FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE BLOG
Includes over 800 monographs reporting on emerging studies in the medical and scientific literature of practical clinical importance, easily searched for content.
Women's heart risk lower with exercise 2-3x/week than daily
A large study using data from 1.1 million women recently published in the journal Circulation offers evidence that strenuous physical activity 2-3 times per week significantly lowered their coronary heart disease risk while more frequent strenuous exercise actually increased it.
Antioxidants in excess can increase inflammation and blunt benefits of exercise
Antioxidants, even glutathione, taken in excess can increase rather than ameliorate harmful inflammation...The use of antioxidants must be calibrated with careful consideration of the balance between protective and suppressive effects according to the needs of the individual patient.
Multiple sclerosis, TH17 and vitamin A
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory neurodegenerative disease. Recent studies shed light on its autoimmune component and offer evidence for the use of vitamin A in consideration of the premiere importance of Treg and Th17 or Th40 balance.
Treating atherosclerosis as an autoimmune inflammatory disease
Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by plaque formation in an artery in response to inflammation in the lining (endothelium) of the vessel. It is referred to also as vulnerable plaque because it is subject to rupture followed by the blocking of a smaller downstream artery, the immediate cause of most heart attacks and strokes. A paper recently published in Immunology Letters discusses the treatment of the vascular inflammation of atherosclerosis as an autoimmune inflammatory disorder.