A flexible body may accompany flexible blood vessels, says Japanese author
A recent study shows that there is a strong relationship between stiffness and the hardening of blood vessels.（Fotolia）
As people age, their blood vessels will gradually harden, potentially leading to strokes and heart attacks. With age, many people also find they become less flexible. Most don’t make a connection between the two conditions, however.
Recent research by Motoyuki Iemitsu, a professor at the College of Sport and Health Sciences at Japan’s Ritsumeikan University, suggests there is a strong relationship between age-related stiffness and arteriosclerosis—the thickening and hardening of blood vessels.
A Dec. 15 article published on the website of Toyo Keizai, a Japanese publication, introduced a recent book by Iemitsu called “Blood Vessels are Stronger When the Body Is Soft.” In the book, published in October (there is no English translation available at this time), Iemitsu advises regular stretching of the lower body to prevent arteriosclerosis and the conditions that stem from it.
Iemitsu studied 132 people over 60. He divided them into “stiff” and “soft” body groups and measured the stiffness of the arteries in each group. His findings showed that the “soft” body group showed fewer signs of age-related arteriosclerosis.
As people age, blood vessels become less flexible. (peterschreiber.media/Shutterstock)
Iemitsu gives the example of a rubber hose. Strong, shiny, and flexible when new, with time a rubber hose begins to harden, becomes brittle, and cracks. Similarly, as people age, blood vessels become stiff, brittle, and less flexible. When that happens, symptoms such as high blood pressure and cold intolerance occur.
When blood pressure hits hardening blood vessels, it damages the cells inside the blood vessels and causes inflammation. It also forms a porridge-like substance called plaque, which slows the passage of blood and forms clots, causing blood vessel blockage or rupture. The term for this build-up is atherosclerosis.
Because blood pressure is proportional to the degree of atherosclerosis, it is a barometer of the condition, according to Iemitsu.
Arteriosclerosis, on the other hand, may be hard to detect, because the blood vessels themselves do not feel pain.
However, scientific data shows that age-related stiffness and arteriosclerosis are positively correlated. If you can’t touch your toes when you bend forward, take note: it may be a sign that you have hardening of the arteries.
Another indicator of arteriosclerosis may be cold intolerance, according to Iemitsu. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is used to measure arterial stiffness. Iemitsu found that a higher baPWV correlates to a greater degree of cold intolerance. In other words, baPWV is proportional to the degree of vascular sclerosis and inversely proportional to the inner diameter of blood vessels.
Iemitsu’s research indicates that if stretching conditions the body, it can also tone blood vessels. Regular stretching exercises increase muscle flexibility and are effective in softening blood vessels.
Further, because 70 percent of the human body’s muscles are gathered in the lower body, lower-body exercise is particularly important. “Exercising and stretching large muscles and thick blood vessels” in the lower body can improve arteriosclerosis, according to Iemitsu.
The findings are significant for middle-aged or elderly people who want to protect their heart health but may not be able to tolerate a rigorous program of aerobic exercise.
To reduce the incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, Iemitsu advises patients to incorporate a regular stretching regimen into their daily lives. He also suggests they eat less salt and more vegetables, stop drinking and smoking, and reduce stress as much as possible.
Silent reflux is a condition that often hides in plain sight. If you have a chronic cough, frequent throat clearing, or often have a sore throat, you may have silent reflux.
Reflux means your stomach contents come back up into your throat, which for many people causes heartburn. In silent reflux, heartburn may not happen, leaving you unaware that there is a problem. But this doesn’t mean that your throat and voice aren’t being damaged.
In this article, we’ll define silent reflux and its related conditions, GERD and LPR, describe what can cause silent reflux, and share the research-backed strategies to improve silent reflux and heartburn.
What Are Silent Reflux, LPR, Acid Reflux, and GERD?
Reflux is when contents of the stomach regurgitate into the esophagus or throat. There are several terms used for closely related reflux conditions:
Silent reflux primarily affects the voice box and the back of the throat or sinuses. It’s called silent reflux when the burning pain associated with acid reflux and heartburn isn’t present.
LPR (laryngopharyngeal reflux) is simply the medical term for silent reflux. “Laryngo” means something that affects the larynx or voice box, and “pharyngeal” means something that affects the area at the back of the throat, called the pharynx.
Acid refluxis similar to silent reflux, but the defining symptom is burning pain in the throat or heartburn.
GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is a more advanced dysfunction of the esophagus caused by prolonged damage to the throat from untreated reflux.
Silent Reflux Symptoms
Silent reflux symptoms primarily affect the voice box (larynx), back of the throat, and sinuses. If you have many of the following symptoms, you may want to be evaluated for silent reflux [1]:
Hoarseness or vocal cord inflammation
Chronic cough or frequent bronchitis
Regurgitation
Sore throat
Throat clearing or tickling in the throat
Difficulty swallowing
The feeling of a lump in the back of the throat
Heartburn
Postnasal drip
Sleep disturbance
Shortness of breath
Untreated, silent reflux can lead to the more serious symptoms or conditions of GERD, which include:
Chronic vocal injury or scarring of the vocal folds
Barrett’s esophagus (changes in the skin lining your esophagus), which can lead to a rare esophageal cancer [2]
Narrowing of the airway just below the vocal cords [3]
Eosinophilic esophagitis [4]
Silent reflux is usually diagnosed by a gastroenterologist or ear, nose, and throat doctor (otolaryngologist). Diagnosis may be based on medical history or an endoscopy (a test to look at your esophagus and stomach). You can’t see reflux on an x-ray.
If you are having difficulty swallowing, feel a sensation of a lump in your throat, or experience frequent vomiting, please get evaluated by your doctor to rule out anything serious.
(Shutterstock)
What Causes Silent Reflux?
The causes of silent reflux are unique for each person, and there’s not a universally agreed-on cause. But similar to other digestive problems, it can relate to changes like:
Slowing of your gut motility (the movement of food through your gut) [1];
Low digestive juices, like stomach acid or digestive enzymes;
Or poorly functioning sphincters (muscles in your digestive tract that open and close to allow food through). This may allow the contents of your stomach to backflow into your esophagus [1].
For example, a lazy lower esophageal sphincter is often a cause of reflux.
And though there aren’t clear causes, you’re more likely to have silent reflux if you also have these conditions:
Sleep apnea: A systematic review found that 45% of people with sleep apnea also had LPR [1].
Hiatal hernia: Occurring when the upper part of your stomach bulges through your diaphragm, this is associated with reflux for about 53% of patients [1].
Low stomach acid: This is often caused by increased age [5], some autoimmune diseases, or long-term PPI use [6].
How to Address Silent Reflux
If you have silent reflux, it’s important to get treatment to prevent long-term damage to your esophagus and throat.
Conventional treatment for silent reflux usually involves proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like omeprazole (Prilosec), but many reflux patients don’t experience relief on these medications. Even worse, long-term PPI use is associated with an increase in all-cause mortality [1], cardiovascular problems, and GI infections [7].
A natural approach can often improve or resolve silent reflux and has fewer risks. Let’s explore what can help.
A Natural Approach for Silent Reflux
Reflux can respond well to some diet and lifestyle changes. In simple terms, a natural strategy for silent reflux includes the following steps:
Modify your diet and eating habits to remove reflux triggers.
Improve your gut microbiome with probiotics. Address gut infections with antimicrobials if necessary.
Support your stomach acid with betaine HCL if needed.
Add additional therapies only if the first three don’t provide relief.
Let’s explore the specifics of this approach.
Diet Advice for Silent Reflux
Certain foods and eating behaviors, like overeating, often aggravate reflux and heartburn.
If you haven’t yet figured out what is making your reflux worse, a simple elimination diet to remove common inflammatory foods is a good place to start. Studies suggest a low-carb diet or a low FODMAP diet may be helpful for GERD, reflux, and heartburn [8, 9, 10]. A low-carb Paleo diet or low FODMAP diet is a great place to start.
Other diet advice that has been shown to be helpful for reflux, GERD, or heartburn is aimed at reducing common symptom triggers. This includes [1]:
Avoiding oily, acidic, fried, or spicy foods
Avoiding caffeine and alcohol
Eating smaller meals to avoid overeating
Not lying down for several hours after eating [11]
Elevating the head of your bed several inches by placing blocks under the bed’s top legs.
Ultimately, test any dietary changes for a few weeks. If they don’t make any difference, there’s no need to continue. If they are helping, continue avoiding the foods and behaviors that were triggering your symptoms while you work on other areas.
The Gut Microbiome and Silent Reflux
Some early research suggests that the health of your gut microbiome may be related to reflux. For example, a systematic review found that probiotics appeared to improve several GERD symptoms, including regurgitation, reflux, heartburn, and indigestion [12].
Another systematic review and meta-analysis found that H. pylori, a bacterial infection of the stomach known to cause ulcers,was prevalent in almost half of patients with LPR [1]. This implies that there is an association between H. pylori infection and some LPR cases. On the other hand, H. pylori has been shown to protect against reflux and esophageal cancer in other studies, so the data don’t all agree [1].
In the absence of clear clinical research, we can tentatively infer that improving the gut microbiome with triple probiotic therapy and treating any underlying infections like H. pylori or SIBO may provide reflux relief.
A new study suggests that not only are fermented foods good for your microbiome, they may also decrease inflammatory markers linked to conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, chronic stress, and Type 2 diabetes. (casanisa/Shutterstock)
Stomach Acid for Silent Reflux
PPIs like esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid), or H2 blockers (antihistamines like Pepcid AC) are often prescribed for silent reflux to reduce stomach acid.
However, not all evidence agrees that PPIs improve reflux. For example, two systematic reviews and meta-analyses suggest that PPIs improve reflux [13, 14], while a different systematic review found there was no statistical difference for patients between PPIs and a placebo [1].
Ironically, increasing stomach acid improves reflux for some patients. Stomach acid supports many aspects of your digestive function, and a deficiency can contribute to many gut symptoms. Not everyone needs stomach acid, but we’ve seen it make a big difference for some patients at our center for functional medicine. If supplemental stomach acid is right for you, it should lead to noticeable changes in your symptoms. If it doesn’t, supplementation should be discontinued.
You may be more likely to benefit from stomach acid support if you:
Are over 65 [5]
Have an autoimmune condition, like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or rheumatoid arthritis
Are anemic [15]
Have been diagnosed with H. pylori
Have chronically used antacids or proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)
Additional Therapies for Silent Reflux
A few other natural remedies may provide added relief from silent reflux symptoms. Consider bringing these therapies into your routine if diet changes, probiotics, and stomach acid support haven’t made a difference.
Sodium alginate, a supplement derived from brown kelp, forms a foam raft that acts as a physical barrier between the esophagus and stomach. A systematic review found alginate therapy highly effective for mild GERD [16]. Alginate is the active ingredient in a liquid over-the-counter medication available in the UK called Gaviscon Advance and a relatively new product called Reflux Gourmet.
Melatonin, a hormone your body produces each night to stimulate sleep, may protect the esophagus for people with GERD and heartburn [17]. Studies suggest melatonin may be as effective as a PPI for improving GERD [18, 19].
Prokinetic herbs, like Iberogast or RKT (a Japanese herbal blend), improve the movement of food through your digestive tract and may improve reflux, heartburn, and lower esophageal sphincter function [16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25].
Surgical Treatment for Silent Reflux and Hiatal Hernia
Hiatal hernia — when the upper part of your stomach bulges through a tear in your diaphragm (the muscle at the bottom of your rib cage that drives your breathing) — is associated with reflux in about 53% of cases [1].
One study compared a surgical treatment called fundoplication to PPI therapy alone for patients with LPR and hiatal hernia. Fundoplication was found to be more effective for improving cough, throat clearing, and improved quality of life for patients with LPR [26]. Most patients who were treated surgically were able to discontinue PPI therapy.
In addition, some chiropractors and osteopaths are skilled at adjusting a hiatal hernia, which may give some temporary relief of hiatal hernia-related reflux symptoms.
The Bottom Line
If you have chronic symptoms like a frequent cough, throat clearing, or a sore throat, silent reflux may be the reason for your symptoms.
Instead of taking prescription medications that may have serious side effects, focus on root cause solutions like removing your food triggers, rebalancing your gut microbiome, and supporting stomach acid first. Consider additional therapies if these strategies don’t work to prevent damage to your esophagus.
With some dedicated attention to these details, you can improve silent reflux and protect the long-term health of your voice and throat.
According to the International Diabetes Federation, there are more than 500 million people with diabetes worldwide. (goodluz/Shutterstock)
Diabetes has become the third most life-threatening disease after cardiovascular disease and malignant tumors. According to the International Diabetes Federation, about 500 million people worldwide have diabetes mellitus and the number is increasing by 25,000 yearly, and those affected are found to be younger. A recent study shows that intermittent fasting can alleviate type 2 diabetes (also called adult-onset diabetes) .
Type 1 diabetes is caused by genetic abnormalities in insulin secretion, while type 2 diabetes is usually caused by the body’s cells failing to use insulin effectively, resulting in an imbalance in blood glucose levels. In addition, type 2 diabetes is also more common, and if not treated properly can lead to a variety of complications and death.
A research team led by Dongbo Liu, a professor at Hunan Agricultural University in China, published a paper titled “Effect of an Intermittent Calorie-restricted Diet on Type 2 Diabetes Remission: A Randomized Controlled Trial” in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism on Dec. 14. The study found that three months of intermittent fasting led to remission in some patients with type 2 diabetes.
Intermittent fasting is regarded as a safer and easier-to-implement weight loss method. The method aims at eating only within a limited period of time, including time-restricted eating, alternate-day fasting, all-day fasting, religious fasting, and others. In recent years, the most popular fasting method restricts eating to only 8 hours a day.
Liu’s team said that although some studies have investigated the health benefits of intermittent fasting in humans, the efficacy in the context of diabetes remission remains to be elucidated. The study found that three months of intermittent fasting can make type 2 diabetes patients go into remission and maintain it for at least a year without medication.
The team presented a randomized controlled clinical study to investigate the efficacy of Chinese Medical Nutrition Therapy (CMNT) in inducing diabetes remission. Diabetes remission, assessed as the primary outcome, was defined as a stable glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level below 6.5 percent (48 mmol/mol) at least three months after discontinuation of the antidiabetic drugs. In addition, a further 12-month follow-up was conducted to confirm the patient’s stability status. The study reported that the CMNT regimen is a newly proposed intermittent fasting method that consists of a 5-day fast followed by a 10-day reintroduction of daily foods, including wheat, barley, rice, rye, and oats, and is characterized by a reduction in glycemic load, calories and carbohydrates, and an increase in unsaturated fatty acids.
The team screened 72 participants who had been living with type 2 diabetes for 1 to 11 years, who were aged between 38 and 72, and had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 19 to 30.4. The experiment was randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received the CMNT therapy, while the control group was allowed to eat as they wished. The experimental group underwent 3 months of intermittent fasting intervention, with 15 days as a cycle and a total of 6 cycles. For each cycle, subjects were asked to restrict their diet for 5 days.
At the beginning of the study, all patients continued to take their usual antidiabetic medication. After 3 months of intervention, 18 out of 36 (50 percent) participants in the experimental group and 1 out of 36 (2.8 percent) participants in the control group discontinued their antidiabetic medications under the doctor’s observation. In addition, 13 out of 19 (68.4 percent) participants in the experimental group and 1 out of 35 (2.8 percent) participants in the control group reduced their diabetes medication intake. The average dose of medication was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group.
After completing the 3-month intervention and 3-month follow-up, 17 out of 36 (47.2 percent) participants in the experimental group achieved remission of diabetes, with a mean fasting glucose of 6.3, a mean weight loss of 5.93 kg, and a mean BMI reduction of 2.41, compared with only 1 out of 36 (2.8 percent) participants in the control group who went into remission. On the other hand, the average fasting glucose in the control group was 7.66, the average weight loss was 0.27 kg, and the BMI was reduced by 0.18.
After 12 months of follow-up, 16 out of 36 (44.4 percent) subjects in the experimental group achieved remission of diabetes with a glycosylated hemoglobin level of 6.33 percent. With a 77.22 percent reduction in medical costs in the experimental group, compared to the control group, the results of the study showed that almost half of the participants with diabetes were in remission with the CMNT regimen.
The team said that follow-up observations are being conducted for five years or longer to explore the stability and effectiveness of the CMNT regimen and whether there are any complications. The study was conducted by nurses under real-life conditions, rather than by the research team itself. The regimen makes fasting more feasible in diabetes treatment and is expected to lead to new breakthroughs in diabetes treatment in the future.
Green tea may relieve GI side effects of common cancer drug
Green tea has many health benefits. Now research shows it may be helpful for cancer patients.(studiolopa/iStock)
Drinking green tea has many benefits for the human body. Not only is it a refreshing drink, it is also known for its health benefits. Among other beneficial effects, it is an antioxidant and inhibits hypertension.
A Japanese study has shown that green tea extract shows promise for cancer patients. On March 27, a study presented at the pharmaceutical society of Japan’s annual meeting in Nagoya, Japan, showed that green tea extract can alleviate severe diarrhea caused by the cancer drug irinotecan (CPT-11). The study was presented by Dr. Tomoo Hosoe of Tokyo’s Hoshi University.
Green Tea and Chemo Side Effects
Irinotecan is an anti-tumor drug used for many types of cancer, including colon cancer. However, the chemotherapy drug has serious side effects, including diarrhea.
Irinotecan causes diarrhea due to its SN-38G content. In the intestine, the bacteria β-glucuronidase converts SN-38G into SN-38, which inhibits tumor growth. However, the process also damages the intestinal mucosa.
In a study on mice, Dr. Hosoe’s team found that the high levels of catechin—a natural antioxidant—in green tea extract inhibit irinotecan-induced diarrhea.
The researchers divided the mice into two groups. One group was given irinotecan alone, and the other group was given irinotecan plus green tea extract. The results showed that the mice given only irinotecan had a 3.5-fold increase in fecal water content (diarrhea). In the other group, mice given a combination of green tea extract and irinotecan showed a 1.5-fold increase in diarrhea, which was significantly less than that of the irinotecan-only group.
In terms of the activity of β-glucuronidase-producing bacteria, the number of bacteria was significantly reduced in the group mixed with green tea extract compared to the group given irinotecan alone. Moreover, the increased dose of green tea extract was more effective in reducing the activity of β-glucuronidase.
Green Tea: More Good News for Cancer Patients
For years, Japanese researchers have studied the connection between green tea and cancer. While most studies focus on the role of green tea in preventing cancer, a 2004 study showed that green tea extract had an inhibitory effect on the growth of tumor angiogenesis. Researchers at Japan’s Osaka University studied the effect of green tea extract on blood vessel growth using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Twenty-four hours after the addition of green tea extract (0-25 mg/ml) to endothelial cells cultured in the medium, cell viability, cell proliferation capacity, cell migration capacity, and cell formation capacity were analyzed.
The results showed that the cell viability of endothelial cells did not change, but cell proliferation, tube formation, and cell migration abilities were significantly reduced, depending on the concentration of green tea extract added. In addition, the activity of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in endothelial cells, was also reduced as the dose of green tea extract was increased.
The research team concluded that green tea extract inhibited tumor angiogenesis by reducing the expression of VEGF receptors. The results of the study were published in the Japanese Society for Home Economics Research Publications in May 2004.
The Long History of Tea in Japan
The history of tea began in China and spread throughout the world. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), tea was introduced from China to Japan. At that time, during Japan’s Nara period (710-1192 A.D.), the country was attempting to learn and adopt the more advanced Chinese systems and culture. Tea was extremely precious and only a very small number of nobles and monks could enjoy it.
During the Kamakura period (1192-1392 A.D.) in Japan, a Japanese Buddhist priest named Zen master Eisai visited China and brought back green tea leaves to Japan. Eisai wrote “How to Stay Healthy By Drinking Tea,” which recorded the effects of tea leaves and how to make tea. The first complete book on tea in Japan, Eisai’s book had a major impact on the spread of tea culture.
Nowadays, most of the tea roasted in Japan is green tea. In fact, Japanese tea is generally referred to as Japanese green tea. There are various types of green tea, including sencha, mint tea, green tea, and bancha. Green tea is grown extensively in Japan.
Signs of post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) include fatigue, combined with brain fog or pain that lasts more than three months after the initial infection.
Nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, experts are trying to understand the lingering symptoms of what is commonly called long COVID, who is most at risk, and how the symptoms can best be treated.
A cross-sectional study of over 16, 000 individuals found 15 percent of U.S. adults with a prior positive COVID-19 infection reported current symptoms of long COVID.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that one in 13 U.S. adults experience symptoms lasting three or more months after first contracting COVID-19.
These symptoms, also called post-COVID Conditions (PCCs), are most often seen in patients over 65 years old with pre-existing medical conditions.
“This may be the result of worsening of one or more known conditions, but also may stem from altered immune responses,” Dr. Richard Becker of the Division of Cardiovascular Health and Disease at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, told The Epoch Times.
Research from earlier this year confirmed that even after a mild infection, people can experience significant disturbances in their immune responses lasting months.
Becker emphasized that PCCs are equally likely to occur in patients with COVID-19 whether they were hospitalized or stayed home.
“In our experience treating over 500 patients with PCC,” said Becker, who also runs the UC Davis Health Post-COVID-19 Clinic, “The most common symptoms [of PCC] are fatigue, post-exercise exhaustion, shortness of breath, and chest pain.”
Becker’s initial treatment approach includes carefully selected tests to evaluate the heart, lungs, muscles, and joints. A diagnosis pertaining to one or more of these is followed by targeted treatment based on teaching patients physical and mental ways to ease symptoms.
“We have found that a COVID-recovery rehabilitation program with a focus on the mechanics of breathing, paced activity, and guidance to avoid excess physical, mental, or emotional stress can be beneficial,” said Becker.
Post-Viral Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
A review of COVID-19 cohort studies finds persistent fatigue was reported by up to 33 percent of patients from 16 to 20 weeks post-symptom onset.
“Although deaths, heart damage, and strokes can be the most devastating persistent sequelae of COVID, the major issue is the post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia,” said Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., a board-certified internist and nationally known expert in the fields of chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, sleep, and pain.
Signs of post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) include fatigue, combined with brain fog or pain that lasts more than three months after the initial infection.
“It is suspected that a significant portion of people who dropped out of the workforce in the ‘Great Resignation’ had milder cases of post-COVID CFS,” said Teitelbaum.
Chronic fatigue syndrome can severely affect our quality of life. “In the 10 percent of COVID cases that have more severe post-viral fatigue, it can be totally crippling,” he explained. “Even leaving people bed and housebound.”
There are currently no particular treatment options for post-COVID chronic fatigue syndrome, although research to find effective methods is ongoing.
However, Teitelbaum believes chronic fatigue syndrome after COVID is treatable, and research he co-authored found that a commonly available root extract could help.
Previous studies have found that a unique Panax ginseng root extract called Korean red ginseng, often resulted in improvement for people living with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Teitelbaum’s research showed that 60 percent of people with post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia improved by simply taking Korean red ginseng.
Improvements in this group were a 67 percent average increase in energy, 44 percent average increase in overall well-being, 48 percent average improvement in mental clarity, 46 percent average improvement in sleep, 33 percent average decrease in pain, and a 72 percent average increase in stamina.
Ginseng is considered safe to use for most people but is contraindicated for pregnant women due to a lack of information about its effect on the fetus.
“Our research has shown that post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are very treatable,” he said. “The problem is that there is no expensive medication needed, so no one pays for the doctors to get the information.”
Shortness of Breath
Up to 12 percent of people will experience shortness of breath (dyspnea) after COVID.
“Shortness of breath is very common post-COVID, but usually not dangerous,” said Teitelbaum. “Mostly it’s simply scary.”
You can use a pulse oximeter when you’re experiencing shortness of breath to tell whether it’s a lung or heart problem (due to low oxygen levels)—or just a sensation of breathlessness.
An article in Harvard Health found strong, scientific evidence that there are many supplements that can help us heal after COVID.
According to Teitelbaum, if it’s a heart problem, there is a mix of nutrients that increase cardiac efficiency and can “markedly” improve cardiac function and stamina. These nutrients include a high-dose B-complex with magnesium, D-Ribose, coenzyme Q10, and other herbs and nutrients, as he recommends on his website.
Lung and other inflammation resulting from COVID may be helped with curcumin, Boswellia (frankincense), and glutathione.
“All of these supplements are relatively low cost,” Teitelbaum reiterates. “And therefore doctors don’t hear about them.”
As with any supplement, some people may not react well when using these remedies and may experience stomach discomfort using Boswellia and high doses of curcumin. Long-term use of glutathione has been linked to lower zinc levels.
Brain Fog
Nearly one-third of post-COVID patients will experience cognitive impairment called “brain fog,” (1, 2) that can seriously impair memory and executive functioning. However, there are currently no FDA-approved treatments for this condition.
In November, researchers from Yale Medical School published a case study showing guanfacine (used for treating blood pressure) and the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduced the cognitive deficits (brain fog) associated with long COVID in eight out of 12 patients. According to the study authors, both substances may work together to reduce inflammation in the brain and spinal cord.
They noted one patient who stopped taking guanfacine due to an episode of low blood pressure and reported their brain fog returned. The condition was resolved when they resumed taking the drug.
“The finding that one patient’s cognitive abilities worsened when guanfacine treatment was suspended, and improved with guanfacine reinstatement, supports a therapeutic role for this compound,” the authors wrote.
“These drugs are affordable and widely available,” said Arman Fesharaki-Zadeh, M.D., Ph.D., a behavioral neurologist and neuropsychiatrist at Yale Medicine, “You don’t need to wait to be part of a research trial. You can ask your physician.”
They also emphasized that placebo-controlled trials are needed to better understand how these drugs work to treat brain fog.
Based on the studies of these low-cost, doctor-recommended remedies, there is help at hand—and hope for those suffering the long-term, sometimes debilitating effects of long COVID. Remember to consult your doctor for possible contraindications to any medications you may be taking before trying any new remedies.
A practical risk score tool has been developed to help people identify their potential risk for dementia, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.
Lina Ren, MMed, of the Shenzhen Mental Health Center in China, and colleagues sought to develop a point risk score prediction model of dementia.
A practical risk score tool was developed for individual prediction of dementia risk, to help people identify their potential risk for dementia. Source: Adobe Stock
The authors used a large United Kingdom population-based prospective cohort study that was conducted between March 13, 2006, and Oct. 1, 2010. Outcomes of interest included 5-, 9-, and 13-year dementia risk.
A total of 444,695 participants (205,187 male; 239,508 female; mean age, 56 years) were included. Dementia occurrence after 13 years of follow-up was 0.7% among men and 0.5% among women.
The authors reported that men and women shared some modifiable and protective risk factors, as well as independent risk factors that accounted for 31.7% of men developing dementia and 53.35% of women.
The total point score of the risk score model ranged from –18 to 30 in men and –17 to 30 in women. In addition, the risk score model yielded nearly 100% prediction accuracy of 13-year dementia risk for both men and women, the authors reported.
“We identified some risk factors of dementia, which covered socioeconomic adversity, sleep phenotypes, physical activity, and comorbidities,” Ren and colleagues wrote. “The developed risk prediction system may help individuals to identify their potential risk profile and provide guidance on precise and timely actions to prevent or delay dementia.”
The daily use of multivitamin-mineral supplements improved global cognition, episodic memory and executive function in older adults, researchers reported in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of The Alzheimer’s Association.
Laura D. Baker, PhD, a professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University, and colleagues assessed whether the daily administration of cocoa extract — containing 500 mg of flavanols — as well as the daily administration of a commercial multivitamin-mineral improved cognition in older adults.
Source: Adobe Stock.
Baker and colleagues conducted a large randomized two-by-two factorial 3-year trialthat included 2,262 participants (mean age, 73 years; 60% female).
Primary outcomes were assessed through a global cognition composite formed from mean standardized scores from individual tests, including telephone interviews of cognitive status, word list and story recall, oral trail-making, verbal fluency, number span and digit ordering. Secondary outcomes were evaluated by change in composite with 3 years of multivitamin supplementation.
The researchers reported cocoa extract had no effect on global cognition (mean change score, 0.03; 95% CI, –0.02 to 0.08).
However, daily multivitamin supplementation, compared with placebo, showed a statistically significant benefit on global cognition (mean change score, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.02-0.12), and was most pronounced in those with a history of cardiovascular disease (no history, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.01-0.11; history, 0.14; 95% CI, –0.02 to 0.31).
Additionally, daily multivitamin supplementation was linked to relative improvements for both episodic memory (mean change score, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.002-0.13) and executive function (0.06; 95% 0.01-0.11).
According to Alzheimer’s Association Chief Science Officer Maria C. Carrillo, PhD, this is the first positive, large-scale, long-term study that shows daily multivitamin supplementation may slow cognitive aging in older adults.
“While the Alzheimer’s Association is encouraged by these results, we are not ready to recommend widespread use of a multivitamin supplement to reduce risk of cognitive decline in older adults,” Carrillo said in a released statement that accompanied the study. “Independent confirmatory studies are needed in larger, more diverse study populations. It is critical that future treatments and preventions are effective in all populations. For now, and until there is more data, people should talk with their health care providers about the benefits and risks of all dietary supplements, including multivitamins.”
Children who played video games were shown to exhibit better cognitive function compared with those who didn’t, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.
Bader Chaarani, PhD, of the department of psychiatry at the University of Vermont, and colleagues aimed to examine the association between video gaming and cognition in children through a case-control study.
Children who played video games were shown to exhibit better cognitive function compared with those who didn’t.Source: Adobe Stock.
Chaarani and colleagues observed cognitive performance and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals among children aged 9 to 10 years who played video games and compared them with those who didn’t.
Children with valid neuroimaging and behavioral data were included. All participants completed a self-reported screen time survey, which included time spent specifically on video gaming.
Video gaming time, cognitive performance and BOLD signals were assessed with an n-back analysis. Working memory through stop signal tasks were assessed through functional MRIs.
A total of 2,217 children were included in the study (mean age, 9.9 years; 63.1% female). Of those who were included in the final sample for stop signal tasks, 1,128 children did not play video games and 679 children played them at least 21 hours per week. The final sample of those who completed the n-back analysis included 1,278 children who did not play video games and 800 children who played them for at least 21 hours per week.
Those who played video games performed better in both sample groups. Nonparametric analyses of functional MRI data demonstrated greater BOLD signals among children who played video games in the precuneus during inhibitory control.
“During working memory, a smaller BOLD signal was observed in [children who played video games] in parts of the occipital cortex and calcarine sulcus and a larger BOLD signal in the cingulate, middle, and frontal gyri and the precuneus,” the authors wrote.
In a release from the NIH, National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow, MD, stated that this study adds to the growing understanding of the associations between video gaming and brain development.
“Numerous studies have linked video gaming to behavior and mental health problems,” she said. “This study suggests that there may also be cognitive benefits associated with this popular pastime, which are worthy of further investigation.”
In a related editorial, Kirk M. Welker, MD, of the division of neuroradiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said that making any recommendations based on functional MRI studies is “challenging.”
“By the nature of their design, most [functional] MRI studies on this topic fail to establish causality between video gaming and purported brain functional alterations,” Welker wrote. “Some studies may simply be uncovering inherent brain characteristics that lead certain individuals to gravitate toward video gaming. If, in fact, video games are altering neurocognition, the longevity of any cerebral changes induced by this activity remains largely unknown.”
Laken Brooks, a 27-year-old PhD student at the University of Florida, has dealt with the skin condition psoriasis since she was a preteen. It’s always been a painful and difficult condition to manage, but over the past several years, Brooks has struggled even more. She suspects her psoriasis is worse thanks to climate change.
“Each year, the summer seems to last a bit longer,” Brooks says. “When I first moved to Florida (5 years ago), I noticed that sunburn and sweat made my skin feel even itchier than normal. I tried to alleviate some of the symptoms by wearing hats and head scarves, and I expected that I would acclimate to the new climate. But it’s difficult to acclimate when each year, the temperatures continue going up and my skin can never really get accustomed to the Florida climate.”
Brooks is onto something — climate change is having increasingly bigger impacts on health. The seventh annual The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, released this fall, confirms that. The report, authored by nearly 100 experts from over 50 academic institutions and agencies, tracks the impact of climate change on global health. The 2022 version revealed that every year, in every region of the globe, climate change is undermining health. Slideshow
The Lancet report this year identified four major harms from climate change: air quality, heat-related illness, infectious disease, and mental health.
Renee Salas, MD, of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is one of the report’s authors. She’s regularly sees how climate change is harming her patients’ health — especially those who cannot afford to mitigate its impacts.
“We had a patient present to the emergency room last summer with a core temperature of 106,” she explains. “He met the criteria for heat stroke. He and his wife lived in an upper story apartment with no access to A/C.”
Salas sees it as part of her responsibility to her patients to make the connections between climate change and health effects. Heat, in particular, is a palpable way for people to understand that connection, she says.
The impacts go beyond heat, however. “I have concerns about all of them,” says Salas. “And how climate change impacts a person will be impacted by how they live and the resources they have.”
Climate’s Impact on Mental Health
While heat might be the most obvious of harms people recognize from climate change, the mental health piece of the equation is likely the least. Susan Clayton, PhD, is a professor of psychology and environmental studies at the College of Wooster in Ohio. She’s been studying the link between the two for several years and has written three papers on the subject, the first in 2014.
“We’re reaching a point where people express that they’re anxious about climate change, but they don’t recognize that as a mental health threat,” she says.
In her work on the subject, Clayton has identified four categories where climate change impacts mental health:
Increasingly severe weather events: As more people experience devastating weather events, more people are also experiencing PTSD, clinical anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.
Slower changes: It doesn’t take a category 5 hurricane to dole out mental health harm. As temperatures rise higher than normal for longer periods of time, so too do the rates of suicide and psychiatric hospitalizations.
Involuntary displacement: Many people love and are rooted to where they live. As coastal flooding, wildfires, and other weather events displace them, they suffer deteriorating mental health.
Awareness of climate change: As everyone bears witness to climate change and become increasingly aware of its impacts, collective anxiety levels rise. For most people this is manageable, but it’s still harmful.
While talking about climate change and how it harms mental health can sometimes increase feelings of anxiety and other conditions, it’s an essential conversation to have, says Clayton. “When you’re overwhelmed and disempowered, it can be too much to cope with,” she explains. “But it can also encourage you to attend to the issue.”
Mitigation in the Meantime
As the data continues to pour out and demonstrate the link between climate change and health, it remains difficult for people to understand. For Salas, this can often be frustrating.
“I often have to walk upstream to understand what’s causing patients’ issues in the first place,” she says. “That’s why I do the work I do — I cannot just treat patients in the ER and call it good. That’s like putting a band aid on a bullet wound.”
Recognizing and pointing out that those in the line of fire are often those with fewer resources to change how climate is impacting their health is a starting point.
“We recognize that policy and higher-level decisions have drive these situations,” Salas says. “So I try to find the risks, educate patients, and then give them recommendations to protect themselves.”
This might look like suggesting a patient add an air filtration system in their home, or ensuring they have a back-up plan for using a nebulizer if the electricity is knocked out. The biggest message to get across, says Salas, is that health is harmed by what is happening “upstream.” “We need political and social will to change,” she says. “We’re beginning to see this — the health community is rising up and recognizing it as fundamental to the mission of medicine.”
For people like Brooks, who are not able to relocate now, the temporary fix is trying to minimize how climate change exacerbates existing conditions. “I have been able to mitigate some flare-ups by taking cool showers,” she says. “I don’t plan to live in Florida forever, but right now I don’t have the resources to transplant my life and move somewhere else.”
Drinking two or more cups of coffee daily is linked to double the risk of death from heart disease if you have severe high blood pressure, a new study from Japan suggests.
Previous studies have found that coffee consumption can reduce the risk of high blood pressure and death, but those studies didn’t differentiate among people with different levels of high blood pressure, according to study author Masayuki Teramoto, MD, MPH, of The University of California in San Francisco.
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“Caffeine’s harmful effects may outweigh its protective effects in persons with severe hypertension and increase the risk of mortality,” Teramoto says.
The study also looked at green tea consumption and found no link with heart disease death at any blood pressure level.
For the study, published Dec. 21 in the Journal of theAmerican Heart Association, researchers analyzed the blood pressure levels plus coffee and green tea consumption of 18,609 Japanese people ages 40 to 75. Sixty-five percent were women.
Blood pressure was categorized as:
Optimal and normal (less than 130/85)
High normal (130-139/85-89)
Grade 1 hypertension (140-159/90-99)
Grade 2 (160-179/100-109)
Grade 3 (higher than 180/110)
Grade 2 and 3 were considered “severe” high blood pressure.
Coffee consumption was categorized as occasionally or none, less than one cup, one cup, and two or more cups per day. For green tea consumption, the categories were occasionally or none, less than one cup, one or two cups, , three or four cups, five or six cups, and seven or more cups per day.
A total of 842 heart disease deaths occurred during the follow-up period at about 19 years. Coffee consumption was related to increased heart risk only among those who started the study with severe hypertension (grade 2 or 3). Compared with non-coffee drinkers, their risk of heart disease death doubled with two or more cups of coffee per day.
Green tea consumption was not associated with an increased risk of death from heart disease at any blood pressure level. Rather, frequent consumption was associated with lower total cholesterol level among those with severe hypertension.
More research is needed in different populations to confirm the study results, Teramoto says.
Avoid Additives
The study is unique in that it looks separately at risk associated with coffee and tea intake across different ranges of blood pressure, says American Heart Association Nutrition Committee Chair Christopher Gardner, PhD. But the study’s many categories for blood pressure and coffee and tea consumption made for very small subgroups for analysis. For example, only 19 (2%) of the 842 deaths were in the severe hypertension group.
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The small subgroups also limited the researchers’ ability to accurately calculate any benefits of coffee or green tea at any blood pressure level.
What’s more, Gardner notes that the researchers didn’t look at what people put into their coffee and tea.
“Black coffee and a ‘mocha-frappa-cappuccino’ might both qualify as ‘coffee,’ but the latter is a sugar-and-saturated fat delivery vehicle. Green tea and boba/bubble tea are similar in terms of both possibly qualifying as ‘tea,’ but the latter is more of a tea-flavored-beverage, with sugar and dairy and other additives.”
People need to know that even if they don’t have high blood pressure or if they have mild hypertension, they should not feel free to increase their consumption of coffee-like and tea-like beverages, which could be harmful because of the additives, Gardner says.
And if you have severe high blood pressure, limit your coffee consumption to less than two cups per day until more research results are available, Gardner advises.
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