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Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Andrea Donsky and health expert Lisa Davis discuss their passion for living a natural, healthy lifestyle.
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EatRight Radio, with experts from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, discusses food and nutrition topics, healthy weight, allergies and health conditions, healthy aging, food safety and so much more. Give us 10-minutes and we'll give you the important information and expert advice from registered dietitian nutritionists to help you eat right, feel better, and live a healthier life. Hosted by Melanie Cole, MS.
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"Spring Cleaning" has gone beyond just washing windows and floors. It's taken on a much broader meaning in terms of your health.
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- Segment Number 2
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1516ns3b.mp3
- Featured Speaker Lisa & Ron Beres, Certified Green Building Professionals
- Guest Website Ron and Lisa: The Healthy Home Dream Team
- Guest Twitter Account @RonandLisa
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Guest Bio
Lisa and Ron Beres are Certified Green Building Professionals, Building Biologists and published authors of several books including Just GREEN It! and the children's book, My Body My House. In addition to testing the health of homes, their consulting business includes celebrities and Fortune 500's. They are award winning television media experts and have appeared on The Rachael Ray Show, The Suzanne Show, The Doctors, Fox & Friends, The Today Show with Matt Lauer, NBC’s Nightly News with Brian Williams, Discovery’s Greenovate and Chelsea Lately on E!
- Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Internal Notes repeat guest
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Forgiveness isn't easy. But, holding on to resentment can make a huge impact on your emotional, mental and physical health.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 1
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1516ns3a.mp3
- Featured Speaker Judith Orloff, MD
- Book Title The Ecstasy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life
- Guest Website Judith Orloff, MD
- Guest Bio Judith Orloff, MD is a psychiatrist, intuitive healer, and NY Times bestselling author. Her latest national bestseller is The Ecstasy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life. Dr. Orloff synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality. She passionately believes that the future of medicine involves integrating all this wisdom to achieve emotional freedom and total wellness.
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Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Naturally Savvy | Original Air Date: April 15, 2015
Hosts: Andrea Donsky, RHN & Lisa Davis
Guest: Judith Orloff, MD
Honest information about living a healthy lifestyle on RadioMD. It's time for Naturally Savvy with natural visionary, Andrea Donsky, and health journalist, Lisa Davis, on RadioMD.com.
LISA: Being naturally savvy isn't just eating health food. It's also being aware of your emotional state of being; taking care of yourself and surrendering resentments and offering forgiveness is really good for your health.
Back with us again is the wonderful Dr. Judith Orloff. We're going to talk about surrendering resentments and why it's so important.
Dr. Orloff, welcome back.
DR ORLOFF: Thank you very much.
LISA: It's so nice to have you on. You know, forgiveness can be tough, especially if somebody did something really, really horrible especially, and not to be depressing, but I'm thinking of like childhood abuse or things like that. It's important for you to forgive, right? To heal, but not forget or how would you word that?
ANDREA: Not to forget.
LISA: Right? How do you approach that with a client or with somebody who really has been through unspeakable things?
DR ORLOFF: Yes, I know everyone knows right to unspeakable things in terms of forgiveness, but there's a whole spectrum of things to forgive, including yourself. So, in the Ecstasy of Surrender, one of the primary principles is learning how to let go of resentments and get to the grace of forgiveness because if you don't, then you've seen these people who are just are an accumulation of bitterness and resentment and anger and it makes the aging process really dismal and it also makes them miserable people. So, what I suggest to my patients and in the book, is to try and let go of resentments, not so much forgiving what the person did. For instance, if you suffered horrible abuse or your ex betrayed you, not so much that, but forgiving the suffering that caused them to do that so you can go on rather than holding on to the resentment and 20 years later, you're still talking about it. So, you don't want to be talking about it 20 years later. You want to go on with your life and being with positive, loving people.
ANDREA: It's interesting that you say that. I know someone who had a divorce probably about 20-25 years ago and they're still resentful of the person who cheated on them or whatever it is—that did them wrong. I always think or wonder how that can affect their present state of mind and also how it affects them from an emotional standpoint and physical standpoint. From what I understand, illness or things that go wrong with people, stem from an emotional state. So, how does that affect them physically when they're holding on to such anger and resentment?
DR ORLOFF: A great question. Well, there's, of course, the mind/body/spirit connection and if you're holding on to resentments and anger on a biological level, that increases your cortisol and adrenaline, your stress hormones, which increases your blood pressure, decreases immunity and increases aging.
So, as long as you hold onto it, you are pumping those stress hormones through your body which are not helping you. So, simply on a biological level, it's good to let go of resentment so you can lower your stress hormone level and get more endorphins flowing which come from forgiveness. Endorphins are the feel good hormones, the natural pain killers in the body that come when you can let something go. You know, in the Ecstasy of Surrender, I emphasize over and over and over again the ecstasy, the bliss, the happiness that comes when you can let something go. You're not tight. You're not contracted. You're flowing and you're letting it go. It could be horrible. Your ex, maybe, betrayed you with another person and it just destroyed your heart and broke your heart, but you have to move on. You see, if you don't move on and you give up on love, then you're the loser. You always have to move towards love and let go and try and see the lessons in whatever difficulties come up in life.
ANDREA: I like that you said that, too, because I do believe that when people blame other people and they play that victim that it never really helps anybody because at the end of the day, we're all responsible for whatever situations that happen, right? Of what we're attracting.
DR ORLOFF: Well, yeah. I just want to say, you are right. All these people who say, “I deserve to be angry at my ex because he betrayed me with this other woman.” You're right. You do deserve to be angry, but do you want to keep being angry? It's not about being right. It's about taking good care of yourself.
ANDREA: Exactly. Then, once you're able to let go, I think that, you know, it frees. Because at the end of the day, the other person may not have that type of anger or resentment and if you're the one holding on to it, it doesn't do anybody any good, then once you let that go, then you could be free. What are some ways that people could actually let go? Because, obviously, you know, people might be listening going, “Yeah. Okay, Dr. Orloff. It's easier said than done. What are some ways that I can actually do or strategies that I can actually release these emotions?”
DR ORLOFF: Well, self-compassion. You know? Really have a lot of compassion with yourself and what you've been through with this person. You know? And be kind to yourself and then, in meditation. Take a few deep breaths and really picture the resentment floating away like clouds in the sky. You know, give it back. Be willing to surrender it. Be willing to let it go and also, to see the suffering. You know, I tell a story in the book about the Dalai Lama. Someone went to visit him to do an interview and she had to wait in the cafe and while she was at the cafe, she saw a man beating a dog and it was just horrible. Then, she met with the Dalai Lama and said, “How do you reconcile this in your philosophy?” and he said, “I feel just as sorry for the man as I do for the dog.” So, you know, it's about deep compassion for the suffering that causes people to do things. It's magical when you can get to that level and see the suffering. It frees you. You see? It doesn't let them off the hook ,but it frees you and that's what I'm interested in teaching my patients and freeing them from resentments and even just pray and ask to have it lifted. You have to want to have it lifted. If you're stuck in being right—and you are right—I just want to say to everyone listening, you are right and you have every right to hold on to this resentment forever, but do you want to? You know? That's the issue. So, be very willing to have it be lifted. In 12-Step Programs, there's a prayer to have resentments lifted because alcoholics and addicts can't afford to hold on to resentments because it leads to drinking and using. So, it's a deep prayer, “Let me go on with my life and have a happy, beautiful life with people who can love and adore me.” You know? That kind of mantra.
LISA: You know, it was so interesting when you told that story about the Dalai Lama because I was thinking the same thing around, you know, if you can understand where somebody else is coming from and get to know more about their experiences and what happened in their life, it doesn't give them an excuse to be a jerk, but it at least opens your eyes and gives you that compassion, hopefully.
DR ORLOFF: It does.
LISA: Andrea's shaking her head. She knows what I'm talking about.
ANDREA: Yes. So, go ahead, Dr. Orloff.
DR ORLOFF: Yes. Hello.
ANDREA: Just repeat what you said. Sorry. It got cut off.
DR ORLOFF: Oh. The compassion sets you free and I want to point out the ego doesn't want to let go of resentment. The ego wants to hold on to because you're right. Just recognize that. That you're not going to find your own freedom through the ego. The ego is never going to want to let go of that resentment. You know, I have a relative who has been holding onto a resentment for, god, forty years. And she's right. You know? The thing is, she's right, but it's eating her up and the other person that she resents is already dead. You know? But, she's still holding on to the resentment and it eats you away. The resentments don't do anything for you except eat away at your health and well-being.
ANDREA: Yes. No, I totally agree with you. I think, once, you know...Like you said, it doesn't always have to be the worst of situations. It could just be, let's say you had an argument with a friend or an argument with a spouse. I mean, or a boyfriend or a girlfriend. So, I think whatever that situation is, I love that you said, be compassionate with ourselves. Let it go and free ourselves from these resentments and I think your words are of wisdom.
Of course, Dr. Orloff, we love having you on the show, but we are out of time today. I just want to let everybody know for those of you who are listening, Dr. Orloff is running a weekend workshop at the Esalen Institute in July, the weekend of July 28, on developing intuition. So, if any of you are around and can attend, I highly recommend it.
Dr. Orloff, thank you so much for being on our show today.
DR ORLOFF: Oh, thank you very much.
ANDREA: You can visit her website at DrJudithOrloff.com. I'm Andrea Donsky along with Lisa Davis. This is Naturally Savvy Radio on RadioMD.
Like us on Twitter and follow us on Facebook @ YourRadioMD and Naturally Savvy. Thanks for listening everyone. Be compassionate with yourself and forgiving.
Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Listen in as Dr. Mike provides the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 5
- Audio File healthy_talk/1516ht4e.mp3
- Organization Life Extension
- Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
-
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 16, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
It's time for you to be a part of the show. Email or call with questions for Dr. Mike now. Email: AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com or call: 877-711-5211. What are you waiting for? The doctor is in.
DR MIKE: So, you know you can email me right now and if the question--if I catch it--I can read it online. As a matter of fact, my producer Sheldon Baker sent an email to AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com and it just came through. He's referencing the tart cherries. I've mentioned several times before about tart cherry extract being so good for inflammation and pain--muscle pain, neuropathic pain. I've had successful experiences with using tart cherry extract for diabetic pain. I mean, I'm not saying it gets rid of it completely but it manages it. It's better. Anyway, so Sheldon is asking me,
"Is it common or easy to find tart cherries in Whole Foods?"
You know, I just always use the extract. I don't know. There are so many different types of cherries, so I don't know. I think the specific variety of tart cherry is not as common as some of the other varieties that you might find in the store but if you have a different answer and you want to help me, let me know. Teach me something about tart cherries and how common they are in places like Whole Foods. AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com.
Okay. I read a report. This is the next question:
"I read a report that Alzheimer's might be an immune problem. Can you shed some light on this theory?"
Oh love it. You know, so, again, I'm pretty--for a General Practitioner, general doctor--I'm pretty up to date on Alzheimer's because I work for a foundation where we've really focused a lot on mild cognitive impairment dementias like Alzheimer's and I've done several lectures throughout the country on the latest theories of Alzheimer's.
As a matter of fact, last year I was at NOVA University here in South Florida speaking to their pharmacy school about some of the latest theories. So, yes, I am familiar a lot with what's going on in Alzheimer's research and this one is really interesting. So, to answer the question "Could Alzheimer be an immune problem?" Well, let me answer that by saying, first of all, "no". Because, again, Alzheimer's, like all age-related type disorders, whether it's in the brain, heart, whatever, they're multifactorial.
And there are probably many things going on--oxidative stress, inflammation--which could all be stimulated by toxins and just age itself. There are lots of things going on but there is some research. So, to say Alzheimer's is caused by this one thing or Alzheimer's is this, no, I would never say that it's too complicated. But, there is some really interesting research that's starting to reveal a little bit of an immune and infectious disease component to Alzheimer's.
So, let me explain. On one hand, we know that the basic characteristics of Alzheimer's pathology is these abnormal protein deposits that happen outside of the brain cells kind of called the intracellular space. So, you have your brain, right? And it's made up of a bunch of brain cells and these brain cells connect to each other, those are kind of like the information highways and, as a matter of fact, how brain cells connect to each other is extremely important, maybe even more so important than the brain cell itself.
How it touches other brain cells and forms pathways and what happens in Alzheimer's disease, for probably a variety of reasons, there is this abnormal protein that is formed that is then pushed outside of the brain cell and it starts to clump in this intracellular space in that area where the brain cell is trying to connect to other brain cells. So, it disrupts the highways, these abnormal protein deposits. The classic one is amyloid. There's also thal protein but these clumps of protein kind of disrupt the information highway one brain cell connecting to another.
Now, it turns out that we all might develop these abnormal protein deposits at times. Even in a young healthy person, they might actually have an abnormal protein deposit once in awhile. But the body is able to recognize it as something that's wrong. The body then activates these brain macrophages, which are a type of an immune cell that can grab onto those clumps and literally eat it up. That's what macrophages do.
Macrophages will engulf bacteria, viruses, whatever, anything that's not you or that's abnormal or getting in the way the immune system has a type of cell called a "macrophage" that can go in there and just gobble it up. We have specific macrophages that live in the brain that are there, we believe now, to clean up the intracellular space because that intracellular space is so important to how one brain cell communicates with another. So, the theory is that since in Alzheimer's patients there's this accumulation of these abnormal protein deposits that maybe those brain macrophages aren't working as well. Maybe there is a component of Alzheimer's disease that is an immunodeficiency.
Now, again, Alzheimer's is multifactorial. Having an immunodeficiency does not explain why those protein deposits are forming in the first place but we are recognizing that it may happen in healthy young people but they have activated macrophages to eat it up. Alzheimer's patients don't. So, yes, on one level I'm going to answer the question "Is Alzheimer's an immune problem?", no. It's multifactorial. "Is there an immunodeficiency with macrophages that might allow progression of disease?" Yes. See, how I did that?
So, that's interesting and that's why I think we're really--here at Life Extension--we're interested in curcumin so much. Curcumin--that's from the turmeric spice. It's the key compound. It's the anti-inflammatory compound. It's an antioxidant. It's just awesome for you. It crosses the blood/brain barrier and it's able to clump onto or attach to the abnormal amyloid proteins and thal proteins and the intracellular space and once that happens that seems to be something those inactive macrophages can recognize and now activate so there's some evidence that curcumin can reactivate brain macrophages in Alzheimer's patients and start to eat up some of those abnormal protein deposits. Very, very interesting research. There's another component--another side to this, too. It's just an association. It's kind of interesting.
Although there was one research paper that said it was actually a cause/effect which is really interesting. Alzheimer's patients have a high level of spirochetes in their brain. It's a bacteria. It's the same bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Spirochetes. They check nasal passages, sinal passages, cerebral spinal fluid and it's across the board in all these different studies. Alzheimer's patients have significant levels of spirochetes in their brain and sinuses. You really should have none. Healthy controls have none. But, Alzheimer's patients have significant levels of these spirochetes.
So, again, it's multifactorial. You've got these macrophages that aren't working really well. You have oxidative stress. You have inflammation and then all of that kind of depresses the brain's immune system in a sense and it allows something like a spirochete to kind of latch on and get into the brain and cause problems and raise inflammation more. See how it all kind of comes together? So, interesting, interesting research with an immunodeficiency. Those macrophages, curcumin reactivating those macrophages, and then, of course, spirochete infections. Maybe early on, Alzheimer's patients should be treated for spirochete infection. That's where a lot of this research is going.
So, great question that went a lot longer than I thought I was going to answer but it's stuff that I'm really up to date on and enjoy researching. So, yes. Check that out. Macrophages, curcumin, and spirochetes in Alzheimer's patients.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Internal Notes NO GUEST
- Host Mike Smith, MD
Listen in as Dr. Mike provides the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 4
- Audio File healthy_talk/1516ht4d.mp3
- Organization Life Extension
- Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
-
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 16, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
RadioMD. It's time to ask Dr. Mike. Do you have a question about your health? Dr. Mike can answer your questions. Just email AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com or call now: 877-711-5211. The lines are open.
DR MIKE: Alright this question came from Rita and its about a specific natural anti-inflammatory curcumin from the turmeric spice. There's actually two questions, so I'm going to first do the first question which is more about the curcumin and maybe why it's not working. As of now, I'm not reading the whole thing. She wrote a whole bunch of stuff. I'm just going to focus on the middle part of this and then the main question.
"As I read nowadays that depression may be linked also to inflammation and so that's the reason I started ordering the curcumin. Would it be possible if you could provide some correlation that this link between inflammation and depression is true? And if it's true, though, why hasn't the curcumin benefited me so far in regards to inflammation and depression?"
So, let me just try to summarize the question. So here you have somebody, who it sounds like, Rita, is dealing with some depression and she says inflammation around her body, so maybe some joint issues, maybe some chronic pain issues. Something like that, I'm assuming. She reads about natural anti-inflammatories like curcumin and especially is interested in that inflammation/depression link. She starts to take the curcumin and the first thing she wants to know is, is that association correct about inflammation and depression but why isn't the curcumin helping? So, let's address both of those questions.
The first thing, yes, Rita, inflammation is associated with depression and we have to be careful how we say that. You know there are two things in medicine. There's cause/effect or there are associations and what we know is that chronic inflammation is associated with many age-related disorders. It's what I call the common denominator of age-related diseases and that includes mood disorders. Lots of research is showing that mood disorders, neuro-degeneration disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, seizure disorders and all that, are linked to higher levels of inflammatory markers in the brain.
And that's well established. Again, am I saying that inflammation in the brain causes depression? No, no, no. All we're saying is that if you look at a group of people with mood disorders like depression versus control group people who don't have depression, you'll notice that there is more inflammation in the brains of depressed patients than the control group. So then, the next question might become well, okay, "So, if I lower inflammation, should that not help my depression? Well, yes and no.
I mean, you have to understand that many of the age- related disorders that we deal with here at Life Extension like depression are multifactorial. There are lots of different causes, so to say that you take something to lower inflammation and it doesn't help a mood disorder and then to give up on that anti-inflammatory, well, that may not be the smartest thing to do. Again, recognizing that something like depression is not well understood regardless of what the pharmaceutical companies might tell you.
It's not well understood and it's multifactorial. What I do know is that if you are on a treatment that's working for you when it comes to depression and you do things like eat, better exercise and take natural anti-inflammatories the result--the outcome--will be better, recognizing the multifactorial aspect of something like depression. So, inflammation is associated with mood disorders such as depression controlling chronic inflammation may play a role in improved outcomes in somebody who is being treated conventionally.
But you can't just take curcumin and think it's going to help depression. Now the other question, though, apparently, with Rita is that the curcumin doesn't seem to be helping. I assume that means both with the depression and with what she refers to as inflammation around the body. I'm assuming the chronic pain, the joints, whatever it may be, is not really working. So what's going on there? Well, there are lots of questions there that I would have to ask you, Rita.
What dose of curcumin are you taking? What kind of curcumin? I mean there's the standard--I'll call it the older formulations of curcumin--really aren't that great. To get enough curcumin into your system you have to do 2000, 3000, 4000 mg a day. For the past, let's say three or four years, we've had available a much more absorbable form of curcumin called BCM-95, so make sure you're taking the right dose in the right form. If you're taking the BCM-95, that's the one that absorbs like up to seven times more than the older versions. You could start maybe at 400 mg a day but you might have to work that up to 800 mg a day.
So, I guess the point I want to make with you, Rita, is don't give up on the curcumin. There's solid evidence that curcumin inhibits inflammation by inhibiting very powerful inflammatory markers in the body like NF Kappa Beta, cox and lox. These are all enzymes and proteins that drive inflammation in the body. Curcumin in several laboratory and clinical studies has been shown to bring down those markers, bringing down inflammation. So, don't give up on the curcumin. I think you have to start looking about how you're taking it. What's the dose? What's the formula that you're using? All of those factors will play a role.
Now, she had another question and I think this relates to the inflammation around the body thing. Oh, yes. Please another question. Very important.
"Is it okay if, even feeling a little pain, I continue to exercise?"
And I think this is an awesome question. Yes, having a little pain is completely normal in exercise and according to some specialists, as a matter of fact, there's a lot of researchers--a good friend of mine, Dr. Holly Lucille, who's a naturopathic doctor--she's been on my show. She has her own show on RadioMD. She talks about delayed onset medical soreness.
And, it's not necessarily a bad thing. You know, when you exercise, Rita, and you're straining the muscle a little bit and you break down the muscle fiber. That hurts a little bit the next day but that's actually a good sign that the muscle is going to repair itself and come back stronger. So, a little bit of pain--as long as you're not limited in range of motion type stuff like you can't move. Well, now that's too much pain. But a little bit of pain is a good sign. Yes, you can exercise. Just make sure you're stretching properly, hydrating properly.
I remember Dr. Lucille would tell you get on that curcumin combined with ginseng. That is really good for those types of minor pains. I personally like tart cherry extract. That helps. You can even do some protein supplements just to keep that recovery a little bit shorter, that recovery time. So, yes, you can work out with a little bit of pain and it might even be good. Just be careful. I have to do my disclaimer. If you can't move the arm or the leg in the normal range of motion, then I wouldn't, but a little bit of pain is okay. Great questions, Rita!
I think I have time for maybe one more here. I'm going to save that one.
"You recently talked about why men lose weight faster than women." Oh, yes, I did. That was a whole segment. "But in your assessment, you didn't mention sleep. Don't women sleep less than men and can't that affect weight? Love the show."
Yes. Okay. I didn't mention sleep. I don't know. So, the premise here in this question is that women sleep less. I have heard that in younger life when there's menstruation going on, women do sleep less, but then, as men get older and the women get older, women sleep better and the men start having disruptive sleep because of big prostates. I don't know. So, there might be something but bottom line is, yes, sleep can affect weight. If you don't sleep, it's a stressor on the body. Cortisol levels are higher in the morning. When the cortisol level is too high, you mobilize sugar more and if you don't burn the sugar, you store it as fat. There you go. So, yes, you've got to get sleep. So, thank you for that. Yes, sleep is critical, believe it or not, to a weight loss program.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Internal Notes NO GUEST
- Host Mike Smith, MD
If a loved one is no longer able to take care of himself, is it time to enlist some outside help?
Additional Info
- Segment Number 3
- Audio File healthy_talk/1516ht4c.mp3
- Featured Speaker Stephanie Erickson, Clinical Social Worker
- Organization Erickson Resource Group
-
Guest Bio
Stephanie Erickson is a clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience as a geriatric social worker. Her primary area of practice focuses on Dementia and decision-making capacity.
She works with seniors living autonomously, in care facilities, in acute care at the hospital, and who are living with family. Stephanie also provides training and consultation to families, the Alzheimer's Society, community groups, financial and legal institutions and at professional conferences. She hosts her own weekly podcast called Caregivers' Circle on WebTalkRadio.net. -
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 16, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
Living longer and staying healthier. It's Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith, MD. Here's your host, Dr. Mike:
DR MIKE: Alright I'm speaking with Stephanie Erickson. She's a clinical social worker. She's been doing that for over 20 years and she focuses on dementia and decision making capacity. She has her own weekly podcast called Caregivers Circle on WebTalk.net and she has a website EricksonResource.com--all one word.
Stephanie, welcome to Healthy Talk.
STEPHANIE: Thank you so much for having me.
DR MIKE: So, we're going to talk now about seniors and when they're at risk and when should we maybe, as kids, start recognizing that in our parents. So, what are some of the signs that you know an older person, a senior, is at risk at home?
STEPHANIE: I think one of the first things is weight loss. You know, eating is a community and a social event and a lot of times, as people age, they tend to not eat as well. There could also be medication side effects that are interfering or even causing them to have losses that are interfering with the person getting the proper nutrition. So, I think if you notice weight loss it's something big. Also, reduced mobility within the home like going up and down stairs, getting in and out of bed, falls within the home, changes in sleep patterns. That's in terms of the person's physical health. There's also things you can look at just in terms of the environment. So, if you notice...
DR MIKE: Stephanie before we go to that, let's go to the eating part because I have a question for that. So when you talk about weight loss, now there's a lot of reasons for that in a senior, so is it more about maybe losing the desire to eat, loss of appetite? Is that what you're looking at or is it just the weight loss itself?
STEPHANIE: Well, I look at the weight loss because the weight loss is a symptom and a symptom is representative of something else that is going on. Is it because of isolation in the home? Is it because of cognitive losses? Is it just general weight loss over time which seniors experience anyway? Or, is it an underlying, perhaps medical problem, some sort of disease or illness that's impacting somebody's weight? And, obviously, the thinner we are, we're at most risk for dizziness, balance problems, falls, etc.
DR MIKE: Yes. You know, what's funny, Stephanie? Now that I think about it, that was a stupid question because, I mean, if somebody is losing weight, I mean, as a medical doctor, if a senior came into my practice losing weight, I'm going to figure out the cause of it and try and correct it. So, sorry for that and I sort of think, "Well, that I was a dumb question." Let's just go on.
(laughing)
So you looked at some of the physical risks and you were starting to go into some of the cognitive emotional risks, right? So, what are some of those?
STEPHANIE: Well, before I got to the cognitive, I was just going to talk about the home environment in and of itself. So, if you notice that the home is becoming more cluttered, disorganized, mail is piling up, that might be an indication of a person struggling understanding bills that are laying around or having a hard time just physically organizing the information; the cleanliness of the home; the smell of the home, all of these are indications that there might be something else going on. And cognitive, do you want me to go into cognitive now?
DR MIKE: Sure. Yes, please do.
STEPHANIE: Okay, then there are signs of cognitive losses. So, these are things like someone saying, "My microwave is not working," but really it is; or, you're finding burned pots and pans indicating that someone is forgetting the turn the stove off. You're finding expired food in the home, your loved one is becoming ill and vomiting or diarrhea. It might be because they're eating food that is spoiled and they're not recognizing that it's spoiled, or medication errors over or under medicating--these are signs of cognitive losses that can appear within the home.
DR MIKE: Now if you recognize those things, Stephanie, does that automatically mean that that senior needs to be in a home? You know, an assisted living environment something like that? Or, are there steps you can do initially maybe to keep them in their own home?
STEPHANIE: Yes, there are a lot of things you can do to keep somebody in their home and I would encourage people to never jump to relocation because it's a big thing for everybody--the family and the senior him or herself. So, first you have to get the senior to acknowledge that there is a concern; that the family members are wanting some sort of assistance and you can start slowly introducing assistance in the home provided by family members, friends or even paid home care professionals.
DR MIKE: Yes. Do you often find that if steps like that are taken pretty quickly and were proactive about it, that often maybe somebody can still live on their own for two or three more years or something? Do you see that kind of result?
STEPHANIE: Yes. I see it a lot, especially when it comes to nutrition because even if someone is having cognitive losses, once you can improve the nutrition, sometimes it perks people up a bit and if you can get them on the right medication it can help to delay the progression of the symptoms and when they're safe at home, someone can really stay there for a long period of time. Plus, when you have someone in the home, you're providing social stimulation and there's lots of activities you can do and the person begins to have more of a purpose. They feel more connected and that is going to help keep the person at home for a longer period of time as well. Just that impacts the family now and their stress level because now they're having to organize and supervise care in the home. So, is that right for the family versus relocation? That's something that needs to be evaluated.
DR MIKE: So, let's use you, Stephanie, as an example because you told me before in another interview that you are kind of hard headed (laughing) and your kids might have, let's just say, sometime down in the future you start showing some of these signs and stuff...
STEPHANIE: Never!!
DR MIKE: (laughing) See, you're already fighting me! It's just a story. I'm not saying it's going to happen but what are some of the things that you can tell your kids right now about how to address these things with you, if it were to happen? Are there ways to approach seniors with concerns like this?
STEPHANIE: I think so. I think one of the things that is really important is for the children, the adult children, to not act like they have the answer and that it's their life that they are trying to make decisions.
DR MIKE: Good point.
STEPHANIE: To acknowledge that their loved one that it's their life. They're the ones who make the choices. No one is trying to bully anyone or force anyone into a decision. "What I'm doing, mom, is I love you and I'm noticing that it's really hard for you to get your meals together everyday and the last thing I want is for you is to end up at the hospital or to end up in a retirement residence because you don't want it. So, mom what can we do together to come up with a plan that's going to keep you here for as long as possible because I don't want changes just like you don't want changes."
DR MIKE: Yes. So, okay, is there anything though...Okay, so let's say you start recognizing some of this stuff in a mom, dad, grandparents, whatever, are there things that are just absolute red flags that, "Okay, relocation just has to be done right now?" I mean, is there anything that you might walk into a home as a social worker, is there anything that you might come into an environment where you're going to say, "Okay, this person--this senior--needs to get out and get some help?"
STEPHANIE: Yes, , I think wandering is very is a high risk area, so if the person has the personality where they're leaving the home without supervision and they have cognitive losses, that is very scary because the consequences of that can be very severe. So, that's one thing for wandering. But if they're in a home environment, if the person understands, so cognitively they're okay and they understand the risks and the consequences to the choices they're making, even if they're scary and high-risk choices, they really actually have the right to make those scary decisions and that's when the family, then, needs to work on their ability to kind of just let it go. But, wandering is very risky.
DR MIKE: Yes, that's a big one.
STEPHANIE: And over and under medicating is very risky as well.
DR MIKE: So, I watched a show and, gosh, I don't remember what show it was, you know, on cable or whatever, and it was about two seniors--two senior women--and they had been best friends all their lives and they lived separately and they were alone now, but they were still friends, same neighborhood, and they started showing some of these signs that there were some cognitive issues and the families brought both of the seniors together and they were now roommates in one apartment. And, it dramatically changed how they were taking care of themselves they were helping each other. Have you heard of that kind of story is that an option for people?
STEPHANIE: That's a great option. How creative for the family. How respectful for the family to do that sort of an intervention versus forcing a relocation.
DR MIKE: It is cool, yes.
STEPHANIE: I haven't heard of friends coming together. That's really cool.
DR MIKE: Yes. It was really cool. Listen, we've got to end it there.
Her name is Stephanie Erickson her website is EricksonResource.com. Go check it out.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Host Mike Smith, MD
Is memory loss a normal part of aging, or does it mean something more serious is going on?
Additional Info
- Segment Number 2
- Audio File healthy_talk/1516ht4b.mp3
- Featured Speaker Stephanie Erickson, Clinical Social Worker
- Organization Erickson Resource Group
-
Guest Bio
Stephanie Erickson is a clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience as a geriatric social worker.
Her primary area of practice focuses on dementia and decision-making capacity. She works with seniors living autonomously, in care facilities, in acute care at the hospital, and who are living with family.
Stephanie also provides training and consultation to families, the Alzheimer's Society, community groups, financial and legal institutions and at professional conferences. She hosts her own weekly podcast called Caregivers' Circle on WebTalkRadio.net. -
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 16, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith, MD. And now, here's the country doctor with the city education, Dr. Mike:
DR MIKE: So, what are the signs of cognitive loss? Of course, I think this is an incredibly important topic. You know, at Life Extension a couple years ago we started doing some research using Embrel, which is an anti-inflammatory, and we were using it in Alzheimer's patients and we were getting some pretty awesome results. You know, dementia, cognitive loss, Alzheimer's, all of this is important to us as a health foundation because, you know, the incidence and prevalence of these disorders continue to rise. And it's really in industrialized nations that we're seeing these types of dementia and cognitive dysfunction. So, toxins maybe? We don't really know but there's something going on in industrialized nations, so I wanted to talk.
I have a guest here that is going to help us to really first look at what are some of the signs in somebody where we should be a little bit worried. And then, we will move in and talk a little bit more about seniors who are at risk. Her name is Stephanie Erickson. She's a clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience as a geriatric social worker. Her primary area of practice focuses on dementia and decision making capacity. Stephanie provides training and consultation of families, the Alzheimer's Society, community groups, financial and legal institutions and at professional conferences. She hosts her own weekly podcast called Caregivers Circle on WebTalkRadio.net.
Stephanie welcome to Healthy Talk.
STEPHANIE: Thank you so much for having me.
DR MIKE: I appreciate you coming on. So, let's just get right into this. Let's first talk about, and again my audience is a lay audience, men and women 50 years "oldish", and so, I think we should start off with some straightforward questions. What is the difference between Alzheimer's disease and dementia?
STEPHANIE: Dementia is a noble term that describes neurodegenerative losses. Dementia--so you can kind of think of it as, if I say I have back problems, that's the global term. If I say it's disc five, that's being more specific. So, Alzheimer's is a type of dementia. There are several types of dementia. Alzheimer's is just the most common form.
DR MIKE: Right. It is the most common form in the United States and, as I mentioned at the introduction, in developed countries, right?
STEPHANIE: Yes. Yes. Exactly. The prevalence and, as you said also in the introduction, it's increasing over time. People are living longer, so people are more likely to have cognitive losses when they're living into their 90's.
DR MIKE: How do you know if...but just because I can't remember where I leave my keys sometimes does that mean I should be worried? When do you know that memory loss is maybe just kind of normal versus a problem?
STEPHANIE: Yeah, I hope it's not where you leave your keys because I do that all the time. (laughing) No, I'm really glad you brought it up because when I talk about this, people start to panic because some of the examples I give are very relatable to their own lives. What I think is important to remember is, if losses are interfering and disrupting your daily life. So, if you set your keys down and you can't find them and then you can a few minutes later, it's not disrupting your life but things that disrupt your life for example you're driving and you have no idea where you are and you know that you're in your own neighborhood but you can't get back home, that's disrupting your life. That's significantly different than just kind of setting your keys down.
DR MIKE: Yes and the other thing to remember, too, with those kind of memory losses if you forget where your keys are, you get a little nervous about it that anxiety actually makes it harder to recall where you put your keys too so that's something to remember. So, when you talk about not knowing where you're at while you're driving, is this something that consistently happens as well and that's something we should be aware of?
STEPHANIE: Yes. I mean I think that's another point is you want to look at the frequency. So, if in one moment you have a lapse of memory or you're not oriented to where you are or you forget somebody's name, then it's just a one time thing, I wouldn't worry about it but if you see a repeated pattern over time, yes, it could be an indication that you're having cognitive losses. And I think you would agree that some of these symptoms that I'm discussing have nothing to do with Alzheimer's or dementia. They might be related to other health problems or perhaps medication side effects and such. So again, it's important not to panic but just sort of take note of the time of day and what it is that's happening--the symptom--and then make sure you share it with your physician.
DR MIKE: Yes. So, okay you mentioned one example--driving around. You know, you're in your neighborhood but you don't know where you're at, that might be something to go talk to your doctor about. What are some of the other kind of common signs and symptoms of dementia in general?
STEPHANIE: Well, I think when somebody starts having difficulty understand financial documents. So someone who normally can look at their phone bill and figure out what the price is..
DR MIKE: Uh oh. That's me.
STEPHANIE: Yes, exactly. But again, it's out of normal. So, what I see sometimes in couples is, let's say in the older generation the husband is managing finances, he becomes ill. Now the wife is managing. Maybe she never learned those things so that would be normal for her to maybe not understand in the beginning. But if it's someone who, let's say, was an accountant and managed the bills for the family and now they're having trouble understanding investments, just writing a check, that's different from normal. So again, that would be a sign that something is wrong. And I also think that judgments...So, some of the things that families report to me is their parents had a new roof put on but they just had the roof done five years prior. So again, poor judgment and being influences by someone else to make a decision that's not in someone's best interest that could be a warning sign as well.
DR MIKE: Isn't it true, though, that if somebody is having some of these issues these memory lapses that really are causing some problems in their daily lives and they're consistent. They're happening. There's a pattern. Isn't it often, though, a relative that notices it first? And if that's the case, what's your advice to someone to address that with that person?
STEPHANIE: Yes. I mean 99% of the time, I get a call and it's a relative. It's a family member. Often we don't want to admit that we're having those problems and most of the seniors--I'm saying seniors because it's mostly seniors that have dementia. They're afraid and they're not identifying that it's happening. When a family member notices it, I think it's important to address it to your loved one right away and say to them, "I'm noticing that over the last several weeks you're having a hard time understanding the phone bill. Do you see that too?" Most of the time the client or the person experiencing the symptoms will become defensive. I think that we should just take our time as family members reintroducing the topic over, let's say, a several month period. If there's not high risk and then, maybe, include our adult children in those discussions having the adult children talk to the parent and then, eventually, involving a physician hopefully with the agreement of the person that is having the symptoms.
DR MIKE: Well, no. That's a good point, right? I mean, I think in many cases probably the person doesn't want to hear about it. "I'm fine. You don't know what you're talking about." I mean, what if a loved one is refusing to listen to what people are saying or refusing to go get help. What do you do then?
STEPHANIE: Yes. Well, that's probably going to happen with me because I'm pretty stubborn. So, I imagine if my kids told me something was wrong I would tell them to leave me alone.
DR MIKE: You're going to fight it all the way aren't you? (laughing)
STEPHANIE: Absolutely. That's what I tell my kids now but just keep pushing, I tell them. What I think I would do is encourage families to, as I said earlier, document the symptoms that they're saying. It's really important. Time of day is important, what the symptom is and the circumstances around that particular symptom that they observed. Document over several months and then communicate that to the physician. Now the physician, as you know, has confidentiality. They can not reveal any of their evaluation but they can certainly receive information so write it all down, send it in a fax and email. Bring it to the physician's office and ask the physician to follow up.
DR MIKE: Good points. And I would assume, and to me, it makes sense that the more friends and family members involved in this process, maybe the person who's having these issues might listen a little bit more. So, you know, getting the kids involved, siblings involved, I think you would agree that that's probably important as well. If you've been married 40 years and you try to tell your spouse that they're not remembering things right, that might just start a fight. So, maybe getting some more people involved.
My guest is Stephanie Erickson. She is the host of a weekly podcast called Caregivers Circle on WebTalkRadio.net and her website is EricksonResource.com.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Host Mike Smith, MD
Since your dog can't speak to you to let you know he isn't feeling well, he might try to show you a different way.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 1
- Audio File healthy_talk/1516ht4a.mp3
- Organization Life Extension
- Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
-
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 16, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
Anti-aging and disease prevention radio is right here on RadioMD. Here's author, blogger, lecturer and national medical media personality, Dr. Michael Smith, MD, with Healthy Talk.
DR MIKE: Does your dog have allergies? I mean, how do you know? So, let me share with you my experience with this and if you're a frequent listener of Healthy Talk you know that I have a border collie mix her name is Edy, E-d-y. It's from Edy Ice Cream. I think it's maybe mostly in the South. for those of you who know Edy Ice Cream, she's as sweet as that wonderful snack.
And ,I guess she's getting, gosh, close to 7 years old now and I guess it was a couple of months ago, I had noticed that she was kind of gnawing, chewing on her paws especially at night. And it was really mainly just the front paws and I thought, "Oh. Well, maybe there's something there." I mean, I couldn't see any rash or whatever, but I'm a human doctor. I'm not a dog doctor, so I took her into the vet and he did a very thorough exam.
I take her to what's called a "VCA Vet Hospitals" in South Florida--just a wonderful group of vets and technicians. So anyway, the vet did his job, checked everything out and everything looked fine. He didn't see anything and he asked me, "So, when do you notice she's doing this? Is she gnawing and chewing very aggressively? And is it hard to distract her from that?" And I said, "Oh, no. Not at all. It looks like she's quite calm and just kind of hanging out laying next to me chewing her paw, I don't know." Yes. He said that usually when they're like that, that they're calm, you can distract them, that usually just means the dog is grooming. If they're more aggressive with it, if the dog is really chewing at the paw, you know, making sniffing noises, is hard to distract, that might be fleas, ticks or allergies.
That's what I wanted to talk with you today. I mean, how do you really know if your dog has an allergy? Well, that's one way. If they're chewing their paws but it has to be in an aggressive manner and sometimes you'll see a rash and sometimes you don't. That was something else the vet told me that you don't always recognize--the rash. So, that's why after he performed the physical exam on Edy he asked, "How is she acting? What's her behavior when she's doing this?" When I said it was quite calm, he just thought, "No, she's grooming herself." That was good news for me.
So, no allergies with Edy but, by the way, according to a report from OneGreenPlanet.org foot chewing, I guess technically it should say "paw" chewing, one of the signs of an allergy and again, it has to be pretty aggressive. Now, what allergies cause this kind of behavior in a dog? Usually food allergies that often, if you see a dog chewing on the paw, a food allergy should be the first thing that comes to mind or it could be things that they are actually contacting in the grass. You know, lots of chemicals or pesticides are being applied to the grass, especially around apartment complexes, neighbor's yards and stuff. So, you have to be very careful about that. Especially that little sign that says "keep pets and kids away". You really should listen to that for at least 48 hours. So, usually a contact dermatitis type thing versus a food allergy if you notice foot chewing.
So, what are some of the other signs and symptoms that your dog may have allergies? Well, obviously, the skin if they're itching in a very specific area over and over and over again, that's a good sign that there could be an allergy, especially, if they're on the flea and tick pills. Now, the flea and tick pills don't stop a flea or tick from hopping on. They really prevent infestation. So, you've still got to make sure that there are no fleas no ticks. If you're ruled that out and they're gnawing on one specific area, that might be a sign that there is an allergy issue. As a matter of fact, talking about this with my vet, he had said that if there's bumps around the area where the dog is chewing, that probably is flea bites but if it's a flat rash, if the skin becomes scaly, that kind of thing, that might lead one to think that that itching might be from some sort of contact dermatitis or again maybe like a food allergy.
So, you have to start looking at the things you're feeding them; the snacks; have you changed the food; are you bathing with a different cleanser; those types of things. Another sign and symptom, actually, I guess this would be more of a symptom of allergies would be sneezing. Now, every animal sneezes on occasion and I remember when I was growing up during early Spring in Houston, Texas, I'm not kidding you, I could sneeze like 20 times in a row. It was just during the Spring. I mean, achoo, achoo, achoo! They were short and quick, bop, bop, bop. And people would laugh at me. It gave me complex. No, just kidding. But same thing with a dog.
It's one thing for a dog to sneeze once or twice on occasion but if your dog in the morning during a certain seasons, usually early Spring or early Fall, if they're sneezing away, that's another sign that there could be some allergies. Dogs can be tested just like humans, I found out. They can do a skin test to test for different allergens. According to the VCA Animal Hospital in South Florida, usually you're going to see it during the Spring. Dogs tend to be more sensitive to the pollens, the ragweeds, the molds, the grasses as they flower. You know, we've got to remember grasses are a flowering plant.
We forget that and that always happens the most in the Spring. So, if your dog is sneezing repetitively everyday it's early Spring, you can go ahead and get an allergy test to see which allergy, if it is an allergy, and to see which one. If it's outside of the Spring you're talking Winter, mid-Summer when it's really hot and a lot of those allergens are actually down, you might consider, is there something indoors? Indoor allergens are just as bad as outdoor. As a matter of fact, there are some people that think the inside is a lot more polluted than the outside. So dust, perfume, carpet powders.
You know, I had a friend who used one of those pet carpet powders just to help clean up the dirt and the smell and her dog had sneezing attacks with it and she had to stop using that. So, just look at the different types of cleansers and powders that you might be using inside your home as well.
Ears. What happens with dogs is a lot of fluid builds up in their ears because their ear canals are long. I also found out just like in human kids a lot of times, especially the smaller breeds, the ear canal is--from the sinus to the ear--is kind of flat, so it's easy for fluid to flow from the sinuses into the ears. In human adults that can...Now actually that is traveling up from the sinuses to the ears so there's less chance of that fluid...That's why kids get a lot more ear infections.
Same thing with dogs. Apparently, especially in smaller breeds, that ear canal tends to be more even. It doesn't have to go uphill from the sinuses to the ears, so you get a lot of fluid in the ears which then leads to the infections. So black gunk in the ear, a lot of itching in the ear, you want to go get that checked out as well.
And I want to mention, so what do you do if your dog does have allergies? Are there treatments? Well, it turns out after doing some research, I found this on DogsNaturallyMagazine.com and I did confirm this with the VCA Hospital in South Florida. Dogs can use quercetin. I've been using quercetin in humans for allergies for a long time. It helps with my sneezing, as a matter of fact. Quercetin comes from the peel part of citrus fruit.
The human dose is about 250-1000 milligrams a day, so the question always becomes. "Well, how much do I give my dog?" Well, there's a formula that I found, again, on DogsNaturallyMagazine.com. You take your pets weight and you multiply it by 500 and then divide that by 125. So, if I use Edy for an example, she's 40 pounds, I multiply that by 500 and divide by 125. I come out to 160 milligrams a day of quercetin. That's what I would do for Edy. So, quercetin is an answer to some of these things. Of course, go talk to the vet first, please, but at that point talk to your vet about starting quercetin using that formula.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Internal Notes NO GUEST
- Host Mike Smith, MD
Listen in as Dr. Mike provides the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 5
- Audio File healthy_talk/1516ht3e.mp3
- Organization Life Extension
- Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
-
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 14, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
You're listening to RadioMD. It's time to ask Dr. Mike on Healthy Talk. Call or email to ask your questions now. Email AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com or call 877-711-5211. The lines are open.
So remember you can send your email questions you can be as detailed as you want. You can be vague. You can give your name or not give your name. You can even tell me when you would like to hear it read on air and I'll do my best. My producer Sheldon Baker said don't guarantee anybody that you'll be able to read their question but I'll do my best to do that and I'll respond, I'll reply to your email and then tell you hey I'm going to shoot for one of these two days. So you can actually hear your question and hear the answer. AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com.
So next question from Claire: "What are whole food supplements and why should I consider whole food supplements over traditional supplements?"
Okay so let's start by talking—let's answer the first part of that question "what are whole food supplements?". And then I'll go into what are the—because here Claire talks about I guess traditional supplements and I think I'm going to have to make some assumptions there what she's talking about. So let's just first define whole food base products and I'm going to way oversimplify this because there's really no exact definition for this but let me use the spice turmeric and we know that the key compound in that is called curcumin.
If you are a company that believes more in the whole food philosophy where you don't want to separate components out, you don't want to standardize anything you just want to give somebody some extra turmeric. So in a sense you take the spice, you create the powder, you put it in a capsule and you pretty much sell it. Now there's more to it than that they can still put the exact amount in, they can put dose in they can do that but for the most part none of the key components are separated out it's just the whole spice, oils and all just put in there as best they can. And there's nothing wrong with that that's a certain philosophy.
There are whole food based companies out there and they're great companies. And so that's what a whole foods supplement is. Now that is in contrast to a company like Life Extension for instance that is more of an extraction-based company, a standardization based company. So we recognize that the spice turmeric is awesome, cook with it that's great, but we also know from the research that the main compound in the spice that gives us the benefits to inflammation to the brain, to the immune system, to joints, heart, all that, is curcumin. So our philosophy as an extraction-based company is to take that curcumin out of the spice and concentrate it in the capsule. So a whole foods based company is going to give you the spice we're going to give you the curcumin.
That's whole food based versus extraction-based. It's not that one of them is right or wrong they're just two completely different philosophies on how to deal with supplements. We kind of follow, my company Life Extension, we kind of follow more of that medical process where we're going to concentrate the key compound, we're going to standardize it, we're going to make sure that there's 400 milligrams of curcumin versus just the spice. And that's just how we approach it. So that's whole food versus extraction. Why should I consider these supplements over traditional ones? I don't think you should consider—I don't think you should try to say whole food versus extraction personally I think extraction is best that's my opinion but for the consumer I think it's really just what you want.
There are some people who really believe in that whole food based products because they believe that there's this essence of the food that's there in the capsule that you don't get in an extraction or in a standardization and that's fine I'm not going to argue that, it's really a preference thing. So I don't think you—why should I consider these supplements over traditional? I don't think you have to consider them over traditional ones assuming you mean by traditional you mean the standardized one the extraction ones.
They're both good products the turmeric product is good and the curcumin product is good you're going to get benefits from both of them. The curcumin one like the one we produce at Life Extension might give you more specific health benefits to say inflammation or the brain or something but the turmeric one is good for you. It's a nice, whole food based spice, based product. Awesome take it. Hopefully that helps.
Next question. "Why are some of my medical doctors adverse to my supplement intake and what can I do to help educate my healthcare team to the benefits of supplements?"
And I wanted to answer these questions knowing I just had a really good friend of mine on, Julia Schopick, she wrote a book about Honest Medicine, she does a lot in patient advocacy, so I thought this would be a good day to cover these questions.
"Why are some of my doctors adverse to supplement intake?" I thin it really goes back to the fact that most doctors—well maybe twenty years ago most doctors believed that supplements were not tested or regulated. I think that's where most of the negativity comes from. Now that's changing I mean just go to PubMed.com that's the site I always use for my research my listener's know that. Type in pomegranate, type in fish oil. I mean you'll see all kinds of studies. But there was a time when a lot of your middle aged to older doctors who are practicing right now, there was this idea that supplements were not regulated or tested and they've carried that on in their practice.
They've carried that with them through the years. And so when you tell them I want to take pomegranate because I hear it's good for the heart they just "no there's no research! There's no proof! It's not even tested! How do you know it's high quality?" It's just those same questions that keep coming up. So what you need to know as a consumer, as a listener, is that that's not true. There's tons of research every year on supplements from multivitamins to anti-oxidants to plant-based extracts to spices to essential oils. I mean there's tons—at Life Extension we've done like $150 million in twelve years I mean there's research out there both in the lab and both in humans in clinical research. And we are regulated I just did a whole section on DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act 1994) which outlines exactly how supplements are to be regulated so we are regulated and there is research support for what we do.
Okay so you go into your doctor who's against supplements I mean if you tell them "No that's not true doctor. There is research supporting these things I want to do and the company that I'm going to buy from has a good track record and they produce good quality products-they have their Certificate of Analysis proving the label. They're GMP compliant and they follow DSHEA" and you say all of that stuff I don't know if that's going to mean anything to the doctor. You know? They have this idea that the level of quality control the level of legislation the amount of research is far less than that of pharmaceuticals and that's not necessarily the case but I don't know how you convince them of that.
I don't. I think we just keep little by little doing our best like a grass roots effort. I think the most important thing I could do as a physician is start speaking to younger doctors medical students, residents, get them when they're young because once a doctor starts practicing and pretty much has things set in their ways it's hard to get doctors to change. It's hard to get doctors to change to a new drug it's just human nature.
So I think it comes down to the fact that there are doctors that still believe supplements are not regulated and there's no research support and that's not true-so that's the problem. The solution is education. Listening to shows like this Healthy Talk, other shows on RadioMD and just really focusing maybe on the younger doctors I think that's how we're going to get rid of these myths. This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Internal Notes NO GUEST
- Host Mike Smith, MD
Listen in as Dr. Mike provides the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 1
- Audio File healthy_talk/1516ht3d.mp3
- Organization Life Extension
- Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
- Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Internal Notes NO GUEST
- Host Mike Smith, MD
The key isn't necessarily to live longer, but to live healthier.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 3
- Audio File healthy_talk/1516ht3c.mp3
- Organization Life Extension
- Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
-
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 14, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
Anti-aging and disease prevention radio is right here on RadioMD. Here's author, blogger, lecturer and national medical media personality, Dr. Michael Smith, MD, with Healthy Talk.
DR. MIKE: So yeah. Did you know that certain prescription drugs in kind of an off label use do have longevity benefits? And, I mean, I think this is an appropriate topic I am-- most of my listeners know--I'm the senior health scientist for Life Extension and we are the world's largest non-profit anti-aging and supplement research organization. I mean, we've done—the number keeps going up but its $150-160 million or so in the last on this type of research so we have a nice little database of things, supplements, foods, and even drugs that have been shown to increase human longevity.
Now the real mission at Life Extension is to help us all live healthier longer, not just longer it's not—because, you know, by the way, this conventional approach to health which is really a disease approach, it's really sick care, it's not healthcare, but that approach has increased antibiotics, heart drugs, brain drugs, keeping your bones from osteoporosis type drugs. All those things have actually impacted longevity but not necessarily in a healthy way. I mean, go to an internal medicine doctor or a general practitioner or cardiologist or whatever. Yes, there's a lot of people in their 80's even 90's in those waiting rooms but they don't look good. So, conventional medicine has increased human lifespan, not necessarily healthy human lifespan.
So, at Life Extension that's the difference-it's not just about looking at things, researching things, suggesting things that are going to help you live longer and just add years, we're adding healthy years. And I want to talk about some prescription drugs that do that. The first one is Metformin. Metformin is a diabetic drug, Type II diabetic drug. Metformin is more and more becoming the go to drug for diabetics ultimately because it's really good at what it's supposed to do which is lower blood sugar.
It also improves insulin sensitivity, which is extremely important to diabetics but it doesn't cause weight gain. Some of the other original diabetic drugs, the older ones, the older generation ones, they didn't really work all that well. They stopped working after a few years, plus people gained weight. Metformin is a more—I guess it's a not really a new generation because there are newer ones out there but it's a middle generation diabetic drug. Metformin, though--and I'm going to go into the reasons why--is also a longevity chemical.
It is what is known as an AMPK activator. AMPK is an enzyme in every cell of your body it stands for adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase. We'll just call it AMPK. At Life Extension, we kind of consider this the master switch for managing how a cell produces and/or stores energy. By the way, that process right there is critical for optimal cellular function.
A cell has to be able to produce and/or store energy in an effective manner. As we get older cells tend to not manage that energy creation, energy storage process very well and they become gunked up, they become clogged, they become dysfunctional when they're not able to manage energy and AMPK is critical. It's an enzyme that's critical to help cells manage energy. It declines as we age. We know that.
We know that age, eating too much food, and lack of exercise are the primary ways that AMPK activity decreases and that pretty much describes just about everybody, sorry. Well, I said just about everybody. We're all aging so everybody is going to lose a little bit of AMPK that's just natural but again I go back to that standard American diet (SAD). It's sad. It's a calorie overload with very little nutrition.
Overfed but undernourished. That's going to lower AMPK activity so Metformin is a drug that can activate AMPK, I should say reactivate AMPK. When that happens, whether you're 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 doesn't matter, when you reactivate AMPK you're going to help cells manage energy better and when a cell manages energy better it's going to function better and if the cell functions better then the tissue functions better. If the tissue functions better the organ like the heart functions better and if the heart functions better ultimately the organism, you and me, we're going to function better. So, Metformin as an AMPK activator is improving cell health, it's a cell health drug.
Now, there's other side benefits here, too, if you improve how insulin works, how cells can uptake sugar better, all that kind of stuff, if you can do that which AMPK does, that's why Metformin is a diabetic drug, that also has longevity implications.
There's research showing that you're going to have improved body composition with AMPK, you're going to improve, as I said, insulin sensitivity, sugar management. You're going to have a better lipid or fat profile in your body. You're going to improve inflammatory processes, immune system. I mean it goes on and on because AMPK is managing energy in every single cell. Also Metformin through reactivation of AMPK about 750 milligrams a day, that's a lower dose than what a diabetic would take, you're going to have some cell longevity benefits, tissue longevity benefits, organ longevity benefits and eventually organism, you and me longevity benefits. So that's the first one.
Number two, I wanted to mention is called Depranil. I have a sheet here that I pulled from a Life Extension research protocol. Depranil works by inhibiting an enzyme that breaks down dopamine, thereby elevating dopamine levels in the brain and in the central nervous system. Elevated levels of dopamine can confer an anti-depressant affect, it can increase libido, but it's also been shown to extend maximum life span in animal studies.
Depranil is used mostly like in neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's, tremor disorders, seizure disorders and it's even being used a little bit in Alzheimer's now with some awesome effects. But we know that in every decade of life after say starting around 45, you lose about 13-15% of your dopamine producing brain cells. And if you do that every decade by the time you get to your 70's, 80's, I mean, you're not making a lot of dopamine and dopamine is a critical neurotransmitter for muscle coordination, for metabolism, for mood. I mean, dopamine is one of the--if I could say--premier, primary, whatever neurotransmitters in the brain. And so losing dopamine is anti-longevity, it's pro-aging, so Depranil is a drug that can increase the amount of dopamine in your brain and animal models show that that does increase maximum lifespan and we do believe the same can be said for humans. So we're trying to really do more Depranil human research studies as well.
So, the third one I wanted to mention quickly, I don't have a lot of time, is something called Naltrexone, specifically, a low dose form of Naltrexone. Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist, so it's used in a lot of drug recovery programs but it's been shown to be very beneficial in auto-immune disorders like MS, pain, cancer, HIV and it also increases maximum lifespan in animal models. So, that's Metformin, Depranil, and low-dose Naltrexone-drugs with longevity benefits.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Internal Notes NO GUEST
- Host Mike Smith, MD
