Kratom Can Modulate a Cytokine Storm

Malaria as a Model of Fever Production and Psychiatric Illness

Malaria, Intermittent Fever, and Psychiatric Illness Malaria is a disease that often produces intermittent fevers. There are four different malaria pathogens that can cause this disease:  Plasmodium falciparum,  Plasmodium ovale,  Plasmodium vivax, and  Plasmodium malariae.  Doctors have, for over a century, noted that malaria and mental health issues are correlated. Malaria can cause paralysis in addition to mental confusion, depression, PTSD symptoms, anxiety, bipolar disorder symptoms, and more. Almost 70% of malaria patients experience mental confusion. About 37% experience depression. Malaria patients may develop dissociative disorders and even fugue states. In the 1920s, doctors noted that St. Vitus dance, which is known to be caused by Streptococcus pyo...

Fat Soluble Vitamins: Micronutrient Supplementation for Major Infectious Diseases

The Role of Fat Soluble Vitamins in Pathogenic Infection The fat soluble vitamins (vitamin A, D, E, and K1 and K2) have no calories and, with the exception of vitamin D, they must be consumed in the diet. Deficiencies of these nutrients are common in patients with gastrointestinal disorders and diseases, those with chronic illness, and in intensive care patients. This suggests the potential value of treating sick patients with supplements that can help the body to stop sequestering these nutrients. Fat soluble vitamin sequestration happens in response to pathogenic colonization or infection. It can also happen in response to high levels of stress, chronic low-level stress, or suppressed anger. When the fat soluble vitamins are held in storage in the liver without being released on a...

The Carnivore Diet for Chronic Infection

Heat, Cold, and the Carnivore Diet for Iron Sequestration Due to Chronic Infection A number of our clients have had success using the carnivore diet in combination with infrared sauna treatments and high heat to keep iron sequestration at bay. When the body is exposed to the cold, the liver responds by acting as a metabolic hub that shifts increased energy production to thermogenesis / heat production. This leads to rapid glycogen depletion.  Chronic cold exposure leads to an increase in glucose utilization, fatty acid degradation, and the release of fibroblast growth factor 21. This leads to an increase in oxidative stress, inflammation in the body, and potential tissue damage. But that being said, calibrated cold exposure is a potential therapy for diabetes that increases brown fa...

Huntington’s Disease and Other “Choreas”

How to Overcome Huntington’s Disease and Other “Choreas” Though Huntington's disease is viewed as a "genetic" problem, this does not mean that the disease is not curable. Our genetic code is constantly being altered with certain genes getting "switched on" or "switched off" by environmental conditions. Those with Huntington's disease specifically should keep this in mind as we talk about the "choreas".   NOTE: Wilson’s disease, a treatable movement disorder, can be an overlooked cause behind Huntington’s disease symptoms as well as other types of chorea. Wilson disease and Huntington’s disease can be misdiagnosed due to overlapping movement disorder symptoms and behavioral symptoms. Both conditions cause involuntary  movements and mood swings, but Wilson’s disease is caused by toxic coppe...