Health and Wellness Newsletter
Hippocrates
Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food. 
Our Office
spa logo

 

IN THIS ISSUE
Antibiotics and Obesity
E readers
QUICK LINKS
QUICK LINKS 2
QUICK LINKS 3
JOIN OUR LIST
Join Our Mailing List
FREE THOUGHTS


I shall not commit the fashionable stupidity of regarding everything I cannot explain as a fraud. 

C.G. Jung 

Quality Products

Food Inc. Worth the watch.

Please email me your favorite products.  I would like to share quality products with our readers. Think - car seats, toys, anything that a mother would love!
 
FEEDBACK

Please reply with feedback or questions here.  I will try to answer as many questions via the newsletter as possible.  As always be well and love your children!

 

The forum
simply good
Dr. Magryta
Go to www.salisburypediatrics.com,  if you would like to learn about Integrative Medicine or our practice

 

Issue: #2
December 29, 2014
Christmas Cutie

Volume 5, Letter 2

December 29, 2014

Are antibiotics linked to the obesity epidemic? 

 

We have touched on this topic a few times recently, however, we have not looked at the age at which one is exposed to antibiotics and the risk of obesity. 

 

In the journal JAMA Pediatrics, Dr. Bailey assessed the exposure of children under the age of 2 years to antibiotics and their risk of subsequent weight issues. What she found was that children that were exposed to four or more antibiotic treatment courses were 11% more likely to develop obesity in the ensuing three years. Another result of the analysis was that the more broad spectrum (kills more species of bacteria) the antibiotic was, the worse the obesity risk. 

 

We know that in cows, farmers use antibiotics in daily feed to increase the animals body size over time. Extrapolating this phenomenon back to humans we see the same development. 

 

What is occurring?

 

The antibiotics target bacteria all over the body and especially affect the human gut micro biome. The weak and diverse bacteria die off in favor of the hearty and less diverse players. These bacteria affect human metabolism in a positive energy storage pattern. The outcome is energy stored as fat. Each antibiotic prescription presumably selects for the strong and energy storing bacterial species. The more antibiotics that are used the more narrow the micro biomes bacterial diversity becomes. 

 

Many studies have now proven that every antibiotic prescription carries a risk and a benefit. We now have evidence that multiple antibiotic prescriptions are associated with obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and allergic disease to name a few. The fact that it is associated with obesity is especially damning because obesity is the poster child for metabolic derangements of all types. 

 

Remember the list from last week. 

 


Dr. M

 

 

 

How should you read?

E readers are ubiquitous in our world now. From iPads to phablets, we are exposing our brains to excessive amounts of light at the wrong time, night!

From the journal PNAS, Dr. Chang and colleagues evaluated the effect light emitting e readers had on sleep. What they found is not surprising at all.  

They found that the use of these devices caused the user to delay sleep onset, suppresses melatonin, your sleep hormone, and alter circadian rhythms. The lasting effect of these physiologic changes is decreased alertness the following day. It is also associated with decreased REM sleep. It is believed that the blue wavelength in light is responsible for suppressing melatonin.

Remembering back to previous lectures on sleep, the logical outcome of this problem is increased issues with learning in school, mood and general health. It is well known that sleep deprivation is associated with increased stress, disease and morbidity. 

What I glean from this and other similar data is that I need to stick with good old paper and book for my late night reading and shun my iPhone and computer. Other thoughts would be around using dimmers to facilitate light reduction that enhances melatonin production and thus sleep. 

A study from the journal Adolescent Health in October of this year looked at using blue wavelength light blocking glasses while reading from e readers. The authors noted that the teenagers in the study had increased melatonin production and felt less alert while wearing the glasses. 

I like to sleep and when I do I sleep hard. Modern technology has its place. Daily use during the daylight hours. I think that if we are moderate in our use of all such technologies we will stay in balance. Consider blue light blocking glasses for teens that study on  these devices often. 

Thoughts?

Dr. M

Medical Experiments - Fecal Transplants
 

For those interested in reading more about the role of the gut in disease and a new emerging therapy, read this New Yorker article

Newsletter Photos
 
If you have any pictures of your family that you wish to share for the header of this newsletter -
 
please send them to:
 
 

 

 

The newsletter archive can be found in the links section.  New readers can now go back in time to learn about the future!

 

Copyright � 2010-2015 Christopher J. Magryta, MD. Readers, please note: The information provided in this newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for advice and treatment provided by your physician or other healthcare professional and is not to be used to diagnose or treat a health issue.


 


Chris Magryta
Salisbury Pediatric Associates
Touchstone Pediatrics