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Gut Inflammation and Cytokines

January 9, 2015

Gut Inflammation

The digestive system plays a major role in food digestion as well as absorption of nutrients into the blood stream. It is important for the overall functioning of the body. When the digestive system is not working properly it can lead to development of gastrointestinal diseases and illnesses.

The bowel wall can be destroyed by conditions such as Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel diseases and ulcerative colitis. The conditions lead to poor absorption of nutrients, weight loss, abdominal pains, rectal bleeding among others. To correct the situation a patient is required to undergo surgery in most cases.

Cytokines

They are chemical messenger that act as signals for the immune system and neuromodulators. Cytokines can be either anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory. An imbalance in cytokines cause autoimmune disorders.

Cytokines are in form of proteins as well as glycoproteins that regulate immune functions and inflammation. They enhance the growth of cells as well as their differentiation and death.

Homeostasis in the intestines highly depends on the ability of the immune system of the intestines to withstand micro flora while at the same time providing protection against bacterial invasion. Normally, the dendritic cells of the gut induce T-cells differentiation.

Gut Inflammation

T-cells produce secretions that enhance suppression of cytokines that in turn prevent abnormal immune responses. Pathogens enhance a response that triggers activation of immune cells and this ends up causing inflammation.

Inflammatory cytokines like IL-1ß, IL-2, IL-6, IL-15, IL-21 and TNFa stimulate T-cells that are cytotoxic. These are the ones that attack the gut mucosa. The mucosa is the lining of the small intestines. When cytokines attack the mucosa it can lead to conditions such as inflammatory bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease. It can also lead to leaky gut syndrome.

The small intestines are useful not only in food digestion but absorption of nutrients from the digested food into the blood stream. When the small intestines re affected the digestive and nutrition functions are affected too.

Some immune system aspects aid in the suppression of inflammation aspects and thereby inhibiting destruction of tissues that is caused by active T-cells. This is made possible by T regulatory cells that work to counterbalance the active T-cells that attack the mucosa. T regulatory cells reduce the risks of getting immune diseases that end up attacking the tissues of the body like Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Natural Compounds That Target Pro-inflammatory Cytokines

Besides the T-regulatory cells, there are several natural compounds that can also work to suppress the cytokines that cause gut inflammation.

Curcumin: studies have shown that curcumin acts as an agent of anti-inflammation. Curcumin works by targeting a number of cytokines that are responsible for gut inflammation. These cytokines include among others IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-21 and TNFα. Curcumin combines with cyclosporine to bring about this effect.

Fish Oil: it contains properties of anti-inflammation. These properties have been shown to have the ability of suppressing cytokine that cause inflammation like IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-15 and TNFα. The Omega-3 property in fish oil is responsible for this.

Studies have shown that Omega-3 suppresses these inflammatory cytokines that lead to gut inflammation. In addition to this, fish oil stimulates the body to produce anti-inflammatory cytokines that enhances a decrease of cytotoxic T-cells.

Resveratrol: just like the other natural compounds, resveratrol works by suppressing inflammation causing cytokines. Such cytokine include; IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6 and TNFa. It works by reducing the ability of the T-cells to reach the gut mucosa. This thereby inhibits gut inflammation.

Trans-Resveratrol: it is used to reduce the activation of T-cells in the body. This is by suppressing cytokines involved in activating inflammation agents.

Tea Polyphenols: both black and green tea contains compounds that have been shown to act as strong agents of anti-inflammation. The compound in the tea inhibits the activations of cytokines such as IL-1β, Il-2, IL-6 and TNFα which cause inflammation of the gut.

inflammation

Quercetin: this natural compound is found in things like onions, citrus fruits, apples and grapes. The compound inhibits the activation of inflammatory cytokines like IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-15 and TNFα.

Vitamin D3: Vitamin D3 works as an anti-inflammatory compound when it comes to gut inflammation. It has been shown to control inflammatory toxics like IL-1β, IL-6 and TNFα which affect the mucosa causing inflammation.

High Proanthocyanidin Grape Seed Extract: grape seed contain a certain compound that is used to reduce the level of Th17 in the body. It also controls immune responses that tend to be aggressive in nature. It controls the differentiation of active T-cells serving as an autoimmune disease and inflammatory agent.

N-Acetyl Cysteine: this compound when combined with vitamin B lowers the levels of homocysteine thus improving the functioning of endothelial. It also works by suppressing the active inflammatory cytokines like TNFα in patients who receive lung transplants. TNFa makes a patient’s body reject transplants but in combination with vitamin B this is no longer a problem.

Contact Dr. Dalal Akoury today, for more information about gut inflammation. For more wellness and awareness tips just visit www.awaremednetwork.com today. AwareMed is the place to be to find any information about health.

Gut Inflammation and Cytokines

 

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Understanding Hot Flashes And It’s Treatment

December 28, 2014

Understanding Hot Flashes And It’s Treatment

hot-flashesHot flushes sometimes called hot flushes refer to a quick sensation of heat and sometimes a red, flushed face and sweating.  This is a common problem, however the exact cause of hot flashes is not known, but may be related to changes in circulation that take place during menopause. Hot flashes happen when the blood vessels near the skin’s surface dilate to cool. A woman may also sweat to cool down her body. And some women have a rapid heart rate or chills. Hot flashes with sweating can also happen at night. These are called night sweats and may make it harder to sleep. Hot flushes may also be accompanied by a red neck. When affected the period that it takes to ease vary among women who are going through menopause. In some women the hot flashes may disappear after a week while in other women it will affect them for life. Hot flashes become less severe as time goes on.

 Symptoms of Hot Flashes in Women

Women may suffer the following symptoms when hit by hot flashes

The frequency of hot flashes varies; sometimes you may have many hot flushes in a day while in other times you will have few hot flashes that may subside after few minutes. Though they can affect you during the day, they are more common in the night. When a person is affected by a hot flush it may take more than a year but most hot flashes will stop on their own within five years. Though hot flashes can subside on their own it is important to seek medical help if the symptoms become too severe.

Causes of Hot Flashes in Women

The exact cause of hot flashes in women has never been known. Not every decline in hormones results in hot flashes. It is also true that some women can go through menopause without suffering from hot flashes. However here are some factors that have been thought to have a great bearing on the cause of hot flashes.

Medications and Foods

When a drug or a type of food is introduced to the body the body will react to it in a way. There are some drugs and foods that are thought to induce hot flashes. These medications may include raloxifene (Evista) and tamoxifen (Tamoxifen and Nolvadex). There are some drugs that may also produce effects that mimic hot flashes. Spices used in preparing foods like peppers can also induce feelings similar to menopause induce hot flashes.

Stress and Anxiety

Stress and anxiety are some of the emotional causes of hot flashes. In reaction to external stimuli the body may release the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, which pump up blood flow and produce a warming sensation throughout the body. External stimuli such as migraine may cause heat that spreads all over your face.

Changes in hormonal balance

A change in hormonal surroundings may cause hot flashes even if it is not related to menopause. It is believed that hypothalamus plays a bigger role in occurrence of hot flashes. This is because it is the part of brain that deals with the body temperatures therefore any conditions that affects the hypothalamus can result in abnormal rise in temperatures such as hot flashes.

hot-flashes-symptoms

Other risks associated with hot flashes include;

  • Women who smoke are more likely to get hot flashes.
  • A high body mass index (BMI) is associated with a higher frequency of hot flashes.
  • Physical inactivity. If you don’t exercise, you may be more likely to have hot flashes during menopause.
  • More African-American women report menopausal hot flashes than do women of European descent. Hot flashes are less common in women of Japanese and Chinese descent than in white European women.
  • Alcohol- Alcohol may induce hot flashes in some people. Generally it is thought that using drugs of reaction may escalate the probability of hot flashes occurring.

Treatments for Hot Flashes in Women

There both orthodox as well as natural treatments for hot flashes. The natural treatment for hot flashes may include;

  • Evening primrose oil is a botanical herb that is often used to treat hot flashes, although there is no scientific evidence to support this. Side effects include nausea and diarrhea. Women taking certain medications, such as blood thinners, should not take evening primrose oil.
  • Although there is no scientific evidence to support using flaxseed, it is thought to decrease the symptoms of menopause, particularly hot flashes. It’s also known as linseed.
  • Soy products. Plant estrogens, found in soy products, are thought to have weak estrogen-like effects that may reduce hot flashes. Soy foods, not supplements, are recommended.
  • Black cohosh. Some studies suggest that black cohosh may be helpful in the very short term (6 months or less) for treating hot flashes and night sweats. Side effects include gastrointestinal upset.

Hot flashes are just some of the known symptoms that may trouble your life during menopause. Just like any other serious disease, it is necessary that you seek medical help. Contact Dr. Dalal Akoury an expert in natural therapies on (843) 213-1480 for help.

Understanding Hot Flashes And It’s Treatment

 

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Understanding Leaky Gut Syndrome

December 22, 2014

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Leaky gut syndrome is a term that is used to describe an abnormally hyperpermeable intestinal walls. This is a condition in which the intestines become more porous therefore leaking the undigested food particles into the blood stream. This creates very many holes that are allowing too much of undigested food particles into the bloodstream causing myriads of problems. Apart from undigested food particles toxins, yeast and other wastes find their way into the blood stream therefore overwhelming the liver which is supposed to be sieving all the unwanted content from the blood.

The biggest problem that is presented by this condition is that the intestine should function as the first sieve as it keeps the unwanted materials from getting into the blood stream but since holes have been created on the lining of the intestines everything finds their way in the blood stream and the body may react by inflaming.

Symptoms of Leaky Gut Syndrome

Food Sensitivities – food sensitivities has been closely linked to leaky gut syndrome. This sis because of the high toxins that are accumulated in the blood, this will force the body to produce very many antibodies which makes them more susceptible to some kind of foods.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Researchers from Hungary have recently uncovered that elevated gut permeability is often times localized to the colon in people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis.

Thyroid Problems – leaky gut syndrome causes thyroid problems so if you are experiencing thyroid problems, the leaky gut syndrome may be the culprit.

Malabsorption – the leaky gut syndrome causes poor absorption of food, this is because it causes nutritional deficiencies especially of vitamins and minerals such as magnesium and vitamin B12 that help in digestion of food.

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Causes of Leaky Gut Syndrome

Unhealthy diet- when you eat lots of processed foods, refined sugars and preservatives, they cause high chemical amounts in the body which are considered toxins. The body will begin to fight these toxins but since you are taking more and more of these toxins the system may be overwhelmed and this may cause inflammations. Accumulation of these toxins will cause corrosion on the intestinal walls causing the leaky gut syndrome.

Medications- some medication has Aspirin or Acetaminophen as part of their content. Aspirin and Acetaminophen irritate the intestinal lining and decrease the mucosal levels .this affects the protection offered by the mucus on the walls of the intestine. It may also encourage inflammation which increases permeability of the intestinal wall.

Lack of Zinc- Zinc is a vitamin that is good in maintaining the strength of intestinal walls.  A deficiency of the vitamin can lead to the mucosal lining losing strength and becoming more permeable.  There are studies that show that supplementing with Zinc when it is deficient can dramatically improve intestinal lining integrity. Therefore eating meals that are rich in zinc such as nuts may help prevent against leaky gut syndrome.

Yeast- too much yeast causes candida that may grow roots in the intestinal lining, this results in their tentacles making holes on the lining of the stomach creating entry for non-digested food into the blood stream.

Chronic Stress-Chronic stress almost always results in a suppressed immune system.  A weakened immune system cannot handle doing it’s normal job and gets easily overwhelmed with pathogens very.  This increases overall gut inflammation leading to increased permeability of the intestinal lining.

Inflammation-Any type of inflammation in the gut can lead to leaky gut.  This can be brought on by low stomach acid. Low stomach acid passes undigested food into the small intestine which then causes myriads of digestive problems that may in turn cause the leaky gut syndrome.

Treatment for Leaky Gut Syndrome

Leaky gut syndrome is a mysterious condition that is up to now still not fully understood by the medical fraternity probably because it is not taught as a diagnosable disease. However it is a multifaceted condition that must be tackled by joining really several dots to form a line. Here are some of the approaches that can be used to treat this disease.

Watch what you eat- it is very important to keep away from foods that may lead to accumulation of toxins in your body. Foods that are over processed, high in sugar content should be avoided to alleviate inflammations that make the intestine lining more permeable. When you stop eating these kinds of foods the toxin levels will go down and the yeast will be starved and overgrowth stopped, this will enable the walls to repair and regain normal permeability.

Leaky gut syndrome

Using nutritional supplements- leaky gut syndrome causes nutritional deficiencies therefore the body needs to be supplemented with these nutrients. Some nutrients like zinc are also important in strengthening the intestine lining and hence boost recovery.

Digestive Enzymes– eating foods that are rich in digestive enzymes can help you a great lot in fighting leaky gut syndrome. The digestive enzymes are naturally found in the foods that we eat the whole foods that are not over processed. Fruits and vegetables are rich in these digestive enzymes, they work in the intestines helping to break food into finnier particles before they are absorbed to the blood stream. They also remove toxins, bad bacteria and even worn out cells of the intestine lining creating a clean environmental for absorption of digested food particles.

Leaky gut syndrome is a complicated, debilitating condition. But you aren’t on your own: please contact Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) on 843-213-1480 and tap into her wealth of knowledge and experience.

Understanding Leaky Gut Syndrome

 

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Healthy Sleep Habits

December 7, 2014

Healthy Sleep Habits

Sleep is one aspect of life whose essence is often easily overlooked. You think about a ball game that you simply cannot miss. Yet it is taking place from midnight. You say, “Anything else counts not, but the game.” So you stay up late into the night watching it. 4.00 AM and you are not yet asleep, and it is the eve of a Monday!

You are in the news industry. As the editor, you have to leave the newsroom after everything newsworthy has been captured in the day’s paper. Or, you are sitting for your end semester exams that begin in the morning. You do not feel well backed so you stay up late going through your notes.

The list of reasons we give for not sleeping is long. Apparently when daytime comes you often feel that grumpiness and wish to lock yourself up in the office. If you are a student you always doze off in front of the computer or your books.

In other words, the lack of sleep takes away your productivity. Bad mood; you will not be the smiling face that draws even the most uninterested customer, no! Fatigued, you will not pay attention to details at all. You may easily miss out a very important detail. In that state your mind is always foggy and if it was an exam you were staying up late for, chances are that you might end up not producing much after all because you just cannot think that well.

Good thing, you can always catch a bed and compensate for the lost sleep so that you feel better again. At certain instances, you can always rush for a cup of coffee and keep up with the prevailing circumstance. But, have you ever asked yourself what that behavior of keeping sleep a distance away have on your health?

Quality-Sleep

After missing sleep for some time, the mental effects of this sleeplessness become more serious. The fogging of your brain will become more pronounced, rendering it difficult for it to concentrate and make needed decisions. You will probably begin feeling down and may drop off at daytime. You also risk getting injuries and causing accidents at work or at home. If you drive, it is catastrophic!

Yet that is not it all! The range of health problems related to sleeplessness may surprise you if you realize them. You may probably not want to ever miss a night of sleep ever again over some series of night vigils or ball games, whatever your convincing reason is.

Health Implications

Poor Sleep patterns increase the risk for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic autoimmune disease of the large intestine in which the gastrointestinal lining becomes inflamed and develops ulcers.

This is caused by an abnormal response by the body’s immune system. In patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, the immune system mistakes food, bacteria and other substances in the intestine for foreign or invading substances.

Ulcerative colitis only affects the large intestine whereas Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the GI tract. In addition, both short and long durations of sleep have important health implications and are associated with increased overall mortality. You have probably experienced the bad mood thing, fatigue and tiredness associated with lack of sleep. But what you might have never realized is the long-term health consequences which include chronic health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and obesity. And now you know that these conditions may lead to some really shortened life expectancy!

  1. Weight gain and obesity

Studies have found a link between no-sleep and weight problems. These people who deny themselves the essential requirement- sleep, are more likely to have a higher body mass index (BMI) than normal. Such people are susceptible to obesity. But, how does this happen?

When you sleep less, it all begins with your appetite. It goes up! You may begin to eat uncontrollably, not because you want to or because your stomach becomes larger, no. This is something to do with the hormonal behavior in your system.

Leptin is the hormone that usually notifies the brain that you have eaten enough food and it is time to put food aside. This hormone apparently is secreted when we are asleep. Deny yourself the sleep and your appetite will have nothing to control it. Instead, you face the risk of higher levels of the hormone responsible for appetite stimulation: ghrelin.

Poor sleep therefore leads to uncontrolled food cravings that may eventually cause overweight as your body gains too much calories but is too tired to burn them off through exercise.

The little sleep may also upset the balance of other related hormones, for instance, little sleep will result in an increased production of cortisol. Hormone cortisol is normally referred to as the stress hormone. The secretion of insulin hormone may also increase following a poor sleep. Insulin which regulates glucose processing while promoting fat storage will therefore exist in large quantities, a condition that is associated with weight gain. This is a risk factor for diabetes.

  1. Immunity failure

With the altered behavior of the endocrine system, the body’s defense mechanism against infections is likely to be highly affected. This augments to the reason why doctors recommend bed rest for people who are sick. When you sleep, your body’s immunity has the advantage over invading microbes.

How do you identify a disturbed sleep then?

The signs and symptoms of a disturbed sleep include constantly feeling tired ranging from mild to severe cases, an irritable temper and feelings of moodiness, you could lose concentration and at times feel hallucinations and even memory loss, loss of coordination is common; and in severe cases the individual may encounter auto accidents. Other symptoms and signs include relationship problems, loss of appetite, absenteeism or tiredness at work and use of stimulants.

sleeping

How do you build good sleeping habit?

You could improve your sleep hygiene by establishing a regular bed time. You constantly retire to bed when that time reaches. It involves going to bet a specific time and waking up at an established regular time. For adults this interval should be about 7 to 9 hours of sleep.

You may also get rid of stimulants in your routine. Do not go for caffeine to boost your level of alertness. If you feel drowsy, just get yourself a nap. The rest will come later. In addition, you need a regular exercise schedule to get you tired so you can get some deep sleep.

When you are ready to go to bed, avoid computer games, TV or watching movies. These will rip you of your sleep. Other healthy steps include an improved diet and a cool sleep environment.

AwareMed uses the cognitive behavioral therapy as one of the principal treatments for insomnia and sleep disorders for our patients. This treatment is non-pharmacologic and addresses the sleep problems at the psychological and behavioral levels. Part of these include the above mentioned behaviors.

Healthy Sleep Habits

 

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Dark Chocolate May Reduce a Person’s Risk of Diabetes

December 7, 2014

Dark Chocolate May Reduce a Person’s Risk of Diabetes

It is general knowledge that diabetes is a sugar disease. Today, this sugar disease is a worldwide epidemic, mostly because of the increased sugar consumption among world populations. It is no longer accurate to categorize diabetes as a disease of the old folks. Everyone can be a victim of the same irrespective of your age.

You do not have to take tea with double the number of spoons of sugar recommended to be exposed to the risks of high sugar consumption. You get the sugar in your Coke, yoghurt, soda, fruit juice, corn syrup; you name them.

Your system then absorbs these sugars into your bloodstream where hormone insulin is expected to promote the subsequent absorption of that sugar from the bloodstream. A number of processes are then involved in the balance of the amounts of sugar in the gut, bloodstream and the nervous system in the form of an end product.

Dark Chocolate

Several organs of the endocrine system, the digestion system and the circulatory system all play interrelated roles in maintaining this body sugar equilibrium. It is in the event of failure of some of these processes that diabetes of either type 1 or type 2 is likely to occur.

Pancreas for instance may fail to secrete insulin responsible for the sugar regulation in the blood. The kidney too may be affected and subsequently fail to perform its osmoregulation function resulting with little or no reabsorption of blood sugars. All these conditions may result to diabetes.

The Diet Equation

The diet is the largest contributor of the sugars in the body that may be causative to high levels of blood glucose. Among these dietary contributors is chocolate. There is need however to understand that not all types of chocolate are poisonous to your body sugar equation. What you might have not known is that the dark sugar is quite the opposite. It may be an antidote to the sugar disease.

So how can the same cause of the disease be the same one to reduce the risks of getting it? Point is, the milk chocolate for instance will give you diabetes. Yet the dark chocolate whose main ingredient is cocoa will treat it. How many times have you put about two bars of chocolate in your shopping trolley? Chocolate has been associated with very many health related conditions. Among these, is causing diabetes by raising the sugar levels; so to most people it is better to avoid the chocolate. Others are weight gain and cardiovascular conditions such as cardiac arrest.

In as much as chocolate may not go down well with everyone due to this, the dark chocolate has its good side. It drastically reduces your chances of getting diabetes and earns you freedom from a life of constant dose of insulin supplements. Studies have shown that taking just the right amount of this chocolate option could do the trick very well. I am not talking about stacking yourself with bars and bars of chocolate every day.  Neither am I talking about craving the sweet thing every single hour. No. I am talking about a calculated dark chocolate containing 43 mg of magnesium per ounce.

How the magnesium in dark chocolate helps with diabetes

The fourth most abundant mineral in your body, magnesium plays key roles in a number of essential processes in your body. As such, if you happen to have less of it, your body is not likely to function at its best. Insufficient amounts of cellular magnesium lay the ground for deterioration of appropriate metabolic function. This is what may typically melt down to serious health related problems.

dark chocolate

For diabetic conditions, the mineral plays a key role in preventing insulin dysregulation as well as type 2 diabetes. This is according to different recent studies on the causes and behavior of diabetes. Among the findings of these studies was that the people who take highest amounts of magnesium whether through supplements or natural sources reduced their risk of suffering metabolic problems by about 71 percent. This in essence decreases your chances of having a diabetic condition resulting from gut disorders. A study thus has concluded that this metal is essential for the protection of type 2 diabetes

Taking the dark chocolate guarantees your intake of this essential mineral in nice alternative: a sweet dark chocolate. As mentioned earlier, it is necessary to take caution not to get addicted to the chocolate and only stick to the recommended amounts. A doctor’s input would be highly valuable for a type 2 diabetic who wishes to go for this alternative remedy.

AwareMed is the best place to purchase magnesium. Here you will also have the merit of getting the health information from Dr. Dalal Akoury who has been in the practice for several years.

Dark Chocolate May Reduce a Person’s Risk of Diabetes

 

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