Category Archives: Dr. Dalal Akoury

Stem Cell and Hair Loss

March 27, 2015

Stem Cell Treatment for Hair Loss

Hair lossStem cells are very special, powerful cells found in both humans and also in other animals. They have been called the center pieces of regenerative medicine. Medicine that involves growing new cells, tissues and organs to replace or repair those damaged by injury, disease or aging.

Stem cells are the precursors of all cells in the human body. What makes stem cells special is that they are regenerative and malleable. They have the ability to replicate themselves and to repair and replace other tissues in the human body. Some tissues, like skin, need constant renewal, which could not take place without skin stem cells. Other stem cells repair damage to the body’s tissues, for example, rebuilding damaged or degenerating muscle tissue. New research also indicates that stem cell malfunction or damage may be responsible for certain cancers and even muscular-degeneration diseases like Muscular Dystrophy. Research on stem cell functioning is therefore a critical avenue to finding treatments for these and other diseases.

Stem cells differ from other kinds of cells in the body. All stem cells have three general features that make them different from other body cells. These features are: they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods. They are unspecialized and they can give rise to specialized cell types. Stem cells are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods. Unlike muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells which do not normally replicate themselves, stem cells may replicate many times, or proliferate

Stem cell therapy is a strategy that is used in treating disease by introducing adult stem cells into damaged tissues in order to treat the disease, correct the damage and restore the functions of the tissues. There is optimism in medical research fields that the stem cells have the potential to change the face of human disease and alleviate suffering. The ability of stem cells to self-renew and give rise to subsequent generations with variable degrees of differentiation capacities, offers significant potential for generation of tissues that can potentially replace diseases and damaged areas in the body, with minimal risk of rejection and side effects.

Stem cells are known in two brad categories namely the embryonic stem cells, which are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocyst and the mesenchymal stem cells. Stem cells are found in three main points in the human body; the bone marrow, adipose tissues and from placenta after a successful birth.

Researchers Propose stem cell therapy as good treatment for hair loss

There is a group of researchers from California who have linked stem cell therapy to treatment of hair loss. The scientists, working at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. have shown that that stem cells derived from human skin can be used to grow hair. This group did these tests on in mice.

“The method is a marked improvement over current methods that rely on transplanting existing hair follicles from one part of the head to another,” Said, Dr. Alexey Terskikh who is an associate professor at the institute. He is also a member of the team of researchers who demonstrated the experimental technique, said in a written statement. “Our stem cell method provides an unlimited source of cells from the patient for transplantation and isn’t limited by the availability of existing hair follicles.”

This research having shown the possibility of utilizing stem cells to help in regrowing hair is now seen as a better alternative to conventional hair transplantation and other hair restoration treatments as it is able to grow hair on people’s heads that were initially bald, plus it is not limited by the availability of hair follicles.

This is a Breakthrough

Hair LossThe potential of stem cells in treating variety of diseases can never be underestimated as they have the ability to form different types of cells and healing damaged cells. However for this research it has only been tested on mice but there is greater probability that it can go through in treating humans.

“If this approach is proven to work in humans, it will change existing treatments radically,” Dr. Nicole Rogers, a dermatologist and hair transplant surgeon in New Orleans, told The Huffington Post in an email.

Another dermatologist, Dr. Marie Jhin who works in San Francisco and an adjunct clinical instructor at Stanford University, echoed that assessment. If the treatment pans out, she told Huffington Post Science in an email, it “absolutely would be a breakthrough.”

However, DR. Rogers said that the Sanford-Burnham researchers should replicate their research in large scale and test the outcome in order to reinforce these findings. They also need to do human tests.

This treatment is capitalizing on the ability of the stem cells to turn in any other cells of the body. In this study Terskikh and his collaborators turned the stem cells into the dermal papilla cells that regulate the formation and growth of hair follicles, and showed that the stem cells helped grow hair when injected into mice. According to these researchers, Human dermal papilla cells are unsuitable for conventional hair transplants because they cannot be obtained in necessary numbers and they quickly lose their hair-growing potency, according to the statement.

Finally, Beauty plays a great role not only in boosting our looks but also in giving us the feeling of self-worth. Loss of hair due to diseases or baldness should not rob you of your beauty. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD), founder of the AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center Located at Myrtle Beach, North Caroline has unequalled experienced in handling these issues, call on her for help.

Stem Cell Treatment for Hair Loss

 

 

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Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s disease

March 26, 2015

The Use of Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s disease

Huntington's diseaseHuntington’s disease was first described in medical literature in 1872 by Dr. George Huntington. He was a physician from Long Island, New York. This disease mainly affects nerve cells in the brain called medium spiny neurons (MSNs). The MSNs are crucial in the brain as they receive and coordinate information from other neurons in the brain to control movement of the body, face and eyes. Huntington’s disease is hereditary neurodegenerative disease that affects about 1 out of every 10,000 people in the USA, Europe and Australia. This disease causes involuntary movements of the face and body and dementia. The symptoms of this disease may begin mildly but they worsen with time eventually it will make the affected individual totally dependent on other people for help. Till now there are no known effective treatments for this disease.

This disease leads to damage and destruction of the crucial MSNs. however it doesn’t affect the MSNs only, other types of neurons in the brain that apparently are also affected by this disease are the cortical neurons. This disease is common in adults and patients will mostly notice the first symptom of the disease when they are aged 35-50 years old. In the beginning the disease might show symptoms as weak spasmodic movements of the muscles in the face and limbs. However as the disease worsens these spasmodic movements become more evident and frequent and other symptoms appear. Patients are affected in different ways, but symptoms may include difficulty speaking and swallowing, dementia or trouble concentrating.

As mentioned earlier Huntington’s disease is hereditary and children with an affected parent have a 50% chance of inheriting the genetic fault that causes the disease. This fault occurs in the gene that holds the code for a protein called Huntingtin. The defective gene causes the body to make a faulty, toxic version of the Huntingtin protein and this eventually results in the loss of MSNs and other neurons which worsens the health of the patient.

 

Presently, there are no accepted standard treatment of Huntington’s disease, a disease characterized by wasting away of certain nerve cells in the brain and improper muscle coordination. Despite this fact, there are therapies that have been thought of as potent enough to help in the treatment of this disease. One of the therapies mentioned is the stem cell therapy.

Currently, there is a study that has reported that stem cell therapy can be used in treating Huntington’s disease. The study published on March 15 in the journal Cell Stem Cell reports that there is a special type of brain cell created from stem cells that could help restore the muscle coordination deficits that are responsible for uncontrollable spasms, a common symptom of the disease. The researchers demonstrated that movement in mice with a Huntington’s-like condition could be restored.

Research study linking stem cells to Treatment of Huntington’s disease

The study was led by Su-Chun Zhang who is a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mr. Zhang is also an expert in creating various types of brain cells from human embryonic or induce pluripotent stem cells. In this research he and his team focused on GABA neurons. They worked on the GABA because of the theory that the degradation of GABA cells results in the breakdown of a vital neural circuit and loss of motor function in individuals suffering from Huntington’s disease.

According to Zhang, GABA neurons generate a vital neurotransmitter, a chemical that helps support the communication network in the brain that coordinates movement. In this study Zhang and his colleagues looked for various ways of generating large quantities of GABA neurons from human embryonic stem cells. Owing to the ability of stem cells to change shape and multiply the team hoped that the stem cells will be able to be safely integrated into the brain of a mouse model of Huntington’s disease. As they had expected the stem cells were safely integrated into the brain. The stem cells were also able to restore the damaged communication network and restore motor function.

The results of this study presents hope not only to patients but to the entire medical fraternity, he explained why they had targeted the GABA circuitry; “This circuitry is essential for motor coordination and it is what is broken in Huntington patients. The GABA neurons exert their influence at a distance through this circuit. Their cell targets are far away. Many in the field feel that successful cell transplants would be impossible because it would require rebuilding the circuitry. But what we’ve shown is that the GABA neurons can remake the circuitry and produce the right neurotransmitter.”

Huntington's diseaseThe finding of this research presents hope as they show that in the future, the stem cell therapy can be used in the treatment of the Huntington’s disease. This experiment also shows that the human brain can also be a good target for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

The leader of the team that conducted this research, Mr. Zhang however notes that though this research shows some success it might take some time before the stem cell therapy can be used in treating humans suffering from Huntington’s disease.

There are diseases like Huntington’s disease which still do not have known orthodox treatments; this is why here at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center we are committed to availing the best integrative approaches to treatment of diseases. We advocate for dietary as well as natural healing to diseases wherever possible. Visit as at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) will be of help.

The Use of Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s disease

 

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Vitamin D for Fibromyalgia

March 26, 2015

The Use of Vitamin D for Fibromyalgia

Vitamin DAs mentioned in an earlier written article, Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread muscle pain, joint stiffness, and fatigue. The condition is chronic but pain comes and goes and moves about the body. The cause of this disorder is unknown and therefore it is often misdiagnosed or unrecognized and is most of the times complicated by anxiety and mood disorders. this is a common disorder that according to the American College of Rheumatology diagnosis criteria affects about 3-5% of women, most of whom are between ages 20 and 50, but only 0.5- 1.6% of men. This disease is more common in adults than in children but it affects women more than men. This disease is debilitating and is not easily cured. The patients also suffer a lot of pain and use of drugs to manage this pain can result in problems of addiction and dependence on the pain management drugs. The quest to find effective treatment for this disease has led to many researchers doing lots of research on possible treatments or therapies that can be utilized to help mitigate on the adverse symptoms of fibromyalgia. One of these possible alternatives that have been unearthed by past researchers is the use of vitamin D.

Vitamin D being associated with fibromyalgia should not be a surprising discovery as vitamin D has been known to be a strengthening factor to bones especially during early life in a person’s life. Practice such as basking in the sun is common in most parts of the world with biggest benefits being that the sun helps in activating vitamin D that hence works to strengthen bones. Deficiency of vitamin D in children is often characterized by bone deformities such as bowed legs.

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in Boston studied patients with fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis, they found that the patients who had levels of vitamin D fared much better than those with lower levels. The result of this study was published in JAMA Neurology.

During this study the vitamin D levels of 465 participants were examined. The patients were then followed over a five year period as part of a study to monitor patients given Betaseron which is an FDA-approved multiple sclerosis drug. They discovered that increasing vitamin D levels within the first 12 months of drug therapy resulted in a 57 percent lower risk of relapse. According to the study, patients with low vitamin D levels early on in the course of the disease had a higher risk factor for long-term multiple sclerosis progression. However this study did not show whether multiple sclerosis causes a fall in the level of vitamin D in the body or whether low vitamin D plays a role in aggravating the disease. however the lead author of the study expressed a belief that the disease is most likely worsened by a fall in the levels of vitamin D. the lead author Alberto Ascherio, D.P.H., M.D., a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at HSPH said, “Most likely, disease activity is exacerbated by low vitamin D levels,” based on what they found in the study when interviewed by Healthline.

Vitamin D supplementation for fibromyalgia

The research on the effects of vitamin D on patients suffering from fibromyalgia was done in Vienna, Austria by Dr. Florian Wepner, of Orthopedic Hospital Vienna Speising. This research showed that higher vitamin D levels are associated to lower levels of pain and fatigue in fibromyalgia patients. In this study there were thirty participants who were all suffering from fibromyalgia. The thirty participants were divided into two groups. One group received vitamin D supplements while the other group was put on a placebo treatment. The researchers noticed that the patients who were put on vitamin D supplements had shown significant reduction in both pain and fatigue symptoms.

According to the findings of this study it can be shown that supplementing vitamin D can help alleviate the suffering of pain that patients suffering from fibromyalgia have to put up with. However the study lead investigator Wepner, M.D advised that fibromyalgia is a very complex condition that cannot only be explained by vitamin D deficiency alone.

Vitamin D“[Vitamin D] may be regarded as a relatively safe and economical treatment and an extremely cost-effective alternative or adjunct to expensive pharmacological treatment,” Wepner said in a journal news release.

Apparently, Dr. Wepner is not the only person that has promoted Vitamin D supplementation as a viable therapy for those suffering from fibromyalgia. Another doctor Dr. Kiran Patel has endorsed the same thought. Dr. Kiran is a pain medicine specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and often deals with fibromyalgia, he said, “Fibromyalgia patients and those with chronic pain should certainly have their vitamin D blood levels checked and, if low, consider supplementation under the guidance of a physician,”

It’s good to bask in the sun

Despite the failure of this research to show the link between vitamin D and fibromyalgia or better yet the mechanism by which vitamin D helps mitigate on the symptoms of the disease, the benefits of vitamin D supplements have been seen and therefore it is good to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D for overall health purposes. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for people ages nine and up, the safe, maximum intake level is 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day. This level of vitamin D can be enough to keep you on the safety levels of vitamin D.

Finally, fibromyalgia is a serious threat that has no known treatment. There is need to come up with safer yet effective alternatives of treating it. This is why here at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center we are committed to availing the best integrative approaches to treatment of diseases. Visit as at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) will be of help.

The Use of Vitamin D for Fibromyalgia

 

 

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Sugar and Pain

March 26, 2015

Beat Pain by Avoiding Sugar

Sugar and painNutritionists know it better, whatever you eat affects your body in a way, and this can either bring you joy or pain. Good health begins with what you put down your stomach so it is very important to carefully choose on what you eat even as you look out for what you should not even think about eating. Sugars are part of most snacks that we interact with, needless to mention most drinks are rich in sugar content. Researchers have shown us some of the bad sides of eating foods that are rich in sugar. First on the list is that they can lead to hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia may be described as an excess of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Your endocrine system regulates the amount of sugar that is stored and used for energy. It is important in brain cell function, and energy levels. This will come about as a result of your body having higher sugar levels than what the insulin can handle. When there is too much sugar in your system that can’t be handled by insulin then certain conditions and disorders may cause you to have difficulty processing and storing blood glucose, resulting in hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. Consuming foods that are high in sugar content will cause such problems as inflammation, aches and pain throughout your body.

The pain that you suffer as a result of consuming foods that are high in sugar content will manifest as joint pains, aching muscles, migraines, and added asthma or Post Menstrual Syndrome symptoms. when his pain becomes chronic you will suffer big time to an extent that you may stop gaging in activities that you once enjoyed for example when eating high sugar content foods you may suffer joint pains which will make you stop doing your normal exercises and activities like playing golf, running with your dogs or even playing your soccer.

Your pain might have originated from excessive sugar consumption and therefore Instead of relying on pain relievers to manage aches and pains the better solution you should think of adopting should be eating real foods. Real foods are rich in nutritional content and are not high in calories like the cakes and muffins that you can lay your hands on in a coffee shop. Research and clinical experience have shown that food choices directly affect levels of pain and inflammation in the body. One of these research findings was reported in the American Journal of Cancer Nutrition in March of 2002 that found that foods high in sugar resulted in inflammation. When researchers measured inflammation with a blood test called C-reactive protein (CRP), they discovered that a high concentration of sugar in foods increased the CRP numbers. This is now a proof that eating foods that are high in sugar content can be a cause for your pain.

The past researchers have been able to link consumption of foods that are high in sugar content to pain and inflammation and therefore you should consider stopping having most of your meals in these coffee shops where you spend more than half of your meal time stuffing your body with unnecessary sugars from cakes, mocha and muffins that will end up doing you more harm than good. As you enjoy your sweetened muffins you should think of what will happen when these sugars will maim you so much that you won’t be able to walk all by yourself to the cafeterias you have been frequenting.

Sugar and PainThe biggest problem is that most people believe that after leaving eating refined sugars then you are good to go, this is a lie as there are very many foods that are very high in sugar levels but we never really think they are. just to mention a few, the yoghurt and ketchup that has since become your favorites are rich in sugars that gradually will have worse effects on you as sugars have been directly linked to pain and inflammation. As known to you inflammation is the immune system‘s healthy response to restore the affected area to normal following an injury, irritation or infection. However, in response to high sugar intake, which includes simple carbohydrates, the body is flooded with insulin and stress hormones. These flood your blood supply triggering the inflammation process which creates stress and pain on your organs and joints. Therefore the lesser the sugar you take lesser the inflammation and the pain you will suffer and the stronger your immune system will be.

Eating real foods to avoid sugar

Now that we have known that sugary foods are not very healthy, it is good to begin avoiding them. Nutritionists advise that the best way to avoid sugars and still leave the body with good nutrients is by eating real foods instead of processed foods. Real foods include; meat, eggs, vegetables, and healthy fats. These foods will help package the body with required nutrients and reduce pain and inflammation. Fats that are healthy include butter, olive oil, avocados, olives and nuts. Eating real foods will help you evade very many diseases like cancer and heart diseases just mention a few.

Finally, Here at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center we are committed to availing help to our patients by availing some of the most integrative approaches to healing. We advocate for natural healing to all kinds of diseases. If you are suffering from pain related illnesses, just call on Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for help.

Beat Pain by Avoiding Sugar

 

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Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient

March 26, 2015

Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient: How important it can be

Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient

Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient has become one of the best solution for maintaining good health

It is amazing how good and important things can easily be forgotten about. We are costumed to forgetting or rather ignoring even things that are very essential to our good health and well-being. Before we get into the discussion of sulfur the less talk about nutrient, let me illustrate to us using tobacco smoking as one of those very harmful things to human health yet people are still very much into their usage. Despite the public awareness of the dangers of cigarette smoking and even the scary advert accompanying the packaging smokers are so much addicted to this harmful drug and smoke their life out of it. Now despite the knowledge we have about the importance of sulfur, this very important piece of nutrient is largely forgotten. I may not know what you are saying about this nutrient but the truth is that sulfur the less talk about nutrient is very essential. Sulfur is primarily responsible for the maintenance of health and even prevention of chronic illnesses such as Metabolic Syndrome. We (experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center) once stated that prevention is better than cure, does this sound important to you? I guess it is because of the financial burden it will offload off your back. Nonetheless what is worrying is that despite its importance it very shocking to note that a Minimum Daily Requirement (MDR) to avoid sulfur deficiency does not even exists even though this mineral is the eighth most common element by mass in the human body.

Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient: What makes nations with High Sulfur Intake to be very healthy?

Let us now look at the impact of sulfur in our societies and particularly in a wider perspective of nations. It has been established that some of the major world suppliers of sulfur like Greece, Italy and Japan enjoy some of the lowest rates of heart disease, obesity and increased longevity on the surface of the earth. And do you know why? Keep reading. For instance let us consider Icelanders remarkably low rates of depression, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease can possibly be attributed to the line of volcanoes that formed that island nation and whose eruptions periodically blanket the soil with sulfur containing volcanic rock.

Initially it was believed that the Icelandic diet was so protective against chronic illness due to a high intake of fish. Nonetheless this school of thought is still a subject of discussion. However, as for those Icelanders who migrated to Canada and continued with their habit of eating a lot of fish it was found out that they ceased from enjoying the same low rates of disease. Why? It appeared that the Icelandic soil which is unusually rich in sulfur may indeed play a pivotal role in the health and avoidance of sulfur deficiency of its residents. This is amazing indeed; it therefore explains why sulfur the less talk about nutrient should be re-looked into, if we want to be free from certain chronic complications.

Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient: Sulfur’s Critical Role in the Body

Sulphur is very essential to many of the body’s biological processes, and metabolism is inclusive. Remember that without adequate sulfur, glucose metabolism becomes defective and muscle and fat cells are damaged as the result of becoming glucose intolerant. This is how sulfur deficiency can lead to all manner of skeletal and muscle disorders with corresponding pain and inflammation.

This impaired glucose metabolism resulting from insufficient sulfur is also implicated as a factor in obesity and the dangerous condition known as Metabolic Syndrome because one way the body compensates for defective glucose metabolism is by gaining weight. Therefore when sulfur deficiency occurs within the context of a low fat diet, the problem becomes more severe allowing more sources of glucose present in a low fat diet in the form of carbohydrates to be converted into fat and even worse released into the bloodstream as triglycerides as fuel for the damaged and inflamed muscle cells.

Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient: Alzheimer’s disease and Sulfur Deficiency?

Experts while analyzing minerals present in the cells of the typical Alzheimer’s patient it was established that sulfur is almost nonexistent compared with a normal profile. Besides that some research findings has indicated that reversal of this deficiency state cannot only prevent or halt the progression of this horrible disease but even reverse it provided the patient is still in the early stages where little brain damage has occurred. This now leave many to wonder and probably you are too that could the skyrocketing cases of Alzheimer’s in recent years be related to the shunning of eggs, a very good source of sulfur, by older Americans and beyond?

Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient: Sulfur Helps Mobilize Vitamin D from the Sun

When unprotected skin is exposed to the sun, the skin synthesizes vitamin D3 sulfate. While vitamin D is normally considered fat soluble, vitamin D3 sulfate is a form of the vitamin that is actually water soluble. This allows this type of vitamin D to travel freely in the blood stream. On a side note, the vitamin D3 in supplements is not the same vitamin D3 as what you get from the sun and should not be considered an adequate substitute. And remember that when the skin is exposed to sunlight it will produce large amounts of cholesterol sulfate. The sun, then, has the potential to provide sulfur to the body in the form of vitamin D3 sulfate and cholesterol sulfate.

Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient: Make Sure You Get Enough to Avoid Sulfur Deficiency!

In conclusion doctor Akoury note that even though sulfur is basically ignored in nutritional circles, it is nonetheless a critical nutrient and one that is necessary for vibrant health and prevention of chronic health complications. She advises that despite sulfur nutrient being ignored, it is very essential and must never be insufficient in supply. Therefore the simplest way of obtaining sufficiency of sulfur is by getting frequent midday sunlight without the sunscreen. In doing this, it is important that the dose of sunlight must be friendly to the skin and with a non-burning effect.

Besides the non-burning sunlight, feeding more on eggs which is rich in sulfur than many plant foods such as onions, garlic, and cabbage whose sulfur contents is likely to be low unless the plants are grown in sulfur rich soil. It therefore means that not unless your produce comes from Iceland, relying on eggs for adequate sulfur is the decidedly better way to go.

Sulfur the less talk about Nutrient: How important it can be

 

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