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.
Depression, inflammation and light therapy
Research shows relief from depression by combining management of inflammation with bright light and chronotherapy to correct circadian dysregulation.
Fracture healing requires intact nitric oxide production
Useful research just published in the journal Bone shows that reduced nitric oxide production impairs fracture healing.
Skipping breakfast worsens blood glucose and insulin later
Skipping breakfast worsens blood glucose and impairs the insulin response for the rest of the day.
Antibiotics can adversely alter gut microbiome for a year
The fecal microbiome was severely affected by most antibiotics: for months, health-associated butyrate-producing species became strongly underrepresented...Clearly, even a single antibiotic treatment in healthy individuals contributes to the risk of resistance development and leads to long-lasting detrimental shifts in the gut microbiome.
Thyroid hormone conversion affects hypothyroid treatment
Dosing strategies solely based on a TSH definition of euthyroidism neglect the important role of FT3, which has recently emerged as an equally significant parameter in defining thyroid physiology... in cases where an FT3–FT4 dissociation becomes increasingly apparent following dose escalation of l-T4, an alternate treatment modality, possibly T3/T4 combination therapy, should be considered.
Pain chronic after injury, surgery due to neuroinflammation
"...the transition from acute physiological pain to persistent pain involves low-grade inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS), glial dysfunction and subsequently an imbalance in the neuron–glial interaction that causes enhanced and prolonged pain transmission."
Vitamin D necessary for mucosal barrier function
""Vitamin D, an important modulator of the immune system, has been shown to protect mucosal barrier homeostasis..."
Nitric oxide is essential for red blood cells to deliver oxygen
Nitric oxide built into hemoglobin as βCys93 is required for RBC-mediated vasodilation. Without sufficient nitric oxide, vasodilation and thus oxygen delivery to tissues is impaired.
Increasing calcium intake does not prevent fractures
"Collectively, these results suggest that clinicians, advocacy organisations, and health policymakers should not recommend increasing calcium intake for fracture prevention, either with calcium supplements or through dietary sources."
Saliva cortisol associated with brain volume, cognitive function
A study recently published in the journal Neurology shows that measurements of salivary cortisol can be an indicator for cognitive impairment and loss of brain volume.
Side sleeping helps clean brain through glymphatic transport
The major finding of our study was that waste, including Aβ, removal was most efficient in the lateral position...
Migraine, depression, Alzheimer's and lipid metabolism
"Taken together, our findings suggest it is possible that migraine is a neurologic disorder of 'minor' sphingolipid dysmetabolism..."
Oxidized LDL promotes atherosclerosis
Research recently published in Science Signaling elucidates one of the mechanisms by which oxidized LDL promotes atherosclerosis
Silicone breast implants and risk of lymphoma
Patients with an inflammatory response against silicone implants should be monitored carefully.
Adrenal suppression by inhaled steroids is common
A clinical study just published in the European Journal of Endocrinology offers evidence that inhaled steroids...frequently cause serious adrenal suppression. They also show that simply measuring morning cortisol can help indicate whether adrenal insufficiency is occurring.
Breast cancer, autoantibodies and autoimmune inflammation
"In this study, detection of autoantibodies in the sera from practically all women with breast cancer provides compelling evidence that an antigen-driven autoantibody response takes place in BC."
Brain blood flow reduction associated with kidney function
A study just published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology demonstrates that impairments in kidney function consistent with mild CKD (chronic kidney disease) are associated with reduced blood flow in the brain.
Low normal sodium a cardiovascular risk
Low sodium within the normal range is associated with significantly increased CVD events and total mortality in older men without major CVD or HF.
Inhaled steroids may worsen asthma with air pollution
Research recently published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology demonstrates that inhaled corticosteroids may in fact worsen asthma in the presence of CO (carbon monoxide).
Social anxiety ameliorated by fermented foods
"...these results suggest that consumption of fermented foods that contain probiotics may serve as a low-risk intervention for reducing social anxiety."