Snotty noses may protect from COVID infections. Scientists in the Imperial College of London report on the benefits of T-cells primed by prior coronaviruses in lowering the risk of COVID 19 infections. Building on prior knowledge of cross-reactivity in the immune system and the genomic functioning of other coronaviruses, this team searched for more answers. …
Irritable Bowel Syndrome patients may grow a little irritated when allergists tell them that a particular food cannot be causing their GI symptoms. The allergist looks at either a skin allergy test of a blood IgE antibody test and says “all normal”. The IBS patient, however, knows that the food in question undoubtedly causes them…
So many struggling people enter our doors searching for answers to chronic mental health problems after having been told it was just all in their heads. Many other providers had advised them to accept the fact of lifelong medications and lifelong symptoms. Some of them had heard from therapists and counselors that they just had…
Let’s step back from individual therapies that a functional medicine provider might recommend for our patients and consider the bigger picture of natural therapies versus pharmaceuticals. For many, this separation is truly a one “versus” the other, an “either – or” choice. The purists of either camp can demonize the opposing camp, painting the picture…
Even prior to the stress of 2020 and 2021’s new normal, we have seen a growing number of suicides. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/) the rate per 100,000 individuals has risen from about 12 in 2010 to 14 in 2018 with a slight dip in 2019 and 2020. So many…
As our understanding of immunity deepens, our repertoire of immune modulators expands so that we can influence our immune defenses in a beneficial direction. The vaccine company Novavax, in working on a COVID-19 vaccine, has incorporated saponins from Chilean soapbark trees into their vaccine with the goal of boosting both antibody and cell-based immunity. Whereas…
The tool of “Metabolomics” looks to revolutionize how we view children’s chronic diseases. The basic lab markers of yesterday revealed shadows of underlying dysfunction. Metabolomics works to shine clearer light deeper into the actual mechanisms of our next generation’s growing chronic illness epidemic. Today’s article of interest shares insights into how this developing tool has…
Parents, doctors, and researchers have long wondered how children who have greater exposure to potential pathogens seem to have less infections and less allergies. Living on a farm, playing in the dirt, and hand-washing dishes seem to strengthen kids’ immunity in a variety of immune studies. The idea that ongoing infectious or antigen stimulation keeps…
Anytime you pack hundreds to thousands of students into a college campus, mold may visit the dorms and hallways bringing a variety of health effects (see our previous article on Virginia Commonwealth University here) . To put that many people in one area, you need large building, often with flat roofs and always with extensive…
For any of you out there who have worked the evening or night shift, you know that it does something to your bodies. Sure, there are a few night owls who thrive past midnight, but they have just adapted their body clocks to run differently that others. For those who disrupt a more day-oriented body…