We live in a fallen world filled with thorns that can pierce us literally and figuratively, leaving their marks on our health. While walking through this world of thorns and toxins, we should keep our eyes open in order to avoid as many as we can and minimize the impact of those we cannot fully avoid. As we inhabit or simply visit different areas of this fallen yet wondrous world, we learn what thorns we might face. Even if we are not visiting a jungle with large insects and venomous reptiles, we want to know what to avoid so we can continue life without harm to our physical bodies. Researchers in Florida wanted to know if the repeating algae blooms in the numerous waterways could be impacting human health for locals and visitors. Their findings deserve attention and further research.
As a functional medicine provider caring for toxic patients for years now, the toxicity of this world is no longer surprising. While many complain and lobby about the real damage humans are doing to the environment with industrial pollution, nature has enough of its own toxins to worry about. We regularly care for those who are unable to process biotoxins like mold or to clear chronic inflammatory conditions after Lyme disease, Bartonella infection, or COVID. These are a weekly part of our practice being in Tennessee, but we cannot forget less common toxins like algae toxins along our coasts. In those areas, the algae can “bloom” to the point of mass producing their toxins in levels not typically possible in inland ponds or lakes.
Researchers in Florida knew from experience that these algae blooms had sometimes caused large die-offs of fish or other aquatic animals. Others had identified a variety of toxins from such algae and noted their potential for harm to animals and humans. These toxins come in a variety of chemical forms such as cyclic peptides, amines, lipopolysaccharides, and alkaloids among others. Each one tends to cause damage to certain body systems giving them appropriate names such as neurotoxins, hepatotoxins, dermatoxins, or irritant toxins. While dozens of individual toxins and their algae producers have been identified, many more are suspected to exist.
In order to better understand how these toxins might affect humans living nearby bodies of water with these algae at baseline or during blooms, researchers used cell line assays to measure the potential for toxicity from different samples. Cell lines from various organ tissues were chosen which could uncover metabolic effects from samples obtained from the Indian River lagoon in Eastern Florida. Such cells lines have a long history of use in testing other chemicals for toxicity. Specifically measured concentrations of the lagoon water toxins were added to these cells line to match 20 locations in the 156 mile long lagoon. They then considered a sample to be cytotoxic (cell killing) if at least 50% of the cells in the sample died.
While the paper goes into much greater detail on specific effects by specific toxins, researchers did find significant patterns of cell toxicity that correlated with toxin levels. The toxicity was mainly during times of algae blooms, but lower levels of toxicity without algae blooms were found. They postulated that either unknown toxins were present as baseline or a mix of several lower concentrated toxins were causing this baseline toxicity.
I do wish they had somehow measured cytokine responses to these algae toxins so that we could compare them to those cytokine patterns produced by mold or Lyme or other biotoxin sources. Without involving a fully functional immune system in an actual human subject, this is probably not possible. I would find it extremely interesting to at least see a collection of data on transforming growth fator beta – 1 and C4a complement levels in those living nearby the lagoon before and during a bloom. That might hint at whether or not residents are being affected by the algae bloom especially if data on symptoms were included with the sample collection.
Until then, those of us caring for patients living near these algae toxin sources will continue to practice root cause medicine that recognizes the potential effects of these toxins. Helping those patients affected by such algae toxins return to healthier more abundant lives requires diagnosing them without fully confirmatory tests like we have for mold toxicity or Lyme disease. Hearing their story having begun with a known algae exposure does raise our suspicions for this condition. Their usual response to biotoxin therapy reassures us that we are on the right track, and we look forward to the smiles that they’ll have when the therapy succeeds.
Original Article:
Esther A. Guzmán, Tara A. Peterson, Priscilla L. Winder, Kirstie T. Francis, Malcolm McFarland, Jill C. Roberts, Jennifer Sandle, Amy E. Wright. An Assessment of Potential Threats to Human Health from Algae Blooms in the Indian River Lagoon (USA) 2018–2021: Unique Patterns of Cytotoxicity Associated with Toxins. Toxins, 2023; 15 (11): 664 DOI: 10.3390/toxins15110664
Thanks to Science Daily:
Florida Atlantic University. “Toxic algae blooms: Study assesses potential health hazards to humans.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 January 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/01/240111113109.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
