Metabolism

Cancer and the Circadian Clock: Recent Insights Offer New Hope

Cancer was once a dreaded death sentence. New research, specifically studies on cancer and the circadian clock, are offering new understanding and new hope.

Around half of all people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, making it one of the most common diseases in the modern world. While cancer once had a very high mortality rate, many people are now able to survive this disease and thrive with the help of modern therapies and treatments. The emerging science of chronobiology may hold the key to understanding and treating many common types of cancer.

Cancer and the Circadian Clock

Cancer cannot grow and metastasize without sabotaging the “checkpoints” on cell division and metabolism that exist in healthy cells. The circadian rhythm is intricately entwined with these checkpoints. Every cell in our body lives, functions and dies by a rhythm set by our internal clocks, which are in turn set by light levels, the times we eat, and a variety of other factors. In cancer cells, these rhythms are often disrupted so the cell can divide without normal controls.

In a recent study of liver tumors, the cancer cells were found to not only divide inappropriately, leading to tumor growth, but also to interfere with the normal function of the liver as a whole. The liver is responsible for a wide range of metabolic activities, which include glucose regulation and toxin removal from the blood. When liver cells turn cancerous, they act erratically. A small liver tumor can disrupt the entire body’s metabolism by disrupting how glucose is regulated.

Marching to the Beat of Its Own Drum

In many ways, cancer cells act like “hijackers,” taking over normal bodily functions and performing them in an erratic way. However, not all tumors function independent of the circadian rhythm. Some cancers, such as certain types of leukemia, depend on circadian rhythm genes to survive. A recent study found that normal stem cells in the blood can survive even without BMAL1, a crucial gene that regulates the circadian rhythm of each cell. On the other hand, stem cells with leukemia die when this gene is “knocked out.” This insight may present a new method of treating leukemia by genetically modifying cells with this cancer so they don’t express a gene that is important to their survival.

The Circadian Rhythm

Liver cancer and leukemia are not the only two cancers to show a link to the circadian rhythm in research. Breast cancer also appears to be associated with a circadian rhythm gene. Because breast cancer in itself is not life-threatening, metastasis is generally its biggest threat. Cancerous cells can eventually leave the breast and travel to the brain, the lungs, or the bones, where they can interfere with more necessary tissue. Having even small mutations in a circadian rhythm gene called Arntl2 is an important predictor of breast cancer death. The reason for this increased morbidity is that tumors with a functioning Arntl2 gene are unlikely to metastasize.

Sleep Disorders: A Cancer Risk Factor?

The link between cancer and the circadian clock is especially clear when you examine the relationship between sleep and cancer outcomes. Regardless of the type of cancer, having sleep apnea (and possibly other disorders that interfere with sleep) is a risk factor for poor cancer outcomes. People with sleep apnea suffer from decreased oxygenation during their sleep, which increases levels of VEGF, or vascular endothelial growth factor. VEGF is crucial for the survival of cancer cells because it creates new blood vessels, allowing them to get the nutrients they need to grow out of control. While we associate sleep apnea with poor sleep and snoring, it may have even greater effects on our health in the long run.

New Treatments and New Hope

Because cancer is so dependent on the circadian rhythm, some people may benefit from taking medications that attack cancer cells at certain times of day. Treating a disease at a particular time of day, a practice known as chronotherapy, ensures that cancer cells are hit with the right drugs at the right time—the time when they are most likely to deliver optimal effects. This practice can also lead to fewer side effects, as treatments can be targeted to times when they have the least impact on healthy cells. While normal cells undergo growth and metabolism only at certain times of the day, cancerous cells that have lost their checkpoints tend to divide without any set time frame or even a pause. They are in constant growth phase. Taking medications at times of the day when healthy cells are not active (but cancer cells are!) allows drugs to hit cancer cells alone while sparing healthy ones.

While treatment for cancer was once limited to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, new research has brought forth new medications and treatments that kill malignant cells by disrupting their growth and other key metabolic processes. Understanding more about the relationship between cancer and the circadian clock will allow doctors to attack cancer more aggressively while yielding better outcomes for the people who suffer from this disease. Because all of us will suffer from cancer or love someone who does in our lifetimes, this is truly life-changing research.

Chronotherapy and Disease: Harnessing the Circadian Rhythm for More Effective Treatment

Sep 02 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

Around 60 percent of American adults take a prescription drug and even more take over-the-counter medications as well. Could recognizing the link between the time of day we take our medications and their efficacy in treating disease, a groundbreaking practice called chronotherapy, make our meds more effective?

Your prescription bottle lists the name of your medication, dosage and whether the medication is to be taken with food or not. However, many medications work best when taken at certain times during the sleep-wake cycle. In fact, new studies indicate that timing of administration may be one of the most important factors in determining how well many medications work and how often we suffer from side effects. In the future, your prescription bottle may soon tell you when to take your meds for the best effects.

What Is Chronotherapy?

In simple terms, chronotherapy is the science of timing medications so they are present at the times of day when they are likely to be the most effective and/or cause the fewest negative effects. Our bodies run by internal clocks that control not just when we sleep and wake but also when we make lipids, when our cells divide and more. Timing medications when they are present during crucial parts of our metabolism can mean more therapeutic effects at lower doses.

How does this work in real life? Consider, for example, the common example of medications for hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. Blood pressure has its own circadian rhythm, typically peaking in the morning, when cortisol is at its highest. But in many people with high blood pressure, their blood pressure also fails to decrease at night. Because of this, many people may benefit from taking their hypertension medications at bedtime for best effects. In fact, a study of hypertension medications found that taking at least one anti-hypertensive medication at bedtime can improve control of hypertension and reduce the risk of a future cardiovascular event. Hypertension medications are not the only ones that may have a greater effect when taken at certain times; treatments for osteoarthritis, heartburn and other medications have been found to work best when taken at certain times of the day.

When Does Timing Matter?

The time of day affects much more than whether we are awake or sleeping. Every cell in the human body runs on a circadian, or 24-hour, clock. When our eyes stop perceiving light, our bodies make melatonin that helps us to sleep and also tells the body that it is time for critical repair of our cells and DNA. In the early light of dawn, our bodies begin to make cortisol, a hormone associated with stress but also involved in wakefulness and mental function.

What does this mean for our medications? Medications that are meant to target rapidly multiplying cells, such as immune cells and cancer cells, may work best when taken when these cells are dividing most rapidly. In addition, as seen in the example of hypertension medications, taking meds at the point in our daily hormonal cycle that we need them most may allow patients to get the same effects with a lower dosage and with fewer side effects. We have only just begun to discover how timing may affect the efficacy of medications, leading many researchers and physicians to request further study in this area.

Timing Is Everything

In medications, as in comedy, timing may indeed be an important factor in how we respond to treatments that both make us more comfortable and extend our lifespans. Timing also is important when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle. People who eat late at night, for example, reset the circadian clocks in their livers and pancreases. This can mess up their circadian rhythms for days to come.

Taking medications at the wrong time may have the same effect, although this matter definitely needs more study in order to get a definitive answer. Our circadian rhythm affects the cells of our body, but our cells also affect our circadian rhythm. The communications between different cells and systems are so well-regulated that even small changes can have huge systemic effects. Stifling the liver by eating at odd times of day can lead to increased lipids in the bloodstream and thus to higher cholesterol and triglycerides, which in turn can cause damage to the heart and blood vessels. The cells in our bodies function independently but also as parts of a whole. Understanding this back-and-forth play between different systems will be essential to figuring out how chronobiology may improve our lives in the future.

Most of us do not plan to be dependent on prescription medication, but most of us will be taking it at some point in our lives. New discoveries on how timing affects medication metabolism and effects may allow us to take lower doses and get more effects in the very near future. Chronotherapy just may be the future of pharmacology.

Got Zinc? How Even a Minor Zinc Deficiency Can Harm Your Health

Aug 26 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

People in the Western world have plenty of food, often more than we truly need. However, this does not make us exempt from nutritional deficiencies. When it comes to what we eat, quantity does not always make up for a lack of quality. Further compounding the issue is the fact that food grown by Western agriculture is often deficient in trace elements and other nutrients that the human body needs to thrive. The Western diet may be full of calories, but it is often deficient in nutrients and minerals like zinc. New research suggests that mineral deficiencies, especially zinc deficiency, may have more of an effect on our health than we previously realized.

The Role of Zinc in Your Body

Zinc plays a variety of vital roles in the human body. Studies have found that zinc is essential to immune cell development and function, in addition to the metabolic roles it plays in every cell of the body. Whether you are suffering from an autoimmune disease or getting sick often from a lack of immunity, a lack of zinc may be the problem.

For example, people who are infected with HIV and also have a zinc deficiency are likely to see an increase in their viral load and thus have more symptoms. People with low zinc are also less responsive to chemotherapy drugs for cancer and other medications intended to lengthen or sustain life. While zinc makes up only one small component of our dietary needs, it nonetheless is a very important part.

However, zinc does not act merely as a stimulant for the immune system. It appears to work as a modulating agent that maintains a moderate path between immune system over-activity and total lack of immunity. People who have high amounts of zinc in their bloodstream have lower risk of asthma, allergies and even transplant rejections, all of which can be caused by inappropriately high immune system activity. Zinc also appears to act as a protective factor towards cells, protecting us from oxidation while improving cellular repair processes. Zinc seems to be an important element in how our cells react to threats, and even how they react to no threats at all.

Clearly, zinc is important for a variety of cell functions. So what happens when people are deficient—even a little deficient–in this essential element?

Symptoms of a Zinc Deficiency

Many people are deficient in zinc without even knowing it. The symptoms of a zinc deficiency are so subtle that many people, even doctors, miss the obvious. Even mild deficiencies of this essential element can cause problems with the digestive system. Because the pancreas requires zinc to adequately digest food, even a small lack of this element can slow digestion and cause symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea. In addition, slowing of digestion due to a lack of zinc may lead to accumulation of undigested food and thus bloating.

Are You Getting Enough Zinc?

How can you make sure that you are getting enough zinc? This trace element can be difficult to obtain from food in adequate amounts. It is found in significant amounts in shellfish like oysters and lobster. Red meat also often has large amounts of zinc.

The problem is that our bodies have no way of storing zinc. Unless you are eating foods rich in this element with every meal, your levels may be insufficient. If you are suffering from digestive issues such as diarrhea or skin issues like rashes on a regular basis, there is a good likelihood that you are low on zinc. This is why supplementing with zinc can be an important positive move for your health. Whether you are male or female, getting the right amount of zinc in your daily life is essential for optimal health. Luckily, there are many vitamin formulas that offer high enough amounts of zinc to ensure that you have enough left over for metabolism and other vital daily processes.

It is best to get all of your vitamins and minerals from your diet. However, food is simply different now. Many people are eating food that has been picked before it has a chance to even become ripe. We do not get a full array of vitamins in our diets but we can take supplements to make sure we have all of the elements we need to not just survive but to thrive.

The Health Benefits of Prebiotics

Aug 15 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

Many Americans make an effort to eat probiotic foods or take a supplement containing these important gut bacteria. The health benefits of maintaining a healthy gut biome, as supported by probiotic supplements, are undeniable. However, there is another less-known supplement that may help your GI tract work at its best: prebiotics. Researchers are just beginning to realize the health benefits of prebiotics for whole-body health.

The Gut-Brain Connection

A well-functioning gastrointestinal system is essential to our health. Our body needs to break food down into the smallest building blocks and absorb these building blocks in order to survive. In addition, gut health has been found to have an effect on our overall health in a variety of ways. Our intestines are a major site of serotonin production, a neurotransmitter which can affect our mood and cognitive function. What’s more, the enteric nervous system located in our gut appears to be a major player in endocrine (hormone) regulation. Almost every week brings a new discovery about how important our GI tracts are to our health and well-being.

However, many people in the modern world struggle to achieve healthy digestion, absorption, and elimination, including 60 to 70 million people in the United States alone. Our modern diets don’t incorporate enough of the fruits, vegetables and whole grains needed to keep our gut moving at a steady pace. In addition, we are exposed to antibiotics when we are ill, when we clean with antimicrobial cleaners and even in our water. These antibiotics kill gut bacteria, which can compromise our own health.

What Are Prebiotics?

The gut microbiome is an important key to good gastrointestinal function. In our guts live millions of helpful bacteria that perform a variety of essential roles. They help digest food, produce essential vitamins, and contribute to healthy immune function. New research suggests that gut health may be even more important than previously thought, linking the health of our digestive system to healthy weight and even cancer risk.

Probiotics are the “good” bacteria that have been shown to create the best environment when living in our guts. It is important to take a probiotic supplement, but supplementation alone does not guarantee that these beneficial bacteria will thrive. This is where prebiotics come in. Prebiotics function as food for these beneficial bacteria and help to make the intestines a better place for them to live. Prebiotics are indigestible, which means that they are not absorbed into our GI tracts. They are easily fermented by bacteria for energy, ensuring that your probiotic bacteria have the ingredients they need to thrive and help you thrive as well. While most of us eat prebiotics in whole foods such as banana, leeks, onion and garlic, many people do not get enough in their diet and can benefit from a supplement.

The Health Benefits of Prebiotics

New research is showing that the health benefits of prebiotics may extend beyond our gastrointestinal tracts. People who supplement with prebiotics have healthier digestion and are even less likely to be overweight or obese. In addition, prebiotics appear to promote a healthy inflammatory response, helping to lessen the symptoms of a variety of conditions such as asthma. In fact, a recent study found that people who take a prebiotic supplement have lower levels of inflammatory markers in their blood, suggesting significantly less immune overreaction. Other studies have found that prebiotics may promote cardiovascular health and healthy cholesterol levels within normal ranges.

Getting Prebiotics in Your Diet

There are a few ways that you can get more prebiotics in your diet. First, you can choose foods that are rich in these indigestible starches. Second, you can switch from a probiotic supplement to one that provides both prebiotics and probiotics. Many people prefer these supplements because it makes sense to swallow the bacteria’s “food” along with the bacteria. In addition, taking a single supplement is just simpler.

If you seek optimal health both in your GI tract and the rest of your body, taking a prebiotic supplement may be beneficial. It makes sense to feed the bacteria that help your body to thrive in so many diverse ways.

Meal Timing: Is When You Eat as Important as What You Eat?

Jul 27 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

With obesity reaching epidemic levels in the United States and much of the Western world, many people are struggling to lose a few (or more!) extra pounds. Often those wishing to lose weight strive to eat less and to fit more activity into their lives, only to be disappointed with minimal results. As a result, weight loss is becoming a huge national industry, yet one that does not often deliver on its promises for the average person. What if another factor besides caloric intake is contributing to our ever-expanding modern waistlines?

Could When You Eat Affect Your Health?

Our ancestors ate at regularly-scheduled times and often with their family or clan. However, this is not possible for many people now. Most of us have to grab a bite when we have the chance, between work, errands and social obligations. In addition, the availability of tasty and affordable snacks makes it easy to graze our way through the day. For many people, eating throughout the day and into the night has replaced proper meals and some diet systems even claim incorrectly that this is a healthy behavior.

For from being a healthy choice, eating multiple meals throughout the day—especially after a certain time of day—appears to be disastrous for our metabolisms. In fact, a recent analysis of current research suggests that when we eat may be a major factor in weight gain or loss. Shift work has been linked to metabolic syndrome, which is believed to be due in part to eating at odd hours. People who switch to eating most of their calories early in the day see increased weight loss and better blood glucose control. While we have no definitive causal link between eating at regular hours and keeping a trimmer waist, studies certainly suggest a correlation.

The Science Behind Regular Meals

How can when you eat have such a huge effect on your weight and your health? Our bodies run on several internal clocks. Our metabolism, in particular, follows a circadian rhythm. Eating at the same times every day allows your body to plan ahead, ramping up insulin production and firing up your metabolism in anticipation of the meal ahead. If you do not eat at roughly the same times every day, your body cannot prepare itself on a hormonal level for metabolizing the calories you are about to take in.

Eating in the evening appears to be an especially poor decision for metabolic health. Glucose control is stronger in the morning than in the evening, which means that eating regularly in the evening can lead to blood sugar fluctuations. These fluctuations may contribute to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes over time. This may explain why people who eat most of their calories in the morning see such an improvement in blood glucose control and their weight. Even without changing their diet, they can control how carbohydrates are used.

Can a “Chronodiet” Lead to Better Health?

Planning when you eat appears to be as important as planning what you eat. Many people find success by following a “chronodiet” that aligns meal times with their body’s internal clock. Eating most meals between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. helps many people to lose weight even when consuming the same amount of calories. In addition, planning when you eat different kinds of food can help. For example, it is best to eat most of your carbs in the morning when insulin (and thus blood sugar control) is at its highest levels.

Humans evolved to lead a lifestyle that is very inconvenient in the modern world. As a result, many people are struggling with their weight as metabolic syndrome and related diseases continue to rise. Planning when you eat so it aligns with the best calorie-burning times of the day may help many people to lose a few pounds while leading a longer, healthier life.

Are Prenatal Vitamins a Pregnancy Necessity?

Jul 22 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

It’s a long-held belief that all expecting mothers should take a prenatal vitamin formula to reduce the risk of birth defects, nutrient deficiencies and other health problems. However, there are always skeptics who chime in as to why supplementing with extra nutrients may not actually be necessary while pregnant. If you’re on the fence, here is some of the latest information supporting the importance of supplementing with a prenatal vitamin while pregnant.

Folic Acid Is Crucial

Folic acid is also known as folate or vitamin B9. This vitamin is needed for the synthesis and creation of DNA, the production of red blood cells, the metabolism of amino acids, and for the growth of the placenta and fetus. A woman’s need for folic acid increases during pregnancy. Although the United States started fortifying grain products with vitamin B9 in 1998, most women still don’t get enough of it.

Taking folic acid is essential for reducing the risk of neural tube defects. This type of birth defect can be very severe,and some of these defects have a very low survival rate and life expectancy. One well-known neural tube defect is spina bifida, which occurs when the membranes around the spinal cord do not close completely. Spina bifida usually requires after-birth surgery and periodic medical attention throughout life. Another example of a neural tube defect is anencephaly, in which the baby is born lacking a cerebrum, which is the largest part of the brain.

Although neural tube defects are a terrible thing for a mother to experience, it’s also easy to greatly reduce your unborn child’s risk. In countries where flour is fortified with folic acid, there is a 46 percent lower rate of neural tube defects. You can bring the number down even further by simply taking a prenatal supplement with folic acid every day.

Folic acid may also help prevent other birth defects including heart defects and cleft palate, though more research is needed to confirm this. Additionally, because neural tube defects take place before most women even know they are pregnant, it’s important to start taking a prenatal vitamin formula with folic acid as soon as you start trying to conceive.

Other Benefits of Prenatal Supplements

Folic acid is arguably the most important prenatal vitamin that you should take. However, there are a few other nutrients with pregnancy benefits that you should learn about.

It is prudent for expecting mothers to take a supplement with vitamin D. Although vitamin D is obtained through sunlight, fortified dairy, fatty fish and egg yolk, most Americans still don’t get enough of it. Being deficient in vitamin D may increase your risk of preeclampsia, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, low birth weight, preterm birth, gestational diabetes and the need for caesarean delivery.

Calcium is one of few nutrients that your body takes from its own stores in order to help your baby grow. This means that if you aren’t getting enough calcium in your diet, your body will take it from your bones and teeth. You can reduce your risk of lifelong bone density problems by taking a prenatal vitamin formula containing calcium.

Some of the other most important nutrients to look for in a prenatal supplement include iron, iodine, choline and omega-3 fatty acids.

So, Do I Need a Prenatal Vitamin?

There remain some people who argue against the benefits of taking a prenatal vitamin formula. Skeptics raise some good points, such as the fact that you don’t necessarily need to supplement every single vitamin and mineral. However, the reality is that most Americans fall short when it comes to many key nutrients and that your need for certain vitamins like vitamin D and folic acid do rise during pregnancy. What’s more, nutrient deficiencies in the mother have more severe effects in babies. Ultimately, research supports incorporating a comprehensive prenatal vitamin formulation into your prenatal care program during pregnancy and beyond, while breastfeeding.

One study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility called the “Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment Study” found that women who take a prenatal multivitamin daily during pregnancy have a 55 percent lower risk of losing their baby. Other studies have found consistent reductions in the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and preterm birth.

Some people are more likely to highly benefit from taking a prenatal multivitamin formula than others. Supplementation during pregnancy is even more crucial for teenage mothers, women who smoke or have a history of using other substances, women who have suffered from eating disorders, women who take certain medications, vegetarians and vegans and women who are carrying twins, triplets, or beyond. However, taking a high-quality prenatal vitamin formula is a necessity for all women who are expecting or trying to conceive. This is confirmed by several health authorities: the Endocrine Society, the American Thyroid Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics all recommend multivitamins during pregnancy. Despite what the skeptics say, most OBGYNs and family doctors also recommend supplementing with a prenatal vitamin formula.