COVID-19, Allergies, Cold, or Flu?

From eNewsletter 6/17/2020

DID YOU KNOW that using stem cells from adults with a clinical diagnosis of depression, University of Illinois at Chicago researchers who conducted the study found that fish oil created an antidepressant response?

Published in this month's issue of Molecular Psychiatry, the lead author was quoted as saying, "It was exciting to find scientific evidence that fish oil, an easy-to-get, natural product, may be an effective treatment for depression."

The fish oil response was similar to that seen from prescription antidepressants, but acted on glial cells, not neurons. For many years, scientists have paid scant attention to glia, a type of brain cell that surrounds neurons, but there is increasing evidence that glia plays a strong role in depression.

STAYING SAFE DURING RE-OPENING Continue with extra immune support until summer of 2021. We don't know how virulent SARS-CoV-2 will be this summer or if there will be a second COVID wave during fall and winter. Besides, SARS-CoV-2 is not the only virus we fight. There is influenza (flu), norovirus (stomach flu), adenovirus (common cold), and four other coronaviruses (common cold), among others. Prevent and Fight Coronavirus 2.0 is our must-read protocol.

NUTRITIONAL CONCEPTS RE-OPENING PROCEDURE

Since Illinois has moved to Phase 3, if you are local, please read our re-opening guidelines.

BLOODWORK UPDATE

Biotrition Food Intolerance Test

We have a few spots open for this Saturday morning if you would like to get your blood drawn for the food intolerance test. Contact us ASAP for details.

Our Regular Bloodwork Requirements

For those looking to do our New Client Wellness Evaluation bloodwork without going through your physician, you can now do this through Quest Diagnostics.

You can place the bloodwork order yourself at quest.com. After placing the order, you set up the blood draw at the closest Quest location to where you live. You will have access to the results without having a doctor go over them first. Here is the breakdown of what you should order at quest.com: -Basic Health Profile ($149) -Iron, TIBC, Ferritin Profile ($59) -Thyroid Profile ($39) -Vitamin D profile ($69) -Inflammation Marker C-Reactive Protein ($59) Total = $375 -ABO blood type ($39) if you don't already know it Total = $414 Any questions about Quest bloodwork should be directed to Quest Diagnostic as we have no connection with them.

GUT BRAIN CONNECTION

Steve & Bonnie: It does our heart good to see headlines like this in Medscape, a predominately allopathic periodical: "The Gut a New Therapeutic Target for Brain Disorders."

The study in last month's Cellular and Infection Microbiology purports that changes in the mucus that lines the gastrointestinal tract may contribute to bacterial imbalance in the gut and exacerbate core symptoms of autism, Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, and multiple sclerosis.

Yep, this is called Leaky Gut Syndrome, which is something complementary and alternative medicine practitioners have been addressing for decades.

Moreover, the authors suggest: "Our work shows that microbial engineering and tweaking the gut mucus to boost good bacteria have potential as therapeutic options for neurological disorders.

Yep, this is called using probiotics :)

Here's another study that is great to see: Nutritional intervention with a focus on fatty acids appears to reduce mood swings in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). In a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology 2020, patients with BD who received a diet consisting of high omega-3 plus low omega-6 fatty acids, in addition to usual care, showed significant reductions in mood variability, irritability, and pain compared with their counterparts who received a diet with usual levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids commonly consumed in regular US diets.

Yep, that's because the standard Western diet has a dearth of anti-inflammatory omega-3 while having a bevy of inflammatory omega-6.

Finally, two recent studies from journal Cell were extremely exciting. Researchers elucidated the mechanisms behind how poor diet and changes to the gut microbiome can exacerbate the toxicity of a range of drugs. Simply, how a person's intestinal microbial community acts has much to do with the metabolism of oral medications.

Not surprisingly, the greater the numbers of pathogenic bacteria, the more adverse the drugs were affected, whether from waned efficacy or acute toxicity. You know it's a big discovery when the authors state that: "We couldn't believe our eyes."

Astonishingly (in a positive way), the authors predict that one day, doctors may give patients not just prescriptions, but detailed dietary guidelines and personally formulated microbe cocktails to help them reach the best outcome.

The authors also noted that drug developers will need to take steps to account for the effect of diet and microbes during their lab work. Amen!

PROSTATE/URINARY TRACT UPDATE

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