.

Exactly how body fat influences cancer development is still under investigation, but the key appears to be the inflammatory responses of the body to cancer cells and vice versa. Macrophages are one of the major classes of white blood cells responsible for starting the inflammatory response when the body is threatened by cancer cells, and  reducing inflammation when the challenge is over.

Typically, the breast tissue of overweight and obese young women is more inflamed, and has more immune cells, such as macrophages compared to women of healthy weight.  Also cancer in obese women is more difficult to treat than in women at healthier weight.

Metabolic syndrome is associated with a group of factors that puts one at greater risk of having heart disease,diabetes and stroke. If a person has three of the following factors, or are on medication for them, it is called having a metabolic syndrome.  These factors are: excess stomach fat, high blood pressure and triglycerides. low levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), and high blood sugar.

Image Fat cancer inflammation

In one study of 100 women, half of the women with inflammation of their breasts and early-stage breast cancer also had metabolic syndrome. 

Since obesity contributes to growth of tumors, investigators wondered whether weight loss might reverse the tendency to grow tumors.  In mice, tumors grew more slowly in obese mice that had previously lost weight.   

The body tightly regulates its inflammatory responses by balancing the amount of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory immune factors it produces. Fat cells naturally produce inflammatory molecules.  High amounts of body fat encourages growth of cancer cells.`

Note:

Controlling one’s weight at healthy levels, being physically active for 2.5 hours/week, getting outside every day for a few minutes and using a superior immune-balancing supplement will go a long ways toward helping the body stay in immune balance, stay in immune homeostasis,

Dr.Hellen is available to help you enhance your quality of life to its maximum.  She can be contacted by using this form, contacting her at: drhellen@drhellengreenblatt.info or feel free to call her at:  302.265.3870 (ET, USA).

 

https://meyercancer.weill.cornell.edu/how_obesity_fuels_cancer
www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/49051/title/Fat-s-Influence-on-Cancer/
www.springer.com/us/book/9781461468189
clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2016/02/14/1078-0432.CCR-15-2239
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/ms
journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fonc.2014.00175/full
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27617172
  

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“IT IS AS IF YOU ARE BREATHING THROUGH A TINY STRAW!” – COPD

| Posted by in Chronic Disease | Inflammation | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

Her dear friend’s last words to her were:

“This is horrible, I can’t breathe, I don’t want to suffer like this”.  She went on to say: “If you smoke and have COPD, let me describe to you what it’s like to live with COPD” [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].”
  
“Pinch your nose, and put a bar straw, in your mouth. That’s one of the tiny straws they give you to stir a mixed drink. Now pinch your nose and only breathe in an out through the straw. Don’t cheat.”
 
“NOW, walk up and down the stairs about 3 or for times, Walk up and down a driveway, remember breathe only through the tiny straw. That’s what moving around and breathing is like for someone with COPD. It’s living hell! Supplemental oxygen doesn’t help much, and the medications only work during the early stages.”
 
“I have lived eleven years breathing like this. NO, I never thought this would happen to me, but it did, and it WILL probably happen to you too if you continue to smoke. SO IF YOU SMOKE STOP, do whatever you can to STOP, just STOP.

Although I have taken the liberty of modifying my friend’s statements slightly, sharing her personal comments hopefully brings a greater appreciation of the seriousness of having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (a condition which most often the result of smoking and/or exposure to air-borne chemicals).

Internationally, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the one of the leading cause of death (vying with HIV) and it is the third leading cause of death in the United States. There was a time that individuals were not aware of the dangers of smoking and as these people age, their rates of death from COPD are on the increase. Additionally, people are living longer, so more patients experience physical declines leading to disability and often, premature death.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the result of the walls of the alveoli, the balloon-like air sacks of the lungs becoming stiff and losing the ability to transfer oxygen from the lungs to the blood stream.  Also inflammatory mucus is produced in large amounts which blocks air from moving through the lung’s air passages.

Until recently, pulmonologists (lung doctors), did not recognize COPD as being caused by inflammation.  They are now convinced thatparticulates in cigarette smoke and other airborne chemicals trigger immune, inflammatory cells to “clean-up” the toxic materials. [Please see previous article on smoking.]

Over time, the inflammatory responses of the body destroy healthy lung tissue resulting in labored breathing, along with a greater susceptibility to frequent respiratory infections.

Unfortunately, people with COPD treated with inhaled steroids are at greater risk of getting pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.  Additionally, individuals with HIV have greater decreases in lung function than individuals without COPD.

When a person has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, their lungs suffer from unchecked inflammation. Control the amount of inflammation being produced, and their quality of life will change for the better.

If you want to change how you feel, contact Dr. Hellen. There are no fees for the first 30 minutes of consultation. She may be  contacted by using this form or calling:  302.265.3870 (ET, USA).

 

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23603459
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/lung-conditions-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-copd
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27019597
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20513910
www.nature.com/articles/nrdp201576
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26974304

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WHO and CDC Caution Pregnant Women about Zika

| Posted by in Boosting Immune Responses (Pro-Inflammatory) | Chronic Disease | Infections | Infections and Inflammatory Responses | Inflammation | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

As of this writing, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta is strongly recommending that pregnant woman postpone travel to many countries across the world, including the popular Caribbean islands.  The CDC is taking these steps due to the possibility that these women may become are infected with a mosquito borne virus called Zika.  The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Margaret Chan, has said that Zika had gone “from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions” and expects the virus to spread through the Americas and affect between three million and four million people.

Eighty percent of individuals who are infected with Zika do not show symptoms.  However, when symptoms do occur, they can last up to a week or so and include fever, rash, pink eye, and joint pain. Some clinicians suggest that Zika virus infection may result in the autoimmune [against oneself] condition,  Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS).  This is rare disorder where too much inflammation damages the nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and may lead to paralysis.

The greatest concern however right now is that health agencies “strongly suspect” that when a pregnant women is bitten by a mosquito that is carring the virus, that even if she does not experience symptoms, that her offspring may develop brain malformations.

This latest outbreak adds to concerns that infectious diseases are one of the top threats challenging our world—a major topic on the agenda of last week’s World Economic Forum world leader attendees.  Until vaccines or treatments are developed, viral infections such as Zika, Ebola, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) remain a threat to the world’s population.

Currently, there are no commercially available vaccines or treatments for Zika.  Until recently the cost to develop a successful vaccine was far greater than what the manufacturers would recoup in vaccine sales.  However, development of a vaccine for Zika will likely now escalate since Zika has spread so widely, infecting over 1.5 million individuals and its being linked to neurological problems, especially in newborns.

In addition to a lack of vaccines and treatments for a multitude of viral diseases, another significant health-care crisis we are facing is treatment of infection by anti-microbial-resistant pathogens. As Dr. Keiji Fukudaof the World Health Organization has stated:  “We really hope to pull the world back from the brink where antibiotics don’t work anymore”.

When bacteria are stressed, for example by a killer antibiotic, their genetic material may change, mutate, so that they can tolerate and become resistant to such compounds.  The bacteria can then replicate easily and outgrow bacterial strains that were not resistant to the antibiotic.

Fifty percent of antibiotic prescriptions written by U.S. physicians are of no benefit to the patient, and when used to fatten livestock and poultry it gives bacteria even more opportunity to acquire antibiotic tolerance.

It is our immune systems that identify, destroy, and remove invading pathogens.   When our body recognizes that it has been invaded by foreign agents, a strong inflammatory responses is triggered to meet the onslaught of the pathogens.  White blood cells accumulate in the area to combat the invaders.  These immune cells release cytokines and other immune messages  recruiting more white blood cells in an attempt to “burn out” the infection. Without a powerful inflammatory response, we cannot limit or survive infections.

In the absence of drugs or treatments that prevent and control the growth of viruses and other microorganism the immune system must be optimized to protect the body against them.

 

www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index.html
www.scientificamerican.com/article/who-extremely-alarmed-by-zika-cases-could-reach-4-million/?WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20160128
www.wsj.com/articles/health-threats-spur-vaccine-hunt-1453337493
ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/zika_virus_infection/factsheet-health-professionals/Pages/factsheet_health_professionals.aspx
www.vox.com/2016/1/20/10795562/zika-virus-cdc-mosquitoes-birth-defects
www.wsj.com/articles/SB105768561135341800
www.cdc.gov/features/antibioticresistancethreats/
www.cdc.gov/media/dpk/2013/images/untreatable/img2_sm.jpg
www.bbc.com/news/health-35427493

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