Integrative medicine最新文献

The alkaloid berberine is a constituent of several medicinal herbs with centuries of use. Emerging research is documenting many effective clinical applications. It has been shown to improve blood sugar control, lower cholesterol, inhibit infectious microorganisms, decrease inflammation, ameliorate inflammatory bowel disease, lower blood pressure, facilitate weight loss, and even inhibit cancer cells. However, it is important to recognize that relying solely on berberine as a treatment because it is a natural molecule ignores the need to address causes of the diseases and dysfunctions the patient is suffering.

Background: We studied the pattern of herbal and dietary supplement (HDS) use in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A questionnaire/survey was sent to hepatology patients with CLD under the care of hepatologists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Results: The 5 most taken dietary supplements during the pandemic included vitamin B12 (27.7%), vitamin C (32.4%), vitamin D (54.6%), zinc (25.4%) and green tea extract (20.8%). Most participants (82.3%) did not discuss their HDS use with their hepatology providers.

Conclusions: Healthcare providers should be mindful of potential HDS use in patients with CLD.

Background: Persistent accumulation and hindered clearance of toxins from tissues over time may promote the development and exacerbation of several diseases. Hepatic metabolic detoxification is a key physiological process responsible for the clearance of toxic substances from the body. A healthy diet with nutritional dietary supplementation may support metabolic detoxification and help mitigate the negative effects of toxin burden.

Methods: A multicenter, randomized, single-blind, controlled trial was conducted to test the effects of a dietary detoxification product (detox; n = 20) versus an active dietary control product (active control; n = 20) on selected biomarkers of metabolic detoxification, general health, and well-being following 28 days of dietary supplementation. Study participants displayed multiple symptoms commonly associated with elevated toxin burden, but otherwise healthy.

Results: The detox group displayed significantly decreased levels of red blood cell total toxic metals, decreased urine total porphyrins, and decreased urine mutagenicity potency compared with baseline. Both the detox and active control groups showed improvements in the symptoms attributed to elevated toxin burden. Fatigue and sleep disruption scores were significantly reduced in the detox group compared with baseline. No significant differences in anthropometric measures and vital signs, and no adverse events or side effects were detected in either group over the study period.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the benefit of nutritional intervention for supporting metabolic detoxification, evidenced by significant changes in multiple detoxification biomarkers and improvement in questionnaire scores related to quality of life, general health, and well-being.

While Cushing syndrome is rare, but well-recognized, subclinical hypercortisolism (defined as excessive cortisol secretion without the classic manifestations of Cushing syndrome) is significantly more common. Subclinical hypercortisolism contributes to several chronic diseases, such as diabetes, osteoporosis, sarcopenia and hypertension. The incidence increases with age and correlates with body load of environmental toxins such as bisphenol A (BPA). This editorial discusses prevalence, contribution to disease, causes, diagnosis, and intervention.

Background: Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a popular nutritional supplement that is available in both the oxidized and reduced form. The marketing of CoQ10 to physicians often asserts that one form is superior to the other. This study was designed to compare and contrast the stability, absorption and claims made for the reduced form of CoQ10 (ubiquinol) compared with the oxidized form (ubiquinone). There is a need for studies that examine the contents of commercially available ubiquinol products microscopically at room, body and 50°C temperatures. There is also a need for studies of the state of the ubiquinol contents when exposed to a 2.2 pH solution that simulates stomach acidity and an 8.2 pH solution that simulates acidity in the duodenum.

Methods: An investigation of the instability of ubiquinol supplements was conducted via an in vitro study of 13 ubiquinol products marketed in the United States that measured the extent of the conversion of the ubiquinol content to ubiquinone, when the ubiquinol was squeezed out of the capsule at room temperature and when the ubiquinol contents were exposed to a 2.2 pH solution and an 8.2 pH solution.

Results: In the in vitro study, the percentage of ubiquinol converted to ubiquinone at body temperature was greatest in the 8.2 pH simulated small intestinal juice: 76%. The percentage of ubiquinol converted to ubiquinone at body temperature in the 2.2 pH gastric juice that simulated conditions in the stomach was 54%.

Conclusions: Ubiquinol in commercial nutritional supplements is fairly stable inside the gelatin capsule but unstable in gastric and small intestine digestive fluids. Based on the data from the lab studies, most of the ubiquinol from the capsule will be converted to ubiquinone prior to reaching the absorption cells in the small intestines. Animal studies are needed to test this hypothesis.