Should I skip exercising on the day I get my allergy shot? Aerobic exercise? Weight/resistance exercise? The simple answer is “No”, but you know I love to palaver, so here’s the long answer! First off, Americans in general do not get any or adequate exercise so I don’t want to contribute to unhealthy behavior. By the way you posed your question I suspect you might have been a girl scout and learned field expediencies for snake bite. Part of that…
OK, sorry for the acronyms but I just couldn’t resist. CRISPR stands for clustered regularly interspaces short palindromic repeats, so maybe you’ll forgive me. HANE is hereditary angioneurotic edema (commonly known as Hereditary Angioedema). The New England Journal of Medicine recently published research done at Amsterdam University using the CRISPR gene editing tool to treat/cure hereditary angioedema. HAE is a genetic disorder that is autosomal dominant (only requires one defective gene) that affects one in 50,000 people, but it can…
Broncho-vaxom is an extract of respiratory bacteria that is used outside the United States to treat and prevent bronchitis and sinusitis. It is a mixture of lipopolysaccharides from these bacteria: Hemophilus influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus sanguinis and Moraxella catarrhalis. It has been evaluated using placebo controlled blinded studies in both children and adults. In adults with COPD, it reduced the frequency of infection by 29% and in smokers/ex-smokers by 40%. In children it reduced…
Despite the headline, this is not an “R Rated” article, but rather a discussion of hormonal molecular physiology. Cortisol and testosterone might seem to be totally different compounds but they are actually very closely related. Cortisol’s formula is C21H30O5 while that of testosterone is C19H28O2, plus they share the identical five hydrocarbon ring structure. Another similarity is that they both can reduce immune function. This is one reason males are more prone to illness than females. Our adrenal glands primarily…
TIL is a recently FDA approved therapy for treating certain types of metastatic cancer. It has been referred to as a “living drug” as it is made up of the individual patients T lymphocytes. It does so by taking cancer-targeting T cells from the patient’s own tumor and then growing them into billions more of the same cells in the lab and then re-infusing them into the patient. This massive influx of warrior T cells can destroy the tumor whereas…
Luckily severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) to COVID-19 vaccines have been rare, averaging about 8 events per million vaccines. However, since the Corona virus continues to circulate there will be an ongoing need for vaccination. Based on current research it seems that most of these adverse events are reactions to polyethylene glycol (PEG). However, attempts using traditional allergy testing techniques which look for IgE mediated sensitivity have led to poor discriminatory value in people who have had allergic reactions and poor…
I read that there might be a new asthma controlling shot that is given just every six months. Is that true? Yes, it is true. Researchers at Oxford University have just completed two phase 3A randomized placebo control trials that look very promising. The new drug is depemokimab and it is a monoclonal antibody (note the “mab” at the end of its name) that binds to Interleukin 5. In fact, it has an incredibly strong binding affinity for Interleukin 5…
There is mounting evidence that processed milk is the primary cause for the newly developing epidemic of eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE). The rise of EOE began after the widespread consumption of ultra heat treatment (UHT) pasteurization and micro fluidization homogenization of our milk in the early 1990’s. Louis Pasteur recommended heating milk to 72° C for 15 seconds. UHT heats milk to 140° C. Homogenization is a process to reduce the fat droplet size so that milk doesn’t separate in the…
Magnesium with its atomic number (AN12) is sandwiched between sodium (AN11) and aluminum (AN13) on the periodic table. It also sits above calcium (AN20). All four elements are metals. Magnesium and calcium have two “available” electrons in their outermost orbital ring, which can help explain some of the medicinal applications of magnesium. Magnesium is found in all cells in all organisms both plant and animal. It is indispensable for health as it is an essential cofactor for ATP (adenosine triphosphate)…
I just turned 65 and I want to get a pneumonia vaccine, but quite honestly, I’m confused by the choices. The confusion is not unique to you. There has been a longitudinal/temporal change/improvement in the vaccine. To cut to the chase the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends you (as previously unvaccinated) receive PCV21 followed a year later by PPSV23. By way of explanation, PPSV stands for pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. It is the original vaccine and is similar in…