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by GMI Reporter
September 19, 2018
from
GreenMedInfo Website
Having a
"hot body"
has more benefits than ever before,
thanks to
new scientific findings
on the role that elevated body temperature
plays in helping fight infections
and ward-off disease...
A 2018 study examining the role that temperature plays in the body's
inflammatory response has demonstrated that the hotter our body
temperature, the more effective our immune system becomes at
fighting tumors, healing wounds, and fighting infections.
Researchers at the Universities of Warwick and Manchester in the UK
recently published the paper entitled, Temperature regulates NF-κB
dynamics and function through timing of A20 transcription, [1] in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
Acknowledging that inflammation is often accompanied by changes in
body temperature, researchers sought to close the gap of information
on how these phenomena may be linked.
Using an experimentation method incorporating mathematical modeling,
researchers from the University's Mathematics Institute partnered
with biologists, infectious disease specialists, epidemiologists and
other scientists to better understand these systemic interactions.
These models were used to calculate cellular responses to
inflammation, such as how small increases in body temperature affect
specific genes, including key inflammatory regulators.
Biologists focused on the actions of a protein called 'Nuclear
Factor kappa B' (NF-κB).
When inflammation markers are in the
bloodstream, NF-κB proteins "switch on" by moving into and out of
the nucleus of cells, turning genes on and off in response to
inflammation.
This cellular-signaling works on a biological clock,
with cells activated for a period of time to respond to the
perceived source of inflammation.
A healthy NF-κB response allows
the body to effectively suppress tumors and infections, and aids in
rapid wound-healing. An uncontrolled NF-κB response is associated
with inflammatory diseases such as,
-
psoriasis
-
rheumatoid
arthritis
-
Crohn's disease
Mathematical models were used to test the correlation of the rate of
this NF-κB "clock" to changes in body temperature.
Researchers
discovered that if the body temperature is lower than normal, around
94ºF, the NF-κB clock slows down.
This has the effect of slowing the
body's response rate to wounds and infections. When the body
temperature is higher than normal (>98.6ºF), as in the case of fever,
the NF-κB clock speeds up and continues to increase with each degree
of uptick in body temperature.
This increased physiological response
to inflammation is associated with rapid wound healing, fewer and
shorter infections, and even anti-cancer benefits.
Researchers correctly predicted that a
protein called A20 holds a
critical key in this process.
When A20, the central gatekeeper in
inflammation and immunity, [2] was removed from cells during
experimentation, the NF-κB clock lost its correlative link with body
temperature.
This link helps explain why our bodies cycle through
normal changes in body temperature (+/- 1.5 degrees) over the course
of a 24-hour day.
Lead mathematician David Rand, Professor of Mathematics and member
of the University of Warwick's Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology
and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, commented:
"The lower body
temperature during sleep might provide a fascinating explanation
into how shift work, jet lag or sleep disorders cause increased
inflammatory disease."
Researchers concluded that cellular response
to inflammation may be "mechanistically and functionally regulated
by temperature," clearing the way for new drugs that control
inflammation by more precisely targeting the A20 protein.
Professor Mike White, lead biologist from the University of
Manchester, noted that these findings validate our understanding of
why,
"influenza and cold epidemics tend to be worse in the winter
when temperatures are cooler," and that "mice living at higher
temperatures suffer less from inflammation and cancer."
Said White:
"These changes may now be explained by altered immune responses at
different temperatures."
Bring the Heat to Boost Immunity
Fever is a normal part of a healthy immune response that is often
met by over-reaction.
Fever is produced when we come into contact
with toxins, E. coli bacterium, for example, that introduce pyrogens
into the bloodstream. Pyrogens are toxins that infect the body and
stimulate a fever-response.
The immune system identifies pyrogens as
threats, alerting the hypothalamus to signal the body to generate
and retain heat in the form of a fever.
Medication designed to suppress a therapeutic fever can do more harm
than good. According to Harvard Medical School, an adult has a fever
when his or her temperature exceeds 100.4ºF.
A fever is not
considered medically urgent until it exceeds 104ºF, [3] at which point
measures should be taken to cool the body and seek immediate medical
attention.
Pyrogens signal the immune system when a dangerous toxin has entered
the bloodstream.
But what about microtoxins that we are exposed to
everyday...?
Persistent organic pollutants such as chemical fertilizers
from agro-runoff are in the soil, air, and water of most places in
America. Heavy metals loosed from the Earth by industrial operations
become airborne and seep into soil and water tables.
Plasticizers
like phthalates are found in umbilical cord tissue and breast milk,
and in the fat cells of most (north) Americans.
Most of us don't get a fever
every time we walk outside, but we should not mistake this apparent
lack of bodily reaction for a lack of bodily harm.
"The dose makes the poison," is more than just a colloquialism.
It
is a chemical reality that has allowed for questionable standards
for public drinking water, mass-produced foods, and air quality in
the United States.
Until recently, medical science had essentially
discounted the dangers of low-dose toxins.
Difficulty with accurate
testing methods, as well as the inability to affect rapid policy and
procedural change, are among the reasons why scientists had left
this question largely unexplored.
Thankfully, this has changed in
the last decade, and not a moment too soon:
recent studies show that
low-dose toxins can be among the most dangerous of all chemical
exposures. [4]
In a landmark study released at the end of 2017,
[5] scientists found
that,
"widely disseminated chemicals and pollutants... are
proportionately more toxic at the lowest levels of exposure," and "we will need to achieve near-zero exposures to protect public
health."
Other recent studies have shown that micro-doses can and do
impact health, including increased risk of neurodegenerative
diseases, [6] hormonal disturbances, [7] and increased risk of
cancers. [8]
Since we can't snap our fingers and make environmental
toxins go away, a diligent approach to disease prevention includes
enhancing our immune system and efficiently dumping toxins on a
regular basis.
Thankfully, we don't need to become sick with fever to reap the
disease-fighting advantages of a body temperature boost. There are
natural ways to hack our body heat that also speed detox - and are
often downright enjoyable!
Whether you patronize a health club or
implement a DIY (do it yourself) solution, here are three healthful
therapies that will help you turn up the heat:
Break a Sweat
Your body has a powerful, natural system for detoxifying that
doesn't require you to suffer the discomforts of being
under-the-weather.
All you have to do is pick your favorite exercise
and break a sweat! Sweating is one of mankind's primary mechanisms
for eliminating toxins and purifying the body.
Sweating naturally
raises body temperature, dumps wastes, and stimulates biochemical
activity, including increased circulation of blood and lymphatic
fluid.
A 2011 study published in the Archives of Environmental and
Contamination Toxicology, observed that dangerous metals and
petrochemicals were detected in the sweat of study participants that
were not seen, or were seen in differing levels, in urinalysis and
blood serum tests conducted on the same patients.
This finding
prompted researchers to call for,
"sweat analysis to be considered as
an additional method for monitoring bioaccumulation of toxic
elements in humans."
You can induce a sweat with intense exercise or take a more
leisurely approach through sunbathing.
Sunbathing raises body
temperature when photons penetrate the skin, stimulating production
of Vitamin D and energizing the water in our cells.
UV and radiant
heat make H2O's charge, polarity, and conductivity stronger, while
blood, lymph, and other body fluids become thinner. This speeds
circulation, moving oxygen-rich blood in, and waste products, out.
Getting a deep, purifying sweat several times per week can greatly
enhance the efficiency at which our bodies remove these everyday
toxins.
Sauna Therapy
Another low-impact option for increasing body temperature is sauna
therapy.
Saunas can be enjoyed in many forms, including traditional
dry sauna, steam sauna, and infrared sauna. In a dry sauna, humidity
is kept between 10-20%, with temperatures reaching as high as 185ºF.
Body temperatures easily reach elevated levels during sauna, and can
be safely sustained for around 15-30 minutes, for most individuals.
Dry or Finnish sauna is the standard in many countries and is widely
regarded as a healthful way to purify and relax the body. But the
benefits of sauna extend well beyond relaxation.
A 2002 study
introduced twenty patients suffering from chronic heart failure to
daily, 15-minute dry sauna sessions. Results showed that 17 of the
20 patients had improved vascular and cardiac function after just
two weeks of sauna therapy.
Wet or steam sauna has a different host of health benefits. Steam is
healing for many respiratory ailments, and can deeply penetrate
sore, aching muscles. Hot tubs can reach temperatures of 104ºF, and
for some, is a gentler way of achieving increased body heat.
According to Harvard Health,
"a study of 15 men with coronary artery
disease showed that 15 minutes in a hot tub produced less
circulatory stress than 15 minutes on a stationary bike."
Hot tubbing has also
been shown to safely lower high blood pressure. [9]
Infrared saunas use warm, infrared heaters to emit light waved that
are absorbed by the surface of the skin. In a 2010 study comparing
infrared and steam saunas, researchers found that the sweat from the
infrared sauna contained more bismuth, cadmium, chromium, mercury,
and uranium.
The steam sauna caused higher levels of arsenic,
aluminum, cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, lead, tin, thallium,
and zinc to be excreted.
Whatever form of sauna you choose, you can achieve an even greater
immunity boost by plunging into cold water in-between bouts of heat.
This quick temperature shift agitates body fluids that have become
stagnant from periods of inactivity and is great for enhancing
circulation.
Thermotherapy
Therapeutic heating, or thermotherapy, applies to any form of
therapy in which heat is applied to achieve physical improvement or
relief from symptoms.
Whether it's applying a hot water bottle to an
aching muscle group or taking a hot bath with Epsom salts,
thermotherapy can achieve low-level increases in body temperature,
and is a useful form of easy-to-render comfort and relief from aches
and pains.
Heat wraps and pads are employed to great efficacy for treating
muscle spasms, herniated disks, eye pain, and other types of
musculoskeletal issues.
A 2002 study found that warm paraffin wax
baths were useful in improving range-of-motion in sufferers of
rheumatoid arthritis. [10]
Objective improvements were seen in
ability to pinch fingers together, improved grip strength, and
reduced pain and stiffness when compared to controls after four
consecutive weeks of treatment.
Treatments such as these can be a
useful adjunct to traditional arthritis treatment and may allay the
need for habitual pain medication.
Thermotherapy isn't limited to mundane applications like heating
pads - you can also find it in-use as a space-age, laser beam used to
fight cancer.
Intense heat is directed via infrared laser into the
eyes of cancer patients, where it effectively heats and kills
retinoblastoma tumor cells that form inside the eye. [11]
Other
low-level laser therapies are being employed for the treatment of
chronic pain [12] and arthritis, with other therapeutic uses for
laser currently under development.
References
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http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/05/09/1803609115/tab-article-info
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2659177/
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https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/fever-in-adults2
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2003066
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IBID
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214750015300974
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23867546
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https://www.nature.com/articles/bjc2011489
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https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/saunas-and-your-health
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https://www.cochrane.org/CD002826/MUSKEL_thermotherapy-heat-treatment-for-treating-rheumatoid-arthritis
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https://www.cancer.org/cancer/retinoblastoma/treating/thermotherapy.html
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4137223/
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