Virovores

Virovores

A recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences discussed the discovery of a bacteria whose only diet is viruses; hence the name virovore.  Actually, the scientific one is Halteria ciliate. These bacteria were first discovered in fresh water ponds.  In the lab, each Halteria organism consumed 1 million viruses daily, but when studied in their natural element they consumed 1 quadrillion viruses daily.  Since Halteria do not seem to be pathogenic to humans there is ongoing…

Read More Read More

Memory and Mitochondria

Memory and Mitochondria

Both the cause and treatment of Alzheimer’s are elusive.  Current treatments are modestly effective at best.  Recently touted to be the god-send treatment by removing the amyloid plaque the monoclonal therapy (aducanumab and lecanemab) has been a disappointment.    In fact, their failure has led to a shift in focus from the amyloid as the prime culprit to mitochondria.  Yes, amyloid deposits are found in the Alzheimer’s brain but so too is found a reduction in mitochondria.  Mitochondria are the…

Read More Read More

Q-Tips:  Hoping for rain?

Q-Tips:  Hoping for rain?

As tempting as it is to let nature turn your yellow car back to its original color, gentle precipitation is not only not strong enough to physically remove those tiny pollen specks, but water can actually activate or intensify its acidity!  Soapy water however, binds to and neutralizes its pain damaging potential. Oh boy kids!  Guess what you get to do today!?!

Post biotics, are you kidding me?

Post biotics, are you kidding me?

This newsletter attempts to update its readers on the hot areas in medical research.  If you have read even a few of these newsletters you will know the frequency of articles on the human microbiome and immune health.  Much research is being done on the complex physiology of the microbiome.  In keeping with that theme is research on promoting a healthy microbiome.  To date most of this research has been on probiotics either natural as in yogurt or kefir or…

Read More Read More

Melatonin: Medicine, Myth or Mischief

Melatonin: Medicine, Myth or Mischief

The sale of melatonin is a two billion dollar a year business which must mean that a lot of people have trouble sleeping.  Sleep is an intricately choreographed neurologic process.  Critical to good sleep is the circadian variation of the reticular activating system.  Melatonin produced in our brains has a mild modulating effect on our sleep cycle.  However, people who have had their pineal gland (a major source of melatonin) removed are able to sleep just fine.  Because melatonin sales…

Read More Read More

 Dear Dr. K; Is it just me or is there a

 Dear Dr. K; Is it just me or is there a

he- –  of a lot of cold and flu this winter? It’s not just you.  Covid-19 is adding to its historical legacy by this resurgence of other respiratory infections.  According to epidemiologists (scientists who study the incidence and distribution of diseases) this is unprecedented.   For instance, hospitalization rates for both adults and children for influenza are the highest in over twenty-five years.  The simple explanation is that the cumulative load of infections that would have occurred over the past three…

Read More Read More

EBV and MS

EBV and MS

The cause of MS (multiple sclerosis) has long been sought.  Although many factors are felt to predispose to it, genetics and environment top the lists.  For instance, the illness is much more common in Europe and North America than in the rest of the world.  Viral infections have long been suspects.  Now there is mounting evidence that the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) may be the culprit.  Two recently published research studies lend credence to this possibility.  The first study was…

Read More Read More

Gut-Brain Axis

Gut-Brain Axis

Up until recently, scientists had minimal understanding of how our GI tract and brain are connected.  Until this new research I naively figured the only connection was my tummy telling my brain when I was hungry.  As it turns out there is a very strong bidirectional interplay between the brain and the GI tract and a major fulcrum is the gut microbiome.  The ENS (enteric (GI) nervous system) interacts with the intestinal membrane and its immune cells.  Changes in the…

Read More Read More

Hypnotherapy for IBS

Hypnotherapy for IBS

Scientists at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia have developed a hypnotherapy-based computer app to help people with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).  The program called Nerva guides users through a ten-minute hypnotherapy session every day for six weeks.  The neural therapy is designed to correct the disordered signaling from brain to gut.  Patients who complete the six-week program report a reduction in symptom severity from 67 (on a scale of 100) to 39.  Adding a low FODMAP (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides…

Read More Read More

Alpha Fold

Alpha Fold

An AI called Alpha Fold developed by London based company Deep Mind is a computer-based program trained to predict protein shapes by recognizing patterns in structures already solved by years of tedious experimental work using electron microscopes and other methods.  So far, it has predicted 400,000 protein structures including most of known human proteins.  Now you might ask: “OK, what is the big deal and why is this in your newsletter?”  Well as it turns out many biologic processes work…

Read More Read More