July 2019 Newsletter

Summer and its heat are in FULL swing this month! Scroll down for some cool news after the jump:

  1. The human microbiome, the vast collection of microbes that colonize the surfaces lining our gut and our skin – is critical in sustaining our general health. Science continues finding evidence involving how the specific composition of one's microbiome affects various aspects of physical and mental health/disease.
    1. New research exploring the health impacts of stress on the microbiome showed that social stress alters both the composition and behavior of gut bacteria, leading to self-destructive changes in the body's immune system (aka autoimmune disorders).
    2. Studies conducted at Johns Hopkins have shown that Parkinson's may start in the gut and travel up to the brain via the "wandering" vagus nerve. This adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the gut-brain axis plays a central role in the advancement of Parkinson's disease.
    3. Scientists have identified a correlation between specific gut microbiome assemblage fibromyalgia, characterized by widespread chronic pain, sleep impairment, and fatigue. Moreover, the severity of someone's fibromyalgia symptoms were directly correlated with an increased presence of certain gut bacteria and a conspicuous absence of other gut microbiome species.
    4. Notably, the opposite was also found to be true with the microbiome actively enhancing health and physical performance. In a Harvard study involving elite (Boston) marathon athletes, microbe-driven performance boosts are due to their bacteria's ability to break down lactate AND enhance the body's resilience to exercise stress
  2. One final note: It is with bittersweet sorrow that our staff must issue a farewell and good luck to Alan Ng, who will be moving to sunny California by summer's end. As a part of our staff for 4 years, we will miss Alan, but wish him all the best in his new life chapter out west!.

We here at DSPT are here to professionally manage your journey toward caring for and healing your whole self, mind and body. Give us a call to see what we and our network of specialized health care providers can do for you!