Myintegrativehealth Blog – Adrenal Fatigue – Natural Hormone Therapy – Thyroid Dysfunction – Pain Relief – Digestive Health

Thanks for all the great feedback, for those who missed it, here’s the clip: http://www.thedoctorstv.com/videolib/init/6207

In good health
Dr. C

What does a healthy mind have to do with a healthy sex life?  Quite often, hormones are in balance, nothing is physically wrong, but people are still not interested in sex.  Could it be in their heads?  Yes, and it may be a chemical imbalance.

Serotonin and dopamine are chemicals found in the brain called neurotransmitters.  They are part of the complicated communication system of the brain and they can affect your ability to enjoy life.   A healthy balance of serotonin and dopamine supports healthy cognitive function, moods, and emotions.

Serotonin has been linked to a variety of functions including sleep regulation, body temperature, pain perception, and hormonal activity.  Low levels of serotonin are associated with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anger management issues.  It can also prevent you from enjoying sex, which can lead to disinterest.  Too much serotonin can inhibit your libido and this is a common side effect of the class of drugs called SSRIs.

Dopamine has been linked to motivation, interest and drive.  It is increased during times of positive stress such as falling in love, exercising, and having sex.  Low levels of dopamine are associated with social anxiety and often lead people to self-medicate with alcohol, drugs, and food. Very high levels of dopamine are associated with schizophrenia.

What causes these imbalances?  Definitely alcohol and recreational drugs are major disrupters of our neurotransmitters.  Drinking alcohol can temporarily raise your serotonin levels and make you feel good.  However excess alcohol intake actually lowers serotonin levels.  This often motivates people to drink more alcohol because they are chasing that first “high” or that “feel good” sensation they had with their first drink.  Many recreational drugs flood the brain with dopamine, and this is one of the main reasons that these drugs are so addictive.   Furthermore,  these drugs lower serotonin production over time causing people to lose interest in sex.

A poor diet will also disrupt serotonin and dopamine levels.  Eating junk food actually depletes your body of nutrients that are used in the production of neurotransmitters.   Diets rich in good quality proteins, vitamins and minerals support healthy neurotransmitter functions.  And don’t forget to exercise!  Exercise is a wonderful, natural way to increase your levels of dopamine and serotonin.  Just make sure your body has the basic ingredients it needs from a good healthy diet.

The body loves balance and moderation.  You can always get too much of a good thing, as far as the body is concerned.  Talk to you doctor about testing your neurotransmitters and the steps to balance them if necessary.  You will notice how much more you enjoy life!

Could something you take every day disrupt your sex life?  Absolutely! Medications are one of the most common libido killers.   When these meds are prescribed or taken over-the-counter, most people don’t consider how they might affect us outside of the condition they are targeting.  We usually just want symptom relief and blame our low sex drive on stress, a bad mood and even our partner.  And while these are all important pieces of the puzzle, do not overlook the drugs that you take every day.

According to a report from the Institute for Healthcare Informatics, the top ten most prescribed drugs are:

Wow!  6 out of 10 of the most prescribed medicines decreases libido in men and women!

So which ones are the culprits?  Let’s start with the cholesterol-lowering medication Zocor.  This class of drug also includes two of the top 10 selling drugs:  Lipitor and Crestor.  Cholesterol is the backbone of all our hormones; therefore it makes sense that anything that lowers cholesterol will lower our hormone production.  A 2010 study showed men prescribed statin drugs had lower testosterone levels and erectile dysfunction.   Testosterone is required for sexual arousal so anything that inhibits it will likely reduce your sex drive.

Opiate analgesics such as hydrocodone, oxycontin, and codeine have been shown to lower testosterone and are linked to erectile dysfunction in men.  Blood pressure medications such as Lisinopril, Norvasc and Hydrochlorothiazine (HCTZ) are notorious for causing erectile dysfunction in men.   Metoprolol is another commonly used anti-hypertensives linked to a decreased interest in sex.

Serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain, is manipulated by a class of drugs called SSRIs.  These are commonly used to treat anxiety and depression.  Serotonin is responsible for regulating sexual behaviors such as erection, orgasm and ejaculation.  However, high serotonin levels will decrease sex drive.  A common side effect of SSRIs, which        are designed to increase serotonin levels, is decreased libido.

In addition to these commonly prescribed meds, over the counter medicines like antihistamines such as Benadryl can disrupt your sex life.  Just as antihistamines dry up allergy-induced sinus congestion, they dry up or decrease vaginal lubrication thereby decreasing sexual interest and pleasure.

Birth control pills cause a drop of in a woman’s libido.  They increase the production of a protein called sex hormone binding globulin.  This protein binds to hormones but has an affinity for testosterone.  When testosterone binds to this protein, the body cannot use it.  Ironically, even though many women take birth control for the freedom to have sex without getting pregnant, the pill actually lowers a woman’s interest in having sex.

This list is just the tip of the iceberg.  Unfortunately there is a very long list of drugs that disrupt your libido.  If you think your meds may be affecting your sex life, please talk to your doctor.  Never just stop taking a medicine because you don’t like the side effects.  Your doctor may be able to switch you to a different medication or help you make lifestyle changes that allow you to withdraw from the drug under supervision.

It’s a complaint I hear in the office nearly everyday: my joints ache. From the lower back, to the hips and knees to the neck, nearly all of us at some point will deal with joint pain. Also known as arthritis, joint pain for a large number of people can be nearly constant and as a result can impact daily routines and prevent folks from accomplishing their greater fitness goals as well.

Recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) put the number of Americans suffering with all types of arthritis at over 43 million. In general, there are many different types of arthritis, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus and ankylosing spondylitis, to name a few. The most common form is osteoarthritis that we associate with the aging process; rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is an autoimmune condition where the body mysteriously turns its own immune system against the joints. Both conditions can cause significant joint pain and in some cases, deformities to the joints.

Joint pain is not a “modern day” problem, however, as skeletons excavated from as far back as the Paleolithic times have shown physical changes to bones consistent with arthritis (1).  It is thought that the high incidence of arthritis within this primitive population was a result of an extremely high level of physical activities such as hunting and gathering.  Yet as time went on and especially through medieval times, evidence suggests that as we became more sedentary (agriculture vs. hunter gatherer), incidence of arthritis dropped, probably a result of the vast difference of physical stress placed on the body during primitive times compared to more “civilized” periods.  There does seem to be a balance, however because around the 18^th and 19^th centuries, when we became more sedentary compared to our medieval counterparts, cases of arthritis started to rise again (2). These studies do not suggest that a sedentary lifestyle can prevent or, on the other hand, cause arthritis, but recent data indicate that moderate exercise, three times a week, can actually reduce arthritis-related disabilities by 47%.

This leads us to ask, besides regular mild to moderate exercise, are there other treatment options for arthritis? At the top of the list lies the food that you put into your body. It appears that foods that cause gastrointestinal inflammation like sugar, members of the nightshade family, trans fats, and to some degree red meat can worsen joint pain. In addition, the lack of good omega-3 fatty acids in the diet along with absent fruits and vegetables, particularly berries, green, orange and yellow veggies (not corn!) prevent your body from creating its own anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Another simple addition to your diet is fresh, clean drinking water. Arizonans are chronically dehydrated and you should try to aim for about half of your body weight in ounces for water intake each day.

Secondly, nature has also provided us with a number of botanical herbs that for centuries have been highly effective in treating arthritis. These botanicals include quercetin, boswelia, curcumin, nettles and cramp bark to name a few. More recently, studies have demonstrated that botanicals target a number of inflammatory signaling molecules and shut down the inflammatory process. One well-designed study in 2009 showed that curcumin and resveratrol were superior to traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines in reducing inflammatory markers, but more importantly reducing pain felt by test subjects.

Finally, a treatment option becoming more and more popular (although founded in the 1940s) is prolotherapy. It is a type of injection medicine where regions of tendons or ligaments around joints are injected with a non-pharmacological natural solution (glucose, lidocaine, vitamin B12 and folic acid) to stimulate the body to strengthen weakened connective tissue and therefore reduce or eliminate pain. Unlike steroid injections (“cortisone”), which only provide temporary relief and carry numerous side effects, prolotherapy is designed to stimulate tissue growth and promote true healing that ultimately alleviates pain without any side effects.

Although arthritis is quite common, it is not something that derails you from your daily routine or causes significant discomfort. From the foods you eat, to naturally occurring herbs to modern interventions like prolotherapy, your arthritic pain can be controlled and help you return to normal range of motion in your joints and feeling pain free!

1. Rogers J et al. Arthritis in Saxon and mediaeval skeletons. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1981 December 19; 283(6307): 1668-1670.
2. MacLennan WJ: History of arthritis and bone rarefaction evidence from paleopathology onwards. Scott Med J. 1999 Feb;44(1):18-20.

So often people begrudge initiating change because of perceived obstacles such as travel or holidays.  I’ve learned that it is really not that hard to stay healthy on the road!

Thriving on the go:  3 Key Steps
Ok, you’re taking care of yourself and getting healthier.  You’ve worked out some good habits and healthy routines in your daily life.  You’ve probably learned that it is easy to lose momentum and drift back to unhealthy habits.  Whether you’re going across the globe, or over the river and through the woods, don’t let travel do this to you!

Think of your health as drawing energy from 3 main sources:  your sleep, your exercise and your diet.  If you can keep these sources working for you, you’ll be OK.

Sleeping on the go.  Nothing ruins your memory of a good trip like the lingering bronchitis you picked up on the flight home.  What is the main reason this happens?  Your immunity was down from lack of sleep.  When you’re traveling, you want to take it all in and you have time zone changes to deal with.  Put these factors together and our bodies really need as much or more sleep than normal, not less.

• Start scheduling the week before traveling; shift your sleep schedule towards your new schedule as much as possible.  This works best when you are moving your sleep schedule forward.
• Avoid sleep at your destination until it is your bedtime in local time.
• Avoid alcohol and caffeine the day of travel.
• Adults can use 2-3mg of time-released melatonin at bedtime during short trips and the first few days back home.  This resets your internal clock.

Exercise on the go.  How do you workout when you can’t get to the gym?  Easiest answer is do lots of walking.  Fortunately this is easy whether you’re going to an amusement park, beach or most other parts of the world.  You can also get an good workout with simple body weight exercises.  Here is a great link to a page with 20 amazing exercises you can do anytime and anywhere.  P.S.  If you’re a climber, you can always find a place for pull ups : )

Eating on the go.  OK, so far so good, but how about food?  When traveling, think about food in terms of fuel, protein and produce.  Your fuel needs are minimal when you’re on a plane, car or boat, so don’t worry about it then.  I love using meal replacements like MediClear when traveling.  I’ll make up single servings in snack size baggies and mix them up in a water bottle.  Have 2-3 servings per day while en route.  This way you get a nutritionally complete low calorie meal and your body gets to rest and detox.  You’ll also drop a few pounds which may help you break even by the time you get home.  When you arrive, focus on soups as an easy way to get produce and protein without lots of fat or the risk food-borne illness.