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Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 33

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Sleep Part IV

Continuing the sleep education from a few weeks ago.

Sleep is a most special event that we all need to continue to focus heavily on in order to live a healthy and long life. It may be the single most important event that we do daily.

Here are a few more quick hits on sleep from the Matthew Walker’s Book and other publications.

1) Aim for a minimum of 7 hours nightly to maintain adequate memory consolidation, immune health and emotional regulation. Young children and teens need 8-14 hours depending on age.

2) Do not eat close to bedtime. Stop eating three hours before you plan to go to sleep. Avoid rapidly digesting refined carbohydrates as they turn into energy quickly raising core temperature which makes it harder to fall asleep as we need our body temperature to drop 3 to 4 degrees F at night to fall asleep. Heavy protein meals at night are not a great idea. Eat the heavier proteins early (before 6 pm) if at all in the evening….plus a section on summer Covid surge.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 32

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Sleep Part III

Finally, the other elephant in the room related to sleep is STRESS. Stress alters the function of the hormone cortisol and can significantly alter night sleep function. There are three major chemicals that affect sleep: cortisol, adenosine and melatonin.

In normal conditions, adenosine rises during the day making you sleepy, cortisol hits its low point at night and melatonin rises as the sun goes down. This combination puts pressure on you to feel sleepy and want to go to bed. Unfortunately, modern life has made many of us feel stressed and sympathetically fired up which affects cortisol function. Instead of being at its nadir at night, the stress response causes cortisol to rise at inappropriate times disrupting sleep onset and maintenance. Couple this stress with facebook addiction and screen induced melatonin suppression and you have a recipe for insomnia and disrupted sleep. (Hanson et. al. 2010)….Plus, a section on cellphones and driver knowledge.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 31

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Epigenetics and Pregnancy
Epigenetics is the study of environmental signals and their effects on our genes. Our genes are not altered so much as they are read and used differently based on the environmental inputs. Epigenetic effects are critical during the pregnancy period as the environmental signals can alter an offspring’s outcome both in good and bad ways. Making sure that we control for better environmental signal exposure while pregnant can go a long way to protecting our children’s DNA from dysfunction and thus their outcome with health. It is well known that chemicals are generally negative insults to our epigenome while anti-inflammatory whole foods are positive. These epigenetic marks can be conserved over multiple generations making them extraordinarily beneficial or dangerous. Here we will discuss the lifestyle mitigating factors for a positive pregnancy and newborn outcome….plus an ode to Brenda Wassum.
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Audiocast Newsletter Volume 14 Issue 30

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Sleep Part II

Let us pause here! So far we now know that humans at all ages will suffer from memory dysfunction and brain sewage cleanup problems leading to inflammation and damage long term. What ages are most at risk? They are likely mirrored by other physiologic events that are at risk based on age. Teenagers, infants and toddlers are rapidly growing creatures requiring more macro/micronutrients, water, and toxin avoidance for success. It is likely that sleep follows these same principles.

Going to a simple google scholar search for “sleep deprivation age risk” brings up countless articles on the effects of sleep deprivation in mothers and children on risk of obesity, diabetes, premature birth and much more.

….Plus more on gender and emotion as well as a recipe of the week.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Audiocast Newsletter Volume 14 Issue 29

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Sleep Update for 2024
Sleep has always been a necessary function of everyday life for all mammals. From an evolutionary perspective this cannot be a mistake as during the period of sleep you are vulnerable to predation. Therefore, there has to be a really good reason for mammals to sleep for extended hours. What is that reason? Why are toddlers and frankly all of us more cranky when we do not sleep enough? Why are our genes tied so tightly to circadian rhythms? Why are people so metabolically unwell when they are sleep deprived?
…plus updates on heat exhaustion and covid.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Audiocast Newsletter Volume 14 Issue 28

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Klotho Part II

Last week we discussed Klotho as a protein that has pleotrophic effects in the body as it relates to cellular aging. This week let us focus specifically on the brain. What are the effects of klotho as it relates to cognition and function over time? Klotho has neuroprotective effects based on studies that show that better cognitive performance in translational models over time occur with the injections of klotho. Klotho is also shown to have neuroprotective effects if naturally elevated, i.e. individuals with host genetics that promote more klotho production over time without being taken or given.

The pivitol research occurred in 2015 in a mouse model of Alzheimers Disease (AD) where Dr. Dena Dubal and colleagues looked at two groups of intervention mice with and without higher levels of Klotho. and a literature review on micro plastics and screentime.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Audiocast Newsletter Volume 14 Issue 27

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Klotho Part I
Ok, it is time for a potential log step shift in the human understanding of neurological decline with age starting from birth.
Enter the peptide, (C)Klotho, named after the greek goddess of fate who spins the thread of life for all. The Klotho protein was discovered by researchers looking at mice that aged faster than the general mouse population. These mice were noted to have a shortened lifespan, stunted growth, renal disease, blood vessel calcification, cardiac hypertrophy, hypertension, pulmonary disease, cognitive impairment, multi-organ atrophy and fibrosis. (Prud’homme et. al. 2022) When they looked closer, these mice were found to have hypoactive klotho proteins leading to an explosion of research over the past two decades to understand why. The next question was, could the hyperactive state provide an anti aging effect?
The answer was a resounding yes!
and a discussion on fast food.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

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