July / August Newsletter
COVID-19 Update – A lesson in learning comfortable with what makes us uncomfortable.
As we enter our sixth month of the COVID-19 pandemic life we continue to support our patients in person, video conference, on the phone and portal messaging. I have felt very uncomfortable with the lack of predictive information but have tried to find comfort in the fact that things are constantly changing and that is a good thing when you are less than thrilled with the current pandemic reality. I am feeling hopeful as I am reviewing more articles supporting the benefits of immune support through lifestyle and supplements that have a biologically plausible leg to stand on when it comes to COVID-19 treatment. I will be putting together a webinar before the fall to discuss our long-term strategy and action plan in the event of possible covid-19 symptoms to mitigate the risk of severe disease. I am hoping the infections do not go up in our area come fall but will feel better if we all have a plan.
I have been struck by recent articles and reports on post – infectious inflammatory symptoms that can be quite prolonged following COVID-19 infection that vary from vague fatigue to muscle aches to even neurological and psychological symptoms. To those of us who either have experienced or treated Lyme disease, Mold Toxins or the sequelae from Epstein Barr infections this is not shocking. In some people, once the inflammatory response gets going it almost self-perpetuates. Again, I feel somewhat uniquely equipped with what I have learned from my chronically inflamed patients to help manage these symptoms should they occur. Please join me for the webinar in August to develop your own COVID-19 action plan.
Breast Cancer and Fasting
At the Institute for Functional Medicine Annual International Conference which of course was online this year, fasting and the health benefits of fasting was a hot topic. In a study just published in June, The Fasting Mimicking Diet was associated with less side effects in women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and an increase in the effectiveness of the chemotherapy. The idea is that when we fast, NORMAL cells go into a quiet mode, saving resources when insulin levels are lower and do not replicate as much. The ABNORMAL cancer cells do not behave that way and continue to replicate. Chemotherapy targets rapidly replicating cells. There is less collateral damage in the patients who did the fasting prior and during chemotherapy. In another breast cancer study, The Fasting Mimicking Diet was associated with lower levels of insulin, insulin like growth factors and leptin in humans with Estrogen Receptor Positive cancers on (anti-) hormone therapies. The researchers paired this with animal research showing anti-cancer effects on the cellular metabolism. These studies used the Fasting Mimicking Diet and I am happy to give you more information on that but I also feel that we can extend the benefits to fasting intermittently.
References:
Fasting-mimicking diet and hormone therapy induce breast cancer regression.
Caffa I, et al. Nature. 2020. PMID: 32669709
de Groot S, et al. Nat Commun. 2020. PMID: 32576828
Lyme Disease Prevention
The Northeast is the Tick capital of the country. Please take precautions when going out in the woods and in tall grass. Remember to check pets and children as they come inside as well. I would recommend using YAYA Tick Ban for outings where an encounter with a tick is a possibility. Ticks are very heat sensitive so you can throw shoes and clothing in the dryer for 10 minutes to kill them. If you do find an embedded tick be sure to remove it. I usually find sending the tick to a lab to test it for the bacteria helpful. The International Lyme Disease Association recommends prophylaxis for tick bites with antibiotics. Lab testing can be done for the antibodies to Lyme and Co-infections but there are many false negatives with the testing and ILADS is very clear that Lyme Disease is a clinical diagnosis, not always a laboratory one.
A New Face at Sparkle
Some of you may have recently met Kate Swords and if you have not, I welcome you to schedule an appointment with her! She is a functional nutritionist! Food is such a big part of our overall health and I felt it critical to provide more support in this area. Everyone who visits Sparkle leaves with food as part of the treatment plan and my hope is that you have more support in this area with Kate joining our family.
