That Gut Feeling is more than You Think

 “What does your gut tell you?”  Hmmm… “I’ve got a gut feeling” this is going to be a great article.  Do you get “butterflies in your stomach” when you are nervous or upset?  Then you’d better “go with your gut” and read on!  These colloquialisms are truer than simple literary comments imply.  The connection between the gut and the mind is very real and very much influences the way we think and feel. 

Gut - Brain Connections

From the earliest stages of development the gut and the brain share a common source.  As a developing 4-week-old embryo we are about the size of a walnut and shaped like a little Frisbee with a mohawk.  The mohawk is the “neural crest” which is the earliest formation of our nervous system.  At a later point in development the neural crest literally divides into separate pieces, with one part becoming the brain and spinal cord while the other joins the gut, henceforth being called the “enteric nervous system” or the second brain.

These two “brains” are forever linked by the vagus nerve with most of the information traveling from the gut toward the brain.  The gut has 100 million neurons - more than are found in the spinal column or the entire peripheral nervous system.  As much of 95% of the “feel good” brain chemical called serotonin and about 30 other neurotransmitters are produced in the gut.  How the gut “feels” has a direct impact on the brain and a healthy, happy gut leads to a healthy, happy mind. 

The gut-associated lymph tissue (GALT) surrounds the gut and produces most of our infection fighting white blood cells called lymphocytes.  Everything that passes through the gut wall immediately encounters the GALT, which is vital in keeping toxins and microbial invaders from passing undetected out of the gut into the general circulation.  If gut absorption and processing is not running smoothly then the immune system is excessively triggered, causing the release of inflammatory chemicals, which have far reaching effects throughout the body, including the brain.

There are several known conditions in which an unhealthy gut will provoke the GALT.  “Leaky gut” refers to a damaged gut lining, with literal gaps in the gut wall.  An imbalance or deficiency of the beneficial gut bacteria is known as “dysbiosis”.  Both leaky gut and dysbiosis can lead to inappropriate triggering of the GALT.  Delayed food allergies are also common, affecting most of us to some degree, with certain foods provoking an immune reaction 12 to 72 hours after eating.  Even healthy foods such as whole wheat can be stoking the immune system causing decades of “simmering” inflammation.

Science is recognizing the profound impact that inflammatory chemicals have on brain function, detailing the minute connections that link inflammation and mood disorders.  Inflammation changes brain chemistry, and perhaps most symptoms of brain neurotransmitter imbalance, such as depression, anxiety and attention-deficit are ultimately linked to underlying immune dysfunction, which is so often triggered from the gut. 

We routinely find impaired gut function as the “root cause” of cognitive and mood disorders.  Symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, irritability, impatience, or being easily distracted are often linked to gut dysfunction or delayed food allergies.  I routinely see healing the gut and elimination of food allergens lead to resolution of depression, anxiety and attention deficit disorders.  Even autism and schizophrenia have documented connections to impaired gut health.

Great Gut Health

Insuring gut health starts with a healthy diet.  Our ancestors evolved over generations while eating a Paleolithic diet of fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and wild game.  We inherit our family “culture” of beneficial gut bacteria and the specific balances of good and bad bacteria that inhabit our gut depend upon our diet. 

Modern diet changes that include sugar, grains and inflammatory fats wreak havoc on our native gut bacteria.  The plethora of food additives and chemicals in our food and water has an impact on gut ecology.  Medications and antibiotics can destroy the good bacteria that help keep our gut healthy.  All these impacts on gut health can indeed lead to changes in how we think and feel.

Taking a broad-spectrum probiotic is a simple measure that supports gut health.  An amino acid called L-glutamine can help heal an inflamed leaky gut.  My favorite is a special formulation from Douglas Labs call “Intestamine” that provides L-glutamine and other nutrients necessary for gut health.  Numerous plant-derived supplements such as aloe, mallow, olive leaf extract and slippery elm are soothing to the gut. 

Testing for delayed food allergies involves getting a simple blood test – but be wary of the results depending upon the lab used for testing!  I’ve used 12 different labs in as many years and found that not all labs do food allergy testing well.  We get consistent reproducible results and great patient outcomes from Immunolabs and it is the only lab I trust for food allergy testing.  A stool test called “comprehensive digestive stool analysis” from Genova Diagnostics is another great test that provides information about good and bad bacteria, pathogens, enzymes, inflammation and chemical processing in the gut.

Sign up for the “American Gut” project and for $99 you can get an analysis of your own gut bacteria while contributing to research that is mapping the gut ecology of millions of Americans.  Go to humanfoodproject.com for details.

Hippocrates said over 2000 years ago “All disease begins in the gut” and modern science is just starting to realize how very correct he was.  Gut health is a foundation for overall health and I believe we’ll see the restoration of beneficial gut flora and the repair of leaky gut as paramount achievements in mental health as well as medicine in general.

FREE SEMINARS

“HCG Weight Loss”

Monday, October 7^th, 6pm

“Laser Skin Care”

Wednesday, October 16^th, 6pm

“Adrenal Fatigue”

Monday, October 21^st, 6pm

RSVP @ 245-6911 or rsvp@imcwc.com

Bio

Scott Rollins, MD, is Board Certified with the American Board of Family Practice and the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine.  He specializes in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement for men and women, thyroid and adrenal disorders, fibromyalgia, weight loss and other complex medical conditions.  He is founder and medical director of the Integrative Medicine Center of Western Colorado (imcwc.com) and Bellezza Laser Aesthetics (bellezzalaser.com).  Call (970) 245-6911 for an appointment or more information. 

Thermography A Hot Idea for Breast Health

When it comes to cancer, early detection saves lives...  Digital infrared thermal imaging or thermography is a safe and painless 15-minute test that could save your life.  It offers the chance to detect breast cancer much sooner and more accurately than physical examination or mammograms alone. 

Breast Cancer Statistics

About 1 in 8 women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer.  The risk doubles if you have a first-degree relative with cancer, although only about 15% of women with breast cancer have a family member diagnosed with it.  About 5-10% of breast cancers are linked to inherited genetic mutations, which increase the chance of developing breast cancer to as much as 80%.

Current screening procedures include physical examination by a physician and mammograms.  Both of these techniques are looking for structural, anatomical changes such as a palpable lump or an abnormality found only with x-ray.  Ultra-sound or MRI scan are two other studies that are used to further evaluate suspicious breast lumps.

One problem with anatomical screening is that many breast cancers are simply missed. False-negative results occur when mammograms appear normal even though breast cancer is present.  According to the National Cancer Institute about 20% of breast cancer is missed on a mammogram.

Recent criticism of mammograms have also focused on the false-positive results in which the study findings suggest an abnormality when no cancer is actually present.  This often leads to further imaging and invasive biopsies or surgeries. 

The authors of a 2009 Cochrane Database Review of breast cancer screening and mammography sum up the false-positive issue stating that "screening led to 30 percent over-diagnosis and overtreatment, or an absolute risk increase of 0.5 percent.  This means that for every 2000 women screened for 10 years, one will have her life prolonged, and 10 healthy women who would not have been diagnosed if they had not been screened, will be treated unnecessarily."

There are also concerns of mammograms actually increasing the risk of cancer due to radiation exposure, particularly in younger premenopausal women.  Equally important is the fact that breast cancer has been present for many years by the time it is found with exam or mammogram.

Breast Thermography

Thermography is the process of measuring heat with an infrared imaging device.  Cancer tends to present with increases in blood-flow, metabolism or inflammation, all of which cause heat that is easily monitored with thermography.

The first use of diagnostic thermography came in 1957 when R. Lawson discovered that the skin temperature over a cancer in the breast was higher than that of normal tissue.  Research on breast thermography started in the 1950s and now over 800 peer-reviewed studies can be found in the medical literature.  FDA approval was granted in 1982. 

Studies show that a persistent abnormal breast thermogram is the single most important marker of high risk for developing breast cancer and has the ability to detect the first signs that a cancer may be forming up to 10 years before any other procedure can detect it.  Because of earlier detection it increases the survival rate of breast cancer patients by about 60%.

Breast thermography is 10 times more significant as a future risk indicator for breast cancer than a first order family history of the disease, has only a 10% false-positive or false-negative rate, and when combined with physical exam and mammogram 95% of early stage breast cancers are detected.

One has to wonder then, why aren’t breast thermograms used more commonly?  Despite dozens of very good, very favorable studies, it only took one from the 1970s to turn the tide against breast thermography.  The Breast Cancer Detection and Demonstration Project (BCDDP) is the primary reason for the decreased use of infrared imaging.

The study results were seriously flawed in numerous respects, but perhaps most of all was the influence of other research findings at the time that over-exaggerated the role of thermography.  This led to the false perspective that thermography might replace mammograms, even though this was never suggested by the BCDDP authors.

The BCDDP study suffered from using untrained technicians doing the scans, radiologists with little to no training in reading thermograms, and no formal protocol for reading the thermograms.  Many scans were done in poor conditions in which the heat in the exam rooms was not controlled, leading to poor images.

With the development of sophisticated imaging technology, computer software to analyze and track images, control of exam room conditions, established training and protocols for thermogram interpretations, this poorly performed 30-year-old study should not be used to determine the value of thermography.

Get Your Thermogram

Despite the large amount of positive data in support of breast thermography most physicians are hesitant to recommend it as a routine screening test.  Perhaps this is due to a lack of understanding of how thermograms are best utilized, combined with an unawareness of the research backing the use of breast thermography.

Thermograms are not yet part of the hospital based imaging services and insurance does not routinely cover thermography screening.  Currently, the only way to get a thermogram is through specialized imaging centers or offices.  We offer breast or whole-body thermography at the IMC and no physician order is required to get scanned. 

Our thermography technicians have advanced training and years of experience.  The use of state-of-the-art camera systems with advanced computer software for image manipulation and comparison provides excellent image quality.  Board certified radiologists with specific training in reading thermograms review the images.

Breast thermography is an inexpensive and easy way to increase your chance of finding breast cancer early, or better yet finding changes so early you might intervene and stop cancer before it really gets started.  If you are interested in more information or in getting an appointment for a thermography scan, call the IMC at 245-6911.

FREE SEMINARS

“HCG Weight Loss”

Monday, October 7^th, 6pm

“Laser Skin Care”

Wednesday, October 16^th, 6pm

“Adrenal Fatigue”

Monday, October 21^st, 6pm

RSVP @ 245-6911 or rsvp@imcwc.com

Bio

Scott Rollins, MD, is Board Certified with the American Board of Family Practice and the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine.  He specializes in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement for men and women, thyroid and adrenal disorders, fibromyalgia, weight loss and other complex medical conditions.  He is founder and medical director of the Integrative Medicine Center of Western Colorado (www.imcwc.com) and Bellezza Laser Aesthetics (www.bellezzalaser.com).  Call (970) 245-6911 for an appointment or more information. 

Say Goodbye to Stubborn Fat

It’s called stubborn fat for a reason.  Those areas where fat just seems to accumulate and not budge.  You know, the muffin-tops, the love handles, that poochy tummy.  Eating right and exercising keeps the weight in check but those dang bulges hang in there.  Now there is an FDA-approved procedure that removes those pesky spots once and for all.  The procedure is called Coolsculpting and it means freezing fat.

History of Freezing Fat

As far back as the 1800s frozen fat was observed.  Horseback riders who suffered from frozen thighs during extremely cold weather noted the after-effects of bruising and subsequent shrinking of fat.  Riding gear was thus designed to protect the thighs from the cold.  More recently, children who sucked on popsicles were noted to have dimples in the cheeks caused by frozen fat.  The age of purposeful fat freezing began.

Cryogenic lipolysis is a term that means freezing fat.  The first research on cryogenic lipolysis done in America was in 2008 at Massachusetts General Hospital by physicians Manstein and Anderson. 

In 2009 the first human study on freezing fat was reported in the Aesthetic Plastic Surgery journal by Coleman, et al, in which they showed that cryogenic lipolysis resulted in a 25% reduction in fat without damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

By 2010 the first FDA-approved procedure for freezing fat was approved.  Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. calls this device Coolsculpt.  Coolsculpting, meaning “cyro-lipo-lysis”, is a trademarked term coined by Zeltiq.

Coolsculpting

The patented technology, developed by Harvard scientists, uses a targeted cooling process that kills the fat cells underneath the skin, literally freezing them to the point of elimination.  Only fat cells are frozen while healthy skin cells remain, well, healthy.  No surgery, no anesthetics, no scarring and no downtime.  After the fat cells die they are naturally eliminated from the body.

First the areas to be treated are determined.  Then a clinician positions the device on your body and will then draw the bulge up between two cooling panels.  The sensation is a firm pull and pressure – enough of a pull to ensure the selected tissue will be cooled most efficiently.  

During the first few minutes of treatment there is a feeling of pressure and intense cold.  After a short time this settles down and most patients will then nap, read, watch TV or work on their computer.  An hour or so later, depending on your needs, you’re done.

Immediately after treatment there is no detectable change in the tissue.  The fat cells appear normal and no inflammation is present.  The patient notes only a bit of swelling at this point.

After 3-4 days the fat cells begin to burst and cells that fight inflammation start to appear.  During this time the patient notes a bit of mild discomfort in the area.  This inflammatory phase peaks about 14 days after treatment with an influx of healing and regenerative cells making an appearance.

At this point the body is busy clearing the contents of the dead fat cells by using the natural injury and recovery response.  Now the fat cells become irregular shaped and smaller as the body slowly absorbs them. 

After about 30 days the inflammatory phase settles down while the fat cell contents remain in the area and are slowly cleared by the ongoing healing process.  This continues for about 90 days after which time the reduction in the fat layer is clearly visible.  Ongoing fat cell clearance may continue slowly for as long as 4 to 6 months.

The treatment reduces the total fat volume by about 25% with each treatment round.  Multiple treatments are used to target multiple areas, and repeat treatments can be done in areas that need more reduction.

Side effects are temporary and can include redness, bruising, swelling, tenderness to the touch, cramping, itching, tingling, and numbness.  No changes in blood chemistries are observed after the Coolsculpt procedure due to the very slow reabsorption of the fat cell contents.

Coolsculpting is not designed for weight loss although some weight loss does usually occur.  It is really made for people that have certain bulges they would like to get rid of.   Patients may return to normal activity after a treatment and results are long lasting since the fat cells are actually eliminated.  Even if there is weight gain afterward the treated areas don’t tend to re-accumulate the bulge.

No special supplements or pills are required although we emphasize drinking plenty of water and eating a healthy diet to support a robust immune response.  You do not have to adopt new diet and exercise habits, but many patients feel more motivated to take better care of themselves after the CoolSculpting treatment.

If you are interested in Coolsculpting and would like to learn more then plan to attend our clinical event on Friday, September 20^th.  There will be free consultations to evaluate whether or not Coolsculpt is right for you along with treatments in progress that you may observe to get a little more insight into this amazing new procedure.

Body contouring by Coolsculpt...  now that’s a cool idea.

FREE SEMINARS

“Bioidentical Hormone Replacement for WOMEN”

Monday, September 9^th, 6pm

RSVP @ 245-6911 or rsvp@imcwc.com

Bio

Scott Rollins, MD, is Board Certified with the American Board of Family Practice and the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine.  He specializes in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement for men and women, thyroid and adrenal disorders, fibromyalgia, weight loss and other complex medical conditions.  He is founder and medical director of the Integrative Medicine Center of Western Colorado (www.imcwc.com) and Bellezza Laser Aesthetics (www.bellezzalaser.com).  Call (970) 245-6911 for an appointment or more information.