Category Archives: dementia

3 Respiratory Viruses Threaten World Health this winter

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Winter approaches with a perfect storm of 3 respiratory viruses, increased indoor activity, dry spaces, and holiday gatherings. The 3 viruses already filling many hospitals (including children’s hospitals) include RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), Influenza, and SARS-CoV-2.

Respiratory viruses spread by aerosol typically enter through the nose and throat. Dry nasal and oral-pharyngeal mucosa (the lining of the nose and throat) presents an ideal incubator for respiratory viruses. With winter comes drier indoor environments created by heating systems.

A recently published study concluded:

Indoor conditions, particularly indoor RH (relative humidity) modulate the spread and severity of COVID-19 outbreaks.

The sweet spot was between 40% and 60% humidity to minimize spread and severity of infection.

Here is a picture of the temperature and humidity monitor in my home office.

Note that while outdoor humidity is 55%, indoor humidity is only 34%, short of the “ideal” range for decreased viral transmission and severity. We have a humidifier in our bedroom where the RH is higher.

In addition to a bedroom humidifier we have several HEPA filters dispersed throughout the house. HEPA filters can decrease aerosol (viral load) by 80% or more as can the homemade Corsi-Rosenthal box. HEPA filters and the Corsi-Rosenthal Box also significantly reduce indoor air pollution, potentially protecting us from not only respiratory disease but also heart attacks, strokes, dementia and cancer.

As the winter approaches consider protecting your family and friends from RSV, Influenza, and COVID-19 by utilizing a humidifier and free standing HEPA filters. Improving indoor air quality will have many health benefits.

In the context of the COVID 19 pandemic I will close with the usual summary.

  1. Avoid alcohol consumption (alcohol wreaks havoc with your immunity)
  2. Get plenty of sleep (without adequate sleep your immune system does not work well )
  3. Follow good sleep habits
  4. Exercise, especially out of doors in a green space, supports the immune system
  5. Get some sunshine and make sure you have adequate Vitamin D levels. Supplement with Vitamin D3 to get your levels above 30 ng/ml, >40ng/ml arguably better.
  6. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet rich in micronutrients.
  7. Practice stress reduction like meditation and yoga which improves the immune system
  8. Eliminate sugar-added foods and beverages from your diet. These increase inflammation, cause metabolic dysfunction, and suppress immunity.
  9. Eliminate refined-inflammatory “vegetable oils” from your diet, instead eat healthy fat.
  10. Clean up your home environment and minimize your family’s exposure to environmental toxins by following recommendations at EWG.org with regards to household products, personal care products, and organic foods. (https://www.ewg.org/)
  11. Drink water filtered through a high quality system that eliminates most environmental toxins. (Such as a Berkey or reverse osmosis filter)
  12. HEPA filters or the home-made version (Corsi-Rosenthal box) used in your home or workplace can reduce circulating viral load by 80%. This works for any respiratory virus transmitted by aerosol and this winter we have the triple threat of RSV, Influenza, and SARS-CoV-2. It also decreases indoor air pollution.
  13. If you are eligible for vaccination, consider protecting yourself and your neighbor with a few jabs. Age > 50 and/or risk factors (Diabetes, pre-diabetes, insulin resistance, hypertension, obesity, heart disease, COPD, asthma, cancer treatment, immune suppression) suggests benefit from a booster. Risk for complications of boosters in adolescents, especially males, without risk factors, may equal benefit. Previous infection with Covid can be considered as protective as a booster. Discuss risk vs benefits with your doctor.

THIS WEBSITE PROVIDES INFORMATION FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. CONSULT YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FOR MEDICAL ADVICE.

Eat clean, drink filtered water, love, laugh, exercise outdoors in a greenspace, get some morning sunlight, block the blue light before bed, engage in meaningful work, find a sense of purpose, spend time with those you love, AND sleep well tonight.

Doctor Bob

Chronic Inflammation, the silent killer

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I was recently interviewed by a health blogger for his podcast. The topic was chronic inflammation. Here it is.

I prepared some notes for the interview. Here are the questions and answers.

What made you so interested in the topic of chronic inflammation?

Interest in chronic inflammation:

  • Emerging evidence, source of most chronic disease including mental health (depression, etc.) is inflammation
  • family health issues experience personally
  • health care policy interest since graduate school
  •  First started to question USDA dietary advice after reading GOOD CALORIES, BAD CALORIES, by Gary Taubes,
  • Experienced Statin myopathy, researched statin drugs, bad data, financial conflicts of interest. Sought alternative approaches to Coronary Artery Disease prevention.
  • In USA, Profit driven health care system evolved from more benign not-for-profit earlier system in medical insurance and hospital system. Drug and surgery oriented. Corporate ownership of multiple hospitals, concentration of wealth and power in the industry and in society in general
  • Saw this every day: growing obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, DMII, auto-immune disease. Root causes NOT ADDRESSED.
  • While recovering from surgery attended on line functional medicine conference on auto-immune disease, covering diet, sleep, exercise, sunshine, Vitamin D, environmental toxins, gut dysbiosis, intestinal permeability (THE GATEWAY TO AUTOIMMUNITY IS THROUGH THE GUT).
  • Introduced to EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY and Paleo Diet by my son

What diseases does chronic inflammation typically lead to? 

  • Cancer
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity epidemic, DIABESITY
  • Hypertension
  • Metabolic Syndrome (3/5: HTN, insulin resistance/high blood sugar, abdominal obesity, high TGs, low HDL),
  • Autoimmune diseases
  • Degenerative arthritis
  • Neurodegenerative disorders (dementia, Parkinson’s, neuropathy, multiple sclerosis)
  • Works of Dale Bredesen (dementia, “The End of Alzheimer’s”), Ron Perlmutter (Grain Brain), Terry Wahls (The Wahls protocol for MS), all FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE looking at root cause of illness, common-overlapping threads.
  • Interplay between sleep, circadian rhythm, exercise, sunlight, stress, environmental toxins, diet, processed foods, nutritional deficiency, gut microbiome, endocrine disruptors, intestinal permeability, oral and skin microbiome, social disruptors, GUT BRAIN AXIS. These are all part of one large ECOSYSTEM.
  • Positive and negative feedback systems requiring a SYSTEMS ENGINEERING approach to understanding root causes.
  • Butyrate is the preferred substrate for colonocytes, providing 60-70% of the energy requirements for colonic epithelial cells1,2. Butyrate suppresses colonic inflammation,3 is immunoregulatory in the gut,4 and improves gut barrier permeability by accelerating assembly of tight junction proteins.5,6
  • Improves insulin sensitivity, increase energy expenditure, reduce adiposity, increases satiety hormones,
  • HDAC activity inhibitor, PROTECTS GENES from removal of necessary acetyl groups.
  • Butyrate also influences the mucus layer. A healthy colonic epithelium is coated in a double layer of mucus. The thick, inner layer is dense and largely devoid of microbes, protecting the epithelium from contact with commensals and pathogens alike. The loose, outer layer of mucus is home to many bacteria, some of which feed on the glycoproteins of the outer mucus layer itself. Both of these mucus layers are organized by the MUC2 mucin protein, which is secreted by goblet cells in the epithelium. Supplementation of physiological concentrations of butyrate has been shown to increase MUC2 gene expression and MUC2 secretion in a human goblet cell line.7,8

What are the population groups which have higher risk of chronic inflammation? 

  • Obese
  • Sedentary
  • Poor-urban-polluted environment dwelling (air, water, noise, crowding, violence, racism, oppression)
  • Divergence from ancestral evolutionary biology
  • Working environment: indoors, polluted, oppressive supervisors, no sunlight, noise pollution, air pollution, toxic social situations, repetitive motion, bad ergonomics,
  • night shift, disruption of circadian rhythm
  • both parents working, no time for real food and family interaction, supervision of children.
  • screen time- sedentary behavior, lack of outdoor activity
  • Stress of social inequality, food insecurity, violent neighborhoods, nutritional deserts

What are the “danger signs” or typical symptoms which may signal a chronic inflammation? 

DANGER SIGNS:

  • Waistline (waist to height ratio, BMI)
  • Sarcopenia (muscle as an endocrine organ)
  • Sleep disturbance
  • Pain
  • Headaches
  • Depression
  • Lack of joy.
  • Brain fog, fatigue

What are the typical biomarkers of chronic inflammation?

  • METABOLIC SYNDROME (3 or more of the following: high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, elevated Triglycerides, low HDL, obesity)
  • CRP predictive of cardiovascular events,
  • ESR associated with arthritis
  • Stress hormones (morning cortisol levels)
  • Resting Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability

What are the typical sources of systemic chronic inflammation?

Sources of Chronic Inflammation:

Diet

  • N6/N3 FA ratio determined by too much Refined Easily Oxidized Vegetable Oils, not enough marine sources of N3 FA,  grain fed vs grass fed/finished ruminant meat. Loren Cordain research wild game FA composition = grass fed. Margarine vs Butter. Fried foods using Vegetable oils. Oxidized fats/oils, oxy-sterols in diet.
  • Sugar excess leading to insulin resistance
  • Refined carbs leading to insulin resistance (dense acellular….)
  • Disturbance of gut  microbiome from poor nutrition (sugar, refined carbs and vegetable oils all disrupt the microbiome)
  • Gut brain axis.
  • Food ADDITIVES AND PRESERVATIVES
  • Trans Fats (finally banned)

Endocrine disruptors/ BIOACCUMULATION

  • Plastics (microparticles in our fish, food and bottled water)
  • Plastic breakdown products
  • Phthalates added to plastics to increase flexibility ( also pill coatings, binders, dispersants, film formers, personal care products, perfumes, detergents, surfactants, packaging, children’s toys, shower curtains, floor tiles, vinyl upholstery, it is everywhere) 8.4 million tons of plasticizers produced annually. EWG.org
  • Pesticides, herbicides, glyphosate (Monsanto), DIRTY DOZEN, CLEAN FIFTEEN EWG.org
  • Medications
  • ABSORBED skin, eat, drink, breath,
  • BPS is as bad as the BPA it replaced
  • Polychlorinated biphenyls used in INDUSTRIAL COOLANTS AND LUBRICANTS
  • Flame retardants (PBDEs, polybrominated dipheyl ethers) are ubiquitous in furniture and children’s clothing. Also linked to autoimmune disease
  • Dioxins
  • PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
  • Sunblock
  • CUMULATIVE BURDEN, INTERACTIONS, SYNERGY?

SLEEP DEPRIVATION CHRONIC IN OUR SOCIETY

Eating late vs time restricted eating

Gut Microbiome disrupted by

  • 1/3 of prescribed medications disrupt the microbiome AND increase intestinal permeability
  • Stress
  • Sleep deprivation
  • Sugar
  • Refined carbs
  • Refined veg oils
  • Over exercise and Under exercise, both are bad.
  • Environmental toxins

Gut dysbiosis and infections include (often chronic, low grade, not diagnosed)

  • Pathogenic bacteria, infection or overgrowth/imbalance
  • SIBO
  • Parasites
  • Viruses
  • BAD bugs > good bugs
  • Good bugs make vitamins and SCFAs required for colonocyte energy
  • Gut-Brain axis huge topic, VAGUS NERVE COMMUNICATION both ways, SCFA in gut and in CIRCULATION (butyrate, propionate, acetate), NEUROTRANSMITTER PRODUCTION (SEROTONIN, OTHERS), enterochromaffin cells producing > 30 peptides.
  • Overuse of antibiotics in medicine
  • AND use of antibiotics in raising our food.
  • Vaginal delivery vs C-section
  • Breast feeding vs bottle feeding

INCREASED INTESTINAL PERMEABILITY:

  • Caused by all factors above
  • Leads to higher levels of circulating LPS-endotoxin, bacterial products that create an immune-inflammatory response.
  • Incompletely digested proteins with AA sequences overlapping our own tissue causing autoimmunity/inflammation through molecular mimicry

Heavy Metal toxicity

  • Lead
  • Mercury
  • Cadmium
  • Arsenic

MOLD TOXICITY (> 400 identified mycotoxins, can cause dementia, asthma, allergies, auto-immunity)

  • At home
  • At work

What are the most efficient natural (non-medication) ways to address chronic inflammation?

  • Anti-inflammatory Diet, real whole food that our ancestors ate through evolutionary history (grass fed/finished ruminant meat, free range poultry, antibiotic free, and pesticide free food, wild seafood (low mercury varieties), organic vegetables and fruit, nuts, fermented foods, eggs)
  • Low mercury fish and seafood for omega three fatty acids
  • Sleep hygiene
  • Exercise, not too much, not too little, rest days, out of doors, resistance training, walking, yoga, Pilates, tai chi, chi gong, dancing, PLAYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Stress reduction: meditation, mindful living, forest bathing, sunlight, Playing, music, praying, SOCIAL CONNECTION, laughter, comedy, quit the toxic job, quit the toxic relationship, SAUNA/SWEAT, heat shock proteins, exercise
  • Vitamin D, sunshine, check levels
  • PLAY, PLAY, PLAY, LAUGH, DANCE, ENJOY, LOVE
  • Be aware of potential dangers of EMF, WiFi, hand held devices, blue tooth headphones.
  • Address environmental justice
  • Address social inequality, food insecurity
  • Tobacco addiction
  • Ethanol
  • Other substance abuse
  • Agricultural subsidies in US distort the food supply
  • Loss of soil threatens food supply
  • Suppression of science (global warming, environment, etc.,) worsens environmental degradation, creating an EXISTENTIAL THREAT.
  1. Avoid alcohol consumption (alcohol wreaks havoc with your immunity)
  2. Get plenty of sleep (without adequate sleep your immune system does not work well )
  3. Follow good sleep habits
  4. Exercise, especially out of doors in a green space, supports the immune system
  5. Get some sunshine and make sure you have adequate Vitamin D levels.
  6. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet rich in micronutrients.
  7. Practice stress reduction like meditation and yoga which improves the immune system
  8. Eliminate sugar-added foods and beverages from your diet. These increase inflammation, cause metabolic dysfunction, and suppress immunity.
  9. Clean up your home environment and minimize your family’s exposure to environmental toxins by following recommendations at EWG.org with regards to household products, personal care products, and organic foods. (https://www.ewg.org/)

THIS WEBSITE PROVIDES INFORMATION FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. CONSULT YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FOR MEDICAL ADVICE.

Eat clean, drink filtered water, love, laugh, exercise outdoors in a greenspace, get some morning sunlight, block the blue light before bed, engage in meaningful work, find a sense of purpose, spend time with those you love, AND sleep well tonight.

Doctor Bob

Ketogenic Diet, Keto-Medicine

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I have spent a few days watching lectures from various low-carb-healthy-fat meetings. There is an impressive amount of solid clinical data to support Very Low Carb (with healthy fat)  diets to treat obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and seizure disorders. Eric Westman MD, author, Associate Professor of Medicine, Past Chairman of the Obesity Medicine Association,  and director of Duke University Lifestyle Medical Clinic gave an impassioned and authoritative talk on the success of LCHF in treating all of these disorders here.

 

Dr. Steven Phinney,  Professor Emeritus UC Davis and presently Chief Medical Officer for VIRTA has given numerous talks on the beneficial effects of a ketogenic diet. He and Jeff Volek Ph.D. have done research for decades on the physiology of low carbohydrate diets. They elucidated the changes that occur in high level athletes as they adapt to burning fat as their major fuel source during and after a period of “fat adaptation”. It turns out that endurance athletes, after a period of 1 to 3 months of adaptation to a low carb-high fat diet (variable from person to person) perform at equal or higher levels as compared to their performance when previously on a high carbohydrate diet. In fact, because lean athletes have much greater energy stored in fat as compared to glycogen (carbohydrate) they can go for many hours longer than an athlete who is dependent on carbohydrate metabolism (not fat adapted). Glycogen is the starch source of energy that humans store in the liver (100 grams) and in muscle (400 grams). Compared to glycogen, fat stores in lean individuals, including buff athletes,  can provide more than 10 times the amount of energy. Endurance athletes who are keto-adapted (fat burners) can ride a bike all day or run an ultra-marathon (100 miles) without taking in any energy source. (They must of course replace fluid and electrolytes). Whereas athletes who have followed a traditional high carb diet must start consuming calories after about 3 hours of moderate-high intensity exercise. Doctors Phinney and Volek have done clinical research on humans with obesity, pre-diabetes and diabetes and they have demonstrated superior results when compared to any other dietary approach.

You can learn about their work here:

And here:

So what is this all about? If carbohydrates are restricted to very low levels and instead we consume (healthy) fat as our major source of energy with moderate amounts of protein, then the human body starts to burn fat. This process results in the production of ketones (in the liver) which serve not only as a source of energy but also act as “signaling” molecules that turn on beneficial genes that fight inflammation and turn off genes that produce inflammation. When a well formulated ketogenic diet is followed under medical supervision, diabetics can often get off most or all of their diabetes medications within weeks to months as they lose weight. Improvements are seen quickly in blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, liver function tests, insulin sensitivity, inflammatory markers, subjective energy levels, mental clarity and mood. Triglycerides are reduced, HDL increases, and improvements are seen in the “atherogenic profile” with reductions in small dense LDL particles with a shift to large buoyant LDL particles. On a ketogenic diet humans spontaneously consume lower caloric intake because fat and protein are more satiating compared to carbohydrate. Circulating saturated fat in the blood DECREASES on a keto-genic diet. Refined carbohydrates and sugar (so prevalent in processed foods) produce increased circulating fat in the blood and increased fat storage throughout the body, often leading to fatty liver disease and the long list of chronic diseases caused by and associated with insulin resistance.

A ketogenic diet is also part of Dr. Dale Bredesen’s effective treatment program for early dementia (ReCoDe-Reversal of Cognitive Decline). I have discussed Dr. Bredesen’s approach before. Here is one of his discussions.

You can read Dr. Bredesen’s report of 100 patients who have reversed cognitive decline using a ketogenic diet as PART of the ReCoDe program here.

So what are the healthy fats in a low carb high fat diet?

They include fats found in whole foods such as nuts and avocados, pasture raised animals free of hormones and antibiotics, free range poultry and eggs, wild fish and seafood (avoiding large fish that have high mercury levels), extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, butter from pastured grass-fed animals, and coconut oil. (yes butter is included despite that fact that strict paleo excludes dairy)

You should avoid all of the processed/refined oils that come from seeds, grains and legumes including soy oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil. You can learn why these (misnamed) “vegetable oils” are dangerous and how they were marketed to an unwitting public with the help and support of faulty science by listening to Nina Teicholz here:

There are many great lectures about the low-carb-high-fat ketogenic diet in addressing obesity, insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, seizures and more. Go to youtube and search “keto diet”, “low carb high fat”.

Before I sign off I will provide one more link:

Remember, this website offers educational information only. Consult your health care provider for medical advice.

Sleep well, exercise outdoors, laugh, love, engage in meaningful work, drink filtered water, eat clean, eat whole foods, get plenty of sunshine, spend time with those you love.

Doctor Bob

 

 

Sleep! You can’t live without it.

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Circadian rhythm refers to the cycling of hormones according to the time of day. Every hormone cycles with daylight and darkness, each in it’s own way. Our brain has a master clock, called the circadian clock, controlled by specialized cells deep in the brain. There is a direct connection from our retina (in the back of the eyes) to the circadian clock in the brain. Blue light (part of the normal outdoor spectrum of light) stimulates very specific receptor cells in the retina which in turn communicates directly with the circadian clock telling the brain whether it is day or night. To synchronize our hormones and achieve restorative sleep, we must get outdoor light exposure to our eyes (without sunglasses, early in the day) and limit light exposure in the evening.

Artificial light, especially from cell phones and other devices that emit intense blue light, shift work, late night social activity, poor eating habits, sedentary lifestyle and at the opposite extreme, late evening workouts,  can all disrupt our circadian rhythm preventing adequate restorative sleep. A rare genetic illness called fatal insomnia that strikes adults at middle age prevents sleep and results in death within a few months, highlighting the importance of sleep. Sleep deprivation can kill a human quicker than starvation! Adequate amounts of deep non-REM sleep are required for tissue regeneration, healing, DNA repair and immune function. REM sleep with dreaming provides great benefit by organizing our memory, discharging the emotional content of traumatic events, and facilitating creative brain activity. One night of short-sleep produces a state of inattention and slow reflexes as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol intoxication. Chronic  short sleep and disrupted circadian rhythm results in increased risk of depression, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, dementia, obesity, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, heart attack and stroke, to name a few. Sleep interruption immediately halts weight loss during a calorie restricted diet (likely the result of hormonal disruption). So getting an adequate amount of restorative sleep every night is essential to good health. Here a few tips to help achieve a good night’s sleep each and every night.

  1. GET OUTDOOR LIGHT EXPOSURE ON YOUR EYES WITHOUT SUNGLASSES EVERY DAY, EARLY IN THE DAY. This helps set your biologic/circadian clock. Even on a cloudy day, outdoor light is much stronger and natural than indoor light. It is essential for setting your biologic/circadian clock. If you cannot get outside, stand or sit in front of a large window for 20-30 minutes in the morning, looking outside. Take a lunch break outside without sunglasses. Wear a shade hat instead of sunglasses. Your brain needs to experience natural outdoor light during the day.
  2. Avoid bright light in the evening, especially the light from TV, computer screens, cell phones, which all emit intense blue light and trick your brain into thinking it is daytime. Wear blue light blocking glasses/goggles for 2-3 hours before bed. (Amber tinted glasses which block blue light can be purchased on-line and can be worn over reading glasses) There is also software available that will decrease the blue light intensity of computer screens and cell phones in the evening.
  3. Practice time restricted eating. Limit all eating to an eight hour period, thus providing for an over-night fast of 16 hours. If that does not seem possible try to limit eating to a 10-hour period which provides a 14-hour overnight fast. This improves sleep, circadian rhythm, blood pressure, blood sugar and reduces stress hormones. NO SNACKS BETWEEN MEALS. NO FOOD FOR 2 HOURS BEFORE BED. For every hour decrease in eating time period from 12 hours to 8 hours you get health benefit.
  4. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet.
  5. If you snore, are overweight/obese, fall asleep during the day, or do not feel refreshed in the morning ask your doctor to order a sleep study. Obstructive Sleep Apnea makes restorative sleep impossible and increases risk of heart attack, stroke and most chronic diseases.
  6. Avoid alcohol altogether and avoid caffeine after late morning.  Alcohol in the evening may help you fall asleep but it results in a withdrawal from alcohol during the night. This disrupts normal sleep patterns.
  7. Sleep in a cold, dark, quiet room. Use black-out curtains, no night lights, no phone charger lights, no lights of any kind should be on in the room. Any amount of light in the room impairs the production of melatonin which facilitates sleep onset.
  8. Have a wind–down time every evening. Develop habits of non-stressful activities, soft music, dim light, casual conversation, enjoyable reading. Do not spend evening time dealing with finances, conflict, or emotional activity.
  9. Try a magnesium supplement before bedtime. Magnesium glycinate, magnesium citrate, magnesium gluconate, are absorbed much better than cheaper supplements such as magnesium oxide. Magnesium L-Threonate is expensive, but it crosses the blood brain barrier into the brain with the greatest brain penetration of all magnesium supplements.
  10. Manage stress with yoga, meditation, regular exercise (but no intense exercise in the evening.) Perform most of your exercise outdoors in a green space. This provides much more health benefit than the equivalent exercise indoors.
  11. Regular contact with supportive family and friends is essential to health and reduces stress. The greatest predictor of health vs disease is the amount of social connectedness an individual experiences.
  12. Establish regular wake-up times and go-to-bed times. Regular sleep habits are essential. If you must rely on alarm clocks you do not have good sleep habits.

A few words about alcohol, caffeine and sleeping pills.

A drink or two in the evening may help you relax but it disrupts your sleep by causing a mild episode of alcohol withdrawal as your liver metabolizes the alcohol and your blood levels drop. Even this slight degree of alcohol withdrawal will impair a good night’s sleep.

Caffeine impairs sleep by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine is the neurotransmitter that increases gradually during the day creating a sate referred to as sleep pressure. Some people metabolize caffeine quickly, others slowly. The slower you metabolize caffeine the longer it takes to clear it from your adenosine receptors. Without adequate sleep pressure (adenosine receptors filled with adenosine in the brain) you cannot fall asleep. Many sleep experts recommend complete abstinence from caffeine and suggest that if you need caffeine to get started in the morning you are regularly sleep deprived.

Sleeping pills of all kinds interfere with normal sleep architecture. While they facilitate falling asleep, they impair your ability to achieve deep restorative stages of sleep and can produce many undesirable side effects including addiction, withdrawal symptoms, sleep walking, sleep driving, worsening of asthma and COPD, constipation, diarrhea, daytime drowsiness, burning and tingling sensations, unusual dreams, weakness, heartburn, etc…. Most importantly they all interfere with cycling through the various stages of sleep in a normal, restorative pattern!

If you want to explore these concepts in depth here are two excellent books that discuss sleep and circadian rhythm.

Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker Ph.D.

The Circadian Code, by Satchin Panda Ph.D.

Eat clean, sleep well, spend time exercising out of doors, love one another.

Bob Hansen MD

The Broken Brain Docuseries is now re-running

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Due to popular demand the producers of this terrific series are making it available again  on line this weekend. If you have not taken advantage of this information you can do it here:

Replay (YouTube) | Broken Brain

Enjoy

Bob Hansen MD

The Broken Brain on-line “docuseries” is running now.

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I would encourage everyone to watch this series of daily interviews and discussions on lifestyle and brain health. This was organized and produced by Mark Hyman MD, director of the Functional Medicine Clinic at Cleveland Clinic, well known author, speaker and physician, Discussions cover many topics including environmental toxins (such as heavy metals and Roundup), nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress reduction, gut bacteria, and more with specific reference to the effects on your brain and risk for dreaded conditions such as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, etc. These conditions can be prevented and when present, they can be treated with interventions not usually employed by modern medicine, unless you are fortunate enough to be working with a Functional Medicine practitioner.

You can sign up to receive a daily email with a link to the on-line video. Each video in the series is available for 24 hours starting at 3 PM PST, 6 PM EST.

Here is the link to get started with the third episode in this series.

Episode 3: Dementia and Alzheimer’s [LIVE] | Broken Brain

To Your Health,

Bob Hansen MD

Interview with Dr. Ede about preventing Alzheimer’s

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My friend and colleague, Dr. Georgia Ede, was recently interviewed concerning dietary interventions to prevent Alzheimer’s Dementia. Great interview, lots of information, references provided at the bottom of the transcript.

Here is the link.

Are You On The Road To Alzheimer’s? Interview With Dr. Georgia Ede – Choc & Juice

Another reason to eat a clean Paleo diet.

Eliminating sugar, flour foods, and fruit juices will also improve your gut flora and help to prevent dysbiosis.

Regards

Bob Hansen MD

Great lecture videos available on line

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In January I attended the annual meeting of Physicians for Ancestral Health. There were great presentations on many topics related to lifestyle and health. Take a look at the website linked below to learn about many topics relating nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle to health.

Open Video Archives | Physicians for Ancestral Health

I presented a lecture titled “The Lipoprotein Retention Model, What’s Missing?” This discusses many factors (root causes) that contribute to the formation of plaque in arteries and what can be done to prevent this insidious process by adopting a “Paleo Lifestyle“.

Other videos include:

Paleopathology and the Origins of the Paleo Diet. Keynote speaker Michael Eades MD, author of several books and a well known website.

Medicine Without Evolution is like Engineering Without Physics– Randolph M Neese, MD Director of the Arizona State University Center for Evolution.

The Roles of Intermittent Fasting and Carbohydrates in Cancer Therapy– Dawn Lemanne, MD, MPH, integrative oncologist.

 23 and Me: Practical First Steps-Deborah Gordon MD, discusses a practical approach to utilizing information from this genetic test.

Histamine Intolerance-Why (food) Freshness Matters– Georgia Ede MD.

 

Mood and Memory: How Sugar Affects Brain Chemistry-Georgia Ede, MD.

Systems Analysis and Multiple Sclerosis– Tommy Wood MD, author, blogger and lecturer, frequently interviewed on topics related to exercise and nutrition.

Cholesterol OMG– Jeffry Gerber, MD “The Diet Doctor” in Denver Colorado

Bob Hansen MD

 

 

 

Still want a doughnut or cereal for breakfast?

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A recent study has demonstrated that brain deterioration detected by MRI scan seems to be linked to higher blood sugar levels even within the “normal range”.

Here are some important quotes from a Medscape discussion:

“Previous studies have shown that T2D (type 2 diabetes) is associated with brain atrophy, cognitive deficits, and increased risk for dementia. Elevated plasma glucose levels still within the normal range increase the risk for T2D.”

“Studies showed that in apparently healthy individuals, atrophy of the amygdala and hippocampus increased as FPG (fasting plasma glucose) within the normal range increased.”

“You start having abnormalities in the brain even at levels that are within the normal range. This is important because, should we be defining normal glucose levels for different purposes?”

Bottom line, as discussed by neurologist David Perlmutter in his book Grain Brain, even “normal” blood sugars as defined by measurements in our society many not be healthy. If a whole modern culture has higher blood sugars, higher blood pressures, fatter waistlines compared to our healthy hunter gatherer ancestors, then the “normal range” may not really be “normal”. If we define “normal” as individuals within 1 or 2 standard deviations of the mean, but a large portion of the population is unhealthy, is normal healthy?

Do you want to spend your last day in diapers drooling in a nursing home or do you want to go out hiking in the woods and enjoying grandchildren?

The choice is yours, but the next time you have a doughnut or cereal for breakfast, consider the long term consequences.

Live clean and prosper.

Bob Hansen MD

Here is the whole Medscape article for those interested in the nitty-gritty details.

White Matter Lesions Linked to Rising Plasma Glucose

SANTIAGO, Chile — Higher fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels are associated with a higher burden of brain white matter hyperintensities (WMH), particularly in the frontal lobes.

The association is especially strong in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D), a new study shows.

Lead author Nicolas Cherbuin, PhD, and colleagues in the Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing of the Australian National University in Canberra used data from the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project, a large, longitudinal, population-based study investigating the time course and determinants of cognitive aging and mental health.

The study findings were presented here at the XXII World Congress of Neurology (WCN).

The PATH Through Life Project aims to follow approximately 7500 randomly selected adults in the greater Australian capital area over 20 years.

From an older age cohort (60 to 64 years; n = 2551), 401 community-living individuals were available for analysis. All were free of neurologic disorders, stroke, and gross brain abnormalities and had a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 27 or greater.

Using linear regression analysis, the researchers tested the association between FPG and WMH volumes, controlling for covariates of age, sex, intracranial volume, education, smoking, hypertension, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, and interactions of diabetes and sex.

Plasma glucose was measured after an overnight fast and was categorized as normal, defined as less than 5.6 mmol/L (<100.8 mg/dL), impaired (5.6 to 7 mmol/L [100.8 to 126 mg/dL]), or T2D (≥7 mmol/L [≥126 mg/dL] or self-report of T2D).

Patient groups with normal FPG (n = 276), impaired FPG (n = 86), or T2D (n = 39) were similar in age (approximately 63 years), education (14 years), and MMSE scores (29.26 to 29.45). BMI was higher in the impaired FPG and T2D groups than in the normal FPG group. There was also more hypertension in the T2D group.

WMH Mostly in Frontal and Temporal Lobes

Dr Cherbuin reported that among the entire cohort, higher FPG was associated with a higher burden of WMH in the right hemisphere (P = .02) but not in the left hemisphere. The effect was most prominent in the frontal and temporal lobes.

These findings were largely attributable to participants with impaired FPG or T2D, and the effect was most pronounced for participants with T2D.

Table. WMH Volumes per FPG Level

Location Normal FPG (n = 276) Impaired FPG (n = 86) T2D (n = 39)
Left hemisphere WMH (mm3) 2343.68 ± 2311.72 2331.07 ± 2528.34 2800.62 ± 2152.87
Right hemisphere WMH (mm3) 2379.59 ± 2645.19 2414.98 ± 2609.72 3199.79 ± 4031.47
Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation.

 

Previous studies have shown that T2D is associated with brain atrophy, cognitive deficits, and increased risk for dementia. Elevated plasma glucose levels still within the normal range increase the risk for T2D.

Studies showed that in apparently healthy individuals, atrophy of the amygdala and hippocampus increased as FPG within the normal range increased. Striatum volumes decreased several years later in line with higher FPG or occult T2D. Functionally, poorer performance of fine motor skills is evident with higher FPG.

Session chairman Samuel Wiebe, MD, professor of neurology at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, commented to Medscape Medical News that the present study intrigued him because it addresses the fact that the definition of normal glucose “maybe doesn’t apply to everything…. You start having abnormalities in the brain even at levels that are within the normal range. This is important because, should we be defining normal glucose levels for different purposes?”

Higher levels of glucose even within the normal range may affect facets that are just beginning to be understood, such as white matter changes. “That’s just one aspect. There could be other areas,” he said. “So I think that that’s an intriguing finding that deserves further study.”

Dr Wiebe said the greater effect of elevated glucose seen in the frontal lobes may be related to some degree to their sheer size or to blood flow. “I think that the truth is that it is a spectrum. It begins to have an impact at a range of values that are lower than the cutoff” for traditional interventions, he said.

He feels it would be interesting to follow up this study with assessments that go beyond WMH volume measurements, such as tractography or connectivity studies that look at brain function.

There was no commercial funding for the study. Dr Cherbuin and Dr Wiebe have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

XXII World Congress of Neurology (WCN). Abstract 434. Presented November, 2, 2015.