FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE BLOG
Includes over 800 monographs reporting on emerging studies in the medical and scientific literature of practical clinical importance, easily searched for content.
Calcium supplementation and abnormal calcium in blood and urine
Calcium supplementation is often recommended without careful determination of individual need and tolerance. Conflicting studies have raised the suspicion of an increase in cardiovascular risk associated with calcium (which may occur when the anti-inflammatory effects of magnesium are opposed). A study just published in the journal Menopause offers evidence that for a significant percentage of women modest calcium supplementation produces abnormally high levels in blood (hypercalcemia) and urine (hypercalciuria).
'Chronic' Lyme disease overdiagnosed according to original expert
'Chronic' Lyme disease, according to Dr. Allen Steere who first identified the spirochetal contagion caused by ticks in the town of Lyme, Connecticut, is a seductive but all too often misleading diagnosis that may prevent patients from finding the care that they need.
Antioxidants in excess can increase inflammation and blunt benefits of exercise
Antioxidants, even glutathione, taken in excess can increase rather than ameliorate harmful inflammation...The use of antioxidants must be calibrated with careful consideration of the balance between protective and suppressive effects according to the needs of the individual patient.
Walking in the evening improves cardiovascular markers better than walking in the morning
Walking is beneficial any time of day, but an interesting study published recently in the journal Preventive Medicine demonstrated significantly more improvement in some key cardiovascular lipid and inflammatory markers by walking in the evening versus in the morning.
Neuropsychiatric illness in non-celiac gluten sensitivity
Neuropsychiatric illness can result from neuroinflammation due to a variety of causes. Recent studies offer more evidence that depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders can be a manifestation of non-celiac gluten sensitivity. A paper published in Gastroenterology Research and Practice explores the pathophysiologic mechanisms by which gluten sensitivity can present as a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions in the absence of celiac disease.
Chronic fatigue is experienced through the brain
An important study just published in PLOS One reveals a primary mechanism by which the fatigue of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is experienced in the brain, and that this is associated with immune inflammatory activation.
Exercise: moderation is best for the heart
Exercise can benefit with surprisingly little effort and time as documented by recent studies, but like everything else there is a dose-response curve, meaning that the effect of exercise varies with the dose (intensity, duration). Now there is more evidence that exercising too intensively can do harm, particularly to the cardiovascular system.
Thyroid autoimmunity affects cognitive and emotional function
Autoimmune thyroiditis is "associated with cognitive and affective disorders also in the euthyroid [normal thyroid hormone level] state. Thereby thyroid antibodies might play a direct role or indicate an autoimmune process."
Gut-Brain connection and autoimmunity
This brief video on the gut-brain connection from Cyrex Laboratories is a succinct introduction to the expanding role of autoimmunity in a wide range of disorders and the importance of predictive antibodies.
Multiple sclerosis, TH17 and vitamin A
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory neurodegenerative disease. Recent studies shed light on its autoimmune component and offer evidence for the use of vitamin A in consideration of the premiere importance of Treg and Th17 or Th40 balance.
Breast cancer and glucose intolerance
Breast cancer, insulin resistance and blood sugar dysregulation are associated, and more evidence for the breast cancer link with glucose intolerance is presented in a study just published in PLOS ONE.
Epilepsy as an autoimmune disorder
Epilepsy should be evaluated in case management for neuroinflammation that reduces neuronal thresholds of excitability, and more evidence that this can be due to autoimmunity was just published in JAMA Neurology.
Thyroid in heart, metabolism, brain, kidney; vital importance of T3
Thyroid disorders have widespread impact and although subclinical hypothyroidism and low triiodothyronine (T3) syndrome are common they are frequently overlooked in practice.
Vitamin C modulates gene expression to control inflammation
A fascinating study reveals that vitamin C supplementation in a non-deficient, normal physiologic state has no significant effect. But in the presence of an inflammatory trigger vitamin C modulates gene expression to control inflammation.
Benzodiazepines and anxiolytics increase risk for dementia, mortality
Benzodiazepines increase risk for dementia; benzodiazepines, anxiolytics and Z drugs such as Ambien increase risk for mortality. Along the way they can cause morbidities that are harder to treat.
Allergy symptoms made worse by altered neuromodulation
"Among the constellation of symptoms that characterize the allergic reaction, many, if not most, are secondary to changes in the nervous system..In this sense allergy is an immune-neuronal disorder...therapeutic strategies should target the nervous system and work synergistically with anti-inflammatory strategies."
Breast cancer survival is enhanced by higher serum levels of vitamin D
Breast cancer survival is linked to higher serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] according to evidence presented in a meta-analysis just published in the journal Anti-Cancer Research...Higher serum 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with lower fatality rates in patients with breast cancer. Patients with the highest concentration of 25(OH)D had approximately half the fatality rate compared to those with the lowest concentration
Flu: most cases are without typical symptoms
Flu contagions include many more people whose immune systems are managing the virus without expressing recognizable flu symptoms.