INDEX

The Link Between Antibiotics and Breast Cancer (May 2004)

Prozac on a Plate (Mar. 2004)

Cortisol and Cell Death in the Brain (Jan. 2004)

More Problems with Non-Steroidal Anti-Infflamatory Drugs (NSAIDS) (Nov.2003)

THE LINK BETWEEN ANTIBIOTICS AND BREAST CANCER

(May 2004)

  The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a research article on February 18^th that reports an association between antibiotic therapy and the incidence of breast cancer. In a study of 2,266 women over the age of nineteen who had breast cancer, there was a significant correlation between the occurrence of breast cancer with how frequently these women were administered antibiotics. The researchers behind the study stressed that it is not clear whether antibiotic use might give rise to breast cancer or simply reflect broad health problems, such as persistent inflammation, that might encourage the growth of malignant breast cancer. The link between breast cancer and antibiotic therapy might be less mysterious once we examine the long-term effects of antibiotics on the intestinal tract and how the liver manages estrogen.

  The chronic use of antibiotics will kill many of the beneficial bacteria in the small intestine, which normally has over five hundred varieties of bacteria that perform hundreds of functions necessary for a healthy metabolism and immune response. Through enzyme secretions, these bacteria transform metabolic, microbial, and hormonal wastes before they are excreted in a bowel movement. The chronic use of antibiotics contribute to two syndromes. The first is commonly known as 'leaky gut', which refers to a breakdown in the wall of the small intestines and results in microscopic pinholes that allow undigested proteins, bacteria, and estrogen to leak out. The second syndrome, floral dysbiosis, refers to the inability of the intestinal bacteria to perform proper metabolic functions due to an imbalance in the population of beneficial bacteria.

  Estrogen is produced by the ovaries, but before it can become usable, it must be transported to the liver where it becomes bound to other enzymes. Approximately one-fifth of the estrogen is deactivated by an enzyme in the liver before being excreted through the bile duct of the gall bladder into the small intestines to be eliminated in a bowel movement. Once the estrogen is in the small intestines, two things can go wrong. Floral dysbiosis can cause an overabundance of an enzyme that will reactivate the estrogen into a usable hormone; couple this with leaky gut syndrome, and the reactivated estrogen is now out of the confines of the intestinal wall and can travel to estrogen receptor sites of the breast tissue, thereby increasing the risk of cancer.

  This explanation between breast cancer and antibiotic therapy is already in my book on page 29, so I find it interesting that a lot of time and money is being spent on researching this, especially when the researchers are still unclear of the connection. What is of greater importance is the need of Glutamine and probiotic supplementation to repair the intestinal wall and replace the normal intestinal flora after taking antibiotics, which would prevent the occurrence of estrogen being reactivated and leaking out to breast tissue.

PROZAC ON A PLATE

(March 2004)

   There is a lot of debate and finger-pointing about who or what is to blame for our nation’s crisis with obesity, diabetes, and the fact that 60 % of us are over weight. We read that it is due to our sedentary lifestyles, and that we watch too much TV or sit in front of computers. Or that the problem is that adults not only get too little exercise, but that some of our schools can’t afford physical education classes for our children, so they become overweight and obese. Then there is the progressive increase in high-calorie fast food consumption, with kids between the ages of 4 and 19 consuming five times as much fast food as they did in 1970. No doubt these factors play into the problem. But we need to recognize the insidious cascade of factors at work here, and how these combine to create a hormonal 'perfect storm'.

   Recent research shows that elevated levels of cortisol cause leptin resistance, which turns out to be a significant factor in weight gain and obesity. Leptin is a newly discovered hormone produced by fat cells which helps regulate fat storage and appetite.  Elevated  cortisol levels make the cells in our brain less responsive to leptin and can cause us to crave fats and over-eat; to add to the problem, consumption of fats causes the brain to release opiates – hence the term 'comfort food'.  Worse still, leptin induces the production of inflammatory chemicals (cytokines) which further increase cortisol production.

   As explained on the diet page of this website, fast foods and processed foods are both high in omega 6 oils. Omega 6 oils cause the production of inflammatory chemicals in the body, to which the adrenal glands respond by secreting cortisol, which is both the anti-inflammatory hormone and the serious fight-or-flight stress hormone.

   Cortisol levels, therefore, can become elevated from an inflammatory diet (a good diet would have a 4:1 ratio of inflammation-inducing omega 6 oils to anti-inflammatory omega 3 oils, whereas the ratio of a typical American diet is 32-1); from intestinal tract inflammation due to overuse of anti-inflammatory drugs; and/or from poor diet, stress, or any combination of these factors.

   If you think in terms of a vicious cycle, the whole issue of weight gain and obesity will become crystal clear:

• Cortisol makes our cells resistant to insulin, and insulin is how we transport sugar (glucose) into our cells.  The inability to transport sugar into our cells causes cravings for sugar and simple carbohydrates.

• Cortisol results in leptin resistance and makes us crave fats and eat too much, and eating fats causes the brain to release opiates.

• While the adrenal glands are preoccupied with producing cortisol, they become negligent in producing another adrenal hormone called aldosterone, which regulates our mineral content, and results in a loss of sodium: this will result in a craving for salt.

• Many fast foods and processed foods use flavor enhancers such as glutamate (often disguised as hydrolyzed protein: watch those labels) which is an excitotoxin to the brain.  A study from Stanford University published in Neuron, February 2003, found that the most addictive drugs (alcohol cocaine, nicotine, morphine, etc.) have a similar action on the brain: they appear to make a specific area of the brain more sensitive to glutamate, which raises the production of dopamine.  A diet high in glutamate triggers the brain to secrete addictive chemicals and stimulates addictive neural pathways (the ventral tegmental area).

   When you combine cravings for sugar, fat, and salt, the three staples of the fast food and processed food industries, and add flavor enhancers that target the addictive pathways of the brain, how hard is it to figure out why we are struggling with our dietary habits?  It is devastating to start feeding children food at an early age that sets them up for cravings and addictions.  Children depend on adults to feed them nutritious food, and we should no more feed our kids fast food merely for our own convenience than we should expose them to other addictive substances.

   I’ll rest my case with this last fact: a survey of American schoolchildren found that 96% could identify Ronald McDonald; the only fictional character with a higher degree of recognition was Santa Claus.

CORTISOL AND CELL DEATH IN THE BRAIN

(January 2004)

   A series of recent research articles not only confirm the fact that human brain cells can and do regenerate, but also shed some light on the factors that either help or inhibit this process.

   A disturbing study on the neurobiology of child abuse reveals that children who are seriously abused have permanent damage to the actual structure of their brain. It appears that the brain is physically sculpted by experience, and the area most severely affected is the limbic system. The limbic system controls the fight or flight response to stress and the production of cortisol (the stress and anti-inflammatory hormone produced by the adrenal glands), as well as regulating memory and emotion. The cells of the limbic system are very sensitive to cortisol, and chronic overexcitement from childhood abuse produces a decrease in the size of the neural components that make up the limbic system, especially the hippocampus.

   The ramifications of this are enormous because one of the functions of the limbic system is to filter and interpret incoming sensory information in the context of the individual’s survival and emotional needs and then help to initiate the appropriate responses. The damage inflicted by childhood abuse can permanently render the victim unable to recover from the abuse because the wiring of their brain is forever disabled. This goes a long way in explaining why some people never seem to be able to recover even with years of therapy and why they just can’t "Get over it." Chronic stress and elevated levels of cortisol cause damage to the structures of the limbic system and can cause depression, anxiety, and personality disorders.

   Brain imaging studies also show a link between the overall size of the hippocampus and recurrent bouts of major depression. Researchers at Washington University found that patients who spent the most days depressed had the smallest hippocampi.

   On the other end of the spectrum, a series of research studies show that antidepressant medications work not only because they raise serotonin levels in the brain, but because the elevation of serotonin promotes the growth of new neurons in the limbic system. Most antidepressants usually take two weeks to have an effect on depression, which is understandable when taken in the context that it is not only the elevation of serotonin that relieves depression, but the creation of new brain cells in the limbic system. As a way of testing this, researchers at Columbia University treated mice with antidepressants but killed off any newly created neurons in the limbic system, specifically the hippocampus which is related to learning and memory. The mice whose new neurons were killed did not improve in memory skills with the antidepressants. The study further states that if new cell growth is the key to fighting depression, then drugs that directly promote neuron growth might be faster and less disruptive than existing antidepressant drugs.

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   Dr. Weinstein’s Comments: These research studies reveal a lot of the good news-bad news about the effects of stress and cortisol on the brain. The bad news is that chronic elevated levels of cortisol are a factor in cell death in the brain; the good news is that if it is not too severe, the brain cells can recover and regenerate. Clearly, the most important factor is keeping the cortisol levels within a normal range and not only play around the margins of the problem by forever trying to find more effective drugs. One wonders how controllable drugs that cause brain growth will be and what side-effects may come from these therapies. By the same token, people who suffer depression and benefit from antidepressant medication should certainly use them, but they should also do everything they possibly can to normalize their cortisol levels.