Health Well News

Now is the time of year when the sun becomes irresistible.  As tempting as it is to spend as much time as possible in the warmth of the sun, there are a few precautions to take to protect your skin from harmful rays.

Our skin is the largest organ in the body. It reflects our health and age. Today, there’s much concern about sunbathing leading to an increase in skin damage and skin cancer. continue reading »

Medical, Biology and Anatomy books have been reporting that the lymphatic system and the brain as closed systems with little overlap. We are now discovering that the immune system lymphatic vessels are directly connected to the brain.

Why is this important? The rise in autoimmune disease implies a direct impact in neurologic disease states like Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. The University of Virginia School of Medicine has been doing research discovering these vessels that move into the brain.

“Instead of asking, ‘How do we study the immune response of the brain?’ ‘Why do multiple sclerosis patients have the immune attacks?’ now we can approach this mechanistically. Because the brain is like every other tissue connected to the peripheral immune system through meningeal lymphatic vessels,” said Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, professor in the UVA Department of Neuroscience and director of UVA’s Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG). “It changes entirely the way we perceive the neuro-immune interaction. We always perceived it before as something esoteric that can’t be studied. But now we can ask mechanistic questions.”

“We believe that for every neurological disease that has an immune component to it, these vessels may play a major role,” Kipnis said. “Hard to imagine that these vessels would not be involved in a [neurological] disease with an immune component.”

This discovery means that the importance of the overall immune system will relate to neurologic functions. It also redoubles the necessity of addressing systemic health in all disease states.

Read More at Science Daily.

Antoine Louveau, Igor Smirnov, Timothy J. Keyes, Jacob D. Eccles, Sherin J. Rouhani, J. David Peske, Noel C. Derecki, David Castle, James W. Mandell, Kevin S. Lee, Tajie H. Harris, Jonathan Kipnis. Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatic vessels. Nature, 2015; DOI: 10.1038/nature14432

Coenzyme Q10, CoQ10, is an vitamin-like substance in our mitochondria (the power house of our cells) responsible for a number of chain reactions in our bodies. While CoQ10 is found in every cell it is in the highest concentration in our hearts, kidneys, and liver.

CoQ10 contributes to

• heart health
• circulatory health
• vessel integrity

  …and many more!

Deficiencies in CoQ10 may show up in individuals with heart problems, high blood pressure, blood sugar regulation, poor gums, and stomach ulcers.

Optimal levels of CoQ10 are between 90-120mg per day for any individual with a history of cardiovascular disease or if they are currently taking a statin[1].

The average American only consumes about 10mg of CoQ10 from food, which means supplementation is often warranted.
Food rich in CoQ10 are the sulfurous and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. One-Half cup serving of these veggies contains about .5 milligrams of CoQ10.

…which means you would have to eat a ton of broccoli to reach the minimum recommended amount.

The Mayo Clinic lists many other disease that are treated with even higher doses of CoQ10.

Have you been told you need CoQ10? Dr. Carrie often will recommend a whole food supplement to help meet your individual needs. Always talk with your health care practitioner about what is most appropriate for you!

And remember, Dr. Carrie always has free initial phone consultations for any patients with questions.