July 2015

Evaluating Endocrine Disruptor Research

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evaluating endocrine disruptor research

Every now and again, we see a flurry of press releases flooding social media about new research purporting to prove that endocrine disruptors are safe. Most recently, the press has been focused Bisphenol A or BPA. New FDA proclamations suggest that it has no impact on health. When one reads the actual research upon which these statements are based, it says no such thing. Unless of course, the research is funded by industry, then it is almost always positive. A report in Newsweek found:

In 2013, for example, the American Chemistry Council spent more than $11 million on lobbying expenses, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Industry groups have also funded, and in some cases written up, research done by governmental scientists. One 2008 investigation, by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, found that “a government report claiming that bisphenol-A is safe was written largely by the plastics industry and others with a financial stake in the controversial chemical.”

The report goes on to state that the FDA

…dismissed as irrelevant the vast majority of the BPA safety studies its own scientists reviewed in preparation for that official position statement. According to the FDA, for example, all of the 48 epidemiological studies reviewed had ‘no utility’ for the agency’s risk assessment, the formal process it undertakes to decide if a chemical is safe for human health or not.

With such contradictory claims about safety, who should we believe? How do we evaluate the safety research about endocrine disruptors? Here is a primer.

Industry Sponsored Research Is Biased

In a mini-review of research on bisphenol A (BPA) – the endocrine disruptor in plastics, of the 115 studies published on adverse effects of BPA 81.7% (94) reported significant adverse health effects (2004). However, upon review, it was found that 90% of the government funded, academic research found significant adverse effects while 100% of the industry-sponsored research found no ill-effects of BPA – none. This is a common theme across all industries – pharmaceutical included. When billions of dollars are on the line, industry sponsored studies will show favorable results more often than not. Always check the author’s conflict-of-interest disclosures at the back the article. If none are reported though, don’t assume they do not exist. Not all conflicts of interests are disclosed. You may have to do additional digging to identify conflicts.

FDA or EPA Approved Does not Mean Safe or Risk-Free

Both agencies have long histories of approving and then failing to recall dangerous chemicals, drugs and devices from the market. Their work is particularly incompetent in reproductive (endocrine) and women’s health: thalidomide, DES, Yasmin/Yaz, HRT, Mirena, Prolift to name but a few that have garnered the seal of approval by the FDA. Phthalates, BPA, Glyphosate for the EPA.  Remember the EPA doesn’t even study the female reproductive dangers unless research shows that a chemical impacts the male reproductive system.

Research Methods Matter

Perhaps more so than in any other field of science, endocrine research requires serious consideration of all aspects of the study protocol. This means that you cannot rely on a press release about the research to determine the study’s relevance. You must read the original research and evaluate the methods. (Reading original research is a good habit to have for all matters that affect your health and well-being). Once you pull the research, here are some things to consider.

  • Length of study. Most hormone reactions are longer term and span generations. If the study is short duration, as in the case with the industry sponsored GMO research or doesn’t include third generation effects, as with BPA research – question the results.
  • Population studied. Whether one is investigating a chemical or a drug in humans or in rodents, the sample population matters. Ascertaining safety of efficacy by testing only healthy young men, when the drug or chemical is meant for the real world where women, children, elderly, healthy and not so healthy individuals reside, is common practice and recipe for disaster. Same is true for rodent research – the strain, sex, age and health of the animal must be considered if the work is to be extrapolated to real humans. I read one study claiming that BPA was safe, but they used a strain of rats that was resistant to environmental estrogens. Of course, BPA’s estrogens would not affect these estrogen-resistant rodents.
  • Outcomes measured.  What does the study measure and how does it evaluate change? More often than not, industry sponsored research will not measure the appropriate endpoints or reproductive dangers. Sometimes this is sleight of hand, other times it is simply ignorance of the endocrine system’s far-reaching regulatory control. In either case, one has to evaluate what the study actually measures before determining its validity. Here, you can use a bit of personal experience – what systems, organs or behaviors are affected by your hormones? If the study didn’t measure any of these variables, then it’s probably not a very solid protocol.
  • ‘Gold-standard’ protocols are not always golden. It takes years, decades even for ‘gold-standards’ to become the accepted methods – often well after their utility has run out and newer, more sophisticated tools have reached the market. This has been the case for endocrine testing and endocrine disruptor evaluation. If a study rests all of its findings using a gold standard, it may not be using the most sensitive testing methods.
  • Clinical significance is not the same as statistical significance. Clinical significance means the chemical/drug has some meaningful impact on the health or well-being of the individual or animal. Statistical significance is just a math equation. A simple increase in sample size while limiting or ‘restructuring’ outcome variables is all it takes to derive statistical significance in most research. Does that mean the drug or chemical has clinically relevant health effects – not necessarily. The opposite is also true. Want to obfuscate the dangers of a drug/chemical? Do a huge study (preferably by combining dozens of poor quality individual studies into a meta analysis), throw everything but the kitchen sink into the analysis, do simple stats and highlight the lack of statistical significance in the death or injury rates. Only a small fraction of the study population died – but it wasn’t statistically significant, so the drug/chemical is considered safe. If the study does not study distinguish between clinical and statistical significance or downplays the death and injury rates as statistically insignificant, approach cautiously.
  • Hormone reactions do not conform to linear statistics. Damn it, how dare our complex physiology not conform to the simplicity of linear statistics. A common dose-response curve is highly linear, where a small dose elicits a similarly small response and a larger dose increase the response size. This is not case when dealing with endocrine disruptors. Hormone systems are complex and highly non-linear. Hormone dose-response curves are often in the shape of an inverted U where low doses elicit huge responses, mid-level doses elicit minimal responses and high doses again elicit huge responses. And so, any study measuring hormone effects using simple, linear, dose response calculations is bound to miss the effects entirely.
  • Hormones have metabolites (as does everything else). Metabolites evoke their own reactions. We know that some of the metabolites from BPA are stronger, 1000X stronger in fact, than BPA itself. Studies that don’t address the full complement of hormone products that circulate in our bodies as a result of exposure to something like BPA will severely underestimate the safety issues.

In a nutshell, we have to do our homework. There is no simple ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval’ for products that impact health and well-being. We wouldn’t trust the marketing put out by car manufacturers or, worse yet, a car salesmen, about the safety, gas efficiency, repair history and comfort of a new/used car; why do we trust the makers of chemicals to give us the straight story. We shouldn’t. We have to become educated consumers of health research in order to protect ourselves.

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash.

This article was published previously in March 2013 and updated and edit for republication in 2015.

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Parasites: A Possible Cause of Endometriosis, PCOS, and Other Chronic, Degenerative Illnesses

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Dorothy Garcia

My intention with this post is to help inform the general public about a possible cause of various chronic/degenerative illnesses: parasites. I should begin by saying, I am NOT a medical doctor. Although I have much experience working in the healthcare field as an employee of various naturopathic doctors, chiropractors and holistic practitioners and I am a massage therapist and have extensive training in anatomy and pathology, my training and medical experience with parasites occurred AFTER I was diagnosed with endometriosis and used Lupron.

When I say parasites, I am using this term broadly. I am not just talking about worms. I’m also speaking of arthropods, flukes (flatworms), roundworms, pinworms, hookworms, tapeworms, protozoa, fungi, slime molds, mildews, bacteria, spirochetes, mycoplasmas, nanobacteria, etc. Parasites can range in size from microscopic (nanobacteria) to 30 feet long (tape worms). They each have their own life cycle, method of reproduction and can cause damage to multiple organs. In my case, parasites were responsible for my endometriosis and ill-health.

My Struggle with Endometriosis

Since the age of 15, when I finally hit puberty, I experienced crazy irregular periods. I was bleeding every two weeks. Little did I realize when I started my periods that it would be the launch-pad into a life of routine doctor and hospital visits.  I had various laparoscopic surgeries for ovarian cysts. I have tested almost every birth control on the market (from the pill to the patch).

No matter what pill I took or what surgery was performed, I wasn’t getting better. Instead, as the years passed, I got progressively worse. 

At a young age, I grew accustomed to being sick. I was used to getting my blood drawn and having IV’s inserted (and it usually took 3 pricks to hit a vein because my arms were so “fluffy” from the extra weight I carried). I followed the doctor’s orders, filled my prescriptions, and my parents paid the co-pays thinking they were doing the best of their child.

Everything came to a head in my early twenties, when I was a missionary for my church.  My service was cut short due to the symptoms of endometriosis. At that point, doctors had put me on the OrthoEvra patch. It was yet another failed attempt at using birth control to treat my symptoms. Because I was far from my primary doctor, and no one knew what to do with me, I was sent back home.

My primary doctor prescribed narcotics for the chronic pain and referred me to a gynecologist who was well-versed in endometriosis. His opinion, after many diagnostic procedures, was that the endometriosis had spread so much that the only option I had was to try Lupron as an attempt to save my uterus. If it didn’t work, he would do surgery.

I opted for Lupron.

He also informed me he wanted to prescribe Prozac to help with the side effects that come with Lupron. I was already well versed in the side effects of Prozac, and that wasn’t something I wanted to deal with. I politely declined.

I was told it would be a couple of weeks before the Lupron would be available, due to needing pre-approval from my parents’ insurance (since it cost $500/shot at that time).  Upon leaving the gyno’s office, I started to grow a wild hair… I decided to make a pit stop to the health food store before I went back home. I bought a bottle of herbs for female hormone balance for $6. It was the best decision of my life.

One week after taking the herbs I noticed that the pain was starting to back off.  I was able to ween myself off the pain killers. By the time I was back at the gyno’s office to get my first injection of Lupron, I was already having second thoughts. Why go through with this drug if the herbs are working? I really wish I had listened to my gut in that moment. Once I had my first injection, my life started to turn into my own personal hell.

Hot flashes, pain in my joints, lethargic, constantly hungry, and moody; I was no longer myself. Granted, I wasn’t in pain like before, but the pain was gone when I started the herbs. I couldn’t say Lupron did anything for the endometriosis pain. All I knew is the effect of the drug was worse than I expected. I felt like I aged overnight, and I didn’t know what to do about it.

After two injections, I made the decision to stop using Lupron.

Fast forward a couple of years later, I eventually got married and became a widow before I celebrated my one year anniversary. I fired my medical doctor, filed a complaint with the FDA about Lupron and decided to pave my own path to healing. I was done with playing chem-lab with my body. If a $6 bottle of herbs could make that big of a difference, then what else was out there that I had yet to explore?

Introducing the Practitioner Who Saved My Life

I moved out west to Utah in an attempt to build a new life for myself. Some friends of mine, who also re-located to Utah, informed me about a homeopath that helped them overcome the chronic/degenerative conditions that they experienced. One of them was working for him.  He let me know that he spoke to the practitioner about my situation and wanted me to come to the office right away. The practitioner said my problem was an easy one to fix.

Now, I’m sure you can imagine what I thought when I heard someone say endometriosis was “easy to fix”. I didn’t believe it. I wasn’t sure what I was in for, but I figured I had nothing left to lose.

During my visit with him, we didn’t really talk much about endometriosis. Instead he educated me on parasites. He informed me that what I was experiencing was actually the result of parasites invading the uterus and endometrial lining of the uterus. I learned how parasites don’t just live in the digestive tract, they can live anywhere in the body. There are parasites that have their preferred organ to dwell in (like liver flukes – the name says it all). They can inhabit the pancreas, the brain, the lungs, the heart and even the body cavity.

It is very easy to become a host; too easy. The tragic thing about parasites is that they go on living, completely undetected, slowly killing their host by leaving them chronically nutrient deficient, suppressing their immune system, burrowing holes in their organs and slowly eating them alive. The worst of it, the medical community has turned a blind eye to this epidemic and traditional diagnostic exams (stool samples and blood samples) aren’t sufficient enough to detect them.

My new practitioner explained how the uterus is a perfect place for parasites because it is a hollow space, isolated from the digestive tract (thus, it can’t be touched by typical parasite cleanses). He posed the question to me, “Now the cells of the endometrial lining of the uterus are specifically designed for that part of the uterus, and nowhere else in the body.  How do you think those cells got outside of the uterus?  How did that webbing appear from out of nowhere?  Does the body decide it’s going to magically displace cells to wherever the heck it wants to? And if you think about it, why are dogs and cats recommended to get de-wormed on a regular basis to help them stay healthy? Dogs have to take heart worm pills every month. Why do we think we are immune to parasites?”  When he posed that question, I began thinking about my childhood.

When I was a kid, I used to play with stray cats that lived in my yard.  We also had a dog that lived outside. I remember when I finished playing with them, I never washed my hands (I lived in the country so hygiene wasn’t really enforced in my home).  It made sense as to why I would get parasites “down there” because if I had parasite eggs on my hands (from playing with the animals) and I used the bathroom, then the eggs could easily have made their way from my hands to the toilet tissue, to my girl space. Or if I used a tampon without washing my hands beforehand… well, you get the picture.  It started to make sense.

At the close of my session with him, I was thankful that fate brought me to his office.  I felt completely enlightened on my condition.  I felt relief that there was someone out there that had an explanation as to what was going on inside my body.  I spent the last of my moving money on my bill at his office (this covered his office fee and remedies). I didn’t regret it one bit.

Recovery from Endometriosis and Uterine Parasites

The protocol he used was very simple. First he used muscle testing (Applied Kinesiology) to check to see what kinds of pathogens were keeping my body sick (for example: parasites, bacteria, fungi, molds, mildews, yeasts, etc.) and recommend herbs and homeopathy to kill it off. Then he would check for weaknesses in various body systems and organs and recommended herbs and homeopathy to make them stronger. The idea behind this is that once you get rid of what is suppressing the immune system, then the body’s natural defense mechanisms kick in and the body is better capable of absorbing nutrients from food.  When the body is getting the proper nutrition needed, and no longer robbed by the parasites, then the body can start repairing the damage that was done.

The way I knew this was working was from what came out of me when I went to the bathroom. Granted, he did warn me that I might not see much because typically the worms get broken down during the digestion process. I did see some residuals of worms in my stools. They looked like little orange sticks that resembled skinny shredded carrots.  I saw a bunch of black granules that resembled sand.  I also saw white pieces that resembled sesame seeds and rice.

Six months of working with him I felt like a new person. I felt a huge shift in my body and my being. The cramping and pain had stopped.  I had more energy and stamina. I wasn’t feeling down and depressive.  I was hopeful for the future. And now seven years later, I am a health and fitness coach, massage therapist, remarried, a mom of two kids (without any hormone therapy) and living a life that I once dreamed of while lying on the couch, watching Sex In The City high on narcotics. Back then, I didn’t even think something like this was possible.

When I speak with other women, currently enduring the pains of endometriosis, and tell them I’m now symptom free and no longer on medications, they look at me like I’m crazy.  I know that I’m probably the first and only person to pass through their life making such a claim.  When I speak with other medical doctors about my experience, they are quick to brush it off because I worked with a “quack” (because homeopathy is considered hog-wash, even though it’s existed for hundreds of years and is still widely used in Europe).  My new primary doctor (who was also my OB when I was pregnant with my kids) saw the endometriosis battle scars on my uterus when he performed the C-Section for my babies.  He too refuses to delve into how I recovered from endometriosis.

It blows my mind every time.

Why Is This Being Ignored?  Information about Parasites for Doctors and Holistic Practitioners

The reason why parasites aren’t considered in conventional medicine is because most people in the academic/medical field consider parasites to be a third world problem. Parasites are not solely a third world problem. We live in an age where there are no borders and boundaries. We can travel from one end of the earth to the other in a matter of a few hours. We can experience other cultures and ways of life as long as we hold a passport.  Because of this, certain pathologies that were isolated in one region of the world are now easily spread to other areas. Wildlife that was native to one part of the world can suddenly end up in your back yard, disrupting the ecosystem, due to someone smuggling it onto a plane. Even our produce and meats are imported from other countries. Just because something may be a problem in one part of the world doesn’t mean we are immune to it here in the US. Just because one species of animal may be a common host, doesn’t mean we aren’t a possible carrier for it as well (especially if the host animal is part of our diet). So despite our insistence to the contrary, parasites are a problem; one likely causing a myriad of chronic health problems (including Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, etc.).

Another reason most physicians don’t consider parasites is because, most of the diagnostic exams available are grossly inadequate for parasite testing.  Stool samples are the main diagnostic exam for parasites. If there are parasites in the stools it’s still not an accurate representation of what’s going on inside the rest of the body. Nevertheless, stool samples are a good start, but they are not commonly used in primary care.

If you are a naturopathic doctor, it would be of great benefit to you and your patients to consider adding some form of testing for parasites to your protocol; especially when dealing with patients who struggle with chronic/degenerative illnesses and who are not benefiting from diet and lifestyle changes or conventional medications. If you are a practitioner that wants documentable proof (especially for insurance billing), then prescribe a stool test for your patients to check for parasites. There are various labs that do detailed exams for parasites. You can find them on Google, but here are some labs that offer parasite testing:

  • Great Smokies Diagnostic Labs:  1-800-522-4762
  • Diagnos-Techs:  1-800-878-3787
  • Doctor’s Data:  1-800-323-2784
  • Parasitology Center:  1-480-767-2522

Please note, I have no association with these labs. These are provided for informational purposes only. Even though stool samples are considered the gold standard for parasite testing, a better way to test for parasites might be muscle testing. This is the method that was used by the doctor who helped me overcome the parasites that were wreaking havoc on my health.  Muscle testing isn’t as widely accepted in the medical field, but that didn’t concern me.

Muscle testing (aka: Kinesiology) is a tool that taps into the innate wisdom of the body and, when used properly, allows the body to “tell” you what is wrong with it.  I have had this used several times in my life using various healing modalities that I learned in massage school. I was always pleasantly surprised how accurately those I worked with were able to get to the cause of a problem just by asking very specific questions and allowing the body to respond accordingly. Unfortunately, it is not something that medical insurance will cover, nor a means to get diagnoses for the proper ICD codes for insurance reimbursement.  All I know is it was the means to get me to where I am today, and I am forever thankful to the practitioner who was wise enough to learn how to use it properly and put into practice what he preached.

For Those Suffering from Endometriosis, Infertility, PCOS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, IBS and Other Similar Illnesses: Get Tested for Parasites

If you are one who earnestly desires healing in your life, then you must be the one to seek it out for yourself. You cannot wait for someone else to hand it to you on a silver platter.  It’s a complicated process, but as you can read here it’s not always as complicated as it may seem. The answers are usually much simpler than we imagine.

Do your research. Try new things. If you’re already miserable with how things are now, then it’ll be of great benefit to you to change it up.

Just don’t make the mistake of self-diagnosis. Granted, the herbs helped me very much before I received the Lupron injection, but they weren’t the answer to the problem. They were a band aid.  I needed the help of a professional who had experience dealing with this problem to help unravel the tangled web that was my body. Don’t be afraid of bringing up the possibility of parasites to your doctor and ask for testing. If your doctor doesn’t believe you, then find another doctor, preferably a naturopathic/holistic doctor.

You were born to live and enjoy your life. Live it by design, not by default.  Don’t let some microscopic organism/illness/diagnosis rob you of that joy!

References for Educational and Research Purposes

If you know of scientific studies connecting parasites to chronic illness, especially endometriosis, please add to the list.

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Women in Pain: Problems and Mistreatment

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Philippa Bridge-Cook

Chronic pain in North America is a major problem for men and women alike, affecting about one-third of adults. Many people of both genders do not receive adequate treatment for their pain. This causes great personal suffering, as well as high costs to the economy through direct health care costs and loss of work productivity for those in pain. However, women with pain face additional problems that suggests there is a systematic bias in the way healthcare is delivered to women. Diseases that affect mostly women are generally poorly understood and understudied, and although women report pain that is more frequent, more severe, and of longer duration than men, in general women’s pain is treated much less aggressively.

Women are at higher risk of developing a chronic pain condition than men. For example, women have triple the risk of autoimmune diseases, which are often associated with chronic pain, compared to men. Women also suffer from certain painful diseases that are rare in men, such as endometriosis and vulvodynia. Endometriosis alone affects one in ten women, and women who have endometriosis often have other painful diseases as well, such as interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome.

However, research into causes and treatments for these diseases that disproportionately affect women is sadly lacking. A report written by the Campaign to End Chronic Pain in Women looked at six conditions common in women that are routinely misdiagnosed and ineffectively treated: endometriosis, vulvodynia, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome, and temporomandibular (TMJ) disorders. Examining funding to these six conditions by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealed that on average, the NIH spends $1.33 per affected patient on research into these conditions, compared to $186 per patient for Parkinsons’s disease, or $53 per patient for diabetes.

However, one need not look at diseases that are underfunded, poorly understood, and lacking effective treatments to find evidence of a gender bias in medicine. One of the best examples of gender bias is, surprisingly, in coronary heart disease. When presenting to emergency rooms or hospitalized for a heart attack, multiple studies have shown that men receive faster access to diagnostic tests and treatments, and men are more likely to receive advanced procedures and better care (for example,see here, here, here and here), and these disparities have not changed over time.

Although heart disease can present differently in men and women, atypical presentation in women does not account for all of the difference in delayed or lack of access to tests and treatments. In one study of doctors evaluating hypothetical patients— male patients and female patients presenting with typical heart attack symptoms and identical risk factors– the doctors did not make different recommendations for the male and female patients. However, when stress was included as a risk factor, only 15 percent of doctors diagnosed heart disease in the women, compared to 56 percent for the men. This study suggests that doctors are much more likely to write symptoms off as psychological when the patient is a woman. And women are medicated as if their pain is emotional instead of physical: for example, after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, women are less likely than men to receive opioid pain medication, and more likely to receive sedatives instead.

Many studies have shown that female gender is a major risk factor for the undertreatment of pain, across many different types of pain. After abdominal surgery and appendectomies, women receive less pain medication than men, even though many studies have shown that women are more likely to report higher levels of pain than men. For cancer pain, and pain caused by HIV, women are significantly more likely to be undertreated for pain. Even paramedics are more likely to give opioid analgesics to men suffering from pain pre-hospital admission than to women. In general, doctors and other medical professionals are more likely to view women’s pain as caused by emotional factors even in the presence of positive test results, and are more likely to administer tranquilizers, antidepressants, and non-opioid analgesics to treat women’s pain.

Women face obstacles to getting appropriate care for many different diseases, at every step of the process. Women’s diseases tend to be underfunded, underresearched, and poorly understood, so getting a diagnosis is difficult, especially when there is the additional obstacle of health care providers tending to assume that women’s symptoms are psychosomatic. Once diagnosed, women do not receive the same level of care for their diseases that men do. And if women can be shortchanged on care for cardiac conditions, which tend to be taken seriously in our society, well researched, and have evidence-based guidelines to guide treatment, imagine how poorly women may be treated for diseases like endometriosis, for which myths about causes and effective treatment abound, and their pain cannot be measured with any objective tests.

Until medical care for women’s diseases moves from the 1950s into the present day, the only solution for women is to be extremely persistent. Women need to seek out the few care providers who understand their disease and are up to date on the latest, albeit sparse, research, and they need to be persistent about having their symptoms acknowledged and treated by their care providers. And in general, we need to keep pushing for better awareness of these problems, and funding for research so that women can receive the medical care they deserve.

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Tea and Healthy Blood Sugar Levels

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Tea and diabetes

It seems to be an almost daily occurrence I am hearing or reading about correlations between specific consumables and better health, whether it is the acai berry, resveratrol or the previously disparaged coconut oil. While some “superfoods” wax and wane in popularity, the benefits of consuming tea continues to intrigue academics, medical professionals and the general public alike. Countless studies have been conducted in order to prove there is a solid relationship between tea consumption and lowering blood sugar levels, or that tea can serve as an inexpensive, alternative method for prevention of diabetes and its pre-diabetic metabolic precursors.

Specifically, I think it is important to sort out the relationship between managing diabetes and how tea can serve as a useful tool in doing such. Diabetes is a complex, chronic disease which, essentially, develops when the pancreas produces too little insulin (Type I) or one’s body can no longer respond to insulin (Type II). Diabetics suffer from blood sugar levels above the healthy range, and when left untreated, can result in a number of debilitating complications. Type II Diabetes, the type which develops usually in adulthood, heavily depends on our lifestyle choices (e.g., diet and exercise). According to the American Diabetes Association, 25.8 million Americans (adults and children), or 8.3% of the population, suffer from diabetes as of 2011. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 347 million individuals worldwide are diabetic, and approximately 90% of this number has Type II Diabetes.

As an undergraduate, I had the pleasure to conduct research regarding the relationship between Diabetina, an herbal tea blend from Mexico, and blood sugar levels in normal glycemic-level individuals. Although my results were statistically inconclusive, I did notice that Diabetina and black tea consumption (which my participants consumed for a total of 16 weeks) resulted in lower, healthy blood sugar levels.  A number of studies concerning black or green tea consumption and blood sugar have proven to be rather promising. A 2012 academic article published in BMJ Open and reviewed in The Huffington Post and WebMD suggests that countries with high black tea consumption patterns have significantly lower rates of diabetes. Nations known for high tea consumption such as Ireland, UK and Turkey enjoyed the lowest levels of diabetes out of the 50 countries surveyed in this study. Green tea and black have both been touted as useful for lowering glucose levels, and in rat studies, have proven to inhibit diabetic cataracts.

It is perfectly acceptable to wonder, what is it about tea that works with lowering our blood sugar? Black, green and oolong teas all are derived from the Camellia sinensis plant and are known to contain polysaccharides which prevent absorption of glucose (sugar) in the body. The relationship between the human race and tea consumption stretches back for at least 5,000 years and has enjoyed a long, colorful life, stemming from its supposed invention by the Chinese Emperor Shennong and has been a prominent member of European history since the late 16th and early 17th century. Not only has the ancient ritual of tea drinking been cultivated for millennia, tea consumption may serve as a healthful participant within a well-balanced diet.

In consideration of everything I have previously mentioned, some current research suggests that one must consume a good amount of tea in order to prevent or reduce one’s risk of diabetes. A European meta-analysis published in May 2012 suggests that consumption of four or more cups of tea a day is associated with a 20% lower risk of diabetes. Those who drink one to three cups of tea daily did not lower their risk of diabetes, comparable to non-tea drinkers. Green tea especially is credited as beneficial for a number of functions, such as deactivating free radicals and boosting metabolism.

We live in a world of modern medicine and often, natural methods of healing are overlooked or dismissed. Perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to overlook these remedies.    As the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine states, “green tea is not a cure for diabetes, but a natural gift for restoring balance in the human system and removing unwanted toxins accumulated from the internalizing of the environment.”  In other words, tea may not cure diabetes, but it could be a part of healthy lifestyle, and as my research demonstrated, it might just lower your blood sugar.

 

This post was published previously in January 2013.

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The Three Circles of Health

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Derrick Lonsdale, MD

Physicians who practice Complementary Alternative Medicine talk of and write endlessly about oxidative metabolism. Our present approach is, however, largely shot-gun in character. That is a reflection of our collective ignorance, but the question arises as to whether the application of non-caloric nutrients (vitamins and minerals) is an appropriate methodology in the treatment of virtually any disease, the model on which a great part of Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) is founded. Is it truly a paradigm shift in overall concept? We certainly know that it usually, if not always, works. We have a huge amount of information about vitamins and minerals, but still do not know how to balance them. In spite of the general impression that modern medicine is a scientific bonanza I see myself standing on the “beach of knowledge, looking at the ocean of ignorance”

Over the years I have provided my patients with a model that introduces them to the concept of oxidative metabolism in a very simple way and this essay is to describe it. It also provides an intuitive concept of how stress is converted into disease.

The Three Circles of Health: Genetics, Stress and Fuel

The three circles of health presented below are derived from Boolean algebra that seeks to describe the influence of variables by the degree of overlap between them. Genetics, for most of us an unknown factor, always enters the equation, since we are born of parents. With a strong Mendelian defect it may be the unavoidable factor, but the discovery of epigenetics tells us that even this can be modified for benefit since it is the study of how nutrients and lifestyle influence our genes. Cystic fibrosis, an example of a genetically determined disease, can be helped by nutritional implementation. That represents the overlap between the genetics and fuel circles.

Figure 1. The Three Circles of Health

three circles of health

Stress, poorly defined for medical purposes, is defined here as a “mental” or “physical” force imposed by living in an essentially hostile environment. It includes all the variables of mental and physical forces to which we have to adapt as we encounter them daily throughout life. Unless the force, whatever that may be, is overwhelming as in any lethal mechanism imposed, it is not the stress that is the problem. It is how we adapt or maladapt to it that is the problem. The fuel circle is our nutrition.

Let us take a simple analogy. Imagine that you have bought a car. You do not know it, but somewhere in the structure of that car there is a weakness, perhaps a flaw in the engine. As it ages it is being “stressed”, particularly by the hills that it has to climb. One day it breaks down on a hill and when you receive the bill for repairs you are told that the breakdown occurred at the site of the structural weakness. Do you blame the hill or the structural defect, about which you were ignorant? Obviously you can blame neither.  The hill was a part of the journey undertaken. But suppose that you never bothered to read the owner’s manual and you have been putting in a fuel that is not consistent with the engine design. If and when the breakdown occurs, it is only the fuel that can be blamed since it created less efficiency in the function of the engine, imposing a greater liability for breakdown. The body has exactly the same problems in principle. This becomes an easily understood concept of how stress is converted into disease, the equivalent of breakdown.

Oxidative Metabolism: Understanding the Fuel

The next part of the model depends on understanding that efficiency in a fuel-burning machine, including the 70 to 100 trillion cells that make up the human body, is defined as the useful work produced by the machine in proportion to its fuel consumption. A car is said to be about 35% efficient, meaning that 65% of the energy produced from burning gasoline is wasted in friction and noise. The body is estimated to be 75% efficient, a very different story.

Figure 2. Oxidative Metabolism

oxidative metabolism

Lack of oxygen (anoxia) is lethal as we all know, but it is not usually known by many as being lethal in excess. Every diver knows this. Thus, in this simple figure, efficiency is plotted against the volume of oxygen being consumed. This volume will be less at rest and will increase in proportion to the mental or physical exertions of the individual.  On the left side of Figure 2, oxidants are the equivalent of spark plugs in a car. On the right, antioxidants are the equivalent of the cylinders since they represent the “firewall” that enables the energy to be controlled.

Let us turn to another analogy. Imagine that a camper wishes to light a fire in a clearing in the forest. He risks setting the forest on fire so he puts his fire in a fireplace. But as the fire becomes more flagrant it begins to throw off sparks that also endanger the forest. The camper places a wire grill over the fire in order to catch the sparks and thus protect the forest. Now he wants the fire to burn as fast as possible.

The body has the same problems to solve. Every cell has to create its energy by literally burning fuel. This is called oxidation and it is carefully controlled in “fireplaces” in the cell, known as mitochondria. When we are at rest we use less oxygen and when we exercise physically or mentally we use more. As long as we keep it in the bounds that are represented in Figure 2 by the vertical lines, we maintain efficiency. On the left of the Figure we see the oxidants or “spark plugs” and on the right we see the antioxidants, the equivalent of the wire screen in the Figure. It is to be emphasized that the wire screen is an important analogy because it is only effective because of the multiple wires. None of them can catch the sparks on their own.

Mother Nature knew that these “sparks”, known as free oxygen species, would form under any form of stress and took steps to put together a series of chemicals that all work together like the wire screen in the analogy. It is therefore important to understand that antioxidants only work as a team and any one of them alone does not provide metabolic safety. Nor can we ask whether, for example, vitamin C is “good for any particular disease” in the same way that we might ask whether aspirin is good for headaches. The nutrient scenario is completely different from that of the pharmaceutical treatment method.

The Cathedral Roof

We can now imagine that the oxidants form one half of an imaginary roof and the antioxidants the other half. They must balance just like an architect would design a roof. The whole roof or part of it might fall in or the roof could sway one way or the other. Like all analogies, this is an incomplete representation, but it does provide a basis for understanding the problems facing us in what might be called “repairing the roof”.

Brain Body Relationship

Figure 3, shown below, is an obvious oversimplification but introduces the concept that we have two parts to the brain.

Figure 3. The Brain Body Relationships

brain body relationshipsThe “cognitive” part does the thinking whereas the limbic system is clearly a very complex computer that continuously senses the state of our personal environment. It is responsible for all our survival mechanisms that include the fight-or-flight reflex, and vital components of species survival such as appetite, thirst and basic sex drive. I think of the body as like an orchestra where the organs are like banks of instruments and the cells within them are the various instrumentalists. The limbic system is the “conductor”. The conduct of our daily lives depends on the conductor’s ability to play the “symphony of health”. The two parts of the brain “talk” to each other to modify our behavior. The computer “talks” to the various organs in the body through a balanced activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. This system is involuntary and is automated by the limbic system. The computer also controls the glands that make up the endocrine system by a closed biofeedback mechanism. Hormones are really messengers of the conductor’s ability to communicate with the organs. The organs even “talk” to each other.

Oxygen, Nutrition and Health

The last part of this model depends on the tissues in the body that are most dependent on oxygen. Brain is well known to be number one in this requirement, particularly the part known as the limbic system and the brainstem, since they function all the time throughout life. The heart also works full time and is perhaps next on the list. It possibly explains why the ancient scourge of beriberi, due mainly to the vital relationship between vitamin B1 deficiency and ingestion of simple carbohydrate is a disease of the heart, brain and nervous system. Beriberi is still seen in the cultures where rice is the staple diet. It was (and still is) caused by the use of white rice that  is produced by milling off the grain cusps that contain vitamin B1 and its “spark plug” colleagues. The excess calories cannot be “burned” (oxidized) efficiently. Many of us can remember that we had a mechanism in cars called a choke. If that mechanism stuck after starting the car from cold, the engine would splutter and the car would hesitate. Black smoke from the exhaust represented unburned hydrocarbons. That is what happens to many people in our modern world who insist on the pleasure derived from eating masses of sweets and simple carbohydrates. They are never able to understand that their many symptoms, usually written off by physicians as psychosomatic, are due to their “junk”. Like white rice, “junk” is defined as a substance that we eat that contains no “spark plugs”. This gives rise to the term “empty calories”. Notice that I used the word “substance” rather than “food”.

The extremely common result of all this is a condition that I have called Functional Dysautonomia. Although published in medical journals, it is not a term that you will find in a medical textbook. It is, however, perhaps the commonest condition in Western civilization since the diet of the masses is frequently appalling. I refer to it as High Calorie Malnutrition and the early stages of the decline that results produces symptoms that are usually diagnosed as “psychosomatic”. In a crazy world, two thirds of the human population are dying from the results of increasing starvation, while one third are suffering disease and decay from overeating the wrong foods.

The Three Circles of Health Revisited: Genetics, Fitness and Nutrition

To summarize, there are only three things that you need to remember in maintaining health. The first is that genetics represents a blueprint given to us by our parents. The second is that “stress” is an inevitable result of living in the world. Injury, infection, toxic substances and business decisions all make up forms of physical and mental “stress”. Stress, if not in itself overwhelming, is less important than the way we adapt to it. The third thing and probably the most important is the way we choose our nutrition. Each of the circles represented in Figure 1 above is dependent on the interplay with the other two circles. Each circle may be the dominant cause of an illness but the other two circles come into the equation. The new science of epigenetics has shown us that nutrition and lifestyle have a direct and important effect on our genetic predisposition. The way we adapt to various forms of stress is by physical and mental fitness, maintained by exercise and nutrition, both of which demand self-responsibility.

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Decreasing the Risk of Alzheimer’s with Vitamin D

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As a health writer, I must ask if adequate vitamin D can prevent and/or treat the progressive brain disease called Alzheimer’s. No one should have to endure Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a deadly cognitive disorder that the Alzheimer’s Association® claims cannot be prevented or cured.

Staggering Statistics

The number of Alzheimer’s patients is growing at an alarming rate. Nearly 44 million people worldwide have developed AD, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International. Moreover, incidences of the deadly disease are expected to increase significantly over the next decade.

About 5.3 million Americans have AD. In fact, at least three persons living in the United States will develop AD before you finish reading this brief article. Yes, every 67 seconds another American succumbs to Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. (1)

The medical community’s views about why the prevalence of AD is rising at a staggering rate remain varied. Many believe genetics and environmental pollutants may serve as risk factors. Some believe the predominance of vitamin D deficiency may be linked to the mounting incidences of AD. In fact, scientific research indicates that the majority of Alzheimer patients have low levels of vitamin D.

But first, let’s understand what happens to the brain when Alzheimer’s strikes it.

The Brain on Alzheimer’s

The sheer complexity of the human brain is daunting. A healthy adult brain contains approximately 100 billion nerve cells, called neurons, which connect at more than 100 trillion points in the central nervous system.

The adverse effects of Alzheimer’s on the brain are obvious to medical personnel interpreting the images. First, the brain of an AD patient is smaller than one of a healthy adult. The decreased brain size is a result of the brain tissue containing significantly fewer neurons. Second, abnormal clusters of amyloid-beta protein fragments, called plaques, collect between nerve cells in the brain. Thirdly, dead or dying neurons, called tangles, are visibly present in the brain of an AD patient.

Signals traveling through the brain’s extensive neural network form the basis of memories, thoughts, and feelings. When plaques and tangles develop in the brain, the signaling essential to cognitive function becomes disrupted. Moreover, the brain cells are destroyed, resulting in progressive cognitive issues including memory loss, poor decision-making and behavioral problems.

Vitamin D’s Beneficial Effects on the Brain

Vitamin D crosses the blood-brain barrier. And every one of the 100 billion or so neurons in the brain includes a vitamin D receptor (VDR) that influences cognitive health.

In order to regulate specific brain functions, the VDR in these cells must be turned on by receiving activated vitamin D. Without sufficient vitamin D to activate its receptors, the neurons cannot work properly.

Activated vitamin D affects the development of neurons as well as their maintenance and survival, by regulating the synthesis of nerve growth factor.

Remember those plaques and tangles that disrupt the brain’s intricate signaling system? The neuro-protective effects of this vitamin also include the modulation of signal stability within the brain’s complex neural network.

Recent Research Links Vitamin D Deficiency and Alzheimer’s

An abundance of research connects vitamin D deficiency, a condition that is highly prevalent in adults aged 65 years and above, to cognitive decline. So I explored recent research to learn more about the association.

International experts gathered at an invitational summit on “Vitamin D and Cognition in Older Adults” to provide “clear” guidance to researchers and clinicians about the role of vitamin D in Alzheimer’s. They agreed that vitamin D deficiency (a blood serum level < 30ng/mL or 75 nmol/L) increases the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in adults aged 65 and older. Their report was published in the January 2015 edition of the prestigious Journal of Internal Medicine.

Dutch researchers reviewed medical literature about vitamin D’s association with cognition in older adults. They found “emerging evidence that suggests a beneficial role for vitamin D in brain physiology.” The researchers noted associations between higher blood serum vitamin D levels and better cognitive performance. The reviewers’ findings were presented in the January 2015 issue of the journal Current Opinion of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care.

Sir Michael J. Berridge, an eminent physiologist and biochemist, conducted a study at The Babraham Institute in the United Kingdom that was published in the June 1, 2015 edition of the journal Biochemical Society Transactions. His research suggests that vitamin D is the “guardian” of signaling stability. By examining vitamin D’s role in the constancy of the Ca2+ (calcium) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling pathways, Berridge postulated the necessity of activated vitamin D to maintain the normal function of these critical, intracellular “cross-talk” molecules. He concluded that “a decline in vitamin D levels will lead to erosion of this signaling stability,” suggesting that a plethora of diseases linked to vitamin D deficiency are also associated with a dysregulation in both Ca2+ and ROS signaling.

Bolster Your Brain with Vitamin D

The statistics of escalating rates of Alzheimer’s suggest that your life—in some way—will most likely be impacted this deadly disease.

A breakthrough study, published June 24, 2015 in the online version of the journal Neurology, revealed that Alzheimer’s may develop 20 years before any symptoms appear. These findings suggest that we may be able to prevent this deadly disease. They also indirectly hint at the need for humans to be vitamin D-rich throughout life.

Considering the association between vitamin D deficiency and Alzheimer’s, I encourage readers to consider seriously daily supplementation with vitamin D3 and its partners, magnesium and vitamin K2.

Perhaps Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD, one of the world’s leading experts, said it best: He concluded in an article on brain health, published in a 2015 issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine by stating, “There is no downside to increasing vitamin D status for all by encouraging vitamin D supplementation and sensible sun exposure.”

Footnote 1: “Dementia” encompasses a spectrum of brain-related diseases including Alzheimer’s.

About the Author: Susan Rex Ryan, author of the award-winning vitamin D book Defend Your Life, is dedicated to vitamin D awareness. Her extensive collection of health articles can be found on Hormone Matters as well as her blog at smilinsuepubs.com. Join Sue in her “Vitamin D Wellness” FB Group to learn more about vitamin D3, magnesium, and vitamin K2 supplementation. Follow her on Twitter @vitD3sue.

Copyright © 2015 by Smilin Sue Publishing, LLC
All rights reserved.

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