inflammation Archives - Center for Holistic Medicine

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 12 people have asthma. That accounts for 7.7 percent of all adults and 8.4 percent of all children.

And sadly, it’s a chronic disease that has been steadily increasing in people of all ages, sexes and racial groups since the 1980s. In fact, according to the CDC, the number of Americans with asthma grew 28 percent from 2001 to 2011, and the numbers continue to rise.

Although scientists haven’t determined exactly why people develop asthma, many experts believe that the rise in allergies and asthma may be due to climate change, which is causing a rise in pollen levels, as well as increased air pollution in cities, and the overuse of antibiotics.

If you’re one of the many people who suffer from asthma, you know that the fall can be an especially tough time to keep your asthma symptoms under control. Not only does colder weather mean more time spent indoors, where you’re more likely to be surrounded by common asthma triggers like dust mites and pet dander, but it is also the start of cold and flu season, which can also make your asthma symptoms worse.

Thankfully, Tanya Tanzillo, a functional medicine practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine, says there are many lifestyle changes you can make to help keep your asthma symptoms under control, and to lessen the chance that you’ll have to reach for that inhaler every day.

Don’t open the windows
Now that we are experiencing cooler nights, you may be tempted to open the windows instead of running the air conditioning. However, open windows can allow in more pollen into your home, which can trigger asthma symptoms. Ragweed usually starts to pollinate in August and can last until the first frost, which may not happen until the end of October.
Don’t let your pets sleep on the bed
We all love our pets, but if you’ve got asthma, it’s time to kick ’em off your bed. According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, the proteins found in a pet’s dander, skin flakes and saliva can aggravate asthma symptoms.
Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables
You may not realize that what you eat has any affect on your asthma, but according to Tanzillo, your diet can play a significant impact on your asthma symptoms. Here’s how it works: When someone with asthma breathes in foreign or toxic substances, the body’s immune system produces inflammatory molecules called leukotrienes, which constrict the blood vessels in your airways to try to block out the invaders. However, if you eat a diet high in flavonoids and carotene (which can be found in all colorful vegetables), you can boost your body’s immune system and stop the production of leukotrienes.
Eat lots of Vitamin C
Several studies have shown that taking vitamin C can significantly reduce asthma symptoms, especially in children. Just as with flavonoids and carotene, vitamin C can significantly boost your body’s immune system and keep inflammation at bay, making it better able to fight off airborne toxins.
Take a Vitamin D supplement
Vitamin D has many antibacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities and several studies have shown a significant link between vitamin D deficiency and asthma. Since we live in Chicago where it’s cold and we don’t get that much exposure to sunlight, Tanzillo says it’s especially important to take a daily supplement of Vitamin D. However, she recommends asking your doctor about the correct dosage for you.
Eat fish or fish oil
You’ve probably heard that eating a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids may support heart health, brain health and reduce inflammation, but did you know it can also reduce symptoms of asthma as well? Studies have shown that eating fish twice a week for older children can also significantly improve asthma symptoms. If you (or your kids) don’t get enough fish in your diet, you can always add a fish oil supplement instead.
Get tested for food allergies
Tanzillo says another surprising cause of asthma symptoms may be food intolerances. Many people are aware that there are certain foods that can cause immediate allergic reactions in people – such as those who immediately can’t breathe as soon as they eat a peanut or shellfish. However, Tanzillo says there are other types of foods that people can tolerate at low dosages, but when they eat too much of them, they may cause your body to activate its immune response, which can lead to asthma attacks. Some foods that may lead to intolerances can be dairy, chocolate, meat, citrus foods, food coloring and more. Tanzillo recommends trying to be cognizant of what you are eating when asthma attacks occur and to come in to have a food allergy panel run to determine what may be triggering your symptoms.

Want to get more information about what may be causing your asthma symptoms? Schedule an appointment with Tanzillo today.

Have you ever been stressed about going on a job interview and felt butterflies in your stomach? Or felt so worried about relationship problems or financial fears that you start to feel nauseous?

It’s no secret that our mental health can have a direct impact on our physical health, yet many people don’t realize just how much anxiety and stress can make our physical pain even worse.

“Stress, fear and anxiety definitely have an impact on someone’s physical health,” says Dr. Mitchell Katz, a chiropractor at the Center for Holistic Medicine. “Stress is that hidden factor that sometimes is difficult to identify but is always lurking in the shadows.”

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, people with anxiety often also suffer from chronic pain disorders, such as fibromyalgia, migraines, back pain, and arthritis.

And a 2008 study published in the journal Depression and Anxiety said that patients who complained of muscle pain, headache or stomach pain were 2.5 to 10 times more likely to screen positively for generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder or major depression disorder.

But why, exactly, does stress and anxiety lead to physical pain?

The reason is two-fold: muscle tension and hormones.

According to the American Institute of Stress, when we are stressed, our muscles tense up, causing tension headaches and migraines as well as pain in the neck, back and shoulders.

Stress and anxiety also triggers our hormones to have a stress response, causing them to pump more adrenaline and cortisol into our blood stream. And this leads to inflammation, which has been linked to everything from irritable bowel syndrome to increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, fibromyalgia, arthritis and more.

Sometimes, having physical pain can actually be the cause of people’s anxiety as well, especially when they’re worried about how bad the pain will be, how long it will last and how much it may cost them in medical bills.

That’s one of the reasons Dr. Katz says he always tries to be positive with his patients and focus on how they will be able to get better, rather than amping up their fear.

“Doctors can create anxiety in a patient without even realizing it,” he says.

For example, Dr. Katz says he remembers one time when a teenage girl came into his office who had been told she had a bad case of scoliosis. “She came in hunched over with her shoulders rounded. Her body language basically screamed, ‘I have scoliosis. I’m ruined,’” he said.

Dr. Katz examined her spine, and then said, “I gotta tell you, just looking at you visually, whatever the degree of curvature you might have, I suspect that the x-rays will show it to be extremely minor.”

As soon as she heard the good news, it seemed like her pain miraculously disappeared, all because she wasn’t filled with anxiety anymore. “She left the office a completely different person,” he said.

That’s what made Katz realize how powerful an affect fears can have on our bodies.

“The mind is a very powerful instrument and it can be very helpful and it can be very problematic,” he says.

Want to relieve your pain by reducing your anxiety? Here are a few things to try:

Deep Breathing
Learning how to breathe deeply from your diaphragm and how to slowly and methodically count your inhales and exhales is a wonderful way of calming the body and reducing stress. Try breathing in for four and breathing out for a count of four, repeating until you feel very relaxed.
Mindfulness Meditation
Meditation is free, easy to do and you can do it pretty much anywhere, so there’s no excuse not to try it. Simply sit upright on a chair and set your timer for a few minutes. Try to empty your mind of its normal worry and chatter and instead focus on what is going on in the present moment – the sound of a car going by, the sound of the air conditioner, the feeling of your feet on the ground.
Yoga
Stretching doesn’t just feel good – it is beneficial, too. Stretching helps increase blood flow throughout the body and can help release toxins and reduce inflammation that may be causing pain. Read more about the benefits of yoga.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
To do this technique, focus on one part of your body and try to squeeze it as much as you can. Then release it until it is fully relaxed. Then repeat with all of the other parts of your body until you feel completely relaxed.
Schedule an Appointment with a Therapist
Often, our worries can loom large in our heads, but when we share them with others, we can get a new perspective and feel less anxiety. Talking with a therapist one-on-one is a great way of feeling more grounded and can help relieve both physical and mental pain.

Before you reach for that cookie, consider this: studies have shown that eating too much sugar or simple carbohydrates can have devastating effects. Not only will the sugar likely lead to weight gain, but an unseen, internal chain of events can be triggered that could result in some of America’s most deadly diseases.

The surprising culprit behind many illnesses, especially heart disease, is inflammation.

It’s surprising because inflammation is a necessary function of our bodies. The immune system uses inflammation to fight pathogens and inflammation can be essential in defending us from disease.

Problems occur when inflammation becomes chronic. And though studies have not been able to conclusively pinpoint an exact cause and effect between chronic inflammation and chronic conditions, there are certain factors that are consistently present when looking at heart disease.

Diet is one of them. Too much sugar in the diet leads to insulin resistance, which in turn causes inflammation. And when the blood vessels leading to the heart are inflamed, heart disease develops.

Dr. Jerry Gore, founder of the Center for Holistic Medicine, says, “Simple sugars get into the bloodstream too fast, create too much insulin, which then creates insulin resistance, which then creates inflammation, which then creates all these diseases. Sugar is really the scourge of our society.”

Even if you don’t have a sweet tooth, you may be consuming more sugar than you think because many prepared foods contain hidden sugars. It’s been estimated that the average American eats a half pound of sugar a day!

How Sugar Leads to Inflammation

When blood sugar is high, the body produces more free radicals. Free radicals are especially damaging to the body because they disrupt healthy cells and set off an unnecessary immune response, which causes inflammation.
Excess sugar consumption leads to an over-production of Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs). These are formed when protein or fat combine with sugar in the bloodstream. Having too many of them causes inflammation.
Sugar is thought to contribute to gut permeability. When bacteria and toxins pass between the gut into the bloodstream, inflammation occurs.
Sugar has long been associated with elevating LDL cholesterol, the “bad” cholesterol that’s linked to higher levels of C-reactive protein, another cause of inflammation.

Perhaps one of the best ways to understand the connection between eating sugar and putting your heart at risk is to look at the role diabetes plays in heart disease.

The statistics are truly staggering:

Evidence shows that patients with diabetes have higher levels of low-grade inflammation in their arterial lining.
68 percent of people over 65 with diabetes die from some form of heart disease.
Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die from heart disease than those without diabetes.

So what can you do to reduce your risk of both diabetes and heart disease? In addition to exercising, quitting smoking and lowering your blood pressure, one of the best things you can do is to cut out sugary snacks, drinks and simple sugars found in white bread and replace them with more complex carbohydrates such as whole grains and raw fruit, which have more fiber.

Katie Bogaard, a naturopathic practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine, says you can also reduce your insulin spikes by eating carbs along with extra fiber and proteins, which slows down your sugar absorption and reduces the risk of developing chronic inflammation.

“If you balance a smoothie with proteins, good fats, and extra fiber, that will give you a slower increase in your blood sugar, making you feel not only more balanced but more satiated until your next meal,” she says.

Learn more about the negative effects of sugar in our podcast, Healing Holistically.

Tag: inflammation

7 Lifestyle Changes That Can Improve Asthma Symptoms

How Anxiety Can Make Pain Worse

The Surprising Link Between Sugar and Heart Disease