mitochondria Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Fat Can Make You Thin?

The AHA! Team — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 08:07:52 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – Most mainstream doctors are horrified when they hear I teach my patients about the benefits of more fat. The patients who come to the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine tell me as much. But I’m not just talking about adding more healthy fats – like butter, lard, coconut oil, or omega-3s – to your diet. I’m also talking about a special kind of fat you already have in your body… A fat that makes you thin. Broadly speaking, there are two main types of fat in your body – white fat and brown fat. And, despite what doctors and nutritionists will tell you, the more brown fat you have, the better. Until a few years ago, scientists thought only babies had brown fat – that this was nature’s way of keeping them warm before they develop the ability to shiver. Unlike white fat – which shows up as flabby bellies, love handles, and plump thighs – brown fat burns calories rather than storing them. But studies show brown fat is very different from white fat in another important way… Brown fat contains mitochondria, which are full of iron and give this fat its brown color.1 As you may know, mitochondria are the energy-generating organelles in your cells. They are the power plants that turn fuel into energy for your body. Brown fat is also healthy. It cuts your risk of multiple conditions, including:2 Type 2 diabetes Cardiovascular disease High blood pressure Congestive heart failure Although most of your brown fat disappeared when you were a baby, your adult body retained small amounts – mainly in your neck, around the collarbone and the upper half of your spine. And even in small quantities, brown fat has the ability to burn huge amounts of calories. Although it makes up less than 5% of all your fat, it burns up a staggering 70% of your total calorie expenditure each day. By contrast, white fat burns almost no calories at all. Now astonishing new research shows you can easily transform your flabby white fat into calory-burning brown fat. The clue lies in a little-known protein called Zfp516. Animal studies conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, found that Zfp516 works to turn white fat into brown fat, and can be triggered by exposure to cold temperatures.3 The researchers found that mice with boosted Zfp516 levels had “browned” parts of their white fat, and as a result gained 30% less weight than the control mice. The good news is you don’t have to expose yourself to extreme temperatures to “brown” your own white fat. I experienced extreme below-freezing temperatures when I was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. It was a life-changing experience, but I don’t want to subject myself to cold temperature if I don’t have to! Turn Flabby White Fat Into Calorie-Burning Brown Fat Luckily, there are much more comfortable ways to brown your fat. Here are three: Supplement with berberine: This ancient herbal medicine for treating diarrhea, and now one of the most effective treatments for diabetes, also activates Zfp516 and helps turn flabby white fat into healthy, pound-shedding brown fat.4 Berberine is a plant phytonutrient extracted from a number of medicinal herbs, such as barberry and goldenseal. A dose of 1,000 mg to 1,500 mg is effective for most people, and it has been shown to have no nasty side effects. Use the power of flavanols: Recent studies conducted by scientists in Japan reveal that foods rich in these antioxidant plant compounds – also known as flavan-3-ols – have the ability to turn white fat brown.5 Flavanols have long been known to have multiple health benefits, including antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, cardioprotective, antimicrobial, antiviral, and neuroprotective properties. Foods that are rich in flavan-3-ols include apple, grapeseed, berries, legumes, citrus fruits, red wine, and green tea. But the two best sources are dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Don’t forget to PACE yourself: Studies at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia show that exercise is just as effective as cold exposure for “browning” white fat.6 The researchers found that an hour of moderate exercise was equivalent to 10 to 15 minutes of shivering in the cold for turning white fat brown. I recommend my PACE exercise program. It stands for Progressively Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion. It uses brief but vigorous routines of increasing intensity – so, the beauty of it is that you only need to exercise for 12 minutes a day, instead of an hour. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS References: 1. Minwoo N and Cooper MP. “Role of energy metabolism in the brown fat gene program frontiers in endocrinology.” Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2015;6:104. 2. Cohen P and Spiegelman BM. “Brown and beige fat: molecular parts of a thermogenic machine.” Diabetes 2015;64:2346–2351 3. Depriver J, et al.” Cold-inducible Zfp516 activates UCP1 transcription to promote browning of white fat and development of brown fat.” Mol Cell. 2015 Jan 22;57(2):235-46. 4. Song, NJ, et al. ‘Induction of thermogenic adipocytes: molecular targets and thermogenic small molecules.’ Exp Mol Med 49, e353. 2017. 5. Ishii Y, et al. “Repeated oral administration of flavan-3-ols induces browning in mice adipose tissues through sympathetic nerve activation” Nutrients. 2021;13(12):4214. 6. Lee P, et al. “Irisin and FGF21 are cold-induced endocrine activators of brown fat function in humans.” 2014. Cell Metabol. 19(2):302-309 To read the original article click here.

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What Are the Benefits of Medicinal Mushrooms?

AHA Publisher — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 07:00:09 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – The biotech world is abuzz these days over proposed drugs to help you live longer. It sounds great… except for the drug part. After circumnavigating the globe seeking ancient natural cures, I’ve developed several ways to prolong your “health span”… the amount of time you can live a long, rich life free from chronic disease. And you don’t have to become a guinea pig for Big Pharma’s experimental drugs either. Increasingly, there’s a natural “longevity superfood” in the spotlight. People call it a plant but it’s really a fungus. I’m talking about health-boosting, medicinal mushrooms. Only when you assemble all the pieces of the mushroom longevity puzzle can you see the complete picture. And it’s stunning…. Live Long and Prosper With Medicinal Mushrooms Researchers are finally waking up to something I’ve been talking about for years — the far-reaching longevity benefits of mushrooms, including: Brain health – One study of 663 subjects in Singapore compared mushroom intake with the risk of developing cognitive impairment. Participants consuming mushrooms three or more times a week were 43% less likely to develop dementia.1 That’s because mushrooms are neurotropic, promoting the health of neurons.2 Inflammation – As my regular readers know, inflammation is an express train ride to accelerated aging. Mushrooms are packed with powerful anti-inflammatory compounds, including polysaccharides, phenolic and indolic compounds, mycosteroids, fatty acids, and carotenoids.3 They help you tamp down inflammation before it can spiral out of control. Anti-Mutagenic – Their cancer-fighting properties are legendary. My regular readers know I’m quite impressed with the cordyceps sinensis variety445445 in this regard. It’s shown a powerful ability to inhibit cancer growth in lung, colon, skin, and liver cells.4 One recent study found that eating just a tablespoon and a half of mushrooms led to a 45% reduction in cancer risk.5 That’s quite significant considering 4 in every 10 Americans develop cancer at some point during their lives.6 Mitochondria – Each cell in your body relies on minuscule power plants to provide energy called mitochondria. As you age, their production declines due to oxidative damage. Mushrooms provide the No. 1 most concentrated food source of a unique amino acid that functions as an antioxidant. Called ergothioneine, it scavenges free radicals with a vengeance to boost your mitochondrial energy production.7 Mushrooms are also impressive immune boosters… the only “vegetable” that contains vitamin D. No wonder they’re on the menu of anyone serious about keeping their golden years free of chronic disease. The only question is how best to get them, and that can be a bit tricky. Here’s why… An Ounce of Mushrooms Worth a Pound of Cure The surfaces of mushrooms are quite porous. They readily absorb any pollutants they’re exposed to during processing. So if it’s an extract, capsule, or powder, you have to be careful. My recommendation: Stay safe by making your own supply. It’s surprisingly easy, and my simple drying method boosts levels of vitamin D and other nutrients: First, find a reliable, local source of fresh mushrooms – shiitake, reishi, maitake, lion’s mane, and oyster are all good varieties. I buy from my local produce stand. Just spread the mushrooms out in the sun on some parchment paper or flat pieces of wood (I don’t recommend aluminum trays). Let them sit in the sun. Before nightfall, cover them. This prevents getting dew on them. Re-expose them to sun, and repeat the drying process the next day. You can also put them in a food dehydrator to ensure they’re thoroughly dried. Once they’re a bit crispy, use a blender or food processor to make your powder. You may need a fine mesh strainer to collect leftover chunks. Just give them a second run through your processor. Store your powder in an air-tight glass container. Keep it away from heat and light. Once a day, just toss a couple tablespoons in your coffee, smoothie, soups, or yogurt. Properly dried mushrooms will last for up to a year. So enjoy the taste, the convenience… and the longevity benefits. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS References: 1 Feng, Lei, et al. “The Association between Mushroom Consumption and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Singapore.” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, vol. 68, no. 1, 12 Mar. 2019, pp. 197–203, 10.3233/jad-180959. Accessed 18 Sept. 2020. 2 Sabaratnam, Vikineswary, et al. “Neuronal Health – Can Culinary and Medicinal Mushrooms Help?” Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, vol. 3, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 62–68. 3 Muszyńska, Bożena, et al. “Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Edible Mushrooms: A Review.” Food Chemistry, vol. 243, Mar. 2018, pp. 373–381, 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.09.149. 4 Van De Walle, Gavin. “6 Benefits of Cordyceps, All Backed by Science.” Healthline.com website, 9 May 2018. 5 Ba, Djibril, et al. “Higher Mushroom Consumption Is Associated with a Lower Risk of Cancer.” ScienceDaily.com website, 16 Mar. 2021, 33.htm. 6 National Cancer Institute. “Cancer Statistics.” National Cancer Institute, Cancer.gov, 2020. 7 Geng, Ping, et al. “Antifatigue Functions and Mechanisms of Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms.” BioMed Research International, 14 Aug. 2017, Accessed 18 Aug. 2021 To read the original article click here.

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3 Tips to Stay Healthy in the Sun

AHA Publisher — Fri, 21 May 2021 07:00:43 +0000

Dr. Don Colbert – For most of us, it’s warming up and it’s that time of year that we are becoming more active and spending more time outside. This is great because being outside has a myriad of benefits for our health. Sun exposure can help synthesize vitamin D, balance hormones, restore the circadian rhythm, and supercharge the mitochondria in our cells. Fresh air can help clear the lungs and oxygenate the blood. Contact with the earth’s magnetic field can relieve the body of electromagnetic stress by discharging built up static electricity. The smells of the forest can calm the nervous system and relieve stress. Out of all these benefits, the most controversial by far is sun exposure. While we are well aware of the astounding benefits of sun exposure and related vitamin D synthesis, we are also being told to avoid the sun’s damaging rays due to the risk of skin cancer. At the same time, we know that vitamin D is crucial in combating cancer cells. So what is the deal? How can we safely interact with sun? We have compiled a list of 3 tips to help you navigate this convoluted subject. Thankfully the truth is actually very simple, elegant, and easy to implement! 1. Moderate Sun Exposure We all know that excessive sun exposure and sunburn can damage the skin, accelerate aging, and lead to inflammation. But safe moderate sun exposure is actually essential to our health. While we know ultraviolet radiation can contribute to the formation of skin cancer in susceptible individuals, it is important to remember that the sun has a wide spectrum of light frequencies that change depending on time of year, time of day, latitude, and cloud cover. These spectrums can balance out the UV radiation at certain times in certain places. As with most things, it is all about balance. Many people have become overly-vigilant and apply high SPF sunscreen every time they go outside. This has led to a widespread epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is critical for optimal functioning of the body and although supplementation is an option, the vitamin D you supplement will not be fully utilized without some amount of sun exposure without sunscreen. For most people 10-30 minutes outside in the sun during the morning or evening can be sufficient for vitamin D synthesis, especially if you are supplementing. If you plan on spending long stretches of time outside, especially between the hours of 10am and 4pm, then it may be prudent to mitigate your exposure. You can wear clothing and hats to cover your skin or seek shade when you feel you have reached your limit. As a last resort in situations where these measures are not practical, sunscreen is always an option. However, if you do choose to use sunscreen, beware of the toxic cancer-causing chemicals used by many brands. 2. Avoid Toxic Sunscreens Unfortunately, many sunscreens contain toxic ingredients and endocrine disrupting chemicals. Many of these chemicals have actually been found in some studies to promote skin cancer growth and free radical production in the body. This may be hard to believe, but in the years since sunscreen use began skin cancer rates have actually risen. A 2007 document from the FDA stated that: “The FDA is not aware of data demonstrating that sunscreen use alone helps prevent skin cancer,” and some reports show that sunscreens that contain vitamin A actually raise skin cancer risk! Oxybenzone is another common chemical in many sunscreens. This chemical is a known hormone disruptor and is not recommended for use on children. Other common hormone disrupting chemicals found in sunscreens that should be avoided are: avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate, and octinoxate. The skin easily absorbs anything it comes into contact with. In fact, our digestive system is lined with a type of skin! Our outer skin functions similarly to our inner skin through absorption and assimilation. This is why supplements such as magnesium and testosterone can be applied “transdermally,” or “through the skin.” When these harmful chemicals are slathered on the body the are easily absorbed into the bloodstream and eventually harm our health. Alarmingly, when the Environmental Working Group tested over 1,400 sunscreens, only 5% met their safety standards and over 40% were listed as potentially contributing to skin cancer! Fortunately, there are nutritional interventions that can help make the skin more resilient to sun exposure. 3. Eat Your Antioxidants! One of the most powerful nutrients to combat potential damage from the sun is antioxidant polyphenols. Antioxidants, as a group, are compounds that help to squelch free-radicals and thus prevent oxidative damage to cells in the body. Polyphenols are a subcategory of antioxidants. Sources of polyphenols include: Coffee, tea, berries, cocoa, olives, herbs, and spices. Polyphenols are phytonutrients meaning they are found in plants and derived from the plant’s interaction with sunlight. When plants are exposed to high levels of sunlight they produce polyphenols to protect themselves. When humans consume these polyphenols we derive similar protection. This is why God naturally provides foods like berries in the environment during the warmer months when days are long and sun exposure is intense. It is also why polyphenol rich foods are often found in tropical climates. By eating more polyphenols you provide your body with the antioxidants necessary to combat the oxidative damage caused by the sun. A potent and convenient source of antioxidant polyphenols can be found in Dr. Colbert’s Organic Red Supremefood formula. Don’t Be Afraid! Excessive sun exposure and associated damage to the body is certainly something to be concerned about. But a healthy body can easily handle moderate amounts of healthy sun exposure and it is in fact necessary for good health! So be vigilant to avoid sun burn but do not be afraid of the sun! It provides life giving energy and nutrients and nothing on this planet would exist without it. As long as you maintain a healthy lifestyle, drink plenty of clean filtered or spring water, and follow the tips in this article, you will be able to safely enjoy the sun without risk of adverse side effects. References 1. https://wellnessmama.com/2558/homemade-sunscreen/ 2. https://wellnessmama.com/55366/sunscreen-is-harmful/ 3. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/12/14/polyphenols-benefits.aspx To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Colbert click here.

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Vitamin D Deficiency May Impair Muscle Function

AHA Publisher — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 07:00:35 +0000

Society for Endocrinology via EurekAlert – Vitamin D deficiency may impair muscle function due to a reduction in energy production in the muscles, according to a mouse study published in the Journal of Endocrinology. Vitamin D deficient mice were found to have impaired muscle mitochondrial function, which may have implications for muscle function, performance and recovery. This may suggest that preventing vitamin D deficiency in older adults could help maintain better muscle strength and function and reduce age related muscle deterioration, but further studies are needed to confirm this. Vitamin D is a hormone well known to be important for maintaining bone health and preventing rickets and osteoporosis. In recent years, vitamin D deficiency has been reported to be as prevalent as 40% in European populations and linked to increased risk for several conditions, including COVID-19, cancer and diabetes. Although these studies report association rather than causation, the benefits of vitamin D supplementation are now a major subject of health debate. Multiple studies have also linked low vitamin D levels to poor muscle strength, particularly in older people. Skeletal muscle enables us to move voluntarily and perform everyday activities. It is essential that they have enough energy to power these movements. Specialized organs in cells, called mitochondria, convert nutrients into energy to meet this demand. Previous studies indicate that impaired muscle strength in people with vitamin D deficiency may be linked to impaired muscle mitochondrial function. Determining the role of vitamin D in muscle performance of older people is also difficult, as they may suffer from a number of pre-existing health conditions that can also affect their vitamin D status. Therefore, previous studies have been unable to determine how vitamin D may directly affect muscle performance. Dr Andrew Philp and his team at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia, and collaborating universities, used a mouse model to determine the effects of diet-induced vitamin D deficiency on skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in young, male mice. Mice were either fed a diet with normal quantities of vitamin D, or with no vitamin D to induce deficiency, for a period of 3 months. A typical vitamin D level for humans is 40-50 nmol.L-1, and acute vitamin D deficiency is diagnosed when levels drop below 12 nmol.L-1. On average, the mice in this study had vitamin D levels of 30 nmol.L1, with diet-induced vitamin D deficiency leading to levels of just 3 nmol.L-1. Although this level was more extreme than typically observed in people, it is still within the clinically recognized range. Tissue and blood samples were collected monthly to quantify vitamin D and calcium concentrations and to assess markers of muscle mitochondrial function and number. After 3 months of diet-induced vitamin D deficiency skeletal muscle mitochondrial function was found to be impaired by up to 37%. This was not due to a reduced number of mitochondria or a reduction in muscle mass. “Our results show there is a clear link between vitamin D deficiency and oxidative capacity in skeletal muscle. They suggest that vitamin D deficiency decreases mitochondrial function, as opposed to reducing the number of mitochondria in skeletal muscle.” Dr Philp comments. “We are particularly interested to examine whether this reduction in mitochondrial function may be a cause of age-related loss in skeletal muscle mass and function.” These findings suggest that vitamin D deficiency may impair mitochondrial function and reduce the amount of energy produced in the muscles, which may lead to poor muscle function. Therefore, preventing vitamin D deficiency in older people may help maintain muscle performance and reduce the risk of muscle related diseases, such as sarcopenia. However, further studies that investigate the direct effect of vitamin D deficiency on muscle function and strength are necessary to confirm this. Whilst this study indicates that vitamin D deficiency can alter mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle, Dr Philp and his team were unable to determine precisely how this process occurred. Therefore, their future work aims to establish how vitamin D deficiency alters mitochondrial control and function in skeletal muscle. To read the original article click here.

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Low-Carbohydrate Diet May Be Associated With Lower Risk of Blinding Eye Disease

AHA Publisher — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 07:00:19 +0000

Mount Sinai Health System via Newswise – Following a long-term diet that’s low in carbohydrates and high in fat and protein from vegetables may lower the risk of the most common subtype of glaucoma. In a first-of-its-kind study, a researcher at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE) helped discover that if at-risk groups adhere to these dietary restrictions, they may reduce their risk of developing primary open angle glaucoma with early paracentral visual loss by 20 percent. Results from the research have been published in the July 22 issue of Eye-Nature. The study is important because glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the United States and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common type. POAG is the leading cause of optic nerve degeneration that is related to the pressure level inside the eye, but other factors also contribute to this condition. Patients typically experience few or no symptoms until the disease progresses and they have vision loss. “A diet low in carbohydrates and higher in fats and proteins results in the generation of metabolites favorable for the mitochondrion-rich optic nerve head, which is the site of damage in POAG. This dietary pattern has already been shown to have favorable results for epilepsy and showed some promising results for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases,” said co-corresponding author Louis R. Pasquale, MD, FARVO, Deputy Chair for Ophthalmology Research for the Mount Sinai Health System. “It’s important to note that a low-carbohydrate diet won’t stop glaucoma progression if you already have it, but it may be a means to preventing glaucoma in high-risk groups. If more patients in these high-risk categories—including those with a family history of glaucoma—adhered to this diet, there might be fewer cases of vision loss.” Past studies have shown that a ketogenic diet (low-carbohydrate and high-fat) has a protective effect against neurologic disorders. Ketone bodies (energy compounds produced as the body metabolizes fats) are substituted for glucose as a major energy source for the brain and using more of these under a ketogenic diet may improve function and slow down neuronal degeneration. However, more recent studies have shown that a low-carbohydrate diet that does not restrict protein or total calories may have similar neuroprotective properties; this diet has been recognized as a more practical alternative to a ketogenic diet, as it’s easier to follow and does not have the adverse effects of the ketogenic diet (which range from headache, weakness, and irritability to constipation, nausea, and vomiting). A team of researchers wanted to know if a low-carbohydrate diet could positively impact the optic nerve. The optic nerve sits in the back of the eye and transfers visual information from the retina to the brain through electrical impulses. The optic nerve has a large concentration of mitochondria (mitochondria represent the major source of a cell’s energy supply and lead to a cell’s survival), and has high-energy requirements. Since glaucoma is a condition that may be associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, researchers wanted to find out if substituting protein and fat for carbohydrates in the diet would enhance mitochondrial activity, maintain optic nerve function, and prevent optic nerve degeneration in this blinding eye disease. They performed a large-scale meta-analysis to get this answer. They followed 185,000 adult participants from three large studies in the United States, conducted between 1976 and 2017. Participants were female nurses and male health professionals between the ages of 40 and 75. Every two to four years, they filled out food frequency questionnaires that assessed what they ate and drank. They also answered questions about their health and what diseases, if any, they might be developing. If they said they had glaucoma, the researchers asked their treating eye care providers to send medical records to determine if they had POAG. The research team created statistical models based on the patients’ questionnaire responses, dividing them into groups based on carbohydrate intake, so they could look across the spectrum from high to low carbohydrate intake and see any possible relationship with POAG. They specifically looked at three different ways of achieving a low-carbohydrate diet: substituting animal-based fats and proteins for carbohydrates; substituting plant-based based fats and proteins for carbohydrates; and replacing carbohydrates with high fats and proteins regardless of the source. Researchers then calculated the relative risk of POAG after adjusting for multiple factors for each of the dietary patterns including age, race, and body mass index. Patients in the low-carbohydrate intake group who followed a diet of increased plant-based fat and protein were associated with a 20 percent lower risk of developing POAG subtype with paracentral visual field loss compared to those in the high-carbohydrate intake group. However, the researchers did not find any association between POAG and a low-carbohydrate diet without accounting for the source protein or fat, and they did not find any association between glaucoma and an animal-based low-carbohydrate diet. Their findings suggest vegetable sources may be more beneficial than animal sources for a low-carbohydrate diet with respect to reducing risk of the specific glaucoma subtype with early paracentral visual loss. “This was an observational study and not a clinical trial, so more work is needed as this is the first study looking at this dietary pattern in relation to POAG. The next step is to use artificial intelligence to objectively quantify paracentral visual loss in our glaucoma cases and repeat the analysis,” adds Dr. Pasquale. “It’s also important to identify patients who have a genetic makeup of primary open angle glaucoma who may benefit from a low-carbohydrate diet. This dietary pattern may be protective only in people with a certain genetic makeup.” To read the original article click here.

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Ultraviolet Light Treats Influenza?

AHA Publisher — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 07:00:27 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – The healing power of ultraviolet light (UV) has flown under the radar for decades. Yet, it’s one of the most powerful detoxifying agents known to man. It kills bacteria and viruses and can be used in a clinical setting. The therapeutic benefits of light have been known for millennia. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, believed light was essential to balance the body and emotions. And there is good reason why, during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, medics discovered that severely ill patients had hugely better recovery rates when they were nursed outside and had regular exposure to sunlight.1 You see, UV rays from the sun are a natural germicide and have been shown to deactivate the influenza virus, as well as bacteria that cause lethal secondary respiratory infections.2 Patients placed in sunlight also benefited from a boost in vitamin D3, which is synthesized when UV rays strike your skin, and are the key to ramping up your immune system defenses. Today, I’ll show you how UV therapy works, how I use it at my own clinic, and how you can harness the healing power of the sun in your own backyard. UV Light Safely Treats Dozens of Diseases and Health Concerns In the late 1920s, a doctor in Washington developed a system in which a patient’s blood was taken and run through a rudimentary “ultraviolet light box,” before being re-injected back into the patient’s bloodstream. He called the treatment “ultraviolet blood irradiation” or UPI therapy. (Also known as UVBI.) For the next three decades, doctors across America used it to successfully treat dozens of different types of viral and bacterial infections. These included septicemia, pneumonia, tuberculosis, botulism, influenza, mastoiditis, sinusitis, acne and even polio — as well as cancer, rickets, psoriasis, lupus, asthma, pain management, and smallpox lesions. Clinical research from the 1930s and 1940s confirmed the healing power of UV light. One study from 1948 revealed UBI therapy was used to cure 15 of 15 hospitalized patients of viral pneumonia — which is also one of the lethal complications of a coronavirus infection. 3,4,5,6 But, with the rise of antibiotics in the 1950s — UV light therapy was pushed to the fringes of medicine in America. Medical UV research shifted to Russia and Germany, where new generations of intravenous UV-emitting laser devices were developed to irradiate blood. How I Use UV Light at the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine At my clinic, I use intravenous (IV) laser therapy — a technique that injects the healing power of ultraviolet directly into your bloodstream via low-level laser light. These soft, low-power lasers have nothing to do with surgical lasers, which are used to cut, cauterize, and burn out diseased tissue. Instead of generating a heat effect, soft lasers glow cool. Instead of destroying tissues and cells, they repair them. One of the most astonishing biological benefits of IV laser therapy is its energizing effect on your mitochondria, the tiny power plants in each of your cells. These organelles make a kind of chemical energy called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, by synthesizing nutrients from your diet and the oxygen carried by your red blood cells. ATP is fuel for your cells. If your mitochondria stop producing ATP, your cells simply run out of gas. This causes organs and tissues to malfunction, leaving you prone to any number of infectious and chronic diseases. Multiple studies show that mitochondria act as photoreceptors for laser light. As soon as your mitochondria are hit with the soft laser light, they immediately switch into a higher gear and begin producing more cellular energy. You won’t just feel hyper-alert and brimming with energy after IV laser therapy, which patients usually do — studies show that it can triple your general sense of well-being.8 The mitochondria boost also occurs in the cells that make up your immune system, turbocharging your body’s defenses against infection and disease. IV laser therapy has also been shown to increase the synthesis of nitric oxide, an important signaling chemical that relaxes your blood vessels and allows more oxygen-rich blood to flow through your body.9 This is key to fighting the coronavirus, because — like cancer cells — viral and bacterial pathogens can’t live in high oxygen concentrations. These anaerobic (without oxygen) germs are unable to survive when your cells are saturated with oxygen. The great thing about IV laser therapy is that it’s as fast and painless as a blood test. Here’s what happens… A tiny catheter is inserted in your arm at the vein in your elbow. The tip of the catheter has a tiny bulb that emits a special laser beam. As the blood flows past the laser light it is radiated with a light beam. In about 10 minutes, all your blood has circulated past the beam. That’s it! If you’d like more information on IV laser therapy, just call my clinic staff at 561-784-7852 for details. Or you can visit the website at www.searsinstitute.com. Get the Benefits of UV Light at Home You shouldn’t confuse these soft, UV-emitting lasers with the powerful artificial UV-C light used in hospitals and water treatment plants as a disinfectant. Natural UV-C light can’t break through the earth’s ozone layer and germs have no resistance to it. It’s also dangerous to humans. Instead, IV laser therapy emits UV-A and B waves, which your body also absorbs from sunlight. I’m not a fan of the handheld laser wands you can buy on the Internet either. These are usually sold for pain relief, but they won’t irradiate your blood in the way IV lasers do. The best way to get the healing benefits of ultraviolet light at home is to get out in the sunshine. Here’s what you can do: 1. Get out into the sun. It’s your best source of vitamin D. • You need at least 20 minutes of sun every day for pale skin tones, but 30 to 60 minutes for darker skin tones. Make sure to avoid burning. • If you tan as you do this, increase your exposure a few minutes every day. • If you have sensitive skin, or burn quickly, get 15 minutes of sun twice a day — as the sun rises and sets. 2. Take 2,000 IU to 5,000 IU of a good quality vitamin D3 supplement daily, also called cholecalciferol. It’s the same vitamin D3 your body produces. Just be sure to avoid the synthetic form of vitamin D2, because it is less potent and less absorbable. I recommend at least 2,000 IU a day — and taken in the morning. That leaves you plenty of room for you to get additional vitamin D from other sources like the sun and your diet. But if you’re fighting disease, you’ll need more. Doses of 6,000 IU to 8,000 IU are common, even if you’re not battling disease. Some people need more than others. Ask your doctor for a vitamin D3 test to make sure you know where you stand. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Al Sears, MD click here. References 1. Hobday R. “Coronavirus and the Sun: A lesson from the 1918 influenza pandemic.” Medium. March 10, 2020. 2. Schuit M, et al. “The influence of simulated sunlight on the inactivation of influenza virus in aerosols. J Infect Dis. 2020;14;221(3):372–378. 3. Hancock VK and Knott EK. “Irradiated blood transfusion in the treatment of infections.” Northwest Med. 200(33). 1934. 4. Knott EK. “Development of ultraviolet blood irradiation.” Am J Surg. 1948;76(2):165-171. 5. Barrett HA. “The irradiation of autotransfused blood by ultraviolet spectral energy. Result of therapy in 110 cases.” Med Clin N Am. 1940;24(3):723-732. 6. Miley GP and Christensen J. “Ultraviolet blood irradiation therapy in acute virus and virus-like infections.” Rev Gastroenterol. 1948;15(4):271-283. 7. Hahmi JT, et al. “Role of low-level laser therapy in neurorehabilitation.” PM R. 2010;2(12 Suppl 2): S292–S305. 8. Momenzadeh S, et al. “The intravenous laser blood irradiation in chronic pain and fibromyalgia.” J Lasers Med Sci. 2015;6(1):6-9. 9. Kazemikhoo N, et al. “Modifying effect of intravenous laser therapy on the protein expression of arginase and epidermal growth factor receptor in type 2 diabetic patients.” Lasers Med Sci. 2016;31(8):1537-1545.

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New Discovery Could Lead to Better Strategies for Preventing Breast Cancer Metastasis

AHA Publisher — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 07:00:06 +0000

University of California – Irvine via News-Medical Net – New discovery in breast cancer could lead to better strategies for preventing the spread of cancer cells to other organs in the body, effectively reducing mortality in breast cancer patients. According to a study, published today in Nature Cell Biology, breast cancer cells shift their metabolic strategy in order to metastasize. Instead of cycling sugar (glucose) for energy, they preferentially use mitochondrial metabolism. “This has important potential clinical implications because it suggests that drugs targeting mitochondrial metabolism may have efficacy for preventing metastatic spread in patients. Historically, tumors were thought to contain dysfunctional mitochondria and be principally sustained by anaerobic glycolysis, or Warburg metabolism. Our work challenges that dogma and shows that breast cancer cells use mitochondrial metabolism during metastatic spread.” (Devon A. Lawson, PhD, assistant professor in the UCI Department of Physiology and Biophysics and a member of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UCI School of Medicine) Despite major advances in the detection and treatment of early stage disease, metastasis – when cancer cells in the breast spread to other organs in the body – accounts for approximately 40,000 deaths among women in the U.S. each year. It is the number one cause of nearly all mortality associated with breast cancer. Previous work suggests that metastasis is seeded by rare primary tumor cells with unique biological properties that enable them to spread, causing the cancer to take hold in other locations in the body. While properties promoting cell motility and migration are well studied, mechanisms governing the seeding and establishment of small collections of cancer cells in distal tissues are not. This is in part because metastatic seeding cannot be studied in humans, and because it is technically challenging to detect and analyze rare cells at this transient stage in animal models. “Through our research, we established a robust new method for identifying global transcriptomic changes in rare metastatic cells during seeding using single-cell RNA-sequencing and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of breast cancer,” said Ryan Davis, first author on the study and a doctoral student in the Lawson laboratory. “We found that metastatic cells harbor distinct RNA molecules that are highly predictive of poor survival in patients and alter metabolism in a way that can be targeted therapeutically.” To read the original article click here.

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Self-Cannibalizing Mitochondria May Set the stage for ALS Development

AHA Publisher — Wed, 13 Nov 2019 08:00:28 +0000

Northwestern University via EurekAlert – Powerhouses of the cell ‘eat themselves up,’ jumpstart path to neurodegenerative disease. CHICAGO — Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a new phenomenon in the brain that could explain the development of early stages of neurodegeneration that is seen in diseases such as ALS, which affects voluntary muscle movement such as walking and talking. The discovery was so novel, the scientists needed to coin a new term to describe it: mitoautophagy, a collection of self-destructive mitochondria in diseased upper motor neurons of the brain that begin to disintegrate from within at a very early age. Upper motor neurons in the brain are responsible for initiating muscle movement and relaxation and are one of the first to break down in neurodegenerative diseases. The study will be published on November 7 in the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. The phenomenon is observed mainly in one of the most common pathologies observed in neurodegenerative diseases, TDP-43 pathology, which is seen in more than 90% of ALS cases. When a pathology is present in the body, it indicates that something is wrong or functioning abnormally. “I think we have found the culprit that primes neurons to become vulnerable to future degeneration: suicidal mitochondria,” said senior study author Hande Ozdinler, associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “The mitochondria basically eat themselves up very early in the disease. This occurs selectively in the neurons that will soon degenerate in patient’s brains.” “This type of degeneration begins much earlier than previously thought,” said study lead author Mukesh Gautam, the A Long Swim (ALS) Ellen Blakeman fellow at Northwestern. Using a process called immuno-coupled electron microscopy, the scientists investigated the cellular events that go wrong inside the neurons that become vulnerable to disease. After analyzing more than 200 neurons, they observed the self-destruction of mitochondria only in the diseased neurons, and especially within the context of TDP-43 pathology. Mitochondria are powerhouses of the cell that create and maintain energy in the cells. In the diseased upper motor neurons, mitochondria self-destruct first by elongating, then forming a ring-like structure, until they finally disintegrate from the inside out. It is a type of degeneration never been seen before, and it is different from previously described stages of mitochondrial degeneration. The study analyzed mitochondria in the upper motor neurons of three different mouse models of ALS at only 15 days old – equivalent to a toddler in humans. While the study was in mice, Ozdinler and her team showed many times before that the upper neurons even in different species are almost identical at a cellular level, especially within the context of TDP-43 pathology. These self-destructive mitochondria could become a future target for drug therapies to treat ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases in which a person’s movement is affected, Ozdinler said. They are currently working with drug companies to see if drugs used for human patients with mitochondrial disease could in fact improve the health of diseased motor neurons. “Many of the drugs currently on the market that target the health and the integrity of mitochondria may well be repurposed and considered for neurodegenerative diseases in the future,” Ozdinler said. “Maybe we don’t need to reinvent the wheel to cure ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. “To overcome neurodegeneration, we need to improve the health and the stability of mitochondria. If we improve the health of the mitochondria early, we may even eliminate protein aggregate formation, a pathology broadly observed in many diseases.” To read the original article click here.

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