stimulate immune system Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Laser Light Therapy Stimulates Regeneration

The AHA! Team — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 08:05:16 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – I want to share a shocking statistic with you… Around 80% of all the pharmaceuticals sold in America — both prescription and over-the-counter — are manufactured in China. Elsie has been a patient at the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging for years. So when she called me in tears, I told her to come in right away… Elsie was leaving on her dream vacation to Africa in less than a week. But she could barely stand up. Her lower back pain was so severe she didn’t even think she could handle the 19-hour flight from Miami to Kenya. Let alone the six-hour drive from the capital city of Nairobi to the Maasai Mara Reserve, where she was going on a week-long safari. Elsie was desperate for relief but didn’t want to manage the pain with prescription or over-the-counter muscle relaxants or painkillers. She was worried that the side effects of these drugs would ruin her trip. When she walked through the front door of the clinic, Elsie was hunched over and clutching her lower back. I brought her into the exam room, where we had our laser therapy set up. I’m a big believer in non-invasive low-level laser therapy. It works for both acute and chronic pain. It combats pain by stimulating cells to reduce inflammation and speed up healing. And studies back it up. In one study, 30 patients with chronic lower back pain were randomly divided into a red light laser group and a laser placebo group. Both groups underwent treatment three times a week for four weeks.1 The patients were evaluated throughout the study with both pain questionnaires and thermography. By the end of the study, the researchers wrote that the “scores of the Pain Disability Index and maximum pain intensity during day and night significantly reduced” in the patients who received laser therapy. Two additional studies of 151 people found that the relapse rate in patients who had laser therapy compared to a control group was significantly lower after a six-month follow-up evaluation.2 At the Sears Institute, I use different colored lasers to treat different issues. Here’s a quick look at what red, blue, and green lasers can treat… Red Reduces pain Strengthens immune system Increases mitochondria energy Stimulates blood flow Regenerates damaged tissue Improves circulation Reduces inflammation Blue Anti-inflammatory Speeds wound healing Relieves pain Boosts immune system Activates telomerase Releases nitric oxide Green Increases nitric oxide Improves blood flow Increases oxygen Reduces blood pressure Reduces pain/inflammation Boosts sexual function I get a lot of questions about how this therapy works. Here’s what I tell patients like Elsie… During the procedure, different wavelengths and outputs of low-level light are applied directly to the targeted area. The body tissue then absorbs the light. The red and near-infrared light causes a reaction, and the damaged cells respond with a physiological reaction that promotes regeneration. You will feel the laser when it touches your skin. However, the entire procedure is painless and noninvasive. You won’t feel any vibration or heat. Each treatment usually takes just a few minutes. I talked to Elsie once she came back from her trip. It was her dream vacation in every way – and the entire trip was pain-free. Stretch Away Pain Every Day While laser light therapy helped Elsie recover in time for her trip, I also gave her some simple stretches to do in order to keep herself loose and limber. You see, as we age, our flexibility decreases. Certain muscles shorten, and your ligaments get weaker, causing you to lose your range of motion. This can cause a host of back problems. One of the first things you should do is to make stretching a part of your daily routine. This stretch is one you can do before you even get out of bed: Sit up with your legs straight out. Slowly try bending forward to touch your toes. Hold for about 5 seconds and repeat 10 times. While still sitting up, turn your torso to the left and then to the right. Repeat 10 times. Lay back down. While lying flat on your back, bend your right knee, grab it with both hands and try bringing it up to your chest. Hold for a few seconds, and then release. Repeat with your left leg 10 times. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS References: 1. Momenzadeh S, et al. “Evaluation of the effects of intravenous and percutaneous low level laser therapy in the management of myofascial pain syndrome.” J Lasers Med Sci. 2016 Winter;7(1):16-20. doi: 10.15171/jlms.2016.04. Epub 2016 Jan 7. 2. Yousefi-Nooraie R, et a. “Low level laser therapy for nonspecific low-back pain.” Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Apr 16;(2):CD005107. To read the original article click here.

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Plant-Based Vaccine Against SARS-CoV-2 Shows Promise

AHA Publisher — Mon, 24 May 2021 07:00:23 +0000

Michael Burgess via News-Medical – Researchers at Canadian biotechnology company Medicago report that Phase 1 trials of a plant-based vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 are underway and showing promise. The team, led by Dr. Brian Ward, professor of Medicine and Microbiology at McGill University, Canada, has published data from an initial clinical trial study in which 180 adults aged between 18 and 55 were injected with a plant-produced virus-like particle (VLP). The trial indicates that this novel VLP developed to combat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19 disease, shows strong immunogenic properties and no serious adverse effects. The research paper is available to read at Nature Medicine. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is now responsible for over 165 million cases globally. Since the World Health Organization classified the disease as a pandemic almost 18 months ago, 180 vaccine candidates have been developed, 12 of which have been given authorization for vaccine use. In this new study, Ward and colleagues describe their new plant-based vaccine candidate that has successfully navigated phase 1 human trials. The vaccine is produced by inserting the SARS-CoV-2 protein into the nuclei of benthi plants (Nicotiana benthamiana, commonly found in Australia). This is then transfected into a bacterial cell (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) to use as a vector. These cells are then injected into the bloodstream, where they express the S protein to stimulate the immune system. The research tested this compound in three different magnitudes (3.75 μg, 7.5 μg, and 15 μg), each either adjuvanted with CpG1018, AS03, or without an adjuvant. CpG 1018 and AS03 are compounds commonly added to vaccines to induce a more robust immune response by the body. All participants received their second dosage 21 days after their first and were sampled again on day 42 (after initial injection). As expected, the addition of either CpG 1018 or AS03 adjuvants did aid and increase the immunogenic response exhibited by the body, particularly so with AS03. Only mild adverse effects were observed in portions of the sample in all test groups, with roughly two-thirds of each group experiencing mild pain at the injection site after receiving the first dosage, and a fifth reported experiencing headaches or fatigue. In the subsequent second dose, this remained about the same, although reports of fatigue and headache increased to a third. However, all adverse effects were noted to be mild to moderate, with no serious effects taking place. The aim of this study was to determine the best dosage and adjuvant combination to boost immunity. Based on their results, a two-dose schedule with a concentration of 3.75 μg in addition to ASO3 showed the best results, and these results have since advanced to phase 2/3 trials in Canada and the United States. These results are promising, highlighting yet another diverse tool in our arsenal against the spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic. To read the original article click here.

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New Biological Antibiotics Can Beat Tuberculosis

AHA Publisher — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 08:00:50 +0000

Brian Blum via Israel21c – Researchers at Tel Aviv University have demonstrated in laboratory mice that monoclonal antibodies can be substituted for antibiotics to hinder the growth of tuberculosis germs. It’s estimated that around a quarter of the world’s population is infected by tuberculosis. In Israel, there are about 200 cases a year. Antibiotics are the usual course of treatment, but antibiotic-resistant strains of tuberculosis are now as high as 40 percent in some countries. Monoclonal antibodies (derived from single cells) have been in the news as one of the most promising “cures” for Covid-19. Antibodies from patients who have recovered from a particular illness can then be injected into a sick person to stimulate the immune system. For the new research, antibodies were isolated from a recovered tuberculosis patient. After the antibodies were introduced to mice infected with tuberculosis, the mice recovered. This marks the first time that researchers have managed to develop a “biological antibiotic” from human antibodies. The study was led by Dr. Natalia Freund and doctoral candidate Avia Watson at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Medical Faculty, and carried out in collaboration with labs in the United States and China. The results were published in the scientific journal Nature Communications. The use of monoclonal antibodies – the basis behind immunotherapy – has in recent years changed the way physicians treat cancer, autoimmune diseases and viral infections such as Covid-19. “Antibiotics are highly efficacious and cost effective, and therefore for the last years have been our only weapon against bacterial infections,” Freund explains. “Unfortunately, antibiotics become less and less effective, and in the main cases of drug resistance, physicians are empty-handed in finding an appropriate treatment for their patients. Therefore, new ways to kill bacteria are urgently needed.” Freund called the new study “an initial proof-of-concept of employing monoclonal antibodies as an effective therapy in combating bacterial pathogens.” The monoclonal antibodies produced in Freund’s lab work against three different strains of the tuberculous bacteria, and she expects they will be effective against other strains that were not investigated, as well. The antibodies Freund isolated inhibited bacteria growth and reduced bacterial levels by 50% in mice compared with mice that were not treated. “The model that has proven successful in this study will enable us to extend our future work to include other diseases such as pneumonia and staphylococcus infections,” Freund says. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

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