Primo Health Blog

Oral Hygiene and the Health of the Body

Years ago, a physician who suspected a patient had heart disease would probably not refer him to a gum specialist. The same holds true for diabetes and arthritis. Times have changed. The past 5 to 10 years have seen a growing body of research linking the health of your mouth to the overall health of your body. According to the American Dental Association, 40 percent of people with gum disease also have a chronic health condition. What's feeding the link? Not taking proper care of your mouth results in bacterial growth, which causes inflammation that not only spurs diseases of the teeth and gums, but can cause problems for other body systems if left unchecked. Oral problems can also be a symptom of other diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease.

Living with Diabetes: Supplements to Make the Job Easier

There are two primary types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Both types result in high levels of blood sugar levels, which may manifest itself through any of the following symptoms: increased thirst and an increased need to urinate; feeling edgy, tired, and sick to your stomach; and having an increased appetite (but loss of weight). In addition, other symptoms may include: repeated or hard-to-heal infections of the skin, gums, vagina, or bladder; blurred vision; tingling or loss of feeling in the hands or feet; and dry, itchy skin. If left uncontrolled, high blood sugar may result in a variety of serious complications. There are nutrients and supplements that can ease some of the burden of living with diabetes.

DHEA

By Gene Bruno, MS, MHS – Dean of Academics, Huntington College of Health Sciences

Over 2500 medical articles have reported the benefits of dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA, a hormone secreted from the adrenal glands. As a dietary supplement, DHEA has many applications to human health. Following is a discussion of some of these applications.

How DHEA works

Aging is a gradual deterioration of our various organs and systems. It is not just "getting older." People don't simply die because they are older. Death results from failure of an organ or system.

Colostrum 

By Gene Bruno, MS, MHS – Dean of Academics, Huntington College of Health Sciences

Colostrum is the first milk that a mammal produces after pregnancy. This secretion of colostrum does not last for long; rather, it is created for the newborn to give it vital nutrients, antibodies, and other factors it needs right after birth. Therefore, after a few short days, the production of colostrum all but stops.¹

So what makes colostrum special for adult individuals? In fact, through hundreds of years of use and over 1,000 clinical studies, colostrum has been demonstrated to be safe and effective for a variety of clinical conditions. These include viral illnesses, allergies and autoimmune diseases, heart disease, cancer, weight-loss programs, athletic stress, leaky gut syndrome, wound healing, and muscle repair and growth.² In short, the most important components of colostrum can basically be broken down into two major categories: immunity modulator and growth factors.

Coenzyme Q10

By Gene Bruno, MS, MHS – Dean of Academics, Huntington College of Health Sciences

Free radicals

Chemically, free radicals can be defined as a molecule with an unpaired electron. In the process of trying to balance itself by gaining or losing an electron, the free radical causes oxidative damage on a cellular level. CoQ10 has the unique property of being able to accept or donate an electron without itself becoming a free radical. By doing this CoQ10 can help neutralize free radicals and the oxidative damage they cause. This is significant since numerous disease states are thought to be due to excessive oxidative stress of free radicals, including hydroxyl radical, peroxynitrite, superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide. In addition, CoQ10 may inhibit certain enzymes involved in the formation of these free radicals.

Cinnamon:
A Supplement for Diabetes, Body Composition, Cardiovascular Health & Antioxidant Protection
By Gene Bruno, MS, MHS

Don’t you just love the smell and taste of cinnamon in a warm, gooey cinnamon bun? As it turns out, the cinnamon may actually provide you with some significant health benefits (although the same can’t be said of the gooey bun; sorry). So let’s take a closer look at cinnamon.

Background

The use of cinnamon for health is not new. In fact, cinnamon bark has been used for several thousand years in traditional Eastern and Western systems of medicine, for such purposes as anorexia, bloating, dyspepsia with nausea, flatulent colic, and spastic conditions of the GI tract.¹ Cinnamon also has a history of traditional use in Korea, China and Russia for treating people with diabetes.²