FOR YOUR HEALTH

 

How STRESS Influences Your Heart Attack and Stroke Risk

February 02, 2017 | 172,446 views

• 
  

By Dr. Mercola

Stress has enormous implications for your health. From an evolutionary perspective, the stress response is a lifesaving biological function that enables you to instinctively square off against an assailant, run away from a predator or take down a prey.

However, those of us living in the modern world are now activating this same biological reaction in response to activities and events that have no life-threatening implications whatsoever, from speaking in public to filling out tax forms and sitting in traffic jams.

The sheer number of stress-inducing situations facing us on a daily basis can actually make it difficult to turn the stress response off, and marinating in corrosive stress hormones around the clock can have very serious consequences for your health.

Stubborn fat accumulation, high blood pressure and heart attack are just a few of the many health consequences associated with chronic stress. Acute stress can also have potentially lethal consequences.

I recently wrote about broken heart syndrome — a condition prefaced by acute and severe stress or shock, such as the unexpected death of a loved one.

High-Stress Lifestyle Raises Your Risk of Heart Attack

There's no shortage of evidence showing that stress impacts your health. And, since your heart and mind are so closely interlinked, your mental state can have a particularly significant influence on your heart health.

According to recent research, stress increases your risk of heart attack and stroke by causing overactivity in your amygdala.1,2,3 Known as your brain's fear center, this almond-shaped brain region, located in your temporal lobe, is activated in response to both real and perceived threats.

Other recent research suggests the amygdala is also involved in the processing of other emotions, including positive ones, as well as the processing of emotional memories of all kinds.

Still, its involvement in fear and threat detection is well-established, and one of its most basic jobs is to keep you safe by biochemically preparing you to fight or flee as needed.

In this study, inflammation levels as well as brain and bone marrow activity of 293 participants were measured. All of the participants were over the age of 30, and none had a diagnosed heart problem.

By the end of the observation period, which lasted between two and five years, 22 participants had experienced a serious cardiac event such as heart attack, stroke or angina (chest pain).

Based on brain scans, the researchers were able to conclude that those with higher activity in the amygdala were at an elevated risk of a cardiac event. As it turns out, there appears to be a significant correlation between amygdala activity and arterial inflammation (which is a risk factor for heart attack and stroke).

This was confirmed in another much smaller sub-study involving those with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).4,5 Here, levels of C-reactive protein were also measured, showing that those reporting the highest stress levels also had the highest amygdala activity and higher levels of inflammatory markers.

Overactive Fear Response Is a Recipe for Heart Attack and Stroke

In short, people who are highly stressed have higher activity in the amygdala. This in turn triggers inflammation, which is a risk factor for heart disease. These findings are not concrete proof of causation, however, and need to be validated through further research.

That said, previous studies have shown that activation of the amygdala can trigger arterial inflammation by triggering immune cell production in the bone marrow. As reported by The Huffington Post:6

"A healthy amygdala can help to protect the brain against stress, while an amygdala that's hyper-excitable as a result of chronic stress or other factors can amplify the stress response.

The new study shows, for the first time, how an overactive amygdala can cause heart attack and stroke. When stress triggers the amygdala, it activates bone marrow and inflammation of the arteries to create the conditions for a heart attack.

'Our results provide a unique insight into how stress may lead to cardiovascular disease,' Dr. Ahmed Tawakol, a Harvard cardiologist and the study's lead author, said … 'This raises the possibility that reducing stress could produce benefits that extend beyond an improved sense of psychological well-being.'"

Ilze Bot, Ph.D., a Dutch biopharmaceutical researcher who wrote an accompanying commentary to the study, added:7

"In the past decade, more and more individuals experience psychosocial stress on a daily basis. Heavy workloads, job insecurity or living in poverty are circumstances that can result in chronically increased stress 

These clinical data establish a connection between stress and cardiovascular disease, thus identifying chronic stress as a true risk factor for acute cardiovascular syndromes, which could, given the increasing number of individuals with chronic stress, be included in risk assessments of cardiovascular disease in daily clinical practice."

Other Ways Stress Can Trigger a Heart Attack

Stress can also promote or trigger a heart attack in other ways. For example, studies8 have shown that as your stress level rises, so do your level of disease-promoting white blood cells, and this is yet another way by which stress can lead to atherosclerosis, plaque rupture and myocardial infarction.

During moments of high stress your body also releases norepinephrine, which researchers claim9 can cause the dispersal of bacterial biofilms from the walls of your arteries. This dispersal can allow plaque deposits to suddenly break loose, thereby triggering a heart attack.

A sudden release of large amounts of stress hormones and rapid elevations in blood pressure may even trigger a heart attack or stroke even if you don't have a heart problem. In the case of broken heart syndrome, the symptoms of a heart attack occur even though there's no actual damage to the heart at all.

According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), broken heart syndrome is a "temporary condition where your heart muscle becomes suddenly weakened or stunned." The left ventricle (your heart's largest chamber) also changes shape, which adds to the temporary dysfunction.

This sudden weakness of the heart is thought to be due to the sudden release of large quantities of adrenaline and other stress hormones. This is what is believed happened to Debbie Reynolds.

Adrenaline increases your blood pressure and heart rate, and it's been suggested it may lead to narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to your heart, or even bind directly to heart cells allowing large amounts of calcium to enter and render the cells temporarily unable to function properly.

While most will successfully recover, in some, the change of shape of the left ventricle can trigger a fatal heart attack. Having a history of neurological problems, such as seizure disorders, and/or a history of mental health problems is thought to raise your risk.10 On the upside, while the condition can be life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention, it's usually a temporary condition that leaves no permanent damage.

Recognizing the Signs of Stress

Many have gotten so used to being wound up into a stress-knot, they don't even realize the position they're in. So, the first step is to recognize that you're stressed, and then take steps to address it. Common signs and symptoms of stress include:11

Sleeping poorly, trouble falling asleep and excessive tiredness	Binge drinking
Lack of appetite or overeating	Having a "short fuse"/being quick to anger or losing your temper
Feeling overwhelmed, sad or irritable; frequent crying or quick to tears	Headaches and/or general aches and pains

Releasing Your Amygdala's Death Grip

rror ocurred.

Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.

Knowing the amygdala's role in inflammation and heart attacks, it seems reasonable to conclude that part of the answer is learning to reduce the activity in your amygdala. When your amygdala is triggered by a real or perceived threat, oxygen is shunted from your internal organs, including your brain, to the extremities. Essentially, your body is prepared for fighting — not thinking! After all, thinking is of little use when facing a man-eating foe. Muscle function takes precedence.

However, in today's world, critical thinking is really what's required when facing a stressful situation, be it a traffic jam or an interpersonal difficultly. Fist-fighting is not the most appropriate solution here, yet because of the stress response, your brain has largely been shut off.

Step one, then, is to bring oxygen back to your brain. The video above describes a simple breathing technique to help you do that. Simply breathe in to a count of four; hold your breath for another count of four; breathe out to the count of four; and hold again for a count of four.

Other Helpful Breathing Methods

There are many very good breathing techniques out there that will likely do the trick. You may want to experiment with a few different ones to see if one works better than another. Another one I like is the 4-7-8 breathing exercise taught by Dr. Andrew Weil.

1. Sit up straight and place the tip of your tongue up against the back of your front teeth. Keep it there through the entire breathing process
2. Breathe in silently through your nose to the count of four, hold your breath to the count of seven and exhale through your mouth to the count of eight, making an audible "whoosh" sound. That completes one full breath
3. Repeat the cycle another three times, for a total of four breaths. After the first month, you can work your way up to a total of eight breaths per session

A third method is the controlled breathing method taught by Patrick McKeown, one of the top teachers of the Buteyko Breathing Method. If you're experiencing anxiety or panic attacks, or if you feel very stressed and your mind can't stop racing, try the following breathing sequence.

Its effectiveness stems from the fact that it helps retain and gently accumulate carbon dioxide. This not only helps calm your breathing but also reduces anxiety. In short, the urge to breathe will decline as you go into a more relaxed state:

1. Take a small breath into your nose, followed by a small breath out
2. Hold your nose for five seconds in order to hold your breath, and then release your nose to resume breathing
3. Breathe normally for 10 seconds
4. Repeat the sequence several more times

Countering Stress With the Relaxation Response

Once you've addressed the oxygenation of your brain, next, engage in some sort of physical relaxation technique, as the stress response causes the muscles in your body to tighten. One simple one that can be done anywhere is to tighten the muscles in an area for a few seconds, and then release; moving from section to section. Start with your feet and legs, and move upward. This may even be done in concert with your breathing exercise of choice.

Visualization techniques such as those taught by Dr. Martin Rossman, author of "The Worry Solution," can also be helpful. Imagery is the natural language of your brain, which is in part why visualization and guided imagery exercises are so powerful for changing thoughts and behavior.

As noted by Rossman, the three keys to calmness are breathing, relaxation and visualization. Ideally, do all three. Here's Rossman's suggestion for pursuing calmness: Breathe and relax your body part by part, then imagine being in a beautiful, peaceful place where you feel safe. This could be either a real or imaginary place. Spend 10 or 20 minutes there, actively visualizing the serenity of your surroundings, to interrupt the stress response.

This will disengage your fight or flight response, allowing your physiology to return to equilibrium, or what is also termed "the relaxation response." This is a compensatory repair, renew and recharge state that brings you back to balance.

Mindfulness training — which focuses on being present in the moment — is another strategy that can be very helpful. In one study, people who participated in 10 sessions over the course of one month experienced "significantly decreased" stress, anxiety and depression.12 Mindfulness meditationis a more formal practice of mindfulness, in which you consciously zone in on, or focus your attention on, specific thoughts or sensations, then observe them in a non-judgmental manner.

The Emotional Freedom Technique Is a Targeted Technique You Can Use for Stress Relief

Last but not least, energy psychology techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can be very effective for reducing stress by helping you to actually reprogram your body's reactions to the unavoidable stressors of everyday life. This is important as, generally speaking, a stressor becomes a problem when:

• Your response to it is negative
• Your feelings and emotions are inappropriate for the circumstances
• Your response lasts an excessively long time
• You're feeling continuously overwhelmed, overpowered or overworked

EFT is not the same thing as mindfulness; it is entirely different and used for different purposes. I regard mindfulness and meditation as tools that are useful for your entire life, like exercise for your mind. Ideally, you should strive to be mindful and use meditation daily.

EFT is different in that it works best for targetedstress relief, such as recovering from an emotional trauma or overcoming an addiction. You might only need to use EFT a few times throughout your life, while mindfulness and meditation are life-long endeavors.

When you use EFT, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to input kinetic energy onto specific meridians on your head and chest while you think about your specific problem and voice positive affirmations. This combination of tapping the energy meridians and voicing positive affirmation works to clear the "short-circuit" — the emotional block — from your body's bioenergy system, thus restoring your mind and body's balance, which is essential for optimal health and the healing of chronic stress.

While the video above will easily teach you how to tap for stress, it is important to realize that self-treatment for more serious issues is not recommended. For serious or complex issues, you need an experienced practitioner to guide you through the process, as there is an incredible art to it; it typically takes years of training to develop the skill to tap on deep-seated problems.

....................

TRAMPOLINE..... FOR  YOUR  HEALTH

ON  AUGUST  12  -  2016  THE  CANADIAN  GAL  ROSIE...  WON  THE  GOLD  FOR  HER  TRAMPOLINE  SPORT!

OH  AND  NOT  THE  FIRST  TIME  SHE'S  DONE  IT......

THIS  WAS  ROSIE'S  SECOND  GOLD  MEDAL  WIN!  SHE  WON  GOLD  IN  THE  LONDON  2012  SUMMER  OLYMPICS  ALSO  ON  THE  TRAMPOLINE!

BACK  IN  THE  MID-1980s  THE  LITTLE  HOME  INDOOR [COULD  BE  OUTDOOR  IF  YOU  LIKE]  TRAMPOLINE  BECAME  VERY  POPULAR;  IT  CAME  WITH  A  LITTLE  BOOKLET  TELLING  YOU  ALL  ABOUT  THE  HEALTH  BENEFITS  OF  THIS  LITTLE  EXERCISER.

I'VE  HAD  ONE  SINCE  THE  MIDDLE  1980s  -  STILL  GOT  ONE,  YES  INDEED.

NOW  TODAY,  ANNOUNCED  DURING  ROSIE'S  VICTORY  BY  ONE  COMMENTATOR,  WAS  THE  SCIENCE  FACT:

2  MINUTES  ON  THE  LITTLE  TRAMPOLINE  IS  AS  GOOD  FOR  YOUR  BODY  AS  30  MINUTES  JOGGING!

SOOOOO...... TIME  TO  GO  OUT  AND  GET  ONE  IF  YOU  DON'T  HAVE  IT  ALREADY.

JUST  TWO  MINUTES  A  DAY  EXERCISING  ON  THAT  LITTLE  THING  DOES  YOU  A  WORLD  OF  GOOD.

NATURALLY  AND  OF  COURSE,  GOOD  HEALTH  IS  MUCH  MORE  THAN  TWO  MINUTES  ON  A  TRAMPOLINE....  BUT  IT  WILL  GET  YOU  STARTED  FOR  LITTLE  COST  AND  LITTLE  TIME.

..........

How Sun Exposure Improves Your Immune Function

January 23, 2017 | 165,793 views

• 
  By Dr. Mercola

Mounting research confirms that sun avoidance may be at the heart of a large number of health problems. Not only does your body produce vitamin D in response to sun exposure on bare skin, but sunlight also produces a number of other health benefits that are unrelated to vitamin D production.

In fact, humans appear to have a lot in common with plants in this regard — we both need direct sun exposure in order to optimally thrive, and while artificial lighting sources offering specific light spectrums may be helpful for various problems, ideally we need the full spectrum of light that natural sunlight offers.

Most recently, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) published a laboratory study using cells in petri dishes, showing that exposure to blue and ultraviolet (UV) light increases T cell activity — white blood cells involved in immune function and fighting infections.1,2,3

Sunlight Is a Natural Immune Booster

This is thought to be the first study showing an impact of light on this particular type of immune cell, so more research is needed to verify the results. However, there's plenty of evidence in the medical literature confirming that sunlight has immune-boosting properties.

In this study,4 light was found to stimulate the production of hydrogen peroxide, which boosted the activity of T lymphocytes. As little as five to 10 minutes of sun exposure were needed to boost immune cell activity. As noted in one news report:5

"Given the large surface area of human skin, all of the T cells present in skin could potentially benefit from this phenomenon through exposure to blue light, the researchers suggest.

Note that vitamin D is only produced in the body via exposure to UVB rays, which can be harmful in cases of prolonged sun exposure.

If blue light from the sun's rays is capable of energizing infection-fighting T cells, it could be a potential means of treatment for boosting immunity in many patients, the researchers conclude."

While the researchers appear hopeful that blue light alone might be a valuable immune-boosting treatment, it's important to realize that the biological effects of light can be very complex, and it's important to get it right.

As explained by Dr. Alexander Wunsch, a world class expert on photobiology, excessive exposure to blue light — such as that from LED lighting, which is primarily blue and devoid of near-infrared found in sunlight and incandescent lighting — can be quite harmful, and may be a significant risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The healthiest blue light is from the sun, as it is balanced by near-infrared radiation, which has many important biological functions. Importantly, near-infrared radiation will activate cytochrome C oxidase in your mitochondria and help to optimize ATP production.

T Cells Are Intrinsically Photosensitive

For a long time, it was believed mammals only had photosensitive cells in the eye. We're now finding photosensitive cells in many other areas of the human body.

As noted by the authors, this study demonstrates that "T lymphocytes possess intrinsic photosensitivity and this property may enhance their motility on skin." In other words, T cells sense and respond to light.

Blue light specifically triggers the production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in T cells, which triggers a chemical cascade that results in increased T cell motility. The increased motility or activity, in turn, allows the immune cells to function better.

Interestingly, once the T cells are activated they also alter their antioxidant capacity — an effect that appears to allow for greater H2O2 production in response to light.

The spectral sensitivity of T cells peaked at both ~350 nanometers (nm), which is in the ultraviolet A (UVA) range, and ~470 nm, which is in the blue spectrum. The latter (470 nm light) has previously been shown to kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in vitro.6

According to lead author Gerard Ahern, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology in Georgetown, some of the immunity benefits typically attributed to vitamin Dmay actually be due to this new-found mechanism.

While there may be some truth to that, previous research has teased out a number of different mechanisms for vitamin D's activity, including its bactericidal and immune-boosting effects.

For example, researchers have found vitamin D acts directly on the beta defensin 2 gene (which encodes an antimicrobial peptide) and the NOD2 gene (which alerts cells to the presence of invading microbes).7 Vitamin D is also involved in the production of over 200 antimicrobial peptides that help fight all sorts of infections.

Other Health Benefits of Sunlight Unrelated to Vitamin D

This certainly isn't the first time sunlight has been shown to produce biological effects that are important for good health. Other health benefits of sun exposure include the following.

To learn more, I recommend reading through "Sunlight: For Better or For Worse? A Review of Positive and Negative Effects of Sun Exposure," published in the journal Cancer Research Frontiers.8

Raising your vitamin D level This is probably the most well-known benefit of sun exposure, and there's a robust body of scientific research confirming the many benefits of optimal vitamin D levels. Importantly, the evidence now clearly shows that once you reach a serum vitamin D level of 40 ng/ml, your risk for cancer plunges by 67 percent, compared to having a level of 20 ng/ml or less.9,10,11,12,13,14,15 Even the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (formerly Institute of Medicine, IOM) has reported an association between vitamin D and overall mortality risk from all causes, including cancer.16,17 Vitamin D also increases your chances of surviving cancer if you do get it,18,19and this includes melanoma patients.20,21 Vitamin D is also important for your bone health, cognitive function, immune function and healthy pregnancy and infant development.22 The overall health benefits of vitamin D are so significant, a Swedish research team recently warned that "avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor for death of a similar magnitude as smoking."23,24

Anchoring your circadian rhythm Spending time in bright midday sun helps anchor your circadian rhythm, which is important for optimal sleep. The vitamin D you get from sun exposure can also play a role in your sleep. Surprising as it sounds, scientists have found vitamin D deficiency raises your risk of obstructive sleep apnea.25 In one study, 98 percent of patients with sleep apnea had vitamin D deficiency, and the more severe the sleep apnea, the more severe the deficiency.

Lowering high blood pressure and reducing risk for heart disease and cancer Research has shown that when sunlight strikes your skin, nitric oxide (NO) is released into your bloodstream.26 NO is a powerful blood pressure lowering compound that helps protect your cardiovascular system, cutting your risk for both heart attacks and stroke. UVB light lowers blood pressure by dilating blood vessels specifically the capillaries in your skin. This directs about 60 percent of your blood flow there. This then allows the sun's rays to easily penetrate into your blood. Sunlight has UV rays known to be germicidal and can help kill infections in your blood. This aspect of sunlight was used to treat tuberculosis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, even awarding a Nobel prize to Finson in 1903 for this work. According to one 2013 study,27,28 for every single skin cancer death, 60 to 100 people die from stroke or heart disease related to hypertension. So your risk of dying from heart disease or stroke is on average 80 times greater than your risk of dying from skin cancer. While higher vitamin D levels correlate with lower rates of cardiovascular disease, oral vitamin D supplements do not appear to benefit blood pressure, and the fact that supplements do not increase nitric oxide may be the reason for this.

Modulating genetic expression related to your inflammatory response Sunlight also appears to alter genetic expression. Cambridge University scientists recently showed that the expression of 28 percent of the human genetic make-up varies from season to season.29 Some of those genetic changes affect your inflammatory responses. During winter months, inflammatory immune-system genes are activated, which helps combat infectious microbes, and during the summer the activity of anti-inflammatory gene activity increases. In essence, during the summer your body begins to combat the damage incurred by the inflammation produced when your immune system is on red alert. But for that, you need sun exposure.

Preventing infectious diseases Both UV light itself and the vitamin D produced when your skin is exposed to it have potent antimicrobial effects. While vitamin D increases production of naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides that destroy the cell walls of viruses and bacteria, UV light also increases blood levels of infection-destroying lymphocytes (white blood cells). Besides boosting rates of cardiovascular disease, widespread sun avoidance may also be responsible for the reemergence of tuberculosis30,31,32 (TB), which now kills about 4,100 people every single day.33 In 2014, there were 1.5 million TB-related deaths worldwide, making it the No. 1 infectious disease out there. Compare that to the 55,100 who die from melanoma each year (worldwide).  UV light, especially blue light, also acts as a potent disinfectant of your environment. Research has found UV light can reduce the spread of tuberculosis in hospital wards and waiting rooms by 70 percent,34,35 and helps kill 90 percent of drug-resistant bacteria in hospital rooms.36 Data suggests UV light at 254 nm can kill drug-resistant strains of S. aureus and E. faecalis in as little as five seconds.37

Boosting brain serotonin, thereby improving mood and mental health Sun exposure boosts the feel-good brain chemical serotonin, which is in part why you feel better after spending some time in the sun. Light therapy has long been the go-to treatment for seasonal affective disorder(SAD), and more recent research suggests it can be useful in the treatment of major depression as well.38 Schizophrenia has also been linked to maternal lack of sun exposure during pregnancy.39 Importantly, you also have serotonin in your gut, and here, vitamin D has been shown to combat inflammation caused by excessive gut serotonin. In other words, sunlight and vitamin D both play intricate roles in the gut-brain axis, raising levels in the brain while lowering levels in your gut, thereby improving mood on the one hand, while reducing gut inflammation on the other. To learn more about this, please see "New Discoveries May Unlock the Link Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Autism."

Boosting testosterone and protecting male fertility Sunlight helps boost men's libido by affecting testosterone. Australian research reveals that men's testosterone levels rise and fall with the seasons, peaking during August, and hitting their lowest levels in March. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have also linked low vitamin D levels with an increased risk for erectile dysfunction (ED).40

Boosting dopamine, thereby protecting against myopia Australian researchers have found that kids who spend most of their days indoors have significantly higher rates of high degree myopia (short-sightedness). As reported by The Daily Mail:41 "The researchers believe that the neurotransmitter dopamine is responsible. It is known to inhibit the excessive eyeball growth that causes myopia. Sunshine causes the retina to release more dopamine."

Protect Your Baby's Health With Breastfeeding and Vitamin D

Vitamin D — which is best obtained from sensible sun exposure — is particularly important during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Not only are pregnant women advised to measure their vitamin D level and make sure it's at least 40 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), after birth, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends giving infants a daily dose of 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D for the first two months.

Unfortunately, few parents follow these recommendations, thereby putting their children at risk for vitamin D deficiency and related health problems. Recent research by the Mayo Clinic highlights this risk, noting that the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding do not include vitamin D — especially if the mother is deficient.42,43,44,45

In an ideal situation, a woman will have optimized her vitamin D before getting pregnant, making sure to maintain a level of 40 to 60 ng/mL for as long as she's pregnant and breastfeeding, because if the mother is deficient in vitamin D, the child, and her milk, will also be deficient. Alternatively, you can give your baby vitamin D drops.

According to previous research46 by Bruce W. Hollis, Ph.D., and colleagues at the Medical University of South Carolina Pediatrics, mothers who took 6,400 IUs per day of vitamin D could safely supply their breast milk with vitamin D to meet, if not exceed, her own and her nursing infant's vitamin D requirements. This may also be a more convenient if not safer alternative to giving the supplement to your baby directly.

How to Reduce Your Risk of Skin Cancer While Benefiting From Sensible Sun Exposure

An important risk factor for melanoma is overexposure to UV radiation either from direct sunlight or tanning beds/lamps. Frying yourself for several hours on the weekend here and there is not a wise choice. You want to take precautions to avoid sunburn at all cost. If you're going to the beach, bring long-sleeved cover-ups and a wide-brimmed hat, and cover up as soon as your skin starts to turn pink.

Realize that unless you have very dark skin you don't need to spend hours in the sun. For lighter-skinned people, optimizing your vitamin D may require mere minutes in the sun with minimal clothing. Other health effects associated with sun exposure beyond vitamin D production also appear to be fairly fast-acting.

In the featured study, T cells were activated within five to 10 minutes of light exposure. Granted, the cells were in a petri dish, and further research is needed to see whether T cells in your skin react as quickly to sun exposure.

Overall, the evidence suggests the benefits of sensible sun exposure far outweigh the risks of skin cancer. To further minimize your risks while maximizing benefits of UV exposure, here are a few factors to consider. If you pay close attention to these, you can determine, within reason, safe exposure durations.

• You should know your skin type based on the Fitzpatrick skin type classification system, which has been around for decades. The lighter your skin, the less exposure to UV light is necessary. The downside is that lighter skin is also the most vulnerable to damage from overexposure.
• For very fair skinned individuals and those with photodermatitis, any sun exposure may be unwanted and they should carefully measure vitamin D levels while ensuring they have an adequate intake of vitamin D, vitamin K2, magnesium and calcium.
• For most individuals, safe UV exposure is possible by knowing your skin type and the current strength of the sun's rays. There are several apps and devices to help you optimize the benefits of sun exposure while mitigating the risks. Also be extremely careful if you have not been in the sun for some time. Your first exposures of the year are the most sensitive, so be especially careful to limit your initial time in the sun.

The Role of Vitamin D in Disease Prevention

A growing body of evidence shows that vitamin D plays a crucial role in disease prevention and maintaining optimal health. There are about 30,000 genes in your body, and vitamin D affects nearly 3,000 of them, as well as vitamin D receptors located throughout your body.

According to one large-scale study, optimal Vitamin D levels can slash your risk of cancer by as much as 60 percent. Keeping your levels optimized can help prevent at least 16 different types of cancer, including pancreatic, lung, ovarian, prostate and skin cancers. 

How Vitamin D Performance Testing Can Help Optimize Your Health

Is it any wonder then that no matter what disease or condition is investigated, vitamin D appears to play a crucial role? This is why I am so excited about the D*Action Project by GrassrootsHealth. Dr. Robert Heaney is the research director of GrassrootsHealth and is part of the design of the D*action Project as well as analysis of the research findings.

GrassrootsHealth shows how you can take action today on known science with a consensus of experts without waiting for institutional lethargy. It has shown how by combining the science of measurement (of vitamin D levels) with the personal choice of taking action and, the value of education about individual measures that one can truly be in charge of their own health.

In order to spread this health movement to more communities, the project needs your involvement. To participate, simply purchase the D*Action Measurement Kit and follow the registration instructions included. (Please note that 100 percent of the proceeds from the kits go to fund the research project. I do not charge a single dime as a distributor of the test kits.)

As a participant, you agree to test your vitamin D levels twice a year during a five-year study, and share your health status to demonstrate the public health impact of this nutrient. There is a $65 fee every six months for your sponsorship of this research project, which includes a test kit to be used at home, and electronic reports on your ongoing progress. You will get a follow up email every six months reminding you "it's time for your next test and health survey."

Internet Resources Where You Can Learn More

• Vitamin D for Public Health
• Free Vitamin D Educational Training for Medical Practitioners
• Scientific Consensus Paper Released; Assert Sunlight and Vitamin D are Essential for Human Health 
• Vitamin D Resource Page 

Where Do We Go From Here? 

GrassrootsHealth is now undertaking a new project entitled the Protect our Children NOW! (POC) project. The aim of this project is to acquire participation of at least 500 pregnant women in a community, and to increase their serum levels to the suggested level of at least 40 ng/ml based on the clinical trial by Hollis & Wagner. 

In addition, the project will take these results in two years and "march" on the various institutions in the state/government/to the March of Dimes, to demand that action be taken to protect the world's next generation.

Among other items, the project’s expected impact is likely to be a reduction in preterm births, (in some cases up to a 50 percent reduction). The project already has the blessing of the scientists, the physicians at the Medical University of South Carolina (which are implementing it in their practices) and even the insurance company. 

Any community can implement this and make a difference for themselves and others. For further information contact Jen Aliano, Project Manager, at jen@grassrootshealth.org. 

How Physical Inactivity Increases Risk for Chronic Diseases

December 23, 2016 | 125,083 views

| 

By Dr. Mercola

Evidence shows that inactivity or lack of movement that is best exemplified by prolonged sitting, actively promotes dozens of chronic diseases, and these risks apply even if you're very fit.1,2 In fact, sitting for too long, too often, is an independent risk factor for ill health and reduced longevity.

Dr. James Levine is co-director of the Mayo Clinic and the Arizona State University Obesity Initiative and author of the book "Get Up! Why Your Chair Is Killing You and What You Can Do About It."

According to Levine, there are at least 10,000 published studies showing that sitting harms health, irrespective of other lifestyle habits, including an excellent exercise program.

Your Risk for Chronic Diseases Skyrocket If You're Inactive

An interactive body map published by The Conversation allows you to select a body part and/or disease to see the scientific support linking any given health problem and inactivity.3,4

For example, physical inactivity raises your risk of general ill health by 114 percent, your risk of Alzheimer's disease by 82 percent and your risk of depression by 150 percent.

Overall, chronic sitting has a mortality rate similar to smoking.5 It even increases your chances of lung cancer by more than 50 percent. Your risk for uterine and colon cancer also increases by 66 and 30 percent respectively.

Fortunately, the remedy is simple: Avoid sitting and get more movement into your life. As the dangers of inactivity have become more widely recognized, a number of excellent books have been published on the subject. One of my favorites is Kelly Starrett's book, "Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World."

It's filled with helpful guidance that can improve your health and well-being, covering both tips to naturally increase your daily movement and proper body mechanics. It is one of the best books I read this year and I believe it's an important resource for anyone that has a sitting job.

AWhy Sitting Causes so Much Harm

Inactivity affects your health in a number of different ways, but one foundational mechanism of harm relates to the molecular cascades that occur simply by standing. Within 90 seconds of standing up, your muscular and cellular systems that process blood sugar, triglycerides and cholesterol are activated.

Most of these systems are influenced by insulin. As you probably know, one of the primary benefits of exercise is improved insulin receptor sensitivity, thus lowering insulin resistance. But even the act of standing (as opposed to sitting) will have a beneficial effect.

On the other hand, sitting for more than eight hours a day has been shown to increase your risk of type 2 diabetes by 90 percent.6

Essentially, what science tells us is that, at the molecular level, your body was designed to be active pretty much all day long and regularly neglecting this requirement will result in health challenges.  

Sitting impairs these molecular events that are necessary for optimal biological functioning, thereby setting the stage for disease. In other words, while we certainly need to rest from time to time, that rest is supposed to break up activity, not the other way around.

Inactivity simply isn't supposed to be a way of life, as excessive sitting switches off the natural fueling systems in your body and down-regulates your metabolism. As a consequence of sitting, blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol imbalances arise.

The modern sitting posture is also very bad for your back, neck, wrists and arms, leading to a variety of chronic pains. Pills are not the solution for any of these problems. The real answer is to get up and avoid sitting as much as possible. As a basic guideline, if you've been sitting down for a full hour, you've sat too long.

The Biological Imperative of Movement

Research looking for clues about people's natural movement patterns reveals there appears to be "biological imperatives to movement" built into our system.

One such study7 found that not only do people tend to move and rest in logical intervals, physical activity also appears to affect your body's internal clock mechanisms and circadian rhythms.

The intervals of movement and inactivity were more consistent in younger people than older ones. As noted in the featured article:8

"In essence, the young people's bodies seemed to be somehow remembering and responding to what that body had just been doing, whether sitting or moving, and then calculating a new, appropriate response — moving or sitting.

In doing so, the researchers felt, the body created a healthy, dynamic circadian pattern."

Another study,9 this one looking at the movement of mice, also concluded that exercise plays a role in maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm, allowing the animals to maintain more natural activity patterns. Without exercise, the animals' activity levels became more random. According to The New York Times:10

"By prompting the release of a wide variety of biochemicals in the body and brain ... exercise almost certainly affects the body's internal clock mechanisms and therefore its circadian rhythms, especially those related to activity.

Exercise seems to make the body better able to judge when and how much more it should be moving and when it should be at rest."

Diabetes, Heart Disease and Cancer Are All Related to Inactivity

Diabetes, cancer, heart and neurodegenerative diseases are the most common diseases in the developing world, especially the U.S., and all are significantly influenced by your level of physical activity.

Starting with diabetes, I just described the metabolic consequences of sitting versus standing. Diabetes in turn raises your risk of both heart disease and cancer (plus many others, including dementia), so by reducing your risk of diabetes you automatically raise your protection against other chronic diseases as well.

Globally, cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for 38 percent of all deaths, and rates are rising even in developed nations where the condition has historically been low, in large part due to a more natural diet and higher physical activity levels.

According to a recent investigation, over 78 percent of Nigerians now live a sedentary lifestyle and 30 percent have high blood pressure. According to Dr. Casmir Amadi, a senior consultant cardiologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria, these health effects are the result of urbanization and increased use of motorized vehicles.11

Villagers who still walk long distances on a daily or near-daily basis do not have the same high rates of disease as city dwellers. Even children are starting to experience the adverse effects of modernization and the proliferation of junk food. As noted by Amadi, who urges all Nigerians to exercise daily:

"Once a child gets exposed to junk food early enough in their life, the chances [are] that they will get bigger and once they become obese, they can start having diabetes very early in life, and diabetes and obesity are all CVD risk factors."

An Active Lifestyle 'Insulates' You From Cancer

Many studies have also highlighted the role of physical activity in both the prevention and treatment of cancer. Again, one of the primary mechanisms responsible for driving down your cancer risk is the fact that exercise decreases your insulin resistance. By creating a low sugar environment in your body, the growth and spread of cancer cells are significantly discouraged.

Movement also improves circulation, driving more oxygen into your tissues and circulating immune cells in your blood. According to a 2003 paper,12 more than 100 epidemiologic studies looking at the impact of physical activity on cancer prevention reveal that:

"[P]hysically active men and women have about a 30 to 40 percent reduction in the risk of developing colon cancer, compared with inactive persons … With regard to breast cancer, there is reasonably clear evidence that physically active women have about a 20 to 30 percent reduction in risk, compared with inactive women."

This pattern of a 20 to 40 percent risk reduction appears again and again in studies looking at the effects of exercise on cancer, although some show even higher rates of protection. A small sampling of such studies includes the following:

•A recent Danish study, which followed more than 5,130 middle-aged men for 44 years, found that the better a man's respiratory fitness, the less likely he is to die from cancer. More specifically, for every 10 mL/kg/min increase in VO2 Max at baseline (around the age of 49), the risk of dying from cancer was reduced by 17 percent, and the risk of dying from any cause in the next 40+ years was reduced by 11 percent.13,14

•Being fit in middle age also cut men's risk of being diagnosed with lung cancer by 55 percent and bowel cancer by 44 percent, and reduced the risk of dying from lung-, bowel- and prostate cancer (if they did get it) by 32 percent.15,16

•Animal research suggests regular exercise may be the key to significantly reduce your chances of developing liver cancer, which is among the most common types of cancer.17,18

•Breast- and colon cancer patients who exercise regularly have half the recurrence rate as non-exercisers.19

•Weight training cut men's risk of dying from cancer by 40 percent, and similar findings have been reported in other studies involving both men and women.

Exercise Helps Protect Your Neurological Health Too

Exercise also helps protect your neurological function. In fact, it may be part and parcel of staying "sharp as a tack" well into old age. As with the rest of your body, a number of mechanisms are at play. For example, research shows that exercise:

Increases blood flow to your brain, which allows it to almost immediately function better. It also promotes genetic changes. The increased blood flow adapts your brain to turn different genes on or off, and many of these changes help protect against diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Promotes growth of new brain cells. In your hippocampus, these new brain cells help boost memory and learning.20

Helps preserve both gray and white matter in your brain, which prevents cognitive deterioration that can occur with age.21,22

Triggers the release of neurotransmitters, including endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, glutamate and GABA. Some of these are well-known for their role in mood control. Not surprisingly, exercise is one of the most effective prevention- and treatment strategies for depression.

Increases brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Exercise stimulates the production of a protein called FNDC5 that then triggers the production of BDNF, which has remarkable rejuvenating abilities. In your brain, BDNF both preserves existing brain cells,23 and activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, effectively making your brain grow larger.24

Decreases BMP and boosts Noggin: Bone-morphogenetic protein (BMP) slows down the creation of new neurons, thereby reducing neurogenesis. If you have high levels of BMP, your brain slows and grows less nimble. Exercise reduces the impact of BMP, allowing your adult stem cells to continue performing their vital functions of keeping your brain agile. In animal research, mice with access to running wheels reduced the BMP in their brains by half in just one week.25,26 In addition, they also had a notable increase in another brain protein called Noggin, which acts as a BMP antagonist. So, exercise not only reduces the detrimental effects of BMP, it simultaneously boosts the more beneficial Noggin as well. This complex interplay between BMP and Noggin appears to be yet another powerful factor that helps ensure the proliferation and youthfulness of your neurons.

Reduces plaque formation: By altering the way damaging proteins reside inside your brain, exercise may help slow the development of Alzheimer's disease.27

Regular Movement Is Critical for Optimal Health

The average American adult spends about 10 hours or more each day sitting, and research shows you simply cannot offset 10 hours of stillness with one hour of exercise. You ideally require near-continuous movement throughout the day, even if it's just standing rather than sitting. So, strive to sit for less than three hours a day, and make it a point to walk more.

A stand-up desk is a great option. But even then you should move, not just stand, as lack of movement, not just sitting, is the primary catalyst for metabolic dysfunction. A fitness tracker or smartphone can be used to ensure you're getting the recommended 7,000 to 10,000 steps per day, but that doesn't mean you stop at 10,000 steps. When you have time you can go for walks twice as long.

Next you'll want to incorporate a more regimented fitness routine, and while virtually any exercise is better than none, high-intensity exercises are the most potent. Benefits of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) include cardiovascular fitness, improved muscle growth and strength and the generation of "anti-aging" human growth hormone (HGH), also referred to as "the fitness hormone."

It also effectively stimulates your muscles to release anti-inflammatory myokines, which increase your insulin sensitivity and glucose use inside your muscles. They also increase liberation of fat from adipose cells, and the burning of the fat within the skeletal muscle.

Strength training is another important component, as are mobility therapies such as those described by Starrett in his book, "Deskbound." A foam roller is an inexpensive fitness tool that can be quite useful for this. Whatever you choose to do, please do take the time to exercise, and be sure to incorporate as much physical activity into your life as you can on an hourly basis.