Griffith University research indicates that patients suffering from allergic rhinitis, otherwise known as hay fever, can specifically benefit from probiotic supplements.
In a study funded by Winclove Probiotics, Griffith’s research team at the Menzies Health Institute QLD found eight weeks of supplementation with a specific multi-species probiotic reduced symptoms of allergic rhinitis and medication use.
This study published in the Journal Genes, found most allergy patients (64%) responded with a clinical improvement in their QoL score, otherwise known as the quality of life scale.
Whilst noting that not all people with allergies respond similarly, Dr. Pete Smith of Queensland Allergy Services and a member of the study team said, “our study may allow us to personalize probiotic treatment for individuals with seasonal allergic rhinitis.”
Dr. Nic West of Griffith University adds that the evidence basefor the role of probiotics in allergy continues to increase.
“The results from our study will allow us to conduct targeted research to find strategies people can use during the pollen season,” said Dr. West.
Hay fever is a chronic disorder that has a serious impact on quality of life for up to 30% of the general population. Current treatment options are costly and do not tackle the underlying cause of the disorder.
With the aim of helping sufferers the research team examined the differences in the immune system between responders and non-responders and are currently undertaking a clinical trial of the probiotic supplement that involves further immune profiling of individuals with hay fever.
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/01/03/the-invisible-universe-of-the-human-microbiome-msm/Recitas, author of “The Plan,” calls MSM the wonder supplement for your gut. It can alleviate allergy symptoms, helps with detoxification, eliminates free radicals, and improves cell permeability. She states that with given time, MSM will start to actually repair damage caused by leaky gut – a common problem with Lyme/MSIDS patients. It can also help the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food. Many Lyme patients struggle with paralysis of the gut where the muscles of the stomach and intestines stop being efficient. MSM helps this muscle tone as well.
Oregon State University researchers have led the development of a new model for studying vitamin D’s role in infection prevention, and tests using the model suggest that vitamin D treatment can dramatically reduce the number of disease-causing bacteria in skin wounds.
In addition to shedding light on infection-prevention potential, the study is important because it established a new way to probe the mechanisms through which vitamin D regulates an important antimicrobial peptide in the body.
Findings were published in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Vitamin D, which is fat-soluble and present in very few foods—including the flesh of fatty fish, beef liver, cheese and egg yolks—promotes calcium absorption in the gut and is needed for bone growth. Vitamin D, manufactured by the body when triggered by sunlight, is also important for cell growth, neuromuscular function, and reduction of inflammation.
OSU scientist Adrian Gombart and collaborators have been probing the vitamin’s role in combating infection, with past studies involving loading wound dressings and sutures with vitamin D.
The current study examines the bioactive form of vitamin D’s role in promoting the body’s production of the cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, typically abbreviated to CAMP. A peptide is a compound consisting of two or more amino acids linked in a chain, and CAMP is made by immune cells and cells that provide a barrier against infection, such as skin and gut cells.
The gene that codes for CAMP is present in humans and other primates. Other mammals including mice have a similar gene, Camp, but vitamin D does not trigger it.
To study how vitamin D and CAMP work together to help thwart infection, Gombart and his research team developed a line of mice that carry the CAMP gene but not Camp. They bred mice engineered to carry human CAMP to mice with their Camp gene knocked out, resulting in mice with an antimicrobial peptide gene regulated by the bioactive form of vitamin D.
The scientists believe the novel model will be useful as research into vitamin D-induced expression of CAMP progresses, involving diseases caused by microorganisms and also conditions that are “non-pathogenic,” such as inflammatory bowel disease.
In this study, researchers showed that the mice with the human CAMP gene had increased resistance to gut infections, and that staph infections on their skin could be successfully treated with the bioactive form of the vitamin.
“Vitamin D3 regulates the expression of the CAMP, and Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen that causes skin infections,” said Gombart, professor of biochemistry and biophysics in OSU’s College of Science and a principal investigator at the university’s Linus Pauling Institute. “With our mouse model, we showed that treating a skin wound infected with S. aureus with the bioactive form of vitamin D significantly reduced the number of bacteria in the wound.”
The finding, Gombart said, suggests vitamin D can be used to increase protection against infection via increased CAMP levels.
A recent research review published in the Journal of Pain Researchfound that a little known supplement, acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC), is an effective preventive and treatment for all kinds of neuropathic pain.
The therapeutic benefits of acetyl-L-carnitine for neuropathy include pain reduction, promoting peripheral nerve regeneration, and a neuroprotective effect, among other therapeutic effects. Nerve conduction studies show improved velocity and amplitude….(See link for article)
“This Workhorse of an Organ Can’t Signal for Help – Until It’s Often Too Late”
Your liver endures a tremendous amount of stress and toil, 24 hours a day. Hidden from sight, it doesn’t provide many clues as to its well-being. Yet it depends on you to give it the care it needs. Are you doing all you can?
By Dr. Mercola
Your liver might just be the most underappreciated organ in your body.
It is your body’s largest internal organ and one of its important functions is to help remove toxins and harmful substances. Unlike your gall bladder or appendix, you can’t live without your liver, at least not for very long.
And unlike some other organs in your body, such as your heart and lungs, it can be difficult to measure how well your liver is working. That is, until it falls to about 10 percent of its healthy working capacity.
Your liver can’t skip beats or produce a cough to warn you when it needs help…
Just because it sits quietly in your body most of the time doesn’t mean it can thrive without special care. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, a healthy person’s liver did just fine without extra support, but today we live in a different world.
Today your liver confronts – and must overcome – challenges it’s never faced before.
Live Without Your Liver? Don’t Bet Your Life on It
Your liver serves many life-supporting functions
Your liver, which is made up of two main lobes, is located beneath your diaphragm and on top of your stomach, right kidney, and intestines.
Besides its primary role of protecting your body from harmful substances, your liver plays other key roles, too.
Your healthy liver:
Produces bile, which helps carry away waste and break down fats
Helps regulate the levels of sugar, protein, and fat entering your bloodstream
Clears your blood of drugs, alcohol, and other potentially harmful substances
Processes nutrients absorbed by your intestines during digestion
Produces cholesterol, proteins, and clotting factors to help your blood clot
Regulates many of your hormones
Neutralizes highly reactive oxygen molecules, or free radicals
After your liver breaks down harmful substances, they enter your blood or bile and leave your body either through your kidneys and urine or your feces after traveling through your intestines.
Normally, all these functions go on like clockwork, without much support on your part. But today many potential threats to your liver’s well-being prevail…
Is Your Expanding Waistline Putting Your Liver at Risk?
A renewed reminder of why it’s important to maintain your ideal body weight
Stunning new research suggests that your liver may be aging faster than the rest of your body if you hold excess weight in your waist.
Researchers found that for each 10-unit increase in body mass index, or BMI, the physiological age of the liver grew by 3.3 years.
To put that into real numbers…
Suppose a 5-foot, 8-inch man weighs 130 pounds and has a BMI of 20. A second man of the same height and age weighs 230 pounds, and has a BMI of 35.
The liver of the second man is likely five years older than the liver of the normal weight man.
And here’s another interesting finding… If the second man decided to have surgery to rapidly lose the excess weight, the age of his liver wouldn’t change!
What’s behind this vicious threat to your liver? It may be linked to one of its worst enemies.
One of Your Liver’s Worst Enemies Isn’t What You Might Expect
I’m guessing many people would say their liver’s worst enemy is alcohol. Yes, alcohol is harmful to your liver, but there’s another substance that’s equally so – and far more pervasive.
Unlike alcohol, this other substance can be found in some form in nearly everyprocessed food in your grocery store.
Fructose, the most damaging type of sugar to your body, is particularly hard on your liver, much like alcohol:
Fructose must be 100 percent broken down by your liver. Glucose on the other hand only needs to be partially broken down before it can be utilized.
Fructose is metabolized directly into fat that gets stored in your liver and other internal organs and tissues as body fat, which leads to mitochondrial malfunction
Corn sugars can damage your liver much like drinking alcohol
Fructose produces toxic metabolites and superoxide free radicals when it is metabolized, that can lead to inflammation in your liver
Fructose is a cheap form of sugar that’s found in thousands of food products and drinks. It’s often deliberately disguised by the use of many different names, so the only way to steer clear of it completely is to avoid eating processed foods.
I believe fructose and other non-fiber carbs are important factors behind the rising rates of liver issues and at least 30 other health concerns. Tragically, even children are now showing signs normally associated with alcohol abuse from their consumption of fructose!
Other Silent Slayers of Liver Function
Unfortunately, fructose isn’t the only challenge your liver has to deal with. Plenty more lurk in your home, water, and the air you breathe. Chemicals in plastics like phthalates and BPA/BPS, flame-retardants, and formaldehyde may be found in your:
Many people don’t realize how their living environments can impact their livers
Furniture and carpeting
Vinyl floor coverings
Building materials
Paint
Mattresses
Vinyl shower curtain
Children’s toys
Plastic water bottles and containers
Grocery store receipts
Scented personal care products
These contaminants enter your body through your skin or your lungs, or from the food and beverages you consume.
No matter how they enter your body, they end up in your bloodstream and your liver must process them.
Compared to 20 or 30 years ago, we are exposed to far more chemicals in our food, as well as in our living and working environments.
Yet your liver hasn’t changed – it hasn’t evolved to keep up with the increase in challenges. You still depend on it, day in and day out, to help minimize the effects of potential contaminants.
Simple Ways to Help Support Your Liver
Organic Lacinato kale is a liver-protectant food
Most likely by now you have a healthy appreciation of what your liver is doing for you – or at least trying to do.
Responsible for so many essential tasks, your liver can use all the support it can get. Luckily, there’s much you can do.
Of course, in today’s world you can’t safeguard your liver function 100 percent. But it’s worth doing all that you can…
To help protect your liver, I recommend:
Restricting alcohol consumption, and avoid completely if taking acetaminophen or Tylenol
Minimizing or avoiding the use of potentially harmful acetaminophen or Tylenol (be sure to check labels, it’s found in many over-the-counter products!)
Attaining and maintaining your ideal weight
Restricting your intake of fructose from all sources to about 15 to 25 grams per day (avoid sweeteners in foods, fruit juices, dried fruits, and limit sugary fruits like grapes, pears, plums, and red apples)
Avoiding or minimizing contact with toxic chemicals like pesticides, cleansers, paints and solvents
Buying products packed in glass containers and limiting your use of plastics, including plastic wrap
Adding liver-protective foods to your diet, like fermented vegetables, dark leafy green and cruciferous vegetables, “clean” sea vegetables, sprouts, artichokes, garlic and onions, avocados, berries, whey protein powder from grass-fed cows, and organic pastured eggs and grass-fed meat
In addition to these commonsense measures, there’s another simple way to help support your healthy liver function.
Trifecta Support for Your Liver Function
In my opinion, there are three ingredients that provide healthy liver function support:*
N-Acetyl L-Cysteine (NAC)
Milk thistle
Organic broccoli sprouts
I’ve combined this “perfect trifecta” of ingredients into my Liver Support for regular, daily use to specifically target six areas of concern:
Provide on-going support to help minimize the damaging effects of contaminants on your liver*
Help maintain intracellular levels of glutathione*
Maintain the normal metabolism of alcohol*
Provide antioxidant mitochondria support*
Support your body’s detoxification (cleansing)*
Provide short-term support for occasional acute events*
Let’s take a closer look at the first of these remarkable ingredients…
The Leader of Your Antioxidant Army… And It Helps Save Lives
Glutathione is your body’s principal antioxidant, and exists in each of your cells. With its lead status, it functions by keeping all the other antioxidants in line and performing at their peak.*
This super-antioxidant’s primary task is to help protect your body from free radical damage, wastes, and potentially harmful substances.* Glutathione is one of the most important factors in your body’s detoxification arsenal and is crucial for your liver’s well-being.*
As you age, your body’s ability to produce glutathione declines. And many substances like alcohol, drugs, and contaminants can deplete your glutathione levels.
While a glutathione supplement may sound like a good idea, oral glutathione is merely three amino acids and is rapidly broken down in your stomach by digestive enzymes. Even if it were effective, I still wouldn’t advise taking glutathione in oral form as it may interfere with your body’s ability to produce it naturally.
What I recommend instead for restoring the levels of glutathione inside of your cells is provide the raw materials for making glutathione so your body can produce the right amounts it needs and not any more.
One of the best ways to do this is use a derivative of the amino acid cysteine, called N-acetyl cysteine, or NAC for short.* NAC comes with four decades of scientific validation, and has been used in traditional medicine for over 30 years.
One of NAC’s primary roles in conventional medicine is as a treatment for acute poisoning with acetaminophen-containing pain-relieving drugs – the number one cause of acute liver failure in the U.S.
Too high of an acetaminophen dose can exhaust the body’s glutathione reserves, leading to permanent liver damage. As its precursor, NAC quickly restores glutathione levels, and, in effect, helps save lives.*
NAC’s Actions Beyond Its Role as Precursor to Glutathione
By replenishing your cells’ supplies of glutathione on a regular basis, NAC helps your cells regain their ability to protect themselves against free radicals and other damage.* This is especially desirable as you age.
Researchers have found that NAC does more than just replenish levels of glutathione within your cells. NAC provides additional potential benefits in these areas:*
Helps regulate the expression of many genes involved with your body’s inflammatory response*
Supports normal healthy insulin sensitivity*
Supports respiratory health*
Protects tissues and cells from the effects of oxidative stress from exercise*
Supports normal healthy cellular growth and development*
There’s no question that NAC offers valuable potential for the support of your liver health. Now let’s take a look at the second ingredient in Liver Support…
Don’t Be Fooled by Its Appearance – This Highly Valued ‘Weed’ Offers Potent Liver Support… and More*
Milk thistle contains liver-friendly silymarin
Milk thistle has been treasured for over 2,000 years for its value in supporting liver, kidney, and gall bladder health.*
When the leaves of the plant are crushed, they release a milky sap. Hence the name…
The herb milk thistle is an excellent source of the antioxidant compound silymarin, its primary active component.
Extracted from the plant seeds, silymarin consists of three flavonoids – silibinin, silidianin, and silicristin – all of which may help repair liver cells that have been damaged by environmental pollutants, alcohol, and fructose.*
Silymarin has been found to increase glutathione and help prevent its depletion in your liver.* It also helps support a normal inflammatory response in your cells through its effect on gene expression.
Support Your Liver With Up to 100 Times More of the Sulforaphane Precursor in Fresh Broccoli
Broccoli sprouts contain up to 100 times the glucoraphanin found in fresh broccoli
Glucoraphanin is a precursor to sulforaphane, a potent liver-supporting substance found in regular organic broccoli – its best-known source.
However, fresh, young broccoli sprouts – grown from organic broccoli seeds – can contain up to 100 times the amount of this glucoraphanin!
When animals in studies chewed or swallowed vegetables containing glucoraphanin, the resulting sulforaphane fired up the body’s waste disposal system.
This not only helped the body rid itself of pollutants, it also helped protect the body from potential harm.*
Researchers wanted to see how these substances would work in humans, so they travelled to one of the most heavily industrialized and polluted regions in China to put their theory to the test…
They recruited a total of 291 men and women living in a rural farming community in Jiangsu Province, China, about 50 miles north of Shanghai for their 12-week trial.
The treatment group received a half-cup of a beverage made with broccoli sprout powder containing glucoraphanin and sulforaphane, combined with sterilized water, pineapple and lime juice.
Urine and blood samples were taken during the trail to measure inhaled air pollutants.
The results were astounding… Excretion of a common and potentially hazardous airborne pollutant increased the very first day in the broccoli sprout powder group – by a whopping 61 percent! And increased excretion continued during the entire 12-week period.
Researchers concluded that the sulforaphane in the sprout powder might in some way be signaling to the cells the need to adapt to and survive a broad range of environmental contaminants, including those in water and food.
Based on these studies and more, I decided that organic broccoli sprout powder had to be part of my Liver Support!
Are You Ready to Give Your Liver the Support It Likely Needs?*
As I pointed out earlier, it can be difficult to know exactly how well your liver is functioning. That is, until it’s possibly too late.
But one thing we do know for certain is that your liver continuously labors hard to protect your body from the effects of environmental pollutants and chemicals.
Now you can help give it the support it may need with my Liver Support. With my unique “trifecta” formula, you get:
NAC for its ability to restore glutathione supplies and support mitochondrial function*
Milk Thistle Extract for its silymarin to help repair damaged liver cells and increase glutathione levels*
Organic Broccoli Sprout Powder for its rich supply of sulforaphane precursor to support your rapid excretion of environmental pollutants*
And much more… Liver Support provides the perfect tool to help minimize the damaging effects of everyday pollutants and stresses on your liver. And you can take it every day!
Take control of the health of your liver today and order Liver Support. When it comes to a hard-working organ like your liver, you don’t want to take chances.
Emerging metagenomic research increasingly shows the clinical importance of maintaining a healthy gut microbiome. However, this can be challenging for patients who are managing chronic vector-borne infections with long-term antibiotic regimens. Physicians will often recommend probiotics that may help alleviate unwanted side effects, but what are they? And how do they work?
Probiotics are described as “good microorganisms” that confer a benefit to the host after the appropriate amount is ingested. They are typically acquired via a supplemental pill found in a pharmacy, or even from foods that contain live cultures. The efficacy of these delivery systems vary greatly, but high potency, live probiotics have been shown to outperform freeze-dried or food-based products. The most common microbes that are used are bacteria, like Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium species, and certain strains of Saccharomyces (yeast).
Researchers believe there are a couple of key mechanisms that probiotic products engage with:
1. Balancing of Intestinal Microflora
The millions of microbes that colonize our intestinal tract play important roles in nutrient metabolism, pH maintenance, and more. For example, short chain fatty acids (SCFA) that are used in energy production and cellular signal pathways are produced when the beneficial microbes break down the fiber in our diet. When a pathogen or something else changes the optimal population of microbes, these processes are hindered. Research suggests that probiotics help restore the gut microbiome to a healthy state following antibiotic therapy. In one study, Lactobacillus casei was found to stimulate intestinal enzyme activity that led to a decreased presence of pathogenic bacteria.
The intestinal tract is home to a diverse community of microbes that are beneficial to human health (Source: NIH).
2. Mediation of Immune Response
Research on how probiotics affect the gut microbiome and the resulting host immune response is still in the early stages. However, findings suggest that intestinal microorganisms can play a protective role in the immune system. This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. Like parasites, these microbes that have evolved with us over time could be mediating our immune response through changes in gene expression and complex signaling pathways that involve intestinal epithelial cells. A recent review article describes the roles of probiotic microorganisms in modulating the release of proinflammatory cytokines. In-vitro studies suggest that when there is a larger presence of “good bacteria”, fewer inflammatory markers are present.
Why is this important for flea-and tick-borne diseases?
Chronic flea- and tick-borne bacterial infections are often treated using single or combinations of broad-spectrum antibiotics. These medications effectively destroy target pathogens, but they also eliminate beneficial bacteria inhabiting the gut at the same time. When this takes place over a long period of time, it can be difficult for the microbial populations to repopulate and stabilize without intervention. Probiotics can serve as the intervention needed for patients experiencing unwanted treatment effects such as antibiotic-associated gastrointestinal distress. There is conflicting evidence from studies over the past 10 years, but the consensus seems to be that Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Saccharomyces species may be especially helpful for patients in the recovery phase following antibiotic therapy. Experts recommend using probiotic preparations where efficacy is supported with good published data.
Furthermore, a significant aspect of understanding why symptoms of flea- and tick-borne diseases vary greatly between patients is the host immune response. Bartonellosis has been shown to cause immunological dysfunction in case studies, and Lyme borreliosis can lead to persistent immune system effects even after treatment. If human clinical studies can show that probiotics positively influence the immune system via gut microbe-immune interactions, probiotic supplementation may be a way of treating some of the immune issues associated with chronic flea- and tick-borne illness.
How are these products regulated in the United States?
In the US, probiotics are generally sold as food supplements and thus are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Products made from foods labeled “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) by the FDA and following current good manufacturing processes (cGMP) can be sold after pre-market notification.
One limitation to this regulatory pathway, however, is that these probiotics have not been evaluated by the FDA for efficacy and cannot make specific medical claims. This regulatory process allows patients to have greater access to a variety of products but makes it difficult for clinicians to understand exactly how and if probiotics are therapeutic across different patient populations.
The FDA has taken steps to develop a process by which probiotics may be developed as pharmaceuticals. In 2016, the agency released a guidance document on early clinical trials. It has also developed technology to test probiotics for contaminants.
Safety developments are important. For example, in a fecal transplant, instead of growing one or limited species as is done with a probiotic, an entire intestinal microbiome is transplanted. In early 2019, several patients became sick and one died after receiving experimental fecal transplant material that contained antibiotic-resistant E. coli. Following this event, the FDA added more safety requirements for fecal transplants.
Although fecal transplants are far more complex than current probiotic treatments, these regulations move the development of safety standards and processes forward. And research is moving forward in a big way – Cancer Research UK just put $25 million into microbiome research, increasing funding on just three projects specific to cancer to $75 million. As projects like these increase understanding about how microbes work together, future complex treatments can be imagined, and safety regulations are rushing to keep up.
Conclusion
Probiotics are often a go-to supplement for patients on long-term antibiotics. They are well known for relieving antibiotic-associated gastrointestinal distress, but recent studies indicate they could have additional immune-modulating effects. Additional research is needed to fully understand how probiotics influence the immune system and what this means for patients managing chronic infections. Current products on the market include one or limited species, but future products may be more complex as more is understood about how these microbes work together.
United States Food and Drug Administration. (2016). Early clinical trials with live biotherapeutic products: Chemistry, manufacturing, and control information. Retrieved from: https://www.fda.gov/media/82945/download
Noce, A. et al. (2019). Impact of gut microbiota composition on onset and progression of chronic non-communicable diseases. Nutrients, 11(5), E1073. doi:10.3390/nu11051073 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31091761
Harris, V. C. et al. (2017). The intestinal microbiome in infectious diseases: The clinical relevance of a rapidly emerging field. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 4(3), ofx144. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofx144 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5570093/
Zhang, C-X et al. (2019). Interactions between intestinal microflora/probiotics and the immune system. BioMed Research International, 2019, 6764919. doi:10.1155/2019/6764919 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6886316/
Issa, I., & Moucari, R. (2014). Probiotics for antibiotic-associated diarrhea: Do we have a verdict? World Journal of Gastroenterology, 20(47), 17788-17795. doi:10.3748/wjg.v20.i47.17788 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4273129/
Maritsi, D. N. et al. (2013). Bartonella henselae infection: An uncommon mimicker of autoimmune disease. Case Reports in Pediatrics, 2013, 726826. doi:10.1155/2013/726826 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3562603/
Wilkins, T. W., & Sequoia, J. (2017). Probiotics for gastrointestinal conditions: A summary of the evidence. American Family Physician, 96(3), 170-178. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2017/0801/p170.html
Govender, M. et al. (2013). A review of the advancements in probiotic delivery: Conventional vs. non-conventional formulations for intestinal flora supplementation. AAPS PharmSciTech, 15(1), 29-43. doi:10.1208/s12249-013-0027-1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3909163/
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/01/03/the-invisible-universe-of-the-human-microbiome-msm/Recitas, author of “The Plan,” calls MSM the wonder supplement for your gut. It can alleviate allergy symptoms, helps with detoxification, eliminates free radicals, and improves cell permeability. She states that with given time, MSM will start to actually repair damage caused by leaky gut – a common problem with Lyme/MSIDS patients. It can also help the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food. Many Lyme patients struggle with paralysis of the gut where the muscles of the stomach and intestines stop being efficient. MSM helps this muscle tone as well.
Madison Area Lyme Support Group 