Well, I have been using the new Vitamin B3 Treatment serum for a week now and I am very excited with my own personal results. I wanted it more for aging and sun spots and some hyperpigmentation from the sun on my neck. However, in addition to using it on my face and neck, I also used it on a very itchy raised skin lesion on my forearm that I have had since April and couldn't get rid of. I put the Vitamin B3 Treatment serum on that and within 24 hours, the itching stopped and within 48 hours, it was flat and almost gone. I had a raised enlarged pore on my cheek that always bothered me and that is flat now in 72 hours and has almost disappeared. I feel like my skin is noticeably more tone after applying the serum and I can't wait to see how it combats fine lines and sun spots in a few months.
JES Organics Organic Skin Care Line was previously called Belle Peau Anti-Aging. We have made the decision to change the name to Ageless Skin Care because our products are really good for all skin types. We were hearing from our customers that moms were buying our skin care to prevent premature aging and that their teenagers were finding that it really helped their acneic prone skin. And there is lots of research to support that the ingredients we use in our products works well for a broad spectrum of skin care types and issues. Please be patient with us as we update the labels and web-site photos with the new products/information.
Our Organically Preserved Body Lotion is also back now by popular demand. This lotion was previously under our Belle Peau line but will now be under the new Ageless Line.
Compare our ingredients to the top selling Skin Care lines and you will see we have power packed skin care ingredients while still being natural, organic, organically preserved and non-toxic. Because we are anti-corporate greed, you will find that our prices are very affordable and you can't beat the quality. All of our products are FRAGRANCE FREE, PARABEN FREE, SULFATE FREE, NON-TOXIC. Rated 0-2 by Skin Deep for Safety and Toxicity.
We added this new Vitamin B3 Treatment serum to our Ageless Skin Care Line based on the ingredients, organically preserved, quality, and all of the research supporting the benefits of these ingredients. During my research with these ingredients and the Vitamin B3, I found it fascinating that a single product could work for the whole spectrum of skin types from acneic prone to anti-aging. At JES Organics, we love it when we can keep it simple and have products that work for all age groups.
We have discontinued the Exfoliant even though it was an excellent product, we find that the majority of people have very busy lives and want to keep it as simple as possible. Our Ageless 2 in 1 Cleanser gently exfoliates and cleanses at the same time eliminating that extra step.
In the near future, we will be replacing the Nutrient Rich Beet Masque with a Creamy Detoxification Masque. The Nutrient Rich Beet Masque is great for all skin types and helps to pull toxins from the skin and pores. It is a powder masque that can be mixed with water, soy milk, yogurt or any liquid that is good for the skin. With Beet Powder, Vitamins B and C this masque is well rounded and mild for all skin types. This is on sale for just a limited time.
Beet Powder is extremely rich in iron, potassium, niacin, copper, vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid, biotin, niacin, zinc, phosphorus, sodium, calcium, manganese, magnesium and contains phosphorus. Beets provide a natural source of phosphate of copper which is necessary for the skin to stretch.
Topical application of Niacinamide (B3) has been shown to increase Ceramide and free fatty acid levels in skin and to prevent skin from losing water content. It will decrease itching, inflammation, help acne affected skin, decrease oiliness, alleviate atopic dermatitis, decrease UV-induced skin cancers and help decrease facial pigmentation.
Whether the goal is fighting wrinkles and age spots or eradicating stubborn acne, cosmetic manufacturers are turning to an old vitamin that seems to be learning new skin care tricks. Niacinamide, aka vitamin B3, is popping up in moisturizers, eye creams, anti aging serums, and acne treatments, as scientists continue to unlock this nutrient's beauty benefits.
Vitamin B5 improves the moisture-retention capacity of the skin and stimulates skin regeneration. Dry skin stays supple and elastic for longer. It has an anti-inflammatory and anti-itching effect.
Ascorbyl Palmitate is found naturally in fruits and green vegetables and is essential for normal metabolism, wound healing, and tissue repair. Solubility enables this form of Vitamin C to reach the surface of the skin rapidly in amounts greater than can be achieved by water soluble Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid), therefore providing readily available form of Vitamin C to skin. It can be used by individuals who have normally sensitive skin.
Kaolin Clay - the mildest of all clays. It is suitable for sensitive skin. It helps stimulate circulation to the skin while gently exfoliating and cleansing it. It does not draw oils from the skin and can therefore be used on dry skin types.
Bentonite Clay is a highly absorbent clay that pulls toxins from the skin.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Resveratrol and grape seed polyphenols combine to prevent diabetes
Friday, April 29, 2011 by: John Phillip
(NaturalNews) Researchers publishing the results of two independent studies in the British Journal of Nutrition have demonstrated that polyphenol antioxidants found naturally in red grapes can prevent the buildup of fat in muscle tissue that is a precursor to metabolic disorder and diabetes. Resveratrol and grape seed extracts influence how the body responds to insulin, the hormone that controls critical mechanisms of dietary sugar and fat metabolism. The grape-derived compounds have been shown to improve cardiovascular and Alzheimer`s disease risk factors in the past. Information gleaned from these studies explains how daily consumption of the fresh fruit can be invaluable as it prevents muscular fat accumulation leading to metabolic instability and diabetes.
Detailing the result of research performed at the University of Montpellier in France, scientists found that subjects fed a diet high in fat and sugar experienced a lower accumulation of fat in muscle tissue when supplemented with a concentrated extract of red grape polyphenols. Diets high in oxidized saturated fats are known to disrupt the normal function of insulin leading to insulin resistance and diabetes. By limiting the effect of fats on cell membranes, the grape extract was found to provide a significant level of protection against the disease.
In a separate body of research, scientists determined that a 10 mg daily dose of resveratrol was associated with lowered insulin resistance in Type-II diabetics. Resveratrol is a powerful protective anti-fungal compound found in the skin of red grapes. Known to activate a longevity signaling gene (SIRT-1), resveratrol has been shown to extend lifespan by lowering the risks associated with systemic inflammation. The polyphenol may help to prevent cancer development, cardiovascular disease and dementia, and it is now shown to impede the development of diabetes by regulating insulin sensitivity.
Researchers formed two groups of participants and randomly supplemented their diet with resveratrol (5 mg twice a day) or a placebo. After four weeks the resveratrol group showed a significant decrease in insulin sensitivity compared to the placebo group. The study authors explain that the results are likely due to the potent antioxidant action of resveratrol, as oxidative stress is a key contributor to the onset of insulin resistance.
Researchers concluded "The present study shows for the first time that resveratrol improves insulin sensitivity in humans, which might be due to a resveratrol-induced decrease in oxidative stress that leads to more efficient insulin signaling." To maximize the anti-diabetic health benefits of grape polyphenols, health-minded individuals will want to include organically grown red grapes in their diet or supplement with grape seed extract and resveratrol (10 to 25 mg daily).
Article References:
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/...
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/...
http://journals.cambridge.org/actio...
About the author
John Phillip is a Health Researcher and Author who writes regularly on the cutting edge use of diet, lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation to enhance and improve the quality and length of life. John is the author of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan', a comprehensive EBook explaining how to use Diet, Exercise, Mind and Targeted Supplementation to achieve your weight loss goal. Visit My Optimal Health Resource to continue reading the latest health news updates, and to download your Free 48 page copy of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan'. Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032221_resveratrol_diabetes.html#ixzz1TbBocuOe
(NaturalNews) Researchers publishing the results of two independent studies in the British Journal of Nutrition have demonstrated that polyphenol antioxidants found naturally in red grapes can prevent the buildup of fat in muscle tissue that is a precursor to metabolic disorder and diabetes. Resveratrol and grape seed extracts influence how the body responds to insulin, the hormone that controls critical mechanisms of dietary sugar and fat metabolism. The grape-derived compounds have been shown to improve cardiovascular and Alzheimer`s disease risk factors in the past. Information gleaned from these studies explains how daily consumption of the fresh fruit can be invaluable as it prevents muscular fat accumulation leading to metabolic instability and diabetes.
Detailing the result of research performed at the University of Montpellier in France, scientists found that subjects fed a diet high in fat and sugar experienced a lower accumulation of fat in muscle tissue when supplemented with a concentrated extract of red grape polyphenols. Diets high in oxidized saturated fats are known to disrupt the normal function of insulin leading to insulin resistance and diabetes. By limiting the effect of fats on cell membranes, the grape extract was found to provide a significant level of protection against the disease.
In a separate body of research, scientists determined that a 10 mg daily dose of resveratrol was associated with lowered insulin resistance in Type-II diabetics. Resveratrol is a powerful protective anti-fungal compound found in the skin of red grapes. Known to activate a longevity signaling gene (SIRT-1), resveratrol has been shown to extend lifespan by lowering the risks associated with systemic inflammation. The polyphenol may help to prevent cancer development, cardiovascular disease and dementia, and it is now shown to impede the development of diabetes by regulating insulin sensitivity.
Researchers formed two groups of participants and randomly supplemented their diet with resveratrol (5 mg twice a day) or a placebo. After four weeks the resveratrol group showed a significant decrease in insulin sensitivity compared to the placebo group. The study authors explain that the results are likely due to the potent antioxidant action of resveratrol, as oxidative stress is a key contributor to the onset of insulin resistance.
Researchers concluded "The present study shows for the first time that resveratrol improves insulin sensitivity in humans, which might be due to a resveratrol-induced decrease in oxidative stress that leads to more efficient insulin signaling." To maximize the anti-diabetic health benefits of grape polyphenols, health-minded individuals will want to include organically grown red grapes in their diet or supplement with grape seed extract and resveratrol (10 to 25 mg daily).
Article References:
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/...
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/...
http://journals.cambridge.org/actio...
About the author
John Phillip is a Health Researcher and Author who writes regularly on the cutting edge use of diet, lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation to enhance and improve the quality and length of life. John is the author of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan', a comprehensive EBook explaining how to use Diet, Exercise, Mind and Targeted Supplementation to achieve your weight loss goal. Visit My Optimal Health Resource to continue reading the latest health news updates, and to download your Free 48 page copy of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan'. Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032221_resveratrol_diabetes.html#ixzz1TbBocuOe
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Treatment Serum with Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) & Antioxidants
NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH
JES Organics Treatment Serum+ is packed with a synergistic complex of potent anti-oxidants and vitamins. These concentrated ingredients help to increase the synthesis of collagen, reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, even skin tone, promote firmness, boost skin elasticity and improve the skin barrier.
Research shows that Vitamin B3 improves the function of the skin and helps to prevent many of the signs of premature aging. Smoothes wrinkles, boosts skin elasticity, reduces sallowness, fades age spots and discolorations and helps to fight acne.
According to some leading skin care experts, skin care products containing DMAE, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Vitamin C Ester, Alpha Hydroxy Acids, Vitamin E and Retinol Vitamin A can create amazing results in the appearance of aging skin.
Skin Types: Mature, Normal, Dry, Oily, Combination, Acneic
Whether the goal is fighting wrinkles and age spots or eradicating stubborn acne, cosmetic manufacturers are turning to an old vitamin that seems to be learning new skin care tricks. Niacinamide(Vitamin B3), is popping up in moisturizers, eye creams, anti-aging serums, and acne treatments, as scientists continue to unlock this nutrient's beauty benefits.
What It Does
Vitamin B3 is no stranger to dermatologists, who have known about niacinamide's acne-fighting ability for years. When 198 people with severe acne were given a proprietary formula containing 750 mg of niacinamide, 79 percent experienced a significant improvement in skin lesions after eight weeks. In fact, niacinamide seemed to work just as well as a popular antibiotic to reduce acne. But niacinamide isn't just reserved for the young.
Applying this nutrient to the skin can help prevent many of the signs of premature aging. A growing number of studies show that niacinamide improves the function of the epidermis, the skin's outer layer.
Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
• Smoothes wrinkles
• Reduces sallowness
• Boosts the skin's elasticity
• Anti-Aging
• Fade age spots and other discolorations (A safe alternative to hydroquinone, a chemical skin lightener that may cause cancer)
• Fights Acne
• Rosacea
Niacinamide, a form of vitamin B3, has been used topically for rosacea. It is thought to improve the skin barrier, improve the skin’s moisture level, and reduce inflammation. One study looked at a niacinamide-containing facial moisturizer (applied twice daily) or a placebo moisturizer in 50 people with rosacea. After four weeks, the niacinamide-containing moisturizer was found to improve the skin barrier.
In one clinical trial, 50 women used a moisturizer containing 5 percent niacinamide on one side of the face and a placebo cream on the other. After 12 weeks, the niacinamide side showed less wrinkling and a significant reduction in age spots compared to the placebo side.
Unlike many cosmeceutical ingredients, there is a great deal of research that supports the use of topical niacinamide. Studies have shown its usefulness in increasing synthesis of collagen and lipids, inhibiting the transfer of melanosomes, and decreasing inflammation. As a precursor to niacin, it may even play a role in preventing skin cancer.
Hyperpigmentation also seems to respond to topical niacinamide. In a poster presented at the 2001 annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, niacinamide was shown to decrease melanosome transfer to keratinocytes. In addition, a poster at the 2002 annual meeting of the AAD demonstrated that moisturizers containing 2% and 5% concentrations of niacinamide resulted in a clinically detectable decrease in facial pigmentation.
The mechanism by which niacinamide affects inflammation is unclear, but it has been shown to inhibit mast cell histamine release, neutrophil chemotaxis, and release of inflammatory mediators. It has also reduced the triglyceride and diglyceride content of sebum, resulting in less facial oil. Clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of topical niacinamide in treating inflammatory acne and rosacea in unrelated trials by Dr. Shalita, Dr. Zoe Draelos, and others.
Vitamin C
Topical ascorbic acid accelerates the healing of wound as it aids in stabilizing and generation of collagen. This vitamin stimulates collagen synthesis, production of stable collagen and triggers the production of enzymes that is necessary for the cross linking of collagen molecule which in turn gives better tissue strength.
1. Improves the appearance of skin by reducing fine lines and wrinkles.
2. May protect and lessen the effects of sunburns.
3. Protects cells from free-radicals
4. Protects the skin cell from damage due to ultraviolet light
Advantages
Once Vitamin C penetrates the skin, it stays there for up to 72 hours. This means that a properly formulated topical vitamin-C product can have a long lasting effect in the skin.
Fast acting, results can sometimes be seen in just a few days or weeks of use. Improvement in skin texture and skin tone is easily noticeable after a short time period of use. Depressed scars may take several months to be normalized.
Vitamin C Ester is well known and long documented antioxidant that protects the surface of the skin from free radicals that can damage the skin.
DMAE is found in foods and can create an almost immediate appearance in the firming and tone of the skin. Dimethylaminoethanol, better known as DMAE, is an antioxidant membrane stabilizer. When applied topically, it helps to firm, smoothes, and brighten skin. It also enhances the effects of other antioxidants like alpha lipoic acid and Vitamin C ester. As a result, DMAE works best when used in combination with other nutrients and an antioxidant base.
Alpha Lipoic Acid is the most powerful of antioxidants. It is able to benefit both the water and lipid portions of the skin. It is said to give the skin a “youthful and glowing appearance.”
JES Organics Treatment Serum+ is packed with a synergistic complex of potent anti-oxidants and vitamins. These concentrated ingredients help to increase the synthesis of collagen, reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, even skin tone, promote firmness, boost skin elasticity and improve the skin barrier.
Research shows that Vitamin B3 improves the function of the skin and helps to prevent many of the signs of premature aging. Smoothes wrinkles, boosts skin elasticity, reduces sallowness, fades age spots and discolorations and helps to fight acne.
According to some leading skin care experts, skin care products containing DMAE, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Vitamin C Ester, Alpha Hydroxy Acids, Vitamin E and Retinol Vitamin A can create amazing results in the appearance of aging skin.
Skin Types: Mature, Normal, Dry, Oily, Combination, Acneic
Whether the goal is fighting wrinkles and age spots or eradicating stubborn acne, cosmetic manufacturers are turning to an old vitamin that seems to be learning new skin care tricks. Niacinamide(Vitamin B3), is popping up in moisturizers, eye creams, anti-aging serums, and acne treatments, as scientists continue to unlock this nutrient's beauty benefits.
What It Does
Vitamin B3 is no stranger to dermatologists, who have known about niacinamide's acne-fighting ability for years. When 198 people with severe acne were given a proprietary formula containing 750 mg of niacinamide, 79 percent experienced a significant improvement in skin lesions after eight weeks. In fact, niacinamide seemed to work just as well as a popular antibiotic to reduce acne. But niacinamide isn't just reserved for the young.
Applying this nutrient to the skin can help prevent many of the signs of premature aging. A growing number of studies show that niacinamide improves the function of the epidermis, the skin's outer layer.
Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
• Smoothes wrinkles
• Reduces sallowness
• Boosts the skin's elasticity
• Anti-Aging
• Fade age spots and other discolorations (A safe alternative to hydroquinone, a chemical skin lightener that may cause cancer)
• Fights Acne
• Rosacea
Niacinamide, a form of vitamin B3, has been used topically for rosacea. It is thought to improve the skin barrier, improve the skin’s moisture level, and reduce inflammation. One study looked at a niacinamide-containing facial moisturizer (applied twice daily) or a placebo moisturizer in 50 people with rosacea. After four weeks, the niacinamide-containing moisturizer was found to improve the skin barrier.
In one clinical trial, 50 women used a moisturizer containing 5 percent niacinamide on one side of the face and a placebo cream on the other. After 12 weeks, the niacinamide side showed less wrinkling and a significant reduction in age spots compared to the placebo side.
Unlike many cosmeceutical ingredients, there is a great deal of research that supports the use of topical niacinamide. Studies have shown its usefulness in increasing synthesis of collagen and lipids, inhibiting the transfer of melanosomes, and decreasing inflammation. As a precursor to niacin, it may even play a role in preventing skin cancer.
Hyperpigmentation also seems to respond to topical niacinamide. In a poster presented at the 2001 annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, niacinamide was shown to decrease melanosome transfer to keratinocytes. In addition, a poster at the 2002 annual meeting of the AAD demonstrated that moisturizers containing 2% and 5% concentrations of niacinamide resulted in a clinically detectable decrease in facial pigmentation.
The mechanism by which niacinamide affects inflammation is unclear, but it has been shown to inhibit mast cell histamine release, neutrophil chemotaxis, and release of inflammatory mediators. It has also reduced the triglyceride and diglyceride content of sebum, resulting in less facial oil. Clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of topical niacinamide in treating inflammatory acne and rosacea in unrelated trials by Dr. Shalita, Dr. Zoe Draelos, and others.
Vitamin C
Topical ascorbic acid accelerates the healing of wound as it aids in stabilizing and generation of collagen. This vitamin stimulates collagen synthesis, production of stable collagen and triggers the production of enzymes that is necessary for the cross linking of collagen molecule which in turn gives better tissue strength.
1. Improves the appearance of skin by reducing fine lines and wrinkles.
2. May protect and lessen the effects of sunburns.
3. Protects cells from free-radicals
4. Protects the skin cell from damage due to ultraviolet light
Advantages
Once Vitamin C penetrates the skin, it stays there for up to 72 hours. This means that a properly formulated topical vitamin-C product can have a long lasting effect in the skin.
Fast acting, results can sometimes be seen in just a few days or weeks of use. Improvement in skin texture and skin tone is easily noticeable after a short time period of use. Depressed scars may take several months to be normalized.
Vitamin C Ester is well known and long documented antioxidant that protects the surface of the skin from free radicals that can damage the skin.
DMAE is found in foods and can create an almost immediate appearance in the firming and tone of the skin. Dimethylaminoethanol, better known as DMAE, is an antioxidant membrane stabilizer. When applied topically, it helps to firm, smoothes, and brighten skin. It also enhances the effects of other antioxidants like alpha lipoic acid and Vitamin C ester. As a result, DMAE works best when used in combination with other nutrients and an antioxidant base.
Alpha Lipoic Acid is the most powerful of antioxidants. It is able to benefit both the water and lipid portions of the skin. It is said to give the skin a “youthful and glowing appearance.”
Friday, July 22, 2011
Resveratrol - Powerful antioxidant support for youthful, healthy aging
Resveratrol is one of the most amazing nutrients known to modern science. Known as a longevity nutrient that gives red wine it's amazing benefits on heart health, resveratrol continues to be widely studied for applications in treating cancer, diabetes, and even chronic inflammation. Several drug companies have already attempted to copy the resveratrol molecule and turn it into a "miracle drug" that would be patented and sold at huge profit margins. While red wine is a good source of resveratrol, you would have to consume about 100 glasses a day which of course is never recommended. Red wine is recommended in moderation of 1-2 glasses a day. Resveratrol is now available in capsule form.
Powerful antioxidant support for youthful, healthy aging
Resveratrol Youthful Aging™ combines the activated form of natural trans-resveratrol with red wine extract, green tea extract and grape seed extract. The research indicates that combining natural trans-resveratrol with other polyphenols provides greatest efficacy. 100% vegetarian product.
Each capsule contains the following youthful aging nutrients:
Powerful antioxidant support for youthful, healthy aging
Resveratrol Youthful Aging™ combines the activated form of natural trans-resveratrol with red wine extract, green tea extract and grape seed extract. The research indicates that combining natural trans-resveratrol with other polyphenols provides greatest efficacy. 100% vegetarian product.
Each capsule contains the following youthful aging nutrients:
- Red Wine Extract
- Potent Natural Trans-Resveratrol
- Grape Seed Extract
- Green Tea Extract
The benefits of each of these nutrients are:
- Red Wine Extract
- Contains the group of polyphenols known to be the source of the French Paradox (a high fat diet but with much less cardiovascular health issues than Americans)
- Possess synergistic antioxidant and longevity attributes
- Nurtures healthy cardiovascular function
- Potent Natural Trans-Resveratrol
The most researched polyphenol found in red wine grapes, berries and Japanese Knotwood plant (polygonum)
Includes only the bioactive form - natural trans-resveratrol - Standardized for consistent efficacy in every capsule
- Promotes a healthy inflammatory response
- Positive impact on youthful gene expression
- Supports healthy dendrites formation in the brain
- Positive impact on healthy clotting levels
Grape Seed Extract
- Contains proanthocyanins (a class of polyphenols), which act as antioxidants and thought to be instrumental in combating oxidative stress
- Protect cells against free radical damage and resulting oxidative stress
- Animal studies indicate increased efficacy of resveratrol when combined with grape seed extract
Green Tea Extract
- Contains the powerful EGCg polyphenol
- EGCg is the polyphenol most closely associated with healthy cell expression
Monday, July 18, 2011
Is Your Shampoo or Other Personal Care Products Making You Fat?
Paula Baillie-Hamilton, an expert on metabolism and environmental toxins, was one of the first to make a link between the obesity epidemic and the increase in environmental chemicals. Baillie-Hamilton argued that exposure to chemicals can damage your body's natural weight-control mechanisms. She calls toxic chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors "chemical calories."
Environmental researchers now call these chemical calories "obesogens." These organic pollutants can derail the hormonal mechanisms that control your weight.
According to Grist:
"... [I]t is impossible, now, to tease out how much of obesity is caused by chemicals, and how much by energy balance. They're intertwined, anyway, with imbalances in appetite-regulating hormones like leptin and ghrelin causing us to want to eat more of the available food ... [S]teer clear of Bisphenol-A ... [and] shampoos, cosmetics, and soaps containing phthalates."
Even buying organic shampoo and other personal care products may not protect you. As the Center for Environmental Health recently reported:
"Dozens of shampoos, lotions, toothpastes,and other personal care products sold by national retailers including Target, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Whole Foods and other stores are mislabeled as organic, in violation of California law, according to a lawsuit filed … by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH)."
Several of the products contain potentially toxic ingredients, including disrupting hormones, despite being labeled as organic.
Sources:
Grist June 28, 2011
Obesity Reviews April 4, 2011
Center for Environmental Health June 16, 2011
Comments from Janis at JESorganics.com
It may sound like a joke to think about your shampoo or any of your personal care products making you fat. However, the majority of personal care products contain a host of toxic chemicals in addition to endocrine disruptors. Endocrine distrupors cause premature puberty, obesity and increased risk of cancer, just to name a few. As far as your shampoo is concerned, the primary endocrine-disrupting chemical culprits are phthalates. Phthalates are used as plasticizers in everything from vinyl flooring to detergents, hoses, raincoats, adhesives, air fresheners, and toys, but they're also found in some soaps, shampoos, lotions and nail polish. One 2002 study by the Environmental Working Group detected phthalates in nearly three-quarters of personal care products tested, noting that:
"Major loopholes in federal law allow the … cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of phthalates into many personal care products with no required testing, no required monitoring of health effects, and no required labeling."
Phthalates are not only being linked to weight gain … they are the same group of "gender-bending" chemicals also causing males of all species to become more female.
We founded JES Organics because of our research into ingredients and toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals are everywhere and they have an accumulative effect on our bodies. Over time, our bodies start breaking down from the toxic onslaught.
Please become an educated consumer and read your labels. It is highly unlikely that you will find non-toxic quality products at large high end or low end stores. And if you think you are getting quality by buying expensive brand name products or even products promoted by doctors, think again!
Read the label, don't be fooled by false marketing on labels (natural, organic, dermatologist tested or recommended, hypoallergenic, etc). These words are not regulated and have no standards. We joined the Compact for Safe Cosmetics immediately upon starting JES Organics and we continue to be a company in full compliance with full disclosure of our ingredients.
![]()
Environmental researchers now call these chemical calories "obesogens." These organic pollutants can derail the hormonal mechanisms that control your weight.
According to Grist:
"... [I]t is impossible, now, to tease out how much of obesity is caused by chemicals, and how much by energy balance. They're intertwined, anyway, with imbalances in appetite-regulating hormones like leptin and ghrelin causing us to want to eat more of the available food ... [S]teer clear of Bisphenol-A ... [and] shampoos, cosmetics, and soaps containing phthalates."
Even buying organic shampoo and other personal care products may not protect you. As the Center for Environmental Health recently reported:
"Dozens of shampoos, lotions, toothpastes,and other personal care products sold by national retailers including Target, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Whole Foods and other stores are mislabeled as organic, in violation of California law, according to a lawsuit filed … by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH)."
Several of the products contain potentially toxic ingredients, including disrupting hormones, despite being labeled as organic.
Sources:
Grist June 28, 2011
Obesity Reviews April 4, 2011
Center for Environmental Health June 16, 2011
Comments from Janis at JESorganics.com
It may sound like a joke to think about your shampoo or any of your personal care products making you fat. However, the majority of personal care products contain a host of toxic chemicals in addition to endocrine disruptors. Endocrine distrupors cause premature puberty, obesity and increased risk of cancer, just to name a few. As far as your shampoo is concerned, the primary endocrine-disrupting chemical culprits are phthalates. Phthalates are used as plasticizers in everything from vinyl flooring to detergents, hoses, raincoats, adhesives, air fresheners, and toys, but they're also found in some soaps, shampoos, lotions and nail polish. One 2002 study by the Environmental Working Group detected phthalates in nearly three-quarters of personal care products tested, noting that:
"Major loopholes in federal law allow the … cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of phthalates into many personal care products with no required testing, no required monitoring of health effects, and no required labeling."
Phthalates are not only being linked to weight gain … they are the same group of "gender-bending" chemicals also causing males of all species to become more female.
We founded JES Organics because of our research into ingredients and toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals are everywhere and they have an accumulative effect on our bodies. Over time, our bodies start breaking down from the toxic onslaught.
Please become an educated consumer and read your labels. It is highly unlikely that you will find non-toxic quality products at large high end or low end stores. And if you think you are getting quality by buying expensive brand name products or even products promoted by doctors, think again!
Read the label, don't be fooled by false marketing on labels (natural, organic, dermatologist tested or recommended, hypoallergenic, etc). These words are not regulated and have no standards. We joined the Compact for Safe Cosmetics immediately upon starting JES Organics and we continue to be a company in full compliance with full disclosure of our ingredients.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lyme Disease
Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lyme Disease
by Bonnie Gorman RN
Dr Sam Donta presented a comprehensive, compassionate, cutting-edge lecture to Mass. CFIDS/FM Association members on November 3rd, 2002. His topic was "The Interface of Lyme Disease with CFS and FM: Diagnostic and Treatment Issues." Dr. Donta is a nationally recognized expert on Lyme disease. He is the Director of the Lyme Disease Unit at Boston Medical Center and a Professor of Medicine at BU Medical School. He is a bacteriologist and an infectious disease specialist, who views CFS and FM from that vantage point. He is also a consultant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and presented at NIH's scientific meetings on CFS research.
What does Lyme disease have to do with CFS and FM you might be asking? Some people believe that Lyme disease may be one of the causative factors in both CFS and FM. Others believe that some CFS and FM patients are really misdiagnosed chronic Lyme disease patients and vice versa. Some believe that there is no such thing as chronic Lyme disease, instead these patients actually have CFS or FM. We asked Dr. Donta to help sort all this out.
Parallel Symptom Patterns
Dr. Donta presented the symptom lists for chronic Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), and Gulf War Illness (GWI). He pointed out the similarities between them, and found there were few differences. He has treated hundreds of patients with these illnesses. He found that CFS and GWI have identical symptoms, and FM is only distinguished by a positive tender point exam, that is often positive in CFS and GWI as well. Clinically it is almost impossible to distinguish or differentiate these illnesses.
He has concluded that chronic Lyme disease is remarkably similar to CFS, FM, and GWI. These multi-symptom disorders have similar symptom patterns consisting of fatigue and neurocognitive dysfunction, along with numerous other symptoms that probably relate to altered neurological function. Musculoskeletal symptoms may be more frequent in FM and in some patients with chronic Lyme than in CFS, but the definition of CFS and GWI also includes muscle aches (myalgias) and joint aches (arthralgias).
Lyme Disease Symptoms
Flu-like illness, fever, malaise, fatigue, headache, muscle aches (myalgia), and joint aches (arthralgia), intermittent swelling and pain of one or a few joints, "bull's-eye" rash, early neurologic manifestations include cognitive disorders, sleep disturbance, pain, paresthesias (including numbness, tingling, crawling and itching sensations), as well as cognitive difficulties and mood changes.
The only symptom difference in Lyme disease is the expanding circular rash with a clearing area and center resembling a "bull's eye." He pointed out that Lyme has multiple types of rashes and half of the rashes are not typical, they may not even include the "bull's eye" rash. They can appear from two day after the bite, then go on for a week or so. Patients who are infected may not develop or see the rash, and may not develop any future symptoms. In studies, only one third of the patients were actually aware of their tick bites.
30-50% of acute Lyme disease patients went on to develop chronic Lyme disease. Additionally, some previously asymptomatic patients may reactivate their infection following various stressors such as trauma, surgery, pregnancy, coexisting illness, antibiotics treatment, or severe psychological stress. The Lyme vaccine can also reactivate their infection. Similar triggers such as trauma, surgery etc. are known to precipitate CFS, FM and GWI as well. This is not a new phenomenon with infectious diseases. We know infectious diseases (i.e. TB) will reactivate after illnesses or surgery-- any stressor.
Dr. Donta reported on the effects of gender on host susceptibility in Lyme disease, CFS, FM and other multi-symptom diseases. In all these disorders, women appear to be more affected than men, usually at about 2:1 ratios. He noted that neural cells contain estrogen and progesterone receptors, and that herpes viruses can utilize estrogen receptors to gain access to the reservoir in the cell nucleus. Treatment of chronic Lyme disease also seems to be gender-dependent to some degree, with men generally having more speedy and complete recoveries compared to women. He concluded that gender relationships are known for a number of infectious diseases, so it would not be surprising that such a relationship exists for chronic Lyme disease, CFS, FM and other multi-symptom disorders.
Etiology
Lyme Disease: A distinct difference between Lyme disease, CFS and FM is that the origin of Lyme is clear. Lyme disease is caused by spirochetal bacteria transmitted by the bite of an infected deer tick. This bacteria is the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It was identified in the late 1900s in Europe. The US was late to recognize what Europe had described. Lyme disease was not formally identified by the CDC until 1977 when arthritis was observed in a cluster of children in and around Lyme, CT. Since that time Lyme disease has been identified in many states. The CDC reports that it causes more than 16,000 infections per year in the US. Some researchers feel that the prevalence is higher than that.
CFS and FM: Dr. Donta feels that Lyme disease is an important cause of CFS and FM. In addition to Lyme, there are a number of other possible causes. The evidence is still circumstantial though. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the major cause of infectious mononucleosis, continues to be debated as a cause of CFS. It is uncertain whether EBV can cause symptoms other than fatigue, such as myalgias and arthralgias that are not seen during acute or reactivated EBV infection in patients who are being immunosuppressed, but it remains possible that EBV could cause one type of chronic fatigue disorder. There are also other herpes viruses i.e. HHV6 that are being evaluated as potential culprits.
Dr. Donta reported that recently recognized species of Mycoplasma (Mycoplasma fermentans, Mycoplasma genitalium) have been implicated in CFS, FM and GWI. These same bacteria have also been implicated as causative agents of rheumatoid arthritis, based on PCR-DNA evidence in patients with these disorders in which 50 percent are found to have the DNA of the Mycoplasma in circulating white blood cells, compared to 5-10 percent of a normal population. Whether the presence of this DNA represents past exposure or ongoing infection remains to be resolved. No long-term studies have yet been performed in patients with CFS and FM to determine whether the finding of Mycoplasma DNA persists over months or years or whether such patients have any evidence of other infection such as Lyme disease or infection with Chlamydia species.
Central Nervous System Involvement
Dr. Donta reported that in Lyme disease, the nervous system seems to be the primary target for the bacteria causing the disease. Patients with Lyme disease express many neurologic symptoms such as pain, paresthesias including numbness, tingling, crawling and itching sensations, as well as cognitive difficulties and mood changes. Even the joint pains and occasional arthritis appear to be neuropathic in origin, as anti-inflammatory agents such as ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) have little if any effect on the pain. Experimental evidence from animal models also affirm the localization of B. burgdorferi DNA to the nervous system. Dr. Donta postulates that the disease mechanisms could involve inflammatory responses, autoimmune responses or toxin-associated disruption of neural function. Any inflammatory responses appear to be weak, and there is no compelling evidence that Lyme disease is a result of immunopathologic mechanisms.
Commenting on his research, Dr. Donta speculated that if they are correct, and lyme bacteria is a nerve toxin that interferes with the transmission of the nerve impulse, then that is all you need to impede the normal flow of information. There is a lot of cross-talk in the nervous system. This toxin will decrease that cross-talk causing delayed responses resulting in cognitive problems-- the brain fog so commonly described in all these multi-symptom disorders.
Although the disease pathways for other possible causes of CFS and FM have not been defined, Dr. Donta postulates that the central nervous system would appear to be a logical target for other pathogens or other disease processes. These illnesses clearly affect the brain and are bound to cause many neurological manifestations. Any changes in immunologic function would not appear to be sufficient to explain the various symptoms, and are likely to be secondary to other disease processes.
He feels we have been thinking too simplistically about finding whole organisms replicating in chronic diseases. It is highly likely that there is no single cause for these illnesses. It's more likely that there are multiple causes-- different organisms causing the same final set of symptoms. Researchers need a better algorithm to study these fatiguing illnesses. We need to be more inclusive, rather than trying to separate the illnesses. Sometimes in medicine, if an illness is too complex to study, research interest dwindles. We have the technology to do the research, but there hasn't been the will and the momentum to get it done.
Clinical Diagnosis
Dr. Donta reiterated that the diagnosis of Lyme disease is primarily based on clinical grounds, just as with CFS and FM. Once other disorders are ruled out, the combination of symptoms over months is sufficient to make a presumptive clinical diagnosis. The diagnosis of Lyme is made easier if a typical rash is present during the early phase of infection. After that, it is difficult to distinguish the flu-like illness that can occur a few weeks later, or can recur over a number of months.
Dr. Donta reported that some patients develop severe headaches and an aseptic (infection free) meningitis, which frequently is diagnosed instead as viral meningitis. If a Bell's palsy occurs (drooping of one side of the face), the possibility of Lyme disease is likely. If an unprovoked arthritis occurs, causing swelling of a single joint, especially the knee, but sometimes more than one joint, then the possibility of Lyme disease should also be given high consideration.
He emphasized that it is the chronic phase of the disease that causes most problems for physicians and patients, because of the lack of objective signs and the presence of so many symptoms that it causes some doctors to attribute psychological reasons for the patients' symptoms. Many patients then receive a diagnosis of CFS or FM, when they may have underlying chronic Lyme disease as the cause of their symptoms.
Diagnostic Tests
Tests for Lyme disease, like tests for other infectious diseases, are often confusing and circumstantial, and their analysis and interpretation has often been flawed. In infectious diseases you do a Western blot test to see if you have a specific reaction. Western blot separates out proteins antigens of an organism you are looking for. It tells you if a person has been exposed. It is not a direct measurement of the organism. It is a measurement of whether the person has antibodies to it. Antibody tests are useful in the early stages of illness as with other acute infectious illnesses. Once the illness is in a chronic phase, antibody tests are not useful.
Just as viruses change from year to year, we know the Lyme bacteria mutates. There are a number of organisms that can shift their surface protein in a matter of hours and that is how they evade detection and patients test negative. These organisms attach themselves to proteins and conceal themselves-- creating a cloaking mechanism that defies detection. This allows them to get where they want to go-- the nervous system. Once they are inside a cell, the immune system can't see them.
That said, Dr. Donta explained that lab tests have been helpful is some patients with Lyme disease, especially those with arthritis, in whom there are stronger antibody responses than in those with the chronic, multi-symptom form of Lyme. The criteria for the laboratory diagnosis has been patterned after the arthritic form of the disease, and not the chronic form; as a result, there are many physicians who are misinformed about the test's lack of value in chronic Lyme disease. The Lyme Western Blot is helpful when it shows reactions against specific proteins of B. burgdorferi, but can be negative in 25-30 percent of patients who otherwise have chronic Lyme disease.
PCR-DNA tests for Lyme in blood, urine and spinal fluid are rarely positive, most likely because the bacteria and their DNA are not present in those body fluids, but inside nerve cells. Additionally, PCR-DNA studies are very easy to contaminate.
In chronic Lyme disease, the MRI exam of the brain is positive in about 10-20 % of patients. It can show some white spots (unidentified bright objects- UBO) in various areas, similar to those seen in multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurologic disease of unknown cause that has some overlapping symptoms with Lyme disease, CFS and FM, such as the numbness and tingling or paresthesias. (There are also positive MRI findings in CFS and FM patients as well.)
Dr. Donta reported that the brain SPECT scan shows some changes in blood flow to various parts of the brain, primarily the temporal (cognitive processing) and frontal (mood) lobes in about 75 percent of patients with chronic Lyme disease. Patients with CFS have also been reported to have some brain SPECT scan changes, frequently involving the occipital lobe. No comparative studies have been made among patients with chronic Lyme disease, CFS and FM. The mechanisms underlying these changes remain to be defined, but may be due to a mild vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels) or to a signaling problem within the nerve network of the brain in those specific areas. It is promising that these changes are reversible in most patients treated with antibiotics that appear to be effective in treating the chronic Lyme disease. These MRI changes are often slow and may take a year to reverse themselves.
These are covert organisms we are dealing with. We need more direct detection methods for blood, spinal fluid and other body fluids. How do you detect organisms in spinal nerve roots or brain? Right now we can't. Nobody is going to biopsy patients. We need an illness registry so we can do direct detection studies, particularly of the brain, after death.
Treatment: Persistence Pays Off
Dr. Donta reported that there are lots of drugs that are active against the Lyme bacteria in the test tube, but the big question is whether the drug can get to the bacteria? Lyme bacteria lives in the cells of the nervous system, perhaps other cells. Dr. Donta has experimented with various intracellular-type antibiotics. He reviewed his journey through various antibiotics. After listening to his patients he decided that some antibiotics were better than others. He then looked at clarithromycin (Biaxin) and azithromycin (Zithromax) which he found had powerful activity against Lyme bacteria in a test tube.
But the antibiotics, by themselves, did not seem to do any good. He found that you need to change the cellular pH (the degree of acidity or alkalinity), making it more or less acidic, to maximize the effectiveness of the antibiotic. This allows the antibiotic to work better i.e. doxycycline seemed to work better when the pH was higher. Dr. Donta has experimented with various agents to adjust pH i.e. amantadine (used to treat flu) and plaquenil (used to treat malaria). He just submitted proposals to NIH to study various agents to determine which is most effective.
Dr. Donta emphasized that the most important aspect of treatment is that it must be long-term-- 12-18 months, sometimes 24-36 months. This length is not unusual in the treatment of infectious diseases i.e. TB. In the first few months of treatment patients can expect an adverse reaction, symptoms will increase and you'll feel worse. You need to be able to hang in through this period, and allow 3-6 months of a treatment trial to determine if it is working. The earlier in the disease process that you start on treatment, the more successful it is. The more chronic the condition the less successful it is, and you'll need to treat over a longer period of time. This treatment resulted in substantial improvement and cures in 80-90% of patients with chronic Lyme disease. There are 10-20% who do not respond-- generally those with a strongly positive Lyme test.
Dr. Donta reported that similar results have been found in some patients with CFS and FM of unknown cause, supporting the hypothesis that some patients with CFS and FM have an underlying infection responsive to those antibiotics. Antibiotic trials in CFS and FM have been limited to one month, a duration that is inadequate to properly evaluate the potential of certain antibiotics to have a positive effect on the disease. Additional studies, examining both potential etiologic agents of CFS and FM as well as treatment trials should lead to a better understanding of both the cause and treatment of patients with CFS and FM.
Questions & Answers (Q&A)
Q: If the Lyme lab tests are inadequate and the symptoms are the same as CFS and FM, why not just treat all CFS and FM patients with the Lyme protocol?
A: You want to be conservative with your medicines. I think we have enough info now to tell CFS and FM patients to consider going on a 3-6 month trial of antibiotics and see if you're better. Consider all the other meds you are already taking that just treat symptoms and not the cause of your illness. They all have side-effects that can be hazardous. Is it worth it to you to consider a primary treatment aimed at a cause? There will be resistance from some MDs. They need to be educated. Your primary MD will need to consult an LD specialist re the treatment protocol.
Q: Do patients with Lyme disease also have bowel and bladder problems like interstitial cystitis (IS) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? How are they affected by treatment?
A: Yes, many patients with Lyme have IS and IBS. He was surprised how much the bowel disorders affected treatment. Tetracycline generally helps the IBS. Plaquenil can sometimes irritate the bowel.
Q: I have received different results for the western blot Lyme test. Why?
A: Lyme test results are not reproducible from one lab to the next. You will get different findings from different labs. The western blot is not a great test for Lyme since the responses to Lyme bacteria are already very small responses.
Q: I've been sick for 15 years with CFS and my Lyme test was negative. Is there any value in treating now?
A: If the test was negative but you have the complex of symptoms and there is no other obvious answer, why not give antibiotics a try.
Q: I had the Lyme vaccine then got Lyme symptoms. Why?
A: Lyme vaccine was pulled from the market because it was causing reactions and reactivating a slow onset of Lyme disease.
Q: What are the ocular problems in Lyme?
A: He sees optic neuritis, similar to that seen in atypical MS patients.
Q: Is there any Lyme connection to cutaneous lymphoma?
A: He has looked closely for any cancer/ Lyme associations, but has not seen many.
Q: Is there a connection with thyroid problems?
A: Thyroid problems are a very common co-existing condition with Lyme, as they are with CFS.
Q: How do I differentiate itching from allergic reactions?
A: The same sensory nerve fiber pathways that carry pain carry itching, numbness, tingling etc. Rash is common symptom. Rashes could be caused by medications, especially if they are body-wide. Is it an allergic reaction or hypersensitivity reaction? Get a complete blood count (CBC) with differential. Eosinophils will be elevated if allergic reaction. If not, then it's a hypersensitivity reaction. Treatments are similar.
Q: How do we get funding for research to advance these illnesses?
A: He stressed how important it is to combine advocacy and research efforts. Ultimately it will be a political solution. Get active legislatively in DC. The CFS Coordinating Committee is a very good forum. Lyme does not have anything like that. Groups need to work together, not fight with each other. There should be a coalition of all these groups. We also need to show insurance companies the benefits of primary treatment to patients, as well as to insurer's bottom line.
by Bonnie Gorman RN
Dr Sam Donta presented a comprehensive, compassionate, cutting-edge lecture to Mass. CFIDS/FM Association members on November 3rd, 2002. His topic was "The Interface of Lyme Disease with CFS and FM: Diagnostic and Treatment Issues." Dr. Donta is a nationally recognized expert on Lyme disease. He is the Director of the Lyme Disease Unit at Boston Medical Center and a Professor of Medicine at BU Medical School. He is a bacteriologist and an infectious disease specialist, who views CFS and FM from that vantage point. He is also a consultant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and presented at NIH's scientific meetings on CFS research.
What does Lyme disease have to do with CFS and FM you might be asking? Some people believe that Lyme disease may be one of the causative factors in both CFS and FM. Others believe that some CFS and FM patients are really misdiagnosed chronic Lyme disease patients and vice versa. Some believe that there is no such thing as chronic Lyme disease, instead these patients actually have CFS or FM. We asked Dr. Donta to help sort all this out.
Parallel Symptom Patterns
Dr. Donta presented the symptom lists for chronic Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), and Gulf War Illness (GWI). He pointed out the similarities between them, and found there were few differences. He has treated hundreds of patients with these illnesses. He found that CFS and GWI have identical symptoms, and FM is only distinguished by a positive tender point exam, that is often positive in CFS and GWI as well. Clinically it is almost impossible to distinguish or differentiate these illnesses.
He has concluded that chronic Lyme disease is remarkably similar to CFS, FM, and GWI. These multi-symptom disorders have similar symptom patterns consisting of fatigue and neurocognitive dysfunction, along with numerous other symptoms that probably relate to altered neurological function. Musculoskeletal symptoms may be more frequent in FM and in some patients with chronic Lyme than in CFS, but the definition of CFS and GWI also includes muscle aches (myalgias) and joint aches (arthralgias).
Lyme Disease Symptoms
Flu-like illness, fever, malaise, fatigue, headache, muscle aches (myalgia), and joint aches (arthralgia), intermittent swelling and pain of one or a few joints, "bull's-eye" rash, early neurologic manifestations include cognitive disorders, sleep disturbance, pain, paresthesias (including numbness, tingling, crawling and itching sensations), as well as cognitive difficulties and mood changes.
The only symptom difference in Lyme disease is the expanding circular rash with a clearing area and center resembling a "bull's eye." He pointed out that Lyme has multiple types of rashes and half of the rashes are not typical, they may not even include the "bull's eye" rash. They can appear from two day after the bite, then go on for a week or so. Patients who are infected may not develop or see the rash, and may not develop any future symptoms. In studies, only one third of the patients were actually aware of their tick bites.
30-50% of acute Lyme disease patients went on to develop chronic Lyme disease. Additionally, some previously asymptomatic patients may reactivate their infection following various stressors such as trauma, surgery, pregnancy, coexisting illness, antibiotics treatment, or severe psychological stress. The Lyme vaccine can also reactivate their infection. Similar triggers such as trauma, surgery etc. are known to precipitate CFS, FM and GWI as well. This is not a new phenomenon with infectious diseases. We know infectious diseases (i.e. TB) will reactivate after illnesses or surgery-- any stressor.
Dr. Donta reported on the effects of gender on host susceptibility in Lyme disease, CFS, FM and other multi-symptom diseases. In all these disorders, women appear to be more affected than men, usually at about 2:1 ratios. He noted that neural cells contain estrogen and progesterone receptors, and that herpes viruses can utilize estrogen receptors to gain access to the reservoir in the cell nucleus. Treatment of chronic Lyme disease also seems to be gender-dependent to some degree, with men generally having more speedy and complete recoveries compared to women. He concluded that gender relationships are known for a number of infectious diseases, so it would not be surprising that such a relationship exists for chronic Lyme disease, CFS, FM and other multi-symptom disorders.
Etiology
Lyme Disease: A distinct difference between Lyme disease, CFS and FM is that the origin of Lyme is clear. Lyme disease is caused by spirochetal bacteria transmitted by the bite of an infected deer tick. This bacteria is the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It was identified in the late 1900s in Europe. The US was late to recognize what Europe had described. Lyme disease was not formally identified by the CDC until 1977 when arthritis was observed in a cluster of children in and around Lyme, CT. Since that time Lyme disease has been identified in many states. The CDC reports that it causes more than 16,000 infections per year in the US. Some researchers feel that the prevalence is higher than that.
CFS and FM: Dr. Donta feels that Lyme disease is an important cause of CFS and FM. In addition to Lyme, there are a number of other possible causes. The evidence is still circumstantial though. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the major cause of infectious mononucleosis, continues to be debated as a cause of CFS. It is uncertain whether EBV can cause symptoms other than fatigue, such as myalgias and arthralgias that are not seen during acute or reactivated EBV infection in patients who are being immunosuppressed, but it remains possible that EBV could cause one type of chronic fatigue disorder. There are also other herpes viruses i.e. HHV6 that are being evaluated as potential culprits.
Dr. Donta reported that recently recognized species of Mycoplasma (Mycoplasma fermentans, Mycoplasma genitalium) have been implicated in CFS, FM and GWI. These same bacteria have also been implicated as causative agents of rheumatoid arthritis, based on PCR-DNA evidence in patients with these disorders in which 50 percent are found to have the DNA of the Mycoplasma in circulating white blood cells, compared to 5-10 percent of a normal population. Whether the presence of this DNA represents past exposure or ongoing infection remains to be resolved. No long-term studies have yet been performed in patients with CFS and FM to determine whether the finding of Mycoplasma DNA persists over months or years or whether such patients have any evidence of other infection such as Lyme disease or infection with Chlamydia species.
Central Nervous System Involvement
Dr. Donta reported that in Lyme disease, the nervous system seems to be the primary target for the bacteria causing the disease. Patients with Lyme disease express many neurologic symptoms such as pain, paresthesias including numbness, tingling, crawling and itching sensations, as well as cognitive difficulties and mood changes. Even the joint pains and occasional arthritis appear to be neuropathic in origin, as anti-inflammatory agents such as ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) have little if any effect on the pain. Experimental evidence from animal models also affirm the localization of B. burgdorferi DNA to the nervous system. Dr. Donta postulates that the disease mechanisms could involve inflammatory responses, autoimmune responses or toxin-associated disruption of neural function. Any inflammatory responses appear to be weak, and there is no compelling evidence that Lyme disease is a result of immunopathologic mechanisms.
Commenting on his research, Dr. Donta speculated that if they are correct, and lyme bacteria is a nerve toxin that interferes with the transmission of the nerve impulse, then that is all you need to impede the normal flow of information. There is a lot of cross-talk in the nervous system. This toxin will decrease that cross-talk causing delayed responses resulting in cognitive problems-- the brain fog so commonly described in all these multi-symptom disorders.
Although the disease pathways for other possible causes of CFS and FM have not been defined, Dr. Donta postulates that the central nervous system would appear to be a logical target for other pathogens or other disease processes. These illnesses clearly affect the brain and are bound to cause many neurological manifestations. Any changes in immunologic function would not appear to be sufficient to explain the various symptoms, and are likely to be secondary to other disease processes.
He feels we have been thinking too simplistically about finding whole organisms replicating in chronic diseases. It is highly likely that there is no single cause for these illnesses. It's more likely that there are multiple causes-- different organisms causing the same final set of symptoms. Researchers need a better algorithm to study these fatiguing illnesses. We need to be more inclusive, rather than trying to separate the illnesses. Sometimes in medicine, if an illness is too complex to study, research interest dwindles. We have the technology to do the research, but there hasn't been the will and the momentum to get it done.
Clinical Diagnosis
Dr. Donta reiterated that the diagnosis of Lyme disease is primarily based on clinical grounds, just as with CFS and FM. Once other disorders are ruled out, the combination of symptoms over months is sufficient to make a presumptive clinical diagnosis. The diagnosis of Lyme is made easier if a typical rash is present during the early phase of infection. After that, it is difficult to distinguish the flu-like illness that can occur a few weeks later, or can recur over a number of months.
Dr. Donta reported that some patients develop severe headaches and an aseptic (infection free) meningitis, which frequently is diagnosed instead as viral meningitis. If a Bell's palsy occurs (drooping of one side of the face), the possibility of Lyme disease is likely. If an unprovoked arthritis occurs, causing swelling of a single joint, especially the knee, but sometimes more than one joint, then the possibility of Lyme disease should also be given high consideration.
He emphasized that it is the chronic phase of the disease that causes most problems for physicians and patients, because of the lack of objective signs and the presence of so many symptoms that it causes some doctors to attribute psychological reasons for the patients' symptoms. Many patients then receive a diagnosis of CFS or FM, when they may have underlying chronic Lyme disease as the cause of their symptoms.
Diagnostic Tests
Tests for Lyme disease, like tests for other infectious diseases, are often confusing and circumstantial, and their analysis and interpretation has often been flawed. In infectious diseases you do a Western blot test to see if you have a specific reaction. Western blot separates out proteins antigens of an organism you are looking for. It tells you if a person has been exposed. It is not a direct measurement of the organism. It is a measurement of whether the person has antibodies to it. Antibody tests are useful in the early stages of illness as with other acute infectious illnesses. Once the illness is in a chronic phase, antibody tests are not useful.
Just as viruses change from year to year, we know the Lyme bacteria mutates. There are a number of organisms that can shift their surface protein in a matter of hours and that is how they evade detection and patients test negative. These organisms attach themselves to proteins and conceal themselves-- creating a cloaking mechanism that defies detection. This allows them to get where they want to go-- the nervous system. Once they are inside a cell, the immune system can't see them.
That said, Dr. Donta explained that lab tests have been helpful is some patients with Lyme disease, especially those with arthritis, in whom there are stronger antibody responses than in those with the chronic, multi-symptom form of Lyme. The criteria for the laboratory diagnosis has been patterned after the arthritic form of the disease, and not the chronic form; as a result, there are many physicians who are misinformed about the test's lack of value in chronic Lyme disease. The Lyme Western Blot is helpful when it shows reactions against specific proteins of B. burgdorferi, but can be negative in 25-30 percent of patients who otherwise have chronic Lyme disease.
PCR-DNA tests for Lyme in blood, urine and spinal fluid are rarely positive, most likely because the bacteria and their DNA are not present in those body fluids, but inside nerve cells. Additionally, PCR-DNA studies are very easy to contaminate.
In chronic Lyme disease, the MRI exam of the brain is positive in about 10-20 % of patients. It can show some white spots (unidentified bright objects- UBO) in various areas, similar to those seen in multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurologic disease of unknown cause that has some overlapping symptoms with Lyme disease, CFS and FM, such as the numbness and tingling or paresthesias. (There are also positive MRI findings in CFS and FM patients as well.)
Dr. Donta reported that the brain SPECT scan shows some changes in blood flow to various parts of the brain, primarily the temporal (cognitive processing) and frontal (mood) lobes in about 75 percent of patients with chronic Lyme disease. Patients with CFS have also been reported to have some brain SPECT scan changes, frequently involving the occipital lobe. No comparative studies have been made among patients with chronic Lyme disease, CFS and FM. The mechanisms underlying these changes remain to be defined, but may be due to a mild vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels) or to a signaling problem within the nerve network of the brain in those specific areas. It is promising that these changes are reversible in most patients treated with antibiotics that appear to be effective in treating the chronic Lyme disease. These MRI changes are often slow and may take a year to reverse themselves.
These are covert organisms we are dealing with. We need more direct detection methods for blood, spinal fluid and other body fluids. How do you detect organisms in spinal nerve roots or brain? Right now we can't. Nobody is going to biopsy patients. We need an illness registry so we can do direct detection studies, particularly of the brain, after death.
Treatment: Persistence Pays Off
Dr. Donta reported that there are lots of drugs that are active against the Lyme bacteria in the test tube, but the big question is whether the drug can get to the bacteria? Lyme bacteria lives in the cells of the nervous system, perhaps other cells. Dr. Donta has experimented with various intracellular-type antibiotics. He reviewed his journey through various antibiotics. After listening to his patients he decided that some antibiotics were better than others. He then looked at clarithromycin (Biaxin) and azithromycin (Zithromax) which he found had powerful activity against Lyme bacteria in a test tube.
But the antibiotics, by themselves, did not seem to do any good. He found that you need to change the cellular pH (the degree of acidity or alkalinity), making it more or less acidic, to maximize the effectiveness of the antibiotic. This allows the antibiotic to work better i.e. doxycycline seemed to work better when the pH was higher. Dr. Donta has experimented with various agents to adjust pH i.e. amantadine (used to treat flu) and plaquenil (used to treat malaria). He just submitted proposals to NIH to study various agents to determine which is most effective.
Dr. Donta emphasized that the most important aspect of treatment is that it must be long-term-- 12-18 months, sometimes 24-36 months. This length is not unusual in the treatment of infectious diseases i.e. TB. In the first few months of treatment patients can expect an adverse reaction, symptoms will increase and you'll feel worse. You need to be able to hang in through this period, and allow 3-6 months of a treatment trial to determine if it is working. The earlier in the disease process that you start on treatment, the more successful it is. The more chronic the condition the less successful it is, and you'll need to treat over a longer period of time. This treatment resulted in substantial improvement and cures in 80-90% of patients with chronic Lyme disease. There are 10-20% who do not respond-- generally those with a strongly positive Lyme test.
Dr. Donta reported that similar results have been found in some patients with CFS and FM of unknown cause, supporting the hypothesis that some patients with CFS and FM have an underlying infection responsive to those antibiotics. Antibiotic trials in CFS and FM have been limited to one month, a duration that is inadequate to properly evaluate the potential of certain antibiotics to have a positive effect on the disease. Additional studies, examining both potential etiologic agents of CFS and FM as well as treatment trials should lead to a better understanding of both the cause and treatment of patients with CFS and FM.
Questions & Answers (Q&A)
Q: If the Lyme lab tests are inadequate and the symptoms are the same as CFS and FM, why not just treat all CFS and FM patients with the Lyme protocol?
A: You want to be conservative with your medicines. I think we have enough info now to tell CFS and FM patients to consider going on a 3-6 month trial of antibiotics and see if you're better. Consider all the other meds you are already taking that just treat symptoms and not the cause of your illness. They all have side-effects that can be hazardous. Is it worth it to you to consider a primary treatment aimed at a cause? There will be resistance from some MDs. They need to be educated. Your primary MD will need to consult an LD specialist re the treatment protocol.
Q: Do patients with Lyme disease also have bowel and bladder problems like interstitial cystitis (IS) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? How are they affected by treatment?
A: Yes, many patients with Lyme have IS and IBS. He was surprised how much the bowel disorders affected treatment. Tetracycline generally helps the IBS. Plaquenil can sometimes irritate the bowel.
Q: I have received different results for the western blot Lyme test. Why?
A: Lyme test results are not reproducible from one lab to the next. You will get different findings from different labs. The western blot is not a great test for Lyme since the responses to Lyme bacteria are already very small responses.
Q: I've been sick for 15 years with CFS and my Lyme test was negative. Is there any value in treating now?
A: If the test was negative but you have the complex of symptoms and there is no other obvious answer, why not give antibiotics a try.
Q: I had the Lyme vaccine then got Lyme symptoms. Why?
A: Lyme vaccine was pulled from the market because it was causing reactions and reactivating a slow onset of Lyme disease.
Q: What are the ocular problems in Lyme?
A: He sees optic neuritis, similar to that seen in atypical MS patients.
Q: Is there any Lyme connection to cutaneous lymphoma?
A: He has looked closely for any cancer/ Lyme associations, but has not seen many.
Q: Is there a connection with thyroid problems?
A: Thyroid problems are a very common co-existing condition with Lyme, as they are with CFS.
Q: How do I differentiate itching from allergic reactions?
A: The same sensory nerve fiber pathways that carry pain carry itching, numbness, tingling etc. Rash is common symptom. Rashes could be caused by medications, especially if they are body-wide. Is it an allergic reaction or hypersensitivity reaction? Get a complete blood count (CBC) with differential. Eosinophils will be elevated if allergic reaction. If not, then it's a hypersensitivity reaction. Treatments are similar.
Q: How do we get funding for research to advance these illnesses?
A: He stressed how important it is to combine advocacy and research efforts. Ultimately it will be a political solution. Get active legislatively in DC. The CFS Coordinating Committee is a very good forum. Lyme does not have anything like that. Groups need to work together, not fight with each other. There should be a coalition of all these groups. We also need to show insurance companies the benefits of primary treatment to patients, as well as to insurer's bottom line.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Meditation halts age-related degeneration throughout entire brain
Friday, July 15, 2011 by: S. L. Baker, features writer
(NaturalNews) Getting older means you will not be as mentally sharp and, in fact, your brain will shrink. It's just the way life is and there's nothing you can do about it, right? Wrong. Now it appears we can take control of brain changes and even make our brains larger, not smaller, as we age and cause electrical connections to zip along at a faster rate to improve thinking and memory. The key is meditation.
Back in 2009, UCLA scientists made an amazing discovery -- they found that the brains of people who had meditated long-term were different than those of non-meditators. To be specific, the researchers found evidence that particular regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger. They also had more gray matter than the brains of people who didn't meditate.
This was startling-- and important -- because brains normally shrink with age, a process they may explain memory and other cognitive problems experienced by elders. More recently, scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) concluded that an eight week mindful meditation practice produced measurable changes in participants' brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress (http://www.naturalnews.com/031228_m...).
Now comes even more proof that meditation does something profound, and beneficial, to the human brain. A follow-up study by the UCLA team just published in the online edition of the journal NeuroImage shows that people who meditate have stronger connections between brain regions. What's more, they have far less age-related brain atrophy.
What's the significance? Stronger connections increase the ability of electrical signals in the brain to work rapidly -- suggesting a whole host of thinking and memory benefits. Also, these effects were not just found here and there but throughout the entire brains of meditators.
The study involved 27 active meditation practitioners with an average age of 52, along with 27 matched control subjects. Both groups consisted of 11 men and 16 women. Over all, the meditators had been practicing various styles of meditation, including Shamatha, Vipassana, Zazen and others, for five years or longer.
Eileen Luders, a visiting assistant professor at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, and fellow researchers conducted their research using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a relatively new type of brain imaging that reveals structural connectivity inthe brain.
The investigators found that the differences between the brains of research subjects who were meditators and the brains of non-meditators in the control group weren't limited to a core region of the brain but instead involved large-scale networks of the entire brain, as well as limbic structures and the brain stem.
"Our results suggest that long-term meditators have white-matter fibers that are either more numerous, more dense or more insulated throughout the brain," Dr. Luders said in a statement to the media. "We also found that the normal age-related decline of white-matter tissue is considerably reduced in active meditation practitioners."
"It is possible that actively meditating, especially over a long period of time, can induce changes on a micro-anatomical level," Dr. Luders, herself a meditator, continued. "Meditation appears to be a powerful mental exercise with the potential to change the physical structure of the brain at large."
In other words, there now appears to be a way to take control of changes in the brain which, up to now, have been regarded as an inevitable part of aging. Meditation may keep the brain younger, more fit and make it literally larger and faster working, even as we grow older.
As NaturalNews previously reported, other research has shown additional health benefits of meditation. For example, it beats drugs in treating depression (http://www.naturalnews.com/024986_m...) and has been found to effectively treat bladder control problems (http://www.naturalnews.com/026233_i...).
For more information: http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033005_meditation_brain_health.html#ixzz1SBOv0YSs
(NaturalNews) Getting older means you will not be as mentally sharp and, in fact, your brain will shrink. It's just the way life is and there's nothing you can do about it, right? Wrong. Now it appears we can take control of brain changes and even make our brains larger, not smaller, as we age and cause electrical connections to zip along at a faster rate to improve thinking and memory. The key is meditation.
Back in 2009, UCLA scientists made an amazing discovery -- they found that the brains of people who had meditated long-term were different than those of non-meditators. To be specific, the researchers found evidence that particular regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger. They also had more gray matter than the brains of people who didn't meditate.
This was startling-- and important -- because brains normally shrink with age, a process they may explain memory and other cognitive problems experienced by elders. More recently, scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) concluded that an eight week mindful meditation practice produced measurable changes in participants' brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress (http://www.naturalnews.com/031228_m...).
Now comes even more proof that meditation does something profound, and beneficial, to the human brain. A follow-up study by the UCLA team just published in the online edition of the journal NeuroImage shows that people who meditate have stronger connections between brain regions. What's more, they have far less age-related brain atrophy.
What's the significance? Stronger connections increase the ability of electrical signals in the brain to work rapidly -- suggesting a whole host of thinking and memory benefits. Also, these effects were not just found here and there but throughout the entire brains of meditators.
The study involved 27 active meditation practitioners with an average age of 52, along with 27 matched control subjects. Both groups consisted of 11 men and 16 women. Over all, the meditators had been practicing various styles of meditation, including Shamatha, Vipassana, Zazen and others, for five years or longer.
Eileen Luders, a visiting assistant professor at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, and fellow researchers conducted their research using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a relatively new type of brain imaging that reveals structural connectivity inthe brain.
The investigators found that the differences between the brains of research subjects who were meditators and the brains of non-meditators in the control group weren't limited to a core region of the brain but instead involved large-scale networks of the entire brain, as well as limbic structures and the brain stem.
"Our results suggest that long-term meditators have white-matter fibers that are either more numerous, more dense or more insulated throughout the brain," Dr. Luders said in a statement to the media. "We also found that the normal age-related decline of white-matter tissue is considerably reduced in active meditation practitioners."
"It is possible that actively meditating, especially over a long period of time, can induce changes on a micro-anatomical level," Dr. Luders, herself a meditator, continued. "Meditation appears to be a powerful mental exercise with the potential to change the physical structure of the brain at large."
In other words, there now appears to be a way to take control of changes in the brain which, up to now, have been regarded as an inevitable part of aging. Meditation may keep the brain younger, more fit and make it literally larger and faster working, even as we grow older.
As NaturalNews previously reported, other research has shown additional health benefits of meditation. For example, it beats drugs in treating depression (http://www.naturalnews.com/024986_m...) and has been found to effectively treat bladder control problems (http://www.naturalnews.com/026233_i...).
For more information: http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033005_meditation_brain_health.html#ixzz1SBOv0YSs
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Tell Bath & Body Works: No marketing toxic triclosan to teens!
Please join Beyond Pesticides, Center for Environmental Health and The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in asking Bath and Body Works to stop selling triclosan-containing products that claim to “Spread Love, Not Germs.” Consumer products, especially those that are marketed to and used by preteens and teens should not have harmful chemicals in them. This is unacceptable. Take action.
As you know, triclosan is not only a hormone disruptor found at increasing concentrations in human urine and breast milk, but also contaminates waterways and possibly even the water we drink. To add insult to injury, triclosan is not even effective against harmful bacteria, including those found in hospitals.
We need to hold companies accountable for the safety of the substances they put into their products and take action against stores that are still selling many triclosan-containing products. Bath & Body Works, the body care chain popular with teens and young children, uses the triclosan in a vast array of their body care products, even boasting that the products will help “Spread love, Not germs.”
Join us to take action to make Bath & Body Works products safer. Tell Bath an Body Works CEO Diane L. Neal: “Stop using toxic triclosan in your products.”
As you know, triclosan is not only a hormone disruptor found at increasing concentrations in human urine and breast milk, but also contaminates waterways and possibly even the water we drink. To add insult to injury, triclosan is not even effective against harmful bacteria, including those found in hospitals.
We need to hold companies accountable for the safety of the substances they put into their products and take action against stores that are still selling many triclosan-containing products. Bath & Body Works, the body care chain popular with teens and young children, uses the triclosan in a vast array of their body care products, even boasting that the products will help “Spread love, Not germs.”
Join us to take action to make Bath & Body Works products safer. Tell Bath an Body Works CEO Diane L. Neal: “Stop using toxic triclosan in your products.”
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Four principles accelerate fat loss
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 by: Andrew Kim
(NaturalNews) It is true that one must maintain a state of negative energy balance for a period of time in order to lose body fat. Though, there is a bit more to the story. Burning fat and losing fat are always occurring simultaneously to some degree. The underlying premise of fat loss is to create an internal environment that favors fat burning in favor of fat storing. Simply put, if the net flow of fat is into the fat cells, weight gain results. If the net flow of fat is into the muscles (to be burned), weight loss results. Fat loss requires four steps.
The mainstream stepwise, clinical treatment of overweight/obesity begins with lifestyle changes, moves onto drugs, and ends with bariatric surgery. Most patients invariably fail the lifestyle phase and ultimately move onto the drugs and surgery. The lifestyle approach is uninspired at best and does not apply the principles of fat tissue metabolism in order to accelerate fat loss and increase muscle gain.
According to the CDC, over 65% of adults and 13-14% of children are overweight or obese in the U.S. These conditions have become major health concerns, as approximately 300,000 deaths are associated with obesity every year. In fact, as one`s body mass index (BMI) increases, so does one`s risk of disease and death from all causes.
Obesity is a disorder characterized by an accumulation of excess body fat to an extent that impairs health. To be more specific, a person is classified as clinically obese once his BMI reaches 30.
It is important to understand that many hormones and enzymes - the activity of which are ultimately determined by genes interacting with the environment - fundamentally control fat regulation. Therefore, it behooves the fat loss seeker - to the extent that is possible - to control the secretion of these hormones and activity of these enzymes to maximize fat mobilization and burning.
Fat loss requires four steps:
1. Lipolysis: Triglyceride (storage form of fat) breakdown and release.
2. Partitioning of fatty acids into the muscles in favor of fat.
3. Fatty acid oxidation (fat burning). The technical term is beta-oxidation.
4. Increased basal metabolic rate (BMR).
Lipolysis (step 1) is accomplished by an intracellular enzyme called hormone sensitive lipase (HSL), which is available abundantly within fat cells. The hormones that stimulate HSL are secreted in response to fasting, under-eating, intense exercise, and stress.
The fat partitioning step (step 2) is controlled by the enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL). LPL - as its name suggests - acts on circulating lipoprotein particles whose role is to transport fats in the bloodstream. LPL liberates fatty acids from the lipoprotein particles so that they can be herded into the cell on which the LPL resides. LPL distribution is determined by the balance between insulin and glucagon (which is determined primarily by blood sugar levels) as well as by sex hormones.
Beta-oxidation (step 3) is regulated by all of the hormones mentioned above. The most prominent one is glucagon. Glucagon - secreted in response to high protein foods and low blood sugar - increases the shuttling of fats into the mitochondria so that they may be burned for energy.
The thyroid gland is the primary regulator of BMR and accomplishes step 4 by secreting hormones that increase the metabolic rate of every cell in the body. An underactive thyroid gland almost always leads to weight gain.
So, how does the fat loss seeker consolidate all of these factors involved in fat tissue regulation and create a plan that maximizes fat burning? That will be the topic of the article "How to Accelerate Fat Loss."
Sources:
1.The Practical Guide: Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. October 2000, NIH Pub No 00-4084.
2. Calle EE, Thun MJ, Petrelli JM, et al. Body-mass index and mortality in a prospective cohort of US adults. N Engl J Med 1999;341:1097-1105.
3. National Institutes of Health and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults - the evidence report. Obes Res 1998;6(suppl 2):1S-209S.
4. World Health Organization. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO Consultation on Obesity. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1998.
5. Hall, John E., and Arthur C. Guyton. Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders/Elsevier, 2011.
6. Berg, Jeremy Mark, John L. Tymoczko, and Lubert Stryer. Biochemistry . 5th ed. New York: W.H. Freeman, 2002.
(NaturalNews) It is true that one must maintain a state of negative energy balance for a period of time in order to lose body fat. Though, there is a bit more to the story. Burning fat and losing fat are always occurring simultaneously to some degree. The underlying premise of fat loss is to create an internal environment that favors fat burning in favor of fat storing. Simply put, if the net flow of fat is into the fat cells, weight gain results. If the net flow of fat is into the muscles (to be burned), weight loss results. Fat loss requires four steps.
The mainstream stepwise, clinical treatment of overweight/obesity begins with lifestyle changes, moves onto drugs, and ends with bariatric surgery. Most patients invariably fail the lifestyle phase and ultimately move onto the drugs and surgery. The lifestyle approach is uninspired at best and does not apply the principles of fat tissue metabolism in order to accelerate fat loss and increase muscle gain.
According to the CDC, over 65% of adults and 13-14% of children are overweight or obese in the U.S. These conditions have become major health concerns, as approximately 300,000 deaths are associated with obesity every year. In fact, as one`s body mass index (BMI) increases, so does one`s risk of disease and death from all causes.
Obesity is a disorder characterized by an accumulation of excess body fat to an extent that impairs health. To be more specific, a person is classified as clinically obese once his BMI reaches 30.
It is important to understand that many hormones and enzymes - the activity of which are ultimately determined by genes interacting with the environment - fundamentally control fat regulation. Therefore, it behooves the fat loss seeker - to the extent that is possible - to control the secretion of these hormones and activity of these enzymes to maximize fat mobilization and burning.
Fat loss requires four steps:
1. Lipolysis: Triglyceride (storage form of fat) breakdown and release.
2. Partitioning of fatty acids into the muscles in favor of fat.
3. Fatty acid oxidation (fat burning). The technical term is beta-oxidation.
4. Increased basal metabolic rate (BMR).
Lipolysis (step 1) is accomplished by an intracellular enzyme called hormone sensitive lipase (HSL), which is available abundantly within fat cells. The hormones that stimulate HSL are secreted in response to fasting, under-eating, intense exercise, and stress.
The fat partitioning step (step 2) is controlled by the enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL). LPL - as its name suggests - acts on circulating lipoprotein particles whose role is to transport fats in the bloodstream. LPL liberates fatty acids from the lipoprotein particles so that they can be herded into the cell on which the LPL resides. LPL distribution is determined by the balance between insulin and glucagon (which is determined primarily by blood sugar levels) as well as by sex hormones.
Beta-oxidation (step 3) is regulated by all of the hormones mentioned above. The most prominent one is glucagon. Glucagon - secreted in response to high protein foods and low blood sugar - increases the shuttling of fats into the mitochondria so that they may be burned for energy.
The thyroid gland is the primary regulator of BMR and accomplishes step 4 by secreting hormones that increase the metabolic rate of every cell in the body. An underactive thyroid gland almost always leads to weight gain.
So, how does the fat loss seeker consolidate all of these factors involved in fat tissue regulation and create a plan that maximizes fat burning? That will be the topic of the article "How to Accelerate Fat Loss."
Sources:
1.The Practical Guide: Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. October 2000, NIH Pub No 00-4084.
2. Calle EE, Thun MJ, Petrelli JM, et al. Body-mass index and mortality in a prospective cohort of US adults. N Engl J Med 1999;341:1097-1105.
3. National Institutes of Health and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults - the evidence report. Obes Res 1998;6(suppl 2):1S-209S.
4. World Health Organization. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO Consultation on Obesity. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1998.
5. Hall, John E., and Arthur C. Guyton. Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders/Elsevier, 2011.
6. Berg, Jeremy Mark, John L. Tymoczko, and Lubert Stryer. Biochemistry . 5th ed. New York: W.H. Freeman, 2002.
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