BiTherapca Health

When you eat, food is either burnt down, or is stored as fat, if in excess. If our metabolism is high, we burn food faster. High metabolism can be due to properly functioning thyroid, good immune system, properly functioning brain or physical activity. When we continue to eat more, we store excess food as fat and this storage is promoted by insulin. Fat, especially cholesterol, lodges in blood vessels, causing them to narrow down and this leads to hypertension, setting the stage for stroke and heart attack. Pretty soon fat cells become saturated with fat and, because of this, insulin no longer promotes glucose uptake into cells and its subsequent conversion into fat, as these cells run out of storage space. This is called insulin resistance. Exercise will will burn down fat and create more storage space for glucose uptake. Excess fat also impairs protein, and hence insulin, synthesis. Eventually, excess glucose damages insulin secreting cells in the pancreas and this further redu...

People have witnessed extreme irritability, anxiety, depression, deterioration of mental acuteness(sharpness), as well as a general decline in their physical well-being, with long term sleep deprivation. The biological clock in sleep is well regulated by the body, but sometimes things go awry, for some reasons, not only limited to health but also to factors such as the nature of our jobs. The human catabolism, which is the wear and tear of tissue, and the digestion and breakdown of assimilated food to supply energy, takes place mainly during the day, when the body cells are more active as we eat, work through thinking and moving our body parts, walk, play and as our body organs toil against all adversity. Catabolic activity peaks in the late afternoon; this is when we have maximum food breakdown and enzymatic processing of cellular debris to be later cleared by phagocytes. Immune activity sets in, as physical and mental activities wane, and incrementally progresses into the night...

Cancer cells have altered genetic material and sometimes associated proteins called histones and have lost control of cell division. The telomeres have shortened in length through damage. Genes for repairs, found in telomeres, have been damaged. Repair does not match the damage because stress is too metabolically demanding to the cell. Telomeres grow back by some repair mechanism that could not take place during the metabolically demanding damage to the cell. The regrowth in telomeres means that the change in the cell has been consolidated and so can be perpetuated as cancer cells multiply uncontrollably. Treatment with cytotoxic drugs and radiation further damages the cancer cells, shortens their telomeres and leads to cell death. Other treatments attempt to put a brake on excessive cell division. Still others target hormones that promote cell growth(division) via cell receptors (transcription factors). Continuous cell, and hence DNA, damage, indirectly from excessive cell stimu...

People are genetically more identical than different. The genetic variations(mutations) caused mainly by 'junk DNA' also known as jumping genes or transposons, thought to have had parasitic infection origin, that we individually have, are phenotypically insignificant, being largely repressed, except, of course, when they cause occasional diseases. Thus, phenotypically we have even much closer resemblances than dissimilarities and that explains why we, as humans, have the same basic needs. There, however, is one thing we all differ in; and that is, our thinking. We choose what we want to do with our lives, except, of course, in situations when we have mental health issues (most of us do, in the course of our lifespan). Our experiences and individual life paths are all different and they help shape both intra-personal(varies with age) and inter-personal(between persons) differences, which are observed even in identical twins, individuals with the closest genotypic and phenotypi...

'Deficiency in the normal functioning of the body', would be the most obvious answer. By and large, chronic diseases are due to inefficiency in the in-built compensation mechanisms in the body, homeostasis, that is; not the lack of it. In most cases, the body overcompensates and this leads to further damage to the body or limit to function. There is, first, deficiency and over-activity, usually inefficient and prone to errors, which causes damage. Compensation then sets in. Overcompensation is usually due to deficiency in the output from the nutrients; that is, the amount of ATP and intermediate metabolites, with the initiating oxygen, that are available for the body to perform its functions, with optimal(not maximum)output, are inadequate. There is, usually, maximum activity with limited output, since stress, in itself, is an inefficient process, which accounts for errors in the execution of functions in this yearning to re-establish constancy in the internal milieu(enviro...

Good oxygenation leads to good heat shock proteins performance that prevents damage to tissue components and cell death after injury, including stroke and infections. It promotes tissue repair even if damage has already occurred. Severe immune response(autoimmunity) produces acute inflammation with fever and aches, promotes apoptotic cell death from mitochondria dysfunction, and regeneration follows. Moderate immunity leads to chronic inflammation, little regeneration but rather degeneration through mesenchymal tissue replacement of functional parenchymal tissue. Little immunity leads to a carrier state with usually neither disease signs nor pain, if there is limited microbe invasiveness. Good oxygenation leads to good tissue repair, decreased inflammation and decreased cell damage and death. Immune cells are more effective, much stronger and alert. Oxygen, therefore, encourages repair, cell rejuvenation and, in less frequent situations of irreversible damage like in trauma, to p...

High frequency transmission from the rapid firing of our brain nerve cells is the order of the day for 'live' signals that come from our sensory perceptions and thoughts. Stored past activities, reactivated through memory recall or our normal imaginations, are not usually so vivid and therefore are handled and transmitted differently as low frequency signals. They, usually, are faint, due to the low energy that they carry; exceptions, of course, are high frequency signals, derived from recall of past experiences or from our mere imaginations and manifested as dreams, delusions and hallucinations, mistaken for reality or current happenings(because the signals are fast), variably by either the healthy or the deranged mind. We constantly tune in or synchronize our mind, to varying signals of the same frequencies, to experience the present, relish or dread the past or imagine the future. We cannot, therefore, do more than one of these at a time. We are forced to constantly swi...

I have just read an article in the August edition of Denver Voice, on brain trauma. Denver Voice is committed to empowering homeless, impoverished and transient individuals by creating job opportunities through their Vendor Program. Vendors buy Denver Voice for 25 cents, which pays for part of production cost and sell the paper to the public for a one dollar donation. 75 cents is theirs to keep. Homelessness is common in the developed economies and occurs when one cannot afford for housing and so lives in public places or wherever they find convenient to them. Organizations like the Council, religious bodies and NGO's have come up with programs to provide shelter to those who cannot afford it. The problem of homelessness is the more acute now because of the bad economy. Studies have invariably shown that most homeless people in North America(both USA and Canada) have had brain trauma of one form or another. The symptoms of brain trauma mirror very closely those of schizophrenia...

There is no single food that will provide all the nutrients that your body needs. The solution to getting the best out of food is to eat variety. Even nutrients with anti-oxidant properties are varied. Different fruits and vegetables, coffee, beans, all, have anti-oxidants but although, as anti-oxidants, they perform the same function, boosting the immune system and preventing damage to the body, they are chemically different. When you eat only one type of food, considerd to be high in an anti-oxidant, you easily reach an accumulative saturation point of the particular anti-oxidant in the body and as this quota is attained, eating more will only lead to increased elimination of the particular nutrient out of the body. Mind you that any substance taken in too high an amount, additionally and inevitably, becomes toxic. Sticking to a staple diet, even if it contains all the conventional classes of food, may not be such a good an idea, since you will not get all the nutrients in the righ...

Drinkers of coffee and tea, you have good news: You can be spared of the burden of multi-drug resistant bacteria, that have emerged from widespread use of anti-biotics. These bacteria are usually found in biofilm, the slime, which as a barrier makes treatment even more difficult. These bacteria are resistant to almost all anti-biotics in current use. Biofilms are formed when these resistant bacteria multiply and attain a large population in their colony. This growth is promoted by inadequate nutrition, which suppresses the immune system or a diet high in sugar and in micronutrients that favor bacteria growth. Coffee both regulates body sugar and boosts the immune system, thus permitting the body to both limit the growth of recalcitrant infections and to get rid of them. Coffee and tea contain lignans and phytoestrogens, anti-oxidants which counteract pain, in one way, by their ability to scavenge highly reactive oxygen species, generated from metabolic challenges, tissue damage, ...

Alcohol is produced regularly, in small quantities, in our body, through fermentation by micro-organisms in our intestines. It is an alternative source of energy but it lacks vitamins and trace metals(micro-nutrients), found in whole foods. It gives energy but unlike glucose which is stored as glycogen in the liver, there are no such stores for alcohol, that can be called upon, when needed, on quick demand. That is why people talk of 'clearance', which is, in a way, the need to continuously drink to have constant energy supply. It damages the liver and kidney where it is broken down to a more potent toxin, acetaldehyde, which produces reactive oxygen whose effects can be counteracted with vitamin C. Exercise promotes elimination of alcohol through the lungs and sweat. It also promotes alcohol breakdown and detoxification by stimulating metabolism. Food, especially high fiber food like beans, also slows absorption of alcohol, reducing its toxic effects. Eating high fiber f...

Malaria can cause your kidneys or liver to fail, or your spleen to rupture. Malaria parasites have a love for red blood cells and the liver cells because they feed on these cells. In addition, they break down red blood cells, releasing hemoglobin products that damage the kidney. The spleen, which filters blood, attempts to trap and destroy the parasites and these hemoglobin products, as a defense. In the process, the spleen swells and you feel pains in the the upper left part of your abdomen, just beneath the ribs(where the spleen is located), especially when you breathe in, as the diaphragm massages it when contracting and pushing on this organ. When out of a malaria endemic zone for a long time, one is more susceptible to a severe attack of malaria, which can result in fatal complications. The key to preventing malaria complications is to treat malaria early enough, before the damage is done. Better still, one should begin to take prophylaxis immediately, on entry into a malari...

According to UN report, Cancer, diabetes kill millions, cost trillions globally. Nearly two-thirds of deaths are caused by noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart and lung disease, according to U.N. estimates and preliminary results of a new study. I agree with the report and advance that chronic non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart and lung diseases are being driven mainly by sedentary lifestyle, poor eating habits and consumption of toxins. An aspect, which seems to disappear from the radar, is the presence of chronic infections and the resulting damaging inflammation, which is contributing to cancers, diabetes, heart and lung diseases. We should not lose sight of the fact that most of these factors, infections and lifestyles, work in combination Resistance by microbes to drugs which set out to target them, is making treatment to be palliative rather than curative. Hence, although acute manifestations of some of the communicable infectious di...

Most people express the frustration of straining to lose weight only to gain it back in a twinkle of an eye. This is because most weight loss programs are strenuous and not natural. Going to the gym is not always much fun and although you may enjoy playing tennis everyday this may not always be a practical way to lose weight, given that you may have to work on a daily basis to earn a living. If your job involves standing and talking then you may not only have the benefit of earning an income but also an opportunity to lose weight, for close to eight hours. You are more than twice able to spend calories standing than sitting. You are even luckier if your job involves body movement, since physical exercise is the best way to lose weight. If you are overweight, it is advisable to begin any exercise program slowly and build up with time. Although endurance exercise like jogging, may help you lose weight fastest, you will only keep it off if you refrain from lavishly rewarding yourself ...

Type 2 diabetes occurs when insulin secreted by the pancreas is deficient. The insulin cannot, therefore, adequately carry or escort sugar from blood into body cells, where it normally combines with oxygen to provide energy that keeps the body alive and makes it function properly. Without sugar inside the cells, the body turns to fat for energy, as an alternative. As fat burns to provide energy, you begin to lose weight. The energy from fat is, however, not enough to satisfy your body needs and so you feel weak. You feel hungry most of the time but if you eat starchy food because you are hungry and starved, you end up increasing your blood sugar while not getting the needed strength, since glucose from starch is not being taken up into your cells. Rather, it will be lost in urine. Since sugar remains in blood, it fails to perform its cellular functions and ends up damaging blood vessels, instead, and plaque begins to build up. This will raise blood pressure and increase your chances ...

Obese or heavy people, middle age to elderly people are prone to stroke and heart attack because their arteries have built up a lot of plaque and have narrowed down. This means that the blood vessels cannot dilate(expand or open up) to accommodate blood flow which supplies tissues and takes care of increased metabolic demands in stress. The heart, therefore, has to work extra hard to try and force blood round the body. In doing so it damages blood vessels and this forms clot which limits blood flow to the brain or heart tissue, leading to stroke or heart attack. Oxygen is very important for the vitality of tissue. Without it tissue begins to die. Sudden distress such as excitement or an unwelcome news or event can easily trigger the above outcomes in susceptible individuals. To avoid being victims of such events, we should try and reduce our vulnerability factors by exercising regularly and keeping down our weight.. A dose of sunshine is good, for vitamin D prevents the hardening of ...

Daily exercise is necessary for good health. It reduces obesity, improves blood circulation and oxygen supply as well as stimulates metabolism. This prevents diseases such as cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack and diabetes. It also boosts the immune system and prevents infections taking hold in our bodies. The recommended daily dose of exercise is thirty minutes for adults and forty five minutes for kids; moderate exertion such as brisk walking is the minimum required. Young people more than adults have high basal metabolic rate, which is the burning of calories at rest through such processes as heart beat, breathing and tissue respiration to stay alive. [What is not used is stored as glycogen and fats]. It is higher for young people because they need to grow. Growth requires the breakdown of fats, conversion of glycogen to glucose and breakdown of glucose to provide energy in the form of ATP. These processes are gluconeogenesis, glycogenolysis and glycolysis. The A...