Menopause, defined simply as the ceasing of menstruation, brings with it a plethora of changes to a woman’s body. Although there are a variety of reasons for a woman’s monthly cycle to stop, the most common one is menopause due to hormone loss, and specifically, estradiol, or estrogen loss. Although we are increasingly seeing women…
The science of the gut microbiome exploded in recent years. More and more connections arise from lab experiments at a dizzying pace. This time we learn that certain Bacillus and Staphylococcus aureus don’t get along in the neighborhood. Staph aureus makes headlines as a nasty bug, even at times a superbug resistant to multiple antibiotics,…
Epidemiological studies either peer back into time looking for patterns or arrange monitoring of future variables looking for the same patterns. Data is analyzed and … sometimes nothing. When a pattern does arise out of the fog, they then have to go searching for biological links. Patterns may only indicate correlation but not causation, meaning…
Racial disparities in terms of varying prevalence for different diseases may have a multitude of causes underneath the surface. Sometimes genetics raises its guilty hand. Sometime geographical factors like sun exposure, fish intake, or local toxins may cast their vote in a person’s health future. Researchers entered into a study in JAMA (Journal of American…
Functional Medicine MD’s like myself spend a lot of time tracking down evidence. We spend long periods of time working through complicated health stories with our patients. We also spend time tracking down helpful studies that guide us in caring for patients who have not received answers from conventional medicine. The field of mycotoxicity or…
The concept of cancer cells living off sugar has grown in recent years from just a functional medicine legend into mainstream science. Apparently, cancer does more than just grab a few morsels of glucose from the bloodstream like other cells. Scientists uncovered mechanisms by which mouse leukemia cells diverted glucose away from the body’s other…
Asthma stands out as one area of medicine where mold is recognized as a trigger. Researchers in this study searched for mold’s mechanism of action in the immune system of 33 patients exposed to mold at their workplace. By comparing the levels of many cytokines and immune markers of these patients with levels in 17…
Zearalenone is produced by a number of Fusarium mold species. Many describe it as an estrogenic mycotoxin due to its similarity to this hormone and its obvious estrogen like effects in humans and animals (5). This fungus grows on corn, wheat, barley and rye. It remains intact during normal cooking although higher temperatures can partially…
Scientists have a bad habit of contradicting themselves or at least contradicting long held dogmas. This time aspirin stock took a bit hit with the New England Journal of Medicine reporting on an almost 5 year long study regarding benefits of aspirin usage in other healthy individuals. Despite a solid history of medical dogma that…
Molds come in all kinds of varieties: Toxic, allergenic, infectious, some affecting only some animals, some only causing certain organ effects, others causing little harm outside their mold neighbors. Their greatest variety of tricks probably come in terms of their different toxins, each with some of the oddest names. You have your trichothenes, your fumosinins,…