News — Jane's Blog

Vitamin D is often referred to as the “sunshine vitamin” because it’s produced in your skin in response to sunlight. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that can affect as many as 2,000 genes in your body. Vitamin D is produced when sunlight converts cholesterol on the skin into calciol (vitamin D3) which is then converted into calcidiol (25-hydroxyvitamin D3) in the liver and lastly converted by the kidneys into the active form of vitamin D, called calcitriol (1,25-hydroxyvitamin D3). Dr. Michael Holick, MD, a pioneer in vitamin D research stated “The data shows that nearly every tissue and cell...

Forecasters expect Fall 2020 to be yet another above-average year for allergies,  if not the worst ever. If you’re concerned about telling allergies apart from Covid-19, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology (AAAAI) has put together a chart comparing their symptoms, as well as signs of the common cold and influenza. Allergies are an overreaction of the immune system’s natural response to help fight infection. The trick is to get ahead of the allergy reaction and cut it off at the pass. Allergic reactions can trigger sneezing, wheezing, mucus, coughing, itching and hives. Allergies are not only irritating,...

Diverticulitis is preceded by Diverticulosis. The colon (large bowel) is a long tube-like structure that stores and then eliminates waste material left over after digestion of food. Some experts believe that abnormal intermittent high pressure in the colon due to muscle spasm or straining often as a result of constipation &/or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), causes weak spots-bulging pockets of tissue (called diverticula), that push out from the bowel walls like grapes. Once diverticula form, they do not disappear by themselves and becomes known as diverticulosis. Diverticulosis is a common condition in the United States that affects half of all people...

Postherpetic neuralgia occurs when nerves have been damaged in the area where an outbreak of shingles has occurred. The pain of shingles persists after the rash has gone and in some people it lasts months or even years. Shingles is an infection of a nerve area caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The virus usually affects one nerve only, on one side of the body. Symptoms occur in the area of skin that the nerve supplies. Occasionally, two or three nerves next to each other are affected. The first sign of shingles usually is a tingling feeling, itchiness, constant dull, burning,...

More than 15% of the US population is currently greater than 65 years old. As populations age there is a coinciding increase in age-related chronic diseases. In the United States approximately14% of all adults have Chronic Kidney Disease (CDK), costing almost $80 billion per year in Medicare expenditures in 2016. There is a marked increase in CKD above age 70, especially among females, non-Hispanic blacks, and persons with diabetes or hypertension Over 50 percent of people currently age 30-49 could develop Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in their lifetime. CDK is the 9th leading cause of death in the United States...