by admin | Oct 8, 2020 | Health Awareness
Whether it’s a migraine or a foul mood, many people believe that certain weather patterns can trigger wellness issues. If you have arthritis, for instance, you might find that your joint pain seems to flare up with certain temperatures or conditions. But does the weather impact our health, or is it just in our heads? Let’s take a look at some research to find out.
Colds & Flus
The CDC states that flu activity peaks from December to February, with the full season stretching from October to May. Is it a coincidence that these months also see the chilliest temperatures? Not according to 2015 research, published in Viruses. The study shows a correlation between plummeting temperatures and humidity levels and the uptick in infections. The theory is that breathing in poorly humidified air – hot or cold – can dry the nasal passages, thus decreasing resistance to viruses. Of course, the colder season also tends to restrict us to indoor activities, where we might be more likely to pick up germs from others. Even if chilly, dry weather does impact resistance, germs are still the culprit behind cases of flu and colds, so try to avoid direct contact with anyone who is sick and wash your hands frequently.
Migraines
The triggers for migraines have long been debated, but those who experience them often cite weather patterns as a causative agent. While the verdict is still out on whether cold temps could affect these severe headaches, research has indicated that cluster headaches appear more frequently during transitions from winter to spring and spring to summer.
Mood Changes
Feeling gloomy as a result of less sunshine? You’re not alone. More than 3 million people in the U.S. experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) each year, a condition characterized by depression which typically starts in the fall and persists through the winter. Reduced sunlight can affect the body’s circadian rhythm, serotonin levels, and melatonin, all of which influence mood. Symptoms of SAD include feeling sluggish, losing interest in your favorite activities, and feeling depressed most of the day, almost every day. Of course, dreary weather can also lead to some of these feelings on a less intense scale. If you think you could have SAD, however, don’t feel as if you have to “tough it out;” doctors can offer treatments such as light therapy to help you address the condition.
Chronic Pain
Pain from conditions like osteoarthritis is believed to be worsened by damp, cold weather. Some studies suggest cloudy, rainy weather indeed increases severe discomfort, but other research debunks this theory. Persistent pain caused by arthritis and other chronic conditions tends to wax and wane to begin with, which makes it challenging to establish a definitive link between weather patterns and aches. Still, the Cloudy with a Chance of Pain project, which aims to correlate chronic pain with the weather, suggests planning any burdensome activities around any weather patterns you believe to influence your pain levels.
by Stemedix | Oct 5, 2020 | Ozone Therapy
For conditions such as chronic illness, finding a safe and effective treatment regimen can be challenging. Oftentimes, the medications prescribed only help to control symptoms, instead of addressing the disease itself. Moreover, they also tend to come with a host of side effects that may impact the quality of life. While it isn’t a cure-all, many patients have found relief with medical ozone therapy. This alternative therapy is becoming increasingly popular, thanks to its ability to rebalance bodily systems. Find out more about what the treatment entails here.
What Is Ozone Therapy?
This medical treatment leverages a naturally occurring gas, ozone. Unlike oxygen, which has only two atoms, ozone has three. The extra atom is primed to break off and join other molecules in a process known as oxidation. This extra atom can lend itself to healing when used in medical applications. In fact, it’s been used by practitioners since 1871, when it helped to treat wounds of WWI soldiers. Within the past two decades, however, it’s made significant strides in the medical community.
How Is Ozone Therapy Administered?
Ozone can be administered either as a local or systemic treatment. A local treatment aims to heal an isolated area of the body, such as a sore in the mouth or damaged joint. Systemic treatments, on the other hand, aim to promote healing throughout the whole body. Blood treatments are examples of systemic ozone therapy.
Which Conditions Does Ozone Therapy Treat?
Ozone can be used in the primary medical industry to treat acute infections and chronic illnesses. It’s also used to improve symptoms in joint injures and to prevent or treat infections in the dental industry. Aestheticians use ozone in the cosmetic industry, too, as a means of addressing concerns like wrinkles and cellulite.
When applied systemically, the treatment can be used for many conditions. Some are:
- Infections
- Autoimmune diseases
- Gastrointestinal illness, such as IBS
- Mold toxicity
- Lyme’s Disease
Patients with chronic pain and fatigue, heart disease, allergies, and Alzheimer’s disease may also benefit from ozone therapy. When administered locally, ozone helps to treat non-healing wounds, ulcers, and infections.
What Are the Benefits of Ozone Therapy?
Medical Ozone therapy is considered a powerful, effective treatment for several reasons. For instance, it could:
- Improve circulation
- Modulate the immune system by powering an underperforming immune system or rebalancing an autoimmune problem
- Control oxidative stress, a primary cause of disease
- Enhance oxygenation for overall better physical wellness and healing
In addition to the improvement of their symptoms, many people who undergo ozone therapy also enjoy benefits such as increased endurance, energy, cognitive function, and overall wellbeing, along with decreased pain levels.
Ozone therapy is an alternative therapy poised to rebalance complex bodily systems. If you think the treatment could be right for you, contact a Care Coordinator for a free assessment!
by admin | Oct 1, 2020 | Functional Medicine, Health Awareness
Each person has their own individual health history, lifestyle, and genetic factors, yet most of us are advised to follow the same general dietary guidelines. In functional nutrition, practitioners believe that approaches to eating should be as unique as the patient themselves. The overarching objectives of personalized nutrition are to restore wellness and reduce the risk of serious illness.
Functional nutrition is an important principle in functional medicine. Whereas traditional medicine approaches health by making a diagnosis and then treating that condition or its symptoms, functional medicine aims to treat ailments and prevent illness by addressing any underlying factors that can compromise health. In other words, while functional practitioners will still come to a diagnosis, they dig deeper to find out what’s causing a condition, looking at the body as a whole and assessing the interplay of its different systems. From there, they help patients rebalance by looking to optimize wellness in the areas of stress, sleep, movement, and diet.
Functional Nutrition to Promote Overall Health
Functional nutrition uses diet to promote gut health, achieve balance throughout the body, and optimize nutrient levels. It’s highly personalized and looks into factors such as genetics to come up with an individualized plan for eating that’s perfectly suited to your needs. For instance, you could have food sensitivities that are affecting your body more than you might imagine. Certain dietary choices could be triggering symptoms like bloating, fatigue, and other issues. By eliminating these sensitivities, you could feel better, prevent health issues down the road, and ensure your body gets the nutrients it needs to function its best.
Functional nutrition experts can also make tailored dietary recommendations based on your lifestyle. For instance, if meals that require time-consuming prep just don’t fit into your schedule, these wellness professionals will help you find alternatives that you can maintain regularly.
While functional nutrition does aim to get your body more of the sustenance it needs to function well, the benefits extend far beyond nutrition alone. Since functional medicine practitioners understand the remarkable ways in which the body’s systems work together, they can help you uncover the bidirectional effects at play. For example, stress and poor sleep can worsen the symptoms of digestive issues, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but lack of proper nutrition caused by IBS can also be a stressor that affects sleep quality. Functional medicine practitioners like to get the “big picture” of your health, which allows them to analyze important interrelationships and determine the far-reaching impact a tailored diet can have on your wellness.
How do I start?
To make these tailored recommendations, practitioners need insight into your individual makeup. For this reason, Stemedix offers Genova Diagnostics tests, including the Matabolomix+ test, an analysis of nutritional biomarkers, and the GI Effects® comprehensive profile for insights into gastrointestinal health. Results can reveal details about the digestive function, the microbiome, underlying inflammation, and nutrient deficiencies which could otherwise go unnoticed. With this information, detailed, tailored dietary recommendations can be made to fine-tune your health.
For more information on how these comprehensive tests can benefit your overall wellness, contact us today!
by admin | Sep 30, 2020 | Alzheimer’s Disease, Stem Cell Therapy
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, affects nearly 50 million people around the globe. That number is expected to more than double in the next 30 years without effective treatment. Currently, the treatments for dementia are only mildly effective. The few dementia medications that are available simply prolong the inevitable, slowing cognitive decline modestly.
Even with dementia medication, patients with Alzheimer’s disease and most other dementias have progressive memory loss. Over time they lose the ability to perform common everyday tasks. If patients live long enough, they will become dependent on others for all of their care. In this way, dementia is a devastating illness for loved ones.
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are neurodegenerative diseases, which means nerve cells in the brain become dysfunctional and die. As brain cells lose their ability to function, the person loses the abilities those nerve cells once performed. Since brain cells have little natural capacity to regenerate, once they are sick and die, that particular brain function may be lost forever.
Stem cells have long been an attractive potential option for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia treatment. Since brain cells become sick and die, the alternative option most recently looked at is to restore and replace those cells with stem cells—cells that can become brain cells? Indeed, stem cells may do so much more. They release countless molecules that help brain cells grow and survive. Not surprisingly, stem cells are the focus of intense research as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Drs. Duncan and Valenzuela reviewed the current status of stem cells as a possible treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The research in animals has been incredibly promising. When stem cells are given to lab animals with experimental dementia, the stem cells find their way to the site of the disease and become new and healthy brain cells.
The research in animals has been so promising, that a number of Phase I and Phase II clinical trials in humans have been completed or are underway. From these trials, we know that stem cells appear to be safe for use in people with Alzheimer’s disease in that no serious adverse events were tied to stem cell use. It is too early to tell if these treatments will change the course of the disease until results are published. For now, we remain cautiously optimistic that the incredible effects of stem cells seen in animals may also translate to the same benefits in humans.
Reference: Duncan T, Valenzuela M. Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and stem cell therapy. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2017;8(1):111. Published 2017 May 12. doi:10.1186/s13287-017-0567-5
by Stemedix | Sep 28, 2020 | Functional Medicine
Functional medicine analyzes the entire body and its imbalances or deficiencies which contribute to health issues. Conventional medicine, on the other hand, aims to diagnose specific conditions and treat their symptoms.
Every health condition can benefit from functional medicine, as it offers a comprehensive, whole-body approach that examines underlying factors. With that being said, there are certain conditions that may benefit more than others. This is especially true for complex conditions for which there is no one easily identifiable cause or treatment.
With functional medicine, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach as there sometimes is in conventional medicine. Instead, personalized treatment plans are established to improve a patient’s condition and overall health while taking into consideration the unique circumstances that affect them, such as health history and lifestyle factors. Explore some conditions for which functional medicine can benefit below.
Fibromyalgia
Characterized by widespread muscle pain, fibromyalgia remains a mystery to many modern medical practitioners. Within functional medicine, fibromyalgia is understood to be a result of chronic inflammation. The source of this inflammation may be leaky gut syndrome, vitamin deficiencies, or other medical factors which can be identified through testing and then addressed through targeted treatment or lifestyle changes.
Chronic Fatigue
Chronic fatigue syndrome goes far beyond ordinary tiredness. Patients experience extreme exhaustion, brain fog, and sleep challenges. While traditional medicine often fails to recognize the legitimacy of the condition, functional medicine not only recognizes but aims to understand the causative factors behind it. Underlying chronic infections, hormonal imbalances, and adrenal issue scan all contribute to this complex medical issue.
Diabetes
Although diabetes has been exhaustively researched and is well understood by the medical community, the same approach to care remains unchanged: monitoring and controlling blood sugar. While this may indeed be necessary, functional medicine helps patients establish behaviors to help the body naturally stabilize glucose and insulin levels. For instance, diet and lifestyle modifications could prevent the need for diabetes medications entirely.
Autoimmune Disorders
In patients with autoimmune conditions, the immune system has an overactive response, attacking healthy tissue instead of just foreign invaders. Conventional medicine aims to suppress this immune response, but functional medicine seeks to uncover the root causes of widespread inflammation and autoimmunity. In so doing, it identifies the factors which can be modified to regulate the body’s immune response.
Obesity
Obesity is a widespread epidemic caused by a variety of contributing factors. Genetics, lifestyle choices, and diet can all prompt weight gain. Because this health concern requires a comprehensive approach, it’s well-suited for the principles of functional medicine.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
The gastrointestinal tract is the powerhouse of the immune system, with nearly 70% of immune cells residing there. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a result of compromised gut microbiome. From stress to yeast overgrowth, there are many factors which can impact intestinal health. From thorough testing to an assessment of lifestyle factors, functional medicine doctors can uncover the causes behind IBS and develop a targeted treatment plan.
Depression
There are several contributing factors behind depression, including inflammation caused by infections, enzyme deficiencies, and micronutrient imbalances. Instead of just addressing symptoms through medications, functional medicine doctors help people with depression address the condition’s underlying causes for a more comprehensive and effective approach. If you would like to learn more about a comprehensive nutritional and molecular test that may help your overall wellness and symptoms, please call a Care Coordinator at 800-531-0831. You may also visit stemedix.com/blog for helpful health awareness blogs.
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