Research and News May 2017

Antibiotics impair the beneficial potential of plant phytonutrients 
If you have taken antibiotics within the last three months, you will have lost up to 40% of the beneficial plant-derived compounds circulating in your blood, including those that can help prevent breast cancer.

A large part of the beneficial effects of plant phytonutrients that we can consume comes from the bacterial conversion of these compounds, in our gut, into their active (or more active) counterparts. Antibiotics dramatically reduce this capability by reducing the numbers of helpful bacteria.

Plants and foods as broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory agents
Science is recognizing the limitations of single-target pharmaceutical agents and the potential benefits of multi-target nutraceutical compounds found naturally in plants and foods:

“The arachidonic acid pathway consists of several enzymes and targeting them is favored for developing anti-inflammatory drugs. However, till date the current drugs are generally active against a single target, leading to undesirable side-effects. Phytochemicals are known to inhibit multiple targets simultaneously.”

This research looked at ferulic acid (found in foods such as bamboo shoots, beetroot, whole-grain rice, eggplant) and berberine (a botanical commonly-used in Functional Medicine), both displaying LOX and prostaglandin (PGE2) inhibition.

Psych meds increase risk for fractures
New data published in JAMA Psychiatry shows that SSRI, anti-psychotic and benzodiazepine medications increase the risk of osteoporotic fractures. Many cases of depression, anxiety or schizophrenia can be managed effectively through Functional Medicine approaches, without such side effects.

Antibiotics and Miscarriage
Certain antibiotics are not for use during pregnancy. However, women who do not yet know they are pregnant may be at 60-100% increased risk for miscarriage if they are prescribed these antibiotics, which include macrolides, quinolones, tetracyclines, sulfonamides and metronidazole. Approximately one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, which means that women who are prescribed these antibiotics while unknowingly pregnant could raise their miscarriage risk to 50%.
Alternatives to antibiotics should be considered as a rule of thumb, and women who might become pregnant should be aware of the potential risks of being prescribed antibiotics.

Vitamin D is Not a Waste of Time and Money
I very much appreciate this article by my friend and colleague, Dr Geo Espinosa, in response to the New York Times’ piece Why are So Many People Popping Vitamin D? Dr Espinosa explains why Vitamin D should still be considered an important factor in all-cause mortality as well as in immune dysregulation, bone health and cancer.

Calls to Remove Juice from the Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) 
Data overwhelmingly show that calorie-containing beverages contribute to obesity, yet WIC provides 107% of the maximum daily intake recommended for juice. The WIC program feeds more than 25% of pregnant women and more than half of US children within their first five years, and is very influential over the habits and perceptions formed by recipients. This JAMA pediatrics article caught my eye with its call for the removal of juice from the WIC program, instead encouraging mothers and children to use fresh fruit and vegetables instead. We support that message!

PCOS as an autoimmune disease? 
Looks like auto antibodies have been discovered in against GnRH….with a fairly high sensitivity and specificity for PCOS. This finding is useful in that it supports expanded thinking around the pathophysiology of PCOS: Think about leaky gut, microbial imbalance, etc. But don’t we already do that if we’re practicing FxMed? A good, Matrix-driven history will reveal imbalances in PCOS that include not just Communication (hormones), but Assimilation (gut), Defense and Repair (immune), Transport (cardiometabolic). Other common Matrix nodes seen in PCOS include Biotransformation/Elimination, Genetics/Environment, Psycho/Spiritual, and Nutrients & Diet. Here’s a PCOS case using a functional approach.

Cholesterol and heart disease: oversimplified and misguided 
Another recently-reported gold-standard (large, double-blind, randomized and controlled) research trial fails to demonstrate any reduced risk of cardiovascular events or mortality by lowering LDL cholesterol and raising HDL cholesterol (-37% and +130%, respectively). The oversimplification of the relationship between cholesterol and heart disease means that many individuals on cholesterol-lowering medications are sadly uniformed of the full spectrum of potential risks and benefits. Read more here: Are we done with statins yet?

Exercising for your bones should include more than strength training 
Are your bone cells ‘fat?’ New research shows that bone marrow can contain more or less fat, depending on our metabolic health, and that exercise may dramatically reduce excess bone fat. This has really fundamental implications for anyone with metabolic disease that promotes overweight and obesity, and tells us one of the reasons why aerobic activity (not just weight-bearing exercise) is important for bone integrity.

Filaggrin mutations alone can cause atopic eczema, hayfever and asthma 
Filaggrin, a protein in the skin epidermis, is akin to zonulin in the gut – helping to maintain the integrity of the barrier and avoiding excess permeability. We sometimes need to consider filaggrin gene mutations in our patients with eczema, hayfever and asthma since research has indicated that it plays a role. Now, new data show that it can be enough in and of itself to cause eczema. Either way, that knowledge guides us to tailor our Functional Medicine approach for certain patients, to compensate for that deficiency.

Stem-cell therapy: nearing fxmed prime time? 
I was thrilled for my recent serendipitous podcast with Dr. Tami Meraglia, who works in stem cell therapy. I think the possibilities of this treatment option for many conditions are pretty exciting. And then, seemingly by design, a bunch of researchers just hit the ‘publish’ button on their stem cell research studies, only adding to the interest of this field: positive results and potential inALS, Huntington’s Disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus, and more. Let me know your thoughts on stem cell research – have you considered it, tried it? (patients and practitioners alike)

Healthy bones suppress appetite 
Our bones are much busier than you might think. They are very metabolically active, constantly turning over, and they even produce hormones that can signal different areas of the body. A hormone called lipocalin 2, for instance, produced by healthy bones, activates the appetite-suppressing pathway in the brain, and also induces insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion to improve glucose tolerance.

Nasal methylation and childhood atopic asthma 
We know that epigenetic methylation alterations are associated with a wide variety of chronic conditions. This recent study adds childhood atopic asthma to the list: under- and over-methylated regions are apparent in this common condition, suggesting a role for methylation balance and the use of methylation adaptogens and a safe, harmonizing, methylation diet and lifestyle.

Healthy empathy distinguishes between self and other 
The kind of empathy you feel for others in difficult situations can have either positive or negative effects on your health. Researchers have demonstrated that putting yourself fully ‘in someone else’s shoes’ and imagining how you would feel if you were that person can be potentially harmful psychologically and physically, increasing your own fight-of-flight stress response and reducing your ability to find appropriate ways to help. However, imagining the feelings of the other person and retaining some sense of ‘other,’ yet still feeling concern, compassion and a desire to help, can lead to beneficial anxiety-reducing effects and a sense that the issues are manageable. [For FB only, add an extra sentence: What kind of empathy do you tend to feel?]