Research and News April 2017

We like to stay on top of the latest news in functional medicine and nutrition. If you do too, you’ll find our monthly, easy-to-digest compilation of research and news articles right here. Check back regularly to find updates, or follow us through our newsletters and social media to ensure you don’t miss any.

10 minutes of vigorous activity reduces later disease risk in children
As many parents know firsthand, kids are more sedentary today than ever. Physical activity time within school hours is at a minimum, which together with homework, computer and TV time, means kids (and their parents) struggle to achieve recommended activity guidelines. Some glimmer of good news is that just 10 minutes per day of high-intensity physical activity can go some way towards reducing the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes—diseases which often have their origins in childhood and develop over several decades. More activity would be better still, though…

The soy debate: benefits for breast cancer
Soy is one of those controversial foods primarily due to compounds it contains called isoflavones, which have weak estrogenic effects in the body. However, and as this study seems to support, isoflavones can block the activity of more potent endogenous estrogens such as estradiol, therefore reducing overall estrogen activity. Researchers at Tufts University studied women already diagnosed with breast cancer and found that those who consumed more soy did not have a higher risk of dying over the next nine years than women who ate less. Also, those women taking anti-estrogen drugs did not show any increased mortality, suggesting that soy doesn’t counteract the medication effects. At our clinic, we recommend that if you’re going to eat soy, choose organic, traditionally prepared, fermented soy where possible.

Broccoli busy in ‘junk’ DNA regions to prevent or stall cancer
“More than a chicken, less than a grape”—that’s how many coding genes are in the human genome. However, non-coding regions or so-called ‘junk’ DNA are increasingly understood to have critical functions, which (hopefully, haha!) set us apart from our mammalian or fruit counterparts. Thanks to our friends over at Linus Pauling Institute and OSU, we now know that sulforaphane, an active compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, acts to regulate areas of junk DNA (specifically LINC01116) to alter gene expression in a way that may prevent cancer, or stall its progression. In their studies, exposing prostate cancer cells to sulforaphane reduced cancer cell colony formation by a factor of four! Wow!

Crossfit-ters beware: ‘Rhabdo’ can have potentially-fatal consequences
In certain corners of the Crossfit and high intensity interval training world, the fallouts of extreme exercise are worn with a badge of honor. But, while we support a healthy exercise regimen and active lifestyle, exercising beyond our physical limits isn’t healthy at all. Rhabdomyolysis (“rhabdo”) is traditionally caused by physical trauma, but extreme exercise can provoke it as well. It’s a potentially serious condition that in the worst cases can lead to kidney failure, irregular heart rhythm and even death. Click through to see associated symptoms to watch out for, and make sure you’re exercising within healthy limits.

More data on the risk of diabetes from statin medications
Medicine has known for some time that statins increase the risk for diabetes (although I still think this isn’t widely known outside the medical community). New data shows that there is an especially strong risk for elderly women—statins increase diabetes risk by an average of 33% and high of 51% in this population. And that the risk is directly related to the dose used. Functional Medicine provides better options for assessing true cardiovascular risk, beyond LDL cholesterol alone, and managing those risks through safer, non-medical interventions.

Conventional medical research branches into leaky gut treatment
Lubiprosterone, a drug commonly used to treat constipation-related Irritable Bowel Syndrome has become the first drug to be used in a pilot study for leaky gut repair. I am encouraged to see the continued and growing recognition of the importance of gut barrier integrity among wider medical communities, although in Functional Medicine we already have an arsenal of interventions to choose from when it comes to supporting a healthy gut barrier. And beyond the lactulose-mannitol test they used in this research, there are several (often easier) assessment tools we can use too.

Are your alcohol cravings your gut bugs talking? Probiotics to the rescue…
Alcohol addiction exists on a continuum, from those with overt alcoholism, inability to hold down a steady job and care for themselves or their dependents, to the less extreme but insidious, 2 or more glasses of wine of an evening that you just can’t seem to give up. Intestinal dysbiosis (too many ‘bad’ gut bugs) is connected with alcohol use, not least because too much alcohol destroys a healthy microbiome. But dysbiosis can also participate in setting up a vicious cycle of alcohol craving that is hard to break. Enter probiotics, and their important counterpart, prebiotics. Re-establishing healthy microbial populations in the gut can be an important piece of the puzzle to finally crack that cycle and stop your reliance on alcohol.

Antibiotics for PTSD; Opportunities and Cautions
The fact that researchers are piecing together how traumatic memory is biochemically produced and stored is absolutely remarkable, as it leads to an understanding of how we might address it. When I think about our servicemen and women, and the huge rates of combat-associated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide, the need to understand the mechanisms and delivery effective solutions becomes pressing. This just-released paper looks at the commonly prescribed antibiotic doxycycline and its ability to dramatically reduce the effects of fear-based memory. The authors hypothesize that it has to do with an interruption of something called MMP-9 (or matrix metalloproteinase-9). MMP-9 is thought to be required for the formation of human fear memories.

I have a handful of thoughts around this. First of all, again thinking about servicemen and women in combat, if doxycycline can actually make a difference here it’s probably a pretty important consideration. As with any medication, however, we need to consider the long-term ramifications of use. But it’s certainly better than extremely high suicide rates. Secondly, and interesting to me as a Functional Medicine physician is the fact that we’re looking at, yet again, an inflammation-driven event. In Functional medicine, we have probably the most potent toolkit for addressing inflammation and, with studies like these, applying anti-inflammatory interventions is elevated to a new level of urgency and importance for our PTSD patients. 

Early-Life Antibiotics Increases the Risk for Crohn’s and Colitis
Antibiotic use is still very common in infants and young children. Yes, sometimes antibiotics can be lifesaving in certain circumstances, but in Functional Medicine we know that the impacts to the all-important gut microbiome can be great. New animal research shows a direct link between early life antibiotic use an increased risk for inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis). If you or your loved ones have had antibiotics early in life, or even at other stages, there is much you can do to rebuild a healthy microbiome and offset a lot of that disease risk.

Why You Should Ditch Cooking with Aluminum Foil
Aluminum is implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease, a potential contributor to cardiovascular disease and a dysregulator of important epigenetic methylation. Research shows that aluminum does leach from foil into food during the cooking process, with increased amounts of leaching at higher temperatures and with more acidic foods (like lemon and tomato). Partly through this, and other sources, many of us are ingesting more than the recommended upper limit of 40 mg per kg body weight per day. When I was at the laboratory, where we were measuring blood and urine aluminum levels, we did occasionally see them very high. Investigation and removal of exposure sources was the obvious first step (check your deoderants, folks!). Interventions such as careful chelation with EDTA (with antioxidant support) are an option too, though not suitable for everyone…

Viral Trigger for Celiac Disease Uncovered
Microbes and are an intriguing bunch, and our relationship with them is equally fascinating. Many, of course, are beneficial. However, sometimes seemingly benign organisms can trigger immune dysfunction in susceptible individuals. This recent study uncovered reovirus, a common childhood infection that isn’t normally problematic, as a potential trigger for Celiac Disease in susceptible individuals. According to Alessio Fasano, renowened gluten/Celiac specialist and a pediatric gastroenterologist at Mass General Hospital, the finding is helpful in identifying potential preventive targets. I’d also argue that regular monitoring of GI inflammation would be helpful, as well as gut bacterial populations to assess commensal/dysbiotic organisms and general, healthy gut and immune support, especially in those who carry the Celiac genes.

Functional Medicine Improves Outcomes While Decreasing Costs
I am incredibly proud to be working in the field of Functional Medicine, and of our colleagues at the Cleveland Center for Functional Medicine who have been working tirelessly to SHOW how Functional Medicine care compares with conventional medical care. Their early data is now available, showing that Functional Medicine not only improves patient outcomes more than conventional treatments do, but that the cost is lower too. We must all also work hard to try to shift the industry insurance model so that costs to the consumer also reflect this shift in overall treatment costs.