Currently viewing the tag: "risk factors"

Shingles

Shingles is an infection caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. The virus can remain dormant in your body and reactivate itself, causing shingles, an illness characterized by red skin rashes, blisters, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, and headaches.

According to the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention (CDC), about one in three people will experience shingles at one point in their lives.

If you’ve had chickenpox, the virus may remain in your body for years and can reactivate as shingles at one point.

Like chickenpox, shingles is characterized by a red skin rash that causes burning and pain. It usually looks like a stripe of blisters on one side of your body, typically on your neck, torso, or face. It usually clears up within two to five weeks, depending on the person. Symptoms of burning and pain will be the most intense for the first five days. Within a few days, your rashes will turn into fluid-filled blisters that will dry up and crust over within seven to ten days. It will take another couple of weeks for the scabs to completely clear up.

In rare cases, shingles can lead to the following symptoms and complications:

    Rash or pain around the eye, which needs immediate treatment to avoid permanent eye damage.

    Loss of hearing, earache, dizziness, or loss of taste, which may be the symptom of Ramsay Hunt syndrome that needs immediate medical attention.

    Bacterial infections, causing redness, warmth, and swelling of the skin.

Risk Factors for Shingles

Shingles can develop in anyone who has had chickenpox, but there are certain risk factors that may increase your chances:

Being age 60 or older.

Having had chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

Taking medications that weaken your immune system, including steroids, immunosuppressants, and medications given after an organ transplant.

Having any health conditions that weaken your immune system, including HIV/AIDS and cancer.

Conventional Treatments

To avoid complications and speed recovery, it is generally recommended to start treatment within 72 hours of the occurrence of symptoms.

Conventional treatment strategies for shingles include a variety of medications, along with a few simple natural methods for symptom relief.

Oral antiviral medications may be prescribed to reduce pain and speed recovery. Oral medications or analgesics may be used for pain relief. Oral antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) may be used for itching. Topical numbing gels, creams, and patches, such as lidocaine, may be used for pain. Topical capsaicin may be prescribed to reduce the risk of postherpetic neuralgia, a nerve pain that may occur after the recovery from shingles.

Natural Support Strategies

If you get shingles, you can use natural support strategies to help you feel better. The following are a few ideas.

A weakened immune system can increase the symptoms and risk of complications of shingles. Following an antiviral nutrition plan that is rich in anti-inflammatory and antiviral foods can improve your symptoms and support your recovery.

Lysine is an essential amino acid that plays an important role in collagen formation, calcium absorption, cholesterol regulation, and growth and development. It also helps to support the immune system and suppress viral growth. A 2017 review published in Integrative Medicine (Encinitas) has discussed the antiviral benefits of lysine when it comes to the herpes simplex virus.

Arginine is an amino acid that stimulates viral growth. Clearly, eating a diet high in lysine and low in arginine is important when you are dealing with viral infections.

Foods high in lysine and low in arginine include wild-caught salmon, grass-fed dairy (cheeses and yogurts), pastured and organic poultry, and grass-fed beef. Additionally, you can eat plenty of lemons, limes, cranberries, and avocados, as well as lots of organic vegetables, herbs, and spices, and healthy fats like avocados, olives, coconuts, grass-fed butter or ghee, and coconut oil.

Avoid refined sugar, refined oils, processed foods, junk food, artificial ingredients, gluten, and food additives.

Intermittent Fasting

Fasting is a great way to support your recovery from viral infections like shingles.

Intermittent fasting is a way of eating that involves periods of eating and not eating within a day. 

According to a 2016 review published in Ageing Research and Review, intermittent fasting can improve your health and reduce the risk of disease. Intermittent fasting stimulates cellular autophagy and reduces inflammation.

If you are new to fasting, you may want to start with a simple fast, which involves 12 hours of fasting (including your overnight sleep) and 12 hours reserved for meals within a day.

After one or two weeks, you can start decreasing the eating window to eight or ten hours a day.

Intermittent fasting can be a good strategy even if you don’t have shingles to support your health and reduce your risk of health issues.

Reduce Stress & Improve Sleep

Whether you are dealing with shingles or any other health issue, reducing stress and improving your sleep are key. To reduce your stress levels, try meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, guided visualizations, and breathwork. Practice a positive mindset. Move your body. Even if you are sick, it’s important that you stretch, or walk if you are up for it.

Make sure to sleep seven to nine hours a night. If you are sick, honor your body by resting, sleeping more, or taking naps as needed.

Develop a relaxing nighttime routine. Support your circadian rhythm by going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time each day.

Use a Cold Compress

The symptoms of shingles can be painful and uncomfortable. To reduce pain, use a cold, wet compress on shingles blisters. The cooling feeling can reduce pain, sensitivity, and itching.Just wet a washcloth under cool water and use it as a compress over your blisters. Use a new washcloth for each session to avoid spreading the virus. Use it as needed throughout the day.

Take a Healing Bath

It is important that you cleanse your blisters daily to lower the risk of spreading the shingles infection.

Take a cool bath or shower. Cool water can reduce pain and calm itchiness.

Take daily healing baths to reduce your symptoms of itching, burning, and pain by adding one to two cups of colloidal oatmeal or cornstarch to a bathtub full of lukewarm bathwater. Avoid hot water, as it can increase blood flow and worsen your shingles. But make sure that your water is not too cool to sit in it for a while. Soak for 15 to 20 minutes, then dry yourself completely.

Make sure to wash your towel and use a new towel for your next bath to avoid spreading the virus to others or across your own body.

Baking Soda and Cornstarch Paste

To relieve the symptoms of a shingles rash or blisters naturally, try a baking soda or cornstarch paste.

Add two parts baking soda or cornstarch and one part water into a cup. Mix it well until you achieve the desired consistency.

Apply the paste on your rash and leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse it off and dry it well. Repeat it several times a day, as you feel it’s needed. Make sure to use a new towel each time.

Immune Support Nutrients

In addition to the prior strategies, it is a good idea to support your immune system.

Studies have shown that vitamin D deficiencies can worsen your symptoms of shingles. To optimize your vitamin D levels, get some sunshine daily; eat foods rich in vitamin D, such as oily fish, liver, and egg yolk; or take a high-quality vitamin D supplement daily.

Zinc deficiency may also make your experience with shingles worse. According to a 2019 study published in Advances in Nutrition, zinc plays a role in antiviral immunity in a variety of viral infections, including HIV and hepatitis C.

Eat a variety of foods that are rich in zinc, including oysters, red meat, and seafood.

Vitamin C may also be helpful for shingles. According to a 2020 review published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, vitamin C has antiviral properties.

Load up on vitamin C-rich foods, such as lemons, limes, oranges, other citrus, strawberries, kiwi, and bell peppers. If you are struggling with health issues, call the Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center at 240-651-1650 for a free consultation. Dr. Lo uses Nutritional Response Testing® to analyze the body to determine the underlying causes of ill or non-optimum health. The office is located at 7310 Grove Road #107, Frederick, MD. Check out the website at www.doctorlo.com

What Is Osteoporosis?

by Dr. Thomas K. Lo, Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center

Osteoporosis occurs when too much bone mass is lost, and changes occur in the structure of bone tissue. Certain risk factors may lead to the development of osteoporosis or increase the likelihood that you will develop the disease.

Many people with osteoporosis have several risk factors, but others who develop osteoporosis may not have any specific risk factors. There are some risk factors that you cannot change, and others that you may be able to change.

By understanding the risk factors, you may be able to prevent osteoporosis and fractures.

Factors That May Increase Your Risk

Your chances of developing osteoporosis are greater if you are a woman. Women tend to have lower peak bone mass and smaller bones than men. However, men are still at risk, especially after the age of 70.

As you age, bone loss happens more quickly, and new bone growth is slower. Over time, your bones can weaken and your risk for osteoporosis increases.

Slender, thin-boned women and men are at greater risk to develop osteoporosis because they have less bone to lose compared to larger boned women and men.

White and Asian women are at highest risk. African American and Mexican American women have a lower risk. White men are at higher risk than African American and Mexican American men.

Changes to hormones and low levels of certain hormones can increase your chances of developing osteoporosis. For example, low estrogen levels in women after menopause. Men with conditions that cause low testosterone are at risk for osteoporosis, however, the gradual decrease of testosterone with aging is not a major reason for loss of bone.

Diet may also be a reason. Beginning in childhood and into old age, a diet low in calcium and vitamin D can increase your risk for osteoporosis and fractures. Also, excessive dieting or poor protein intake may increase your risk for bone loss and osteoporosis.

Long-term use of certain medications may make you more likely to develop bone loss and osteoporosis, such as glucocorticoids and adrenocorticotropic hormone, which treat various conditions, such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Antiepileptic medicines, which treat seizures and other neurological disorders. Cancer medications, which use hormones to treat breast and prostate cancer. Proton pump inhibitors, which lower stomach acid. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which treat depression and anxiety. Thiazolidinediones, which treats type II diabetes.

Lifestyle factors that may contribute to bone loss include low levels of physical activity and prolonged periods of inactivity can contribute to increased rate of bone loss. They also leave you in poor physical condition, which can increase your risk of falling and breaking a bone.

Chronic heavy drinking of alcohol is a significant risk factor for osteoporosis.

Natural Strategies to Help Prevent and Treat Osteoporosis

The following are safe and effective natural strategies to reduce the risk of fracture, support healthy bone mineral density, bone strength and structural integrity.

An Anti-Inflammatory Healing Diet   

Foods to avoid would be foods associated with inflammation in the bones, so it is critical to avoid highly inflammatory foods which include refined sugars and grains, and any foods that are easily metabolized into sugar (high glycemic foods). These foods upregulate inflammation and create extra acidity in the tissues.

It is best to avoid sodas. In addition to sugar, most sodas have a high phosphoric acid content which can remove calcium from the bones. Drinks and foods with high levels of caffeine can also interfere with calcium absorption.

Meat and dairy from conventionally raised animals, farmed fish, processed foods and highly processed vegetable oils, such as canola, peanut, cottonseed, soy and safflower, promote inflammation and should be eliminated.

Foods to Include

The foods you should be eating on an anti-inflammatory, healing diet are whole, unprocessed foods. Choose grass-fed, pasture-raised, wild-caught meats and fish. Eat lower carbohydrate, low glycemic, colorful vegetables and fruits for their abundant antioxidants and phytonutrients. Plentiful amounts of herbs are also helpful to use on a healing diet.

Healthy fats are also an important part of a healing diet. Healthy fats are found in coconut, olives, avocados, and their oils and in grass-fed butter and ghee. Omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) found in wild caught salmon and grass-fed beef and dairy are fats with many bone health benefits.

Foods to Boost Bone Density

Along with a healing diet, you can include foods that can boost bone density. Raw cultured dairy, such as kefir, yogurt, and raw cheese, contain calcium, magnesium, vitamins D and K, and phosphorus, all of which help build strong bones.

Sea vegetables and green leafy vegetables also contain vitamins and minerals that are critical for bone formation and bone strength. Foods rich in omega-3 fats, such as wild-caught salmon and sardines, walnuts, and certain seeds, help reduce inflammation.

Weight-Bearing Exercise

Exercise is critical for both maintaining bone health and preventing fractures.

Weight-bearing exercise has been shown to have positive effects on bone loss by increasing bone formation and decreasing bone reabsorption. Weight-bearing exercise is any exercise that requires your bones and muscles to support your body weight.

Examples are weight lifting, running, walking, dancing, and tennis. It is important to do weight-bearing exercises at least 3-4 times per week for 30-60 minutes per time.

Incorporating balance exercises, such as Tai Chi, into your exercise regimen is important for reducing the overall risk of falling and being injured.

Calcium

Calcium is a major building block of bone tissue. In fact, 99 percent of our body’s calcium stores are housed in our bones. Consuming optimal amounts of calcium from food or supplementation is critical to prevent and treat osteoporosis.

Calcium is best obtained from foods in your diet. Dairy products (preferably raw, grass-fed, organic dairy products) are the most readily available sources of calcium. Dairy products also contain protein and other micronutrients important for bone health. Other calcium-rich foods include fish with soft, edible bones (such as sardines), green vegetables (broccoli, curly kale and Bok choy), and nuts (Brazil nuts and almonds).

Zinc and Magnesium

Both zinc and magnesium are important for bone health and for supporting the immune system.

Zinc is a mineral required for bone tissue renewal and mineralization. Foods high in zinc include pasture-raised chicken and eggs, grass-fed beef and dairy, spinach, and wild-caught salmon. Nuts and seeds such as cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and watermelon seeds are also high in zinc.

Magnesium is a crucial nutrient that supports over 300 physiological processes or functions in the body. It is referred to as the “master mineral” and plays an important role in forming bone. Magnesium is critical to all aspects of vitamin D and calcium metabolism.

The top food sources of magnesium are leafy greens such as Swiss chard and spinach, sea vegetables, sprouts, and avocados. Grass-fed dairy and wild-caught fish are rich in magnesium. Pumpkin seeds, nuts, dark chocolate, and coffee are also good sources of magnesium.

Vitamins D and K2

Vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 work synergistically to promote bone health and reduce the incidences of fractures.  These nutrients work together to help guide calcium into the bone tissue and prevent it from accumulating in places such as the arteries.

There are numerous animal-based food sources of vitamin D3. Whole food sources of vitamin D are much healthier options than foods fortified with vitamin D. The best dietary sources of vitamin D are wild-caught salmon and fatty fish, cod liver oil, grass-fed butter and raw cheese, egg yolks, mushrooms, and beef liver.

Vitamin K2 is an important nutrient that plays a role in many bone metabolisms. Getting enough vitamin K in your diet is key to maintaining healthy bones and protecting against fractures.

Vitamin K2 is needed to form a bone-building protein called osteocalcin. Osteocalcin is a necessary protein for maintaining calcium homeostasis in bone tissue. It works with osteoblast cells to build healthy bone tissue. When we are deficient in vitamin K2, osteocalcin production is inhibited which reduces calcium flow into bone tissue. This can lead to osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Foods rich in vitamin K2 are meat, dairy, fermented foods, and natto. Vitamin K2 is also produced by the beneficial bacteria in your gut.

The combination of vitamins D3 and K2 enhances osteocalcin accumulation in bone cells greater than either nutrient alone. Increased osteocalcin formation significantly improves bone mineral density.

Stress Reduction

There is a relationship between stress and osteoporosis. Increased stress hormones wreak havoc on the body, including the bones.

Stress induces physiological changes leading to osteoporosis. Stress also induces behaviors that may lead to osteoporosis such as distorted eating patterns, drinking alcohol, lack of exercise, and poor sleep habits.

It is critical to take steps to reduce stress and lower elevated cortisol levels daily.

Other powerful techniques are grounding, deep breathing exercises, sunlight exposure, and Epsom salt baths. Practice these stress reduction strategies daily to reduce stress and protect your bones from the effects of stress.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the body that regulates circadian rhythm. As we age, our melatonin levels decrease, which may lead to imbalanced bone remodeling.

Recent studies have shown that melatonin may have a positive effect on the skeleton. Melatonin was shown to increase bone mineral density after one year of treatment in a study of postmenopausal women with osteopenia. Melatonin can be taken as a supplement; however, it is possible to promote your body’s own ability to make it as necessary. The best way to support your own production is to try and control your light exposure to match sunrise and sunset.

If you are struggling with health issues, call the Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center at 240-651-1650 for a free consultation. Dr. Lo uses Nutritional Response Testing® to analyze the body to determine the underlying causes of ill or non-optimum health. The office is located at 7310 Grove Road #107, Frederick, MD. Check out the website at www.doctorlo.com.

Source: Natural Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases; Drjockers.com.