If you've been paying attention in the health space for some time you've likely noticed a couple of longstanding trends.
The first trend is the ongoing emergence followed by increasing incidence and popularity of many health challenges.
For many of these the medical establishment often initially denies their existence and will often treat people complaining of these issues with psychiatric medications or anti-anxiety meds.
Over the years the list under the first trend includes issues like
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME - Myalgic Encephalomyelitis): initially dismissed as yuppie flu!
- Fibromyalgia: initially viewed as a psychological disturbance
- Hashimoto's Thyroiditis & Other Autoimmune Diseases: Hashimoto's, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) were often misunderstood and dismissed, but growing evidence points to autoimmune dysfunction.
- Lyme Disease: initially dismissed but now accepted as originating from tick bites
- "Leaky Gut" (Increased Intestinal Permeability): the concept that a permeable gut can lead to widespread systemic inflammation was initially dismissed by medicine.
My intent here is not to emphasize medicine's initial dismissal of these ailments but rather to point out that we've witnessed an ongoing emergence of new and novel conditions over the past 40 years or so.
Here's a graph of the rising incidence of 5 of the more common autoimmune disorders. One thing that stands out is an ever increasing incidence rate over time.
Here's a second trend that matters even more.
Even when one of these conditions reaches the point where it is acknowledged as existing, the response doesn't change. Let's find a drug for it. Not one of these conditions has ever prompted the question of why they are appearing at once, in the same populations, over the same time period.
We have five separate diseases that involve five distinct medical specialties, five drug classes, and nobody seems to be asking if they might share a common cause.
An incidence rate that appears to be picking up speed over time.
| Year | Multiple sclerosis | Celiac Disease | Crohn's Disease | Type 1 Diabetes | Asthma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 1960 | 170 | 130 | 100 | 130 | 100 |
| 1970 | 100 | 180 | 100 | 180 | 100 |
| 1980 | 220 | 220 | 120 | 220 | 120 |
| 1990 | 320 | 280 | 200 | 280 | 180 |
| 2000 | 280 | 380 | 380 | 280 | 380 |
Fig. 1. Modified from: Bach JF. The effect of infections on susceptibility to autoimmune and allergic diseases. N Engl J Med. Sep 2002;347(12):911-920.
Here's why
Why do we rarely ask "Why?"
Why are we not asking "Why?"
Why is this trend of autoimmune conditions increasing in incidence?
Maybe some consideration should be given to the abject failure to medicine to effectively heal or resolve these conditions.
As a population we are getting sicker and sicker!
What is being done about it?
Basically nothing on a population level! At least not anything that is moving the needle.
It's a bit like the gambler in Vegas who is down big and is convinced if they keep doubling down that they will make it all back. The gambler stands a better chance of breaking even than our current healthcare model.
When it comes to health I don't believe that you can solve a problem with the same model, strategies, tactics, and mindset that allowed the problem to develop in the first place.
It's time to take a critical look at what works and what doesn't work!
And, to trust the same model that has done little to change this and is likely complicit in this ever worsening trend borders on negligence.
It's time we recognize what our Medical System is great at and what they lack any level of competence in.
Medicine is amazing at dealing with acute trauma from lacerations to closed head trauma to fractures and internal bleeding. The technology of joint replacement is amazing although an argument could be made that they have put no energy into preserving existing joint function rather than replacement.
They also have something to offer with acute infections although they are complicit in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria through a shotgun approach to over-prescribing antibiotics without ever culturing the bacteria or asking why people are so susceptible to infections.
In the US there is mounting evidence that the population's health is declining as evidenced by the rising incidence of chronic diseases – heart disease, obesity, diabetes, mental health issues.
Despite spending the most per capita on health the US lags behind other western nations. And, that isn't an endorsement of those nations.
A bit more evidence
- Chronic Disease: over half of US adults have at least one chronic condition marked by increasing rates of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. This trend is more evident in younger adults and children.
- Obesity: is a driver for other conditions and the US has the highest rates.
- Mental Health: there has been a dramatic increase in anxiety and depression.
- Shorter Life Expectancy: the US lags behind other so called developed countries. If you're from outside the US this is more of a condemnation of US health than an endorsement of health elsewhere.
- Children's Health: since the 1960s chronic childhood conditions such as obesity and asthma have increased significantly.
This chart only starts in the 1990s and it's worth understanding that everything from 2020 forward is a projection. It comes from a RAND forecast published in 2000.
Prevalence of Chronic Disease in the U.S.
| Year | Millions of Americans |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 118 |
| 2000 | 125 |
| 2005 | 133 |
| 2010 | 141 |
| 2015 | 149 |
| 2020 | 157 |
| 2025 | 164 |
| 2030 | 171 |
Source: Wu, Shin-Yi et al. 2000. Projection of Chronic Illness Prevalence and Cost Inflation. RAND Corporation.
Just as important as "why?" is what can we do about it?
You Can But You Shouldn't Outsource Your Health
Health is your responsibility...
As a society far too many people have abdicated their responsibility for their health. The average person waits until they experience a crisis before going to a physician. Once there little is ever done to change the conditions that gave rise to the crisis.
Medication is applied.
Perhaps the symptoms abate.
The path has been laid for the further development of a chronic degenerative condition.
Before moving on I would be remiss not to point out that the absence of any of these or other chronic conditions does not by definition make you healthy. You might be healthy, you might not be. You are likely less sick than the average person but that by itself is little to be proud of.
Back to why!
The field of genetics cannot explain this trend.
Genetic changes take place over hundreds of generations and thousands of years. And, mutations do not spread widely across populations in the time frame that we are observing these accelerating trends.
And, while this trend is most prominent in the US, it is a worldwide trend.
There are two principles that make the most sense when trying to understand the trend of declining population health.
THE FIRST is a principle that I hold close that helps me frame this issue and is at the same time a guiding principle in how I approach health and how I guide my clients.
"It's not the seed, it's the soil"
Looking at a literal translation of this...if we took 2 healthy acorns and planted one in moist, nutrient rich soil and planted the other acorn in the desert would we have expectations of both acorns germinating and growing into healthy oak trees?
Of course not. In order to prosper the acorns and the germinating tree needs a healthy environment in which to grow and prosper.
Problems can still arise with healthy soil but they are less frequent and less likely to kill the tree.
The Western Health Model is built on the Seed theory. If you get sick it's because of a bacteria or virus, not because your body is stressed and your immune system is less active.
Not because you aren't providing your body with the appropriate environment in which to express health.
Medicine typically gives you medication and does no follow-up to try to address the underlying cause, the environment or "soil".
This argument is nearly 200 years old and medicine has chosen a side. The germ theory won over something called the terrain theory. The antibiotic approach to infectious disease saved many lives.
But, we have maintained that view of health long after the nature of disease has changed. Germ theory works for bacterial infection. It has nothing to offer for type 2 diabetes or autoimmune disease or heart disease. Yet, we are still using it.
THE SECOND principle has been formulated out of the mitochondrial research of Dr. Doug Wallace at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We'll cover mitochondria in another issue.
Dr. Wallace's research findings point to Mitochondrial dysfunction and the resulting reduction of systemic energy as the root cause of aging and the most common chronic diseases.
The chart below highlights Dr. Wallace's theory of how Mitochondrial DNA changes flow downstream to immunological disease, cancer, metabolic disease, aging, and degenerative diseases.
- Environmental factors
- Energy resources
- Energy demands
- Toxins
- mtDNA variation
- Ancient adaptive polymorphisms
- Recent deleterious mutations
- nDNA variation
- Deleterious mutations
- Polymorphisms
- Epigenomic changes
- OXPHOS dysfunction
- Decreased energy, increased ROS, altered REDOX regulation of gene expression and metabolism, altered calcium homeostasis
- Mitochondrial damage and somatic mtDNA mutations
- Progressive bioenergetic decline
- Immunological disease
- Infection
- Inflammation
- Fever
- Autoimmunity
- Degenerative disease
- Neurological
- Muscular
- Cardiac
- Renal
- Gastrointestinal
- Cancer
- Initiation
- Promotion
- Metastasis
- Metabolic disease
- Diabetes and obesity
- Thermoregulation
- stress and trauma
- Aging
- Apoptosis
- Senescence
Look at the box in the top left: environmental factors. Energy resources, energy demands, toxins. That's the doorway to this cascade and it happens to be the only entry you have any control over.
You can't change your mtDNA. What you can do is change the inputs: food, sleep, light.
The vast majority of these changes are the result of the environment we have created for ourselves.
This environment is in many ways as foreign and toxic to our bodies as anything our biology encounters. The big difference is that the damage from altered environmental signals shows up slowly over decades and we mistake it for aging.
Why are Mitochondria at the Root of These Problems?
Mitochondrial dysfunction has been estimated to be the root of approximately 90% of chronic disease. A 2020 review in Endocrine Reviews asks in its title: Is Mitochondrial dysfunction a common root of noncommunicable diseases? The conclusion of the authors is that there is substantial evidence to support that. Dr. Wallace feels mitochondrial dysfunction is driving most common diseases and aging.
While mitochondrial decline is a natural part of aging, this decline is occurring earlier in life and we are witnessing an increasingly more rapid decline.
What are Mitochondria?
Simply put mitochondria are located inside every cell other than mature red blood cells. The mitochondria are the energy production centers of the cell, producing ATP. This is so critical that it is estimated your mitochondria produce your body weight in ATP every day.
Anything that hinders mitochondria activity, efficiency, and reproduction is going to have an adverse effect on the body.
The most mitochondrial rich tissues are the brain and the heart. No wonder that neurodegenerative disease and cardiovascular disease are two of the leading causes of death.
Some of the low hanging lifestyle causes driving mitochondrial dysfunction are:
- Drugs and toxins
- Elevated Blood Glucose and the trend toward diabetes
- Obesity
- Insulin Resistance
- Excess Free Radicals / ROS
- Inflammation
Looking at that list it's not hard to see how the average American adult is traveling the highway at high speed to chronic degenerative disease.
Mitochondria accumulate ever increasing mitochondrial DNA mutations (mtDNA) that impair the function of existing mitochondria while reducing the production of new healthy mitochondria.
These mtDNA mutations are called Mitochondrial Heteroplasmy. This accumulates as a result of, or perhaps is the cause of, aging. Some of that is unavoidable.
What is avoidable or at least mitigable is the environment in which we live and is responsible for these dramatic and devastating changes in our mitochondria.
Improving Mitochondrial Function
There are a number of practices that help support healthy mitochondria and more optimal mitochondrial function.
I plan on spending future newsletters on a deeper exploration of mitochondria and how our current lifestyle is at odds with robust mitochondrial health.
Look at the list and focus on the removal or correction of the causes driving mitochondrial decline.
- Avoid or minimize your exposure to drugs and toxins
- Get a blood glucose monitor (glucometer) or a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) and track your blood glucose and adopt a diet that controls both blood glucose and insulin
- Reduce visceral fat specifically as it is metabolically active and produces molecules of inflammation
- Reduce your stress
- Minimize consumption of sugar, alcohol, and other toxins
Mitochondria are especially sensitive and responsive to the entire light or EMF spectrum. We now live in a soup of EMFs, many of them manmade that our bodies have a challenge dealing with.
Mitochondria function as environmental and energy sensors for all EMF signals.
Our mitochondria did not evolve having to make any sense of very isolated and powerful EMF frequencies like 4G, 5G, wifi, bluetooth, LED, Fluorescent light, computer and phone screens, etc.
Reduce your exposure to manmade or what are often referred to as non-native EMFs:
- Limit exposure to wifi signals, 4G, 5G cell signals
- Avoid as much unnatural light such as LED, screens, Fluorescent
- Wear blue light filtering glasses when on computer screens, after sunset, and in the presence of artificial narrow spectrum light.
Some of the more proactive things you can do include:
- Supporting your Circadian Rhythm by exposing your eyes to early morning sunlight, reducing exposure to blue light (LED) after sunset and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule.
- Eat a nutrient dense diet and seasonal foods. Try to optimize consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids (DHA), animal fat, and coconut oil.
- Eliminate industrial seed oils that drive inflammation: corn, safflower, sunflower, peanut, soy, canola.
If you only do one thing to start make it morning light. Get outside within thirty minutes of waking, no sunglasses, no contacts, for a minimum of ten minutes.
It's free, it's easy, and it's one thing you will notice within a few weeks in how you sleep.
You Cannot Optimize Your Health in the Same Environment in Which it Declined!
If you are feeling like you could be healthier.
If you are experiencing the impact of aging.
If you are losing your edge, physically, energetically, or mentally.
If your libido is on the decline.
And, most importantly if you want to change the trajectory of your health you must make changes to your environment. I use environment loosely as it refers in this case to every aspect of the environment.
It's the internal environment in your body influenced by sleep, food, lighting, drugs, alcohol.
And, it's the external environment and your behaviors that you expose yourself to. Your lighting at home and work. Your exposure to natural sunlight. Moving your body regularly.
Health is Simple But Not Necessarily Easy
Change can be difficult.
If it weren't then more people would make changes. The changes you might need to make to support your health aren't complicated. But, that doesn't make them easy.
And, when I think of making changes to better support my expression of health and life I'm reminded of a quote. It's not clear who to attribute this quote to but there's no place it rings more true than when it comes to how we approach our health.
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"
Somehow this message has yet to reach most Americans when it comes to their health. There is an expectation that we should be able to continue on the same path that has resulted in diminished health without doing anything other than taking medication.
I look forward to diving deeper into the specific strategies that support robust health in other issues. Next issue I'm going to explore the rising incidence of autoimmune disease with some surprising facts and trends.
Remember, one step at a time. It's more important your changes stick than you adopt radical changes you are unable to adhere to.
To Your Health Sovereignty,
Bill
MetabolicResilience.com