While the onslaught (literally) of super-hero movies battles for our attention, we should instead consider real-life heroes in the world of natural therapies. Movie screen superheroes get the adrenaline going for a day or so, but natural heroes like resveratrol can offer far more benefits to our health. We could extol resveratrol for a variety…
In a world where pain and fever are a common affliction, sufferers (and their parents) appreciated having therapies which relieve these discomforts. Both pharma and natural medicine offer a list of substances which work to relieve pain and fever. With this list of options, most parents recognize that any therapy may have risks, even if…
Firefighters in a burning building will check doors and rooms for fire or smoke. If something is not right, they activate resources to address the issue. Natural Killer cells function in a similar way: they patrol our cells asking each one how things are going. Depending on the response they get, the Natural Killer cells…
Introductions are in order for the newest biotoxin to the world of life and medicine. Over the years society has become more and more familiar with biotoxins like mold toxins, Lyme, Bartonella, red tide, and others. Those who suffer from these illnesses would not wish their symptoms on anyone. Those of us who care for…
Most are aware of vitamin D and vitamin C as well as minerals like zinc, but do you know about the role that iron plays in our immune defenses and microbial invasions like Lyme? As functional medicine strives to optimize the terrain for potential or actual microbial attacks, we must consider the battle over iron…
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. …
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…
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…
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…
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…